European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 01, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars  Sut gee authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces Good morning vol. 48, no. 290 thursday february 1. 1990 is do m no d 8693 a hotel Cost is stripes Magazine Gorbachev denies hell quit parly Post Mikhail Gorbachev Moscow a president Mikhail Gorbachev wednesday denied a . Broadcast report that he is considering resigning his Post As communist party chief. No one has said this and i certainly did t make any such statement the soviet president and party general Secretary said. Any such suggestions arc  the Cable news network reported tuesday Quot ing an unidentified party source that Gorbachev had spent eight Days holed up at his country House outside Moscow with his top advisers where he was consid ering resigning As Leader of the party. The source was quoted As saying Gorbachev would have retained the presidency a government position he is converting from a largely ceremonial Post to a substantive one. I have no intention of doing so Gorbachev said when asked about the report during a photo session atthe Start of a Kremlin meeting with president elect Fernando Collor de Mcullo of Brazil. Foreign ministry spokesman Gennady 1. Gerasi  speaking at a regular news briefing also denied the can report. In a related discussion published in the communist party daily pravda four scholars urged that the presidency be strengthened to protect the head of state from efforts to oust him and allow him to act More decisively. The discussion in pravda appeared aimed at telling readers that party Power still is Paramount and that the presidency is not Strong enough to be the country s main leadership Post. Historian Yevgeny Ambartsumov said in pravda that Gorbachev appeared unable to take decisive action because of the threat to his position. The can report touched off a temporary flurry of Selling on Western Slock markets and sent the Dollar soaring in new York and Japan. In another development wednesday president bus called Gorbachev to talk about arms control the White House said. There was no direct discussion of the rumours presidential spokesman Martin Fitzwater said. Fitzwater said the president called him this morn ing to talk about arms control. I Don t know How Long. It was Early this  asked if they had talked about the rumours Gorba Chev might surrender his party Post Fitzwater said the president said there was no direct discussion of  Secretary of state James Baker said tuesday that the news report was just a  the ruling communist party has traditionally been the Power base for soviet leaders. However the party see denies on Back pageiv1ihiinii  t it 3lllllgllclll u la plus Tell Ink 1iiuu i suit my iiiui13 wq0 wl_l1llw we i wow hiring freeze May mean Long lines at commissary editor s note this is the first article but  of the air Force and is train other a conc to run the Cash Roe Ine the freeze because of another is note in a series detailing the effects of the Pentagon s civilian hiring freeze that began Jan. Ii by Deedee Arrington Doke and Mary Neth staff writers a combination of Cross training Long lines and overtime will become an All too familiar Way of life at military commissaries Between now and oct. I As a civilian hiring freeze sets in for a Long cold spell. But representative army commissary systems in Europe said there arc no plans to Cut store hours. We arc going to do everything Possi ble to provide the same service we have in the past said Denise Gomes an army commissary spokeswoman. Bill Mackrain an air Force commis sary service official for the european re Gion said Cross training would play a key role in his commissaries. The most important thing we can do i people registers Mackrain said. Everyone in the store will have to be trained to run the Cash  air Force stores typically experience up to 60 percent turnover in one  european Region which has about 1,600 civilian positions has not completed a Survey of its stores to determine How Many vacancies it has. But the average annual turnover May drop to Between 40 and 50 percent Dur ing freeze on permanent change of Slation moves and the Lack of other Job possibilities in overseas communities Mackrain said. However he predicted that up to 75 percent of its High turnover cashier slots could be vacant by the end of the hiring freeze a figure balanced by traditionally lower turnover in other areas such As the meat departments where pay is higher. We already had problems in filling see freeze on Back Page army deserter Back Home after 31 years in East Omaha. Neb. A an american Soldier who fled to East Germany in 1959 for fear a truck Accident would land him in the stockade saw his family for the first time in three decades then was taken away As an army deserter. Military and Omaha police were awaiting Arnold pc part when he landed at Omaha s Airport tuesday. He saw his 86-year-old father and a sister momentarily before being led away on the 30-year-old warrant for desertion in West Germany. Kiphart. 53. Originally from Langdon mo., had escaped to the East bloc with a Girlfriend and was t Able to return to the West until december after East Germany threw open its Borders his attorney James Martin Davis said. In his 30 years behind the Iron curtain Kiphart worked As a truck Driver in the Small City of Small Alden married twice and fathered a son now 12, of whom he has custody. The boy Frankic. Came with him and is staying with his father s family. Kiphart was expected to be taken to fort Riley kan., wednesday Davis  Andersen of Council Bluffs one of Kephart s nieces said she and about 30 family members came to Omaha s Epply Airfield to meet Kephart and his son. Instead they discovered that Kiphart had been arrested by military police while on the plane and taken into the Airport through a Side Entrance. He was allowed to speak Only to his father Ernest Kephart and sister Mary Hart Man. Anderson said. They just let them talk a Little bit and she his sister came out with the boy Kephart s Niece said. Davis said Kephart was a Corporal in Heidelberg was Germany in 1959 when he crashed a truck and was told by a sergeant that he would be thrown in the stockade an would have to pay for the vehicle on a $69-per-Moiuh salary Davis said. The staff sergeant lied but Kiphart believed him the attorney said. During the next three decades Kephart tried to escape to the West three or four times but was caught at the Border Davis said. Only three or four censored letters reached his family. Kiphart received custody of Frankie after divorcing his second wife. After the Borders to the West opened late last year Kephart and his son walked 300 Miles for several weeks eating out of garbage cans Davis said. He arrived at Hamburg on dec. 15 and worked in a hotel until he was Able to locate his family and obtain proof of . Citizenship and a passport the lawyer said. He has a great difficulty speaking English Davis said. He will frequently lapse into German. Every three of four sentences he will say that he does not know the word in  classified ads in Stine Magazine today