Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • 1

0 The Decatur SPEB ATlflM LJ 8 8 iyjadcacira (BWCBW Wm: "01 Jmy Everyone is extended an invitation COPYRIGHT 1988 ITfe, Jife'AV HERALD REVIEW fgg "'I opened Central Cizry C3 Decatur, Illinois Sunday, April 17, 1988 Central Illinois Page A6 Newsstand: $1 Home delivery: 97 cents Weather Nice, Clouds will increase today and it will be warmer in mid 70s. Oi Tonight: colder, rain and thunderstorms. But watch out for Monday! It'll be colder with rain or snow. Tate Lyle: Defense unfair By RON INGRAM Herald Review FarmBusiness Writer If Staley Continental Inc. is taken over, company executives might have a very comfortable, if forced, retirement.

But a pending lawsuit is aimed at stripping them of their perks. British sugar refiner and distributor Page A2 1 (UPDATE Lifestyle Short prom dresses in Tate Lyle PLC, which wants to buy Staley Continental, doesn't want to pay the more than $140 million cost of the executives' "golden parachutes." The would-be buyer is suing to eliminate them. Staley Continental's five top execu Employees also win Page A11 Baby born to widow of pilot By KEVIN McDERMOTT Pana Bureau Chief SHELBYVILLE For the family of Lt. j.g. John W.

Barker, the good news and the bad came almost simultaneously. Barker, 28, formerly of Shelbyville, was killed Thursday when the A-6E Intruder bomber he was piloting crashed in rugged terrain in southwest Washington during training flight The wreckage was discovered late Friday the same night Barker's wife, Rhonda, gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl. Family members said Barker's wife was about two weeks overdue. She went into labor Friday, after hearing her husband was missing. "I don't know if that caused the labor," said Barker's brother-in-law, Marvin Debolt of Shumway, "but I'm sure it didn't slow things down any." Rhonda Barker gave birth at about 6 p.m.

Friday at Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville, south of the couple's home in Oak Harbor. She and the baby were in good condition Saturday, according to a hospital spokesman. Debolt said the Navy called the family Thursday and said Barker's plane was missing. "He responded at one checkpoint and did not at the next," Debolt said. The Navy called again late Friday and said Barker was dead.

Also killed in the crash was Lt. Brian C. Hawley, 25, of Lake Tahoe, Calif. Debolt, who is married to Barker's sister, Linda, said Barker was a quiet man who enjoyed hiking, fishing and other outdoor sports. "He was very patriotic and he was very proud to be accepted into the (Navy) aviation program.

He felt he was doing a service for his country." Debolt said the family has heard "very little" information about the crash from the Navy. Hoops and crinolines are out for prom dresses. The seniors of 1988 are opting for shorter lengths a la Vanna White of "Wheel of Fortune" television fame. Their reasoning is varied. Some say the shorter lengths are more glamorous, while others feel they can wear them more comfortably when they head off to college this fall.

Page C1 New faces Zookeeper Pam Hoffman shows off some new faces at Scovill Children's Zoo, which opens to the public Saturday. Hoffman keeps an armadillo from racing away, while another new animal, the binturong (right), will debut this season. The ring-tailed lemur is 3 weeks old and is among a batch of babies that can be (Photos by Doug Gaumon) found at the zoo. See story on Page A7. Central Illinois TV ban draws fire Harsh words were leveled on Saturday after it was revealed that "The Untouchables" would not be allowed to be shown on Eastern Illinois University's TV station.

And at least one member of Eastern's faculty Senate promised action. Paae A3 Sports WJ r. Cards, Cubs lose Saturday was bleak for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. The Cards took it on the chin.

in New York as the Mets rallied 6-4. Chicago, the Cubs were blanked by Pittsburgh's Doug Drabek, 4-0. Page B1 8B. bo rUGOOD Index Our 116th year tives would divide an estimated $43.7 million, and 39 other executives and managers would split an estimated $117.2 million under the parachutes officially known as retention agreements between the executives and the company which would guarantee payments to them in the event of an actual or threatened change in company control. The plans would be triggered if Tate Lyle is successful in its $32 a share cash tender offer for Staley Continental, holding company for A.E.

Staley Mfg. Co. of Decatur, a corn refiner, and CFS Continental Inc. of Chicago, a food service distributor. The British company says it would retain Staley and sell CFS Continental to help defray acquisition costs.

Tate Lyle would only have to acquire just over 20 percent of Staley Continental's stock for the retention plans to take effect. Provisions of the management retention plans, as well as other anti-takeover devices Staley Continental directors have built up during the past two years, are outlined in a lawsuit Tate Lyle filed in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to overturn the defenses. Tate Lyle asks the court to void the parachutes and order Staley Continental directors not to implement the other takeover defenses. The lawsuit contends the Staley Continental directors have breached their fiduciary duty to shareholders by adopting the golden parachutes and other takeover defenses. Amounts allegedly due Staley Continental's top brass under the retention plan are Chairman Donald E.

Nordlund, $14.2 million; President Robert M. Powers, $8.8 million; Executive Vice President Robert B. Hoffman, $9.2 million; Vice Chairman Robert H. Conn, $7.4 million, and Vice Chairman Alvin W. Cohn, $4.1 million.

To fund the golden parachutes, a $140 million trust fund would have to be set up within 10 days of anyone acquiring more than 20percent of Staley Continental's stock. The Tate Lyle lawsuit states this amount exceeds Staley Continental's $111 million in working capital and the $130 million in aggregate net earnings of the company for the past five years. Payments to executives would be made if, within three years after Staley Continental was acquired, a covered executive's job was changed for the worse or he was fired without cause. Each of the 44 managers and executives covered by the retention plan has the final say. If the executive is unhappy and quits, he can put the plan into effect Staley Continental directors established the parachute trust on Nov.

6 in the wake of an alleged stock manipulation attempt by the brokerage firm of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. and later when Tate Lyle's expressed interest in buying additional Staley Continental stock. The lawsuit states these events convinced the board the company was a takeover target The trust was adopted by the directors without shareholder approval. Staley Continental officials have declined to comment on the Tate Lyle legal action. A recommendation by the company's directors concerning the tender offer is expected by Thursday.

head wound suffered by the victim. Kline said he is aware of no forced entry to the church. "To my knowledge there is no animosity (by anyone) toward the church or people who go there," he said. "It would be easier on the family if there was some motive. It is hard to understand," he added.

On Saturday night, there were no new developments. Lt. Gary Sullivan said sheriff's deputies will be releasing only limited details about the case at this point because they are getting second-hand information about what the woman has said. Because of the woman's condition, she has not been interviewed by investigators. The description of the suspect was relayed to deputies by ambulance personnel who tended the woman.

By JUDY TATHAM Herald Review Staff Writer BLUE MOUND A 71-year-old organist practicing for Sunday services reported she was attacked and beaten at a rural church by an unknown intruder. Macon County sheriff's deputies have not been able to talk directly to the woman because of her condition. But the victim told witnesses she was assaulted by a white man, in his 20s with light-colored hair and wearing blue jeans. The woman was practicing Saturday morning for services at Bethel Methodist Church, located about two miles north of Blue Mound on County Highway 27, just off Illinois 48. About 25 people gather each Sunday in this isolated church surrounded by cornfields.

The Rev. John D. Kline said his church has about 100 members, made up mostly of retired people, many area farmers and some Blue Mound residents. "This is probably why it is so shocking. It is just a real small church and the highway runs about one-eighth of a mile away.

It is is hard to believe it happened in an area like this," he said. The victim, who is in serious condition in St. Mary's Hospital, has possibly suffered a broken leg, a concussion and other injuries. She has told witnesses she was beaten and thrown down steep basement steps onto a concrete floor. A friend said the victim told her "she prayed and prayed somebody would come." The victim received help after she was able to flag down a passing motorist who drove her to his home about one mile away.

The friend, who asked not to be identified, was crying Saturday as she described the multiple bruises and serious Five sections Issue 108 Magazines inside: Parade TV Central Illinois Lifestyle C1-7 Nation B6-7 Sports B1-5 State A14-15 World B7 Church directory B8 Lottery A12 Classified B8-17 Marketplace Entertainment. Movies E7 Homes D8 A12.B6 Horoscope C2 Opinion D2-3 Insight D1 PuzzleE3TravelE1-2 Literary ES Advertising 429-51 51 Circulation Classified 429-4353 Newsroom 429-5151 Toll-free 1-800-252-1626 Box 311 601 E. William St. Decatur, 62525 Up Next "'iniMiffri-1 odd (sssgi wouirDe Wazir murdered Page B7 the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip, bringing the number of Palestinians reported killed to at least 162. An Israeli soldier and civilian also have been slain.

Most of the violence was in the Gaza Strip, where Khalil al-Wazir, military commander of the PLO, lived until 1963 and close relatives remain. He was killed early Saturday at his home in Tunis, Tunisia, by seven commandos who escaped. Palestinian leaders blamed IsraeL "Israel is the only party that could have carried out such an act," said Hanna Siniora, editor of the newspaper Al Fajr in Arab east Jerusalem. GAZA CITY, Occupied Gaza Strip (AP) Arabs enraged by the slaying of PLO chief Yasser Arafat's top aide fought street battles Saturday with Israeli soldiers who killed 13 rioters and wounded scores, hospital officials said. Bernard Mills, head of the U.N.

Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said of the Israeli soldiers: "From reports we have, they used no warning shots, no tear gas, no rubber bullets. They just opened fire." A military spokesman said the soldiers fired because their lives were in danger. He described the clashes as "breaking out spontaneously and with force" and Wonder about your taxes said demonstrators had thrown many firebombs at troops. Hospitals, U.N. officials and Arab journalists said up to 90 Palestinians were wounded.

The army imposed curfews on 10 refugee camps. It was the highest one-day death toll reported since violence began Dec. 8 in Monday's YOU.