Casa Grande Dispatch (Newspaper) - April 3, 1986, Casa Grande, Arizona Final Countys Daily Newspaper CASA GRANDE ARIZONA 85222 GRANDE DISPATCH THURSDAY APRILS 1986 NO 78 VOL 72 75th Year 25C per copy Terrorist Flew Bomb Flight By The Associated Press A known Arab terrorist pied the seat of a TWA jet where a bomb exploded during a later flight to Greece tearing open the cabin and killing four Americans Italian officials said today After meeting with Premier Bettino Craxi Interior Minister Oscar Luigi Scalfaro told report ers It is certain that a suspect person who is on file as a terror ist got on in Cairo and got off in Athens occupying in the airplane the exact seat where the sion The Boeing 727 on Wednesday flew from Cairo to Ath ens Greece and then to Rome There it picked up 112 passengers and headed back to Athens as TWA Flight 840 ultimately bound for Cairo The bomb exploded as the jet liner approached Athens airport from Rome and the four victims were sucked out of the plane fly ing at about feet An Egyptian security official at Cairo International Airport said that after the explosion Egyptian authorities checked the names of passengers who boarded in Cairo and we had no suspicion about anyone on the The official spoke on condition of anonymity In other developments today sources in Beirut said a group that claimed it staged the attack the Arab Revolutionary Ceils was associated with Abu Nidal whose group was blamed by the United States for the Dec 27 massacres at the Rome and Vienna airports in which 20 people died including five Americans Athens TWA experts Federal Aviation Administration and FBI officials and investiga tors from Greece and Italy began examining the jetliner to deter mine if the bomb exploded in the cargo bay or in the cabin Greek officials said Wednesday that the blast took place in the cargo hold but TWA officials in New York said it was in the cabin The pilot Capt Richard Peter son told reporters today at Ath ens Airport The explosion was above the floor It looked like it must have been beneath a Athens airport officials said the planes black which re cords conversations between the gilot and the control tower would e flown to New York for study The blast blew a 9by3foot hole in the side of the plane in front of the right wing TWA President Richard D Pearson said in New York the explosion occurred on the cabin floor at row 10 or 11 of the passenger seats Officials at Romes Leonardo da Vinci Airport said the terrorist was an Arab who sat in seat 10F on the flight They said they suspected he planted an explosive aboard be fore getting off in Athens ANSA an Italian news agency said an Arab named Mansur or Monsour was sitting in the 10th row on that flight The airport officials said they believed the terrorist was the same man who planted a bomb in luggage aboard a Alitalia flight in Istanbul Dec 29 1983 When the man did not board the plane in Istanbul the passen gers were taken off all the lug gage was inspected and the bomb was found At that time sources in the Turkish police identified the sus saboteur as an Iranian named A Omar An anonymous caller to West ern news agencies in Beirut claimed responsibility for the TWA attack on behalf of the Arab Revolutionary Cells He said it was in response to last weeks clash between and Libyan forces in the disputed Gulf of Sidra The Palestinian sources in Bei rut who spoke on condition of an onymity said Abu Nidal had used the name Arab Revolutionary Cells in previous terrorist attacks Abu Nidal whose real name is Sabry alBanna said in a state ment issued in Damascus Syria last week that his group would strike at targets in retalia tion for the confrontation The Reagan administration also has accused Libya of back ing Abu group in the De cember airport attacks Libyan leader Col however distanced himself from the TWA attack saying This is an act of terror ism against a civilian target and I am totally against CBS News reported Reagan analysts believe Libya is not responsible for the explosion a senior admin official said today After last weeks confrontation in the Gulf of Sidra during which the United States said at least two Libyan patrol boats were sunk and a missile site attacked Kha dafy threatened to attack in worldwide The Greek government issued a statement saying it condemns Terrorist page 2 New CAC President Arns Anticipating Move West By MELISSA SMYTH Staff Writer The new president of Central Arizona College said she is ab delighted about her appointment and is looking for ward to making the move from the Midwest to the Arizona desert I am very anxious to get Dr Kathleen Arns said Wednesday in a telephone inter view I would like to get in my little car right now and head Arns 58 will replace CAC in terim president Wayne Gerken July 15 Gerken took over for Dr James Kraby when he left to fill a similar position at Umpqua Community College in Rose burg Ore Arns said she will put in her three months notice at the Col lege of Lake County in Grays lake where she is currently the provost of contractual pro grams and services She said several factors at her to CAC the first be ing the potential for growth Arns who is in charge of about 500 instructors atthe College of Lake County a tion with about students said CAC is still small enough for her to become completely fa miliar with its operations yet is in a growth area Its still in a stage where I will be able to know she said She said she has worked in a similar situation be fore as chief campus adminis trator at Oakton Community College in Skokie III That was really a good environment to do some wonderfully creative kinds of she said Arns said she was one of five finalists for the presidency of a community college in Inver Hills about three years ago but withdrew to take the provost position at Grayslake She said the provost position at Grayslake which covers the systems naval training school gave her the opportunity to learn about military training at the community college level In addition to the potential for growth Arns said CAC has a reputation for offering a quality education One big factor in bringing Arns and her husband Louis from Illinois is their family in the Phoenix area she said Arns said she and her husband have visited Arizona many times to see family in Phoenix and check on her husbands business in Tucson so they are familiar with the territory I think weve been out there 15 times in the past 20 she said It the move West only makes sense since other immediate family members have moved out Arns and her husband have three married sons Although she admitted that Arizona in July is not the most pleasant place to be she said she will not deterred by the hot desert summer I have been out there many times when it was 117 de she said I know I would prefer that to 27 below I like hot Arns said she also likes the de sert landscape and plant life Although it is too early to make specific plans for the pres Arns said she will first try to become as familiar as pos sible with the college and the surrounding communities She said she will do this by getting involved with as many citizens committees and civic groups as is possible In addition to her administra tive Arns also is a member of the American Asso of Junior Colleges a national association representing all community col leges Arns is serving her second threeyear term The 30 mem bers are elected by junior col lege presidents She said she also is on the Joint Commission on Federal Relations which sets the agenda and lobbies for feder al bills that affect community colleges Arns said her position at CAC will keep her busy but in her free time she enjoys physical ac such as jogging and swimming She said she also does some personal interior decorating She said and her husband are looking forward to being in the Casa Grande area by July 1 to look for a house He husband has his bags she said Hes definitely looking forward to TWA CAPTAIN Richard Peterson 54 of Sarasota explains to reporters at the Athens Airport today what occurred aboard his Boeing 727 after a bomb exploded Passengers Recall Blast ATHENS Greece AP The blast that tore through a TWA jet over Greece ripped off a boys wristwatch shattered glass and punched a hole in the planes side through which four American passengers vanished There was a big bang and then the man beside me was blown out along with his Ibrahim al Nami 29 recalled I felt myself being pulled out too and I hung on lo my wifes seat beside The Boeing 727 despite the gap in its side landed minutes later in Athens the original destination on the Wednesday flight Those sucked from the plane included an American man two women and a baby of Saudi Arabia was among the seven people injured including four Americans Other passengers said they were terrified that more sions might follow No one felt safe until the plane finally said Myrtle Siemsen a 67yearold housewife from Los Angeles She was inter viewed by The Associated Press at Hospital where she was being treated for cuts caused by flying glass from the explosion There was a loud bang I was silting in an aisle seat when the explosion blew all this glass out at said Mrs Siemsen Her husband Henry 70 was at her Protest Final Valuations By LYNN DeBRUIN Staff Writer FLORENCE Owners of some parcels of land in Final County had their valuations raised this year with many of those increases coming on vacant land Assessor L Paul said his office has received protests on of those parcels a ratio he said is about normal Larkin said the largest in creases were for vacant land val ues in the Apache Junction and Casa Grande areas where the state Department of Revenue mandated factoring to bring all the parcels up to 80 percent of market value When farmland is selling for in excess of an acre out west of Casa that draws the values Larkin said Theres been some rather large increases due to the type of sales weve been Larkin cited another example of acres of land for a new apartment complex in Casa Grande selling for an acre In addition he said such sales tend to have an effect on nearby values for residential areas While the notices will tell peo ple if their values have been changed taxpayers will have to wait until August when the board of supervisors sets new rates to find out how high their taxes will be Why are the notices mailed out then Larkin said because there is no provision in Arizona law to pro test taxes only values Those who own land and did not receive a notice in the mail about had no change in valuations The deadline for filing protests was March 5 Those who met that deadline had their values re viewed by Larkin If no change was granted or the change was not low enough yet property own ers had the opportunity to take the process one step further and appeal to the Board of sors which in Pinal County serves as the Board of Equalization Such hearings which began several weeks ago will continue through April Larkin said The final step if a taxpayer is still not satisfied is the state Board of Appeals Larkin said most protests are a result of errors in classification or code He gave an example in which the square footage in one house was improperly listed as double the correct amount Others simply can be traced to a difference in opinion Some people are just not hap py with the values Some dont think theyre fair and he said bedside A nurse said of Mrs Siemsen Shell be fine its just glass in her back and arms and the doctor hes to pick it out shes still in Tom Kojis 44 a Methodist pas tor from Algoma who was sitting with his wife Joan and 12 yearold son across the aisle from the hole said he was worried there was a second bomb be cause the first one didnt do the Suddenly we heard what was like a sonic boom the kind you hear a plane make We realized this isnt a movie this is really Kojis said I put my arms around my son and said Were not going to die we still have things to Kojis said One of the rows had disap and we did not know if people had actually blown out of the plane I was just looking up in daylight because the hole had been in the section where there had been a row of Kojis said in another interview with NBC News Kojis and his family were trav eling to Greece for a vacation The family had initially planned to fly to London and take a train to Athens but TWA cut Passengers page 2 Crippen Told About Seals WASHINGTON AP Astro naut Robert Crippen who has flown more space shuttle flights than anyone else told the presi Challenger commission today he once was told about a problem with a booster rocket seal but he did not consider it that big a But said Crippen he was not aware that a waiver had been is sued that in effect edged that catastrophe could re sult if the seal failed If I had been aware of the he said I would have taken the problem much more A leaking seal in the right booster rocket is believed to have caused the explosion that de Challenger and killed its Crippen page 2 Berkeley Protester Arrested POLICE ARREST an antiapartheid protester at buses More than 100 demonstrators were ar thc University of California Berkeley this rested when police moved in to break up a morning as demonstrators tried to block police makeshift shantytown AP Channel 45 Listed The Dispatch is beginning to include Channel 45 in Phoenix programs in its daily television listings effective with Fridays listings which appear in todays Dispatch
