New Castle News (Newspaper) - September 25, 1975, New Castle, Pennsylvania NEW CASTLE NEWS NINETY SIXTH YEAR NEWCASTLE NEWS THURSDAY SEPTEMBER -24 Pages PER WEEK BY COPY 15 Developer of Centre TWO TWO WHEELS A modern Paul Revere gets as much response as his revolutionary counterpart in attracting the attention of his countrymen In this instance Ralph E Osterberg the bicentennial coordinator of Covington Ky complete with tricorn hat and flying is putting out a call to a weekend pageant not a shoot-out with an advancing army Photo By DAVE BEST News Staff Writer The 1976 tax assessment on Washington was termed almost ludicrous yesterday by an attorney for Ruhlin ment Corp the developer of the downtown project Attorney John P Klee made the comment during a hearing on the New Caslle Renewal Associates appeal of a million assessment The hearing was held before the county commissioners sitting as the board of assessment appeals The commissioners will render a decision on the appeal within five days If the verdict goes against Ruhlin the firm can appeal to he courts In a legal brief Klee contended the county failed to follow the legal methods of assessing property in Pennsylvania as enunciated by the state Supreme Court Klee and firm president William Ruhlin suggested using ment guidelines of the Supreme Court that value of the properly should be based on 1375 net income for the Centre Ruhlin noted if 1976 projected income figures are used the market value should be Klee also contended the methods used to arrive at the million assessment are invalid according to stale Supreme Court cases involving shopping plaza assessments ask renewal meeting n v mT i t By JOHN K MANNA News Staff Writer With the city still trying to get this year's community development projects off the ground preparations are being made for public hearings on next year's program Instead of two hearings which were held in 1974 city administration will hold three meetings this year There are already some rumblings from South Siders that none of hearings will be held in their section of the cily Those representing the South Side particularly merchants believe that since their has been earmarked for future development one of the hearings should be held there to achieve maximum participation by residents The hearings are slated for Oct 7 at John F Kennedy elementary school Oct 14 at Thaddeus Stevens elementary school and Oct 21 at City Hall All hearings will begin at p.m Kennedy is located on the North Hill and Thaddeus Stevens on the East Side Aside from question of where the sessions should be held the city administration is attempting to comply with tighter federal regulations concerning citizen participation Business Administrator Edward R Stiff who the city's community development director said the U S Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD is placing ad- emphasis this year on citizen Since the new Housing and Com- munity Development Act was enacted late last year HUD didn't enforce the participation aspect to the letter However HUD now feels cities have had enough time to learn the regulations Stiff said HUD is holding seminars soon for its employes in the field offices such as the area office on citizen participation alone He noted also that the city of Dallas Tex was slapped with a suit from a group of citizens who maintain that the city didn't comply with the requirements HUD is requiring thai cities provide citizens with information on the amount of money available what activities the money may be spent on and other program requirements A total of million same as the amount in 1975 will be available for next year's program Two public hearings are required to obtain citizen views New Castle is more than meeting this requirement by holding three Citizens must also be given the opportunity lo participate in developing to In other according to a manual put out by Model Cities Community Development Directors Association local governments must enable their citizens to assist in establishing the program's priorities in ing recommendations on specific program and in advising on the allocation of program resources In addition particular emphasis should be placed on gathering views of low and moderate income people and others who are likely to be affected by housing and community development activities According to Stiff three public hearings are heing held to obtain opinions and requests from citizens The city does not anticipate outlining its plans at that time although the City Redevelopment Authority may make its own re- quests After the hearings City Council will study the requests and formulate a plan for next year A public hearing will then be held to allow citizens an opportunity to comment House panel okays gasoline hikes HARRISBURG UPI A Pennsylvania House committee has approved bills to increase the state gasoline tax from 9 to 11 cents a gallon and motor license fees by million The two increases are de- signed lo raise million for the state Transportation De- which has been hit by major budget cutbacks fl also would provide an ed million for local governments lo use for highway repairs The House Transportation Committee vote came day after chairman Joseph failed to convince members to scrap the retail gas tax and replace it with a 30 per cent levy on the wholesale price of fuel That plan was backed by the Shapp administration but it ran into stiff opposition from Republicans and Democrats who feared the wholesale tax would become too burdensome if price of gas continues to rise It just wouldn't said one committee member We all know the Transportation Department needs more money but that tax could go up lo 15 cents a gallon if wholesale price rises to 50 cents We could end up giving too much money The increase in the gas tax would raise an estimated million for Tiie across-the-board hike in motor license fees would bring in another million with million coming from owners of autos Both measures face an uncertain future in lature although the lion wants quick action on the bills because is in serious financial trouble Secretary Jacob Kassab already has ordered cutbacks in the snow removal and highway maintenance budgets and has threatened to lay off workers beginning Nov 1 unless he gets more aid The legislature just last year increase the gasoline tax from eight to nine cents a gallon Rep Joseph Bonetto The appeal stemmed from an action by Commissioners Frank A Vitril and Charles Dlugokenski Aug 12 which in effect more than doubled the market value of the property over what it was this year The million total includes the buildings and improvements for the first time valued at million The value of the land was increased from to million despite a recommendation by the county assessor last spring to reduce the value to In Klee's brief comparisons were made between per square foot market value of the Centre land and the land at the Towne Mall Call's Plaza and other shopping plazas in the county The brief said market value of land at the Towne Mall is 80 cents a square foot at Call's Plaza 63 cents and at North City Plaza 12 cents Washington Centre's market value on land will be per square foot Comparisons of the market valuations per square fool on the plaza buildings also showed large differences with the Centre valued three lo four times more than Call's Towne Mall or North Plaza Vitril objected to comparing the Centre with plazas outside the city He said comparison should be limited lo buildings in area immediately surrounding the Centre such as Strouss ment store and the First Federal building Klee contended Supreme Court rulings do not permit such com- in making assessments You can compare office buildings to office buildings but not shopping centers lo office buildings he said Vitril said he didn't know what the law said on assessment procedures and he would have to consult the county solicitor In combatting suggested assessment Vitril noted the land area itself was valued at before the City Redevelopment Authority tore down buildings on the property He began discussing millions of dollars spent by the ty to buy the property when Commissioner Thomas A Shumaker ob- I can see the validity of discussing the assessed value on the land before redevelopment as opposed to after if this discussion is to weigh the merits of urban Shumaker said Bui I don't see how il is relevant if it comes down lo the present owner He came afler the buildings were demolished Dlugokenski suggested those present should lay it all out Vitril said he wanted to be fair to other businesses surrounding the Centre as well as merchants in the facility Vitril and Dlugokenski set the land value of the Centre at about a square foot in order lo bring it into line with the average per square fool valuations on surrounding businesses Shumaker contended the situations on surrounding properties varied from the conditions under which Washington was developed He said Ruhlin was required to meet certain ment restrictions which reduced the amount of usable land for buildings to 57 per cent of the total area Other restrictions involved large from the rounding streets landscaping a small park and parking lots he said A neighboring property such as Strouss store could use 99 per cent of its property for a building Shumaker added Vitril said there had been testimony in court when the Authority was buying properties on the sile that the land was worth several million dollars He noted the Authority eventually paid the merchants on the site million He also objected to the Authority wanting lo sell the whole land area as a unit to one developer rather than letting merchants Vitril also questioned why Redevelopment sold the property to Ruhlin for when il paid former merchants several million dollars for their parcels Frank your argument's with them the Authority not Huhlin replied He added he didn't get a windfall at the paid for the sile Ruhlin indicated he would be willing to sell the land to Vitril for the price he paid for it without feeling he was giving him a Shumaker questioned why the area went vacant year after year if land was such a good deal as Vitril had indicated Vitril said he felt it was because Redevelopment wouldn't sell in separate parcels He added the county would never get any more Continued on page 2 Suspect glad Ford still alive LOS ANGELES UPI Sara Jane Moore says she took a shot at President Ford because it was easy to do and she felt isolated desperately needing somebody to take her seriously But she is glad she did not hit him I'm glad he didn't Mrs Moore said in her only interview since Monday on charges of attempting to assassinate the President She hoped all along that she would be stopped she said Mrs Moore talked in the San Francisco County Jail with Ellen Hume a Los Angeles Times reporter who had talked with tier many times during the past six months In connection with a series on radicals She talked in confused according to the story in the Times today The interview is laced with contradictions factual errors and non Mrs Moore said her motives were complicated I feel perfectly fine but I'm obviously she said Mrs Moore had infiltrated radical groups for the FBI and then publicly denounced herself as an informant ing she had been converted to their beliefs She told the Times she felt isolated because radicals refused to accept her after she revealed she had been a spy Shooting at the President was like target practice Patty primary suspect in second bank holdup News digest SAN FRANCISCO UPI Authorities consider Patricia Hearst a prime suspect in an armed robbery and murder at a bank in Carmichael Calif according to news reports The reports said money taken in the robbery was found in the house where the newspaper heiress was arrested last week CBS News reported day that Miss Hearst closely resembles the composite ing of one of the robbers sketched from witnesses de- The network also said part of the stolen money marked for identification was found during the search of the house where Miss Hearst had been living when she was arrested The bank near Sacramento Calif was robbed of April 21 by four persons including a young woman During the holdup a bystander Myrna Lee Opsahl was killed CBS reporter Richard eld said authorities later fpund the getaway car and on its license plates reportedly ered the fingerprints of Sieve Soliah Soliah 27 a house painter with whom Miss Hearst said she lived was indicted day on federal charges of harboring a fugitive and being an accessory after fact Bail was set at Miss Hearst 21 and fellow SLA members Wendy Yo- shimura William Harris and his wife Emily were captured last Thursday at two houses in Mission District Miss Hearst had been kidnaped by the SLA on Feb 4 1974 but later announced through tape recordings that she was joining her captors Investigators said Wednesday James Kilgore 27 was wanted in connection with the bank robbery in Carmichael and that a raid on his Daly Cily apartment turned up bombs shotguns a revolver and revolutionary literature The Harrises Wednesday were transferred from the San Matco County Jail in nearby Redwood City to Los Angeles where they face IB state charges The move came after a judge dismissed federal charges for automatic weapons violations against them For the examination of Miss Hearst U.S District Judge Oliver Carter named Drs West chief of the psychiatric department at Seymour Pollack Los Angeles University of Southern fornia Medical Center and Donald G Lunde Stanford University West the authority on has interviewed and directed the treatment for many Vietnam veterans who had been held as prisoners of war Lunde has done extensive studies on the intellects of mass murders Pollack is a specialist on law and psychiatry Dr Margaret Thaler Singer a clinical psychologist at the University of California was named to administer any tests desired by the team She said it was believed Miss Hearst's examination would begin this week Miss Hearst's lawyers filed an affidavit Tuesday detailing what happened to her after her kidnap She signed it The statement said that she was the victim of brainwashing tics and drugging These actions by her captors she said pushed her lo insanity Page Shapp a formal candidate 2 Changes on Falls Street 3 County report 5 Sew a tall frock 9 Student rights Phillies prove 17 Page Business g Classified Comics 19 Public Notice 20 Sports Theaters 6 20 FeMale k High inmates free hostages unharmed MICHIGAN CITY Ind UPI Two inmates who apparently wanted to get high on drugs seized control of the Indiana State Prison hospital building and held eight prison employes hostage at for more than five hours before dering There were no injuries The inmates David Erickson 33 and James Kelley Jr 28 took eight prison employes at about p.m Wednesday About 50 other persons including about 30 inmate patients remained in the hospital during the takeover but were not threatened Authorities said no other prisoners were involved in the takeover Erickson and Kelley dered to Warden Leo Jenkins at after releasing the in groups of two and three At one point they issued a list of nine demands ranging from a call for better food to a demand that no reprisals be taken against them No promises were the state correction department said in a statement All information concerning tion of state statutes will be turned over to the prosecutor for review and action Jenkins said the two had gotten high on drugs Jenkins both men had obtained downers from the hospital's limited narcotics supply Double Dollars 284968 21067 4190 379 5 Baker's 32622 200 Death Record September William Evanglist 81 of 421 Lyndal St Mrs Maria DiAngelo 85 of 814 W Washington St Mrs Mary A King 91 of Beaver Falls RD 2 Arthur Redman 73 of Pembroke Pines Mrs Anna U Romonsky 73 of 20 E Reynolds St Paul R Stevenson McKeesport NATION Thursday night will find rain heavy at times along with showers in most of the northeast and Southern Florida Clear to partly cloudy skies should dominate the rest of the nation Minimum readings include approximate maximum temperatures in Atlanta 52 Boston 50 Cleveland 47 Chicago 40 Dallas 52 Denver 40 Duluth 40 Houston 52 Jacksonville 63 Kansas City Little Rock 46 Us Angeles 65 Miami 72 Minneapolis 40 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA Cloudy tonight with light rain or drizzle at times Low near 50 Clearing Friday High in the mid 60s Chance of rain is 30 per cent tonight and 20 per cent Friday 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 62 Minimum temperature 53 43 Precipitation 06 rain none River stage 7.50 feet 5.38 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 55 degrees 13 rain precipitation winds from the east at 6 miles per hour attendance on day was 280
