European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 29, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes wednesday january 2$, 1969 .$60 million damage Southern californians digging out after worst floods in 3 decades los Angeles a Hole owners with shovels and brooms and City crewmen with bulldozers fought Back tuesday against Holud and debris throughout flood ravaged Southern califor Nia after nine Days of torrential rain. Hundreds of persons were still isolated by the state s worst flooding in 32 years. Ninety on persons were dead. State officials estimated damage "at$60 million. Scattered Clouds Hung Over the Region in Cool weather As re pair wok began on Homes Yards streets Bridges and pub Lic utilities. About 9,000 Home were destroyed or damaged seven major Bridges were out i three counties rail traffic was blocked on some lines and some main highways still were plagued by slides and washouts. Homes damage about 700 Homes were dam aged in the los Angeles area including 250 Homes in Glen Dora in the Foothills of the Sangabriel mountains. There Resi dents worked tirelessly salvaging what they could from expensive  plan to stay said Wil Liam Sugden whose $70,000home on six acres was swamped by water mud an boulders. Inside the ranch style House mud Lay two to four feet deep. Furniture was soggy some beyond repair. A dead fish floated in an aquarium. Outside thence lushly landscaped Yard was buried in boulders and the swimming Pool was destroyed. My wife and i built every Bitof this House ourselves 12 years ago and we will rebuild it our selves said Sugden. Like most the Sugden los was not covered by insurance. Standard policies in this area Don t cover storm flood damage. Tragedy began at Dawn forthe Sugden and their neigh Bors. After a cloudburst Tor rents of water poured Over Hills behind the House which were denuded by a Brush fire last  was absolute terror said mrs.  said the storm brought after the slide actress Ann Margret and her husband Roger Smith look ruefully at their driveway in Beverly Hills calif., covered by a mud slide. Smith holds their dog  of Homes were damaged by slides caused by the Region s worst floods in 32 years. Up photo out a humaneness in he neighbors who Are helping each other and sharing food and pro visions at an emergency Center at a neighbourhood Church. I brought out the worst in others she said who attempted to Loo the Homes. Elsewhere up to 1,000 person remained stranded in Topanga Canyon West of los Angeles Al though those who wanted to could be led out on foot. Mud slides blocked big Tujunga can Yon Road at both ends and dozen persons were evacuated by  Sam Yorty estimated damage in los Angeles alone at$15 million. Ventura county will rival Losangeles in the Cost of repairs. Farm officials estimated the loss of Citrus crops in the Santa Paula area alone at $15  death toll in Southern California stood at 55 dead in rain related traffic accidents 11 killed in mudslides 19 by drowning 4 in plane crashes and 2 by heart attacks during the storm. Boyd asks., jj.,.of ,. A for if is Railroad Washington up for Mer transportation Secretary Alan s. Boya who approved a$25.2 incl lib Grant benefiting the Illinois Central Railroad 18days1 before he was named its president has asked his Succes Sor to a View the Grant Boyd told the new transportation Secretary John a. Volpe that there still was time to revoke the Grant if Volp considered it necessary since the final contract had not Bee signed. Volpe had no immediate comment on Boyd s request but last Friday he said he would make the records of the Grant Public. Ronald Ziegler pres ident Nixon s press Secretary Friday said the White House also was looking into the Case. The controversial Grant was announced by the transportation department dec. 30 while Boyd was still Secretary i went to the Chicago South suburban mass transportation District which planned to use it to buy 130 commuter cars Tolease to the Illinois Central. Boyd was negotiating at Thattie to be cwt Mesi Dent of the Jois ilium Loffi. 17accepted the Post at a salary of 166,000 per year. Volpe was sworn in. As transportation Secretary Jan. 22. Boyd r a Uty administrator a trial x. So Troty claimed earlier that he Sitton had approved the Grant and that Boyd took no part in the decision although he conceded that Boyd As head of the department had the ultimate responsibility for an departmental decisions. Sitton also claimed that redid not know at the time thai Boyd was considering taking the position with the Illinois Cen trial. Nixon appointee backs lbs s Vietnam policies Washington up  Johnson president Nix on s Choice As no. 3 Man at Testate department Drew an expression of Shock from . William Fulbright tuesday by staunchly defending Pas Vietnam policies. Fulbright chairman of the Senate foreign relations com Mittee which has been holding hearings on Johnson s Nomina Tion questioned whether Johnson was so wedded to past policies that you might not be Able to advise the president with any  Johnson did not reply. Johnson named by Nixon Tobe under Secretary of state for political affairs told the conv nit tee that . Action in Vietnam had succeeded to the extent that communist forces no longer were capable of launching a major offensive. Johnson acknowledged he had been consulted and gave his minimum wage will be $1.30 for 1.5 million to Acutt Mflton m tit to a us u a i 1 Washington up a new Federal minimum wage covering 1.5 million workers not previously covered goes int effect saturday. Most Are retail service workers such As restau rant hotel and Motel employees. But the $1.30 minimum wag for them is 30 cents an hour below the $1.60 minimum which covers 42.5 million other work ers. This Means a newly covered worker who is employed 40 hours a week for 52 week would still earn Only $2,704 a year considerably less than the $3,200 a year income which the government says is the poverty level in present Day  base pay will go up by 15 cents an hour in a year and by another 15 cents the next year by feb. 1, 1971, All person covered by the minimum wage Law approximately half of the nation s work Force will earn at least $1.60 an  addition to the Basic minimum wage time and a Halfway is provided for every hour worked Over 40 hours with two Broad exemptions. Restaurant hotel Motel and hired farm employees Are completely exempted. And nursing Home employees must work 48 hours week before they can collect  labor Secretary w. Willard Wirtz in his final report to Congress called for boosting the minimum wage to $2 a hour by 1971. He said by 1975 All workers under Federal Law s jurisdiction All engaged i interstate Commerce should be protected by the $2minimum. He said Many employed people still live in poverty. More than half of those living in poverty do so not because the head of the family is unemployed but because he does not get a decent wage forthe work he does Wirtz said. An estimated 22 million americans Are still below the poverty line despite the lowest unemployment rate since the korean  Nixon has Given no indication whether he favors a increase in the minimum wage. Some conservative economist argue that it actually Fosters unemployment by causing employers to turn to machines for tasks now performed by people. Don t tear joint apart Newark up some go go dancers i Northern new Jersey Are suffering from an affliction which might be described As Joe Namath knee according to two orthopaedic specialists. R the doctors said girls who shake too vigorously without first conditioning their thigh mus cles May tear cartilage in their . Joseph o Connor said some of the current dances put the same stress on the knee As football player s Quick changes of direction in broken Field running and some girls Don t Havethe Muscles to stand it. The average girl s legs May be Nice looking but they re flabby he said,1. Gerald Rubacky confirmed the warning we be seen some tour cartilage a la Joe Namath he said. Fhe new or jets Star quarterback has undergone repeated surgery for the repair of torn knee cartilage. At Urke a go go dancer who has been gyrating Lor four years disagreed with the  be never had any trouble nor have any of the girls i worked with she said. In fact feel better when i m dancing than when i m  approval when the United state started bombing North Vietnam in 1965. He said he still believe the decision was right and that policies begun by the Johnson administration should be continued. Those policies he said Are showing results in the sense that the other Side has come tothe table ,. What we have been doing up to now is constructive. I Hope a continuation will bring about  Fulbright said it bothersome that Johnson was being so vocal in defense of past policies which he had a hand in formulating. He said he won dered whether Johnson would try to justify decisions of the past in advising Nixon. Johnson said the War might be Over within a year but said americans should be patient and prepared for More hard slugging on the Battlefield the committee called Johnson Back for a second Day of testimony wednesday. Johnson now ambassador to Japan said he Felt the political stability of the entire Par Bastard Southeast Asia Region. Had been strengthened by ,policy in Vietnam. There is no question that outstanding in the Pacific is stronger because of our determination to resist aggression in Vietnam he  said the communist tet offensive a year ago resulted in a great defeat Tor the other Side in the sense of sharply reducing their capacity to attack