Waterloo Courier (Newspaper) - June 21, 1982, Waterloo, Iowa 22 pages 3 sections Monday June 21 1982 Waterloo Iowa 25 cents Gov Ray defends surtax on ailing Iowa jobless fund DES MOINES AP A ary surtax on em- is a small price to pay to keep the state's ailing less fund afloat Gov Robert Ray says And Ray says that while it's not yet certain the fund will go broke next month that's a distinct possibility I don't think anyone knows for Ray said The surtax set by lawmakers this year at of a percent is a very small and allows the state to borrow from the federal ment to keep the fund in the black Ray said Job Service of Iowa officials last week again predicted that the un- employment trust fund will go broke Plagued by high unemployment rates the fund nearly went broke in April but managed to stay afloat Officials pre- at that time that the state would be forced to borrow before year's end Ray backed the temporary surtax as a way of repaying the interest on a federal loan and at his weekly press conference Monday said that's the best way keep the fund afloat The surtax is a very small price to pay for being able to borrow from the federal government The surtax is applied only for one year and was passed during this year's session as a stopgap measure to keep the fund afloat Ray said he's not sure that the federal loan will be needed and said it will be a couple of weeks before state officials determine that The fund is supported by a tax on employers collected quarterly and the danger point comes at the end of each quarter just before more receipts begin to flow in Ray said the federal loan is only a but said officials are closely monitoring the fund Last week Job Service officials predicted the state would have to borrow million this year coupled with another million to million next year On another of the jobless picture Ray said he's skeptical of eral efforts to increase the maximum length of unemployment benefits from 39 to 52 weeks The whole effort should be in putting people to work not in keeping them on the welfare he said The state's unemployment picture has brightened a bit Ray said with the jobless rate dropping one percent last month Our unemployment has he said On other topics Ray He wants more time to study a report issued last week on health care costs though his initial reaction is that the report raises serious questions Ray said he was particularly concerned by indications in the report that health care facilities are He'll stick with budget projections prepared by Comptroller Ron Mosher despite claims from the Iowa Association that the state is in deep budget trouble Mass arrests in protest Calif AP Police arrested more than protesters who attempted Monday to block entry to the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory one of the nation's fore- most nuclear weapons development About demonstrators many in wheelchairs and some carrying ners showed up at the facility about 50 miles east of San Francisco A coalition of about 200 groups said they planned to stage a three-day blockade of the laboratory and up to demonstrators were expected There was no violence Those ar- rested were charged with obstructing traffic a misdemeanor Some of the police officers smiled at the arrival of a brass band from the Musicians Activist Group a orchestra led by a man wearing a T- shirt saying Chief Claire Feder of ton who carried a Hell No We Won't Glow banner said she traveled to the protest with her husband Ernest Goitein a retired nuclear power plant On the safe side Chili good enough to be eaten without a gas mask that's what Roger Gravis was concocting for the Arkansas Chili Cooking Contest conducted Saturday in Little Rock Gravis on a team called the Good Ole wanted to be safe rather than sorry bo By The Press Israeli artillery and warships blasted beleaguered Palestinian guerrillas in Moslem west Beirut from three sides Monday and Lebanon's state radio said shells slammed into residential neighborhoods causing heavy casualties Israeli tanks and artillery pounded the city from the hills south and east of the city while naval guns fired into the Palestinian enclaves from the west Guerrillas fired guns in the air to cordon off large sections of the Lebanese Boulevard where several buildings were reported hit Fire engines and ambulances raced into stricken neighborhoods abutting the highway and clouds of thick smoke spread over the area THE PALESTINE said there were many Palestinian casualties Lebanese police said an initial count showed an additional 10 Lebanese civilians were killed and 77 wounded in downtown residential districts It was not clear whether the latest blitz signaled an all-out assault on Palestine Liberation Organization bunkers in a area of mostly Moslem west Beirut all that remains under the guerrilla group's control since Israel's June 6 invasion The PLO said its teeming camps on the southern flank of the Lebanese tal were the target of indiscriminate bombardment and claimed hospitals sustained direct hits as the nightlong duels flared without letup past midday The state radio said Beirut's para- airport and nearby PLO and ian positions were blasted by Israeli military and shelling and advised west Beirut's inhabitants to seek shelter in basements IN TEL AVIV the military command reported Israeli gunners exchanged ar- tillery fire with PLO guerrillas in Beirut's southern slums shortly after midnight but gave no details Israel radio reported guerrillas earlier eted Israeli positions near Beirut port south of the Lebanese capital Earlier Lebanese sources said tian and PLO gunners appeared to be shelling each other without Israeli in- volvement along battle lines around southern Beirut's sprawling el refugee slums An artillery shell slammed into a building near the foreign press center in west Beirut wounding at least 11 people and igniting several fires in a blamed on Israeli gunners War correspondents said one shell exploded half a block from the Soviet Embassy and another tore into an apartment building next to The Press bureau and half a block from the international press center in west Beirut's Commodore Hotel None of the more than 200 foreign journalists photographers and television crews covering the Lebanese crisis was in- jured LEBANON'S STATE and privately owned radio stations said the shell that exploded near the Commodore was one of several that hit buildings around the nerve center of the PLO They said the blitz was one of the heaviest since invading Israeli forces and their Lebanese Christian allies laid seige to the PLO enclaves in the capital eight days ago PLO chief Yasser Arafat and his guerrilla fighters trapped in the west Beirut enclaves have promised a bloody last stand if Israeli or Christian forces attack Hundreds of panicky west Beirut residents have fled the area seeking shelter in Christian east Beirut and southern Lebanon Iron Duke Dead issue Attempts are being made to inject repeal of Iowa's so-called laws as a major issue in the race for governor between Lt Gov Terry Branstad the Republican nominee and Democrat Roxanne Conlin Branstad is on record as opposing repeal while Mrs Conlin has indicated she would sign a repeal if it were passed by the Legislature Mrs Conlin's position is one traditionally taken by Democratic party candidates presumably to retain the support of union leaders who routinely oppose statutes GENERALLY speaking the law specifies that a worker cannot be forced to join a union in order to work in an establishment that has a union contract But that is not all It is not a one-way street The law also provides that management cannot refuse employment to an applicant because he holds union membership or will join a union Union officials had their best shot at repealing the law during former Gov Harold Hughes first BiB Severin term in office when in the period De- held a majority in both houses of the Legislature No was passed although repeal was in the party's state platform Just why efforts are made to keep the issue law has been on the books to close to 40 something of a mystery Despite the law unions have flourished in Iowa in most industrial plants and have remained strong in membership and in finances IN FACT there are some union members who believe the law has helped keep unions strong and healthy by forcing union leaders to strive vigorously to protect the interests of workers in order to retain them as members It seems from here that repeal of the law is an issue that has been beaten to death during a score or more elections and one that will not arouse much interest among the majority of Iowa voters All of Britain awaits possible heir to throne Princess Diana LONDON AP With Prince Charles at her side Princess Diana entered London's St Mary's Hospital Monday in the early stages of ingham Palace announced Crowds quickly gathered outside the hospital in the Paddington district of West London to await the birth of a baby who may one day sit on the British throne A brief announcement said the cess was admitted to the hospital about midnight Iowa time A palace spokesman later said it could be many hours before there was further news of her progress in labor but he said there was no cause for concern The Princess of Wales is in the best of health A palace spokeswoman said the year-old heir to the throne intended to be present at the birth of his first child Last month Diana said her husband had read so many books on child care and pregnancy that he thought he was an expert He keeps telling me what to do I don't like it she told a woman in a crowd at the opening of a community center in don Attending the princess was Dr George Pinker the queen's gynecologist who advocates the ern practice of fathers being present at deliveries He also favors use of painkilling drugs if needed during labor Queen Elizabeth II went ahead with a scheduled visit to Royal Air Force base Wittering in central England but a special radio hotline was arranged aboard her Andover aircraft to keep her in touch with news from the hospital Departing for her trip at Heathrow Airport the monarch looked de- said an airport official There was a big smile for everyone briefly Hinckley fate is deliberated WASHINGTON AP Jurors in John W Hinckley trial Monday returned for a fourth day of tions to the same wood-paneled courtroom where they heard weeks of conflicting testimony on the tial assailant's sanity Court personnel said that if there was no verdict by dinner time the jurors would take a break and then continue their deliberations The jurors were discussing whether the defendant was insane when he shot President Reagan and three other men outside a Washington hotel on March 30 1981 Mubarak offers Arafat asylum CAIRO Egypt AP dent Hosni Mubarak said Sunday that Egypt is willing to provide asylum for Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders under a plan proposed by Arafat Lebanese mediators to end the fighting in their country In an interview with the U.S Cable News Network Mubarak also said the Israeli invasion of Lebanon had badly damaged America's image in the Arab world and failure to devise a quick solution to the crisis would affect relations between the United States and all Arab countries Lightning toll highest in Florida WASHINGTON Florida re- corded the highest number of dents killed or injured by lightning over a period while Alaska and Hawaii reported none a federal study shows A study of lightning by the National and Atmospheric tion recorded a total of deaths and injuries attributed to the violent electrical discharges between 1959 and 1979 Florida had 223 fatalities and 566 injuries Iowa recorded 52 deaths and 132 injuries during the period Mrs Thatcher Reagan to talk WASHINGTON President Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will confer Wednesday at the White House deputy White House press secretary Larry Speakes announced Monday Mrs Thatcher is in the United States to take part in the United tions special session on disarmament The meeting was arranged Sunday when the president spoke by telephone with the British leader said Lyndon Allin another deputy White House press secretary Court to review nuclear issue WASHINGTON AP The Supreme Court Monday agreed to re- view whether states can halt tion of new nuclear power plants At issue is a California freeze on nuclear plant construction until there are guarantees that high-level nuclear wastes can be disposed of safely The federal government which claims the moratorium violates the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 has not approved any waste disposal method The Court's final ruling will have an immediate impact on the many states with nuclear power curbs Metropolitan and state Northeast An Alabama girl is a double winner in the Junior Miss preliminaries Page Bl Mary Jamie Hendrix Tom Watson makes a dramatic finish to capture the U.S Open by two shots Page Cl Watson Argentina is ting a muzzle on prisoners returned from the lands Page A2 Weather Sunny and mild Tuesday with high ture about 80 Weather details on page A2
