Globe-Gazette from Mason City, Iowa • 1

DRUG TESTING lAfrtAA A A VC CUCC i' WW WIVIrt IM Jt Jilt. fy A SEX ADDICT FOR PRO AT Sports, Page 1 5 Dear Abby, Page 28 Warmer Cloudy today with highs around 10. Cloudy tonight with a chance of snow flurries. Lows will be around 5 below zero. Tuesday will be cloudy with a chance of snow; highs will be around 15.

Weather details: Page 3 Monday, December 26, 1983 25c Mason City-Clear Lake, Iowa Copyright 1983, Lee Enterprises Inc. 3E35SEE32Sa! ETES? gsV-' Two OcSDDocdl dim sOffinni-bDocked! hogjihway 'f Anothor rocordbrookor MASON CITY Slowly hut purely, North Iowans began recovering Sunday from a Christmas weekend blizzard that virtually closed down the state Saturday and early Sunday. Although no snow fell, winds gusting to 46 to 57 mph pushed the old stuff into drifts that blocked highways, and into solid sheets of white that made visibility near zero most of the day Saturday. What's worse, the tepmerature dropped to a record low of 24 below zero Saturday and never got above 14 below during the day, producing wind chills of nearly 100 degrees below zero at their worst. Among the roads closed were Highway 18, with law officers in Clear Lake and Mason City not letting motorists out of town, and Interstate 35 through North Iowa.

Motorists were stranded in many locations. (See related stories on this page and Page 2.) As winds diminished to 12 to 32 mph Sunday, snowplows opened roads and most were passable Sunday night, although some one-lane traffic still was reported by the State Patrol. The 24 below reading Saturday was a record, breaking the previous mark of 18 below set in 1920, according to Globe-Gazette records. Sunday's low was 17 below, just missing the Christmas Day record of 18 below set in 1921. The high Sunday was 3 below, and that came late in the evening, perhaps as a sign of better things to come for a while, anyway.

Today, it's expected to be cloudy with a high of 5 to 10 above with southwest winds of 10 mph. Tonight, it will be cloudy with a chance of flurres and a low of 5 below, followed by cloudy skies Tuesday, highs of 10 to 15 and another chance of snow. The extended forecast calls for highs Wedneday through Friday of 5 below to 10 above, with lows of 10 below to 25 below in some parts of the state. The numbers across the state were as chilling Sunday as they've been for the past week, The Associated Press reported. Spencer recorded its eighth day of below-zero weather, the longest period of subzero weather on record.

Other Iowa cities breaking records included Atlantic with 20 below, breaking a record of 13 below set in 1892; Burlington with 13 below, breaking a record of 9 below set in 1924; Cedar Rapids with 12 below, breaking a record of 11 below set in 1924; Lamoni, 15 below, breaking the record of 11 below set in 1924; Newton, 15 below, breaking the record of 8 below in 1980; Ottumwa with 15 below breaking the record of 9 below set in 1924, Sioux City with 13 below, breaking the record of 11 below set in 1962; and Waterloo with 18 below, breaking the record of 14 below set in 1921. Council Bluffs had a low temperature of 18 below, breaking a record of 16 below set in 1879. But there was a glimmer of spring on the western edge of Iowa. Temperatures in the Council Bluffs-Omaha area went above zero with a 2 degree reading at 2 p.m. Sunday.

That is the first above zero reading there since Dec. 17, a record 203 hours of subzero temperatures. The old record was 110 hours set in February 1936. On the other side of Iowa, some 80 towboats were sitting out the holiday tied up or stuck on the ice-laden waters of the Mississippi. Captain Henry Aggott, skipper of the Southern King, expected to be home in Benwheeler, Texas, for Christmas.

Instead, he and his six-man crew shared Christmas dinner on their boat, next to the Weaver elevator between Fort Madison and Burlington. I it 'M S. 'A 9 Snowtrok mi I Ro cord lows aro roportod in 100 citios By The Associated Press Hundreds of motorists spent Christmas stranded along snowy roads in the northern Plains as a lethal chill accompanied by biting winds stretched into the deep South and at least 100 cities set record lows in one of the worst cold waves in U.S. history. Thousands Washington state residents shivered through the holiday without electricity for heat or cooking after a massive winter storm downed power lines and damaged at least 200 homes and businesses while spreading heavy rain and snow along the Pacific Coast.

(See story on Page 5.) The freeze aso threatened the fruit crop in the South. Morning lows were below zero from the Rockies to the Appalachians. At least 100 cities set record lows for a Christmas Day; at least 30, many in the South, had the coldest temperatures ever recorded in December. The National Weather Service described the chill as "one of the most severe cold waves in the history of the nation." The weather-related death toll since Dec. 17 reached the 159 mark, including elderly women in Alabama and Mississippi who died in their sparsely heated homes.

The temperature records set on Christmas included 10 below In Milwaukee, breaking the minus 9 mark set in 1879; 20 below in Rapid City, S.D.; 17 below in Omaha, 10 below in Detroit, and 13 below In Kansas City, Mo. In the Gulf Coast states, the records for the day included 14 in Houston, breaking the old mark by 30 degrees; 17 in New Orleans; 23 in Daytona Beach, 3 in Birmingham, and 6 below in Bristol, Va. The mercury crept to zero or above for the first time In more than a week in Sioux Falls, S.D., Omaha, and Bismarck, N.D. An explosion at Atlanta Gas Light plant south of Atlanta cut off heat for as many as 2.000 households on Sunday, but most power was restored by evening. In Arkansas and Louisiana, utility officials asked residents to don extra sweaters, dim their Christmas lights and turn down their thermostats to conserve fuel during the cold spell.

As the full force of the cold wave descended on the East it was 5 degrees Sunday morning in New York City meteorologist Harry Gordon at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City said there was "nothing in the foreseeable future for any relief." It was a blue holiday in weather and spirit for hundreds of motorists stranded by blowing snow and squalls from the Dakotas to the Atlantic, although hospitable communities did their best to make the drop-ins feel at home. In Mendota, 111., more than 150 people spent the night in the Moose Club or private homes after blow-Record (Please turn to Page 2) By Thomas C.Thoma City Editor MASON CITY State Trooper 1 Dean Madetzke said Interstate 35 between Hampton and Mason City on Sunday looked like a scene from "The Day After." "It looked an atomic bomb had hit, (abandoned) cars sitting all over, in snow banks, plowed into each other," said the Hampton trooper, who had a snowplow lead the way for him so he could get to Mason City. Theirs were the only two vehicles on the closed road. In a very real sense, it was the day after the day after: a wicked blizzard virtually shut down North Iowa on Saturday and Sunday. a Crystal, mother and daughter were killed when a semi hit their station wagon and landed on top of It.

hundreds of vehicles stalled or were abandoned along roadways, either after they skidded to avoid other cars or were done in by stormy weather packing wind-chill factors of nearly 100 degrees below zero. hundreds of people in some of those vehicles were rescued by courageous law officers and other rescue workers who risked their lives in the deadly weather. It was, said Madetzke, the worst situation he has encountered in his 14 years as a trooper. Ferocious The ferocious weather hit fast and bard early Saturday morning. With temperatures dropping to 24 below zero early in the day, winds gusting to 57 mph blew snow into highway-blocking drifts and made visibility to near zero.

Highway 18 between Mason City and Clear Lake was closed at 2:03 a.m. Saturday, and officers in both cities stopped people from leaving throughout the day. Many motorists became isolated in Clear Lake and other communities. (See related story on Page 2.) But without a doubt, the heaviest drama unfolded on Interstate 35 in Franklin County, and produced the state's only traffic deaths of the holiday weekend. An exhausted Franklin County Sheriff Duan'e Payne, speaking from his home Sunday night, told how the situation unfolded.

He said a report came in of a seven-car pileup on the interstate between the 170 and 173 mile marker about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. "By the time we got our snow gear on," he said, "we got the report that it was a 25-car accident. There were no reports of any injuries at that time." Payne told of trying to find the accident by following snow plows, of other officers blocking traffic on the interstate and trying to route motorists back to Clear Lake, and of even following a plow south on the closed northbound lanes to try to reach the accident. They eventually found the pileup south of the 169 mile marker, south of where it had been reported.

In the meantime, traffic was stopped at the 171 mile marker so motorists wouldn't come on to the massive pileup. Madetzke, also speaking from his home Sunday night, said the fatal accident (Please turn to Page 2) scanner leads of food, gifts Rick Lind, 1000 S. Illinois, takes a walk through West Park in Mason City on Christmas afternoon with some brand new snow-shoes borrowed from his brother-in-law. (Staff photo by Charles Schlosser) Lebanon fighting kills 13 M.rtiHJTwrt moved in to take over the posts. Government-run Beirut Radio and private stations described the battle as the heaviest in the capital since two weeks ago, when an agreement was reached in Damascus, Syria, to uphold the Sept.

26 ceasefire and allow the opening of Beirut International Airport. A source at the As-Sahel Hospital, about 500 yards from the fighting, said 13 dead and 60 wounded peoplevhad been brought in. Other reports said as many as 50 people may have been killed. The fighting began Christmas Eve and raged through most of the holiday Sunday, but a cease-fire agreed to in the late afternoon seemed to be taking hold as dark ness fell. center, proposed for Des Moines, could make things even tighter, he said.

"It "was tough enough to get by without it. Now, the state is being asked for participation," said Norland. "The problem Is, it could require state dollars In early 1984." The trade center has been suggested by a group of Iowa businessmen as a way to market the state's products on a worldwide basis. No one knows for sure how much money the state will be asked to contribute for the trade center because no proposals have been Legislative Message ovor to outpouring MASON CITY One simple message over the police scanner Sunday led to an outpouring of food and gifts to help a Mason City woman and her 5-year-old son celebrate the joys of Christmas Day. It all began when Agnes Walker of Jefferson called Mason City police to share her concern that her daughter-in-law, Heather Walker, and her grandson, "Butch," might not have enough to eat.

Patrolman Myron "Lefty" Lewis went to Heather Walker's home at 1247 12th NE to check on her welfare. He said she told him her mother-in-law always worries about her and her son, but that they are all right. However, Lewis was, concerned because he didn't see presents under the tree and a brightly decorated candy dish was empty. He expressed his concern that Walker might be in need over the police radio to the dispatcher. Before Lewis finished his message, the police switchboard "lit up like a Christmas tree" with Offers of food and toys, according to Warren Tilton, superintendent of records for the police department.

Apparently, those listening on the police scanner heard the story and jumped to do something about it. Two families invited the young woman and her son to their homes for Christmas dinner. A couple of BEIRUT. Lebanon (AP) Lebanese soldiers and Moslem militiamen fought with tanks, mortars and automatic weapons along Beirut's southern outskirts Sunday, killing at least 13 people and wounding 60 mostly civilians. Some stray rounds spilled over into the U.S.

Marine camp at Beirut airport, and the Marines briefly went on their second-highest alert. Marine spokesman Capt Wayne Jones said of the firing that struck inside the U.S. compound: "It didn't appear to be directed at us So we didn't return fire." The fighting erupted after French forces left positions on the city's southern edge and the Lebanese arrfiy regarded by opposition Moslem forces as an ally of the right-wing Christian militia businessmen called to find out what toy the boy might like. Police decided the Animal Control Van was as close to Santa's sled as they could find and sent it on a mission to collect food and toys. At the same time, Tilton said, people were bringing sacks of food to the police station and cars were lining up in front of Walker's house.

Tilton called Walker's mother-in-law to assure her everything was all right. "She broke down and cried," Tilton said. "A cry of joy that some people really cared. A cry that only a mother can know when she learns loved ones are safe and taken care of. That cry brought a lump to my throat, but it made me feel great." Lewis returned to Walker's home to see how she was faring.

"She took me into the kitchen. There were grocery bags all over the floor and there were two hot dishes something people had taken right from their Christmas dinner," Lewis said. "She started crying and saying how good everyone was and how she sure appreciated it." Lewis also noticed Butch waving a teddy bear and there was a shiny new toy truck. Walker asked who to thank, but no one knew. "There were no names given there was no praise that was asked for, no pat on the back or well done expected," Tilton said.

"There were concerned people that gave an act of love." Tilton and Lewis said they and others working at the police station were as affected by the generosity of Mason Cityans as Walker. "It was really something," Lewis said. "I've been in the department 30 years and people really can be something, but these people were super nice." In all, the "Christmas miracle" happened in about 45 minutes. In fact, response was so great police had to tell people to stop because Walker's kitchen was fulL dget poses tough challenge Preview State bu 'I 4 1 'i. 4 I I I .4 i EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories dealing with the upcoming session of the Iowa Legislature as seen by North Iowa legislators.

By Paul Holley Staff Writer KENSETT Don't expect many dramatics from the upcoming Iowa Legislature session, says Rep. Lowell Norland, D-Kensett. "The big surprise is out there right now and everyone's aware of it big budget problems," the House majority leader said. Three- years of recession have kept state tax revenues below expectations and drained the state's budget. While economic conditions are improving, Norland expects the budget will still be extremely tight.

A multimillion-dollar world trade made, he added. However, Gov. Terry Branstad supports the center and the idea has caught on with some lawmakers. "I think the feeling is the center has enough potential and nobody wants to be the one to kill it," said Norland. "It has some long-range appeal.

I think the state needs to do something along these lines and a trade center is a possibility." Norland and other legislators are working on a bill to fund alternative crop research. Like a trade (Please turn to Page 2) Records 2, 19 Obituaries 2 Weather 3 Mason City 3 Opinion 4 Nation 5, 6 North Iowa 7 World 9, 10 Anniversaries 11 Library Lines 14 Sports 15-18 Comics 20 AEA Report Card 23 Seniors' Scene 25 uear Abby 28 Lowell Norland.