EXPANSION OR. -NOT
Does Tupelo .Need A New Airport? EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a first of a two-part series concerning the futu re of the Tupelo Municipal Airport. The series will deal with the feasibility of an airport, its expansion or the creation of a new facility which will adequately serve Tupelo aviation demand and community develop- . ment. Portions of this s·e ries are documented by the Airport Master Plan, compiled by Allen & Hoshall, Inc., Consulting Engineers, Memphis, Tenn.
BY JIM DAGAR, STEVE RIESENMY For more than three years, Tupelo's aviation service facilities and needs have been the target of constant research and study by city officials, engineers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Stacks of materials compiled on the issue now line bookcases, filing cabinets and desks in City Hall and the city fathers are facing a time for decision making. The time for decision making is now, as Southern Airways has notified City Hall that the runways at the
Municipal Airport will no longer be adequate for Southern aircraft after June, 1978. Southern now serves Tupelo, as well as a number of other smaller cities, with the prop-propelled Martin 404 aircraft. In 1978, the airline plans to pull all of the Martin 404s out of service and replace them with jet aircrafts. When they do, Southern officials say, Tupelo's 4,200-foot runnways will not be adequate to handle Southern's larger DC9 jet aircraft, which requires a runway distance of at least 6,500 feet. As far as passenger service goes, the City of Tupelo has its back to the wall - either build a longer runway or lose Southern Airways service. " We have pretty much told the world that we are going to stop flyi ng the Martin 404s," said Redman Tyler, public relations director for Southern. " We have decreased our Martin fleet to the point now that we have eight in our pattern of service. Obviously we can't continue to fly the Martins. It is becoming an economically unviable situation for us. ''
Lane Taylor, head of FAA district office in Jackson, said there is nothing Tupelo can do to force Southern to continue its service once the airlines' lease expires in June, 1978. " It's (the .decision to switch planes) completely in the hands of the airlines. Their decision is probably based on the cost of bringing that particular airplane back to standards again, " said Taylor. "In other words, there's only so much life on the air frame of an airplane, and when that life is gone, you might as well get rid of it. That's what Southern is doing." The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB ) requires the air carriers to serve certain locations, in Tupelo's case Southern. " In this case where the equipment to serve is aged and they can 't replace it with a nything except more modern type jets, I don't think CAB would force them to go out and buy another aircraft to serve these locations," said Taylor. "All the CAB does is dictate locations that carriers must stop and serve."
NEW LOOK -One of the present Tupelo Municipal Airport signs may be giving motorists a look at the future and the type · of jet aircraft that may soon replace the few Southern Airline remnants of the propeller era.
Coalinaed lo page 26
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THE WEATHER Northeast Mississippi -Most!) cloudy through Saturday with a chance for showers and thundershowers. Lows in the low 60s; highs near 80.
aily
Telephone 842-2611 Price 15 Cents
l ournal S. Green St.. East of Hospital
Tupelo, Mississippi, Friday Morning, May 9,_1975
Oil Import Quota Adopted For House Energy Tax Bill WASHINGTON (UPI) The House Ways and Means Commi ttee tent ative l y comp leted work on an energy tax bill Thursday evening after adopting an oil impor t q uota system intended to sharply reduce America's dependence on fo. reign oil in coming years. The comm ittee voted 20·
16 to move the bill the next step along toward House consideration. The vote, a proced ural move to resubmit a bill containing all the am endments alread y written by th e committ ee. was tantamount to approval of the package. T he bill would raise gasoline taxes, tax cars 01;1
Phnom Penh Said Taken 6y Force of 200 Men •
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LAST MINUTE PR;EPARATION -Gum Tree co-chairman Bill Ford (L), aided by Gail Mccarver and Hunter Nash, marked off exhibition spaces Thursday for the opening of the regional arts festival today on Courthouse Lawn . Activities ·continue Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. 1 .
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5,000 Expected To View Gum Tree Art Festival
/ By J OE RUTHERFORD ' · : ~ Jour nal StaH .w riter • MoYe than 5 , 000 iid - So ut her n ers are expected · in Tupelo this weekend for the fourth annual Gum Tree Festival, a showcase of the visual a rts for 130 exhibitors from every Southeastern state. Spon s ored by th e Community Development Found alien , t he City of Tupelo a nd an independent volunteer committee. . the festi val awards prizes a nd purc hase premiums totaling over $5,000 - the largest in Mississippi and one of the biggest in the South. All exhibits will be on Courthouse Lawn. Judging the competition will be Joe Bova. a noted '\,cera micist from Louisiana /S tate Univ ersity and Cleveland Institute of Art graphics professor H. C. i Cassi!!. · Both men are among the best in their field in the United States . With competition in five ca tegories. division stipends carry values of $150, $75, and $50 for first second and third pla ce and $500 will be awarded a "Best In Show" { winner. 1 f co-chaired by William :1· Ford III and J im Westbrook, l the Gum Tree is coordinated
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auxilia ry groups covering va rious aspects of the event. All participation is on a · vqlunteerbasis. Westbrook has estimated that 5,000 visitors will tour the show, which is free to the public, before its closing Sunday afternoon. Artists and craftsmen will set up exhibits today at the Courthouse. with art on displa y alJ day Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday. The movies, featuring a full -len gth "Laurel a nd Hardy " film, as well as Charli e Chaplin, Three Stooges. Little Rascals and Abbot and Costello, will begin showing at 10:30 a .m. free of charge to festival goers. In addition to the movies, a popular feature started in 1974 returns- "Lunch on -the-Law n" at Frank Oli ver Go odl ett house C om m e nding the adjacent to Court Square. community effort for Gum Open to the public at a Tree . Ford said , " The min i m a l c har ge. the purchase prize patrons are Southern meal will be served one of the most important from 11 : 30 a. m . until aspec ts of the festival. mid -afternoon, only on Without thei r help we could Saturday . not attract the quality of Many of the artists artists thatcomehere." c l ass ifi e d i n painting , The 13 donors of $250 watercolor - mixed media. purchase prizes. Ford said. graphics and drawings . are: Westbrook's, Tupelo sculpture, crafts and pottery Daily Journal, Peoples Bank divisions - will ha ve works and Trust Company, First for sale . Citizens Na tiona l Batik, Festival awards will be OS CO. North Mississippi made Sunday at 2 p.m. on the Medical Center , Lee Drive In Courthouse st eps. T h e at e r , B a nk of ln a ddition to the movies Mississippi, Drs. Thomas. a nd l unc heon . strolling Bourland. Burrus and Pryor. minstrels will entertain R. W. Reed Company, Dr. periodically Saturday and James Ballard, J ESCO and .Sunday, and contemporary Community Federal Sa vings blu es and jazz will be and Loan Association. pro vided by a Memphis Super Sagless Corp .. has group. underwritten the cost of a In th e event of rain series of comedy classics to Saturday, the festival will
NEW YORK (UPI) - An American Broadcasting Co. correspundenl said Thursday a 200-man Khmer Rouge fo r ce captu red Phnom Penh. AB C resident correspondent L ee Rudake vych reported on arrival in Thailand along with th e last batch of foreigners out of the falJen Cambodian capital. " The original attack force was only about 200 and that's what took a city of two m i llion a nd m a d e it
su rrender," Rudakewychh said . " The Khmer Rouge entered from the north. They began arming students who had been protesting the Lon Nol government. The Khmer Rouge _gave arms to the student~ until the force swelled to about 1,000." Rudakevych said he had heard r~1ports on the radio of Presidl!nt Ford's concern over the execution of 80 highranking Cambodian officers and their wives . " But that is nothing comContinued on page 14'
their gasolint! mileage, and limit imports of oil and petroleum products. Chairman Al Ullman. DOre., called the bill "a good, sound bill, one that we can carry on the floor of the Congress ." But Rep. Charles A. Vanik , D-Ohio, called the bill "a light touch. a creampuff bill, but at least it gives a first awareness of conservation of fue ls." Rep. James R. Jones, DOkla., said the trouble is, Americans are not exerting pressure for such legislation. " A constituent put it perfectly " when he said, 'the country does not believe the patient is so sick and does not trust the doctor with the cure.'" Jones said. " This is a stripped-down bill, but a l·'a!'t it sets the stage for c onserva t ion consciousness." The bill was estimated by the committee staff to result in a fuel savings equivalent to 2.1 million barrels a day of o i I by 1985, to ena ble de pendence on imports to be cut nearly in half by that
South·Tippah School Bond Election Tuesday
Congress' Budget Plans Said
Drawing Target Around Arrow WASHINGTON (UPI) In a Process on e congressman compared to shooting an arrow and then dra wing a target around where it lands, House and Senate conferees struggled Thursday to frame a congressional alternative to President Ford's budget. Meeting along a narrow green -felt cover ed table und e ·r a n enormous chandelier . they tried to reconci l e differenc e s between budget resolutions adopted by the House and Senate last week. Generally. their decisions came dow n o n th e co nser va t ive si d e in ch oo sin g between the Senate's figures and the House' s. Nonetheless, as they were getting ready lo quit for the day , Sen . Edmund S. Muskie. D·Maine. added up the decisions reached and announc ed the conferees appeared to be heading t o ward a recomm enda-
spendinginfiscall976, which begins Jul y 1, for a deficit of nearly $70 billion. Ford has proposed S355 billion in spending and threatened to use his veto power rather than tolerate a deficitexceeding$60billion. The congressmen and senators debated how much priority to assign some competin g demands for s p e ndin g for pos tal construction and post a l vehicles, aid to housing, reconstruction of railroad ri g h ts -ofway and other forms of rail a id and loans to small businesses. They felt they had to trim in those categories. Finally they decided to fix an over all total and allow the c o n g r e s s i o n a I appropriations committees to slice the pie. Com p lained Rep . Jim Wright, D-Tex. , "That's like shooting an arrow and then drawing a ta rget around wherever it hit .·· Rep. J ames G. O'Hara. D-
UNSETTiE"c) ECONOM7c 'CQ~;;;;o;;··complained that
It's anybody's guess when the 444-mile Natchez-toNashville Natchez Trace Parkway will be one completed link. ,. C. W. Qgl~ Pariltway sup·erintendent, told the Tupelo L~n:c~eon ei'Vitan Club Thursday that today's unsettled economic conditions make guesswork on a probable completion date ext1remely hazardous. The Parkway is presently in five dis-connected sections, he said, noting that 72 miles are yet to be completed in Mississippi, 11 in Alabama and 44 in Tennessee. Too, Ogle noted that estimated construction costs on the uncompleted 127 miles are rising all the time. 1Some five years ago, he said, it was estimated that .., $85 million would be required to complete the Parkway. _ "Our best estimate now is that those 127 miles will cost more than $146 million," Ogle told the Civitans. "This cost is for just the roadway, with no facilities for camping, parks, etc. " By contrast, the 317 miles completed thus far cost only $84 million. He said acquisition· of Parkway right-of-way in .Mississippi, which is handled by the state, is now
be- offered as an amendment to the tax bill on the House floor. Otherwise, Ullman said. the procedure on the tax bill will be .delayed too long. The import quotas adopted by the committee would give the Pres i dent some flexibility in adjusting for changin g economic conditions. The committee approved quotas of 6 million barrels a day of imported oil this year, the same next year, 6.5 million in 1977, 6 million in 1978, and 5.5 million in 1979 and thereafter. The quotas were adjusted to reflect Continued on page 14
RI P LEY - South Tippah: and high schools. There is apparently no Consolidated School District. voters will decide the fate of' organized opposition to the a proposed $695,000 bond bond election, according to issue in balloting Tuesday. HarrelJ . " Everything is pretty with local sc hool leaders urging approval of the funds q ui e t abo ut it ( the to provide new and election )," he commented. If approved by 60 per cent renovated facilities at all of th e electors casting schools·in the district. District Superintendent ballots. the proposed issue Roy Harrell told the Journal will increase district ad taxes classroom safety is a major va l orem factor in gaining approval of a pproximately 60 cents per the bond issue. $100 assessment. based on members were putting off to The district, he said. has 18 sale of the bonds at 6 per cent last " the most important mobile classrooms at Blue interest. decision" - how much to Mountain and Pine Grove Polling places will be at earmark for stimulative Att e ndance Centers that Blue Mountain High School, spendin g to spee d up ba dly need replacing with Ripley Elementary, Ripley recover y from the recession. perma nent structures. Middle a nd Ripley High "This whole procedure is Schools. and Pine Grove a rsybarsy, " he said. ' The mo bile units , he High School. The conference was open , explained, are especially Several s c hool to press coverage ~ a ranty. dangerous in the event of organizations in the district Usually such sessions a re tornadoes or severe weather . have give n pub l ic closed. Improvements and general endorsement to the issue . T h e b u d g ~ t renovation is also slated for a tld a heavy voter turnout is recomm endations wh_1c h Ripley's elementary, middle predicted. r em erge will be the first und er a r eform law requiring Congress to amend its spending habits. Under t he old procedure. spending bills were passed ·piecemeal with no advance knowledge of what they would total. In tentative decisions: In what seems to be a rare political occurance, - Ford's recommend.a tion five candidates for governor agreed on the states of a 5 per cent ceiling on pay needs and some even admitted that they didn't and r etirement increases for have an ·the answers, in a meeting of the East Defe n se Departmen t person·nel was rejected. A Mississippi Council. For deta ils turn to page two. similar decision ap pea red likely for other government e m p lo yes . Without the ceiling, they can expect pay A delay of up to three years is seen in using raises of about 8 per cent.
t Trace Completion Anybody's Guess }
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time, and to bring a net increase in revenue of $7.8 billion by 1980: One last big fight remains for the bill. Republicans, led by Rep. Barber B. Conable Jr., R-N.Y., want a profits control provision, as a standby if Congress passes a bill lifting controls on oil prices . Conable tried unsuccessfully to get that p r ovision in the bill Thursday night. but was rebuffed by Ullman. "You know and I know we could stay all night and not agree on windfall profits taxes,' ' Ullman said. · '. ·. He suggested Conable int r od uce his idea as a separate matter that could
complete. Land acquisition in both Alabama and Tennessee should be completed this year, he said. "Our funds must come from Congress so it is hard to predict on availability," Ogle noted. " However, I might add .that the Natchez Trace Parkway has done well over the last two or . three years in funds allocations. We have gotten perhaps more money than any other similar project, thanks primarily to diligent efforts on the part of our congressional delegation, and the support of local people like you." Ogle said that pre-construction environmental studies a re becoming more expensive and timeconsuming than three or four years ago. " We see the need for these studies and are proceeding," he said. " Hopefully, we can have our impact statements completed by the time funding is available." Ogle discussed soine of the Parkway construction now underway and noted that the 166-mile segment between Tupelo and Jackson is the most heavily traveled. He said the bridge on Highway 45 at the Parkway headquarters area north of Tupelo should be completed this month at a cost of $861 ,000 .
" I might emphasize that all of this $861,000 went into the local economy because the total does not include planning, engineering, etc.," Ogle asserted. A 5.3-mile section is now under construction northward from Highway 363 in Saltillo. The fourmile section between Highway 45 and Saltillo was skipped for now because of flood control work underway in the area. A contract will be let in the next two to three weeks on a four-to-five-mile section, starting at the north end of the project now underway in Saltillo. Cost of this will be some $5.4 million. On other Parkway matters, Ogle said the U. S. Bureau of Outdoor Recreation is studying the possibility of a parallel trail to the entire Parkway for use by hikers, bikers and horseback riders. Too, he said the Parkway has entered into a concession contract for sales of arts and crafts through the museum _a t Ridgeland ne,rth of Jackson. "This will provide a sales outlet for items made by area craftsmen, " Ogle said. "We expect this will meet with a good response from inter-regional - continued on p-age !4
Inside Todtiy 's Journal Politicians Agree
Plutonium belayed
plutonium in nuclear p·ower plants as the new Nuclear Regulatory Commission eversed the approval by the defunct Atomic E nergy Commission for " the stuff hydrogen bombs is made of." Please turn to page four.
Refugee Aid Voted . The Senate has earmarked $17 million for immediate aid to Indochinese refugees until further funding can be made available. Please turn to page 13.
Judge Called Lawbreaker A chancery court judge in Jackson has been accused of possible violation of state law against judges engaging in legal practice while on the bench because of his role in a now-bank:rupt hotel company. Please see story on page 28.
About People . . ... ..... . . . . 7 Ann Landers .. .. . .. .. . ... . 10 Around Dixie .. ... .... .. .. . 12 Around Mississippi . ... . .. .. . 6 Classified . ....22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Comics .... .. . . ...• .. •.. . . 47 Crossword . ...... ... . . .... 28 Dr. Brothers ....... . . .. ... 15 E ditorial .. .. . ..... ....... 46
Horoscope .. .. . .. . . ....•.. 47 Look of America . .. . . . . ... la Movies ....... . ... ...... .. 27 ·Obituaries . . . ..... .... ... . 14 Sha ring Shortcuts .... ... .. .. 7 Society .. . .........8, 9, 10, 11 Sports .. . .... . 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Weather ... .. .. ..... . ... . . . 3