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- . . . ft gf : 7AT iiI::- TCRIC.- L SOCIETY' - tiimiwlmi M 0 rtifltftttltftSl & lC13 L' 3KRY u- - c jTWIWV l& fV UV V CULOaBIA, MO. 65201 TSthYear No. 105 - Good Morning! It's Saturday, January 15, 1983 2 Sections-- 10 Payes 25 Cants Federal agency finds 320,000 GMX- ca- rs have faulty brakes Mew York Ttmoa WASHINGTON - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-tion announced Friday a prelimi-nary finding that the brakes on 320,- 0- 00 General Motors' 1980 X- mo- del cars are defective. The agency scheduled a bearing for Feb 14 on whether the cars should be recalled and the brakes re-paired at GM's expense. The cars covered by the agency's initial finding include all the front, wheel drive vehicles with manual transmissions manufactured by GM for the 1980 model year and. the 120,- 0- 00 1980 X- ca- rs with automatic shifts manufactured prior to May 1979. The cars are sold as the Chevrolet Cita-tion, Ponttac Phoenix, Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Skylark. The agency said its analysis indi-cated the cars in question " are subs- jec- t to failures in performance which can result inaccidents, inju-ries, death or property damage." This charge was made in a letter from Lynn L. Bradford, the agency's associate administrator for enforce-ment, to James McDonald, the presi-dent of GM. Bradford further said the evidence indicates that a limited recall of 47,- 0- 00 X- ca- rs undertaken by GM in the summer of 1981 " has not corrected the condition" which may lead to such accidents. The official finding that the 1980 X- ca- rs appear to have a dangerous ten-dency to lock their rear brakes was announced more than 2 years after both the federal agency and the cor-poration had begun receiving com-plaints about the hazard and the gov-ernment had conducted a test at its East Liberty, Ohio, facility indicat-ing a serious problem existed with thecars. The safety agency said that as of this week it has received 3S4 com-plaints of rear brake locking inci-dents in 1980 X- mod- el cars, which re-portedly resulted in more than 100 accidents, 22 iirturia&- an- d at. least one fatality. GM has admitted that more than 20 lawsuits are now pen-ding against the company in regard to the X- mod- el brakes. GM Friday issued a brief statement in response to the action. " We have not yet had a chance to re-view the data on which NHTSA based its initial finding of defect," the corporation said. Rep. Timothy E. Wirth, D- Col- o., the chairman of the House subcom-mittee with tarsidiction over the agency, said be would continue to press ahead with an investigation by his staff and the General Accounting Office " to find out why today's ac-tion was so long in coming." The federal safety agency in-formed GM of its renewed worry about the X- mod- el cars in a letter dated Dec. 17, three days after The New York Times interviewed Ray-mond Peck, head of the agency, about the apparent delay in acting to alleviate thfhazard. Clarence Ditlow, the director of the Center for Auto Safety, said that " today's action is too little and too late. It is too little for the owners of' the hundreds of thousands of auto-matic transmission X- ca- rs made af-ter May of 1979 that are not being re-called. Too late, for the. many X- c- ar owners who have been in accidents during the three years that NHTSA has been sitting on this defect" All together, GM manufactured 1,- 146,- 642 X- ca- rs during the 1980 model year. Ditlow added that the action an-nounced by the federal agency Fri-day " is just one more example of Reagan administration appointees trying to protect the industry at the expense of the consumer.' ' Peck, the head of the agency, was not available for comment In addition to Friday's letter to McDonald, the agency made public a 17- pa- ge investigative report about the brake problem found in the 1930 X- ca- rs. The report confirmed accounts by two anonymous officials of the agen-cy that it had conducted a test of the braking performance of cars in July 1961 that indicated the existence of a general mechanical problem. The investigators' report further disclosed that NHTSA has conducted an audit of a sample of the 74,000 X- c- ar owners whose cars were subject to the recall. Of the 506 individuals sampled, 458 received the recall no-tices, 474 still owned the vehicles in auestiaocnti, on373haidndibceaetnedtatkheant cboyrrect- vh- ee dealer and 288 said they did not be-lieve the dealer repairs had cor-rected the problem. Mondale rebukes Reagan as party hopefuls gather SACRAMENTO, Calif. ( UPI) Former Vice President Walter Mon-dale Friday launched a blistering at-tack on the " deterioration" of the Reagan administration. At a news conference on the eve of the opening of the Democratic State Convention at which seven presi-dential party hopefuls will speak, Mondale said there are- - signs throughout Washington the adminis-tration is crumbling along the edges. " The signs of disarray are every-where," the acknowledged Demo-cratic frontrunner said. " Top staff and top cabinet are leaving and top supporters are declaring their inde-pendence." Mondale said the root of the prob-lem is weak leadership by Reagan. Reagan Friday denied his admin-istration is unraveling, telling re-porters at an informal news confer-ence that, " the disarray is in those stories going around because they are net based in fact " Mondale said Reagan must meet with the new Soviet leadership " to - faring some sense to arms control. We see the arms control policy of this administration almost collapse before our eyes." Sen. Alan Cranston, D- Cal- if., the only other contender to arrive early for the convention, also keyed his re-marks on arms control. He termed nuclear peace " the paramount issue of our times." Mondale, Cranston, Sens. Gary Hart of Colorado, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, John Glenn of Ohio and Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona all were slated to address the conven-tion today. As the more than 2,000 delegates and alternates began gathering for the convention, . there was a sharp split among state party leaders over whether to hold a straw ballot on the convention floor to sample the dele-gates' presidential preferences. Cranston aides predict be would win such a poll in his home state, and that Mondale would finish sec-ond. Cranston hopes to make a strong showing in his home state as part of a campaign strategy designed to move him out of the pack. 1TElflS7 6 jiu to 7 pjn. Cosmopoli-tan Club Pancake and Sausage Day, Flaming Pit Banquet Cen-ter, Parkade Plaza, $ 2.25. - 6 pjn. Candlelight march in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., starts at J. W. " Blind". Boone Community Center. Cer-emony follows at Second Meth-- odist Church. 8 pjn. Missouri- - women's basketball vs. Kansas, Heames Center. . . 6 pjn. Hickman High School women's basketball at Rock Bridge. 6 p- r- o. Missouri men's bas-ketball vs. Dayton, Heame3 Center. 8 p-- m. " Father Rafferty's Confession," original play. Un-iversity Theater, Fine Arts Build- - IIm' pjn. King - Memorial Dance sponsored by the Black Panhellenlc Council, Memorial Union ballroom. ' 1 Noise from protesters at a London, Ohio, farm auction forced officials to display bids on signs. Lost foreclosure battle iust the start of a war LONDON, Ohio ( UPI) - Doug Dailey lost the battle to save his family farm from auction Friday, but his supporters said the fight against foreclosures in a time of economic trouble is just getting started. " This is a sad day for agricul-ture," said Virgil Thompson, presi-dent of the Ohio- Farme- rs Union: " Something has got to be done to save family farms." Dailey stood with his wife, Pame-la, at the bottom of the Madison County Courthouse steps as his 191 acres were sold at public auction. His financial woes have become a rallying point for central Ohio farmers who say they are being un-fairly forced out of business. An- - official of the Federal Land I Bank in Louisville, Ky., which held the first lien against Dailey's prop-erty, bid $ 225,000 and bought the property. Dailey became mired in debt the past few years because of bad weather, high interest rates and low crop prices. The FLB and its local agency, the Production Credit Association, sought foreclosure when he failed to make payments on his $ 419,602 debt The Daileys were surrounded by an estimated 700 farmers, curious onlookers and reporters during the auction. About ISO of the farmers surged toward the steps of the centu-ry- old building and chanted, " No sale, no sale," lb an'atiempr"' drown out the proceedings. Dailey and his wife joined in t chants and later urged the crowd continue the fight against farm foreclosures. " The PCA can take me on. They can take you on. But they can't take us all on," he said. The crowd chanted throughout the 21 minutes it took Sheriff Ste-phen V. Saltsman to read the de-scription of the property. It erupted into a chorus of boos when the bid figure, and then the word " sold," was written on the board by a sher-iff's deputy. Doug Dailey, left, bows his head as his farm is sold. Dailey's wife, Pam, and mother- in- la- w, Grace Wheeler, are at right. " Our only concern was outside troublemakers," Saltsman said. " We know these people and they're good people. We sympathize with the situation they're in." The farmers union and the Fami-ly Farm Movement helped orga nize the rally and a tractorcade last week from Dailey's farm to London to protest the foreclosure. The farmers are pressing the state legislature to pass a law re-quiring a moratorium on all farm foreclosures. Council expected to appoint associate city judges By Ted Griggs Mlaaourian staff writer The City Council Monday night will vote on resolutions appointing Howard Lang, chairman of the board of Shelter Insurance Cos., and Robert Bailey, University School of Law academic counselor and place-ment director, as associate munici-pal judges. Lang, 70, and Bailey, 35, have been nominated to replace associate judges Harry Boul, Betty Wilson and Darwin Hindman Jr., who resigned last October when their private law practices came into conflict with city duties. Municipal Court Judge Nanette Laughrey has been working without substitute judges since then. The Municipal Court hears cases involv ing violations of city ordinances. " It's unreasonable to think that she will always be able to be there," Lang said Friday of Judge Laugh-rey. Bailey said he expects to put in few hours as a substitute judge: " Simply when Nanette is unable to act as judge because she's out of town or has a conflict of interest " At the Monday session, the council also will conduct a public hearing on proposed street construction on Green Meadows Road and set hear-ing dates for additional street con-struction projects on Waco Road, West Boulevard South and William Street The proposed street construction projects, which would cost about $ 1 million, are part of Columbia's three- yea- r, $ 7.6 million, street- i- m provement program. The William Street project would be financed through taxes on adja-cent property, as well as city and Community Development Block Grant funds. Funds for the other projects would come from a street- and- brid- ge bond issue approved by voters Nov. 2 and from taxes against adjacent property. Roadways slated for im-provements and estimated costs are : Green Meadows from Provi-dence Road to Bethel Street, $ 329,600. Waco Road from Route B to Brown's Station Road, $ 185,000. Williams Street from Windsor Street to 200 feet north of Broadway, $ 67,000. v West Boulevard South from Fairview Road to Scott Boulevard, $ 516,000. Also on the agenda is a proposed ordinance calling for installation of stop signs at Blue Ridge Road and Skyland Drive, where neighborhood residents say signs are needed to slow traffic. The city staff will advise the coun-cil against installing the signs. In other action the council will : f Consider an amendment that would eliminate annual activity fees for groups using recreation centers on an unscheduled basis and re-imbursement to anyone who has paid such fees since they were insti-tuted following approval by voters in the Nov. 2 election. Consider of a resolution author-izing awards to developers for excel-lence in planning and development projects in Columbia. Stricter social service hiring may protect kids at risk By Judith V. Utehock Mlsfiourton ataff writer Another child is dead. Three- month- o- ld Daniel Macklin was killed by his father last week be-cause he wouldn't stop crying. His motherwasoiitcirinkingatthetime. Relatives say Daniel's mother had been supervised by the child abuse and neglect unit of the state's Divi-sion of Family Services for about five years. But the last time one of its social workers visited the home was about three months ago. To help reduce incidents of neg-ligence and infant deaths from abase, Rep. Patrick Dougherty, D--. St Louis, wants to establish formal standards for workers hired to su-pervise troubled families with young children. Dougherty has submitted -- House Bui 70, which would require those performing social work duties to be licensed. The law would apply to so- - ' DGgDGOtu' rial service providers assigned to work with the elderly, the mentally unstable and multi- proble- m fami-lies. Most of Missouri's child care and protective service workers those who supervise families like the Macklins, where the parents have been known either to hurt or neglect their children are untrained, says Dougherty. They have advanced to social service posts after working for a year as clerk- typis- ts or income maintenance workers, giving out welfare checks and food stamps, he says. " They may be well- meani- ng but are often ill- informe- d," adds Nancy Jo Melise, president of the Missouri chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and chairwoman of the Coalition for Social Work Li- - i censure. " They end up doing lots of damage to the public, and social workers get blamed." Keith Schafer, deputy director of the state's Department of Social Services, says the department's per-sonnel division agrees standards need to be upgraded. But, he points out, tight budgets often have pro-duced salaries that make it impossi-ble to attract highly skilled workers. Dougherty's concern stems from personal observation when he was employed for four years as an un-trained caseworker for the Family Services Division in St. Louis. His plan calls for minimum education and training requirements and li-cense renewal every two years. Ms. Melise says the bill would al-low licensing based on professional experience of applicants without a degree. " To be grandfathered in as li-censed social workers," she said, " their application would have to be filed within a year after the bill's ap-proval. The examining board would then determine whether the appli-cants meet standards for licensing." Although social workers have sub-mitted similar bills to the legislature several times in the past 10 years, these proposals have been overshad-owed by more pressing legislative concerns, Ms. Melise said. But in the wake of a recent public outcry against the mismanagement of child abuse cases and continuing criticism by the St. Louis Post- Dispat- ch of weaknesses in the state's social services system, social work-ers are banking on enthusiasm for child welfare legislation proposed by Gov. Christopher Bond to propel it through the legislature. Bond has recommended a $ 1.2 mil-lion allocation for his 1934 Children's Initiative, which is designed to cre-ate an internal- incentiv- e system to attract trained social workers into the family services division and .1 keep them there while they receive additional training. David Dempsey, executive direc-tor of the NASWs Missouri chapter, said he believes the only opposition to Dougherty's bill will come from legislators who don't understand the bill or generally oppose restrictions on hiring in any field. Rep. Chris Kelly, D- Colum-bia, is a member of the Licensing and Re-lated Matters Committee, before which the measure will be aired in February. Though initially reluctant to support the proposal, Kelly says he changed his mind after confer-ring with coalition members. " I come from a community action - tradition, which was sometimes al-lied with and sometimes opposed so-cial workers," he says. " I know many effective community organis-ers who never went to school, and I just wanted to be sure the bill wasn't trying to keep unlicensed people out" r
Object Description
Title | Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1983-01-15 |
Description | Vol. 75th Year, No. 105 |
Subject |
Columbia (Mo.) -- Newspapers Boone County (Mo.) -- Newspapers |
Coverage | United States -- Missouri -- Boone County -- Columbia |
Language | English |
Date.Search | 1983-01-15 |
Type | Newspaper |
Format | |
Collection Name | Columbia Missourian Newspaper Collection |
Publisher.Digital | The Office of Library Systems of the University of Missouri |
Contributing Institution |
State Historical Society of Missouri University of Missouri School of Journalism |
Copy Request | Contact the State Historical Society of Missouri at: (800) 747-6366 or (573) 882-7083 or email contact@shsmo.org. Some fees apply:http://shsmo.org/research/researchfees |
Description
Title | Full Page |
Date.Search | 1983-01-15 |
Type | page |
Item.Transcript | - . . . ft gf : 7AT iiI::- TCRIC.- L SOCIETY' - tiimiwlmi M 0 rtifltftttltftSl & lC13 L' 3KRY u- - c jTWIWV l& fV UV V CULOaBIA, MO. 65201 TSthYear No. 105 - Good Morning! It's Saturday, January 15, 1983 2 Sections-- 10 Payes 25 Cants Federal agency finds 320,000 GMX- ca- rs have faulty brakes Mew York Ttmoa WASHINGTON - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-tion announced Friday a prelimi-nary finding that the brakes on 320,- 0- 00 General Motors' 1980 X- mo- del cars are defective. The agency scheduled a bearing for Feb 14 on whether the cars should be recalled and the brakes re-paired at GM's expense. The cars covered by the agency's initial finding include all the front, wheel drive vehicles with manual transmissions manufactured by GM for the 1980 model year and. the 120,- 0- 00 1980 X- ca- rs with automatic shifts manufactured prior to May 1979. The cars are sold as the Chevrolet Cita-tion, Ponttac Phoenix, Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Skylark. The agency said its analysis indi-cated the cars in question " are subs- jec- t to failures in performance which can result inaccidents, inju-ries, death or property damage." This charge was made in a letter from Lynn L. Bradford, the agency's associate administrator for enforce-ment, to James McDonald, the presi-dent of GM. Bradford further said the evidence indicates that a limited recall of 47,- 0- 00 X- ca- rs undertaken by GM in the summer of 1981 " has not corrected the condition" which may lead to such accidents. The official finding that the 1980 X- ca- rs appear to have a dangerous ten-dency to lock their rear brakes was announced more than 2 years after both the federal agency and the cor-poration had begun receiving com-plaints about the hazard and the gov-ernment had conducted a test at its East Liberty, Ohio, facility indicat-ing a serious problem existed with thecars. The safety agency said that as of this week it has received 3S4 com-plaints of rear brake locking inci-dents in 1980 X- mod- el cars, which re-portedly resulted in more than 100 accidents, 22 iirturia&- an- d at. least one fatality. GM has admitted that more than 20 lawsuits are now pen-ding against the company in regard to the X- mod- el brakes. GM Friday issued a brief statement in response to the action. " We have not yet had a chance to re-view the data on which NHTSA based its initial finding of defect," the corporation said. Rep. Timothy E. Wirth, D- Col- o., the chairman of the House subcom-mittee with tarsidiction over the agency, said be would continue to press ahead with an investigation by his staff and the General Accounting Office " to find out why today's ac-tion was so long in coming." The federal safety agency in-formed GM of its renewed worry about the X- mod- el cars in a letter dated Dec. 17, three days after The New York Times interviewed Ray-mond Peck, head of the agency, about the apparent delay in acting to alleviate thfhazard. Clarence Ditlow, the director of the Center for Auto Safety, said that " today's action is too little and too late. It is too little for the owners of' the hundreds of thousands of auto-matic transmission X- ca- rs made af-ter May of 1979 that are not being re-called. Too late, for the. many X- c- ar owners who have been in accidents during the three years that NHTSA has been sitting on this defect" All together, GM manufactured 1,- 146,- 642 X- ca- rs during the 1980 model year. Ditlow added that the action an-nounced by the federal agency Fri-day " is just one more example of Reagan administration appointees trying to protect the industry at the expense of the consumer.' ' Peck, the head of the agency, was not available for comment In addition to Friday's letter to McDonald, the agency made public a 17- pa- ge investigative report about the brake problem found in the 1930 X- ca- rs. The report confirmed accounts by two anonymous officials of the agen-cy that it had conducted a test of the braking performance of cars in July 1961 that indicated the existence of a general mechanical problem. The investigators' report further disclosed that NHTSA has conducted an audit of a sample of the 74,000 X- c- ar owners whose cars were subject to the recall. Of the 506 individuals sampled, 458 received the recall no-tices, 474 still owned the vehicles in auestiaocnti, on373haidndibceaetnedtatkheant cboyrrect- vh- ee dealer and 288 said they did not be-lieve the dealer repairs had cor-rected the problem. Mondale rebukes Reagan as party hopefuls gather SACRAMENTO, Calif. ( UPI) Former Vice President Walter Mon-dale Friday launched a blistering at-tack on the " deterioration" of the Reagan administration. At a news conference on the eve of the opening of the Democratic State Convention at which seven presi-dential party hopefuls will speak, Mondale said there are- - signs throughout Washington the adminis-tration is crumbling along the edges. " The signs of disarray are every-where," the acknowledged Demo-cratic frontrunner said. " Top staff and top cabinet are leaving and top supporters are declaring their inde-pendence." Mondale said the root of the prob-lem is weak leadership by Reagan. Reagan Friday denied his admin-istration is unraveling, telling re-porters at an informal news confer-ence that, " the disarray is in those stories going around because they are net based in fact " Mondale said Reagan must meet with the new Soviet leadership " to - faring some sense to arms control. We see the arms control policy of this administration almost collapse before our eyes." Sen. Alan Cranston, D- Cal- if., the only other contender to arrive early for the convention, also keyed his re-marks on arms control. He termed nuclear peace " the paramount issue of our times." Mondale, Cranston, Sens. Gary Hart of Colorado, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, John Glenn of Ohio and Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona all were slated to address the conven-tion today. As the more than 2,000 delegates and alternates began gathering for the convention, . there was a sharp split among state party leaders over whether to hold a straw ballot on the convention floor to sample the dele-gates' presidential preferences. Cranston aides predict be would win such a poll in his home state, and that Mondale would finish sec-ond. Cranston hopes to make a strong showing in his home state as part of a campaign strategy designed to move him out of the pack. 1TElflS7 6 jiu to 7 pjn. Cosmopoli-tan Club Pancake and Sausage Day, Flaming Pit Banquet Cen-ter, Parkade Plaza, $ 2.25. - 6 pjn. Candlelight march in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., starts at J. W. " Blind". Boone Community Center. Cer-emony follows at Second Meth-- odist Church. 8 pjn. Missouri- - women's basketball vs. Kansas, Heames Center. . . 6 pjn. Hickman High School women's basketball at Rock Bridge. 6 p- r- o. Missouri men's bas-ketball vs. Dayton, Heame3 Center. 8 p-- m. " Father Rafferty's Confession," original play. Un-iversity Theater, Fine Arts Build- - IIm' pjn. King - Memorial Dance sponsored by the Black Panhellenlc Council, Memorial Union ballroom. ' 1 Noise from protesters at a London, Ohio, farm auction forced officials to display bids on signs. Lost foreclosure battle iust the start of a war LONDON, Ohio ( UPI) - Doug Dailey lost the battle to save his family farm from auction Friday, but his supporters said the fight against foreclosures in a time of economic trouble is just getting started. " This is a sad day for agricul-ture," said Virgil Thompson, presi-dent of the Ohio- Farme- rs Union: " Something has got to be done to save family farms." Dailey stood with his wife, Pame-la, at the bottom of the Madison County Courthouse steps as his 191 acres were sold at public auction. His financial woes have become a rallying point for central Ohio farmers who say they are being un-fairly forced out of business. An- - official of the Federal Land I Bank in Louisville, Ky., which held the first lien against Dailey's prop-erty, bid $ 225,000 and bought the property. Dailey became mired in debt the past few years because of bad weather, high interest rates and low crop prices. The FLB and its local agency, the Production Credit Association, sought foreclosure when he failed to make payments on his $ 419,602 debt The Daileys were surrounded by an estimated 700 farmers, curious onlookers and reporters during the auction. About ISO of the farmers surged toward the steps of the centu-ry- old building and chanted, " No sale, no sale," lb an'atiempr"' drown out the proceedings. Dailey and his wife joined in t chants and later urged the crowd continue the fight against farm foreclosures. " The PCA can take me on. They can take you on. But they can't take us all on," he said. The crowd chanted throughout the 21 minutes it took Sheriff Ste-phen V. Saltsman to read the de-scription of the property. It erupted into a chorus of boos when the bid figure, and then the word " sold," was written on the board by a sher-iff's deputy. Doug Dailey, left, bows his head as his farm is sold. Dailey's wife, Pam, and mother- in- la- w, Grace Wheeler, are at right. " Our only concern was outside troublemakers," Saltsman said. " We know these people and they're good people. We sympathize with the situation they're in." The farmers union and the Fami-ly Farm Movement helped orga nize the rally and a tractorcade last week from Dailey's farm to London to protest the foreclosure. The farmers are pressing the state legislature to pass a law re-quiring a moratorium on all farm foreclosures. Council expected to appoint associate city judges By Ted Griggs Mlaaourian staff writer The City Council Monday night will vote on resolutions appointing Howard Lang, chairman of the board of Shelter Insurance Cos., and Robert Bailey, University School of Law academic counselor and place-ment director, as associate munici-pal judges. Lang, 70, and Bailey, 35, have been nominated to replace associate judges Harry Boul, Betty Wilson and Darwin Hindman Jr., who resigned last October when their private law practices came into conflict with city duties. Municipal Court Judge Nanette Laughrey has been working without substitute judges since then. The Municipal Court hears cases involv ing violations of city ordinances. " It's unreasonable to think that she will always be able to be there," Lang said Friday of Judge Laugh-rey. Bailey said he expects to put in few hours as a substitute judge: " Simply when Nanette is unable to act as judge because she's out of town or has a conflict of interest " At the Monday session, the council also will conduct a public hearing on proposed street construction on Green Meadows Road and set hear-ing dates for additional street con-struction projects on Waco Road, West Boulevard South and William Street The proposed street construction projects, which would cost about $ 1 million, are part of Columbia's three- yea- r, $ 7.6 million, street- i- m provement program. The William Street project would be financed through taxes on adja-cent property, as well as city and Community Development Block Grant funds. Funds for the other projects would come from a street- and- brid- ge bond issue approved by voters Nov. 2 and from taxes against adjacent property. Roadways slated for im-provements and estimated costs are : Green Meadows from Provi-dence Road to Bethel Street, $ 329,600. Waco Road from Route B to Brown's Station Road, $ 185,000. Williams Street from Windsor Street to 200 feet north of Broadway, $ 67,000. v West Boulevard South from Fairview Road to Scott Boulevard, $ 516,000. Also on the agenda is a proposed ordinance calling for installation of stop signs at Blue Ridge Road and Skyland Drive, where neighborhood residents say signs are needed to slow traffic. The city staff will advise the coun-cil against installing the signs. In other action the council will : f Consider an amendment that would eliminate annual activity fees for groups using recreation centers on an unscheduled basis and re-imbursement to anyone who has paid such fees since they were insti-tuted following approval by voters in the Nov. 2 election. Consider of a resolution author-izing awards to developers for excel-lence in planning and development projects in Columbia. Stricter social service hiring may protect kids at risk By Judith V. Utehock Mlsfiourton ataff writer Another child is dead. Three- month- o- ld Daniel Macklin was killed by his father last week be-cause he wouldn't stop crying. His motherwasoiitcirinkingatthetime. Relatives say Daniel's mother had been supervised by the child abuse and neglect unit of the state's Divi-sion of Family Services for about five years. But the last time one of its social workers visited the home was about three months ago. To help reduce incidents of neg-ligence and infant deaths from abase, Rep. Patrick Dougherty, D--. St Louis, wants to establish formal standards for workers hired to su-pervise troubled families with young children. Dougherty has submitted -- House Bui 70, which would require those performing social work duties to be licensed. The law would apply to so- - ' DGgDGOtu' rial service providers assigned to work with the elderly, the mentally unstable and multi- proble- m fami-lies. Most of Missouri's child care and protective service workers those who supervise families like the Macklins, where the parents have been known either to hurt or neglect their children are untrained, says Dougherty. They have advanced to social service posts after working for a year as clerk- typis- ts or income maintenance workers, giving out welfare checks and food stamps, he says. " They may be well- meani- ng but are often ill- informe- d," adds Nancy Jo Melise, president of the Missouri chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and chairwoman of the Coalition for Social Work Li- - i censure. " They end up doing lots of damage to the public, and social workers get blamed." Keith Schafer, deputy director of the state's Department of Social Services, says the department's per-sonnel division agrees standards need to be upgraded. But, he points out, tight budgets often have pro-duced salaries that make it impossi-ble to attract highly skilled workers. Dougherty's concern stems from personal observation when he was employed for four years as an un-trained caseworker for the Family Services Division in St. Louis. His plan calls for minimum education and training requirements and li-cense renewal every two years. Ms. Melise says the bill would al-low licensing based on professional experience of applicants without a degree. " To be grandfathered in as li-censed social workers," she said, " their application would have to be filed within a year after the bill's ap-proval. The examining board would then determine whether the appli-cants meet standards for licensing." Although social workers have sub-mitted similar bills to the legislature several times in the past 10 years, these proposals have been overshad-owed by more pressing legislative concerns, Ms. Melise said. But in the wake of a recent public outcry against the mismanagement of child abuse cases and continuing criticism by the St. Louis Post- Dispat- ch of weaknesses in the state's social services system, social work-ers are banking on enthusiasm for child welfare legislation proposed by Gov. Christopher Bond to propel it through the legislature. Bond has recommended a $ 1.2 mil-lion allocation for his 1934 Children's Initiative, which is designed to cre-ate an internal- incentiv- e system to attract trained social workers into the family services division and .1 keep them there while they receive additional training. David Dempsey, executive direc-tor of the NASWs Missouri chapter, said he believes the only opposition to Dougherty's bill will come from legislators who don't understand the bill or generally oppose restrictions on hiring in any field. Rep. Chris Kelly, D- Colum-bia, is a member of the Licensing and Re-lated Matters Committee, before which the measure will be aired in February. Though initially reluctant to support the proposal, Kelly says he changed his mind after confer-ring with coalition members. " I come from a community action - tradition, which was sometimes al-lied with and sometimes opposed so-cial workers," he says. " I know many effective community organis-ers who never went to school, and I just wanted to be sure the bill wasn't trying to keep unlicensed people out" r |