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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1957)
Submits New M laste'rn Proposal on DETENTION HOME CONTRACT LET Th county tourt this morning unanimously agreed to accept the lo bid t S84,540 submitted by Bessonett and Graff for con truVo f tfw proposed county juvenile detention home. The court's action foUowed a meeting this morning between the court, contraetori and architect in which an opinion from O District Attorney Thomas Reeder wag read and discussed. Mem bers of the court asked for the opinion on legal aspects of the contract with social emphasis on negotiations for reduction of total cost of the prejact. Tbm contractor's $I4,50 bid, plus the architect's fee of $5,076, will bring total estimated cost of the building to $89,636. Total allocation for the detention home was $90,000. Voters approved $65,000 and $25,000 was added by the court when it was decided to add an administrative wing to the building. Original Bid Original bid by Bessonett and Graff was $92,183. The court. contractors ana arcnueci nave i been negotiating for the past several days to reduce the cost. Some changes in plans for the building were discussed, includ ing changing the heating system from oil to gas, changing types of locks, light fixtures, wall tile and milar phases of original plans. ncJn requesting an opinion from Yap district attorney, the court -SskPd about legality ol nego tiating with the low bidder to reduce construction costs. Reeder cifed a law requiring a court or other public authority to call for new bids on a project if mat ritl or substantial changes in plans are made after original opening of bids. Reeder said it was hi opinion that this la would apply to this case, and th court could not properly gward the contract to the lowest responsible bidder if It considers the changes to be material or substantial. Mattor of La- He further stated "I cannot advife you as. to whether or iot the changes you contemplate are materttl or substantial as a mat ter of law. That is your decision to mafce." Would Rais No QuMtion He pointed out that calling for new bids for construction of the detention home based upon re vised specifications would raise no question whatever as to the legality or propriety oi me court s decision. However, fie told the court failure to adver tise for new bids would not nec essarily result in legal risk if the court decided the changes were not material or substantial. After considerable discussion, members of the court agreed the changes were only minor, and would not alter the structural design of the building. They is sued the following statement: "In making the award of this contract, the court has taken Into consideration the district at torney' opinion as requested by this court and is of the opinion thai inaimiirh a there are no .ri9l nr- iihatantiat rhanses. i dTee? thl 2Si ti j the opinion." Officials, Engineer . To Meet Tomorrow , Three Medford city officials will negotiate with W. C. (Dutch) Williams, state highway engineer, tomorrow in Salem to seek agreement on several con ditions in plans for a Highway 99 freeway along the Bear Creek-Hawthorne park route. The committee, composed of Mayor John Snider, City Man ager Robert Duff and Council man Robert Van Sickle, will re port back to the city council on the Salem session at its March 19 meeting. Mayor Snider named the committee earicr this month. A resolution conditionally co operating with the highway de partment in its decision to con struct the .proposed freeway through the center of Medford was passed by a 6-2 council vote Feb. 19. The resolution stipulated the highway commission agree to provide access roads, decelera tion lanes, parking facilities, re placement and preservation of public recreational facilities and landscaping along the route be fore the council gives the free way final approval. Radio Highlights The Medford-Eugene state tournament basketball game will be broadcast by stations KYJC (1230 kc) and KMED (1440 kc) starting at 7:30 to night. Sports Bulletin Eugene (U.R) North Salem edged Ontario 41-40 in a thrill ing finish today to join Marsh field. Lincoln and Benson among teams to qualify for the quarter-finals of the state class A-l high school basket ball tournament here. Dennis McKee. captain for North Salem, led a late rally which brought hie team from behind an eight-point deficit. Jim Litchfield scoring the win ning basket after a pass from McKee wiih seconds to play. 5 ! Governor Holmes To Officiate at Pear Festival Here Gov. Robert D. Holmes will officiate at Pear Blossom Festi val ceremonies at Hawthorne park this year and appear as grand marshal during the festi val parade. Jay Pierce, president of the festival committee, an nounced today. Appearance of the governor at the festival is one of several reasons the festival's April 27 date will not be changed, ac cording to Pierce. The possibility of changing the festival date to earlier in April or late in March was con sidered this morning at a festi val committee meeting at the Holland hotel. Festival officials indicated the date might be set ahead sev eral weeks to coincide the cele bration as nearly as possible with the season's first budding of pear blossoms. Bloom Reached Full bloon for D'Anjou and Barflett varieties could be reached as soon as April 1 or even late in March, which is about 10 days earlier than aver age, according to Don Eerry, county horticultural agent. Other reasons for confirma tion of the original festival date were that an earlier celebration would conflict with April "sales" planned by local merchants and that it was too late to reorganize the committee's schedule for festival activities. Pierce also reported that Sen ator G. Mennen Williams, Michi gan Democrat, may be in Med ford April 27 to participate in the Pear Blossom Festival. A wheelchair parade for Camp White residents to be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 28. at Camp White, also was an nounced. High Court Upholds Ellison Decision Salem (U.R) The Oregon Su preme Court today affirmed the refusal of the Jackson County Court to dismiss an indictment against Arthur William Ellison for contributing to the delin quency of a minor. Ellison contended that he had not been brought to trial at the next term after the indictment was returned. The high court found that Ellison was indicted at the October, 1955, term and that at his request, he was grant ed additional time to plead. He entered his plea in the January term, but by order of the Cir cuit Court, the case was con tinued to the April term when he was brought to trial. Salem (U.R) A resolution calling for establishment of a lieutenant governor's office in Oregon has passed the House 43 16 and now goes to the Senate. "My, What Lovely ! I' i : r-x ! 111 Property Seizure Completed by IRS Agents Yesterday Orchards, Downtown Buildings Are Included Internal revenue agents yes terday completed seizure of property valued at more than $1,250,000 owned by Walter H. and Evelyn Leverette for non payment of taxes. The seizure was the largest in the history of Oregon, and one of the largest in the Pacific northwest, according to agents. Seizure was for non-payment of back income taxes extending over a period from about 1942 to 1951 and involving about $600,000. according to agents in the Portland internal revenue office. Property Seized Property seized Included 10 pear orchards, a cold storage plant near Voorhies crossing, the Leverette building in downtown Medford, and Leverette's resi dence on Highway 99 south of Medford. The orchards are in the vi cinity of th cold storage plant near Voorhies crossing, agents said, with the exception of the Table Top ranch in the Table Rock area northeast of Medford. Equipment as well as buildings was seized. Total land involved in the seizure was about 3,100 acres, agents said. Tagging of properties started yesterday morning at the Or chard Park cold storage plant and was completed about 3 p.m. yesterday with seizure of the Leverette building at Main and Grape sts. Notices of seizure were placed on directories in the Leverette building, both at the Main aid Grape st. entrances, agents said. Businesses operating in the Leverette building will not be disrupted in the seizure, agents indicated. Offered For Sale The property will be offered for sale at an auction, agents said, within a reasonable length of time. Legal notices of the sale will be published, they noted. Participating in the seizure were Irving Damitz, Portland; L. C. Thurmond, Eugene; and Oral Bell, Douglas Shepherd and Earl Grey, all of Medford. Leverette was found guilty of income tax evasion several years ago, and served a short term in federal prison upon conviction. Two Are Sentenced In Circuit Court Two men were given peniten tiary sentences, one man was placed on probation, a woman entered a plea of guilty and an other man was arraigned this morning in circuit court. Jerry Leander Stewart, 18, of 718 Victory St., Apt. 4, was sen tenced to one year and six months in the penitentiary for probation violation. Elmer Boyd Gravelle, 26, post office box 23, Jacksonville, was sentenced to one year and six months in the penitentiary for using a motor vehicle without the owner's per mission. Mrs. Hazel Annette Farmer, 18, of 1100 East Main St., entered a plea of guilty to a charge of forgery by endorsement and her case was continued pending re ceipt of FBI records. Jack Derwood Simer, 56, of 1813 California st., Jacksonville, was placed on two years proba tion for uttering and publishing a false check. Melvin L. Haakin son, 24, Shady Cove, was ar raigned on a charge of grand larceny and his case was con tinued pending receipt of FBI records. SOUTHEAST ASIA COJFERErJCE C H I N A" . I fifTM 51st Year Ur 24 Pa " Bei -anon Wins Two Confidence Votes; Blames 'Certain Powers' Cairo Declared Dictating Current Events in Mid-East Grave Concern Over Egypt's Threat Voiced Jerusalem, Israel (U.R) Premier David Ben-Gurion won two votes of confidence in parli ament today after blaming Egypt's intention to return to the Gaza Strip on "certain big powers." The motions of non-confidence were introduced by the opposi tion Herut (Freedom) Party and by the General Zionists, both right-wing groups which fought the Israeli decision to withdraw from Egypt. The motions called on the Is raeli government to honor its pledges not to permit the Egyp tians to return to uaza. Ben- Gurion said, "This country will stand by its pledges." The vote on the Herut resolu tion was 53 to 24. The vote on the General Zionist resolution was 51 to 23. Ben-Gurion won both votes although one of his leftwing coalition parties the Adhut Avoda with four deputies left the Knesset (parliament) when the voting began. The Ahdut Avoda (Unity of Labor) teamed up earlier with another left-wing coalition mem ber, the Mapam (United Work ers) to oppose Ben-Gurion's pol icy of withdrawing the Israeli Army from Egypt. Today's parliamentary rebel lion boiled up almost without ad vance warning. The Developments came as Israeli officials said current ev ents in the Middle East were being "dictated from Cairo" but that responsibility in the explo sive situation rested with the United States. Israel was disclosed to have made diplomatic representations to Washington, London and Par is during the past 48 hours ex pressing grave concern over the threat of the return of the Egyp tian army to the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official summed up the Israeli attitude in the Middle East as this: . It is no longer merely a question of Egyptian Israeli relations. "The situation now is the question of whether the world community will permit Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to go on pushing his weight around with impunity, whether it be in Gaza, the Gulf of Aqaba or the Suez Canal, in defiance of other people's rights to work and live peacefully," the official said. New Patrolman Joins Medford Department Ronald Clair Clawson, 25, of 119 Portland ave., Medford, has joined the Medford police de partment as a patrolman on the third platoon working from 4 p.m. to midnight, Police Chief Charles Champlin announced to day. Clawson replaces Ronald G. Hopkins, who resigned recently to go to New Mexico. Clawson has lived in Medford for about three years. He came here from Beaver City, Neb., and graduated from high school there. He is a Navy veteran and has had three years of overseas duty. Clawson is married and has three children. DOW-JONES AVERAGES New York (U.R) Dow-Jones final stock averages: 30 indus tiials 472.53, up 2.22; 20 rail roads 142.92, up 1.12; 15 utilities 71.19, up 0.21, and 65 stocks 167.11, up 0.84. Sales today were about 1.840.000 shares compared with 1.600,000 shares Tuesday. Bulletin Harana UR' Unidentified assailants attacked President Fulgeneia Batista's presiden tial palace at 3:25 p.m. with gunfire. Heavy firing was con tinuing at 3:40 p.m., and was being returned from Inside the palace. .-.1 ., h ei' 'i',. T 4.V'' -CiMnmnMinfilliBnliiree1, ifilili; i!:- RECEIVE EAGLE AWARDS At a ceremony Monday night at St. Mary's academy three Crater Lake Area Scouts received Eagle Awards. The awards are made to Boy Scouts who have earned 21 merit badges and have proved to be outstanding leaders in the church, schools and community as well as the scouting program. Above, council com missioner J. A. McDougall reads one of the letters received by the boys from National Porter 'Reliably Informed' Suicide Note Was Forgery New York (U.R) Rep. Charles O. Porter (D-Ore.) said today he has been "reliably in formed" that a suicide note left by a Dominican pilot in which he confessed the murder of Ore gon aviator Gerald L. Murphy is a forgery. Porter charged in Congress last week that Murphy's death was linked with the disappear ance ( of Columbia University Professor Dr. Jesus De Galindez. Magazine Reports Kidnap Life magazine had reported that De Galindez was kidnaped and that Murphy was the pilot of the plane that took him to the Dominican Republic. Murphy disappeared last De cember while he was prepar ing to return to the United States. The Dominican government, under pressure from the U. S. State Department, explained Murphy's disappearance. It said Octavio De La Maza, a Domini can Airlines pilot who commit ted suicide in a Ciudad Trujillo jail in January, left a note in which he confessed knocking Murphy off a cliff into shark infested waters. Can't Conceive of Reason Porter said he had been "reli ably informed that the FBI has found De La Maza's suicide note to be a forgery." "I cannot conceivably see any reason why such a finding should be suppressed. Nor has the State Department given a reason," Porter said. The freshman congressman criticized the "soft policy" of the State Department toward non-Communist dictators. High-Octane Gasoline Taken from Plane Theft of 190 gallons of high octane gasoline from a twin-engine Beachcraft airplane owned by Mercy Flights, Inc., sometime between Feb. 28 and March 6, was reported today by Medford police. Value of the gasoline was $70.30, police said. The theft occurred while the plane was parked near the Mer cy Flights hangar at the Medford airport, it was reported. George E. Milligan, chairman of Mercy Flights, reported the theft. Police also reported the theft yesterday of two gas drums con taining 65 gallons from the Rogue Valley hospital construc tion site at 2825 Barnett rd., Medford. Value of the gasoline was about $22.75, officers said. EGON; WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1957 School Board Accepts Teacher Resignations Seven . teacher resignations were accepted by the Medford school board last night, and five teachers were elected for posi tions in the district. The board received resigna tions from Mrs. Doris Ness, sec ond grade teacher at Jackson: Mrs. Gwen Weaver, third grade teacher at Roosevelt; Mrs. Patri cia Blake, second grade teacher at Roosevelt; Miss Jane Jeldness, Miss Yvonne Keith and Miss Marian Forsythe, all teachers at Medford High school, and Earl Covey, teacher at Jefferson. Resignations were accepted after the board reelected all teachers in the district. New Teachers - - New teachers are Arnold De Paul, who will teach social studies at Medford High; John L. Smock, who will teach at one of the junior high schools; Mrs. Betty Pruett, primary teacher; Ronald Weatherford, intermedi ate instructor in the elementary program; and Miss Janice Crisp, who will teach girls health and physical education at Medford High. DePaul comes here from Twin Falls, Ida., High school. Smock instructed at Central Point Jun ior high, and Mrs. Pruett comes to Medford from Eagle Point. Weatherford taught at Jefferson school in 1955-56, and moved to Nampa, Ida., where he held an administration office. Miss Crisp comes to Medford from Spokane, Wash. In other business last night the board discussed preliminary plans being prepared for fifth and sixth grade West Side stu dents to participate in a camp program featuring science in struction. The camp classroom experience study is being spon sored by Southern Oregon col lege with the cooperation of the Medford school district. School Superintendent Leon ard Mayfield read correspond ence from congressional repre sentatives in Washington, D.C., the National Education associa tion, and state officials concern ing federal aid to schools. The Weather FORECAST: Partly cloudy arly tnnisht. Increasing cloudiness Ut tonight, rain on Thurs day. Low tonight 30, high to morrow 30. TFMPFR ATL'RE . Ficht tr4y . 47 Lowest this Morning 31 Our Skies Tonight Sunrise ' 6:27 a.m. Sunset - 6:115 p.m. Monnset Thursday 5:14 .m. Pull Moon,..- March IS PROMINENT STAR Reiculus. near the Moon. VISIBLE PLANETS Jupiter, high in south east 10:2S p.m. Mars, set 11:15 p.m. Saturn, low In southeast 2:28 p.m. Price 10c Tribune United Press Full Leased Wire No. 303 Scout Executive Arthur A. Schuck. The boys are, left to right, Jerry Mathern, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mathern, Medford; Bill Benson, son of. Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Fries, Ashland; and Dick Clark, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Clark, Medford. Mathern and Clark are members of Air Explorer squadron 14. and Benson is a member of Troop 114, Ashland. board sought information to de termine whether or not Medford would qualify for federal aid. Mayfield told the board indi cations are that any federal aid would be available only to dis tressed districts. A distressed district is one which is bonded almost to capacity and demon strates a need for additional ex pansion. He noted that Medford has not reached its bonding ca pacity, and would not be eligible for federal aid. Plans and the program for preparing the 1957-58 budget were reviewed by the board, which indicated it would have the budget prepared the latter part of May. Eisenhower To Sail Aboard Navy Cruiser Washington (U.R) President Eisenhower today announced that he expects to leave by Navy cruiser from Norfolk, Va., late Thursday for a leisurely cruise to Bermuda where he is due March 20. The President, who has been suffering from a head cold, cough and inflammation of the left ear for some time, had hoped to go to Florida for a few days prior to his Bermuda conference next week with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. He told his news conference today however, that he had de cided not to go to Florida, but would seek out sunshine aboard a Navy cruiser during what he called a very slow trip to Ber muda. He is scheduled to reach Ber muda next Wednesday. Hollywood (U.R) Blonde screen star Kim Novak hss en tered Cedars of Lebanon Hos pital for a rest and a checkup. Shower Activity To Return To Medford Area Thursday Shower activity is forecast for the Medford area Thursday after a brief period of relief today, according to the Medford weath er bureau. Rain totaling .05 of an inch was recorded at the Medford station Tuesday. State police re ported valley roads and high ways in good condition this morning, and chains were not required on mountain passes. A new storm moving in from the coast will bring scattered snow flurries to elevations above 2.500 to 3,000 feet some time tomorrow, weather bureau officials said. Four inches of new snow was recorded on the Siskiyous Tues day bringing the total there to Eisenhower Gives No Details at News Conference Negotiations Said Up To HammarskjwIW Washington (U.R) President Eisenhower revealed today that the United States has submitted to the United Nations new pro posals for dealing with the Mid dle East situation. But the President made it clear at his news conference that it is up to the United Nations to take the lead in making arrange ments for negotiations aimed at settling problems of the troubled Middle East. Mr. Eisenhower gave no de tails of the U.S. proposals which he said have been communicated ' to U.N. Secretary-general Dag Hamiriarskjold. But he said Hammarskjold plans to leave for the Middle East Saturday. The President said he had not heard of late news reports from Cairo to the effect that the United Nations and Egypt had agreed that Egypt will take over civil administration of the Gaza Strip. A newsman asked the Presi dent whether he would like to see Egypt delay plans to take over civil administration of Gaza. Without replying directly, the President said he would like to see arrangements made which the United Nations and Ham marskjold believe would be most effective in bringing out nego tiations to settle Middle Eastern problems. The president said he talked this morning about the Middle Eastern situation with acting Secretary of State Christian A. Herter. The President said it is Ham marskjold who is conducting the negotiations and who is going to the area Saturday. Since the problem is in a negotiating stage, the President said he would not predict the outlook. But he added that Hammarskjold does know the American position on Middle Eastern problems. While Mr. Eisenhower did not elaborate, it was understood that the United States does not quarrel with Egypt's legal right under the 1949 armistice to ad minister civil affairs in Gaza. The United States believes, how ever, that Egypt should not press its case now because of the pros pect that such a move would create a grave new crisis in the Middle East Medford Population Lisfed As 21,979 The population of Medford is now estimated at 21,979, includ ing about 1,300 people in the re cently annexed Kenwood-Grand-view district, City Manager Rob ert A. Duff said today. This is an increase of nearly 1,900 from the official popula tion of Medford at this last year, which was certified at 20,083 by the state board of census, Duff said. ' The new estimated, based on a number of indicators, was for warded to the census board this week, with the understanding that an accurate enumeration of the Kenwood-Grandview district will be made soon, the city man ager reported. The 1,300 figure estimated for Kenwood - Grand- view is not based on the same criteria used for the rest of the city. If it is inaccurate, the over all total will be changed. City officials through the state make estimate for their cities, which are then certified by the census board, and are used as the basis for distribution of certain state funds on a per capita basis. The new totals are not expected to change Med ford's status as the fourth-lar gest city in the state, following Portland, Eugene and Salem. On the basis of preliminary estimates, Eugene is now slight ly larger than Salem, displac ing It as the second-largest in the state. i5 inches. The Green Springs and Cave Junction both had one Inch of new snow yester day. New snow at Prospect yester day was three inches, bringing the total at roadside to six inches. Sexton mountain report ed seven inches of new snow. Seventeen inches of new snow were reported at Crater Lake National park at 8 a.m. today, bringing the total at bead quarters to 128 inches. Park of ficials said it was snowing light ly at that time this morning. The south and west roads to the park were reported open but chains were advised. The road from headquarters to the rim is dosed.
