Friday, September 20, 1991
The Battalion
Page 3
Chairman of DFW says Dallas official threatens negative publicity
er 20,1991
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I Councilman fights restrictions against Love Field
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FORT WORTH (AP) — The chairman of
the board that oversees DFW Airport said a
Dallas city councilman threatened negative
advertising against the airport and its major
carrier, American Airlines, unless flight re
strictions against Dallas Love Field are
eased.
Another in a series of attempts to over
turn a 1979 law known as the Wright
Amendment failed Tuesday in the U.S. Sen
ate. The legislation prohibits airlines from
providing service between Dallas Love
Field and destinations outside of Texas and
its four surrounding states — Oklahoma,
Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.
Former House Speaker Jim Wright, a
Texas Democrat from Fort Worth, spon
sored the provision to ensure that DFW In
ternational Airport would become the re-
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DFW Board chairman William Cooper
played for a Fort Worth Star-Telegram re
porter what he regarded as a threat from
Dallas city councilman Jerry Bartos over
DFW's lock on interstate air travel out of
the Dallas-Fort Worth area. ,
"Bill, we've been friends for a long
time/' said a message from Bartos on Coop
er's telephone answering machine.
"Now we're going to unleash 6,000 con
sumers in Dallas County, probably Mon
day, if we don't get some sort of signal or
compromise on this Wright Amendment
thing. We'll be coming out with newspaper
ads against American, coming out against
expansion."
Bartos denied Thursday in a telephone
interview with The Associated Press that he
intended his comments as a threat.
"I called Mr. Cooper, who used to be a
personal friend, to tell him we ought to try
to craft a compromise on this issue because
I knew of two groups totaling 6,000 who are
going to be more active and who are frus
trated over the continued stonewalling of
this issue and who were going to take out
newspaper ads," Bartos said.
"People are sick of this thing," said Bar
tos, who is chairman of the Dallas City
Council's transportation committee. He
said he's not personally involved in any
planned advertisements against DFW Air
port or the Wright Amendment.
Love Field is the only airport in the
United States with such a regulation, Bartos
said.
"They say you need to do it all with one
airport. That's a myth. Los Angeles has four
airports. Chicago has two and they're build
ing a third. New York has three. What
they're doing is holding the market hostage
for premium air fares."
Bartos said Dallas-Fort Worth, residents
pay an average of 17 percent above the na
tional average for air travel.
"The Wright Amendment is like com
munism. It's doomed. It's just a question of
when the people have had enough of it. It
isn't free market, it isn't competitive, it isn't
free enterprise," Bartos said.
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-
Kan., attempted Tuesday to force considera
tion of a proposal to ease flight restrictions
at Love Field. He later backed off the pro
posal but vowed to continue challenging
the Wright amendment.
TEA program loosens
rules to help students
AUSTIN (AP) - The Texas
Education Agency is looking for
public schools that want to work
with it to improve student
achievement, and it's offering
maximum flexibility in state rules
to schools that join the effort.
The agency said Thursday that
it has mailed information about
the program to all Texas school su
perintendents and more than 6,000
principals.
TEA said that school adminis
trators interested in taking part in
the program should mail back a
form by Oct. 15.
As many as 80 campuses could
be named "partnership schools"
for 1992-93, the program's first
year of full implementation. The
campuses will be teamed with
TEA for three to five years to work
on improving student learning
and closing achievement gaps
among different groups of stu
dents.
Partnership selections will be
announced at TEA's Mid-Winter
Conference at the end of January,
said agency spokeswoman Jorjan-
na Price.
"This program teams the state
with schools whose staffs believe
that schools need to operate differ
ently before meaningful student
achievement can occur," said
Texas Education Commissioner
Lionel "Skip" Meno.
The schools also will be en
couraged to develop partnerships
with individuals and such entities
as universities, businesses, com
munity groups, government agen
cies and other public schools.
Those chosen for the program
will be given as much leeway as
possible in state laws and regula
tions that the schools think are
hampering their education efforts.
For example, the schools could
be allowed to offer up to 15 days
of staff development.
State law requires 180 days of
classroom instruction — up from
175 last year — and at least three
days of staff development. But the
Legislature gave the education
commissioner power to authorize
more staff development time, re
placing class days, for schools
with critical teacher development
needs.
The commissioner may not
waive regulations in certain areas,
such as restrictions on extracurric
ular activities, health and safety,
elementary school class size limits,
bilingual education and special
education.
Magazine rates lawmakers
Texas Monthly rakes legislators over coals
AUSTIN (AP) - Now that
the Texas Legislature has finished
its work and is safely out of town,
Texas Monthly magazine Thurs
day released its biennial picks for
best and worst lawmakers.
As a whole, the magazine
said, "This was a year when the
Legislature was as bad as the
public has always suspected."
The magazine accused law
makers of fumbling key educa
tion, prison and tax issues, pro
ducing "only patches on leaky
tires."
The legislators chosen as this
year's "10 Worst," according to
executive editor Paul Burka,
"seemed to personify the failings
of the 72nd Legislature — the ab
sence of courage, comity, vision,
integrity, independence, leader
ship or commitment to the state."
House Speaker Gib Lewis,
criticized by the magazine as hav
ing "contributed neither ideas
nor leadership" to the session,
slammed the article as "smearing
the reputations and careers of
some dedicated members."
"I have always been disgust
ed by the superficial and simplis
tic analyses of the members of the
Legislature in the Texas Monthly
best and worst listings," said
Lewis, D-Fort Worth.
Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus
Christi, appeared on the list but
was given a "special exemption"
for helping defeat "a bad bill en
couraging development of envi
ronmentally sensitive South
Padre Island."
"I rank Texas Monthly among
the 10 worst publications in
Texas," was Truan's response.
FBI accuses
financier
in fraud case
EL PASO (AP) - An El Paso
financier, scheduled for arraign
ment Friday on state felony
charges, also faces new charges ac
cusing him of writing $1.5 million
in bad checks.
A nine-month FBI investiga
tion resulted in a federal indict
ment Wednesday charging Maury
Kemp of committing fraud and
conspiracy via the bad checks.
Kemp was indicted earlier this
year along with 10 other promi
nent El Paso-business people and
16 companies on state felony
charges. They are accused of bilk
ing insurance annuity investors of
$9.6 million.
An arraignment of the defen
dants in that case was scheduled
for Friday.
Kemp also is facing state secu
rities fraud charges in the insur
ance case.
The recent federal indictment
focuses on a series of checks total
ing $1.5 million written on ac
counts at MBank-El Paso — now
State National Bank — and First
Interstate Bank of California be
tween April 1990 and January
1991, Assistant U.S. Attorney
David Rosado said.
Two of Kemp's bookeepers
also were indicted.
"The checks varied from small
amounts ... to as much as $70,000
each," Rosado said.
The checks were made out to a
variety of businesses and to Kemp
himself, according to the indict
ments.
Wastewater dumping spawns protest
EL PASO (AP) — A group of residents, in
cluding the mayor, oppose an ordinance before
Albuquerque's City Council that would allow
a laboratory to discharge radioactive waste
into the Rio Grande.
About a third of El Paso's drinking water
comes from the Rio Grande. Environmentalists
and other opponents say the discharges will
contaminate the river.
The controversial proposal, to go before the
Albuquerque council Monday, would allow
discharge of low-level radioactive wastewater
from Sandia National Laboratories into that
city's municipal wastewater treatment plant.
Sandia is a nuclear weapons development lab
oratory.
The lab would discharge wastewater that
contains cobalt 60, cesium 137 and cesium 144.
The wastewater has been in a storage tank for
about a year. It was used as a shield for ship
ment of fuel rods, which were later installed in
an experimental nuclear reactor at the labora
tory.
Officials in Albuquerque and at El Paso's
Public Service Board say the level of nuclear
contamination of the 50,000 gallons of wastew
ater is beneath the hazardous limits set by fed
eral authorities.
Sandia spokesman Rod Geer said Wednes
day that two glassfuls of the treated wastewa
ter now in the storage tank contained the same
amount of radioactivity as one glass of tap wa
ter from Albuquerque's water system.
But that argument doesn't satisfy some El
Pasoans.
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1057
4SIS
Merrill Lynch
is hosting a reception for
Dennis Reens and John Martin
of
Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc.
Wednesday, September 25,1991
5:30 p.m.
Briarcrest Country Club, Bryan
BSVP, 776-5636
Topics of discussion:
• Market Overview
• Merrill Lynch Asset Management
asset allocation strategy
• Retirement goals for your ORP/TSA*
^Whether you are currently participating in an ORP/TSA,
or would like more information about starting one, we
encourage you to attend this reception.
Hors d’ oeuvres
Casual
Merrill Lynch
A tradition of trust.
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iO Mx3 Z'
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