The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 12, 1989, Image 3

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    2 i The Battalion
JSTATE & LOCAL
‘Wednesday, July 12,1989
ect
of
K’ fiaiki .
'iHeeraJ!
r () p arm;
■
f^epartir,: .
virus tole
'"a barrat
(licalaidj
ondthe ’
Tin of
• ” One
lavior
-el that lit
‘ subjeci
l worse CD
of beinj
“ men
ry owes it
actoffre
ssioriate,
yone
o sit here
ig; I doc’
people
ree spee;:
’s just
at thoset:
M'.seas for
onghoui!
\'t didni:
countn.l
otesters
)rityoftl;
ntry it
id in
f/i/ Iftlenlt;
I mustklil
ut
lot effet
iccause ij
g are rf|
used b)j
;e state;
ri likings:
y, thel'l
s nott
iimtotKj
ise of kst
of the M
ol abuse
it syste't
ee two
h unef
■r or tW
• elects
Minis
,l&
Lewis says lawmakers
may finally compromise
on workers’ comp issue
AUSTIN (AP) — House
Speaker Gib Lewis said Tuesday
he expects lawmakers to reach a
compromise by the end of the
week on changing the state work
ers’ compensation system.
“We need to do it and get over
with it as quick as we possibly
can,” Lewis, D-Fort Worth, said.
Lawmakers have been wres
tling all year with the problem of
reforming the workers’ comp sys
tem, which has been criticized for
hitting employers with high in
surance rates and employees with
low benefits.
The House has passed a pro
posal, supported by business, that
limits the right to a jury trial in
disputed workers’ comp claims.
The Senate plan, backed by labor
and trial lawyers, would allow ap
peals to a jury trial.
Lewis, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and
Gov. Bill Clements met over
breakfast in the governor’s man
sion, and Lewis said he and
Hobby agreed “that if it takes our
intervention, that we’re going to
do it.”
Clements seemed surprised by
Lewis’ comments.
“He’s changing his position up
and down and sideways, so exac
tly where we’re going to come
out, I would hesitate to say,”
Clements said.
But Clements added, “I also
need to say that at the end of
breakfast both Hobby and Lewis
seemed to be of one mind, and I
would anticipate that they are
going to meet this afternoon and
hopefully we are going to get
over this impasse that we are in
right now.”
Lewis said a House and Senate
conference committee meeting
on the issue of compensating
workers injured in on-the-job ac
cidents will produce a bill by Fri
day — six days before the end of
the special legislative session.
The conference committee
continued deliberations but re
mained far apart .on proposals
over resolving disputed comp
claims and how to calculate comp
benefits.
A key senator responded an
grily to comments by Clements,
who earlier blamed the Senate for
the impasse over workers’ comp.
“He hasn’t read the bill or
hasn’t had someone read it to him
or explain it to him,” Kent Caper-
ton, co-chairman of the confer
ence committee, said.
Clements blasted the Senate
workers’ comp proposal, al
though he said he favored man
datory comp coverage for most
Texas employers — a pivotal pro-.
vision supported by the Senate
and opposed by the House.
Battling mosquitoes can be bloody
Wet weather, low winds, skin oils make pest control difficult
By Holly Beeson
STAFF WRITER
There’s a sucker born every minute.
The mosquito population has become a prob
lem in Bryan-College Station recently because of
heavy rainfall, but other environmental condi
tions and actions taken by individuals also are
causing the pests to flourish.
Dr. Clifford Hoelscher, a Texas Agricultural
Extension Service entomologist, said the area
rainfall, type of weather and wind conditions all
govern directly what mosquito probems will be.
“The more windy it is, the less problem you’ll
have because mosquitoes are weak fliers,” he said.
“Anytime it’s calm following wet weather, you’re
going to have problems.”
Mosquitoes are attracted to the natural oils in
the skin, Hoelscher said.
“Some people are more attractive to mosqui
toes than others,” he said. “It’s not uncommon
that out of a group of six people outdoors, two
will be attacked heavily by mosquitoes while the
others aren’t bothered much.”
Hoelscher said the best way people can protect
themselves is to wear loose clothing, particularly
long-sleeved shirts and jeans. He also suggests
using insect repellents such as Off or Deet.
“Don’t be outside at dusk because that’s when
feeding is most heavy,” he said. “If you’re work
ing outside, the practical thing to do would be to
get your work done before dusk.”
Just spraying the backyard is not sufficient,
Hoelscher said.
“If you spray, but your neighbors don’t, their
mosquitoes will just come visit you in your back
yard,” he said. “So, it must be a community-wide
effort.”
When enough people complain to the city,
Hoelscher said, that’s when they begin to spray.
“As long as they don’t get a lot of complaints,
they’re not going to spend the money to spray,”
he said.
Eric Ploeger, forestry superintendent for the
College Station Parks and Recreation Depart
ment, said the city sprayed last week and will
spray again two or three nights this week.
He said people can decrease mosquito popula
tions by eliminating breeding sites.
“Any stagnant water in the yard is the perfect
breeding place for mosquitoes,” he said. “This is
where mosquitoes lay eggs and larva become
adults.”
The city gives most attention to areas from
which people complain, he said.
“We try to manage the problem the best we
can, considering the limited resources we have,”
he said. “If we don’t get a call from a certain area,
we probably won’t spray it.”
Racing commission questions lobbyist about funds
AUSTIN (AP) — A Texas lobbyist
was questioned about how much he
has been paid by a prominent Flor
ida family interested in getting dog
racing legalized in the state as hear
ings continued before the Texas
Racing Commission.
The commission’s hearings this
week are to decide which of five in
vestor groups will receive a Galves
ton County greyhound racing li
cense.
Nick Kralj, a lobbyist who helped
bring greyhound racing to Texas,
also was asked about his relations
with a man now in federal prison for
tax violations and about his failure to
pay off a car note he co-signed for
an employee.
Kralj, who has been lobbying for
pari-mutuel greyhound racing since
1982, is a major investor behind the
proposed Galveston County Grey
hound Track in La Marque.
Flis group is among five appli
cants seeking to win the sole license
in Galveston County — a site many
experts contend could become one
of the nation’s most lucrative.
Kralj told the commissioners
Monday he has received $1.6 million
from Florence Hecht and her family
in Florida for his lobbying efforts
and expenses in preparing the
Texas license application. He said he
will be paid an additional $1.5 mil
lion from Texas investors if the
group wins the license.
The Hecht family, described as
having a long record of philan
thropic and cultural contributions in
Florida, operate two greyhound
tracks there, including the Flagler
track in Miami.
They would own 43 percent of the
proposed $40 million Galveston
County Greyhound Track. Kralj and
17 other Texas investors, including
former Houston Oilers Coach Bum
Phillips and former House Speaker
Billy Clayton, would own a total of
54 percent of the track. The remain
ing 3 percent would be owned by
other non-Texans.
The Hechts and many of the same
investors in the Kralj group also are
seeking another license from the
racing commission to operate a grey
hound track in Corpus Christi.
Grsadys
BUY ONE
GET ONE FREE!
Country Fried Steak Dinner.
AUTHORIZED HEWLETT-PACKARD DEALER
505 CHURCH STREET COLLEGE STATION .TEXAS 77840
409/846-5332
m
HEWLETT
PACKARD
LASERJET SERIES II
$1,724.00
DESKJET PRINTER
$540.00
7475A PLOTTER
$1,288.00
PAINTJET PRINTER
$948.00
DESKJET PLUS PRINTER
LASERJET SERIES II-D $676.00
$2,748.00
ATTN: FULL TIME FACULTY AND PROFESSIONAL STAFF
PLEASE CALL FOR EDUCATIONAL DISCOUNT PRICING
.. •* *' •/' ..yO-VV ,'T'
TWO COMPLETE COUNTRY FRIED STEAK DINNERS ONLY
$3.49
PLUS TAX
Includes a country fried steak with cream gravy, mashed potatoes ’n gravy,
choice of vegetable and two made from scratch butter-yeast rolls.
LIMITED
TIME
OFFER!
■ BUY ONI! SET ONE FREE
I
I
■
I
Country fried steak dinner.
College Station
1002 E. Harvey
Available for carryout.
Limit 3 offers per coupon for a maximum of 6
country fried steak dinners Offer good thru
July 30,1989. Not valid with any other special.
Grandys.
Call battalion Classified
845-2611
What kind of dental plan
excludes the leading cause
of tooth loss in America today?
The kind you’re being offered right now.
It’s irue.
The dental ‘benefits’ recently added to
one of the local health plans specifically
excludes treatment for gum disease.
Yet gum disease is the leading cause of
tooth loss in America today — 8 of 10
Americans, in fact, suffer from some type
of periodontal problem.
So-called health plans that exclude such
common — and important — conditions
are no bargain.
Regardless of their cost.
Before you abandon yourtraditional health
insurance package for a better-sounding
bargain, be sure the small print reads as
good as the bold promises.
A message in the public interest from
James Arents, D.D.S.
Karen Arents, D.D.S.
William Birdwell, D.D.S.
Russell Bradley, Jr. D.D.S.
John Case, D.D.S.
Thomas Davis, D.D.S.
Ronald Dusek, D.D.S.
Charles Ernst, D.D.S.
Curtis Garrett, D.D.S.
Charles Gray, D.D.S.
Robert Hall, D.D.S.
Manta Kennady, D.D.S.
Sigurd Kendall, D.D.S.
Tom King, D.D.S.
Cynthia Langley, D.D.S.
Dan Lawson, D.D.S.
Stanley Maliska, D.D.S.
Scott Makins, D.D.S.
Donald McLeroy, D.D.S.
Richard Mogle, D.D.S.
Stephen O'Neal, D.D.S.
Erlon Payne, D.D.S.
Gordon Pratt, Sr., D.D.S.
Gordon Pratt, Jr., D.D.S.
Michael Reece, D.D.S.
Brazos
Independent
Dentists
Michael Riggs, D.D.S.
Dickie Rychestsky, D.D.S.
John Sleek, D.D.S.
Oren Swearingen, Jr., D.D.S.
Steve Ursa, D.D.S.
Tracey Varvel, D.D.S.
Herbert Wade, D.D.S.
Garland Watson, D.D.S.
Robert White, D.D.S.
William Wiley, D.D.S.
Richard Williamson, D.D.S.
James Wilson, D.D.S.
Grant Wolfe, D.D.S.