Muncie Evening Press du lieu suivant : Muncie, Indiana • Page 16

THE MUNCIE EVENING PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1987 PAGE 16 Kiritsis victorious in 1 0-year fight for unconditional release V. Baker Rev. Carnell Johnson Madeline Madeline V. "Maggie" Baker, 83, formerly of 141 S. Delaware, Albany, died Wednesday evening in Albany Nursing Center following an extended illness.

A native of Winchester, she lived in Dunkirk for several years, moving to Albany in 1979. She worked as a cook for several years at the Walnut Grove Golf Course. She had also worked at Crown City Bowling Lanes in Dunkirk. Mrs. Baker was a member of Alice E.

RIDGEVILLE, Ind. Former Ridgeville resident Alice E. Mitchell, 87, Mt. Olive, N.C., died in Mt. Olive Tuesday after an extended illness.

Formerly a member of the Ridgeville Library Board, she moved to North Carolina 13 years ago. Her husband, Joseph Mitchell, who was manager of the Kraft Cheese factory here, preceded her INDIANAPOLIS (AP) After winning a decade-long fight for freedom, a man who wired a shotgun to the head of a mortgage company president and paraded him through downtown streets uttered a simple "thank you" when informed he had been freed from custody. Special Judge James E. Harris on Wednesday lifted an order that had placed Anthony G. Kiritsis, 55, in the care of a guardian, thereby freeing Kiritsis from Central State Hospital.

"This case is done," said Harris. Kiritsis's reaction "was very matter-of-fact," said Pamela Dra-peau, Central State's medical director. "I think he was pleased." She said Kiritsis was expected to voluntarily remain in Central State until early next week, when he has an appointment to have his physical condition evaluated at a local Veterans Administration hospital. He suffers from back problems, believed to be curvature of the spine, she said. The extra time will give Kiritsis time to pack his belongings 20 to 30 boxes full of books and other possessions, she said.

Kiritsis has been institutionalized since February 1977, when he took Richard 0. Hall hostage. Hall, a mortgage company executive who had angered Kiritsis, was held hostage 63 hours. When reached Wednesday, Hall refused to comment. He has not talked publicly about his ordeal in 10 years.

Kiritsis was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He remained in custody after refusing psychiatric treatment. He has insisted he has been held unlawfully. On Dec. 7, Harris, of Morgan Circuit Court, offered to release Kiritsis under the 180-day supervision of a guardian.

Kiritsis rejected that option, demanding unconditional freedom. Based largely on a recent letter from Drapeau labeling Kiritsis capable of taking care of himself, Harris amended his ruling. "I was satisfied that a guardianship was no longer necessary, and that Mr. Kiritsis could be released forthwith, whenever he chooses," Harris said. Once Kiritsis walks out of Central State, he is responsible for his own conduct, the judge said.

Harris's order followed three meetings Wednesday. The judge first met with Kiritsis's brother, local businessman Tommy Kiritsis, who will administer a trust fund left for the patient by their sister, Effie Kiritsis. Harris then met with Kiritsis, Drapeau and Kiritsis's close friend, Joe Collins. Harris then met with Drapeau alone. Drapeau said the patient may need time "to get used to the idea that this is finally the end that he can walk out on the street and that's it.

It's over." Drapeau said that "having no job initially will be a little difficult for him to adjust to," but said his main worry is his back. "He is in quite a bit of pain. He wants to find out if it is something that needs surgery." VA Hospital spokesman John T. Henneman said Kiritsis, upon learning of his release Wednesday, called Ken Klotz, associate chief of staff for ambulatory care, and arranged to be examined early next week. Doctors there will determine whether he needs inpatient or outpatient care.

Kiritsis is eligible for the care because he was honorably discharged from the Army after serving in the Korean War, Collins said. When he leaves Central State, Kiritsis will get a bill from the state for about $300,000, which includes charges for his stays at LaRue Carter, Logansport and Central State hospitals. AIDS activist A. Thomas Jefferson dies Scarce money for road, bridge repairs might get even scarcer Survivors include his wife, Lora Mae Davis Johnson; three children, Jackie W. Robinson and Barbara Osborne, both of Muncie, and Boyd V.

Johnson, Eaton; a brother, James Johnson, Sneesville, Georgia; four sisters, Eva Mullins and Louise Gorth, both of Elizabeth Moore, Richmond, and Rachel Greene, Beatty-ville; six grandchildren; one great-grandson, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a Dorothy Collins. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Meeks Mortuary Chapel. Burial will be at 9:30 a.m.

Monday in Gardens of Memory. Calling hours are 3-9 p.m. Saturday or prior to services Sunday at the mortuary. McColm three step-grandchildren. Services will be at 2 p.m.

today in St. Barnabas United Methodist, Church, Arlington. Burial will be in Moore Memorial Gardens, Arlington. Memorials may be directed to the American Heart Association or the St. Barnabas Church, 5011 W.

Pleasant Ridge, Arlington, Texas 76010. Purtlebaugh services Services for Betty E. Purtlebaugh, 63, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Meeks Mortuary. Burial will be in Elm Ridge Cemetery.

Visitors may call 3-5 and 7-9 D.m. Fridav or Saturday at the funeral home. Memorials may be sent to any charity. Mrs. Purtlebaugh, a former Mrs.

Muncie resident, died Purtlebaugh Monday at in Delray the family Beach, Fla. residence For one aay, yy on furnishings be open for this 7 A tor 1 Albany United Methodist Church. Surviving are her daughter, Mrs. Joe (Barbara) Moore of Albany; three grandchildren, Karen Bullock, Tony Moore and Carol Moody, and four great-grandchildren. Her husband, Ralph, died in 1978.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday in the Parson-Rust Funeral Home, Albany. Burial will follow in IOOF Cemetery, Dunkirk. Calling hours are 6-9 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Mitchell in death. Survivors include a son, Bradley Mitchell, Mount Olive, N.C.; a brother, Richard Clements, Ottawa, and two grandsons. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday in Lawndale Cemetery, near Ridgeville. The body will be cremated.

Calling hours are 7-9 p.m. Sunday at Middleton Mortuary. Memorials may be sent to the Ridgeville Library Board. Jefferson, heading the group in 1985, urged federal agencies to speed up the review process for experimental drugs that could be used to treat AIDS-related infections. i' HAPPY "39th" Steve Gant We Love You From the Group at Gants to 40 storewide locations will three on't miss Also located in Hagerstown and New Lastie Rev.

Carnell Johnson, 63, 806 E. 13th, died Wednesday evening at Ball Memorial Hospital following an extended illness. Born in Beat-tyville, he grew up there. He came to Muncie around 1954. Rev.

Johnson was employed at Frank's Foundry for thirty years until its closing several years Rev. Johnson- ago. He served in the Army during World War II, and was a recipient of the Purple Heart. He was a member and had served as pastor at Church of God Assembly. Joseph H.

Joseph H. McColm, 84, a former resident of Gaston, died Tuesday at his residence in Arlington, Texas. A native of Delaware County, he resided in Gaston until 1953, when he moved to Arlington. He was a retired tool and die maker. Surviving are his wife, Beulah; a daughter, Rosemary Trietsch, Arlington; a stepson and a stepdaughter; two grandchildren, and Richard R.

Scrivnor Services for Richard Ross Scrivnor, 73, brother of Dale Scrivnor, Yorktown, were conducted Tuesday in Michigan City. Mr. Scrivnor retired from the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad, where he had been a conductor. He was active in the Moose Lodge and its bowling programs. A daughter, two sons and another brother also survive.

Burial was in Chapel of Chimes Mausoleum, Michigan City. support for a gasoline tax increase. "I don't see a whole lot of interest in it," said Mannweiler, who last year voted to break a tie and defeat an Espich measure to raise the gasoline tax. Borst predicted there might be little enthusiasm for using general fund money to supplement the highway budget, which now totals about $550 million annually in federal and dedicated state funds from the gasoline and diesel fuel taxes. Orr and Mutz, the Republican candidate to succeed the two-term governor, have proposed taking $50 million from the general fund to spend on roads in the next year.

Mutz also has suggested using $50 million a year in lottery revenues for road work if voters approve a statewide lottery referendum in 1988. Other gubernatorial candidates also have joined the highway debate. Democratic Secretary of State B. Evan Bayh has said as much as $27.5 million could be saved by efficiency measures in the highway department. That money could then be used for construction.

Senate Minority Leader Frank L. O'Bannon, D-Corydon, said the state should consider devoting sales tax revenue from gasoline sales to the highway program. Bonding and a gasoline tax increase should also be studied, he said. Kokomo Mayor Stephen J. Daily, also a Democratic candidate, has suggested lifting the freeze on local tax rates for road and street funds, allowing local governments the.

option of raising more money for road improvements. Election-year politics "will likely influence the highway debate throughout the session, lawmakers agree. "Whether or not we're able to do this in a short session depends on whether there is bipartisan support or it breaks down as a partisan issue," said Mannweiler. "I'd be naive (to think) that politics aren't going to be involved in an election year." Inmate sentenced in money order scheme SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) A judge has sentenced a state prison inmate to five years in prison for each of 292 charges in a forged postal money order scheme.

U.S.. District Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. ordered Phillip A. Field, 38, to serve 50 years.

Miller ordered the first 10 five-year sentences to run consecutively and the remaining sentences to run at the same time Field serves the 10th sentence. SAN DIEGO (AP) AIDS activist A. Thomas Jefferson, who set up a nationwide network supplying patients with experimental drugs, died Saturday of AIDS-related complications. He was 55. Jefferson, former acting director of the San Diego AIDS Project, died at his home here.

He had suffered from AIDS-related complex- for four years and credited experimental drugs with prolonging his life, said longtime friend Ken Kornwei-bel. Jefferson was "one of San Diego's original pioneers in working with people with AIDS," said Dr. Keith Vrhel, who helped found the AIDS Project in 1983. i0nt 20 mn save Qtleast zu uomG. All By DOUG RICHARDSON Associated Press writer INDIANAPOLIS Hoosier lawmakers face a double problem as they prepare to debate how to improve Indiana's roads and bridges: There isn't enough money now for highway projects and as much as $26 million per year in revenues could soon be lost.

The state's current predicament, compounded by declining and unpredictable federal help, demands immediate attention before it gets out of control, say legislative leaders as they prepare to convene in Indianapolis next week for the 1988 session of the General Assembly. "I don't think we've reached a crisis point yet," said House Speaker Pro Tern Jeffrey K. Espich, R-Uniondale, an advocate of greater highway funding. "But we need to take action before it gets any worse." According to the Indiana Department of Highways, the state needs an additional $50 million per year to maintain roads and $100 million annually to build new roads. At the same time, Indiana Tax Court Judge Thomas G.

Fisher is considering a request to strike down as unconstitutional a $50 truck decal tax that raised about $26'million last year. A similar Pennsylvania law was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and other similar state laws have been struck down. Fisher has promised a decision by early January. Legislative leaders such as House Speaker Paul S.

Mannweiler, It-Indianapolis, and House Minority Leader Michael K. Phillips, D-Boonville, agree that replacing the truck decal should be a top priority. Senate Finance Chairman Lawrence M. Borst, R-Indianapolis, said lawmakers should consider a new tax that takes into account a truck's weight and distance traveled on Indiana roads. Gov.

Robert D. Orr and Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz also have said lawmakers should consider a weight-distance tax.

If they replace the decal tax revenue, lawmakers still would Plymouth teens PLYMOUTH, Ind. (AP) Two Plymouth teenagers were arrested on preliminary charges of robbery and murder in the December 1986 strangling death of a Plymouth man, authorities said today. Police said a call to Crime Stoppers led to the arrests in connection with the death of Richard Allen Grubbs, 19. Authorities said Grubbs was strangled to death and his body disposed of in the Yellow River in Plymouth. The have to wrestle with whether to increase highway funding by raising the gasoline tax, making a general fund appropriation or authorizing bond issues for road programs, lawmakers said.

According to the highway department, the money is needed because Indiana has a $2 billion backlog of road reconstruction and replacement projects and is 400 miles behind in repaving interstates and 2,900 miles behind in repaving non-interstate highways. The state also has 400 bridges in need of replacement and at least 350 needing repair work, the department told a legislative study committee this summer. Espich believes Indiana has been "short-changing needs of the future and neglecting needs of the present" in the highway program. Mutz said recently that Indiana's road-building program will be "dead in the water" until at least 1992 if lawmakers fail to pump more money into the highway department. He warned that some areas of the state could fall behind in economic development if they aren't served by modern highways.

Espich is drafting a bill that would allow the state to issue bonds for the construction and operation of highways. Orr and Mutz have also endorsed that concept. To pay off the bonds, the Legislature would need to make biennial appropriations from the general fund, or perhaps add up to 2 cents to the gasoline tax, Espich said. A penny increase in the gasoline tax would raise $30 million annually. The tax, increased 2.9 cents in 1985, is now 14 cents per gallon.

Espich sponsored a gasoline tax increase proposal narrowly defeated in the House this year, and he acknowledges that pushing through a tax increase in an election year would be difficult. "I wouldn't foreclose the possibility of a penny or two increase," he said. "I think anything more is not probable in an election year." Mannweiler and other legislative leaders say they detect little held in slaying body was discovered Dec. 14, 1986. At a press conference held at Plymouth police headquarters today, officials announced that Plymouth, Marshall County and state police yesterday arrested a 16-year-old male from Plymouth.

The name of that suspect wasn't released because of his age. The second suspect arrested was identified as Lance Mangun, 18, Plymouth. your cmiiw spe CIOI l-wuy EFLECT10N OF YOUR STYL In Muncie Walnut at Adams 286-457.