Cedar Rapids Gazette Newspaper Archive: August 22, 1975 - Page 1

   Cedar Rapids Gazette (Newspaper) - August 22, 1975, Cedar Rapids, Iowa                                Weaker Chance of rain to- night Lows in mid 70s. Partly cloudy Sat- urday with highs In upper 90s. VOLUME 93-NUMBER 225 CITY FINAL IS CENTS CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 1975 ASSOCIATED PRESS, UPI, NEW YORK TIMES DAN. SYRIA Brewer Found Guilty: First Degree Murder By Steve Helle Convicted of murder once 12 years ago, Ronald Brewer, 36, was found guilty of murder again Thursday night by a Linn district court jury. The jurors found Brewer guilty of first degree murder in the Jan. 29 rifle killing of Clarence (Sam) Edwards, 52, Anamosa. The jurors were split 6-6 after begin- ning deliberations at Thursday af- ternoon, but they had reached a unani- mous verdict by Thursday night, according to Raymond Bender, 53, jury foreman. Brewer already is serving a life term at the state men's reformatory in Ana- mosa for a second degree murder con- viction in Council Bluffs in 1963. He is to be tried later for the murder of Patri- cia Edwards, 47, who was slain on the same Wednesday evening as her hus- band. An escape charge also is pending. Major Issue Bender said a major issue among ju- rors was whether to believe Herbert Pennock's testimony. Pennock was the prison guard who had Brewer in his cus- tody the night he escaped and was the key witness for the state in this case. Defense attorneys for Brewer had contended Pennock had lied several times before and only offered the testi- Ronald Brewer mony heard during the trial because he'd been granted immunity from prose- cution by the state. Defense Attorney Timothy White had maintained that the state had attempted to build a case "by giving Mr. Pennock almost the moon." Pennock had testified he had dropped Brewer off at the Edwards' res- idence and Brewer had later told him that he had shot the couple. But White said it could just as easily have been Brewer who dropped Pennock off at the Edwards' house. "Substantiated" Other evidence substantiated Pen- nock's testimony, though, according to Bender. He said the jurors concluded that the testimony of Kenneth Lowe, a janitor at Anamosa high school, corroborated Pennock's version. Lowe had testified he saw Pennock at the school at about the same times Pennock said he'd been there, while the shooting supposedly was taking place. "The fact that Brewer was observed and the trail of evidence, the shells, ban- doleer and the like, that he left" also in- fluenced the jurors, Bender recounted. Darrell Stuffelbeam, 11, Anamosa, had testified that he could "absolutely" identify Brewer as the man who ran by him the evening of Jan. 29 while he and his friends were throwing snowballs. His brother, Mike, 12, could not posi- tively identify Brewer, but he had noted that the man was carrying a gun as he ran. Key Witness The key witness for the defense, Doug Hoover, Anamosa, had testified he thought he saw Mrs. Edwards an hour later than the state had established she had been shot. But Bender said the ju- rors thought there was "more substan- tiating evidence to back the other times than there was to back Hoover's testi- mony. "It was by no means a cut and dried Bender said. "The decision was pretty hard to added another juror, Ruth Kors- Please Turn to Page 3. Ford: Economic Policy Will Work VAIL, Colo. (UPI) President Ford Friday said his policies on inflation and unemployment "will be successful" for he has approached -them in the right way. Ford also said in an interview with Maury De Jonge of the Grand Rapids Press that he planned to either come up with some proposals to tighten up the existing welfare program or put forth a Boaf Capsizes; Woman Drowns Alma Ellen Donahue, 58, of 418 Nil- sen road NE, was drowned Thursday morning when the houseboat on which she and her husband John were riding overturned on Lake Pepin, a wide area of the Mississippi between southeast Minnesota and Wisconsin. John Donahue was rescued by a St. Paul boater and escaped injury. According to reports, two storm fronts met at Lake Pepin at about a.m. Thursday and resulted in high winds and rain. Considerable damage occurred at Lake City, Minn., and Pe- pin, Wis. The Donahues reportedly were trav- eling on their 36-foot houseboat from Lake City to Pepin when the storm hit. Both were wearing life jackets, and Donahue managed to get out of a win- dow of the craft. Mrs. Donahue, howev- er, was trapped inside. Boaters from Lake City attempted to save her but were unable to get into the boat. Scuba divers retrieved her body later in the morning. Mrs. Donahue's body was taken to a Durand, Wis., funeral home and was transferred to Cedar Rapids. Mrs. Donahue was bom March 1, 1917, at Williston, N.D., and was mar- ried to Mr, Donahue Oct. 10, 1948, at Burlington. Mrs. Donahue was a resi- dent of Cedar Rapids for 25 years and was employed by the Family Service Agency. She was a member of St. Mat- thew's church. Surviving in addition to her husband are three sons, Mark and Thomas, both of Cedar Rapids, and Robert John, Port Alice, B.C.; five grandchildren, and a sister, Virginia Pritschet, Alexandria, ,Va. Services are pending at Turner east, major welfare reform legislative pack- age to congress. He also expressed the hope congress will not "play politics" with such prob- lems as energy, federal spending and tax policies. "We are making slow, but I think, constructive headway in the area of energy and unemployment. We are not satisfied in either instance on what we've done in inflation or unemploy- ment but I believe we have gone about it in the right way and in the long run I believe it will be successful." He also said he was convinced "that we have made substantial inroads on the problems of inflation." Spurred by increasing fuel, food and used car prices the Consumer Price In- dex leaped 1.2 percent in July, it was re- ported Thursday. Ford said congress sought a "cheap solution" to the energy problem but there is none. "So, our biggest headache so far, has been the inability of congress to either accept my energy program or come up with any he said. hi another area, Ford ruled out any broader amnesty program for Vietnam war evaders. By the time the program ends Sept. 15, he said, the overwhelm- ing majority of the who applied for reprieves "will be given the relief that was intended." Government officials were surprised at the sharp rise of inflation last month but they contend the July price figures do not represent a long term trend. Government economists point to spe- cial factors causing July's increase: The Independence day gasoline price in- crease, the anticipated sale of grain to Russia and wholesale price rises for alu- minum and steel. And one reason for optimism, they say, is that the end of recession means there is some slack in the economy factory idleness, a large pool of unem- ployed and relatively low demand which tends to work against rising prices. The signs of recovery, as expressed in the 1.6 percent rise in the Gross Na- tional Product for the second quarter, point to an increase in employment. Economists generally believe the CPI will stabilize in coming months, though a wheat price increase, for instance, could affect a wide range of products from birthday cakes to meal loaves and the end of domestic oil controls could raise gasoline from three to seven cents a gallon. UPI TeleDtioto Fireman Ron Moore Mies up around his firehouse as the San Francisco strike ends. Alioto 'Emergency' Ends Strike SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Police and firemen were back on the job Fri- day after Mayor Joseph Alioto invoked emergency powers and granted their salary demands, stunning the city's board of supervisors. Strikers began reporting for work Thursday night only hours after the su- pervisors rejected a strike settlement. Alioto ignored the supervisors, suspend- ed the city charter and ordered a 13 per- cent wage increase, twice what the su- pervisors wanted to grant. "All the pickets are the Unions Ordered To Load More Grain Vessels By United Press International A federal judge has ordered balky longshoremen to load two more ships with American grain destined for Russia and Labor Secretary John Dunlop planned to meet with AFL-CIO Presi- dent George Meany to work out a settle- ment of labor's grain boycott. Agriculture department experts say the controversial sale of grain to the So- viets will push domestic food prices up but not until next year, for the most part. The flashpoint for the maritime unions' threat to boycott grain ship- ments to Russia is in the port of Hous- ton, where dockworkers refused earlier this week to load two ships. They were ordered back to work Wednesday, and Thursday night a judge in Corpus Chris- ti, Texas, extended a restraining order against them. He made it apply to two other ships, and possibly a third, be- sides the Yugoslav vessel that sailed Wednesday. An International Longshoremen's Assn. lawyer said the union's grievance is not with management but with the government. The judge will hold further hearings Monday. Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz said Thursday that President Ford had asked Dunlop to meet with Meany and .other labor leaders to discuss the range of is- sues behind the boycott. Meany has said he opposes the grain sales because they will hurt the Ameri- can consumer. But others say the mari- time unions are balking at loading the ships because they want U.S. shippers to get a larger amount of the Soviet loads than they do under current agree- ments. mayor said. "Everyone is back to work even earlier than we anticipated." The mayor's action ended a four-day- old police walkout. Firemen joined the strike Wednesday. The settlement, hammered out dur- ing early morning negotiations between Alioto and strike leaders, was approved overwhelmingly by members of the Po- lice Officers Assn. and Fire Fighters Lo- cal 798. The supervisors, who administer San Francisco's combined city-county gov- ernment, turned the agreement down in a 9 to 0 vote. They complained that Ali- oto was usurping the board's power and pushing 'through an agreement the city could not afford. The supervisors nor- mally set salaries for all city employes. "It's a sad day for San Francisco when its mayor becomes the first dicta- tor in the United said Supervi- sor John Barbagelata. The mayor's emergency proclama- tion said settlement of the strike was "of paramount importance to the pres- ervation of the lives, property and wel- fare of the citizens of San Francisco." The agreement will provide police and firemen with a symbolic 6.5 percent pay hike for the single day of July 1. 1975. Wages will then remain at present C.R. Woman Killed in Southwest City Crash Melinda May Garrett, 20, of A avenue NW, was killed and her hus- band, Timothy, 21, was critically injured Thursday in a two-car collision at the in- tersection of Williams boulevard and Sixteenth avenue SW. Mrs. Garrett was dead on arrival at Mercy hospital at p.m. Her hus- band was taken to Mercy hospital and transferred to University hospitals, Io- wa City, for treatment of head injuries. Police said Mrs. Garrett died of mul- tiple injuries suffered shortly after 5 p.m. when the car her husband was driving and a car driven by Larry Wayne Olofson, 28, of 127 West Post road SW, collided. Olofson was treated at St. Luke's hos- pital for abrasions to his right hand, right arm and chest and released. Police said the Garrett vehicle was northbound on Williams boulevard and the Olofson vehicle was westbound on Sixteenth avenue SW at the time of the accident. The Olofson car struck the right side of the Garrett car, the side on which Mrs. Garrett was seated, and pushed it Please Turn to levels until Oct. 15, when a 13.05 per- cent salary increase will be granted for the rest of the fiscal year. Alioto said the settlement would cost the city million million more than the original offer. But he said wages saved during the strike and other money-saving steps would reduce the difference to zero. Currently, pay for police and fire fighters ranges from for rookies to for captains. City Atty. Thomas O'Connor said the city charter gives the mayor power to "do whatever he may deem necessary for the purpose of meeting the emergen- cy." O'Connor said a 1944 court ruling stipulated that salary setting for public employes was among those emergency powers. Most of the city's policemen and firemen took part in the strike. Announce Joint Army, Political Planning Arm DAMASCUS (UPI) Syria and Jor- dan announced Friday they had estab- lished a joint command to coordinate their armies against Israel and called on the Arab world to reject any compro- mise settlement worked out by U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger. The two countries issued a joint com- munique in which they asked all Arab nations to marshal their military ma- chine against and reject partial peace settlements. They sharply criticized Kissinger's attempt to negotiate a Sinai agreement between Egypt and Israel and said "events have shown there is no alterna- tive except military force and prepared- ness" in confronting Israel. The announcement of the Jordanian- Syrian Supreme Command Council, as it will be named, and the sharp criticism of Kissinger's current shuttle mission came at the end of a four-day visit to Syria by King Hussein of Jordan. Reject Peace Hope Hussein and Syrian President Hafez Assad rejected the notion that the Sinai settlement Kissinger is now trying to seal between Egypt and Israel will help promote peace in the Middle East. They said only an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories on their fronts as well as Egypt's could do that. They said only "a militarily strong Arab nation" could guarantee such a with- drawal. "The two leaders attach special importance to the mobilization of the resources of the Arab nation to mass them in battle against the Zionist the communique said. It said the Arabs have no choice but to "build up their military power because events have shown that there is no alternative except military force and preparedness to confront the intransi- gence and maneuvers of the enemy." It said Syria and Jordan will accept a peace linked only to "overall with- drawal from occupied territories and the recognition of the national rights of the Palestinian people." Mission of Council It said the mission of the Supreme Command Council would be to "work toward normalizing the situation (in the Middle East) before the division created by imperialism." In what a diplomatic source said was an immediate response to the criticism of a Sinai settlement, Egyptian Presi- dent Anwar Sadat sent an envoy to Damascus with a letter to Assad. The envoy arrived just after Hussein board- ed his jet and returned to Amman. The communique said the Supreme Command Council will coordinate both political and military moves by Jordan and Syria. Observers noted that the wording on this point fell short of the outright declaration of military union that Syria has been seeking in talks with Jordan over the last few months. Henry Goes to Egypt with'Hope' Gazette Leased Wires ALEXANDRIA Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Friday came away from nearly five hours of talks with Is- raeli leaders with an "attitude of then flew from Jerusalem to Alexandria for talks with Egyptian President An- war Sadat. "We clarified some outstanding Kissinger told reporters, adding he would return to Jerusalem Saturday night after a stopover in Damascus "to continue the talks with an attitude of hope." Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon reported "some progress in clarifying certain important points, which makes me more hopeful." Kissinger and Allon declined to predict, however, whether the shuttle would end In success. Speaking to newsmen, the two lead- ers said the talks were friendly, and in- dicated the rift in U.S.-Israeli relations caused by the failure of Kissinger's shuttle last March was over. The discussions were in the atmo- sphere that "used to characterize our frank, open, friendly talks in the good old Allon said. Kissinger's visit to Israel his 10th mission to the Middle East was marred by violent demonstrations In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Asked by reporters if the demonstra- tions caused him concern, Kissinger re- plied, "You forget, I come from Harvard .and I'm used to them." Before Kissinger met with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, demonstrators protesting the proposed new Israeli- Egyptian pact blocked traffic in Tel Aviv at a major intersection where sol- diers argued vehemently with police. A policeman fired two warning shots in the air. In Jerusalem thousands of protesters surrounded his hotel and shouted anti- Kissinger slogans. The threat of demonstrations also caused the site of the Kissinger-Rabin meeting to be switched to Rabin's home instead of his office and once again prompted the transporting of Kissinger to Ben-Gurion airport by army helicop- ter instead of by motorcade. Today's Index Comics 17 Marion 19 Crossword 21 Movies 10-11 Deaths 3 Society 8 Editorials 6 Sports 13-15 Farm 12 State 4-5 Financial 18 Television 16 Late News Want Ads 20-23 6 Chuckle During a coffee break: "I have to watch my weight or I won't fit into my car pool."