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AP LaserPhotoMissouri's 11 electors formally cast ballots Monday for George Bush and Dan Quayle.tulnll their constitutional obligation.The electors met in Republican Gov. John Ashcrofts office, signing their ballots at the same huge, oval table where Ashcroft signs bills into law.They had met for lunch and got a brief history lesson about the Electoral College procedure from Republican Secretary of State Roy Blunt.The electors were carrying out the desires of the more than 2 million Missourians who cast ballots at the Nov. 8 general election. Bush took the state — and its 11 electoral votes — by about 85,000 votes.Blunt noted that Missouri had been a battleground for both presidential camps, with Missouri voters being courted numerous times by Bush, Quayle and the Democrats' ticket of Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen.Before the electors met, there had been rumors one of them might break ranks and refuse to formally vote for Quayle. But Quayle won all of Missouri’s formal votes.I feel he was elected by the people and the party, and that's good enough for me, Aleta Mitchell, an at-largeDuu weuer, an eiettui uuui uic oCongressional District, said, I have great confidence in George Bush, and when he picked the man, I knew itwas all right.”Tony Feather, executive director of the MissouriGOP, was at the ceremony.It’s unified,” Feather said of the state’s group of electors. Dan Quayle is going to be the vice president. It’s better that everybody goes into it being positive about it.”Before the vote, former GOP Chairman Hillard Selck said an elector’s refusal to vote for Quayle would have been a mild embarrassment” to state party leaders but probably would not have bothered Bush much.He wouldn’t pay any attention to it, because he’s already had the big win,” Selck said.The voting Monday sets the stage for the final ceremony in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 4, when Vice President Bush, as president of the Senate, will open the ballots and announce the results — and fnrmallv declare himself the president-elect.Kansasvotes proveunanimoustt ITOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ seven Republican electors voted unanimously Monday for George Bush for president and Dan Quayle for vice president during a 10-minute meeting in the secretary of state’s office.Gilda Lintz of Meriden, executive assistant to the state Republican Party who was elected chairwoman bv her fellow electors, declared unanimous ballots for Bush and Quayle following the casting of secret ballots for the two offices.The seven electors then signed certificates attesting to the vote for president and vice president, two copies of which were sent to the U.S. Senate, three to the U.S. Archivesand two kept for state records.It was a light-hearted meeting.Only Elector Dixie Roberts of Manhattan had a serious comment.The temptation to vote for Bob Dole is there, she said as she wrote in Bush's name on the presidential election ballot.Dole, Kansas' senior U.S. senator, challenged Bush for the GOP nomination last year. He won the GOP caucuses in Iowa, but dropped out of the running in late March after suffering primary election defeats in New Hampshire and the southern states during the Super Tuesday primaries.Ray Morgan, an elector from Shawnee, a Kansas City suburb, said, I have no qualms about voting for George Bush. I understand Bob Dole is a great man, but George Bush won.Morgan and Fred Bramlage, an elector from Junction City, said they had no problem voting for Quayle, or his selection by Bush to be his running mate.There was no problem with Dan Quayle as far as I'm concerned, said Bramlage.I've always liked Dan Quayle, said Morgan. He’s been one of the strongest supporters of Freedom of Information, a fact very few people know.Other electors were Roberta Har-kness, Dodge City; Martha Fee, Hutchinson, and June Cooper, Garnett.11Oklahomavotes castfor BushOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma’s eight presidential electors did what they were supposed to do Monday, casting their ballots for George Bush for president and Dan Quayle for vice president.Electors across the country gathered at their state Capitols Monday, as required by the U.S. Constitution, to complete the election process that began Nov. 8 when voters went to the polls, technically to choose a slate of electors pledged to either Bush or Democrat Michael Dukakis.The Oklahomans were among 538 electors meeting nationwide to per-Half Fast Dance Club going strong in northwest KansasBy Bruce BairThe Hays Daily NewsHILL CITY, Kan. (AP) — When theTommy Mac Orchestra played the Anniversary Waltz, the Half Fast Dance Club glided onto the dance floor in sentimental overdrive.Back in the Big Band Era, bands like Lawrence Welk's would tour towns like Hill City, said Kenneth Clark, a Hill City attorney.But the rock 'n' roll revolution ended that. The big bands died out, and the only local dances hired rock bands or country and western combos, leaving Clark and his wife, Lorraine, with no chance to waltz to the big band sound.So they and other area couples formed a group that made trips to the Flying V Ballroom in Utica, Neb., a dancing excursion that took an entire weekend.After returning from one such trip, the Clarks and three Hoxie couples began questioning why they had to drive so far for big band music.Together with others, they hired a bandfor a dance at the Hill City Elks Club in*December 1985. and sent out 175 invitations. Seventy-six couples showed up for the dance, and the Half Fast Dance Club was bom.The hundred couples who pay $.‘35 each year for membership in the organization attend dances about 10 times a year.Ross Reeves, of Hoxie, one of the original Utica dancers, hires the bands out of Kansas,Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota, at fees often more than $1,000. All of the dances are inHill City.Membership is limited to 100 couples by the size of the Hill City dance floor, but there’s a waiting list of about a dozen.The dancers are mostly from the older generation. Many are over seventy, which bothers no one.Members say they also enjoy the gentility and civility that goes with ballroom dancing. A gentleman invites a lady onto the floor, said member Roy Davis. They don’t just stand apart and dance by themselves.Tommy Mac, 72, has been playing big band music since he was 15. His 10-piece orchestra plays music from the ’20s through the 50s.The East and West coasts, he said, are on a big band kick, and like all fads, the last to be in on it will be the rural Midwest, he said.The crowds haven’t changed much in Mac’s more than 50 years of playing.Back in the thirties, they were doing the same thing they are now, he said.There isn't a poor dancer on the floor, said member Russell Pennington of Bogue. The club provides lessons for those who need to sharpen their skills.When there is a mixer -— a dance in which partners are changed you can dance with anyone, he said.These are people who love to dance. That’s what they are here for, he said. This is the greatest thing that has hit northwest Kansas in 40 years.ft iAppeals court stays Smith execution againJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — For thethird time in as manv months, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis stayed Gerald Smith’s execution Monday just hours before he was scheduled to be put to death.Attorney General William Webster's office said it would not bother filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to allow the execution to proceed.Smith, who faced death warrants for two unrelated murders, was set to die at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.Under these circumstances, we don't believe the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the 8th Circuit, said Webster's spokeswoman, Mary Jenkins.The order blocking the execution was issued about 2 p.m. by Judge Richard Arnold, with Judge John Gibson concurring.Arnold noted that in a previous ruling, he had said he would stay Smith's execution if the convicted killer changed his mind about abandoning his appeals.Smith, who previously had demanded that his execution take place, did that Saturday when he decided to continue with his legal challenges.Arnold said inmates are guaranteed certain appeals, but added:I am not disposed to consider any further changes of mind in these cases. As far as I am concerned, Gerald Smith has made his election to proceed and the courts should also proceed to decide the merits of his petitions with all reasonable expedition.On several occasions during Smith's time on death row. he has demanded that appeals be dropped only to change his mind later.Lawyers and prison authorities had expected the execution to be blocked because of Smith's decision over the weekend to go forward with appeals.In fact, prison authorities were so confident the court would block Smith’s execution that even before the stay was issued, they had called witnesses and told them they would not be needed Monday night.If the 8th Circuit had refused to block the execution, prison authorities were prepared to set a new time for an execution Tuesday. They have 24 hours to carry out a death warrant.C. John Pleban, the attorney who had filed new appeals with the 8th Circuit Monday morning seeking to stay the execution, said he was elated by the outcome.Now we can go forth with some of the substantive issues. Pleban said. He said hewas referring to questions about Smith’s guilt and whether he had received a fair trial andeffective counsel.Smith, 30, faced two separate death warrants — one for the 1980 bludgeoning death of Karen Roberts and another for the 1985 murder of fellow inmate Robert Baker.Included with Pleban’s request for a stay was a letter Smith wrote to the 8th Circuit.I had decided to forego any further review of my cases because I had lost faith in a judicial system that had failed me for eightyears,” Smith wrote.However, due to recent developments on my case, this travesty can no longer be ignored. And thus it would be an act of suicide for me to follow through with my execution without having these matters reviewed, Smith wrote.Man pleads guilty in torture-murder casesKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Aman who pleaded guilty Monday to torturing and murdering five men dismembered the remains and put them in trash bags on the curb to be picked up by the city, prosecutors said.No effort would be made to find the bodies of the victims of Robert A. Berdella because it would be an impossible task in the city dump, said Albert Riederer, Jackson County prosecutor.In each of the six cases, Mr. Berdella dismembered the bodies after they were killed and put them to be picked up by the trash trucks and dumped in the city trash, Riederer said after a court hearing witnessed by several relatives of the victims.Berdella, 39, had earlier pleaded guilty to the murder of LarryPearson of Wichita, Kan. and was sentenced to life in pnson without possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty Monday to another first-degree murder charge in the death of Robert Sheldon, and guilty to four other charges of second-degree murder.He was given another life term without chance of parole in Sheldon’s death, and life sentences in the other four cases.Berdella said dunng the 90-minute hearing that he killed Sheldon in April 1985 by putting a plastic trash bag over his head, tieing it with a rope and allowing him to suffocate. Pearson died the same way.The other victims, killed between 1984 and 1987, died after being bound to a bed, gagged and injected with animal tranquilizers. One of the victims bled to death and suffered anttinfection as a result of sexual torture, Berdella said.I tied his hands and feet on the bed, Berdella said of Jerry Howell, who lived across the street and died on July 6, 1984. I injected drugs into his body and gagged him. Apparently the combination of drugs and the gag made it impossible for him to breath.The other victims were Mark Wallace, 20; Walter Ferris, 25; and Todd Stoops, 25. All lived in the Kansas City area or had Kansas City ties.He talked about having certain dark fantasies that came to life, said Riederer, adding that no clearer motive emerged from three days of questioning of Berdella last week that led to the plea bargain in which k Berdella avoided the death penalty. He felt abused or misused byf fftcertain people, including some of the victims, Riederer said. There was revenge, or getting control of these people.Berdella released a written statement through his attorneys in which he promised compensation to the relatives of the victims. He was not specific.Berdella never said directly that he was sorry, Riederer said. He was in tears a couple of times, but I don’t think that question ever got a direct answer.The police arrested Berdella at his flea market store, called Bob’s Bizarre Bazaar, in April after a man fled his home wearing only a dog collar. Berdella has been given a life sentence for sodomizing the man, who said he was tied to a bed for four days and tortured by having electricity applied to his genitals.Robert BerdellaKansas House minority leaderstresses education over highwaysBrieflyThe Areafnrm q lprcrplv r*prpmnni«l Hnt.vMANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - The minority leader of the Kansas House said Monday that more money should be spent on education at the expense of highways.Marvin Barkis said at a breakfast meeting that more funding should be given to the Margin of Excellence, athrpp-vpar tn inrrpnsp fnrnltv salaries at Kansasyear because of gains made by Democrats in the House.Earlier, at a meeting in Salina, Barkis said the state MSSC to closemust find a stable source of money to finance water and economic development projects.Barkis said the state should not depend upon money raised from the state lottery and taxes on bets atfunds from a water-main extension project.The council will also consider appointments for two vacancies on the board of adjustments and one vacancy on the Thomas Hart Benton lithograph committee.The council meets at City Hall.over holidaysDay care schoolr\r» vn« mi «4-i f nmr (rw f L n of o t aV iirntA!' t\lnn r\ir f a**The campus of Missouri Southern State College will be closed for thepetition filedCARTHAGE, Mo. — The
Newspaper Details
Joplin Globe
Joplin, Missouri, US
Tue, Dec 20, 1988
Page 26
Full Page
Clipped by
Mid-Continent L.
