Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 4

4 i Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Tuesday, April 23, 1991 CITYAREA Investigators look into Pitt- catered party i Tim Ziaukas, a university spokesman, said all materials related to the Heddleston investigation had been turned over to the district attorney's office. "If any additional information comes to light, that will be turned over as well, but while it is under the investigation, we can have no comment," Ziaukas said. Neither Heddleston nor his attorney, Robert Dona hoe, could be reached yesterday. When contacted about the Pitt probe in the past, they have denied that Heddleston was involved in any wrongdoing and expressed Heddleston's willingness to cooperate with authorities. Heddleston came under investigative scrutiny in November 1989 after he was accused of forging the endorsement on a $300 check made out to an assistant Pitt cheerleading coach.

Last April, after a donor notified Pitt that his name had not appeared on a printed list of contributors, the university began an internal audit of the booster club's financial records. When the food service questions arose during a routine audit in mid-January, they were added to the widening investigation. Desserts, including the traditional wedding cake, cost $1,086. The cake was prepared by George Winter, who is employed as a baker by Daka a Wakefield, company that contracts with the university to run its $8 million-a-year food service. When contacted about the cake yesterday, Winter said, "I don't want to say anything for sure.

I'd rather not have anything to do with it." The ice sculpture was also listed on the invoice but instead of an amount to be billed, an entry next to the item said, "see Manny." The man who booked the event was Manny Perry, Pitt's former general manager of food service, who was fired for "mismanagement" March 29, according to university officials. Since then, six of seven people employed in the university food service have left their jobs as a result of the internal investigation or because they mistrusted the way Pitt officials are handling it. One of them, Mary Cacali, former associate director of administrative services, has been cleared of any intentional wrongdoing. Cacali announced her resignation last week. By Bill Moushey Post-Gazette Staff Writer County and University of Pittsburgh investigators are trying to determine if anyone paid for a university-catered wedding reception arranged by a former official of Pitt's athletic booster club.

The $7,156 reception featured a wide array of exotic university-prepared food and an ice sculpture made by a school chef. The reception was booked by Robert J. Heddleston, the former executive director of the University of Pittsburgh Golden Panthers, for the Aug. 26, 1989, wedding of a friend's daughter. Because investigators for District Attorney Bob Colville and internal university auditors have yet to document payment on the catering bill, they consider it outstanding.

The investigation of the Pitt food service operations is an outgrowth of an investigation of the possibility of the diversion of as much as $52,700 in donations to the Golden Panthers. Heddleston, who became executive director of the Golden Panthers in 1976, was suspended Because investigators have yet to document payment on the catering bill, they consider it outstanding. in April 1990 and resigned three days later. The food service probe began when Pitt auditors discovered that Pitt had catered the private wedding reception for Heddleston. The catering invoice, dated Sept.

5, 1989, itemizes the $7,156 reception held at Robin Hill Mansions in Moon. Heddleston was billed $670 for the services of 14 waiters and bartenders, china and place settings and bar set-ups. The university catered hors d'oeuvres there were 27 appetizers ranging from miniature quiches to fresh asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and entrees Cajun-style ham or roast tenderloin of beef at a cost of $5,400, according to the invoice. Church to review minister's conduct Panel to study molestation charges Wli- I till 1:1 LJ I Mil I Iff TZf I if. JTjuAhI.

Wiiil (THKitA mmxr fl If 'i 1 I 1 TOJ4IHITZ Full service empties wallet I here was a minor flap here il in the Burgh several months I ago involving some city cops who were rebuked by the mayor's office for gassing up their patrol cars at full-service stations rather than pumping the gas themselves. The city said the cops were blowing tens of thousands of dollars by letting somebody else do their pumping. The Fraternal Order of Police rushed to the defense of the no-pump cops, claiming that a police officer shouldn't have to deal with the public while smelling of gasoline. I suppose the FOP had a point there; pumping gas, as far as I know, is not a part of the curriculum at the police academy. And you can't expect just anybody to pick up on a complicated skill like gas pumping on his or her own.

But the city has a point, too. Full- service isn't all that cheap. I never paid much attention to the cost of it because I've been pumping my own I gasoline since the fuel crisis of the 70s. I learned how to do it from reading a self-help book called "The Pride and the Power of Pumping Your Own Petroleum Products." I would highly recommend it to the FOP. I Whatever, just to see what I've Ibeen missing, I checked a few ser-; vice stations in my neck of the woods over the weekend to see what it was costing people with gas pump paranoia to keep their wheels mov-j ing.

More than a few cents a gallon, let me tell you. I Unlike the city of Pittsburgh, sub- urban communities do not require service stations to publicly display their prices. Most of them do, how-j ever. But only for self-service. If you want to know what you're pay- ing for full-service, you've got to check out the numbers on the pump.

Or ask somebody. Mike Miller, the general manager of a Texaco sta-j tion on Castle Shannon Boulevard that offers both self- and full-ser-; vice, was happy to accommodate Jme. His self -service cash prices for unleaded, plus and super were $1.06, I $1.19 and $1.27, respectively. Add a nickel per gallon if you put it on a credit card. And 23 cents a gallon more if you want your gas pumped, your windows washed, your oil checked and anything else that goes with full-service.

Miller's prices were pretty much in line with two other suburban ser- vice stations I checked. A BP sta-tion on Fort Couch Road in Bethel Park was selling self-service at i $1.06, $1.08 and $1.28 and charging an extra 27 cents a gallon for full- service. Another BP on Drake Road in Bethel was selling self-service for I $1.07, $1.19 and $1.28 and charging an additional 25 cents a gallon for full-service. I can understand why service sta-; tion. operators charge what they do Jpr full-service.

It's an option that i 'seine people like the FOP ant and are willing to pay for. Uike Miller said more than 65 percent of his customers were full-service ones. But what I don't understand is why they go about doing it the way they do. It seems to me that they're penalizing their best customers. A motor-list can pull into a full-service bay and spend maybe $6.55 for five gallons of gas plus a windshield job and oil check.

The extra service has icost him $1.25. Another pulls in and lorders 15 gallons. His bill for the gas a total of $19.65. But he's paid $3.75 for the same service the other 'guy paid $1.25 for. Shouldn't it be the other way laround? Shouldn't the guy who's three times as much gasoline the other one get the full-service cheaper or at least at the same price? Probably not.

Nothing about ithe oil business makes any sense. There are only two service stations in Downtown Pittsburgh a station on Fort Duquesne Boulevard at Ninth Street and a Texaco 'station on the Boulevard of the Allies at Wood Street. The Gulf station sells its full-service gas at a pretty price $1 40, $1.50 and $1.60. But it also offers a "mini ser-vice," which includes pumping the 'gas only. And the price is as low or than anything I could find in suburbs $1.04, $1.15 and Bruce Smith, the owner, says offers the pump-free mini ser-vice to compete with the suburbs, Iwhere most of his customers come from.

The Texaco station offers full-fservice only for $1.44, $1.47 and 62. If the prices were displayed, I jcouldn't find them. And considering what they're charging for their gas, I it's understandable why they aren't. IThe city, however, which has an ordinance requiring at least one 12-; square-foot price sign displayed where it can easily be seen by traffic, might not see it that erning the disciplinary panel were outlined in the church's Book of Order. The panel's tions cover such actions as temporary suspension or dismissal, based on private fact finding and a report that would be completed in June.

"It's a very lengthy and proper procedure because that's the way Presbyterians do things," she said. Carpenter said the Seattle panel had been put together but that details were up to the district presbytery. She referred questions about the number and background of members to Rigstad's office. Rigstad, though, said the formation of such a panel was premature yesterday morning. He would not elaborate on his apparent contradiction of Carpenter's statements.

He said Buchanan hadn't been back to the center since their March meeting. His resignation is effective in May because Buchanan had accumulated time for which he will be paid. Until the presbytery has heard more from the police, it will take no action, Rigstad said. "We won't do anything until their police investigation is complete," he said. "We don't have any witnesses.

For us to use due process, we need an accuser. You have to be confronted by your accuser. The police would have to move." Baldwin Chief Kelly has not identified the minister under investigation by his department, or the man who has accused him. The man's assertion that he witnessed the killing of a young girl was made in February after repeated police interviews with the him. Police began their search for a body about three weeks ago, digging on grounds behind the Baldwin church.

So far, searchers have found only animal bones, and police said the task had been complicated by the removal of dirt for landfill operations some time ago. After police tracked the minister to Seattle, Kelly said, he telephoned him to discuss the child-molestation allegation. The minister declined to talk and referred questions to his attorneys. Buchanan left Baldwin in 1964 when he was hired as a minister in Berwyn, a Philadelphia suburb. He returned to this area three years later, serving as assistant minister at Hebron Presbyterian Church in Penn Hills.

He transferred to Seattle in 1969, where he is listed in records as a pastor at large. In Seattle, the counseling-center staff is "very shaken" by news of the investigation, Rigstad said. The center has been in business since 1960, handling marriage and family counseling and performing psychological testing and career counseling for ministers. It employs about 26 counselors, clergy and lay people, and treats between 9,000 and 10,000 clients annually. Rigstad said he had worked with Buchanan professionally for years because Buchanan had served on various committees for the presbytery.

Buchanan is chairman of the presbytery trustees and finance committee and has served on the panel for several years. "This whole thing has caused incredible pain. It's just ludicrous to anyone who knows Bob that he could be involved. He's a fairly jovial fellow." Rigstad added: "He's very faithful to tasks he's taken on. It's devastating to people who have learned of this.

They're absolutely speechless. He's just been part of our family for so long." By Cindi Lash and David Guo Post-Gazette Start Writers The Seattle Presbytery has appointed a disciplinary panel to review the conduct of a former Baldwin minister who is the focus of an investigation of child molestation and the possible killing of a Bloom-field girl in 1962, a national church spokeswoman said yesterday. The action comes nearly five months after Seattle's Executive Presbyter, Robert Rigstad, says he learned of a Baldwin Borough police investigation involving the Rev. Robert L. Buchanan, a Seattle counselor who was minister at Baldwin United Presbyterian Church from 1958 to 1964.

Buchanan, 59, who has declined comment, resigned from his post at the Presbyterian Counseling Center in March. "The investigation followed the resignation and the stress relating to that resignation. That's as much as we know. There's something going on out there, but that's all I can say at this point," said Marj Carpenter, spokeswoman for the national church organization in Louisville, Ky. Rigstad said yesterday that "I'd been given some indication that it was a child-abuse investigation from the Pittsburgh Presbytery.

Pittsburgh indicated that in December." After he received that call, Rigstad said, he contacted the Rev. Douglas Anderson, head of the Presbyterian Counseling Center, to "advise him." Rigstad said he didn't contact Buchanan or Baldwin police to ask about it directly, but that Baldwin police had contacted Anderson. Rigstad said he gave Anderson no directive on what to do about Buchanan except to make sure he didn't counsel children at the center. The center usually conducts marriage counseling, dealing with children only infrequently. "What Doug did I don't know.

I didn't know if Buchanan saw children at the center If there was any indication of child abuse, I didn't want him seeing children," Rigstad said. Baldwin Police Chief Christopher Kelly said the investigation began after a man who once had an association with Baldwin United Presbyterian Church told police that he was molested by a Presbyterian minister at age 9 and saw the minister kill a young girl in June 1962. The man, who now lives on the East Coast, said he had recalled both his molestation and the killing when he was being counseled for stress, police said. He told police he did not know the identity of the girl. The man's allegations renewed police interest in the case of Mary Ann Verdecchia of Bloomfield, who became the subject of a massive search after she disappeared near her home June 7, 1962.

She was not found and no one was charged in her disappearance. Rigstad's statement of yesterday that be knew Buchanan was the subject of a police inquiry in December conflicted with a statement the Seattle church executive had made Friday, when he said he had never talked with Buchanan about any police matter. Rigstad had said instead last week that Buchanan wanted to resign because of stress he was under because of the sudden death of a fellow minister. At church national headquarters, Carpenter explained that rules gov- Bob Donaldson Post-Gazette Cleaning up A Pittsburgh firefighter removes a burned window frame after a fire at a two-story duplex at 401 Ormsby Knoxville, yesterday. The two-alarm fire caused about $10,000 in damages to the first floor apartment of David Breier, 26.

He told police that he was working on a television set in his bedroom when a short circuit caused a spark that ignited the bed. No injuries were reported. Ex-worker, CMU settle suit and Public Affairs when she was fired on Sept. 1, 1988, by Harold Miller, associate dean of SUPA. At the time, Tanner was 55.

Cyert was 68 when he retired June 30, 1990. Cyert said yesterday that Tanner's allegations are "just untrue. I'm just amazed that suddenly there is all this attention to it. If one just looks at it, it doesn't make any sense. If I wanted to fire the woman, I could have fired her long ago.

She was a nice woman who was obviously desperate." Walter DeForest, attorney for Carnegie Mellon, said yesterday that, "Dr. Cyert and the university have unequivocally denied the material allegations of the complaint. I personally recommended that the matter be settled. My judgment was that issues relating to the plaintiffs job performance were unnecessarily causing distractions in the operation of the School of Urban and Public Affairs and that the matter should be concluded." Woman accused Cyert of making sexual advances By Marylynne Pitz Post-Gazette Staff Writer A 22-year employee who filed a federal suit contending that she was the target of sexual advances by former Carnegie Mellon University President Richard M. Cyert settled out of court with the school in September.

Patricia Riley Tanner, of Rolling Road, Bethel Park, filed an age and sex discrimination lawsuit against Carnegie Mellon in federal court in November 1989, contending she was fired because she refused to yield to Cyert's sexual demands. Tanner sought reinstatement, back pay, lost benefits and compensatory and punitive damages. Cyert denies the allegations. Tanner would not reveal the terms of the settlement because she said last night that a condition of the settlement was that it be private. According to the complaint.

Tanner met with Cyert in his office on Aug. 19, 1972. Before that meeting. Tanner had worked as a financial administrator in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, where Cyert was dean. During the August meeting, the complaint states, "In order to resist the sexual advances made by President Cyert, Ms.

Tanner had to physically restrain President Cyert." Afterward, Tanner contended, she was given no duties "of any significance" and that in March 1973, Cyert asked her to find other work. In March 1974, Tanner was fired by Harold Larsen, the head of budget services. Tanner contended that the dismissal was the result of her resisting Cyert's advances. Tanner hired an attorney, Neal Cramer, who demanded that the school reinstate her, which it did. In 1975, the complaint states, Dr.

Otto Davis, then dean of the School of Urban and Public Affairs, was asked by Cyert to fire Tanner. Davis refused. In 1981, the lawsuit states, Dean Brian Berry was asked by Provost Richard Van Horn to fire Tanner because "her presence made President Cyert uncomfortable." Sometime between 1981 and 1985, Cyert gave deans at the university the names of employees who should be dismissed because the job market was soft and replacements would have lower salaries. Tanner's name was on the list, she said in her complaint. In 1985, Tanner was asked to develop and teach a budgeting course in non-profits, which she did until her termination.

Tanner holds a master's degree in public management from Carnegie Mellon. Tanner said during an interview yesterday that she was an independent management consultant and had taught business courses at the University of Pittsburgh and Robert Morris College. "I've had a very hard time getting through this. I'm trying to put my life back together," Tanner said. Tanner, who began working at Carnegie Mellon in February 1966, was a fiscal management director and instructor in the School of Urban Man accused of killing 2 during quarrel By J.

Kenneth Evans Post-Gazette Staff Writer An argument between an estranged Washington County couple over custody of their 4-year-old son ended in the deaths of a woman and her mother Sunday. William Lane, 43, was arrested Sunday night and charged with homicide in the deaths of Christina Lane, 33, and Marguerite Vernon, 62. All live in Washington. He is being held in the Washington When she got to the apartment building, he said, she started to argue with her husband. "She went to pick him up," Rossi said of the boy.

"And he wanted to keep the boy another day or two." When Christine Lane walked back to the car, her husband followed, carrying a rifle, Rossi said. Lane fired into the car 14 times, Rossi said, killing the two women. His two daughters, ages 10 and 13, were sitting in the back seat but were not harmed. 4 County Jail without bond. Lane also is charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and four violations of the Uniform Firearms Act.

Lane had kept his son over the weekend but refused to allow him to return home with his mother, said Ronald A. Rossi, Washington police chief. Christine Lane had driven to the building where her husband shared an apartment with his mother to pick up her son shortly after 9 p.m., Rossi said..