Ludington Daily News (Newspaper) - April 4, 1977, Ludington, Michigan Farm Production In Michigan Falling Behind Rest Of Nation EAST LANSING UPI Michigan farmers have lost about million in potential crop sales in recent years because their productivity has not kept pace with the rest of the Farm experts are laying part of the blame for the situation at the feet of state claiming that farm economy has been hampered by chronic underfunding of agricultural Noting that agriculture is the states second biggest they warn that Michigan cannot ignore the productivity problem without risking serious damage to its entire According to the House fiscal state support for agricultural research expressed as a percentage of agricultures contribution to the states economy has been less than half the level that is com mon in the rest of the Partially because they recognize that Michigan farms are in trouble and par because the states revenue picture is lawmakers apparently will give Michigan State agricultural experiment station this year its first healthy funding boost in some A fiscal agency staffer cautioned that it will probably take years for Michigan to catch up with other agricultural states in its funding of Agriculture officials are particularly concerned about the productivity problem because some of the states key crops are involved dry beans and Those four crops account for nearly half of total crop according to an MSU report on the status of Michigan The report says the increase in soybean yields in Michigan between the 196064 period and the 197074 period was only 31 per cent of the national The winter wheat yield increase was 38 per cent of the national average and the corn yield increase was 61 per cent of the national The field bean yield decreased three times as much in Michigan as in the nation as a productivity problems may be related to the fact that the average farm here is only about 40 per cent as large as the average farm in the nation as a The implications are that more resources are needed for research and extension efforts in crop production with special attention to small the MSU report Inadequate funding has eroded the research output of the MSU agricultural experiment according to its Sylvan The legislature has been lax in funding farm he because we had surplus we had cheap food and people were not concerned about Now that the surpluses are he the problem has become more Were not keeping pace with other states in terms of agricultural Wittwer Weve lost Were losing our top scientists because were not bidding as effectively as we did 10 years The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a 197778 budget of for the experiment station an increase of over current year That is a substantially more generous increase than the annual increments about 5 per cent the station has been According to the MSU agriculture and related industries generate about billion annually in Michigan and employs about per cent of the total work Free Soil Board To Meet FREE SOIL A special meeting of the Board of Education of Free Soil Community School District will be held at Free Soil School on April The agenda for the meeting includes expulsion of negotiations and action if consideration and action on request for a leave of absence by a The Weather Occasional snow tonight and Tuesday with 4to 6inches ac Blowing and drifting of Lows tonight near Highs Tuesday near An Independent Serving County and Surrounding Area Copyright 1977 by Ludington Daily APRIL 1977 PRICE 15c VOLUME 115 EXTENDED OUTLOOK Wednesday through Friday Scattered showers and thun Thursday and a few showers A gradual warming Highs ranging from the mid 30s to mid 40s 40s to lower 50s Thursday and from mid 40s northeast to lower 60s in the southwest Lows from the 20s Wednesday and Thursday to 30s Tax Protest Planned For Tonight At City Council Petitions signed by more than persons protesting property tax increases in Ludington will be presented to Ludington City Commission Robert member of the Four Former Mayors Property Tax Relief which circulated the today urged concerned citizens to attend tonights The public meeting in the council chambers of City Hall begins at Overholt said all the petitions had not been collected as of this morning but he estimates at least signatures will be on Besides presenting the the group will also present a list of about nine ob to the Overholt One of those objectives will be to seek the cooperation of the city commission in arranging a meeting of the various taxing units in the county with the Property Tax Relief Committee to see if a way can be found to reduce The petitions protest the in creased assessed valuation that has been spread over city with emphasis on residential The petitions also ask each taxing unit to decrease its millage rate by 10 per cent this Were and I think we want them the city com missioners to know were Overholt Were asking them to give us an ac count of their stewardship as our elected Our primary goal today is to encourage the people who are interested to come to the hearing he The four former mayors who formed the Property Tax Relief Committee besides David Shirley Myers and Evert Todays Chuckle Sign in a store We buy old We sell DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY KUSS MILLER Turn Of Valve Sends Ludington Water To Scottville Residents of Scottville are now drinking water from Ludington following the turning of a valve this morning at a pumping station located between the two Over a year ago work started on the construction of a 20inch water main and this morning pumps started pumping 500 gallons per minute to This is the winter pumping which can be doubled for summer Inside the pumping station this morning turning the left to were Jerry Ludington Water Plant superintendent George Von Lud ington city and Bruce Scottville As the water level in new tank the pumps automatically go Scottville residents are re minded to check for possible leaks in their plumbing since the water pressure is being in creased from 30 to 60 New Home Down Payment Climbs In 4 Bank Says WASHINGTON UPI Buyers of new homes need more for a down payment now than they did only four years according to the nations central And despite a bigger down the Federal Reserve board said the average monthly payment for mortgage principal and interest is more than This is 50 per cent higher than the amount paid by new home owners before the Arab oil embargo in which spurred the worst peacetime inflationary cycle of the The central bank said only high income Porno Ring Set Up Church For Tax Paper Says TRAVERSE CITY UPI An un child pornography ring set up a dummy church and bogus charitable to win tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue a newspaper reported The Traverse City in a said the ring also was granted child care aid for homosexual camps for boys in Tennessee and Louisiana and applied for such aid in eight other states and the District of The newspaper said the socalled Church of the New Revelation in ran an advertisement in a homosexual magazine known as Better Life providing legal advice for homosexuals interested in young it said an imprisoned member of the child porno ring told police the church was nothing more than a post office box that enabled pedophiles to contact leaders of the The Wedding and Reception of Donna Edel and Gary Isham Has Been Changed INSTEAD OF APRIL 16 Due to Army Orders Time and Place Remain the MEMBERS There Will Be A Meeting At Victory Town Hall April 7 At This Meeting Concerns Acreage for For Information 7572881 families and buyers who entered the market with an existing home to sell have been able to handle the escalating costs of purchase and Yet despite soaring prices and down payment the Federal Reserve said damand for new homes is The average down payment on con first mortgages the major financing instrument used exceeded in early the Federal Reserve This was more than 10 per cent above a year earlier and about threefifths higher than levels prevailing in Besides a bigger down payment and higher monthly mortgage the central bank said other operating ex penses including property fuel and utilities have increased more than 50 per cent since the energy Although average family income has also been it has not kept pace with such increases in homeowner the bank said in the latest issue of the Federal Reserve Energy Program Will Be Schlesinger Says WASHINGTON Carters stern new energy proposals are not due for three weeks but hints and trial testimony and tactics are revealing their outlines well in Carter has said his program will pinch everyone a and may put a dent in his Vitamin A To Be Tried As Cancer Preventive UPI In a unique effort to prevent doctors at 10 medical centers across the nation plan to give synthetic vitamin A pills three times daily to patients with a high risk of developing bladder The which could begin in a few will follow animal studies that suggest synthetic forms of the vitamin arrest or reverse some kinds of precancerous cells before they flare into It is a new experimental approach in the war against If Michael Sporn of the National Cancer Institute said it could offer fresh hope to people such as heavy asbestos workers and uranium in whom the long cancer development process may have already Sporn said in a report to the American Cancer Society seminar Sunday that only synthetic forms of vitamin A appear ef He warned that large doses of natural vitamin A will damage the The technique is purely Sporn said it would not be effective in fighting cancer that already is growing out of Vitamin A is present in such foods as green leafy cheese and It is vital for bone development and for the health of the epithelial tissues lining the body and its Vitamin A and its synthetic relatives are called Mo Bell Awarded Rate Hike LANSING UPI The state Public Service Commission today granted Mich igan Bell Telephone a million rate onethird of the firms recordbreaking million Under the approved on a 21 the rate for oneparty residential service will increase about 6 per cent over the level approved last That means basic oneparty residential service will increase from a range of to per month to a range of to per Commissioner William the lone sharply dissented from the He claimed that the increase in cluded nearly million which will pro vide higher profits for the parent American Telephone and Tele Commission Chairman Daniel speaking for the called Rails figures grossly White House energy chief James Schlesinger calls it the moral equivalent of an effort requiring united national Sources in the Capitol and energy agencies say the program probably will include higher taxes on gasoline and perhaps on autos easing of price controls on natural gas and oil a goal of almost doubling coal production inducements and requirements on home and business and setting 6f standards for In a television interview Sunday ABC TVs Issues and Schlesinger said Carters energy to be submitted to Congress April will be tough But in a sense it will not force a change in our Here is a preview of the as compiled from various sources tax increase to reduce Sources say it may include 5 cent increases for each of 5 with at least some of the money going to states for conservation surcharge on cars that get low gas perhaps adding up to to the sticker price of the worst gas Natural easing of price controls on newly discovered natural with some extension of federal controls to gas produced and sold within the same Or possibly a selective pricing system to discourage wasteful Carter also is considering a prohibition against use of natural gas where other fuels can be policy about as it is with controlled prices that can increase substantially each year and with an end to controls in goal of almost doubling production to about 1 billion tons a year by coupled to an easier system for forcing utilities and industries to switch from oil and gas to Atomic calls nuclear power the energy but probably will try to speed up slightly the construction of conventional atomic power plants with improved Cleanup Continues Following Tornado By United Press International Sunny skies and mild breezes ac companied Michigan residents this weekend as they struggled to clean up the remains of a tornado rampage that killed one injured 29 persons and caused more than million in The balmy weather was a sharp contrast to the violence of Saturday when more than 100 homes were damaged or destroyed as tornados sliced a 65mile path through Bath Township and surrounding areas in south central Look at it Ross Township Police Chief Dennis Wilkins Its just hard to believe that yesterday Saturday was so Damage was estimated at more than million in each of the three but those figures were expected to soar as losses were The lone fatality was Gary of who was trapped in his fathers pickup truck on Interstate 69 east of this Eaton County The storm was the indirect cause Sunday of the death of Donald of Eaton police Merritt was electrocuted when he touched a live wire with a metal pole while clearing debris from his damaged William Milliken planned an inspection tour today of The town of in Kalamazoo County suffered the worst devastation with 136 persons left 80 homes and businesses destroyed or ac cording to Red Cross and local Two of seven persons injured required Olivets funnel claimed 16 homes destroyed or although the Eaton County Sheriffs Office said more than 100 buildings showed some kind of storm In Clinton Countys Bath Town a twister destroyed or damaged 17 homes and injured nine LHS Vocal Ensemble Gets Top Rating The Ludington High School Vocal Ensemble was awarded a First Division Rating on Saturday at the State Solo and Ensemble Festival of the Michigan School Vocal Held at Olivet the event was for top vocalists in the A soloist or group must have received a superior rating at the District Solo and Ensemble Festival to be allowed to Ail participants are required to read at sight and unfamiliar in ad dition to performing two numbers for the Those representing LHS were Merrie Lynn Fluke and Mary sopranos Jan Sue Wadel and Melanie altos David Jerry Myers and Craig tenors and Kevyn Barry Petrucci and Barry Petrucci and Lynn Fluke were also awarded second division ratings for The performers can be heard on the Spring Concert of the High School Choir May The News In Brief Crash Baffles Investigators MARQUETTE UPI Air Force investigators remain baffled about the cause of the crash of a tress this weekend that killed all eight men The bomber attached to the 410th Bombardment Wing at Sawyer Air Force Base was returning from a seven hour training mission when it crashed at EST The site was five miles north of the air A service for the victims was scheduled on the base It was the first ever lost by the Strategic Air Command which has won numerous Air Force operations and maintenance awards in the past 10 Botulism Hospitalizes 3 More PONTIAC UPI Three more persons have been hospitalized with confirmed botulism boosting to 33 the number of cases thus far in the worst botulism outbreak in In announcing the three new poisonings health officials said they expected to discover even more cases in the near Doctors were working around the clock to locate persons who ate at Trim and Carmens Mexican Restaurant in Pontiac during the period when the tainted food was Seek Manuscript Concerning Oswald take a look at the document outlining George De contacts with Oswald just the Speaking Sunday on Meet the Stokes said the would be interested in The manuscript is among several items the committee subpoenaed following De apparent suicide in Palm last Try To Identify Bodies From Crash WASHINGTON UPI An attorney says the book length manuscript detailing an apparent suicide victims relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald contins no substantial or startling But Louis chairman of the House Assassinations says his committee wants to UPI Medical ex perts began the tedious task of matching scars and dental records with the 326 victims of a fiery crash between two jumbo jets in the Canary Two Pan American cargo jets delivered the badly charred and mangled bodies to Dover Air Force Bases mortuary Sunday where medical teams had been working since Friday to set up operations for the identification Medical officials have compiled dental records and lists of identifying scars and the FBI has provided a set of A team of 85 experts will work under the direction of William chief of decedent affairs with the Air Force at Bowling Air Force Base in
