Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1982-02-02

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StATE HISTORICAL S0CIS7T 334
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HITT 4 L01RT GT.
COLUttBIA, HO. W
74th Year - No. 1 17 ; od Morning! It's Tuesday, February 2, 1982 2 Sections 1 1 Pages - 25 Cents
St. Louis, area
await another
load of winter
ST. LOUIS ( UPI) - A3 city crews
and National Guardsmen teamed
Monday to dig St. Louis out from
nearly 2 feet of snow, weather fore-casters
set their sights on another
round of snowfall in the Midwest, in-cluding
mid- Missou- ri.
" I think we're making some pro-gress,"
said St. Louis Mayor Vincent
Schoemehl, who went on the radio to
discuss his city's efforts to recover
from the Sunday blizzard that prac-tically
paralyzed the city. " We in-tend
to have everything up and run-ning."
For Missouri, a storm in the south-ern
Rockies is expected to make its
way through the state today and
dump 2 to 4 inches of snowfall in the
Columbia area. High temperatures
in the low 30s F are forecast for to-day,
with a high around 20 degrees F
expected for Wednesday.
In St. Louis Monday, park depart-ment
employees were assigned to
help street crews open major thor-oughfares,
and about 100 National
Guardsmen were called in from Jef-ferson
City and Cape Girardeau.
Their camouflage- painte- d trucks
roared through downtown in an ef-fort
to have the streets open in time
for Tuesday's rush hour.
Hundreds of abandoned cars and
sightseeing drivers clogged streets
and freeways, making street- cleani- ng
slow and troublesome. Public
transit buses were unable to leave
their garages.
Only four- whe- el drive vehicles tra-versed
the snow- drifte- d streets of
the nver city. Downtown streets,
normally cldgged with- 100,00- 0 work--
ers, were eerily silent and white dur-ing
the rush hour.
" We haven't had anything like this
to deal with m four years," said
Richard Daykin, St. Louis County
highway director. " We've, been us-ing
whatever eqjipment we could
lay our hands on."
Hospitals, m some cases short- hande- d,
were seeing more patients
as the roads were cleared.
" We're starting to get more pa-tients,
especially maternities," said
Melva Anthonopoulus, City Hospital
spokeswoman. " Medical cases,
heart attacks, you name it, we've
got it.
" We're working on a skeleton
crew. Some of us are working two or
three shifts," she said.
About a half dozen cars were cov-ered
by the rising ice- chok- ed Missis-sippi
River. Their owners, who spent
Saturday evening at the waterfront's
nverboat restaurants, had been un-able
to drive up the steep, cobbles- tone- d
levy and were forced to aban-don
their vehicles.
City officials declared a snow
emergency and asked businesses to
stay closed until at least 8 p. m. CST
Monday. All city and St. Louis Coun-ty
government offices were closed as
well as most schools.
Officially, 13.9 inches ( 35.3 centi-meters)
of snow was recorded at
Lambert- S- t. Louis International Air-port.
However, as much as 22 inches
( 55.9 centimeters) was reported in
southern parts of the metropolitan
area the third- heavie- st snowfall
ever recorded in St. Louis, and the
heaviest since the 15.5 inches ( 39.4
( See WEEKEND, Page 8A)
Adding up
tke Reagan
numbers
6New Federalism':
down to money
Robert Pear
i New York Times
WASHINGTON The debate over
President Reagan's " New Federal-ism"
has quickly shifted from the
lofty realm of political philosophy to
a more mundane concern money.
The numbers issued by the White
House after the president delivered
his State of the Union Message pur-port
to show that Reagan's proposals
would have a net fiscal effect of zero
in every state. But there is a growing
debate about the president's arith-metic.
Although Reagan administration
officials said there would be " no
InsigM
-- j
See related story, Page 2A
winners or losers," mayors and gov-ernors
said they feared they would
lose millions of dollars when pro-grams
were " swapped" and " turned
back" by the federal government.
First, critics say the White House
understated the likely cost of the two
big welfare programs that would be
transferred from the federal to the
state level, food stamps and Aid to
Families with Dependent Children.
The White House initially forecast
federal expenditure of $ 16.5 billion in
the fiscal yw 19M ior & tw0 P1
grains. Setting that number assumes
that Congress will approve substan-tial
changes in the food stamp and
welfare programs that are to be pro-posed
by Reagan in his budget next SI Without those changes, the
two programs would cost wu Da-lian,
or $ 3.7 billion more than the
( See STATE, Page 8A)
In town td$ vy I
7- 3- 0 p. m. Boone County 1
Home Rule Oiarter. Ctommis- - I
sion public hearing, Ashland
HighSchool. , , . ' .
7- 3- 8 pjn. Women's basket-ball,
Missouri vs. Kansas,
Hearnes Center.
Index
Clfflilfled -- WB
Comics........
Opinion ...... a
People - r2 Sport g
Theater....,
1- -
Residents had to dig out their cars in downtown St. Louis
Monday after the worst snow storm since 1912 moved
through the area Sunday. Traffic throughout the area was re
UPlTelephtrto stricted ... as the . city . and . county declared an emergency. Offi-cially,
13.9 inches of snowfall was recorded in the city, but
some areas reported as much as 22 inches of snow.
How we missed the big blizzard...
By Jeffrey R. Scott
Missourian staff writer
It was misdirection that saved Co-lumbia
from the near- reco- rd snow-fall
that blanketed St. Lotus early
Sunday. '
The moisture- lade- n, low- pressu- re
system that triggered the storm
came from the south, rather than the
north or the west. And that saved Co-lumbians
a lot of snow shoveling
over the weekend.
The storm resulted when a north-bound
low- pressu- re system carrying
... Or, ' Saved By a South Wind'
winds and moisture from the Gulf of
Mexico collided with a fngrd high- pressu- re
system centered over the
Great Lakes
" The moist air provided the pre-cipitation,
while the high- pressu- re
system provided the coldness," said
Dean Gulezian, meteorologist- in- charg- e
for the National Weather
Service station at Columbia Region-al
Airport.
The result was a blizzard that left
St. Louis with its the third largest ac-cumulation
in a 24- ho- ur period
unofficially, nearly two feet of snow
was reported. Columbia escaped
with a mere three inches.
" Columbia was on the edge of the
storm," explained Allen Legree, a
staff member of the weather serv-ice.
" The moisture was too far east
of us."
But some Columbians felt the ef
fect
Many who spent the weekend in St.
Louis found themselves stranded as
Interstate 70 was closed from War- rento- n,
Mo., east as far as Indianap-olis
The southeastern portion of
Missouri was hardest hit by the
storm, which also dumped heavy
amounts of snow on southern Illinois
and Kentucky.
Official totals from weather serv-ice
revealed five inches at Spring-field,
12 at Rolla and IS inches for St.
Louis Columbia and the northern
part of the state had three inches.
All' calm -- at hearmfif on. bonds, tax bike .
By Paul Shannon
Missourian staff writer
What if they gave a public hearing
and nobody came?
That almost happened Monday
night at the fust of two hearings
scheduled by the Columbia Cit
Council on a proposed $ 8 4 million
bond issue and half- ce- nt sales tax in-crease.
Only two local residents
showed up
The city, hit by state and federal
budget cuts, faces a projected deficit
of $ 16-- 4 million over the next four
years. To make up for these cuts and
to fund long- delay- ed capital im-provement
projects, the council has
proposed a general obligation bond
issue and sales tax increase. Colum-bia
voters may get a chance to vote
on these proposals in April.
Funds raised in the bond issue
would be used to begin work on such
projects as extension of runways at
Columbia Regional Airport, upgrad-ing
of city streets and bridges, con-struction
of a new fire station, uistal- -
lation of lights at the American
legion baseball field and addition of
nine sirens to the city's emergencj
warning system
City Manager Richard Gray's pre-sentation
of the projects echoed
through the nearly empty council
chamber. No one came to hear about
the airport or the streets or the fire
station. There wasn't even a base-ball
player present
The tax increase would raise Co-lumbia's
sales tax rate from 4 G25
cents to 5.125 cents on the dollar The
increase would raise an additional
$ 2.7 million a ear, $ 1 million of
which would be used to pay off the
debt caused by the bond issue
The remaining $ 1 7 million could
be used in a number of ways. City of-ficials
have suggested that property
taxes could be lowered from 73 cents
to 40 cents per $ 100 assessed valua-tion.
Even with the property tax de-crease,
the sales tax could fund a
new police beat for the city, increase
grants to social service agencies and
beef up the flagging bus system.
Paul Albert of 2703 Parker Place
was the first citizen to come forward
at the hearing. He denounced the
bond issue and sales tax increase,
exhorting the council to desist in its
proposal and follow the example of
communist Czechoslovakia where
people make their own brooms
ihe second speaker. Peter Leo of
51"? Business Loop 63 N , called the
sales tax a regressive measure, nne
that falls most heavily on low - in- come
groups Leo asked the council
to exp'ore the possibhtv of a citv in-come
tax.
According to the U. S. Census Bu-reau,
a person making $ 8,000 a ear
spends 40 percent of his income ori
' items subject to sales taxev But a
person making $ 30,000 spends only 10
percent of his income on such items
Yet no families making less than
$ 8,000 a year lined the chamber to
speak out against the proposal, and
none enjoying $ 30,000 incomes were
there to applaud the alternative to
an increase in property tax.
Stamp ofsuccess
Family makes
mark by selling
canned drinks
ByRandiCharno
Missourian staff writer
Jerry Palmer, owner of McCowan's Southside
Market, 2601 S. Providence Road, has made sell-ing
canned beverages a family affair.
Palmer and his family have spent the last few
days' stamping canned beverages purchased out-side
the city limits. Columbia's beverage con-tainer
ordinance requires that each can of beer or
soda sold in town be stamped " Columbia" and
carry a 5- ce- nt deposit
Although the ordinance intends for the stamp ,
and deposit to originate with the distributor, re-tailers
can buy canned beverages outside the city
limits and stamp the cans themselves.
Because distributors have not been making na-tional
brand canned beer and some brands of
canned soda available' to local retailers, Palmer
decided to take the matter into his own hands. He
aunched a statewide hunt for canned beverages
not offered in the Columbia market, specifically
canned beer.
Monday, he hit pay dirt.
Although Palmer was able to buy 100 cases of
Diet Shasta soda from a Mexico, Mo. distributor
last week, he was unable to get any canned beer
until this week.
Palmer secured 90 cases of canned Pabst Blue
Ribbon beer from an out- of- to- wn distributor and
brought it baJi to his store. The purchase made
McCowan's the only Columbia outlet for national
- brand canned beer, as well as Diet Shasta soda.
Palmer uses a rubber stamp attached with Elm-er's
Glue to the bottom of a Pepsi can, which in
The Palmer beer can stamp saw
turn is connected to a wooden rod, to mark the
cans with the store name and the required desig-nation,
" Columbia." While Palmer is pumping
gas or serving other customers at McCowan's, his
father Jim and mother Nellie help stamp cans.
Even his son Bill, 7, gets in on the act. " I did a
case of Shasta cans yesterday," he said.
" When customers bring the cans back, I'll be
able to tell if it's my stamp or a duplication," he
said, noting his store's distinguishable stamp.
Palmer believes selling canned beverages will
not only create new brand' loyalties, but store loy-alty
will develop as consumers return to redeem
their cans.
Palmer is selling Pabst Blue Ribbon for $ 2.65 a
six- pa- ck of cans, as opposed to $ 2.89 a six- pac- k for
national brand beers in long- nec- k bottles. A six- pa- ck
of canned Diet Shasta sells for $ 1.89 plus 5
cents deposit at McCowan's. A six- pa- ck of canned
Coca Cola sells for $ 2.29 plus the deposit the
same price it sold tor before the ordinance took ef-fect
Palmer said the only expense he has incurred
getting canned beer is the gas required to travel
to distributors outside Columbia. He is still trying
to get other national- bran- d canned beer, and is
currently negotiating with N. H. Scheppers, the lo-cal
Anheuser- Busc- h distributor, to purchase Bud- weis- er
and Busch at a warehouse outside the city
limits.
Although Palmer seems to have a good under-standing
of the ordinance, some consumers still
seem a bit confused about how it works.
Palmer explains to customers that the cans are
not throwaways, that the nickel deposit could be
redeemed if the empties were returned to McCo- -
wan's.
" You can throw them away if you want to,"
Palmer says, smiling. " But I make ? nickel if you
do."
I
Council OKs $ 5,000
for Flat Branch cleanup
B Lisa Bertagnoli
and Lon Kay Crouch
Missourian staff writers
City Council members Monday
night approved a $ 5,000 allocation to
help clean up the Flat Branch area
OrJy Fifth Ward Councilman Dick
Walls opposed approval of the ordi-nance.
" What will $ 5,000 do?" he asked
Fourth Ward Councilman Pat Bar-nes.
Bames replied that the $ 5,000
cleanup of trash and destruction of
old foundations make city property
m the area more presentable and
may help stimulate development in
the area.
" No one wants to put up a new
building against all that old stuff."
he said " Besides, the money will be
used anyway, so why not now' Let's
give Flat Branch a chance "
Sixth Ward Councilman Matt Mc- Cormi- ck
agreed
The city, he said, will be setting an
example for other businesses in Flat
Branch by cleaning up city- own- ed
parts of the area.
But Walls stood firm. If the city is
going to get involved, he told fellow
councilmen, it should go all the way
allocate enough money to really
clean up the area, then concentrate
on zoning and parceling land in the
area to be sure it stays that way.
Walls came out on the winning
side when a resolution he introduced
was unanimously approved. The res--
( See COUNCILMEN, P. 8A)
Panel clears
local doctor
of negligence
ByDanBalahan
Missourian staff writer
A Columbia physician has been
cleared of charges of negligence in
caring for two Boone County Medi-caid
patients, it was announced Mon-day.
In a decision handed down Thurs-day
by the state Administrative
Hearing Commission, Judge J. Wil-liam
Campbell said the state had
failed to establish so much as a pre-sumption
of wrongdoing m its case
against long- tun- e Columbia physi-cian
Benedict A. Moramnlle.
" They didn't have any xase at
all," said Moranville's attorney,
Raymond C. Lewis.
Moranville refused comment Mon-day,
saying only that the record
speaks for itself.
By his own estimate, Moranville
treats half the county's Medicaid pa-tients.
Medicaid is a state and feder-al
program that reimburses physi-cians
for health care provided to
indigent citizens.
Moranville was barred from par-ticipating
in the Medicaid program
June 1 after a seven- mont- h investi-gation
by the Department of Social
Services. Yet the following day, he
was allowed by an Administrative
Hearing Commission judge to re-sume
participation in the program.
The commission bears appeals of
( See MEDICAID, Page 8A)
t
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