European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a the stars and stripes saturday april 27, 1991 housing vacancies in the United states the Chart shows the percentage of vacancy rates for the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the census taken in March and april in 1990 the census Bureau defines a housing unit As a House apartment group of rooms or single room intended to be separate living quarters. 20% 15% 10% 5% a ibs is i it so n i i b s s i is m i s n n i n i m s n i i 111 m n 1111 n is s s s i s i i s is s f i n s i m 11 s s a s a s a 11 i i i i s 11 s s s s s s s s i 8kiiikiiii1iiiiiiiii81iiiiiii ii i i i i 81 i i i i i i i i i i i i Bil i b i i i i i i i i i r i i i b i i i i 1 i i i i i i i 9 ii i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ii i Bil i b 8 i i b i i i 8 1 b 8 i i i 8 8 i i i i i i i i i i i r 1 b i 8 i i i i i b i ii 18 k i 8 1 i 1 8 8 i 8 8 8 a n i i i i n 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 1 Sas Sharon kilday1 in 10 . Homes vacant census finds Washington apr there Are 10.3 million vacant houses townhouses apartments and condominiums in the United states a one of every 10 dwellings checked by the census Bureau. It s the highest rate of vacancies in a half Century of census surveys and about 2 million More vacancies than census counters found in 1980. Some cities have Large blocks of empty Homes because the local Economy turned sour in the 1980s, just the opposite is True in other communities flush with a Symbol of family Prosperity a vacation Homes. But above All those empty houses and condos Are yet another episode in the Century s greatest demographic soap opera the aging of the baby Boom generation. In the 1970s and 1980s, the men and women that make up the huge pos world War. Ii population bulge were Busy moving away from their parents to Start their own households. The result was a housing shortage. The picture had changed dramatically by 1990 when Boomers already had housing and were no longer in the Market said Margery Turner a housing specialist with the Urban Institute. A the next generation  bust general Ion is much smaller a Turner a said.  a a a a. A a a a a. A wit fewer potential buyers builders have a More difficult time Selling new Homes and older Homes tend to stay empty longer before someone moves in. The result is a High vacancy rate. Traditionally vacant housing has been seen As a problem of old Northern Industrial cities. The phrase suggests rows of once proud red Brick houses from the 1920s or blocks of collapsing tenements boarded up and taken Over by crack dealers and rats. In the 1980s, the problem moved South and West to the once booming cities of the Sun Belt. Nearly 17 percent of the Homes in new Orleans were empty in 1990 the vacancy rate was about 15 percent in Houston and Atlanta More than 13 percent in both Dallas and fort Worth Texas and 12 percent in Phoenix. By contrast vacancies in the Many older Northern cities were at or below the National rate. Only 6 percent of new York City s dwellings were vacant 10 percent in Chicago and 9 percent in Detroit. Empty houses beget More empty houses. A the blighting Impact of even one vacant House on a Block can be pretty devastating a Randall said. A it makes it harder for people to sell their houses. It makes it harder for people to rent their houses. It becomes a cancerous kind of  crackdown under Way for Oil con artists los Angeles up a More than 30 a boiler room Telephone sales companies have been raided in an unprecedented crackdown on con artists who exploited the persian Gulf War to bilk millions of dollars.  nation. The High pressure phone scam orchestrated by com panics in los Angeles Dallas and Salt Lake City lured More than 3,500 investors to sink up to $50 million into bogus Oil and Gas ventures authorities said thursday. A these telemarketing con artists have no con. Science Quot said . Mcdonald chief of enforcement of the California department of corporations. They think the world is divided into wolves and sheep and believe that sheep Are meant to be  the raids carried out Over the past two weeks targeted 32 boiler room operations and resulted in the arrests of 10 con artists who allegedly promised investors sky High profits As a result of expected increases in the Price of  of the arrests were made in California one in Dallas and two in Salt Lake City. As Many As 30 criminal prosecutions were expected to result from the eight month investigation which spanned 16 states and was described by authorities As the largest assault in . History on phone fraud. The companies were Able to perpetuate their fraud by sending investors monthly payments for a Short time to establish their legitimacy before stopping the payments. A they began phoning people two Days after Iraq invaded Kuwait a Mcdonald said. A they use whatever is Montana government employees go current in the news to. Make themselves sound legitimate. _ the typical phone pitch would stress that the persian j our Sis Cou a drive the Price of Oil to $60 a barrel and that investors could earn As much As an 85 percent gain on their investment he said. A crime that can be prevented by just saying no Sard John r. Perkins president of the North american securities administrators association which coordinated the investigation. Of the cd a artists who perpetrate these scams will pop up somewhere else a Perkins said. A a it a like the cockroaches you flip on the Light in the Kitchen and they scramble out of sight but they re still around  7 Thim want. Undercover offering to provide them with telemarketing services a a. A Helena Mont. Apr More than 4,000 Montana government employees went on strike thursday to protest a veto of a state pay raise and the National guard was called out to maintain essential services. The strikers include 90 percent of the states Highway patrol troopers. Gov. Stan Stephens called the strike Quot self defeating for everybody and blamed democratic lawmakers for falsely raising the Hopes of slate employees. He said he stood by his veto tuesday of a 60cent hourly pay raise for . The legislature failed to override the veto wednesday night and Union leaders called a strike. A scattering of walkouts began at Midnight. By 8 ., pickets appeared at most state office buildings near the state Capitol in Helena. Staff at the women a prison in warm Springs struck at 11  And guards at the menus prison in Deer Lodge followed after Locking High Security inmates in their cells. A a in be never seen morale so High a said prison guard sgt. Bob Morani. A a we be been kicked around so Many years. Now we be decided to stand up and do something about  a everybody s out that a supposed to be out a Tom Schneider executive director of the Montana Public employees Asso citation said As the walkouts proceeded. The legislature had Little time to enact a solution. By Law Montana a legislature meets Only four months every two years and the current biennial session was scheduled to adjourn Friday. Col. Robert Griffith commander of the Montana Highway patrol said about 90 percent of the 167 officers normally on Road patrol were on strike. A a we re not doing any patrolling a Griffith said. Victor Bjornberg the governors press Secretary said 285 National guard soldiers were activated thursday morning with 191 jct be mens prison to join sent wednesday night. The overcrowd prison houses 1,170 inmates or 300 Moi than its official capacity. Guard personnel also went to to Home for the aged in Lewistown and to state veterans Home in Columbia fall Bjornberg said. There were no pickets outside the Stal Capitol. Union officials said they did want to risk setting up strike lines the sympathetic democratic lawmaker might be unwilling to Cross. F pay state workers Rangi trom $13,785 for a Secretary to $19 233 for civil Engineer and $29,015 for lawyer