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Women warned against Reagan's plans Democrats say they'll consider naming woman running mate BOSTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidates Walter F. Mondale and George McGovern warned Friday night that President Reagan will change the composition of the Supreme Court in a way that will hurt women if he is elected to a second term. In a debate between six Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. John Glenn of Ohio accused the Reagan administration of "turning back the clock... (It has) insulted women and winked at racism and implied that those who shiver in the soup lines are cheaters and freeloaders." Sen. Ernest F. Hollings promised that if he is elected president, "My primary concern will be for a safer world for you and your children." The candidates were participating in a debate about issues of particular importance to women. For 90 minutes, the candidates answered questions and outlined their positions on such issues as birth control, sex education, equal rights for women, equal pay for comparable efforts, and day care. Asked what he would do about the increase of adolescent pregnancy in the United States, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he supports public financing for sex education and abortion "if that is their choice." For the most part, the candidates, including Sen. Gary Hart, tried to out-do each other on who has the most women in campaign staffs, who had supported more day care or child nutrition legislation, and who knew more statistics about women. Jackson said the United States "must move away from a defense position of overkill to an offensive position of agriculture policy." He said also an American president should not antagonize the Russians with name calling. Asked when a black or a woman will be elected president, Jackson, who is black, drew laughs when he quipped, "In 1984." All of the candidates said they would consider a women as a running mate, yet none would commit himself to choosing a woman. At one point, Hollings and Mondale were squabbling over who had more women on their congressional staffs, Hollings quipped, "I'll put my women against yours any day." Port Arthur News Saturday morning C 1984, all rights reserved 25 cents Vol. 88 - No. 35 February 4, 1984 PA native's art exhibit opens today By DENNY ANGELLE Entertainment Editor After more than 33 years in the art world, Robert Rauschenberg seems to have lost none of his enthusiasm for creating art, nor his taste for life. When he is talking about his work, the artist resembles one of his own pieces: colorful, with ideas flying in all directions. Port Arthur's native son artist will finally have his homecoming show, as the Port Arthur Public Library offers a special Rauschenberg exhibit for two weeks. The exhibit opens at 4:00 p.m. today, with a ceremony welcoming the artist. Mayor Bernis Sadler will proclaim today, with a ceremony welcoming the artist. Mayor Bernis Sadler will proclaim today "Robert Rauschenberg Day." Humorously self-depreciating and graciously shy, the 59-year-old artist stands away from a group of pressing reporters but walks tall among the giants of popular, modern art. His work has been acclaimed worldwide for three decades but Rauschenberg modestly predicts only relatives and old friends will attend his official welcome today. "There are so many relatives here. I can't begin to count them," he says. "I brought my camera with me, but I don't know if I will be able to get around to taking some pictures. All my relatives will start smiling." Rauschenberg also brought with him some of his recent works in collage - dubbed "combines" when he revolutionized the art world in late 1950s - and a collection of his photography. The exhibit will be on display during library hours for the next two weeks. "The Library has wanted to get me here for an exhibit for quite some time," says Rauschenberg. "We went by the place where I used to live, over on 19th street, and it's all so different. Port Arthur has changed so much I didn't recognize a thing. Many of the places I remember from the early years, the places I went as a teenager are all gone." As workers unwrap Rauschenberg's framed work he uncovers some of his plans for the future. Among them is an ambitious traveling show that he plans to take to 20 countries around the world, making art and contributing the works to the host country in the name of peace. "We plan to start at the Los Angeles (Summer) Olympics," he said. Dance master Merce Cunningham, modernist composer John Cage and Rauschenberg plan to work out a choreographed dance-art piece for 40 windsurfers. "I've always wanted to design sails," says Rauschenberg, who windsurfs near his home in Captiva Island, Fla. "But I think the best way to view the piece will be to videotape it and make it an artwork. If it is viewed live, a person won't be able to get close enough to see the sails." Rauschenberg can be called a painter only for lack of a better term to categorize his work. His combines in the Fifties grew from collages of newspaper and magazine clips. They eventually became three-dimensional creations, using just about anything. One of the most famous and spectacular is "Monogram" (1959), consisting of a stuffed ram encircled by an auto tire, mounted on a painted base with a collage work. "I like to change, to experiment with different mediums because it furthers the pallette of events," he says. "It tends to keep an edge on the work, an uncertainty, and makes it an See RAUSCHENBERG, page 2A [[Photo]] Staff photo by David Trammell Port Arthuran and renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg at his library exhibit EDB fate faces mixed reactions from officials By MAX WOODFIN Cox News Service AUSTIN - A new federal policy that will gradually ease cancer-causing EDB out of the food supply did little to settle a feud among top Texas officials over the best solution to the problem. "This decision will bring untold misery on future generations," said Attorney General Jim Mattox said Friday. "It merely reflects the overall attitude of the Reagan administration that business comes first and then come the consumers." Health Commissioner Robert Bernstein, however, said that "the standards appear very reasonable." He said he will ask the state Board of Health to adopt them next week. EPA Director William Ruckelshaus issued an almost total ban on the use of EDB as a grain fumigant, but recommended relatively high tolerance levels for the chemical. The levels would affect only small quantities of food already on the market. Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Ron White said Ruckelshaus "did the most important thing he could do." Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower as recently as Thursday has recommended to a subcommittee of the Texas Senate that any food containing EDB or any other known carcinogen be removed immediately from the market. But Friday White said that while he regretted that EDB would still be present in foods, he was happy that EPA decision would assure that the chemical would be gone within a few years. Mattox said, "We'd be better off in this situation if we didn't have an EPA." He said he was shocked See GOV., page 2A Grand Juries to begin tax office investigations By HELEN SOHLINGER Staff Writer BEAUMONT - Two Jefferson County grand juries next week will launch investigations into the county tax office, District Attorney James McGrath said Friday. McGrath said the hold-over grand jury will start its investigation Tuesday, and the regular grand jury has asked to hear from "one witness or more on the same matter on Thursday." The hold-over grand jury, he said, actually began its investigation before its regular term would have ended Dec. 31. The tax office matter was one reason it was held over, McGrath said. Asked why both juries would be working on the same issue, McGrath would not elaborate except to say they were both investigating the tax office. Asked whether the hold-over grand jury was investigating changes alleg- See LAMPSON, page 6A Area retail sales take plunge in December [[Graph]] By THOMAS TASCHINGER Staff Writer Although strong pre-Christmas buying had pushed up retail sales in the Golden Triangle in November, the positive momentum did not carry over into December. Virtually all cities in the area reported decrease in retail sales taxes for December as compared to the same month in 1982, according to figures released Friday by the state comptroller's office. The comptroller sends out monthly checks to the 980 Texas city governments that levy the 1 percent city sales tax. December is always a strong month for retail sales and all cities did see the usual increase from November's rate, but the Christmas peak apparently wasn't as strong as expected. As a result, the Triangle had a mixed record for retail sales in 1983. Port Arthur and Bridge City saw a decrease from 1982's yearly total, while Groves, Nederland and Port Neches enjoyed an increase. Beaumont's totals increased slightly in 1983, but Orange suffered a sharp drop. For the entire state, sales taxes dropped from $114 million in December of 1982 to $105 million last December. The state's totals for all of 1983 did increase slightly from $719 million in 1982 to $730 million last year. Gene Benton, president of the Retail Merchants Association of southeast Texas, said the figures confirm both the good and bad reports about the local economy. "December was really a mixed bag," he said. "Some merchants are fairly happy about it. For some reason, the big ticket items (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) had more sales. "But in view of our 18 percent unemployment, if we hold our own it's a barometer of success. The future's not that bleak. We think 1984 is going to be a good year, a year of recovery. We've taken most of our licking, and there might be some slight growth. We're not discouraged." The December figures for area cities as compared to the same month in 1982 (in parenthesis) are: . $427,884 to Port Arthur ($500,480). . $109,127 to Nederland ($124,780). . $44,266 to Port Neches ($53,728). . $37,505 to Bridge City ($40,992). Groves was the only Mid-County city which saw an increase in December. Its receipts were $91,740 as compared to $91,308 in December of 1982. Beaumont's totals for December decreased from $1.48 million in 1982 to $1.29 in 1983. Orange's dipped from $132,645 in 1982 to $119,366. For Jefferson County as a whole, December's receipts fell from $2.25 million in 1982 to $1.96 million. Orange County's revenues for the month decreased a bit from $354,727 in 1982 to $331,798. The 1983 yearly totals for Triangle cities as compared to 1982 (in parenthesis) are: . $2,690,608 to Port Arthur ($2,699,962) . $825,005 to Nederland ($711,970) . $662,531 to Groves ($656,674) See GROVES, page 2A LoDestro blames McElroy for shakeup By HELEN SOHLINGER Staff Writer BEAUMONT - Former Port Arthur School Superintendent Richard LoDestro took the witness stand Friday to blame school board member A.Z. McElroy and the Port Arthur News for the 1980 grand jury investigation that rocked the district. LoDestro, who left the district after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct, testified that McElroy said, after being elected to the board in 1980, that he was going to "get rid of" the school board. McElroy privately told LoDestro he was a good administrator but that he should distance himself from the board, according to LoDestro's testimony. LoDestro testified in the $4 million lawsuit by his former deputy superintendent, Bernard Fleener, against the district, school board member A.Z. McElroy, former president Bob Shaw, former superintendent Clyde Gott and two former grand jury members, Larry Stefflen and John Borne. Larry Watts, Fleener's attorney, introduced a memorandum Fleener reportedly sent LoDestro detailing a confrontation with McElroy. "Basically, it was intimidation," LoDestro said of the incident. "He was trying to harass and intimidate Dr. Fleener. I See LoDESTRO, page 6A Saturday DRG Index Almanac...7B Baker...7A Bible thought...7A Classified...3B-8B Comics...7B Crossword...7B Dear Abby...7B Editorial...7A Jumble...7B Letters...7A Movies...4A-5A People...8A Police beat...8B Selected stocks...4A Sports...1B-2B Sportstats...2B State at a glance...4A Television...5A Triangle...3A What to do...3A Your horoscope...7B Weather Look for sunny and clear skies today and Sunday. Tonight will be clear and cool. Daytime highs for today and Sunday will be in the low 60s. The lows tonight and Sunday night will be in the lower to mid 30s. For more details, see page 8A. First embryo transfer birth is successful LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - An infertile woman who was implanted with a donor's fertilized egg has delivered a "healthy, normal" boy, the world's first birth resulting from an embryo transfer, doctor's announced Friday. "He's just beautiful," said Dr. John E. Buster, head of the embryo transfer research project at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Buster said the infant was born in Los Angeles County in the last five to 10 days. The controversial and historic pregnancy ended 38 weeks and five days after the April 1983 embryo transfer at Harbor, Buster said. The identity of the parents, baby and donor, as well as details of the birth and the infant, were kept secret at the request of the mother and father, Buster said. The procedure was developed by Fertility & Genetics Research Inc., which wants to start a nationwide, profit-making "adopt-an-embryo" network and will open its first center here this spring. It is different from test-tube births, in which a woman with blocked Fallopian tubes has her own egg removed and surgically implanted in her uterus after it is fertilized in a petri dish. Donor eggs have also been used in test-tube fertilization. The most notable difference with embryo transfer is that no surgical procedure is required, Buster said.
