New Castle News (Newspaper) - September 24, 1975, New Castle, Pennsylvania NEW CASTLE NEWS NINETY SIXTH YEAR No 12 NEWCASTLE NEWS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER -48 Pages 90 PER WEEK BY COPY 15 Shapp changes gas tax plan in hunt for help to I- HARRISBURG UPI The search for a way to solve the money problems in state Transportation Department took a new turn Tuesday The Shapp administration dropped its plan to seek a two- cent increase in the gasoline tax in favor of a 30 per cent tax on the wholesale price of fuel The latest proposal was unveiled at a meeting between Gov Milton J Shapp and Democrat legislative leaders It will be discussed today at a meeting of the House tation Committee which is working on the tax bills The plan calls for the gasoline tax to be raised from nine to 11 cents a gallon Nov 1 But that retail tax would be abolished next July 1 and replaced with the 30 per cent tax on the wholesale price of fuel House staff said the current wholesale price averages 37 cents a gallon Under the Shapp formula that would make the tax 11 cents a gallon The governor proposed a similar tax in 1973 when the legislature was considering raising the gasoline tax from eight to nine cents a gallon However he had to abandon his plans because the Revenue Department said it would be almost impossible to enforce because of the wide and sometimes daily variations in wholesale price of fuel One Revenue Department official warned that since some oil companies are not only wholesalers but also own gasoline stations they could keep the wholesale price of gasoline down and thereby pay less tax while boosting retail prices to keep profits up We realize the wholesale tax is difficult to said William McLaughlin legislative aide Hut we are also aware of the serious problems in One of the strongest points of percentage tax at least in the eyes of slate officials is that it would rise as the price of gasoline goes up For instance it wholesale prices go up to 40 cents a gallon the tax would rise to 12 cents If he price reached 50 cents a gallon as some federal officials have predicted the tax would go up to 15 cents Ironically consumers would not benefit if the price of gasoline goes down because the plan calls for the tax to remain at It cents a gallon if the wholesale price dips below 37 cents a gallon The wholesale tax helps because as prices rise gasoline consumption tends to go down The automatic rise in the tax would offset that decline in sales The department is in trouble Arm replanted Quick thinking saves boy By United Press International By United Press International Scotly Cormier is alive today in Massachusetts General Hospital with his nearly severed right arm replanted after quick action by a congressman and nurses in Wilkes-Barre Pa and a coincidence aboard an emergency flight to Boston Monday afternoon Scotty 13 and a friend jumped aboard a coal train in Wilkes-Barre Scotty fell and a car rolled over his forearm Within four hours he was on an operating table at Massachusetts General for the operation Speedy action by Rep Daniel J Flood ment by Allegheny Airlines to delay its Boston flight and the presence of one of the operating surgeons aboard the plane aided the effort Scotty was reported in good condition but a hospital spokesman Martin Bander said it was too early to tell about the arm itself It will be at least several days One of the surgeons was Dr Ronald A Malt who in 1962 performed the first successful replantation on a year-old boy who also had an arm severed in a train Scotty's arm had been slashed about three inches below elbow There was just a strip of skin a very tiny strip that was holding the arm on said Bander We knew we certainly weren't set up for said Mrs Loretta Bird the chief nurse on duty at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre She accompanied to Boston She called the Pennsylvania State Police to see if they could fly him to Boston but they could only fly him within the state Then she tried Flood who has represented coal mining area for most of the past 30 years Flood called Allegheny Airlines at Scranton Airport and learned the Boston flight was ing down the runway I said Can you hold recounted Allegheny did A man sitting there was asked if he would move He turned out to be Dr W Hardy Hendren chief of pediatric surgery at Massachusetts General who had been lecturing in Scranton Hendren later became part of the operating team today partly because gasoline sales declined in Pennsylvania during 1974 and revenue from the retail tax dropped even though it had been hiked by one penny a gallon officials have penny of the gasoline tax brings in 550 million in revenue The Committee has been working on a variety of formulas to increase the tax and license fees to raise an estimated million needed by the department However the committee has apparently abandoned a plan that would make the owners of bigger heavier cars pay more to register It plans to replace it with a flat increase in the registration fee from to a year Supporters of the gas tax increase want the legislature to act on the measure within the next month because needs revenue before winter when it will be hit with bills for snow removal Secretary Jacob Kassab has threatened to begin laying off workers Nov 1 unless the legislature comes to his aid However legislative leaders also realize it will become increasingly difficult to hike taxes the closer it gets to the 1976 primary election GOOD DAY FOR DUCKS Rain can make some uncomfortable but wet days are fine for the ducks And for duck hunters But wait These aren't really ducks They are canvasback duck decoys placed in an puddle at Gaston Park by Kirker News photographer The decoys were loaned for the photograph by William D Shultz Lawrence County game protector News Photo Patty blames captors Accountant blasts tax on utilities PITTSBURGH Federal and state governments were today criticized for using utility taxes to plunge their collective hands deep in the pockets of Pennsylvania consumers Stale and federal government take more than half a utility's rate increase in taxes said Barry W Huff partner of Haskins and Sells one of the nation's top accounting firms And the man in the street doesn't even realize the tax expert said In Pennsylvania for every of rate relief granted the tax is said Huff That money comes right out of the consumer's pocket because government merely uses the utilities as a tax tor he added Huff was addressing more than 400 utility executives attending the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Electric Association here The real problem of the energy crisis is not waiting in line for gasoline but finding a way to make fundamental changes in the regulatory process and the tax structures so utilities can meet their enormous future capital requirements said Huff Tax and regulatory reform can help reduce unemployment and save consumers money on their electric bills Huff pointed out Electric utilities pay more for state and local taxes than any other major industry in the commonwealth said Huff Utilities pay 12 per cent of their income in state and local Continued on page 44 SAN FRANCISCO UPI Patty Hearst says she was so terrorized by that she was slipping into insanity and brainwashed to the point that her criminal actions during the past one and one-half years were beyond her control An affidavit signed by Miss Hearst and submitted in federal court Tuesday said the led to a fantasy that her parents had abandoned her the police would shoot her on sight and if she tried to run away her abductors would kill her Defense lawyers turned the document over to U.S District Judge Oliver J Carter to back their motion that she be released on bail so she could be examined by doctors chosen by the Carter refused to let her out of jail He continued her bail hearing until next Tuesday The judge ordered she be examined forthwith by three court-appointed psychiatrists He said she was still considered her a flight risk Just because a person is mentally incompetent you shouldn't allow them to wander down the he said The insanity approach not only was the basis of the defense plea for her release on bond It may be the rationale when she is brought to trial on 22 counts including kidnaping bank robbery and assault with a deadly weapon Defense lawyer Vincent nan still was she was right on the verge of tipping one way or another in terms of sanity During the entire time she was in captivity she was insane he told reporters outside the courtroom Any jury would acquit her in a he said Patty's affidavit was couched in the third person It was not clear io whom she had told her detailed story of threats inferred drugging arid fear the world was dissolving into fantastic shapes arid images She first returned to the real world she said when she her mother father and sisters in jail Patty said that a short time before she was arrested last Thursday she began to ence lucid intervals of sanity and decided to return to San Francisco News digest Page slop and think 3 Ford safety urged 5 County report 6 Ellwood faces funds catch 9 Residents travel to Rome TO Robinson rehired retired 39 Slate pays for sex Chase termed by policeman Page Classified Comics 38 Public Notice 45 Sports Theaters 8 TV Log 44 FeMale There is one case of tance recorded that of the penitent thief that none should despair and only one that none should presume St Augustine Death record September Mrs Margaret L 87 of 415 E Moody Ave Mrs John N Stone 63 of 206 Blvd Mrs William A Hazen 55 of Ellwood City Clifford E Newby 77 nf San Clemente Calif NATION Wednesday night will find rain heavy at times along with some showers from eastern Florida northward through the Mid-Atlantic states the Valley and the northeast Mostly fair elsewhere Minimum readings Include approximate maximum temperatures in Atlanta 39 Boston 56 Chicago 48 Cleveland 41 Dallas 51 Denver 39 Duluth 39 Houston 54 Jacksonville 67 Kansas City 44 Little Rock 48 Los Angeles 65 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA rain tonight and Thursday Low tonight and Thursday Low tonight near 50 High Thursday near 65 Chance of rain is 60 percent tonight and Thursday Weather statistics for the 24-hour period ending at 7 today follows with the high and low temperatures recorded at 7 and 5 p.m Last year's data is in parentheses Maximum temperature 61 56 Minimum temperature 52 30 Precipitation 98 rain none River stage 6.85 feet 5.56 feet POLLEN COUNT The pollen count recorded at St Francis Hospital laboratory today is 0 grains per square centimeter MORAINE STATE PARK Air temperature at 8 today was 54 degrees winds from the northeast at 13 miles per hour attendance on Tuesday was 564 By JACK News Staff Writer Capt Earl P Wright com- manding officer for Pennsylvania State Police Troop day termed the crash which took the lives of two women in New Castle late day afternoon a no-win situation for police officers Speaking from his Butler of- fice Wright said Cpl Thomas Parady and Trooper Ronald Kremenik were absolutely cor- rect in performing their duty when they pursued a stolen auto carrying two teenagers down the Mercer Street hill and into 5 p.m traffic injuries they were remanded to the Beaver County Juvenile Detention Home because the Lawrence County facility is presently closed and unavailable Sgt Joseph of the New Castle barracks who conferred this morning with District At- torney Donald Williams said charges against Anderson and Tale were to be filed later today Wright admitted that the chase resulted in tragedy But he said It is our duty to enforce the law Our people must chase violators The individual being chased is his actions no matter what his age or mental condition may be See editorial on page 4 The chase resulted in the deaths of Alice H Hay 48 of 13 Sunnybrook Drive Township and Edith Allen of RD 2 Avon Drive Union Township The stolen car crashed into Mrs Hay's auto at the North Street intersection hurling the victim's vehicle onto the sidewalk where it struck Mrs Allen as she walked by Mrs Hay died at the scene but Mrs Allen lived approximately three hours before succumbing at Jameson Memorial Hospital Ben Anderson 15 and Robert Tate 16 both foster sons of Peter H Franklin Mill St were quickly captured Following treatment at Jameson for minor We do discourage high-speed chases into a densely populated area Our man makes the decisions In extremely speed chases he will consider all of the safety factors If necessary he stops the chase Wright said he did not consider Monday's pursuit action a speed chase According to Sgt the speed of the trooper car never exceeded 40 miles per hour The chase began on Mercer near George Washington Junior High and said it was con- ducted at speeds ranging between 30 and 40 miles per hour The speed limit on Mercer is 35 out- side the downtown area where it Continued on page 3 1 PLANNING TO BE WARM AT THE FRONT A in annual Day Parade In Revolutionary uniform gets in knitting whik waiting for the to off In York parade it in honor of Baron Friedrich von a military who trained and Continental Army under UH Photo
