St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

POST-0 Illinois news Paget 12A.1B JUN2Q19B0 HI Vol. 102, No. 170 FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1980 20 On Todoy Editorial Poge A Question Of Quality Editorial Embarramnt For Illinois Editorial SILO SPOT mite ten By Kathryn Rogers and Kenneth J. Cooper Of tha Pott-Ofspatch SUM St. Louis police Detective Gregory J.

Erson was snot to death Thursday night while working an anti-prostitution assignment in the area of the midtown Stroll. He apparently was the victim of a robbery. Police are looking for two men who were seen fleeing from the scene in a pickup truck. The 29-year-old detective's body was found by other officers slumped in the front seat of his unmarked car parked at the curb of a vacant lot at Whlttier Street and Westminster Place. Police said they were alerted to the shooting by a woman living nearby who heard gunshots about 1 1 SO p.m.

Erson was shot once in the chest. He was pronounced dead at City Hospital, 1515 Lafayette Avenue. The front passenger door of the car was open, Indicating an attempted robbery, police said. Detectives speculated that Erson was shot when he reached for his revolver, a Smith Wesson. Police said it was missing from his ankle holster.

Erson had been assigned to work the Stroll detail for just one night, detectives said. He had reported in the area at 6 p.m. Thursday and had made six prostitution arrests. About 100 officers from all nine police districts swarmed over the area searching for clues in the killing. The suspects were described as black and in their 20s.

One was 6 feet tall, weighed ISO pounds, had an Afro haircut and wore dark work clothing. The other was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 140 pounds, had short hair and walked with a limp. They were reported to have driven away in a dilapidated red-and-white pickup truck. Firefighters brought floodlights to aid in the search, and the St. Louis County police helicopter flew over the area for several hours, detectives said.

All 25 of the department's homicide detectives were called in. Authorities See DETECTIVE, Page 14 Police searching a vacant lot in the 4200 block of Westminster Place for clues in the fatal shooting of Detective Gregory J. Erson. Carter Meets With Italian President Richard Dudman Dateline: Europe Detective Gregory J. Erson Shot to death Siren Bond Subject To Aug.

5 Vote The St. Louis County Council approved a $2.78 million bond issue Thursday to create an integrated, countywide siren system for tornado warnings. The measure is subject to approval by two-thirds of the voters in the Aug. 5 election. No tax increase will be necessary to retire the bonds, officials said.

The measure is a revival of part of a proposal rejected by the voters three years ago. Although they voted for the measures, some council members questioned the effectiveness of tornado warning systems. Donald L. Bond, D-Flo-rissant, said in a tornado April 7 in the North County, warning sirens were not sounded until after the tornado had struck. Under questioning by Councilman Maurice L.

Stewart, R-Chesterfield, county Civil De-tense Director James P. White admitted meteorologists can only warn of conditions conducive to tornadoes. He said firemen and policemen have been used successfully to watch for tornadoes when those conditions exist. Under the council-approved plan, the bond issue funds would be used as follows: To purchase and install 70 See SIREN, Page 12 By Richard Dudman Poat-Oispatch Washington Bureau Chief ROME President Jimmy Carter began a day of sightseeing and largely ceremonial talks today as officials minimized continuing concern over the prospects of a plan to place new U.S. nuclear missiles in Europe.

Carter and Italian President Sandro Pertini conferred this morning and found common ground on East-West issues and the Camp David Middle East accords. Carter and Pertini met for 45 minutes at the Quirinale Palace, half an hour longer than scheduled. An Italian government spokesman said that although Italy's position on the Middle John C. Danforth, as well as both Illinois senators, Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson and Republican Charles H.

Percy. "The country has finally come together on the need to move on energy," said Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, one of the congressional conferees who worked for six months before reaching a compromise Monday. "There's a change in mood in the country and in Congress.

This bill is the first long step toward finally getting this country on the road to energy independence." Johnston and Sen. Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, the leading Republican supporter of the bill, said the president told them in a telephone call Thursday morning from his plane en route to Italy that the bill would strengthen his Massive Energy Bill Nears Final Approval WASHINGTON (AP) Seven years after the Arab oil embargo, the United States has taken the first big step on the road to energy independence, say supporters of a massive energy bill now heading for final congressional approval. President Jimmy Carter is likely to point out that view to allied leaders at this weekend's economic summit in Venice, Italy. The measure, which includes a $20 billion program to start a domestic synthetic fuels industry as an alternative to imported oil, was approved on a 78-12 vote Thursday in the Senate.

It now goes to the House, where quick passage also is expected. Among those voting for the measure were both Missouri senators, Democrat Thomas F. Eagleton and Republican Earl Morrla Bush's Star Rising For No. 2 Spot By Thomas W. Ottenad Pcxt-Oitpatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON Strong support is developing among some of Ronald Reagan's most influential advisers, as well as other leading Republicans, for the selection of George Bush as the party's vice-presidential nominee.

At the same time, Republican sources both inside and outside the Reagan campaign told the Post-Dispatch, the stock of Sen. Howard H. Baker who Is regarded by some top GOP national figures as the best choice as Reagan's running mate, has slipped significantly. The reported upsurge in support for Bush does not guarantee that he will be Reagan's eventual choice, for others besides Baker are still in the running. However, if the sentiment that is now developing spreads, it could lead to a near-consensus in favor of the man who was Reagan's most serious challenger for their party's presidential nomination.

The vice-presidential question was one of the principal items being discussed today at Reagan's meeting in Chicago See BUSH, Page 11 bill amendment-free. One amendment rejected, 193-189, would have allowed either house of Congress to veto any ICC regulation. The bill would affect 17,000 trucking firms that do business across state lines. They compose slightly less than 50 percent of the trucking industry, which had 1979 revenues of $108 billion. The American Trucking Associations, the powerful lobby that spent more than $1 million in advertising to fight the legislation until the Senate's lopsided 70-20 vote in April, reluctantly supports the compromise bill.

British Namesake Of Suspect Found By Charles Bosworth Jr. Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The man in Belleville claiming to be a British journalist who is charged with trying to hire a "hit man" to kill his wife may not be who he says be is. Clyde L. Kuehn, St. Clair County state's attorney, said Thursday that he believes the man who calls himself Robert Paul Baines of Yorkshire, England, is really Paul Ian Fenton, 33, of Torquay, England.

Kuehn also said Fenton has a police record, but he would not disclose what it is. The Post-Dispatch learned, however, that Fenton is sought by West German authorities on a charge of credit card fraud. Kuehn said he has talked by telephone to another Robert Paul See BELLEVILLE, Page IS May East is a European one, he insisted it did not contradict Camp David peace accords. The United States has been concerned over a European Common Market declaration that the Palestine Liberation Organization should take part in the Egyptian-Israeli negotiations on Palestinian autonomy. The Italian spokesman said Carter and Pertini found "compatibility of positions" on all key issues.

After the private session, their meeting was broadened to include Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie, National Security Affairs adviser Zbigniew Brzezinksi and counterparts on the Italian side, including Foreign hand at the economic summit. The bill sets a goal of producing the equivalent of 500,000 barrels of oil a day by 1987 equal to about 4 percent of current total daily U.S. oil consumption and 2 million barrels a day by 1992, with up to $68 billion in additional federal assistance. It also directs Carter to resume filling the strategic petroleum reserve, the nation's stockpile of oil, at the rate of 100,000 barrels a day a move that Saudi Arabian officials have said will trigger a cutback in that country's oil production.

The U.S. reserve has a capacity of 156 million barrels but now contains only 91.7 million barrels. Another of the conferees, Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, acknowledged that synthetic fuels offer no immediate solution to the energy crunch.

But he and consumers billions of dollars each year and conserve hundreds of millions of gallons of fuel," the statement continued. An airline-deregulation bill was approved last year. The House is expected to act within a few weeks on a railroad-deregulation bill, also supported by the Carter administration. The Interstate Commerce Commission has been governed by the same law on trucking since 1934. ICC Chairman Darius Gaskins called the bill "a balanced and comprehensive reform" and promised swift action to enforce it.

unidentified "imperialist forces" might be connected with the bombing. The bomb went off about 3 p.m. Thursday shortly before Bishop was to address about 1,000 people attending a political rally in a soccer and cricket field north of St. George's, the capital of this Caribbean island of 100,000. The bomb was placed under the pavilion where Bishop sat along with other government officials and Cuba's ambassador.

The explosion buckled the pavilion floor, but its force spread sideways, killing the two children and a 23-year-old woman standing nearby and wounding 20 others. None of the government officials or guests was injured because of the way the bomb went off, and security forces immediately whisked Bishop away to his home two miles away overlooking the city. Speaking on a nationwide radio broadcast Thursday night, Bishop Minister Emilio Colombo and others. While Carter met with Italian leaders and toured the Colosseum and Roman Forum, interest centered on his talk scheduled tomorrow with West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, whose forthcoming trip to Moscow triggered some fresh anxiety over the nuclear deployment plan. Muskie and other American officials expressed confidence that Carter and Schmidt now see eye to eye on the issue.

But the question remains whether Schimidt will have more to say about his proposed "freeze" in deployment of the new missiles when he meets with Soviet President Leonid I. See CARTER, Page I hailed other parts of the bill that require the president to prepare energy conservation targets for the nation and establish an $825 million fund to subsidize solar and conservation improvements. The bill would create a federally owned U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corp. to oversee a five-year, $20 billion program of loan and price guarantees aimed at building plants to produce synthetic fuels out of coal, oil shale and tar sands.

The program would be administered by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Johnston said the synthetic fuels corporation should be in full operation by June 30, 1981, with $2.2 billion going to the Energy Department to proceed with gasohol and other programs In summary, the bill: Makes entry into trucking easier. Removes or eases regulations that restrict service, require circuitous routes or limit the type of goods that may be carried. Allows rates to be raised or lowered 10 percent in any one year. Phases out the antitrust immunity that trucking companies now have in setting joint rates.

Several amendments that could have upset the compromise between the House and Senate were defeated. "This is a fragile compromise at best," said Rep. William Harsha, R-Ohio, in persuading his colleagues to keep the urged a mass enlistment in the militia and asked citizens to prepare for a "people's war" against his opponents. He attributed the bombing to "imperialism and its local agents," saying it was "part of a total unfolding plan aimed at the destruction of the Grenada revolution." Bishop said several suspects had been arrested and interrogated, and specifically linked the "imperialist forces" to Phillips, who opposed Bishop's 15-month-old government because of its Marxist policies. Bishop said that "a tiny minority band of counterrevolutionaries" had efforts to arrest Phillips and that government troops and policemen who rushed to Phillip's house "were greeted with a hail of gunfire, bullets all over the place." Bishop said the security men "had to duck for cover" but then See GRENADA, PageS Truck-Deregulation Bill Is Passed By House features THE RIVERMEN: If we go down to the levee, we can see the tugboats.

But what about the crews on them? What are their lives like? And for a different type of transportation, the same page has photos of the newly rehabilitated Museum of Transport (right). Page ID of Everyday sports 'y-JMiiijpn, itn WASHINGTON (UPI) The House Thursday night passed a compromise truck-deregulation bill that gives President Jimmy Carter another victory in his effort to reduce federal regulation of the transportation industry. The bill was expected to be accepted by the Senate, perhaps today. The White House issued a statement saying the House, which approved the bill 367-13, "took a major step today in the fight against inflation" by passing the bill. "By increasing competition and ending Irrational regulatory restrictions, the bill will save shippers LIGHTNING VS.

THUNDER: Sugar Ray Leonard defends his welterweight boxing title tonight against Roberto Duran in a study of contrasts in Montreal. Page 1C of Sports Ex-Soldier Killed In Grenada Shootout inside 52 Pages Business t-8C Classified Advertising 4-14B Editorials 2B Everyday 1-14D Illinois IB News Analysis SB-Obituaries 4B People 4A Region 12A Religion UP Reviews 4-5D Spectator 5D SportsWeekend 1-tC TV-Radio 12D Fair And Warm Official forecast for St. Louis and vicinity: Cool tonight, low in the upper Ms. Fair Saturday, high In the low Ms. Warm with scattered thun-dersho wers Sunday through Tuesday.

Highs in the mid-Ms to low Ms; lows' In the mid-Ms to low 71s. OffMf WmMw InfsrmvtMn mi Pom 1A Roman HOLIDAY POST. DISPATCH WEATHERBIHD ro a it or ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) A former army sergeant linked to the assassination attempt on Marxist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was killed in a shootout with security forces today, less than 24 hours after a bomb killed two children and a woman and wounded 20 other people at a rally Bishop attended. The death of the ex-soldier, John Phillips, was reported by the state radio.

He was killed in his home in the suburb of St. Paul's, where he had holed up and traded bullets for hours with government troops sent to arrest him. The radio said there were no other casualties in the shooting, but that a man it identified as Keith St. Bernard was being sought "dead or alive" by authorities. The radio said St.

Bernard, who was not further Identified, was linked to "imperialist forces." Earlier, authorities had hinted that the i.