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Tension Builds at Barrow in Wake of SlayingsBARROW. Alaska lt;AP) -Residents of this predominantly Eskimo village have called for the imposition of a curfew and a ban on liquor sales following the shotgun murders of two California backpackers and an attack on a white resident bysidering leaving the town on the shore of the Arctic Oceanused “We don’t want to have to leave our homes and relo-until “it is a safe place to live, said one white community leader who asked not to be identified.cate, but it is unsafe to be*»here. However,NorthSlopeBorough Mayor Eben Hopsoncategorically rejected any sug-“We’re having a racial war gostion of racial tension in theNative youths.Some white residents saidand many of us are really concerned. said another man whotown of 2,000.“The only thing that entersWednesday they were even con- also asked that his name not be my mind is whoever did it lt;theBy MILLER BONNERAssociated Press Writernorth of the center as it craw led westward at about 10 mile*National Hurricane Center inBROWNSVILLE, Tex. (AP) Raui and stiff breezesper hour.The hurricane made its firstMiami as low pressure continued to suck the hurricane on apushed through an eerie haze today as Hurricane Anitamoved over the Gulf of Mexicoslightly southwestern track.effects felt in showers and high winds on on South Padrtand drew a bead on Texas’Lower Rio Grande Valley, aIsland, just off the coast. Evac uations were under wy at South Padre Island and wer€land of citrus groves and beachresortsThe season’s first hurricane moved to within 150 miles ol Brownsville by noon, increasing its winds to 115 miles per houiamiinri its r#»ntf*r and thrnwinccompleted at nearby PortMansfield.Moderate temperatures and scattered clouds gave scant indication of the storm’s approach early today. But some thunderheads were visible onA hurricane watch postedearlier for an area between Vermilion Bay, La., and Matagorda Bay in Texas was dis-the horizon off Corpus Christi to the north and tides along the coast swelled up to eight feet above normal, causing some flooding of highways and roads.Brownsville, population 40.*murders) is completely crazy and probably under the influence of alcohol or drugs,Hopson said.At a meeting of community leaders called by Hopson Tuesday night, about 50 residents, both whites and Eskimos, called for imposition of a 10 p.m curfew- and ban on liquor sales in the townHopson, an Eskimo, ordered the liquor store closed but said he could not comply with the curfew request without a vote by members of the city council, most of whom were out on townon subsistence hunting trips Roger McCoy, chief investigator for the Alaska State Trooper Criminal Investigation Bureau, confirmed reports of tension in the village, saying police were investigating whether the murders were “racially motivated “We hate to say it, but it’s a possibility that the motive could be racial, McCoy said It’s mere speculation right now, but we’ve ruled out justabout everything else like robbery or drugs “We know there are somemilitant Eskimos up there whojust don’t like whitey.t*Hopson declined to commenton the possibility of a racial motive in the murdersBut Alaska Public SafetyCommissioner Richard Burton, who has been under fire fromNativeleaders.brandedMcCoy’s comments as “completely out of line, saying a motive for the slayings had not been establishedTTie gunshot riddled bodies of Gregory J. Underwood, 28, a carpenter from San Francisco, and his girlfriend, Donna L.Hendershot, 32. a nurse from San Rafael, Calif., were discovered on the beach at PointBarrow about eight miles northof here Monday.McCoy said the couple wasapparently asleep in sleeping bags when they were killed by multiple shotgun blasts fired through their tent. He said they had been dead several days when their bodies were discoveredLast Friday night, a white Barrow resident, who was notidentified, was attacked by an estimated 14 teengers on a Barrow street. Two of the teenagers were hospitlized with knife wounds after another manintervened in the beating.Hopson attributed the violence to drinking abuse
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka, Alaska, US
Thu, Sep 01, 1977
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