Tucson Citizen (Newspaper) - December 27, 1977, Tucson, Arizona Tucson Citizen VOL 107 NO 309 TUCSON ARIZONA TUESDAY DECEMBER 27 1977 A GANNETT NEWSPAPER 52 PAGES 15 CENTS Forecast Wet but not white Santa Claus is bringing a belated gift to Arizona ranchers and farmers but bad news to Tucson skiers and golf asts continued rain probably through Thursday A wet weather depression meandering off the coast of Southern California for more than a week has soaked Tucson with nearly a of rain since Saturday and the fore casters are calling for a 70 percent probability of more through tomorrow are not likely to see the sun break through until Friday or Saturday and when the skies do clear the new year could usher in freezing temper as a preface to next weeks Joe Garagiola Tucson Open golf tournament Heavy fog greeted Arizona this morning from Yuma to Tucson Visibility dropped to 100 feet in Ajo and a quarter mile here The murk threat ened to ground flights at Tuc son International Airport but lifted before it could disturb air traffic Nearly an inch of rain 88 has fallen in the Santa Cata lina Mountains since Saturday but overnight temperatures in the 30 to range have kept the moisture from turning to snow And by the time it gets cold enough to freeze on Mount Lemmon the clouds will have gone The Pima County Sheriffs Department has been besieged by hundreds of phone calls from skiers asking about snow conditions at Mt Lemmon Ski Valley Its been a madhouse said a deputy but weve had to tell them its just raining up there The tropical moisture feeding into California Utah and Arizo na shows signs of breaking up Rain Scoreboard Airport UA JJ Year to date 111 Normal to date 574 MB by the end of But it has brought badly needed rain and snow to California Los Angeles re 173 inches yesterday A of rain fell over he weekend at E Fifth St and Wilmot Road while 45 of an inch was recorded at Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde roads and 40 at North Oracle and River roads Visibility was down to 20 feet in places in the Kingman area which also got 38 of an inch of rain in six hours this morning The National Weather Service said roads in northern Arizona are wet with a few icy or snowy patches in the Flagstaff area Greg Graham greens super intendent at Tucson National Golf Club site of the Tucson Open which starts next Wednesday said the rain has been very bad for the greens They are soaked and wont make very good putting surfac es if this keeps up much lon ger But agricultural interests cheered the moisture Pima County agent Garrett Black well called the rain nothing but beneficial Most of the crops are in so there wont be any damage there and the rain will really help winter wheat and barley and cattle ranges The forecaster is calling for rain showers for Tucson tomor row The chance of rain tonight is 40 percent Daytime temperatures will remain in the upper 50s drop ping only a few degrees over night Yesterdays range was 57 and 52 Full weather report page UA ClUm PMo by Insulation a boon but buyers beware By THOM WALKER Citizen SUM Writer He drives a silvery new Lin coln Continental and he bills himself as an energy adviser but one of the main tools of his trade is an ordinary penny In reality hes an insulation salesman and the penny plays a big pan in his pitch to home owners He melts it down to a sputter ing drop of copper with a blow torch that flames 2000 degrees hot while it sits on a chunk of his insulation The insulation blackens but doesnt burn proof of the fire retardant quality of cellulose insulation he claims Cellulose is newsprint treated with boric acid High gas and electric bills indirectly are another tool of his trade and a major reason for a booming insulation busi ness in Tucson With his insulation youll save enough on utility bills to pay off the invest ment in five years he says The total cost for a ceiling with a 10 percent discount if you buy before Jan 1 and the first monthly payment free if you sign up within three days Consumer protection experts and established insulation con tractors warn that you may come out ahead if you dont sign on the dotted line at least not right away Its a suede shoe opera tion said one longtime con tractor when told of a report encounter with the ener gy adviser who had given the sales pitch I class them along with barn painters and meat salesmen said Marshall Nor thington owner of Prestons Insulation Co They get every one sick with ptomaine and then disappear Nevertheless are buying from established firms as well as their newer rivals that have hit town with hardsell telephone pitches and promises of big utility savings to soften the high prices they charge Sales are up about 20 percent this year an increase in part due to a surge of home build ing says Thomas R Hooley manager of Columbia Insula tion Inc Northington estimates that the demand has probably doubled in the last year President Carters energy package though stalled in Congress is credited for the sudden boom in insulation sales Consumers were awak ened to the bene fits of insulation and lured on by the possibility of tax breaks though those too are in limbo right now But it also created a ripe field for consumer ripoffs The whole insulation thing is a real zoo says Ronald M Detrick supervisor of the citys consumer affairs office I really feel for the consumers Consumer agencies get al most daily inquiries especial ly about two firms that have launched local telephone solici tation campaigns but few complaints so far Theyre making people happy apparently Detrick said The high flyers havent been around long enough for people to know if theyre really saving on utility bills The Arizona Registrar of Contractors which licenses insulation companies has had surprisingly few complaints according to Julian McClure assistant registrar Its just my opinion but I think one of the reasons is that the public isnt educated enough in this Continued page 2A Dawn descends in Tucson Clam HMM by DM Technically the sun had risen when the camera captured these Tucson scenes this morning but the fact wasnt very obvious A heavy fog lowered visibility at Tucson Internation al Airport top to a and threatened incoming air traffic until lifting The Santa Catalina Mountains and most of the city as well were hidden in the bottom scene from A Mountain This newspaper may eventually insulate a home By EDWARD W BASSETT Citizen StaH Writer The idea sounds attractive Turn the newspaper you are now reading into insulation for your home When you see a bum in the park who wants to keep warm what does he use A newspaper right asks Al Morales who is trying to turn that idea into a new company called Cellulose Insula tion of America The firm is now preparing facilities here at 4361 E Tennessee St for production it hopes to begin next month with a work force of seven persons It would seem to be riding the crest of two energy conscious waves The recycling of waste paper and the booming interest in home insulation And since it apparently would be first largescale insulation manufacturer the company also is in a position to help close a shortfall in insulation supply that has resulted in many local builders being placed on allocation schedules by manufacturers But company officials Morales and James Roberson have found that they face a serious image problem Shady operators have caused the cellulose insulation industry to receive nearly as much bad publicity as the Son of Sam The problem is that as Morales calls them will sell insulation that is nothing but paper untreated with chemicals Throughout the nation fire chiefs and consumer protection agencies have warned that buying such material is roughly equivalent to insulating ones home with gaso line How does Morales confront the criticism Directly With a cigarette lighter That Morales explains is because the material has been prop Continued page 2A A quick look at MexiCO Half of the students in Mexico who enter schools never complete the second grade according to the director of the Mexican Center for Educational Studies Enrique Gonzalez Torres Torres said his pressing need is to reduce the dropout rate which he said was a result of the children being needed to aid the families in fanning and domestic chores He said only 10 percent of the stu dents ever reach high school Party trauma what do you do when youVe giving a New Years Eve party and some of your guests are diabetics others are on a diet and still others have sodium problems Details in Deborah Blocks food column on Page IB RUSS missiles US officials now believe Russia has started deploying a new mobile missile with potential to hit the United States mainland The missile presently can reach targets in West ern Europe China and the Middle East A third stage could be added however boosting its range from the present 3000 miles to a range of 5000 miles which would put the United States within its range US officials are concerned that the missile could tip the nuclear weapon balance in favor of the Soviets Breast Cancer It doesnt strike men as often as it does women but men who suffer from the disease are more likely to die from it than women are Details Page 1C Groceries Tlie middlemen are taking more of the consumers food dollars while the farmers share is going down new government figures show The Agriculture Department reports that farmers in November got 385 cents per spent for food in retail stores while middle men got 615 cents In October the figures were 39 and 61 cents respectively Details Page 2A Crash A radio sta tion traffic slammed through the roof of an apartment building in Quincy Mass today and exploded killing two per sons and injuring four others Two bodies burned beyond recognition were found near the wreckage of the ter which came to rest on the second floor of the red building and started a fire there One would assume they are from the helicopter a medical examiner said of the bodies Occupants of the helicopter were fied as Chip Whitmore a reporter for station WEEI and pilot Red Banks The conditions of the injured were not immediately known Bridge ID Classified Comics Crossword Deaths ISA JC Financial AMI Linden 2B H Times 2B Pub RecIA IB UA YMIT Stars IB Charlies Crossword Puzzle Page Word clues Page inside FOR SOME of us the coming of 1978 will be just another chance to party all night but for Citizen high school columnist Julie Lar son its a chance to look forward to her high school graduation look back at some of the technological achievements of the past year and recall the good and bad days in her own person al world Page m THE RAMS are versa tile The Los Angeles football team can lose to the Minnesota Vikings in any weather Jim Murray Page ID No concessions from Israel Sadat claims By Press Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was quoted today as saying that Israel under the leadership of Prime Minister Menahem Begin has not yet made the tough decisions or concessions needed to bring about a Middle East peace The two leaders held a Christmas summit in Ismailia Egypt and came away still divided over the future of Pales tinian Arabs living on the Israelioccupied West Bank of the Jordan River and Gaza Strip No Israel has not yet taken the difficult decision Sadat was quoted by Egyptian newspapers as saying Mr Begin may be of the view that he has made concessions but I see that he has not Begin proposed for the 11 million Palestinian Arabs living on the West Bank and Gaza Strip with continued Israeli military presence Sadat held out for creation of an independent state and complete Israeli with In Jerusalem the Israeli prime minister briefed his cabi net on the Ismailia summit and met with US Ambassador Samuel W Lewis apparently to report on the talks and cur rent status of the peacemaking effort The semiofficial Egyptian newspaper Al reported that the summit talks did produce agreement on Israeli with from the occupied Sinai Peninsula Israeli troops still control more than 80 percent of the 20000 square mile tian desert peninsula The newspaper said Israel wanted to announce the accord publicly but Sadat refused saying their summit talks were aimed not at reaching a private agree ment but a comprehensive settlement Hardline Arabs denounced the summit as expected and Palestinian guerrillas joined Syria in pledging a steppedup campaign to thwart future peace initiatives
