European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a the stars and stripes tuesday july 16,1991 problem transvestite thieves fashionable Miami up a a ring of transvestite thieves is plaguing Southeast Florida boutiques stealing one of a kind gowns and rhinestone tiaras to build the burglars wardrobes for drag shows police said. The thieves strike in the Early morning smashing store windows with Concrete blocks and cleaning out Racks of expensive clothing before alarm companies can summon the police. Police in Miami fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach have thick files on the loosely knit gang the Miami Herald reported sunday. Detectives have tracked them from Chic boutiques to a transvestite Beauty contest in Rural Pahokee noting that the burglaries tend to surge before a pageant. A they usually go for High fashion one of a kind stuff a said fort Lauderdale burglary detective sgt. Robert Smith. A the kind of stuff that if you have to ask How much it is you can to afford  one Deerfield Beach boutique has been burglarized four times in 18 months. Three others on fort Lauderdale a fashionable Las Olas drive suffered losses of nearly $250,000. In the last burglary attributed to the gang thieves cleaned out six Racks of silk and leather clothing from the numbers boutique in fort Lauderdale on july 8. Cleo Renautus fort Lauderdale dress boutique called Cleo has been hit twice this year. But she was sceptical when police suspected that her $1,000 _ gowns were destined for transvestite fashion shows. A they  put my dresses in anything like that because they re too noticeable. In be been making dresses for-15 years a she said. A women know my  police believe the Cross dressing criminals have been operating at least three years. Because so Many agencies Are investigating detectives done to know How Many robberies have been linked to them. Gang members further confuse police by swapping names and social Security numbers. For a while whenever a transvestite thief was arrested he used the name Rodney Lowery. Lowery when arrested gave other names. Police eventually nabbed the real Rodney Lowery with two rhinestone tiaras that had been stolen from a West Palm Beach boutique. Detectives said he planned to use them to Crown the winners of a pageant. Lowery was convicted of grand theft and sentenced in july 1990 to 4 /2 years in prison. Last month police arrested four Palm Beach men including one in drag on charges of grand theft and Possession of stolen property. Police stopped them for a traffic violation and found their Ford Mustang stuffed with $100,000 Worth of dresses stolen june 7 from the Al Mode shop in  has a Dinosaur of a Gardener Washington a smithsonian Gardener Walter Howell is a benevolent sort of Edward scissor hands. His proudest creation is a 35-foot-Long Dinosaur Topiary that startled unsuspecting tourists until its Ivy flanks began shedding. Visitors to the National museum of natural history were amused last year by Howells Leafy apatosaurus formerly called the Bronto Sau with its Long Tail and swooping neck. But alas this Summers blazing Sun is killing the Topiary a foliage exposing the welded steel rods and Chicken wire underneath. A it looks like an abandoned car a Howell complained. The museums Dinosaur experts who can Sec the Topiary from their office windows Are complaining too. A its fur is turning Brown in places a said chief Pale oncologist Jack Pierce. The Good news is that Howells Handiwork will return to life soon. Howell spent three Winter months last year building the Topiary As a temporary replacement for a dead tree removed from a Corner of the museums Lawn facing the National mall. His Dinosaur was such a hit with smithsonian staffers and tourists that it will be moved in a few weeks to a permanent place of Honor on the museums front Lawn along Constitution Avenue. There it will get a new hide of four varieties of English Ivy and plenty of water. Howells first attempt As a Topiary artist so impressed a visiting schoolteacher from Cleveland ga., that she commissioned him to travel to her Hometown last summer and build another ornamental Dinosaur for her schoolyard. One of the smithsonian a 30 full time gardeners Howell 33, spends much of Liis time tending the 3-acre formal Garden behind the smithsonian s a a castles Headquarters that Are ablaze with begonias marigolds Hibiscus and Oleander. But he keeps his scissor hands in shape by helping trim a couple of old Topi Aries outside the arts and industries building next door. A originally they were the shapes of swans but they be started looking like ducks a he said. A a they re sort of moving Down the evolutionary  a it was a blast a he said. A it was far and away the most fun thing in be done since in be been  is smithsonian Gardener Walter Howell trims his 35-foot-Long Dinosaur Topiary. Even injuries can t part guards from Cash cargo from wire reports Fairbanks Alaska a two guards who were Hurt when their armoured car rolled Over did no to let injuries keep them from doing their jobs Marty Hardman and William Munera of Loomis armoured inc., kept watch Over their precious cargo All the Way to the Hospital Friday. The Money Rode with them on stretchers and in the ambulance said mayor Carleta Lewis who doubles As an emergency medical technician. The two were treated for minor injuries and released. The Loomis truck swerved to avoid an Accident at an intersection clipped a Small car and rolled Over. The trucks rear door was thrown open. Gas prices drop 2 cents los Angeles a gasoline prices dropped More than 2 cents a gallon Over the last three weeks an Industry Survey said sunday. The average retail Price for Alt grades of gasoline including taxes was $1,221 cents per gallon on Friday Down 2.36 cents from june 21, according to the Lundberg Survey of 13,000 stations nationwide. Prices dropped despite an average tax increase of .38 cents per gallon Over the period analyst Trilby Lundberg said. Illinois prison guards released after being held for 2v2 hours Joliet 111. Apr inmates in the a Honor Section of a state prison took three guards hostage sunday night while More than 2,000 other prisoners were under lock Down because of violence the Day before. The guards were released after about hours said department of corrections spokesman Brian Fairchild. One suffered minor injuries be said. Meanwhile inmates in the locked Down Section of the Statesville correction Center set fire to newspapers toilet paper and trash sunday night. The fire was quickly extinguished and the area brought under control Fairchild said. Inmates in the prisons g Cellblock a less restrictive Honor dormitory for those who have shown Good behaviour barricaded the doors and took three guards hostage Fairchild said. The guards were released about 2vi hours later. Fairchild declined to say whether the area was brought under control or How Many inmates were involved. The injured guard was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet. Fairchild said his injuries were minor. Most of the 194 inmates in the dormitory did not participate in the uprising he said. It was not possible to confine inmates in the Honor Section to separate cells he said. On saturday night an inmate who stabbed a guard several times was shot to dead by another corrections officer. That guard was in serious condition at Silver Cross Hospital on sunday. Two other guards who were slightly injured spent the night in the Hospital and were released sunday. The prison was built in 1920 to House 1,506 inmates in recent years it has regularly held More than 2,000. Women s caucus opposes Thomas by the new York times Washington a the National women a political caucus which concluded a four Day conference Here sunday unanimously adopted a Resolution opposing the nomination of judge Clarence Thomas to the supreme court. The Resolution voted on by More than 300 delegates said the nomination presented a a Clear and present danger to women a  the caucus had opposed Thomas previous Nomi nations to the equal employment Opportunity com Mission and the . Court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit. Gov Bill Clinton of Arkansas a Democrat who addressed the group sunday said he would Reserve judgment about the Thomas nomination to the Svi preme court until after the Senate confirmation head Ings which Are expected to be held in september