European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 18, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 18, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 7 Texas prisons not accepting new inmates Huntsville. Texas a no one has been admitted to Texas crowded prisons in More than a week. And officials say the problem will become More acute. The prisons have been closed 10 new inmates since aug. 6 despite Jib million spent for 10 trusty Camps for 1,981 inmates and a new j67 million maximum Security prison housing 2,250 convicts. The prisons have been closed 19 limes this Yea when they exceeded 95 percent of capacity a limit set As part of an agreement to Settle 3 suit filed in 1972 by inmate David Ruiz but this is the first time a closing has lasted More than a week. I Don t Sec any Relief in sight says Charles Brown Texas department of corrections spokesman. The prison system is full says rider Scott Legal counsel to gov. Bill Clements. To accommodate new prisoners coming in Means releasing increasingly Large numbers of prisoners Back into the communities. It s not Only Bleak but going to get worse. The alternative is to continue to close penitentiaries to new admissions. There s no room at he  when the state prison system closes prisoners enter ing the system arc held in county jails until stale facilities have space Tor them. The Texas prison system he nation s third largest behind California and new York will lose capacity sept. I because of depopulation required by the fed eral court agreement. According to figures from he corrections depart ment the capacity of 40,432 inmates will drop to36,161 next month. The trusty Camps and Michael unit the new maximum Security prison near pales Tine add 4,231 Beds boosting Overall capacity to 40,392, a net drop of 40. The numbers Battle gels More critical two years Down the Road when further reductions aimed at making prison life More humane will Cut nearly 1,500 More Beds from 10 More prison units. Earlier the state had stayed within the limit by pro Viding additional Good time for Well behaved prisoners allowing some to qualify for Early release. We be been doing this since 1983 or 1984," Brown said. We had a backlog but now we be depleted it. There s nobody  another approach was trusty Camps which began accepting inmates Early this summer. Thirteen months ago ground was broken for the Michael unit. Last week prisoners began moving into it. Last month the governor s office received a report indicating a need for 18,000 new prison Beds to meet projections of inmate admissions climbing to 44,000next year and s5,000 by 1991. Floating jail the 11,000-Lon British troop Barge Bibby venture is shown it a London Dock sifter sin agreement in Prin Ciple was reached Between its owners and new York mayor Edward Koch to convert i to a floating Pris on. Under the phut the Bobby venture would be chartered for five years at a Cost or $19 million and would be anchored at a Lycra Island. Ii would House 396 prisoners. Safety of building in doubt weeks before it collapsed Hartford. Conn a the l ambiance Plaza apartment building project was beset with prob lems related to its lift slab construction method in the weeks before it collapsed and killed 28 men according to a major subcontractor s documents. The documents obtained by the Hartford courant and cited in a Story in the newspaper s sunday editions include daily construction logs for to costar construction corp., which was responsible for lifting the Concrete floor slabs into place at the building in Bridgeport. The documents include a letter from the subcontractor warning workers to Monitor the lifting of the con Crete slabs because of possible design problems encountered at other construction Sites. In the lift slab method Concrete floor slabs Are poured in layers on the ground and then hoisted to the Correct level on vertical steel columns by Large Hydraulic jacks. The april 23 collapse is under investigation by the Young execs will meet in South Africa Washington a a group Oyoung corporate chief executives is going ahead with plans to meet in South Africa despite criticism that its selection of the while ruled nation smacks of insensitivity and Igno  the new York based Young presidents Organiza Tion prides itself on going places where people would t ordinarily go former Apo president Joel Schiavone said in an interview last week. We want to know As much As we can about the world and rather than go to Aca Puko or Hawaii we think it s appropriate that we go to places where we Cap. Be on the Edge of what s going on. Obviously South Africa is one of those places most . Meeting planners Are avoiding South Africa according to John Vickerman president of the foundation for International meetings. Apo is a group of about 5,500 business people from about 50 countries who became president of Compa Nies with Gross annual sales of at least 14 million Anat least 50 full time employees before age 40 but have not yet reached age 50. . Tourist fights off hungry Alligator Daytona Beach Fla. A a British tourist who fought off an Alligator that attacked him while he was water skiing escaped with minor injuries to his right foot authorities said. John sienese of Cranbrook England struggled sat urday with the Bull Gator estimated to be 6 feet to 8 feet Long. Siena is s Iki Vest which provided Nira buoyancy probably helped him escape death Taid sgt. Bill High lower of the Honda game and Freshwater fish commission. John we very  High lower said. Gators iry to drown their prey first. Ii appears that s what this one was trying to  sienese 21, suffered eight puncture wounds on Hii right foot and torn skin on the Back of his Heel in the attack. H it Hinds were also bruised. According to sienese the attack occurred after he fell while water skiing. As he floated in his life jacket about 50 feel from the Shore he Tell something grab his ankle. "1 could feel Teeth sienese said. There was a lot of pressure i could feel him pulling me right Down. It was pretty  started Yelling but his friends thought he was joking. When he started shouting Gator we All started laughing said Lynda Banks. 21, of Edinburgh Scot land. We thought he was  d been out there before Yelling Alligator but when he kept Kre Amima we knew he was serious said Peter Mickleson 22, of Auckland new zealand. Sienese said the wont part of his ordeal was the nearly five minute he floated in the water after the attack until another Friend swam out and helped him to Shore. National Bureau of standards and the occupational safety and health administration. No cause has been determined. The newspaper said examination of Teslar s documents revealed repealed references to the failure of jacking equipment used to hoist the slabs. Notations about two columns being Loo close to Gether meaning that weight of the slabs could be distributed unevenly while they were being lifted. Concerns that lifting operations had to be halted for welding repairs. In a letter to Field personnel in april 1985, a telstar official said problems had been found at other project Sand he re emphasized the importance of keeping slabs level during the lifting process. Unless we Monitor these conditions and All conditions closely we run the risk of cracking or breaking a slab said the letter signed by Chris a. Geckler a telstar vice president. Incident Sparks racial Melee Titu Viu a. Fla. A police in riot gear were called sunday to quell a Rock and Bailie throwing Melee that broke out hours after a jury convicted three Black teen agers of beating a White sheriffs Deputy. Three police officers were slightly injured and 19 police and civilian cars were damaged in the 4 hour disturbance according to police dispatcher Joanne Sab Jack. About 350 teen agers had gathered outside an All night grocery where a couple of suspected shoplifters had been locked in by a clerk officials said but Sabl Jack said there was speculation the disturbance was also related to saturday night s convictions. Three Merrill Island teen agers Anthony Griffin 18, Hurlie Brown 18. And Ihone Mcdowell 16 were convicted of Battery by an All while jury for strik ing Deputy James Russoli after the Deputy swung a flashlight at two of the teens during a traffic Slop in april. The defense contended that Brown and Mcdowell acted in self defense and that Griffin was in Mcdow Ell s car during the scuffle. Sheriff Jake Miller denied any racial Clement to the Case but Clarence Rowe president of the local chapter of the a act. Said he will lit Miller to dismiss rus sell because i Don t think sheriff Miller wants some one on his Force who refers to people at niggers. We can t tolerate that Type of attitude in Brevard