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T/ie Hometown Newspaper of Clinton, Essex, Franklin Counties d it b < D l. :k ke DW ell ?y. >er i P 9 in- 15. I 326 1 St. his 561- n nt- i ng 3470 t Vol.103 - No. 35 1 Copyright 1995, Proea-Republican Pittsburgh, NY 12901, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25,1995 Suggested Price: 50 c 28 Pages Some GOP leaders like Forbes' flat income tax idea WASHINGTON (AP) - Al- though millionaire Steve Forbes' odds of winning the GOP nomination are rather long, his presidential bid guarantees na- tional exposure\ of an idea in- creasingly popular in the Republican ranks: a flat income tax. Backers of the idea want it to be a central plank of the 1996 Republican platform, and pro- mote it as potentially the defin- ing issue of the presidential and congressional campaigns. In their view, Americans will rush to embrace a simpler system, without all the forms and con- fusing rules. But, just as Forbes promises to bring the GOP's flat tax fever into the presidential race, some Republicans are beginning to sound alarms, worrying that simpler might not necessarily translate into fairer — handing President Clinton a political opening. Given the complexity, and enormous distrust, of the current income tax system, the flat tax has obvious appeal: Everyone would pay one rate, and everyone from Forbes to a minimum-wage fast-food worker could frle on a postcard. The leading proposal, and the one backed by Forbes, is that of House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who would replace the current system with a 17 percent flat tax. This plan has impressive sup- port among conservative groups, such as Americans for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foun- dation, which predicts the flat tax would boost national wealth by some $1 trillion, almost im- mediately. Heritage's Daniel Mitchell also cites the political appeal: \All taxpayers would play by the same rules under the flat tax. No longer would high-priced lob- byists, tax lawyers and accoun- tants allow some Americans to get special treatment.\ That doesn't mean, however, that some taxpayers wouldn't be treated differently. That's because the flat tax would apply only to wages, salaries and pensions — not to interest and other earnings on investments. And most analyses of the flat tax show that those who make more than $200,000 a year would receive a tax cut, while some middle-class families would pay more. Some lower-income fami- lies would also come out on the losing end without- the Earned Income Tax Credit, in effect a government subsidy to keep the Continued Page 1 1 . \ . • . • • • ' ' Photo/Scott Hite The pumpkin season is upon us, as shown in this photo taken on Route 22B, but some growers are seeing their crops ripen too early because of the crazy weather this summer. Halloween pumpkin crops a horror to some growers By SAUL G. FERRER Staff Writer PLATTSBURGH - How's this for a tale of seasonal hor- ror: Halloween without pum- pkins. Some local orchards report it could happen. \This is the worst crop we've had in four years,\ said Carl Eickenberg, 50, owner of Ledgetop Orchards in Crown Point. \We've even irrigated. It's just been too dry and too warm.\ Softball-sized Halloween pumpkins and crops which ripened too soon have been the scourge for many farmers throughout the nation. Though North Country pumpkin crops haven't suf- fered as severely as other parts of the country, some farmers have experienced the evils of a poor season. \We were about six to seven inches off the mark for rain,\ said Eickenberg, who has been growing pumpkins for six years. \We have a lot of green pumpkins. Our good crop this year will be only 40 percent of what it should be.\ Eickenberg added that a frost Saturday night further damaged his farm's harvest. \This year, we'll run out of pumpkins within two weeks,\ he added. He recommended pumpkin shoppers purchase early. \They did ripen extremely earlier,\ said Darcy Pray, 34, of Pray's Farmers Market in Peru. \They normally color around mid-September. This year, they colored in mid- August.\ Pray agreed the warm weather was accountable for the early ripening. \When it's 100 degrees by day and 90 at night, like this past season, the plant has no time to rest, so it continuously grows,\ Pray explained. \Ideal weather is 85-90 degrees by day and about 65 at night.\ However, the premature crop does not concern him. \Pumpkins will keep for two to three months as long as they're stored in a cool and dry area,\ he said. Employees are wiping down the pumpkins with bleach to remove bacteria and disease from the surviving crop. Pray suggests consumers lightly wash their pumpkins at home, but \don't soak it.\ A severe frost would definitely hurt the crops fur- ther, he added. The Market has grown pumpkins for 40 years. Not all orchards suffered this season. \They are earlier than usual, but this is our best year so far,\ said Nina Sullivan, 36, of Banker Orchards in Platt- sburgh. \I've seen some beautiful pumpkins in our area. We got rain right, on time.\ \The crop of pumpkins we have has been the best in 40 years,\ said Robert Rulfs of Rulfs' Orchards. Bosnian leader will boycott U.S. peace talks By SAMIR KRILIC Associated Press Writer SARAJEVO, Bosnia- Herzegovina (AP) — Demanding concessions from Serb rebels, the government said Sunday its foreign minister will boycott talks on a U.S. peace plan this week in New York. The government made the an- nouncement as state TV reported more gains by the Bosnian army against Serbs in the north and northwest. A government statement read on state radio didn't name a replacement for Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey at the talks Tuesday at the United Nations with the foreign ministers of Croatia and Serb-led Yugoslavia. The meeting was meant to build on a peace plan agreed to on Sept. 8 in Geneva to split Bosnia roughly in half between the Serbs and a Muslim-Croat confederation. Recent offensives by governm- ent and Croat forces have strip- ped large chunks of territory from the Serbs, and some Bos- nians think they can win more on the battlefield than at the negotiating table. The statement, issued by President Alija Izetbegovic's of- fice, said without elaboration Continued Pag* 11 Washington's driving to repeal speed limit By ARLENE LEVINSON Associated-Press Writer Congress is cruising toward a repeal of federal speed limits despite a simple law of nature — drive faster and you raise the risk of dying or getting horribly hurt in a crash. Survey after survey found that true in most states where the 55 mph speed limit on rural in- terstates has been raised to 65. Fatalities rose 20 percent on average — a loss of 400 to 500 more lives a year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. \Seems to me we've had enough experimentation,\ said Susan Baker, a Johns Hopkins University professor who has studied road safety since the mid-1960s. \When the states had to have 55 mph speed limits, the number of deaths went down. As the rural interstates raised their limits to 65, we've seen ... lives being lost.\ But between anti-Washington sentiment, the clamor for states' rights, and relatively cheap gas, safety has taken a back seat\ to convenience: Congress expected to reconcile House and Senate versions of a repeal this week. Motorists itching to hit the ac- celerator look forward to seeing the clock turn back to 1973, when states set their own limits. The range was up to 75 mph, ex- cept in Montana and Nevada, where no top speeds were posted at all. \Unless you've experienced it, you can't describe this nothingness. It's almost a hope- less feeling,\ said Chad Dornsife, an avid member of the National Motorists Association. The 49-year-old sales rep, who lives in Zephyr Cove, Nev., described driving up to 10,000 miles around his bleak Western territory. Speed unlimited vnw vOf«(9»$0i a wQB«u six UfifK&qtostisfttatalspeedtatof 55mptj m 1974 states m fttfr mm %$& Nttw, a nwa to repeal tte federal speed limit «•; 1 #5' •'* Highway deaths.1973-93 Number of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled W73 73 ra n 83 87 «9 81 8J WEATHER Today, thickening clouds with a chance of afternoon showers. High near 60. Chance of rain 40 percent. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph. INDEX Bridge 24 Horoscope 10 Business News ...8 Ann Landers 10 Classified 19-28 Features 6 Gornics 10 Public Record 7 Editorial...' 4 Sports •. 16-18 Entertainment 9 Weather ;...., 12 M.Y. Lottery: 155. Pick 4 1 : 4239. Pick 10: 2,3,11,15, 18, 27, 40, 41,49, 52,55,57,58,60; 61, 67,69, 70, 71,79. Israel, PLO agree to expand Palestinian autonomy ly DONNA AIU-NASR Associated Press Writer TABA, Egypt (AP) - Israel and the PLO agreed Sunday to expand Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and end 28 years of Israeli occupation in major Arab cities. PLO lead- er Yasser Arafat, who only hours earlier had. stormed out of talks, ap- peared at a cefemon y ; with Israeli. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. \' Top negotiators initialed the accord, which was reached after all-night talks that capped more than 80 hours of negotiations. Arafat and Peres plan to formally sign the agreement on Thursday at the White House after it is ap- proved by the Israeli and Palestinian cabinets. The agreement was reached in the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, only hours before the start of the Jewish New Year holiday. \We will work so that this hew year year of peace, 1 ' YMMT Arafat will be a real - • . Arafat said. \This agreement will open the door for a better future ... to create a new Middle East of security and peace.\ He said that the \era of sadness and occupation will end.\ Peres said the agreement was an \extended hand to our neighbors.\ \It is history in the real meaning of the word. It is a tremendous attempt to bring people that were born in the same cradle, who were fighting on the same fronts, to agree on a new future,\ Peres said. • The agreement, which is more than a year overdue under the schedule envisioned in the 1993 Israel-PLO peace accord, is a 460-page document detailing se- curity arrangements designed to' prevent conflict between the 140,000 Jewish settlers and the 1 million Arabs in the West Bank. It calls for Israeli troops to begin pulling out of seven West Bank towns 10 days after the formal signing of the accord. The Palestinians will have control over more than 30 percent of the 2,270-square-mile West Bank, which was captured from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. About 12,000 Palestinian police are expected to patrol the West Bank, and will participate in joint patrols with the Israelis in some areas. But they will not have the power to arrest Jewish settlers. The troop withdrawal will clear the way for Palestinian legislative elections, which the Palestinians want to hold before Jan. 20. A summary of the accord said Continued Pag* 11 ,\
