Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, May 11, 1961, Image 1

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Medford mail tribune., May 11, 1961, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextRegional Edition Legislate 56th Year Price 10 Cents MEDFORD Tribune ession 40 PAGES MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1961 No. 43 Ems lml rarest ra Id ws Uiic hec xed Procedures lor Housing Authority In Area Discussed : Council on Aging . ; Hears R. B. Spaulding ' Procedures for developing a housing authority in this area, to provide low cost housing, especially for the elderly, were discussed Wed nesday afternoon at a meet ing of the Rogue Valley Coun- cil on Aging. ' Roger B. Spaulding, San Francisco, chief of manage ment for the Federal Housing administration, Pacific region, spoke to about 45 persons at tending the meeting in the Red Cross building. Also present was Don By ers, Portland architect and advisor to the Portland Hous ing authority, who represent ed Gene Rossman, president of the northwest region of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. " Gene Williams, council chairman, presided. M e m -bers of the council have dis cussed low - cost housing for several months and invited Spaulding here to explain. Plans Announced Plans were announced re cently for the council and the Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce to make a survey to determine the number of persons over 65 in this area who need low-cost housing. Spaulding' told the group that the I960 housing census for Medford showed 3,000 renter - occupied units, in cluding about 1,000 which were below standard. ' Population in the United States has doubled since 1900, with that of the 45-65 age group having tripled, and that over 65 yers or older having quadrupled. "About one-third of the country is ill-housed," he said. Housing authorities are al ready providing low - cost housing in Oregon communi ties. of Roseburg, Springfield, Florence, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Newport, Toledo and others. , Spaulding said the housing authorities are established through "local initiation," by appointment of five commis sioners appointed by a group such as the Jackson county court. Each commissioner nor mally serves a five year term, with the first five appointed for 1 to 5-year terms. (Continued on Page 2) Porter Appointed As Consultant . Washington - (UPD - Former Oregon Rep. Charles Porter of Eugene today was named as a consultant in the Ken nedy Administration's Food for Peace program. Porter, a Democrat who was beaten last November by Dr. Edwin Durno of Medford, will receive about $17,000 an nually in his new post. ' Technically,' Porter has been named as a consultant to Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman and has been loaned by Freeman to George S. McGovern, the administra tor of the Food for Peace program. Porter's current appoint ment is for six months. TO BE OFFICIAL Salem (UPD Oregon State university becomes the offi cial name of Oregon State college Aug. 9. Outlaw Work Stoppages On Missile Jobs Rapped Washington - (UPD - Chair man John L. McClellan of the Senate Investigations subcom mittee today denounced what he called outlaw strikes and concerted work stoppages on government contracts. Conditions 'Intolerable' The Arkansas Democrat made public a closing state ment for the subcommittee's two-weeks of hearings on mis sile base labor troubles. He said the conditions disclosed were "intolerable." ' "Wild cat strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns, feath erbedding and a deliberate policy of low productivity on the part of some unions and workers may well be respon sible to a substantial degree for whatever gap or lagging behind exists in our space and MORE HOSPITAL BEDS The 70-bed wing under con struction at Rogue Valley hospital is about 30 per cent complete, and will bring to about-160 the total number of beds in the hospital when it is completed next year. The concrete and steel structure will cost about $1V4 million, including equipment, with $550,000 coming from Federal government funds. An estimated 70 employees will be Resubmission of Indictments Is Sought in Motion Circuit Judge James M. Main will consider a motion Monday to resubmit the eight pending indictments against O. H. Bengtson, Medford law yer, to the grand jury. The affidavit ana motion were filed this week by Paul Haviland, court appointed prosecuting attorney. The Monday hearing was sched uled in circuit court action yesterday. The affidavit filed by Havi land said a heavy civil case schedule had previously kept him from checking into the evidence in the case against Bengtson. ' ; Bengtson is charged with embezzling- funds from the Medford Escrow company. He has been found guilty on two similar charges by juries in Jackson and Josephine coun ties and is scheduled to be tried on a third indictment Monday in Jackson county cir cuit court. Including the indictment on which the Monday trial is based, there are eight indict ments now pending againsi him. He is currently free on $24,500 bail. Haviland stated in his affi davit that "upon considering all the matters, it it my opin ion that the best interests of Jackson county and Oregon will be served by resubmitting the pending Indictments to the grand jury so that they may be consolidated and so that some of the same issues of law can be eliminated in sub sequent prosecutions that may be based upon new indict ments." It continues that the two convictions "involved the same questions of law ... so the grand jury should recon sider all of these matters and determine which - prosecui tions should be pressed." ASSASSINATED Vientiane. Laos-IUPD-A top aide of Deputy Premier Phou mi Novasan was assassinated early today as he drove in a car through the downtown area of Vientiane. BILLS DIE IN HOUSE Salem - (UPD - Bills to ex tend controls over drugs and to let counties license busi nesses died in the closing hours of the House Wednes day. . missile programs," McClellan said. He added, however, that there Is evidence that some s u b c o n tractors "tolerated, acquiesced in and encour aged" slowdowns and profited from them. The military serv ices share the blame too, he said, because their attitude "has been far too passive and Ineffective" in falling to curb the abuses. Government 'Bilked' McClellan said committee testimony showed the govern ment has been "bilked" by excessive overtime and higher wages than prevail elsewhere In the vicinity. The "gouge" on the taxpayers was "espec ially flagrant" at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Cen ter, he said. f i Proposed Building Code Referred to Planning Committee The Jackson county plan ning commission last night re ferred back to committee the proposed county building code. A Rogue River man asked that the commission re consider the requirements cov ering mobile homes. " Criticism of the proposed code ranged from "too many loopholes" and "covers too much territory," to the state- Honor Farm Sites . County officials were "to inspect possible sites lor a county prisoner's farm today, according to Sheriff Joe Walsh. . - Being considered are the old agronomy station at Tal ent and the former horticul tural experiment station on Highway 99 south of Phoenix. Representatives of the coun ty court, District Attorney Alan B. Holmes and District Court Judge L. L, Sawyer were scheduled to make the tour with the sheriff. Walsh, Sawyer and Holmes had proposed the honor farm to the county court earlier. The three men pointed out that food raised by the pris oners can be used at the coun ty farm home adjacent to the old horticultural experiment station, for the juvenile deten tion home and for the county jail inmates. . Walsh said this experiment is being tried in other areas such as Clackamas county. He estimated the costs per meal for county jail prison ers would be 11 lh cents per individual meal if the county prisoners can raise their own food. Wright Is Acting Sergeant in County - Glenn Wright has been appointed acting sergeant in the Jackson county sheriff's office to replace Veryl Va noose, who announced his resignation last week. Wright's appointment will become confirmed when Va noose's resignation becomes effective May 20, Sheriff Joe Walsh said. Wright has been with the sheriff's office for seven years, Walsh said. Until two years ago, he served in the sheriffs criminal division, then he served two years In the civil division and later became chief of that division. Dale Smith will replace him temporarily In the civil divi sion. Durno Returns for Tugman's Funeral Congressman Edwin R. Dur no was home In Medford briefly today. He returned from Washington to attend funeral services tomorrow for William M. Tugman, Gardiner, former newspaperman who has been Dr. Durno'i field representative. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Episcopal church in Gardiner. Dr. Durno will return to Washington Satur day or Sunday. added to the hospital staff when the new wing is opened. Administrator Charles Gustafson said some of the beds which Will be available in the addittion could be used now, because of the high occupancy already in the existing core. The new rooms are planned to meet increasing hospital needs of the next several years. (Knackstedt photo) ment that "state laws govern plumbing and wiring installa tions so there is no need for a county building code." Referred To Committee The code was referred back to committee with the recom mendation that it meet with groups who have expressed constructive ideas regarding it formulation. A. L. Wright, property own er near Emigrant lake, sought reassurance from the planning commission that the interim zoning ordinance recently ap proved by the county court would; not change with the whims of the commission, ' As a representative of the group recently formed by property owners. in the lake area he obtained copies of the ordinance for some of the owners. It was understood that the committee, composed of three members and two al ternates, plans to) discuss with the lake area property owners the orderly development of inat area, , . Public Hearings on Commission's Agenda Seven public hearings are on the agenda for the Medford city planning commission at 7:30 o'clock tonight in the city hall council chambers. Four of the hearings con cern requests for changes of zone and the other three are on requests for variances to the zoning ordinance. WEATHER FORECAST: Partly cloudy to night. Moitly tunny Friday. Low tonight 35. High Friday . Temp. Hlgheit Yesterday .... 55 Loweit thli Morning 40 Pree. to 10 ajn. Today .08 Our Skies Tonight Sumet today' 7:22 a.m. Bunrlie tomorrow .... 4:53 a.m. Moonrlie tomorrow .. 4:07 a.m. New Moon May 14 PROMINENT STAR Arcturus, high In goath 11:05 p.m. VISIBLE PLANETS Man, In the weit .... 9:34 p.m. Jupiter and Saturn In the southeast 2:tt a.m. Venus, low In east at moon- rise. "Well, Back To County May Set Hearing Dale on Budget Today The Jackson county budget committee hopes to set a date for a public hearing, and to tal the proposed budget this afternoon, County Judge Earl Miller said. . ; After conferring with Coun ty Auditor George Stacey yesterday afternoon a prelim inary figure of $4,146,153.70 was reached. This Includes $80,000 for a county emergency fund, esti mated at 2 per cent of the to tal budget. It also includes a required, county allocation of $10 per census child to school districts. : Stacey .set the county's cash working fund for the fiscal year at $101,000. This is outside of the county budget total. , ' Confronting Problems ' ., One problem confronting the budget committee is how to include sufficient funds to complete two major county bridge projects next fiscal year.' Tney were to nave been completed before the new year starts July 1, but County Engineer Robert Car- stenson said the work will not be finished because of unex pected delays. Stacey pointed out that the county cannot De sure now much money it will receive from O and C timber receipts estimated at 80 per cent of the current year's receipts. The county cannot be sure either, if it will receive the estimated $14,000 expected for return from the county's contributions to the state wel fare relief fund. Stacey recommended a $150,000 capital Improve ments fund the same as the current year's allocation. Out of this fund a new physical therapy- room will be con-' structed at the county farm home, County Commissioner Chester Wendt said. REVIEW ASKED Salem-(UPD-Gov. Mark Hat field asked the corps of en gineers to review its decision turning down a flood control project for Turner. The Old Grind" Flooding Delays Crop Planting In Much of Area Boy's Death Brings Storm Toll To 37 By United Press International Swollen midwestern rivers rushed virtually unchecked into thousands of homes and plowed fields despite clearing weather today and threatened serious planting delay for the nation's farm belt. A U. S. Weather Bureau midweek forecast for clear and generally sunny weather south of the Great Lakes did little to ease the plight of routed families and distress ed farmers in Indiana, Illi nois, Iowa and Missouri. In Indiana, clear skies meant the swollen White and Wabash rivers would take longer than originally predict ed to reach crests on their southeastward movement and a Weather Bureau spokesman said it would be "several days" before they vanish into the Ohio river. Planting Behind Schedule Hoosier farmers lagged about two weeks behind in their planting. State agricul turist Robert Straszhim said the wet weather and last week's tornadoes cut field work by 50 per cent and sat urated thousands of acres. The nation's flood and tor nado toll since last week end rose to 37 dead Wednesday when a 5-year-old Indian apolis boy drowned in flood ed Fall creek. The victim was identified as Jackie Eugene Harness. The fair and warmer fore cast had its exceptions in the South.. Well scattered rain fell over a wide strip of south Atlantic and Gulf states Wed nesday night and a tornado in South Carolina's Marlon coun ty ripped .throughh a vacant school, uprooted trees and snatched a porch Into Its fun net. Guns, Money Taken From Kennedy's Burglars broke into the Bob Kennedy Furniture store in north Medford early this morning and took several guns and carted off a small safe containing an undeter mined amount of money and jewelry. Police are looking for two men who were seen in the area of the store, located at 1603 North Riverside ave., by a passerby about the time the burglary is believed to have taken place. A night watchman, Paul S. Jenny, 2624V4 Merrlman rd., told police that everything was all right when he last checked the building at 8:30 a.m. A state police officer dis covered the burglary at 6:15 a.m. Police said the safe con tained an undetermined amount of rings, watches and diamonds. Included among the stolen guns were a ,38 caliber revovler, a .30 caliber pistol, a 357 colt revolver and a 357 magnum. Ammunition for the guns was also reported mis sing. s" Police said entry to tne building was gained by "cut- t na" the lock on a door at the rear of the building with bolt-cutter. Hatfield May Veto Mental Health Bill Salem -(UPD- Indications to day were that Gov. Mark Hat field might veto the mental health bill which the Legisla ture finally sent to him In drastically amended form. Instead of creating a divi sion of mental health under the governor, it sets one up tinder the Board of Control. It also carries the $200,000 appropriation for community mental clinics. Sources said Hatfield has not yet made up his mind but feels the bill was "damaged considerably'' by the Legisla ture. REHEARING SOUGHT Portland -(UPD- An attorney for Levi S. McDonald Indl cated today a petition for re hearing would be filed within 20 days with the stale su Dreme Court, which Wednes day upheld McDonald's Mult nomah County conviction in connection with dynamiting of newspaper trucks. EDWARD WARMOTH To Speak at Dinner Safety Patrols To Be Honored at Annual Banquet Student members of school safety patrols for the 14 Med ford elementary schools and St. Mary's school will be honored at the annual recog nition dinner Friday, May 12, at Hedrick ' Junior High school. The Medford Safety council is arranging the event, which will be held from 6:30 to 8:19 p.m. Awards will be made to individual safety patrol mem bers, and pen and pencil sets will be given to each student. Pins designating the patrol rank of students are provided by the Oregon State Motor association. Edward Warmoth, manager of the traffic safety division of the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, will speak at the dinner. He was formerly with the Portland Traffic Safety commission and has participated in a number of Salem civic activities. He also has served as ex ecutive secretary for the Ore gon Traffic Safety commis sion since December, 1957.- Expenses for the annual event are borne by Parent Teacher associations and by other local groups, Including the Kiwanis, Rotary, Medford and Crater Lions clubs, Zon- ta, 20-30, Business and Pro fessional ' Women s clubs, Knights of , Columbus, Elks lodge and the Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce. Hatf ield Starts 1 Blame-Casfing With Attack Salem-fllPD-Gov. Mark Hat field declared today the 1961 legislature "bogged down mis erably" on traffic safety, spent too much money, and passed the buck on govern ment reorganization. The attack launched the po litical blame-casting that will increase from both sides now that the lawmakers and the governor no longer have any thing to gain from each other. Hatfield said the legislature "spent millions more than the administration budget propos als, provided no net reduction in the number of commissions, did little in the way of indi vidual tax reform to remove inequities." Recalls Remark On the legislature's total junking of his cabinet system government plan, Hatfield re called his remark at the start of the session: "Should you choose to do nothing, then the buck-passing which now characterizes some administrative pro c e d u r e 8 must rest at your door." On the constructive side, Hatfield added, the legislature provided a start in medical care for the aged, benefited education "considerably," and enhanced economic develop ment. 648.000 HAVE JOS. Salem-UPD-Employment In Oregon as of mid-April reach ed 648,000 and there were 49,800 without Jobs, Oregon Employment Commissioner David H. Cameron said today. Proposal To Spreading Throughout Oregon By United Press International The idea of going to Work an hour earlier to conform with the Portland metropoli tan area's daylight saving time was spreading In the rest of Oregon today. McMinnville Switches The latest area to announce It would adopt fast time un officially was McMinvllle. Business, professional and In dustrial firms there and in Sheridan will Jump on the daylight bandwagon at mid night Sunday. Newberg Chamber of Com merce officials said the change there would go Into effect at 1 a.m. Monday. Schools will 122 Days Sacond Longest In History of Oregon Br DOUGLAS GRIPP Salem - IVPD - The 1961 leg islature, a "sane and stable" session in the words of Senate President Harry Boivin, reached final adjournment late Wednesday and went down as the second longest in Oregon history - 122 days. Only the 128 days of 1957 surpassed it. Adjournment sine die came at 8:01 p.m. after hours of haggling over last -minute compromises. The solons settled on about $366 million 1961-63 bud get, $7 million more than the An additional story sum ming up the 1361 state leg islature appears on page 2. governor recommended. Sen. Daniel Thiel, co-chairman of the Ways and Means commit tee, said the legislature feels that the governor "underesti mated" state revenue over the next two years. . A proposed state income tax reduction - five per cent suggested by the Senate and 10 per cent by the House - died in the final crush as con ferees failed to agree. Other Bills Dead Legislation to repeal ' the property tax on business in ventories also died. The sen ate failed to concur and the Issue faded in a hung-up con ference committee. The Senate junked the pro posed net receipts income tax. An alternate plan - switching the tax relief from income to property - also fail ed. ' Boivin philosophized that 'things aren't so bad" and ac cented the fact that at least taxes didn't go up. The Klamath Falls Demo crat summed up the 51st as sembly as a "good session, especially from the stand point of Improving the busi ness climate." He cited Board- man Industrial park legisla tion, Gardiner pulp mill legls- tion, uarmner pulp mm ease - memo, uiiDLiu.c uit rousing authority, ABtorla bridge and others House Speaker Robert B Duncan (D-Medford) said the session was composed hard working people who fought hard for causes to which they were devoted." He said it's too soon to appraise its overall accomplishments and failures. Liberals wrote It off as mostly a housekeeping session that brought no bold changes. Conservatives, of which there was a majority, described it as a solid chunk- of business, session which studied the state's problems carefully and came up with some solutions, such as tougher, water .and air pollution laws. . Of the 1,587 measures Intro duced - about 850 passed. ' Last Day Action The last smoky hours Wed nesday brought final passage of these measures, which went to the governor: 7 -Legislation toughening up the 99-year-old antl-obscenlty law, focusing on prosecution of those who "knowingly" dis tribute trashy literature to youngsters. -$200,000 for community mental health clinics and a division of mental health un der the Board of Control. -Milk price control legisla tion with a cutoff date of 1983.1 It lets the State Agri culture Department set mini mum prices at the producer level. The Willamette Valley milk price war prompted it. -An amended antl - farm picketing bill designed to let farmers save their crops at harvest peaks. It would pro hibit farm workers from pick eting unless they had worked at the farm for at least three days. There Is an automatic cutoff date after two years. -The nurses' collective bar gaining bill-with the "Little Landrum-Griffin" amendment removed. Final 23-6 approval in the Senate came with Move Clocks observe it, opening an hour earlier with clocks staying at the same. '.'' Astoria was one o the first cities outside the five-county daylight area to Join the movement to fast time on an unofficial basis. But many Willlamctte Valley and coast al cities have indicated they will adopt the change by ad vancing working schedules an hour. Favored In Eugene In Medford, Manager Don McNeil of the Chamber of Commerce said the Retail Merchants Association would consider the plan at a meet ing next week. He said Grants Pass also was considering It. Most Eugene businesses fa- blast from Sen. John Hare (R-Hillsboro) that the next time the Senate will "not be sold down the river by the House Labor Committee." The House committee successfully derailed the original Little Landrum-Griffin Bill which the AFL-CIO opposed. -A $50,000 appropriation creating two summer forest work camps for those between 15-19. The pilot program, for youngsters who vol u n t e e r, would be operated by the State Forestry Department and would involve about 50 boys. . . i Duncan said he is sure that "in spite of disappointments the 1961 session will measure up well as a session which did much to make Oregon a better place in which to live." Education Gains Listed Sen. Monroe Sweetland, considered the leg 1 s 1 a 1 1 v e 'dean of education," said both public schools and higher edu cation have "major gains" de spite alarms at the start that education would fare badly. The Milwaukie Democrat cited the new community col lege law with nearly $2 mil lion to back it up, new schol arships and student loans, nearly $10 million for new higher education facilities, a graduate school of social work at Portland State, and faculty pay increases which he de scribed as "modest." They to tal 14.4 per cent over the ' next two years. Nearly everyone got a nay raise-from the , governor on down. Circuit and district judges, state police, and dis trict attorneys and their depu ties won more money, too. Sweetland said the "maior defeat" for education was an increase In basic school sup port of only , $105" per census child to $1-20 a child by 1963, or $127 , million versus the present $107- million. He said it should have been millions of dollars more.-, , The House, in other last- 1 minute .action,, killed a bill i aciiinK iu-fnue-Bn-nour maxi-- I mum speed limit and the Sen- ate killed the. probable cause DHL. Bom traffic safety meas ures were wanted by Gov. ofrl Mark. Hatfield . The probable ' cause bill ' would have allowed an officer to- arrest for. such violations as drunken drivine without actually witnessing the viola. Hon. The House killed Sen. Wal ter J. Pearson's bill aDDroDrl- atins $290,000 to Dlan an ad dition to the Capitol Build Ing. He originally asked for $1.8 million and Immediate construction. The vote to kill the compromise amount was 34-24, , . , . t, .:t-! , Foreman Fire School Planned on Saturday Annual fire school for fore man of logging and lumber ing firms will be conducted ' Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon at the southwest district headquarters of the state de partment of forestry on Table Rock rd. Sponsors of the school are the state forestry department and the Rogue River end Sis kiyou National forests. Duncan Chairman Of Emergency Board Salem-IUPD-The state emer gency board, made up of Sen- ate ard House members, to day elected House Speaker Robert B. Duncan (D-Medford) chairman. ' Sen. E. D. Potts (D-Grants Pass) was named secretary. The. board does just what -Its name Implies rules on emergency allocations of funds for state agencies be tween legislatures. The board was given $1.3 million, Including $300,000 tor emergency pay Increases for higher education. ' Ahead vor changing to fast time June 1, according to Ralph Robin son, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce retail merchants division. He said there was one holdout, a department store. A Salem department store, Meier Sc Frank, also has said it plans to maintain ' standard time hours. Technical Violation The legislature passed a bill allowing Multnomah, Hood River, Columbia, Clack amas and Washington counties to go on fast time. Technical ly It's against the law for the rest of the state to adopt day light time but no one can stop people from going to work and quitting earlier if they choose.