Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1982-03-03

              An Iowa'
can plan
for Columbia
Story, Page 18A
Tigers top Colorado
in first- roun- d play;
Cornrtuskers next
Story, Page 9A
.--, ' - "-'- '.. f -- -.
A $ 250,000 I
prize catch
for Boonville woman
Story below S
74th Year No. 142 Good Morning! It's Wednesday. March 3, 1982 , 7 Sections 58 Pages 25 Cents
Celebrating the defeat of the proposed Boone County Home Dora Kovacs, Bill Crane, Tom Sommers and Sue Crane Holi
Rule Charter are, from left, Leroy Davis, Quanah Williamson, man The prooosal died by a nearly 3-- 1 margin
You9d never know vote was No
By Joe Ascenziand Kristif Ronton
M& sounan staff -- writers
The winners acted like losers and the losers like
winners Tuesday night.
The casual observer might have mistaken the
Yes on Home Rale Committee gathering at Katy
Station Cor a victory party No on Home Rule's
victory party, on the other hand, was a sedate af-fair,
at least most of the evening
The Missouri- Colorad- o basketball game seemed
to occupy much of the attention of celebrants at
the No on Home Rule party at the home of com-mittee
member Tom Sommers, Route 3, Colum-bia.
The margin of victory that seemed to grow
with each report from the County- Cit- y Building,
where votes were being counted, brought smiles
and subdued applause Otherwise, the mood re-mained
low- ke- y until the arrival of leaders Joe
Gibbs, a member of the charter writing commis-sion
who defected to the opposition, and John Wil-liamson
Jr , chairman of No on Home Rule
" I can t believe that 96 percent of the people
agree on anything," Williamson told the group
" It just shows that people m the county believe
that their form of government is sound," added
Charter supporters take defeat in stride
his father, John Williamson Sr ' Fm relieved it's
over"
At Katy Station, the mood was more effusive
" We're getting killed," Rhonda Thomas said
with a laugh as she joined the gathering shortly
before conceding the issue at 8 30 p. m. Mrs
Thomas was potting into words what the others al-ready
knew
Home Rule had been crushed
Yet, given the fact that many of those present
had worked for a year on the charter, no one
seemed to mind Like their ideological opponents,
everyone appeared tc have the Missouri- Colorad- o
game uppermost in his mind Many clustered
around the radio listening to the play- by- pla- y,
which was interrupted periodical by bulletins
proclaiming the defeat of home rule
" We knew it was going to be an uphill battle,"
Mrs Thomas said She said the process had been
good for Boone County, explaining that it helped
educate residents about their county government
Fm not surprised,' she added, ' but I am dis-appointed."
Darwin Hindman, head of the Yes on Home
Rule Committee, expressed similar feehngs
" We made a legitimate try," Hindman said.
" Maybe we should have been more aggressive in
attacking the weaknesses in the current county
government. I don't flunk, though, that we could
have done anything different that would have
changed the outcome "
After the eulogies, the party proceeded.
No one seemed willing to speculate on whether
the group will try again
But no one was willing to rule out that possibili
ty
' I can t believe that someone won't start the
whole thing up again, ' Hindman said
Others sipped dnnks in the back room of Katy
Station and laughed and listened to the basketball
game
It was as if they didn't want to think about it.
Not yet, anyway
Insight
Drive for
pistol ban
moves West
By Muriel XobbiD
The Baltimore Sen
SAN FRANCISCO A " grass
roots rebellion against guns" has be-come
focused in California, where a
pistol ban is under consideration in
San Francisco and an initiative
drive is underway that would freeze
the number of handguns in the state
" California may become a test
case for gun control tins year," said
Paul Lavakis, field director of the
National Coalition to Ban Handguns
According to Lavakis, if San Fran-cisco
approves the controversial pro-hibition
on pistols proposed recently
by Mayor Dianne Feinsteui, it would
make the city a national leader cf an
anti- gu- n movement he says has
reached more than 50 communities
nationwide
U was the little town of Morton
Grove, EL, a Chicago suburb with a
population of 24,000, ti& t launched
the current drive against the fire-arm
epidemic, said Lsalos And al-though
the Morton Grove law is still
under legal challenge, Mayor
( See PISTOL, Page 18A)
City joins rural voters
in crushing charter plan
ByCurtVosta
Missotman staff writer
Something was missing when the
polls opened in Columbia's Precinct
3D Tuesday at 6 ajn For the first
time in the memory of the four elec
ban judges, Mahlon Aldndge of 2223
Country Lane wasn't waiting for the
door to open
It was that kind of day in the Cit
of Columbia, where voter turnout on
the home rule issue was unusually
light. Only 51 percent of the ballots
cast were from Columbia, which has
6? percent of the county's registered
voters
Meanwhile, the turnout in outlying
portions of Boone County was unusu
ally heavy
The result was predictable But
the outcome in the aty wasn t
Hoip: rule was rejected by county
voters nearly three to one An over
whelming 71 percent of those casting
ballots oaid No, while only 2J percent
voted Yes The final tally was 11 428
against charter adoption and 4,614
for
The referendum had been ex
peeted to be turned down m outlying
areas. Bui the aty also rejected
home rule solidly Totals in Colum-bia
were 4,553 against and 3,364 in ia
vor
Absentee ballots, which were
counted early in the evening, set the
pace for the rest of the evening Ab-sentee
voters rejected the plan 122
69
At 8 30 p. m, Charter Commission-er
Rhonda Thomas, who had led the
battie for the home rule charter
conceded defeat Only 22 of the 48
precincts had been counted
Americans cherish the secret bal-lot.
And Boone County voters are no
exception. Many of these inter
viewed at polling places throughout
the county Tuesday were willing to
discuss the issue, but only anony-mously
What they said offered insight into
why home rule came to such a dev-astating
end
A woman who voted a1" Columbia s
Precinct 4B seemed confused by the
second question on the ballot Should
the sheriff be appointed unde- - the
proposed charter government''
I didn't want the sheriff to be ap-pointed,
' she said, " At least that s
what the ballot seemed to say " She
was apparently oblivious to the fact
that a vote for home rule didn't nec-essarily
mean the sheriff would be
appointed.
The sheriff currently is an elected
official And an early charter pro-posal
called for the office to remain
elective But after a series of public
hearings revealed opposing view
points as to whether the sheriff
should be elected or appointed the
charter commission decided to let
the voters decide
Aj a result, the question appeared
as a companion measure on the bal
lot with the home rule charter If the
charter had been approved, voters
would have had a choice ofan elected
or appointed sheriff
Because the charter was defeated,
however, it became a moot point
the sheriffs office would remain
elective
Seventy- fiv- e percent of the voters
aporoved maintaining the status
quo while only 24 percent favored
an appointed sheriff
I kind of like the way things are
now the v oman said.
Another aty resident feared the
charter would result in government
bv outsiders
I think home rule would bring in
people from all over the country to
run " ur government," the man said
after voting at Columbia Vrecmct
3D " If we cant get Boone Coazmass
to run it, we're in a hell of a shape "
More predictable were comments
from voters in outlying areas
4I do trust Boone County voters
observed Harnsburg Major David
Porter, but I don't trust Columbia
voters "
Arthur Kroeger cf Hallsville said
I think it would hurt the farmer
Too many things are left out'
And Larna Mack, also of
Hallsville, said, Home rule puts too
much power in the hands of a small
number of people "
I think we ought to have the coun-ty
like we've always had it" said an
Ashland voter who declined to be
identified
Though the negative vote from
outlying residents was predictable,
Rhonda Thomas was shocked by the
aty results
We earned the fourth, fifth and
sixth wards, which we expected
she said but we expected a greater
margin in our favor "
Mrs Thomas said proponents
were looking to portions of the aty to
offset, then overwhelm, the no
votes anhapated throughout the re-mainder
of the county Certainly,
the percentage of votes m other aty
wards was not what we expected "
The vote Tuesday marked the end
( See VOTERS, Page ISA)
German measles outbreak hits Columbia
By Susan Atteberry
Misssorian staff writer
The Columbia Department of Health has
confirmed five cases of rubella in Boone Coun-ty
since December Health officials are con-cerned
about the potential impact of the dis-ease
on expectant mothers
The unusually high number of cases consti-tutes
an outbreak of the disease, which also is
known as German measles Four more sus-pected
cases of the disease have been reported
in Boone County and one case each has been
lepmied in nearby Callaway and Howard
counties
Only two cases of rubella were reported
statewide in 1381 One or two rubella cases
statewide within a year constitutes an out-break,
said Jerry Crowe, director of the Mis-souri
Bureau of Immunizable Diseases
The unborn child of a pregnant woman who
contracts rubella during her first trimester
could be born with congenital problems These
may include mental retardation or heart, vi-sion
or hearing defects, said Linda Hancik, an
administrator for the Columbia Department of
Health.
The rubella vaccine, which is essentially a
small dose of the disease, may have the same
effect as rubella on unborn children
Therefore, state immunization guidelines
recommend that females older than 12 who
could become pregnant within three months
after immunization not be immunized. But the
department does not usually immunize fe-males
older than 10
Pregnant women who were too old to be im-munized
in 1370, when the vaccine was intro-duced,
are most vulnerable to the outbreak
These women should find out either through
their family histories or through tests whether
or not they are immune, Ms Hancik said.
Rubella is usually undetectable unless two
blood test, are tasesi An " acute ' test taken
during the Alness isn't always enough to detect
a case of the three- da- y measles A ' convales-cent"
test must be done after the victim, has
recovered to confirm the suspected case Even
then, it mav take up to three weeks to be cer- tai- n
the victim suffered from rubella.
Rubella s symptoms work then-- way from
head to toe and include fatigue, a fever of less
than 101 degrees and swelling lymph glands
and rashes
20C ventured, 250 G9s gained
By Tom Dixon
Missocrisa staff writer
" What's your excuse for not entering the Pub-lishers
CIeanng House sweepstakes7" asked the
roan in the commerciaL
Beatrice Brady, 45, of Boonville couldn't come
up with a good reason, so she entered
It paid off for her to the tune of $ 250,000 top
pnzem this year's contest
" I never expected to win." says Mrs Brady,
who is divorced and has a 21- year-- old sea in the
Army ' It was a big shock.
" Nothing like tins has ever happened to me m
my life I sUU cant believe I won."
Mrs Brady says she was hysterical after she
got the news last week. Ttte announcement was
- made on a television commercial during the net
work evening news Monday
But by Tuesday, she was taking it in stride
" I plan to buy a house and possibly a car," says
Mrs. Brady, who lives in a small apartment ' I
haven't made any definite plans about the rest of
the money "
Mrs. Brady has yet to get her hands on the cash.
Publishers Clearing House of Port Washington,
N Y , will fly Mrs Brady and her son to New York
City next week There she'll be presented with her
check.
" The way the economy and government is, toe
LBS wOl ce excited," Mrs Brady says of her win-nings
" Tms may be peanuts to them, but it is
quite a bit of money to me "
Site has become accustomed to living simply
Mrs Brady has earned the minimum wage for
the past three years at Rest Haven nursing home
in Boonville, where she works the night shift as a
nurse's assistant
Mrs Brady says she will continue to work at the
home, which has no retirement plan
" This rul give me a chance not to have to worr
about money," Mrs Brady says
Most of Mrs Brady's friends are delighted that
tate chose her to receive the 5250,000
But not all have been so graaous Some are
jealous, Mrs Brady says
" But that's to be expected in a situation like
this," she says
Persistence was the key to her good fortune, she
says. This was the third year she entered the con-test
Everyone should follow the advice cf the man
m the commercial, she says, and risk a postage
stamp
" It only costs 20 cents to enter," says Mrs Bra-dy
" That'snot a bad investment"
Ira town tay
7 pan. Seminar on " The Job
Interview Snappy Answers to
Illegal Questions," University
Women's Center, Room 1 Gen-try
HalL
8 pjn. University Theatre,
" Do Yoa Know the Milky
Way," Fine Arts Building
8 pjn. Minnesota Orchestra,
conducted by Neville Mamn- e- r.
University's Jesse Audito-rium.
Bssiaess ..... . .... 13A
Gasngied 15- 17- A
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Opinion . m ,., i j.., , H. M4A t
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