The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 11

Metro 'State Roanoke Times World News riday Evening March 30 1979 Deaths Sports Classified Ads City Still Trails Va Income Level By JOEL TURNER Municipal AHlrWrltr Roanoke is gradually falling below the average income level for Virginia cities according to an analysis of state in come tax returns The analysis shows that Roanoke gradually fell further below the average income level for Virginia cities from 1972 to 1976 It was conducted by the Tayloe Murphy Insti tute at the University of Virginia Based on a statewide index of 100 in 1972 cities as a group had a rating of 100 on the index and Roanoke rated 97 By 1976 the state's cities as a group had a rating of 99 but Roanoke had fallen to a rating of 92 The figures on the general decline in rela tive income level for residents are included in the city's ap plication for federal Community Develooment Act hlock grant money that will go to City Council Monday The analysis doesn't provide any breakdown on the per capita income level only the city's relative standing in comparison to other cities The city's application for the federal money said there are no current estimates available on the income level but it said the 1970 census showed that 16 percent of the city's population was below the poverty level It also shows that 155 percent of the city's population is oyer 65 which is well above the statewide average of 89 percent The application for the $23 million in federal money includes data on population housing and the proposed use of the money It will be spent for the Gainsboro neighbor hood redevelopment project Hurt Park and Highland Park neighborhood rehabilitation and other projects Council had previously authorized City Manager Bern to file the application He is fowarding a copy to council for informational purposes In other items Monday council will be told that the city can expect to receive $2231241 annually in extra state aid beginning in fiscal 1980 81 as a result of the recent an nexation compromise approved by the General Assembly inance Director Joel Schlanger will present a report on the details of the legislation and the financial implica tions for the city Also Monday Schlanger will join Ewert and Auditor William Brogan in recommending that council modify its policy on setting up petty cash funds in departments Under the present setup the council authorizes the petty cash funds and the amount But the three officials said this increases the security risk when the size of a petty cash fund is known publicly They recommend that the finance director with the concurrence of the city manager and auditor be authorized to set up the petty cash funds so there wouldn't be any public notice of the size of the funds Also Monday council will: Be asked to approve the transfer of $35000 within the Civic Center budget to permit the overhaul of a chiller for the air conditioning system Set minimum salary level for the circuit court clerk's position so the size of the filing fee for the job can be set In a report on the agenda Treasurer Gordon Peters said the filing fee must be 2 percent of the minimum salary for the job but since it is within the city's pay plan council must set the minimum pay Approve the appropriation of $1000 for the printing of 5000 copies of an anti crime handbook prepared by the Citizens Crime Task orce A i LWL( Business License Cuts Advised Business and professional license taxes in Roanoke would be reduced sharply over the next seven years under a recommendation approved today by the city's Revenue Study Commission The commission agreed to recommend that the City Council reduce the business and license tax rates to state mandated ceilings by 1986 The city's retail license tax rate would be reduced from 55 cents to 20 cents per $100 of receipts The professional license tax rate would be cut from $110 to 58 cents per $100 of receipts This tax applies to professional people such as doctors lawyers and accoun tants In the past two years City Council has given a 20 per cent tax credit on business and professional licenses Ewert This has effectively meant a cut in the rates although tech nically they have remained unchanged Under this credit the effective business tax rate has been 44 cents per $100 receipts and the professional rate has been 89 cents per $100 The commission agreed today to recommend a quicker reduction in the professional license tax rate than had been considered earlier Commission members said they think the city should try to reduce its professional license rate faster because it is substantially higher than Roanoke County's The commission also will recommend that the license tax for contractors be reduced to 14 cents per $100 It will recommend that the rate for real estate brokers be frozen at 47 cents per $100 receipts since it is already lower than tiie state mandated ceiling of 58 cents AP Photo Browbeaten A sign hanger George Brock tackles the mammoth job of applying makeup to a billboard face at Pembroke shop ping center on Virginia Beach Boulevard in the Norfolk area irefighter Cites Smoldering Unrest in Roanoke By JOEL TURNER Municipal Affairs Writer Unrest among Roanoke firemen over pay raises holiday benefits and other issues has been building for several years accord ing to the president of the ire ighters Association Don Dixon said the firemen believe they've been losing ground in pay and fringe benefits at a time when the city has been ending fiscal years with large surplus es they (the city council) make a change in our benefits they take away We've been losing ground not gaining Dixon said in an interview The firemen think Cjty Manager Bern Ewert is overly sympathetic to their plight although Ewert has said he thinks city workers ought to receive adequate pay raises in a time of prosperity for the city Dixon said the firemen's concerns are not limited to the issue of recognition and the council's refusal to hear a spokesman for them although this is the thrust of their lawsuit filed earlier this week Dixon said firemen want the chance to have someone speak for them because they are concerned about other things Besides pay raises he said city firemen are the only firefighters in the state who get some holiday benefits They are the only city workers who don't get holiday bene fits Dixon said the firemen would like ex tra pay compensatory time off or some other holiday benefit He said he believes it would be cheaper for the city to provide firemen time and a half pay on holidays rather than hiring extra firemen so they could have compensatory time off He said some City Council candidates in recent years have appeared before screening committees of the ire ighters Association when they were running for election Once elected they have gone along with the policy of refusing to hear a spokesman for the firemen The city also has been checking off un ion dues for the ire ighters Association for several years and sending them to the organization But the city contends this constitute recognition of the union The procedure was approved by the council about four years ago Dixon said he believes many other city workers besides firemen are upset but "you don't hear a lot out of them because they don't have a representative or some one to speak on their behalf" He said indi vidual city workers are reluctant to appear personally before the council to ask for a cost of living raise He said he can remember only one in stance in recent years when an individual worker has gone before the council to ask for a cost of living pay raise Under the council's policy for hearing city workers a worker must appear on his own behalf he can't have someone to represent him Dixon said firemen and city workers were particularly upset two years ago when the city ended the fiscal year with a big sur plus although salaries for workers had been frozen that year He said firemen and other workers felt that part of the surplus was money that had been taken out of their pockets because the city had refused to given them a cost of liv ing raise Dixon said city officials seemed to be more concerned about up with a big surplus rather than giving employees a raise" In the last fiscal year he said the cost of living rose more than 10 percent but the city manager recommended only a 65 per cent cost of living raise plus a 1 percent See ireman Page 3 Blacksburg Plant Closed By Strikers By JIM BACON New River Valley Bureau BLACKSBURG Union pickets threw beer bottles and overturned a car Thursday night during a wildcat strike that left the ederal Mogul Inc plant here closed today Protesting the suspension of three workers and what they called the compa after members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers returned from a six week strike Monday the strikers blocked the driveway to the plant and pre vented all but three cars from reaching the plant parking lot Thursday night Dozens of Blacksburg police Mont gomery County deputies and state police were called to the plant Thursday night during the height of the demonstrations but most of them were parked about a half mile down US 460 from the plant this morning A state police armored car was also parked near the police station this morning Company security guards said the strik ers broke the windshields of cars driven by workers trying to pass the picket line which was manned by more than 200 work ers The security guards said at least two ri fle shots were fired by strikers The windshield of one worker's car was smashed when he drove through the crowd of strikers and across the glass strewn driveway according to a company security guard who asked not to be identi fied After the worker went into the plant group of five guys on foot came through the and knocked over his car the guard said While they were in the parking lot they broke the windshield of another car with a beer bottle he said The guard employed by Common wealth Patrol the Roanoke based security firm employed by the company during the previous strike said he and another guard were standing in the parking lot when they heard a shot The guards who were told not to inter vene unless the strikers attempted to enter the plant said they stood by while workers drove around on the factory lawn and ran over trees Unofficial reports that a few demon strators were arrested Thursday night could not be confirmed this morning by the Blacksburg police The strike began about 7 pm Thurs day when workers began walking out of the second shift and congregating around the driveway Estimates of the number of strik ers during the peak of the demonstration ranged from 200 to 300 Although the 400 member union did not authorize the strike local union offi cials were sympathetic with the picketers we went back after the original strike they (the company) treat peo ple very said local president James Metcalf Picketers were protesting the suspen sion of three workers one of who was dis missed for an incident occurring outside of the factory explained John Brown a un ion shop steward The two other workers given 30 day medical leaves against their when they objected to perform ing heavy labor he said supervisors refused to give them See Strike Page 3 LiMMMIlB' JiISBk a MMMM Sr Mrs Younger Stops for Students rom the Coru Apartments During Her 3rd Run of the Day Bus Driver Mothers Her Students By ROLAND KIDWELL Stiff Wrltur has the rubber bands I want no de clared them up to me right now or sit here all The 50 elementary school students from Northwest Roanoke sat in silence inally a boy at the back of the bus hand ed some rubber bands to a school patrol who brought them to Ethel Younger a former housekeeper who has driven a Roanoke school bus for seven years On a recent morning when she trans ported about 120 pupils to Roanoke ele mentary junior high and high schools the 57 year old widow raised her voice only once: to confiscate the rubber bands The high schoolers were relatively calm for a riday morning and the junior high students only a bit louder But the fifty screaming Northwest Elementary School students were obviously there to have a good time before they reached the close supervision of their teachers IN THE Schools doesn't bother me any as long as they stay in their seats and don't use any bad she said "If they respect me going to respect Sue" a moniker most of the elementary students use in greeting her said she is paid about $22 a day to brave the screams and shouts of the pupils But she said she would rather listen to the chatter than discipline the children "After a few days at home during one of the vacations I welcome the sound of those she said Each school day Mrs Younger ar rives about 7 am at the city "Bus Bam" on Courtland Avenue in Northeast Roa noke After greeting fellow drivers she boards No 15 and prepares to embark on a work Her first stop is lorida Avenue and Leon Street Northwest where a group of bleary eyed junior high students are wait ing to go to Breckinridge Junior High on Williamson Road About half the students greet Mrs Younger by name and she pulls off down the block to the next stop Mrs Younger said she introduces herself to the pupils who ride her bus the first day of each school year She tells them she expects them to obey the rules which include no smoking standing loud talk or roughhousing Mrs Younger said the students are generally cooperative and she had to throw a pupil off her bus in the seven years been driving She disciplines the students but manages not to lose her temper See Bus Driver Page 3 Staff Photos by Betty Hasten Like Brian Tunstall Some Kindergartners Need a Boost 1 1 iLLLlLli IMT'' I if kXesmatofcT as 1 vwL8 pt Asp i Vc i a wCffiiSBCsf 'f l' Imp1 Sa IK itPSh Jr Religious Group Plans New Use or Old Ch 27 By CHRIS GLADDEN Staff Wrltar A corporation nas been formed in Roanoke to establish a non profit independent television station to broadcast religious and family programming on the unused Channel 27 Roanoke Christian Broadcasting Inc at 5720 William son Road has sent 1000 letters to business civic and church leaders within a 50 mile radius of Roanoke said" Llewellyn ischer RCB president The letters seek "contributions prayers and volunteer ischer a retired division director of the Naval Air Assistance Command in Norfolk said the new corporation is seeking help in meeting the requirements for a license application to the ederal Communications Commission The letter says the requirements are for an antenna site a station building and financial and technical WRLU an ABC affiliate was previously broadcast on Channel 27 but it went off the air in 1975 and its license was dissolved Any other station planning to broadcast on the channel must apply for a new license been looking at an antenna site on Poor Moun ischer said really are starting from scratch" ischer said he hopes to locate the station building in Roanoke but an engineer has to be consulted before a site can be decided on He said the corporation will have to raise $15 million to meet the CC requirement but he believes the station can be put on the air for less than $1 million Kenneth Wright pastor of Evangel oursquare Church of Roanoke which brings Christian Broadcasting Network into the valley via Channel 12 on Roanoke Valley Cablevision said that oursquare will probably participate in the new operation "We're in conference with each other We'll be in volved in some he said not working against each "We may receive some help even leadership from them (oursquare) but we want to be affiliated with See Channel 27 Page 7 IN THE Schools.