The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

THE EM CINCINNATI nmbint'd ummumrauon't FINAL EDITION SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1977 IMtICK 15c nry Indicts r- Saturday Your Day eof Agents Liq -''fit' v. r.rrr- In Bar Bribes A wet weekend Is in the forecast, which calls for showers and thundershowers today with a high In the low 80s. Tonight's low will be In the upper 60s. Sunday's high will be In the low 80s. There Is a 60 chance of rain today and a 70 chance tonight.

Weather map, details Page B-5. Even If It rains, the sights at the Cincinnati Zoo are Just as exciting. There are white Bengal tigers frolicking in Big Cat Canyon, sharks and lion fish in the Flelschmann Aquarium, and two-humped camels on the Deer Line. Admission charge. liliil By ROD KUCKRO Enquirer Reporter Cincinnati police said Friday owners of at least 14 Hamilton County liquor establishments have admitted making regular monthly payments to Ohio Liquor Control agents so they would not enforce state liquor laws.

Three men, two of them agents for the Ohio Department of Liquor Control, were indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury Thursday for their role in an alleged scheme to coerce one Lincoln Heights bar owner to pay monthly bribes. Cincinnati Police Lt. Harold Mills said Friday Investigators have located 14 persons who admitted paying bribes of up to $60 a month to liquor agents. Mills, who has headed the probe s'nce April, said he expects to locate other liquor permit holders who have made similar payoffs. Mills was aided by two investigators from the internal division of the Department of Liquor Control ACCUSED IN the indictment were state liquor agents Otis Greer, 62, 3543 Lumford Place, Kennedy Heights, and Sylvester Houston, 37, of Canton, as well as Horace Huston, 72, 1511 Dlxmont Walnut Hills, Greer and Houston were each indicted on two counts of bribery and one count of perjury.

Huston was indicted on two counts of complicity and one count of perjury. The indictment alleges on December 11, 1976, and January 2, 1977, Greer and Houston solicited bribes from Audrey A. Matz, the owner of Mann's Lounge in Kennedy Heights. Huston allegedly aided the agents in collecting the payoffs. All three are charged with lying to the grand Jury on June 9.

Greer was indicted in a bribery case in 1975 by the Montgomery County Grand Jury. When the case went to trial, the Jury was unable to reach a verdict and the Judge dismissed the case when the prosecutor failed to retry lt. Greer had been fired after the 1975 indictment, but a court reinstated him in February, 1976, IN THE present case, Matz, who has been granted Immunity, admitted "making payments in regards to enforcment in her place," Mills said. Matz, who also lives at the bar, located at 152 Steffens was unable to be reached for comment. Mills said most of the establis-ments involved are neighborhood bars or pony kegs.

He said liquor permit holders often pay authorities Series To Explore Health Care Costs Do you ftt'l ill after yon get the medical bill for curing what ailed you? Most Americans do because the cost of health care since 1970 has risen between 17 and 20 each year. Greater Cincinnati is not immune to the soaring costs of health care. Beginning Sunday and continuing through next Saturday, The Enquirer will publish "Medicosts," a thorough examination of health care costs and the reasons for the increases. Part I of "Medicosts" in the Sunday Enquirer tells the story of a Cincinnatian with a slipped disc and his four-foot long bill. APLajwpholos Enterprise At Takeoff, Touchdown Calif.

The Shuttle skimmed steadily lower over the runway, then at a speed of 218 mph, settled onto the lake bed ln a cloud of dust bottom photo. Some 14 seconds later the nose wheel touched down to signal completion of the alrllner-smooth landing. Upon completion of three test flights, the Enterprise will be carried atop its transport plane to Huntsvllle, for further testing and atttachment of the fuel tank and the rocket booster. Further modifications will precede a space launch. Development and building of the Shuttle Is estimated to cost $52 billion through 1979.

THE ENTERPRISE, a fledgling Space Shuttle, Is carried by its mother plane, a 747 transport, top photo, to an altitude of 26,400 feet. There commander-astronaut Fred Halse punched a button that fired explosive bolts and the Shuttle was freed from Its mounting. Astronaut Gordon Fullerton and Halse nosed the Shuttle down to pick up speed from its initial 322 mph. With spectators on the ground gazing skyward, Haise and Fullerton steered the Shuttle into a wide U-turn to bring lt into line with a seven mile long, sand-surface runway carved out of Rogers Dry Lake, near Edwards Air Force Base, Might Have Been Averted bribes as the result of intimidation. Once a liquor permit holder was known to be violating liquor statutes, Mills explained, an agent would "shake them down" by threatening to enforce the law.

The agreement would allow profits on both sides. In his lnvestlgaton, Mills said he looked into "several hundred permit holders." Those others who admitted paying agents did so, Mills explained, so the agents would overlook such violations as staying open after hours and selling liquor on Sundays. THE ONLY way to stop officials accepting the bribes, Mills said, Is to offer immunity to liquor permit holders who have been approached or have paid bribes. Clifford E. Reich, director of the Ohio Department of Liquor Control, said Friday the Cincinnati indictment will not trigger a statewide investigation of the almost 100 state liquor agents.

"Just because you have one Incident, lt isn't fair to penalize all the others," he said. New Dad Sees Wife, Baby, Dies In Crash By BARBARA REDDING Enquirer Reporter Stephen Willis, 28, of Mt. Washington, visited his wife and newborn son, Jason, in Bethesda Oak Hospital Thursday night A few hours later, he was killed In an auto accident on Beechmont Avenue. Gretchen Willis, 29, gave birth to the couple's first child Monday, Mrs. Willis' mother, Mrs.

John Sterm, said Friday. "She's doing fine," said Mrs. Sterm of her daughter, who was discharged from the hospital Friday. MRS. STERM said Willis visited his wife and son at the hospital early Thursday night After leaving the hospital, he picked up his two step children, Allison and Jeremy Scholler, at a babysitter's home.

Willis and the two children were headed toward their home, 5448 Hokel when their car collided head on with another auto in the 5fiOO block of Beechmont at about 10:30 p.m. Police said Willis' car was traveling north when it collided with the southbound auto of Glenn Welling 20, 2566 Spindle Hill, Mt. Washington. Welling was not injured seriously and refused treatment police said. No one has been cited ln the accident but police still are investigating.

ALLISON SCHOLLER, seven, was in critical condition and Jeremy Scholler, five, was in satisfactory condition Friday ln Children's Hospital. Mrs. Sterm said the Willis couple was married 15 months ago. He was a systems analyst at LeBlond Machine Tool and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. WASHINGTON (AP)-The Army upheld Pvt.

Eddie Slovik's World War II conviction and execution for desertion Friday and dashed his destitute widow's hopes for collecting more than $70,000 ln government life Insurance benefits. "If this Is not an injustice, there is no such thing as injustice," said Bernard Edelson, the lawyer for 62-year-old Mrs. Antoinette Slovik. Edelson said in Media, he "absolutely will advise" the widow, who is confined to a wheelchair, to appeal to President Carter. Mrs.

Slovik burst Into tears in her Washington hotel room after she learned of the Army decision. "This Is terrible, Just terrible," she said. "I feel badly enough to die right now." She appealed to reporters to "let the people know the kind of Army we've got." ARMY SECRETARY Clifford Smile The furor over the CIA's behavior-control program raises a serious question: Do we prefer to have our behavior out of control? IJetro Backers of a production of the play "Oh! Calcutta!" want court protection from "Intimidation" by county Prosecutor Simon Lels Jr. Page C-l. When Dolly and Bill Saxbe hold a garage sale, it's a real happening in Mechanicsburg.

PageC-2. Suburban A Swedish cabin set In a beech-maple forest, waterfalls and scenic overlooks of the Ohio River are among park pleasures Hamilton County residents will be enjoying in the future. Page C-3. Eighteen thousand Dayton public school students again will be bused for desegregation this fall under plan extended by a federal Judge. Page B-10.

President Carter formally endorsed new Panama Canal agreement and steps up his campaign to sell it to Congress and the American people. Page A-8. World Cuba, In rejecting an appeal to free seven Americans, "did not foreclose" the subject for future discussion, Sen. Frank Church says. Page A-8.

The United States and Britain present Joint proposals for "one-man, one-vote" rule In Rhodesia, but fall to gain South Africa's endorsement Page A-8. Chilean president dissolves secret police blamed for the detention, disappearance or torture of thousands of Chileans as U.S. official arrives for apparent human rights inspection. Page A-8. Sports The 1977 Bengals make their Cincinnati debut tonight in Riverfront Stadium against Tampa Bay, which last year became the first NFL team to lose every game.

Page B-l Entertainment The Cincinnati Playhouse production of "Vanities" is as big a success in Houston, Texas, as it was here. Page D-8. In Our Opinion Robert Clerc examines the fate of several of America's new cities. Page A-4. Index Four Sections 137TH YEAR, No.126 Action D-2 B-5-9 Callahan D-1 Classified B-11-16.

C-4-16 Columnists. A-5 Comics 0-4 D-3 Dear Abby D-2 Deaths B-l 1 Editorials A-4 Enl'nmnl D-7-8 Gallup D-2 Graham A-7 Health D-2 D-2 Horse D-2 Jumble D-3 People Today D-1-3 Races B-4-5 A-6-7 Restaurant Guide D-6-7 Society D-3 Sports B-1-5 Tri-State Extra. C-3 TV-Radio D-5 Weather A-5 Word D-2 Local and Area News, Page C-l-3 nored In Blackout ig Widow Denied Husband's Insurance Benefits arnmg NEW YORK (AP)-Thlrty-two minutes before a systemwlde failure caused a day-long blackout ln New York City, Consolidated Edison officials Ignored either an order or a strong suggestion from the state power pool to cut off electricity to a large part of the city, state officials said Friday. If the communication to "shed load" had been promptly obeyed, parts of the city and its suburbs would have been without power for a few hours, but the total blackout of July 13 and 14 could have been avoided, the officials said. "THERE IS language (on a tape recording) where the New York Power Pool says: 'You better get rid of some said Lester Stuzin.

Of Executed Alexander affirmed the findings of an all-civilian review board which expressed "much sympathy and compassion" for Slovik's crippled widow, but endorsed the Army's handling of his case, including his execution by firing squad on January 31, 1945. "The record clearly reflects that Pvt Slovik deserted to avoid combat duty," the Army said. "The law covering the payment of National Service Life Insurance Benefits precludes payment In the case of Individuals who are convicted of desertion." It was unclear what Mr. Carter could do. The Army said the law "does not provide for review by the President" of decisions of the five-member Army Board for the Correction of Military Records.

IN AN eight-page report, the board said there was no basis for correcting the record "merely be Army Upholds Record ed several major transmission lines carrying power to New York City. The Energy Daily, a Washington-based newsletter, quoted unidentified sources at the Federal Power Commission as saying that Con Ed could have shed customers ln the boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and ln suburban Westchester County. But only voltage reductions and minor load-shedding ln Westchester were made by Con Ed as the situation worsened. By 9:34 p.m., the whole city was without power. Power was not restored to any section of the city until early the next morning, and the last area to be restored was without power for 25 hours.

II Deserter hower, the commanding general in Europe, U.S. forces "had sustained a serious setback at the Battle of the Bulge" and the number of deserters had reached alarming proportions. Mrs. Slovik, who married Eddie Slovik about 15 months before he was drafted in early 1944, lived in a Detroit nursing home on welfare until recently, trying for many years to get payment from Slovik's $10,000 NSLI Insurance policy, that with interest, would have grown about seven times over the past 32 years. She has been living with friends the past few months.

About 21,000 soldiers were convicted of desertion in World War IX Of these, 49 were given death; sentences, but only Slovik was executed. At a hearing before the board In June, Bernard Edelson claimed "it was a perversion of Justice to have singled him out for the firing squad." director of the power division of the New York State Public Service Commission. "Our board of review Is still conducting an investigation of the blackout," a spokesman for Con Ed said. "This Includes a review of the discussions of the Power Pool operator and our own operators. "Our board findings will be part of the 'Phase Two' report to be Issued before the end of the month," The Power Pool, set up by the seven major electric utilities ln New York to monitor demands and coordinate service, is based ln Albany.

THE CONVERSATION, according to Stuzin and other high-ranking PSC officials, occurred at about 9:02 p.m. EDT, after lightning sever World War cause the deceased was the only sol-dier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War." Edelson, arguing for official repudiation of Slovik's conviction and execution, had maintained Slovik was executed to set an example to deter other deserters and the Army erred In sending him into combat because he was temperamentally unfit for battle service. The board, made up of civilian employees of the Army, said, "There Is no convincing evidence to show that he was mentally Incompetent, unable to adhere to the right, or so emotionally unstable that he was unable to control his actions." The report noted "there must be a fatal deterrent to those who would desert the field of battle ln the face of the enemy." FURTHERMORE, IT said at the time Slovik's death sentence was approved by Gen. Dwlght D. Eisen APLaserpboto Mrs.

Antoinette Slovik she'll appeal to President.