University Daily Kansan, October 29, 1982
Page 5
Gas
From page one
BECAUSE PEOPLE must pay more for utility bills, they have less to spend on food, medicine and other basics, said Pau Berry, executive of the Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St.
He said requests for assistance had increased by 40 percent since May, and last month 960 requests were made.
"Two years ago we averaged only 50 to 75 people a month," Berry said. "People are scared and frustrated, especially those on fixed incomes who thought they had it planned. Now they have to make choices on who gets paid and who doesn't."
Wednesday, more than 150 people demonstrated outside the American Gas Association's annual meeting at Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City. Mio. The demonstration, organized by the Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition, drew residents from across the state to protest the rapidly rising cost of natural gas.
THE ORGANIZATION released a report this week calling for reconnection for customers whose gas is now turned off and for all states lacking prohibitions against winter shut-offs to institute such bans. Kansas does not have such a ban.
Taylor said that most companies serving the state had worked out long-term payment plans for back bills, and he said households with members who had health problems could contact the utility to make special arrangements.
"The utility companies realize they have a public relations problem," Taylor said. "And if
somebody freezes, they'll catch hell and rightfully so."
SUE BEERS, coordinator for the Council on Community Services of Douglas County, said there was no way to know how many Lawrence residents were already without heat. But she said the Emergency Services Council, an organization that handles requests for financial aid for low-income residents, averaged about 12 to 15 requests a week. Since February, 10 of those weekly requests have been to cover gas bills.
"From being an ESC member, I've heard of people who have their gas turned off now without any way of turning it back on." Beers said. They've been in the between heating and feeding their families.
"I had a mother tell me amileh age that she was so gld on that her child was going back to her home."
UTILITY CONSUMERS are not the only ones upset about the recent hike in gas rates. The Gas Service Co., which serves most of Kansas' natural gas consumers, is asking its customers to write their congressmen and ask them to amend the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978.
Steve Johnson, a rate engineer with the company, said as far as he knew it was the first time in the company's history that such a step had been taken. Customers will receive a flier with their representatives' addresses with their bills sometime in the near future, he said.
The 1978 act removed price controls from gas discovered after April 1977. Under this law, price controls on "new" gas are being phased out periodically until 1985.
Bigenwall originally was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and attemped kidnapping. The charges were reduced by the fact that testimony given by William McTahrant III. 15.
Sentence
From page one
The maximum sentence for first-degree murder is life imprisonment.
JERRY HARPER, Douglas County district attorney, said that Bigenwalt would be eligible for parole in three years and 10 months. She was involved in a sentence investigation and a mental evaluation.
Harper said he was pleased with the sentence. "It was exactly what we requested," he said. "We're satisfied that had the case gone to trial, the sentence would have been the same.
have been able to show in a jury trial has been done."
Bigenwall was sentenced after Paddock denied a motion to defer sentencing until after the trial.
"Justice within the context of what we would
Paddock said he had considered the possible alternatives and decided that the criminal acts Bigwalt had admitted to were behavioral in nature and not psychotic. In the best interest of society, Paddock said she should be under strict supervision, where she will be accountable for her actions.
DONALD HATCHELLE was killed at the Bigenwalt home, where he lived, when he tried to stop Bigenwalt and McTaggett from running away to Texas. His body was discovered under a bridge in southwest Douglas County on June 11.
Hatchell was hit over the head and shot in the back of the head with a 22-caliber rifle.
Bigenital and McTaggart were arrested June 10 for the murder. McTaggart, 427 Elm St., was tried as a juvenile last summer for the killing of a girl to be treated to the Youth Center in Topoka until he is 21.
Penny Hatchell said Bigenwalt and McTaggart were just having their hands slapped for the murder of her father.
BUT HARPER said, "five years in prison is more than a hand slap for any crime."
Penny Hatchell walked through downtown Lawrence Tuesday displaying a sign that read "Let's make murder a crime again" and passed out filers. The flier asked questions such as "why did the system even allow the lesser plea when a vicious and brutal murder has been committed?"
Layoffs
From bage one
changes in managerial policies used by some states. Hurley said the changes included a hiring freeze, suspension of temporary and part-time work and reduction in overtime.
"None of those would be a monstrous savinns." he said.
Most state agencies should already be following some of those policies because of a 4 percent budget reduction last summer, he said.
although the committee had yet to recommend anything, it was on the right track.
"The positive aspect is that we're looking at alternatives before we have to quickly implement them."
one member of the committee, Gail Hamilton,
president of KU's Classified Senate, said that
She said she would have to study the options further before deciding which should be chosen.
THE PROSPECT of future reductions looms ahead as state revenue figures for this year have fallen below projections. Carlin has postponed announcing any budget measures until Nov. 12.
when a group of state financial experts will make projections for the rest of this fiscal year.
Hurley said that although states were studying plans to avoid layoffs, some had been forced to let workers go because of the continuing Michigan and Missouri are two examples.
But, he said. "I don't remember that any state has actually reduced salaries."
ALTHOUGH KANSAFS has faced budget cuts, it is not as bad off all some states, he said.
Parsons
From page one
successfully running for the U.S. Senate,
summarily resigning the position until his death
in Haiti. He failed while still serving.
In 1953 the younger Reed acquired a majority interest in the paper.
"I was the youngest of seven children in my family, and I was the only one interested in the Sun, and I was the only one interested in Parsons." he said.
The younger Reed followed his father into politics, running for governor on the Republican side.
"I think that every editor should run for office once and preferably be defeated," he said. "I learned things about Kansas and its people that I could learn in no other way."
Reed also was active in local politics and community affairs. He served as chairman of the Parsons Urban Renewal Agency, which carried out an eight-year, $21 million downtown renovation project, and also served a six-year director of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
"I think urban renewal was a real plus for Parsons," he said. "That was not done without opposition and it was not done without a lot of hard work."
Reed pointed out that such people as Arthur Capper, William Allen White and Clyde Reed Sr. had been active in politics. All three of those men ran for governor — two successfully.
Reed said he knew that many people today would consider such involvement by an editor or publisher a conflict of interest. But he said the problem had been through the years had been the opposite of that.
"I don't think Kansas ever suffered by reason of that. I think Kansas probably benefited," he
Only the passing of time will tell whether such involvement — or the lack of it — is good, Reed
Reed said he hoped the paper had improved during the 40 years he had controlled it.
"I hope it kept up with the times — that's a small t," he said. "We made a lot of improvements, added staff and just generally, I hope, put out an increasingly better newspaper."
"I never considered the Sun a conservative newspaper, ideologically speaking. In fact, if anything, we were a liberal newspaper. I realize that this was the popular in latter years to some people," he said.
The Sun broke with what Reed said was its generally Republican tradition in the 1964 election.
"I just felt we couldn't support Goldwater," he said.
Reed said letters to the editor gave the general public an opportunity to respond to stands taken
"Some of the meenest things that were said about me were said in letters to the editor," he said. "If a newspaper is going to take a stand, it must organize to open its columns to letters to the editor."
Reed still contributes editors to the Sun. They are signed C.M.R., something that is perhaps a measure of the man's identification in the community.
Reed has been a strong supporter of Gov. John Carlin and the severance tax. That support is not just a passing phase and did not come suddenly, Reed said.
"I point out with some interest that I made a severance tax on oil and natural gas the principle issue in my campaign. Having been an advocate of the severance tax for 40 years, I certainly was bound to support the first candidate for governor, in fact the first governor, to run on a severance tax platform," he said.
Nordquist talked about the Sun's editors, both those Koeed written and those members of the organization.
"Mr. Reed is an institution in himself," he said. "When he speaks, he's not necessarily speaking for the Parsons Sun. I think his editors speak for themselves."
Nordquist said readers could tell whether Reed had written a Sun editorial.
"Yes, he does inform his," Nordquist said. And his are better. There is a proficiency there from our staff.
But he said, "We don't ever want to give the impression that this newspaper's editorial policy is dictated from Lawrence, Kan. I decide what's going to go in and when."
Reed said his decision to sell the Sun had been a difficult one, but he said he had not regretted it.
“If there has been a change, I hope it’s for the better,” he said. “I always hope for the Sun that it will never be content to rest on any laurels it might have.”
The Sun employs about 40 people full time. Three of the people who work in the newsroom graduated from KU: Miller, news editor Ted Lickleig and city and county reporter Bob Moen.
Miller said the paper's new video display system had caused some big problems at first.
"For a paper this size we have everything we need in terms of physical equipment," he said.
"I might have fewer reporters than I could somewhere else, but you have to handle that."
Local pictures also are important, he said. The Sun tries to run at least one picture page a week. (A newspaper in Australia)
The Sun stresses local news, such as recent city commission action regarding a $2.8 million motel and restaurant plan, but also gives good insight into important state and national stories. Miller said.
ways we used to do things simply aren't sturdy enough and more to rely on. We've entered into a new phase of learning.
"Those papers that don't get out and really do the job and have credibility with their readers and the audience."
"As well as being a good deal for readers, it's also a place to give the photographer a creative voice."
Nordquist, sitting in his office after the morning's news conference, said the Sun could not afford to rest in its news coverage or in its production and distribution.
"I don't think there is any question that the
Roger Tucker, composition superintendent for the Parsons Sun, fits lines of copy onto the front page of a recent issue.
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