New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung from New Braunfels, Texas • Page 1

New Braunfels New Braunfels, Texas Herald-Zeltung Vol. 91-No. 250 24 Paaes-2 Sections FRIDAY December 24,1982 25 cents (USPS 377-880) Poison drink caused attorney's death ByDYANNEFRY Staff writer A soft drink laced with cyanide presumably caused the death of Peter Watts Dean, a 35- year-old Brownsville attorney. The Travis County Medical Examiner found that cyanide poisoning killed Dean, whose body was discovered Tuesday morning in the back of a Chevrolet Blazer off Smithson's Valley Road. "Whether (the poisoning) was self-inflicted, that's pending investigation," said Comal County Sheriff's Investigator Rudy Rubio on Thursday.

"Judge (Peace Justice R.G.) Blanchard will have to make a ruling on that." Authorities found a plastic tumbler, containing a mixture of cyanide and Coca-Cola, between the Blazer's two front seats, Rubio said. A glass of the same mixture (approximately half cyanide, half Coke) was found inside the abandoned farmhouse near which the Blazer was parked. The property belongs to Dean's father-in- law, Paul Silber of San Antonio. It's leased to cattle rancher Mike Crocker, who discovered Dean's body near mid-day Tuesday. Apparently, Crocker was also the last person to see Dean alive.

Rubio said the rancher saw the attorney at the house at approximately 8 p.m. Monday, while checking on his stock. The two men had a short conversation at that time. Medical examiners also found traces of carbon monoxide in Dean's body. When Rubio arrived on the scene Tuesday, there was a hose connecting the Blazer's exhaust pipe with the interior of the vehicle.

However, Rubio said the motor was not running, and that the hose was melted in places, as though it had been subjected to a great deal of heat. A portable television, hooked up to a house outlet, sat in the back bed of the Blazer, where Dean's body was found. The TV was on when Rubio arrived. An involuntary bankruptcy suit, filed by Dean against Tierra del Sol Broadcasting of Brownsville, was scheduled for a hearing in Houston on Wednesday morning. After learning of Dean's death, the court postponed the hearing until Jan.

11. Dean had also been scheduled to appear in court Jan. 3, this time as a defendant in a suit filed by Sunset Broadcasting Corporation, a subsidiary of Tierra del Sol. The attorney was also involved in Central Texas Factors, a company linked to the Nov. 19 collapse and closing of Ranchland National Bank in Melvin, Texas.

Dean's law partner, Lawrence Ludka, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Chester Ludka of Bulverde. He is reported to have visited his parents earlier this week, but the Herald- Zeitung has been unable to contact him. Economic outlook will get better in 1983-Reagan WASHINGTON (AP) President Reagan, who incorrectly predicted an economic recovery this year, now says he is convinced 1983 will bring "a definite upturn" even though there may not be a major improvement in unemployment.

Reagan made his assessment Thursday in a year-end meeting with reporters where he also hailed final congressional passage of a nickel-a- gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. With the bill on the way'to the White House, the Senate adjourned, ending the 97th Congress and sending its members scrambling home for the Christmas holidays. The House had adjourned two days earlier. The bill would provide $5.5 billion a year for a program of highway and mass transit improvements, and sponsors said 170,000 construction jobs would be created. The gasoline tax increase, which also applies to diesel fuel, takes effect April 1.

In his 10-minute session with reporters, the president called his Middle East peace proposal "our greatest accomplishment" of 1982 and said he remains hopeful it will succeed despite its rejection by Israel. Asked about the economy and what he could tell the nation's 12 million unemployed, Reagan said, "I am convinced that this coming year, 1983, is going to see a definite upturn. The president said he was not frustrated by the failure of his program to produce the results he promised in 1982. "I think that we have put in place a sound program that is going to lead to a sound recovery." He called on each of the nation's employers to hire at least one jobless person to ease unemployment. "There must be some that can't, I know, because of their own troubles, but there must be others that could probably take even more than one," Reagan said.

Reagan's repeated forecasts of economic-improvement in 1982 failed to materialize. For example, last May, when about 10 million Americans were out of work, Reagan said the outlook for the jobless "will improve, I think in the latter half of this year. I do believe there is every indication that this recession is bottoming out." By year's end, 12 million Americans were jobless and the unemployment rate stood at 10.8 percent its highest level in 42 years. At a news conference last July 28, Reagan said, "Evidence of a recovery has been sighted, but it's only a beginning. I think we're going to see an improvement in the second half of the year." Yet at the end of 1982, industrial production continued to slide, and a preliminary estimate by the Commerce Department showed the economy continued to decline in the last three months of the year at a substantial 2.2 percent rate.

Cheer Fund Today is Christmas Eve, and this morning we distributed our "Cheer Fund" baskets full of food which you provided us to 60 needy local families. Thanks to your generosity, each family received several grocery sacks of food: enough to provide several meals in addition to the Christmas dinner we had originally planned. Volunteers sorted the food in our mail room Thursday afternoon, and circulation manager Don Avery directed the distribution Friday morning. Grocery sacks were stuffed into every conceivable as the mail room looked more like an immense checkout counter. Old balance $1,657.70 New contributors William E.

White $35 John Kenagy $25 Mr. and Mrs. Yale Simpson $15 Mr. and Mrs. Archie Wohlfahrt $15 and canned goods William R.

and C. Mara Lee $15 Mary Perez $10 and Land Titles, Leases $10 Hobbies Club of New Braunfels canned goods Anonymous (3) canned goods Norm Olson canned goods Harry Hess canned goods New balance $1,782.70 Again, a note about the it reflects only the monetary contributions. In addition to that bottom figure, we also have a large stockpile of groceries, canned goods and miscellaneous items. Since it would be difficult to calculate a dollar value on these items, they are not included in the total. We really appreciate your contributions, which have helped brighten Christmas for these families.

You folks who have been listed here deserve the credit for the success of this effort, and we give you our sincere thanks. Have a Merry Christmas. You've sure earned it. lit-, i Stall photos by John SentKr Holiday cheer After three weeks of collecting food, Herald- Zeitung employees headed to the mail room Thursday to organize what has been donated and then to the streets Friday to distribute the goodies. Above, circulation manager Don Avery makes a delivery to a mother and her two children Friday morning.

Right, general manager Dave Kramer lifts boxes of candy canes. Dear Santa Inside Recession affects kids'wish lists ByANIMBLACKMAN Associated Press Some kids want a job for daddy this Christmas. Others would settle for just a daddy. "I want things to be better for Mommy. I want Mommy to be married," a 2-year-old told Santa Claus Sherman Hardge in Detroit.

Jobs for Daddy, said two children to Santa Jeff Swale in Seattle. "The key to good magic a magic so great that the needy and sick will become unsick and un- needy," said little Andrea of Chicopee, whose letter to Santa was read by Chicopee postmaster JohnSteele. Santa Claus, who listens to the dreams of children, says many kids understand that this Christmas will be different. They seem to know the visions dancing in their heads may not make their way to a spot under the Christmas tree, and they have tapered their wish-lists. "Some of them will come in here, and you know their folks are out of work because they'll say, 'I can't get but one said Santa Keith Thomas at Rich's Department Store in Atlanta.

"And they usually ask for something small, like an umbrella. "I've had a kid ask for a new house for his mom and dad. And I had one kid ask for a ham for Christmas. I just told him Santa would do the best he he could. You can't make them too many promises." In Portland, a Santa at the Meier Frank department store said he finds children sensitive to their family finances.

"Some kids say, 'I don't want any toys. Can you just bring me some said the Santa, who won't reveal his real name to anyone, including store employees. "My heart goes out for 'em. I tell them the only thing we have at the North Pole is Monopoly money." Santa Claus himself may be particularly sensitive See SANTA, Page 16A Today's Weather The Christmas forecast calls for cloudy skies, cold temperatures and a good chance of rain. Today's high should reach the mid-70s, with the low tonight dropping to the mid-40s and a 20 percent chance of rain.

Winds will be out of the south-southwest today near 15 mph, switching to north-northwest near 15 mph tonight. Christmas Day will be cloudy and cold with a 30 percent chance of rain and high temperature in the upper- 50s. Sunrise Christmas morning will be at 7:23. Sunset tonight will be at 5:38. The Bigger They Thursday night was not a good one for the nation's college basketball powers.

While UCLA was losing in double overtime to Maryland and Missouri was upset in Washington, No. 1 ranked Virginia fell in the upset of the decade 77-72 to Chaminade, a NAIA school. See Page 6A. Dissident Released Kim Dae Jung, a vocal critic of the South Korean government, was released from prison in his home country and allowed to come to America. Jung praised President Ronald Reagan and Sen.

Edward Kennedy for their efforts in gaining his release. See Page 3A. CLASSIFIED 10-14A COMICS 15A CROSSWORD 15A DEARABBY 16A DEATHS 2A HOROSCOPE 2A OPINIONS 4A SPORTS 6-7A WEATHER 2A County hopes to avoid 'hidden costs'in jail By JACQUELINE SMITH Staff writer The administrative costs of running a county jail can outweigh the economic advantages gained by building that jail as cheaply as possible. This is one of the things learned by county officials who have been visiting other county jails around the state, Comm. J.L.

"Jumbo" Evans said in a telephone interview Thursday. In preparation for the construction of a new county jail which according to a yet-to-be approved federal lawsuit settlement must be completed no later than August, 1985, various county officials, including Evans have been visiting other jails. These visits have proven beneficial, Evans said, in that they are learning from the mistakes made by other counties in the construction of their jails. "We've learned of different floor plans for the confinement (of prisoners)," said Evans. "And what the advantages of some (floor plans) are over others." Floor plans of a jail are directly related to the administrative costs of running the jail, which Evans said, "is one of the things that we're worried about what it'll cost to operate.

"You can build an economically designed (jail), but it might be such that it would require a lot of people to operate it." was appointed by Commissioners Court to serve as liaison between the court and Holt-Fatter and Scott, the Austin architectural firm handling plans for the new jail. A formal contract between the court and Evans has not yet been approved, although currently negotiations are continuing between the court and the architects. Due to the holiday season, these negotiations have been temporarily delayed, Evans noted Thursday. After the holidays, however, and as soon as he has completed visiting other jails and reported to the court, Evans expects the court and architects will arrive at an agreement concerning fees. Originally, Evans hoped to have completed his visits to other county jails in time to give a written report to the court before Christmas.

But he said he would still like to visit the Fort Bend County Jail in Richmond, Texas before completing this report..