Aiken Standard (Newspaper) - February 10, 1998, Aiken, South Carolina Aiken sharpshooters fill void Page 7A Aiken AIKEN Novel plan Library has idea to fill book shelves Page 1B Vol 132 No 41 Aiken South Carolina Iraq Military worries about new weapons Page 2A Tuesday February 10 1998 25t Titanic leads the pack Associated Press BEVERLY HILLS Calif Titanic the epic account of a fateful love affair on the doomed ocean liner captured a record tying 14 Academy Award nomina tions today including a nomina tion for best picture actress and director LA Confidential and Good Will Hunting each received nine nominations including best pic ture The other best picture nomi nees were As Good As It Gets and in a mild surprise The Full Monty Titanics Kate Winslet was nominated for best lead actress as were Helena Bonham Carter in The Wings of the Dove Julie Christie in Afterglow Judi Bench in Mrs Brown and Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets Robert Duvalls role in The Apostle earned him a best lead actor nomination He will face Matt Damon from Good Will Hunting Peter Fonda from Gold Dustin Hoffman from Wag the Dog and Jack Nicholson from As Good As It Gets The only other film to get 14 Oscar nominations was All About Eve released in 1950 The most wins for a single film is held by 1959s BenHur with 11 The 87yearold Gloria Stuart in Titanic was nominated for best supporting actress Also nominat ed in the category were Joan Cusack in In Out Minnie Please see TITANIC page 5A Index Bridge Classifieds Comics Crossword Dear Abby Movies Opinions Sports Television Weather 6B 4B 6A 7B 6A 38 4A 7A 6A 2A Deaths Frederick R George North Palm Beach Fla Harold T Baldwin New D Joyce E Hipp Charleston Juanita M Widener Wagener Eddie Bubba Cullum Aiken Nolan Scott Koon Gloverville Obituary notices on page 2B Ga lottery Mondays winning numbers 3 Midday 230 3 Evening 480 1 9793 5 32528 Playing with Dad Staff photo by Southworth Troy Gregory 2 plays catch with his father Kevin Gregory on a pleasant winter afternoon Monday at Vir ginia Acres Park Judge gets lesson in video gambling Associated Press COLUMBIA Father Slots and an FBI crimebuster have taken a federal judge under their wing to teach him the basics of how to play the video gambling machines that make up the bil lion industry in South Carolina US District Judge Joseph Anderson lis tened Monday as Daryl Robert Sertell nick named for his experience with gambling devices guided him through the machines operations while FBI agent Jerome Simp son explained the different kinds of video gambling At one point Anderson asked whether a player should discard part of a hand showing 77345 in the hopes of getting a 6 for a straight Simpson told him the hand with sevens would not be a winning hand in video poker but if it showed two jacks the choice would be differ ent Is skill involved in that choice Anderson asked Yes skill is involved in that decision but the outcome is based on chance said Simpson who called himself the only FBI agent specializing in video gambling and clandestine documents Both men emphasized their Yes skill is involved but the outcome is based on chance Jerome Simpson belief that even skilled players cannot win at video gambling over the long run because of the random display of cards They might win more times than an unskilled player but over the long run they are going to lose money Simpson said Whether the machine features video poker video black jack video keno or any other game makes no dif ference Sertell said They all sort of work the same he said Theyre all variations on a theme Video poker players face some disad vantages because they cannot use all the skills of real poker players Sertell said You cant bluff a machine he said If people who have lost money to video gambling can show that the machines are games of chance not skill then they are closer to getting the games banned as an illegal lottery The dozens of people who have sued want millions of dollars in damages from the video gambling industry saying it breaks state laws to get players to spend more money Gambling companies deny that Anderson is holding the hear Please see JUDGE page 3A New zone approved by council By THOMAS SMITH Two years of study on the issue of manufactured homes came to fruition Monday night with the creation of the zone The designation approved by the Aiken City Council pro vides for the location of manu homes on individual lots in specified subdivisions There arent many zones in Aiken that would meet the requirements said City Man ager Steve Thompson The rec allows the zone on property already in the city limits on a minimum of 10 acres Each lot must include at least 6000 square feet fior the minimum lot width Setbacks would be the same as in a Rl single family residential zone The Aiken Planning Com mission recommended that the residents of the new zone have the same right to request guest houses and pleasure stables as those in the Rl zones The city councils unani mous vote allows residents of the Hidden Haven subdivision Please see NEW page 3A Prisoner faces time for threats By CARL LANGLEY A man described as a violent criminal with a history of threat ening law enforcement officers and judges could get 40 more years tacked onto sentences he is now serving Theron J Maxton 43 was con last week in US District Court in Columbia on eight counts of mailing threats He is awaiting sentencing by Federal Judge Dennis Shedd Assistant US Attorneys Terry Wooten and Debbie Barbier pros Maxton for threatening the lives of US District Judge Charles Simons of Aiken and Federal Magistrate Judge Joseph R McCrorey Wooten said Hes got a very extensive criminal history He threatened to do some serious things The letters he sent the judges were extremely threaten ing They were meant to retaliate against the judges for rulings they had made Maxton previously mailed Court threatening letters to US Magis trate Judge Charles Gambrell and former Gov Carroll A Campbell Wooten said Maxton could receive five years on each of the eight counts on which he was con Copies of indictments were obtained which reveal that Max ton began sending letters to Simons and McCrorey in late 1996 The indictments said he threatened to assault kill and murder the two judges Maxton apparently became enraged after Simons and McCrorey dismissed what were described by a court official as frivolous lawsuits filed with the US courts In about 50 filings Maxton has complained about conditions in the states Kirkland Correctional Facility and his overall sure with the treatment at the facility Kirkland has been described as a prison within a prison and is used to hold the states most dan gerous convicts suits complain about lights being left on while he was trying to sleep the quality of jail food and not having television priv He also doesnt like the med ical care and was at odds with a dentist over having a tooth pulled Hes just a guy who filed a bunch of lawsuits Hes a bad boy said a court official All of Please see PRISONER page 3A Three arrested by By BENGTSON The Aiken Department of Pub lic Safety made three arrests early this morning in connection with a recent string of car break ins The case broke at am this morning when a resident of Homestead Lane in Aiken called to report seeing someone outside his house in his car The caller had stereo equipment stolen from another of his vehicles in recent days according to Capt Pete Frommer of Officers arrived in the neigh and they spotted a 1994 Pontiac he added They stopped the vehicle and there were three people in the vehicle and there was also a car full of stereo equipment Arrested were Aiken residents Michael Douglas Flynn 19 from 3032 Congaree Ave Michael Mur ray Gray 17 from 192 L L Ave and Angela Neal Gunter 17 from 702 Cedar Road All three were reportedly staying in a local hotel together some time during the past few days Frommer said the had responded in recent days to an unusually high number of car breakins with several occurring around Aiken Regional Medical Centers the Homestead Lane Regions Arkansas bank will merge area and various apartment com The three who were captured this morning admitted they had been staying at a particular Aiken motel and officers responded by going to the motel to check on its occupancy finding no one in that specific room The owner of the 1994 Pontiac which had been involved in the arrests called the to ask about her car Staff reports BIRMINGHAM First Com Arkansas largest bank holding company will merge with Regions Financial Corp spokes men for the two banking tions said Monday Regions which is tered in Birmingham joined with Inc of Aiken last week to announce that share holders had approved merger of the two banks The mergor is expected to be completed by late July In the latest merger a Regions spokesman said his bank will exchange 17 million shares of its common stock currently valued at for shares of First Com common stock Carl E Jones Jr president and chief executive officer of Regions said Affiliation with a bank like First Commercial fits well with Regions vision of becoming Americas Please see page 3A 1909 Whiskey Rd 5 Tonight 6495371
