St. Cloud Times from Saint Cloud, Minnesota • Page 700

2C Daily Times. St. Cloud, Minn. Jan. 27, 1 988 Cubans remain in jail despite release plan lni((olDn) lease may stay in prison for several more months before an opening is found for them in one of about eight participating halfway houses around the country, Beebe said, because there aren't enough halfway houses to accommodate them.

Some of the Cubans are very frustrated," Ellingson said. "They are tired of panels and interviews, tired of waiting. One of them even asked to be sent back to Cuba. But others are saying, will do anything I can to get out' Representatives of the federal Immigration and Naturalizaton Service visited the Stillwater prison Tuesday and approved 10 of the Cubans for release, Ellingson said. However, she said 11 other Mariel Cubans face at least six months of detention.

David Beebe, acting director of the St. Paul district office of the INS, said 55 of the 98 Mariel Cubans reviewed by two INS panels since December have been approved for eventual release. The remainingCubans about 15 may be interviewed in late February or ST. PAUL (AP) Fifty-five of the 98 Mariel Cubans in Minnesota prisons have been approved for release to halfway houses or family members, but some say the process is not moving fast enough. "I think the process is going way too slow," said Karen Ellingson, an attorney with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services.

The INS should be more flexible about releasing them to sponsors, such as churches, private sponsors or other halfway houses." o3 0 0 Mille Lacs County Task force receives grant The Central Minnesota Task Force on Battered Women has received the last $6,000 of an $18,000 award from the Otto Bremer Foundation to support the Mille Lacs Reservation Project. The CMTFBW provides crisis intervention, support and advocacy to women who are battered in Stearns, Sherburne, Wright, Mille Lacs, Kanabec, Isanti, Chisago and Pine counties. The Mille Lacs Reservation Project began in January 1 985 to provide better service to battered Indian women. Since that time, the project has served about 350 battered women, 220 youths and 75 men. The Mille Lacs Reservation Project also provides community education and training, reaching 875 people since 1985.

The project rents space in a private home on the reservation for offices and support group meetings for women and young people. The Otto Bremer Foundation concentrates its grant-making activity in communities served by Bremer-affiliated banks and seeks to assist non-profit organizations with projects that contribute to the well-being of those towns. early March, Beebe said. The Cubans came to the United States in 1980 during a massive boat lift from Cuba. About 115 of them are being held in several Minnesota prisons and jails for crimes committed in the United States in violation of their status as immigration parolees.

About 40 Cubans have been held at the St. Cloud reformatory. Superintendent William McRae could not be reached this morning for comment on their status. Some of the Cubans approved for re Morrison County Little Falls: Senator speaks at banquet LITTLE FALLS U.S. Sen.

Dave Durenberger will be the featured speaker at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner Feb. 21 at the Falls Ballroom, East Minnesota Highway 27. The event, sponsored by the Independent-Republicans of Morrison County, begins at 1 p.m. and includes a visit by Abraham Lincoln's relative and look-alike, the Rev. Bruce Hanks.

Other invited guests include U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, U.S. Rep. Arlan Stangeland and Cal Ludeman, candidate for governor in 1986.

Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are available by contacting the following people: Nick Fillah and Geri Mosier, Royalton; Jim Kummet, Pierz; Shirley Japp, Randall; and Bob Holz and Dorothy Johnson, Little Falls. Little Falls: Chamber celebrates 100th LITTLE FALLS The Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner Meeting will be Monday at the Falls Ballroom, East Minnesota Highway 27. Social hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. The evening includes a special program at 7:30 p.m.

commemorating the Chamber's 100th birthday with performances by the Hole in the Day Players and Puppets In Praise. Tickets are available from board members and at the chamber Times photo by Greg Beckel Shadow season With the sun low in the winter sky, shadows take on new life as they are cast on the walls of buildings. The shapes of a street sign, a telephone pole, a person and a stop sign are cast onto the side of a building on St. Cloud's South Side. Stearns County Kimball: Wildlife group recognized KIMBALL The Stearns County Pheasants Forever organization has been honored by the Department of Natural Resources for donating money to a proposed Wildlife Management Area near Kimball.

The chapter is helping the DNR buy 220 acres of woodland, grassland and wetlands on the boundary of Wright and Stearns counties near Kimball. The organization has donated $1,200. The DNR intends to buy a wintering area for more than 200 deer and a growing flock of wild turkeys. The wetlands and grasslands is suited for waterfowl and pheasants and also would be open to a variety of outdoor recreational uses. The DNR is in the process of raising $50,000 to acquire the land, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Reinvest In Minnesota critical habitat matching fund.

St. Stephen: Omann sets office hours ST. STEPHEN Rep. Bernie Omann, IR-St. Stephen, will have open office hours Saturday in Central Minnesota.

Omann will be at the St. Joseph City Hall from 1 to 3 p.m. and at Rice City Hall shortly after 3 p.m. Area residents are invited to attend the sessions. Workers cate to another state," said St.

Cloud attorney Lee Hanson, who practices commercial law. Bohn said that 6 percent of injured workers usually ones with permanent but partial disabilities account for 80 percent of the cost of the Minnesota system. Included are medical costs and employment rehabilitation. "They continue collecting benefits in Minnesota longer than they would in most other states," Robertson said. "In the Legislature, maybe it has to get to this point before people can work together," said Rep.

Jerry Bauerly, DFL-Foley, co-owner of a Sauk Rapids construction company. "Somebody better get off their hind end and get something done," said Tom May, vice president of St. Cloud Railroad Salvage. "I heard this (debate) 10 years ago." Sen. Jim Pehler, DFL-St.

Cloud, acknowledged that the 1983 reform failed. 'The deregulation we did with the insurance companies didn't bring competition that I could see," Pehler said. "I personally will be pushing for putting the regulations back on." Pehler and Bauerly said that misinterpretations of the 1983 laws by judges also have driven costs up. Bohn said his forthcoming report would examine the contention that workers' compensation in some cases pays better than work. "It's very hard for us to motivate them to get back to work" under those circumstances, said George Faricy, a qualified rehabilitation counselor in St.

Cloud. Metro iFopoini From page 1 Fight Two black men involved in the fight appeared in court Tuesday. However, only one was charged with a felony in connection with the incident. Preston Harmon, 23, a resident of Sherburne Hall at St. Cloud State, was charged Tuesday with felony assault for alleg edly hitting bwisher in the head with a beer pitcher.

The other man in court Tuesday was cited for disorderly conduct in connection with the bar fight. The assault charge he laced in court Tuesday is related to a Jan. 15 incident. Patrick Cooper, 21, 1225 East St. Germain was charged with second-degree assault for allegedly threaten ing two men with a broken beer bottle at a South Side home.

Cooper had been held in jail after the bar fight pending the charge from the Jan. 15 incident, police said. Both Harmon and Cooper were released without bail Tuesday after charges were filed. The bar incident has raised concerns in the campus minority community that the four black men charged in the incident were not treated fairly by bar employees and police. Robert Johnson, director of minority studies at St.

Cloud State, said he was told by witnesses to the fight that the blacks involved were judged more se- Homeless good life," Yozamp said. "I think one thing that makes (the homeless and unemployed) hard to see in St. Cloud is we don't have a Skid Row area," Ashe said. "But if you keep your eyes open, you can see the ones wandering around aimlessly." Ashe said many people she sees want to work. About one-third get jobs while they are staying at the Donovan House.

Others, who are battling alcoholism or have been hospitalized for mental illness, become discouraged and give up after repeated rejections, she said. "There are some who can't (work), some who won't and some who desperately want to," said Pat Serrano, director of Stearns County Social Services. Serrano said changes are needed in Clear Lake man CLEAR LAKE A Clear Lake man died Monday of a heart attack while driving on a rural Sherburne County road. Thomas A. Simonson, 51, Route 1, drove off the road and hit two posts after the heart attack occurred.

His death was caused by the attack, not by Bohn said the report also will present ways to cut down on litigation and will consider the merits or flaws of a mandatory state workers' compensation fund. Some members of the audience said that manipulative workers are behind a lot of the cost. "You've got to identify that worker who's going to make a career out of being injured," said Daryl Stevens, in-, jured worker manager for Health Sys-. tems Institute at St. Cloud Hospital.

Sen. Don Anderson, IR-Wadena, who owns a grocery store, said that the Legislature should limit the number of weeks in which benefits can be paid and scrap the automatic escalator in benefits. "How about making the employee pay part of the program?" Anderson suggested. "Make these employees realize the cost of doing business in Minnesota." Bingo made quickly. He hopes to reach agreements with participating charities in the next two weeks.

Remodeling would begin as soon as the lease is signed. Remodeling could cost $50,000 to $60,000, Adams said. That cost depends partly on the needs of other tenants attracted to the building. St. Cloud school officials have mentioned the building as a possible site for community education programs.

Right now, the district is trying to buy a building in Doctors Park, according to Jim Lee, director of business services. A doctors group also is interested in buying the building, however. care management for the human services department, said federal, state and county governments in Minnesota will spend $468 million this year on nursing home care through Medical Assistance to pay for people who cannot afford the homes. State funds account for $195 million of the total. About 65 percent of the 43,000 residents in state nursing homes are on Medical Assistance, and nursing homes are not allowed to charge private-pay residents more than those on Medical Assistance pay.

The nursing home association is pushing for changes in the state system that would build in a 4 percent operating margin, or surplus, over costs incurred for providing care to residents, as opposed to building overhead. That would allow them to set aside money for unexpected cost increases, such as higher liability insurance or workers' compensation insurance that cannot be covered with the current 1 percent margin, Kvenvold said. Many homes pay for such costs by dipping into shrinking reserve funds, she and others said. Parker said the industry's needs would be considered along with those of other hard-pressed groups such as the mentally retarded, poor children and low-income pregnant women. verely by bar employees and police.

"I don't think the origin of the dispute was racial. I think it became a racial incident because of the way it was handled and because the people were of different races," Johnson said. But Assistant Police Chief Jim Mo-line said officers relied on the accounts of bar employees and he believed everyone had been treated fairly. A criminal complaint against Harmon alleges that he and Swisher were arguing about money Swisher said Harmon owed him from a sale of steroids lMs years ago. Witnesses told police Harmon struck Swisher on the side of the head with a beer pitcher, knocking him to floor.

The two men's accounts of what happened in the fight vary greatly. Swisher said Harmon attacked him with the pitcher without provocation. Harmon told police that Swisher charged at him "like a bull" and he swung the pitcher in self-defense. Bar employees said both men were in an argument just before the fight and that Harmon swung first with the pitcher. Three men who allegedly joined in on Harmon's side in the fight, including Cooper, also were charged with disorderly conduct.

Johnson said the campus Task Force on Racial Harassment, which he chairs, plans to discuss the incident and other reports of racial tension at an emergency meeting Thursday. the system. "In my opinion, there are too many programs and too many regulations," he said. "You don't do people a favor by putting them on welfare without a plan to help them get off." The state Legislature is looking at changes that would let a person who takes a minumum-wage job keep some welfare benefits, Serrano said. It also is considering a plan that would require young single mothers to plan to complete their education or learn job skills from the time they first receive benefits, he said.

"We're looking at a wide spectrum of social problems problems neither you nor I will be able to solve instantly." dies while driving the ensuing accident, according to a spokesman for the Minnesota State Patrol. The accident occurred on a township road on the east side of Lake Julia at about 10:35 a.m. There were no passengers in Simon-son's car; no other vehicles were involved. p.m. Sunday.

The accident is still under investigation, according to the State Patrol spokesman. Buchhop, 62, was born July 26, 1925, in Defiance, Ohio. He married Joan Swenson on Aug. 5, 1951, in Crook-ston. He was a pastor in Royalton from 1952 to 1956 and at Redeemer Lutheran Church from 1956 to 1967.

He has been a minister at Zion Lutheran Church, Detroit Lakes, since 1967. Funeral services for Buchhop are 11 p.m. Thursday at Zion Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes. St. Cloud: Rural economy in focus John Cronemiller, chairman of the Minnesota Association of Resource Conservation and Development Areas, will conduct a two-day rural development seminar Thursday and Friday at the Sunwood Inn, St.

Cloud. The seminar will bring together leaders from local, state and federal rural development agencies and organizations to discuss rural development needs in Minnesota and review rural development programs available to meet those needs. Speakers at the meeting include representatives of the Northwest Area Foundation, Association of Minnesota Counties, Greater Minnesota Corporation and the Minnesota Rural Development Board. La Verne Ausman, deputy undersecretary of agriculture, will be on hand to present information on the USDA's new Six-Point Rural Regeneration Initiative. Registration will be accepted at the door.

The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday. Cash shortage Nursing homes group pleads for help in covering deficits We want to hear from you The Regional and Metro Report is a daily summary of news from around Central Minnesota. If you have information to contribute to the report, call 255-8749 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

ST. PAUL (AP) They need help. The state's 447 certified nursing homes will run up an unrecoverable $25.2 million deficit this year and will need help to get out of the financial hole, say nursing home officials seeking aid from the Legislature. The Minnesota Association of Homes for the Aging Tuesday released results of a six-month study showing the projected deficit. The report said the state and federal governments caused the problems with new regulations and cost-cutting efforts.

A few homes have even taken out loans in recent weeks for the first time to cover day-to-day operating expenses, a clear sign of financial distress that could lead to some home closings, said Gayle Kvenvold, the association's executive vice president. The study and attached recommendations from a group of association leaders asked for changes in the Medical Assistance reimbursement formula that would cost an additional $13 million in state funds for 1988. The money could be taken from $18 million the state Department of Human Services budgeted but will not be spending for Medical Assistance in nursing homes this biennium because of cost-saving measures, the study said. Pamela Parker, director of long-term Former area minister killed Bulletin board THURSDAY Events Bingo 8 p.m., Sacred Heart Catholic School, Free-port. Sponsors Freeport Lions Club and Sacred Heart Parish.

Duplicate bridge 7:30 p.m., St. Cloud Labor Home. Open to Law log ST. CLOUD POLICE Theft Pamela Loehrer. 1550 Ninth Ave.

reported at 9:36 a.m. Monday that an auger, depth finder and other ice fishing equipment had been stolen from the garage at her resi- the public. Public meetings Princeton City Council 7:30 p.m., City Hall. Lectures' Natural family planning 7:30 p.m. first instruction, St.

Cloud Hospital River Room. Contact Family Life Bureau to register. dence. Value: $433. Theft Patrick LaFave, 1101 River Ave.

Sauk Rapids, reported at 8:33 a.m. Monday that a video camera had been stolen from his car at 530-16th Ave. o. aiue. DETROIT LAKES The Rev.

M.J. Buchhop, a former pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Cloud, died Sunday as a result of injuries he received in a two-car accident east of Detroit Lakes. Buchhop was making a left turn off U.S. Highway 10 when his car was hit broadside by a pickup driven by Wayne Skaalen, Detroit Lakes, according to a spokesman for the State Patrol.

Buchhop was alone in his car. Skaalen and a passenger, his mother, were not injured. Both cars had been eastbound. The accident happened about 1:15.