European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday december 7, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 5irs to increase personal tax exemption Washington a the personal exemption allowed taxpayers and their dependents will Rise next year by $150, to $2,300, the internal Revenue service said thursday. The change along with several others announced by the irs will be reflected on tax returns filed in 1993. The increase for the personal exemption was made under a 1984 Law that Quot indexes parts of the tax system each year to adjust for inflation. The adjustments prevent erosion of the exemption and the Standard deduction and protect taxpayers against being squeezed into a higher tax bracket in the event they receive Cost of living raises. The exemption and the Standard deduction Are the Basic elements that determine How much of a persons income is subject to tax. Taxpayers Are allowed one in Rhel stars and stripls10 years ago dec. 7,1981 a sen. Patrick Moy Nihan d-n.y., acting chairman of the Senate select committee on intelligence said there is Quot Concrete evidence Quot that libyan Leader foam mar Qadhafi has ordered the assassination of leading . Officials. The state department also said the United states has Quot Strong evidence that Qadhafi has been plotting the assassinations. Qadhafi has denied the charges.20 years ago dec. 7,1971 a by a vote of 89 to 1, the Senate confirmed president Nixon a nomination of Lewis f. Powell jr., 64, to succeed the late Hugo l Black As a Justice of the supreme court30 years ago dec. 7,1961 a a daring Engineer together with his friends and relatives stole an East German train and steamed at High Speed past startled communist Border guards and into the Freedom of West Berlin. The Engineer his fireman and 23 passengers were Given Asylum. The angry train conducted and six others returned to East germany.40 years ago dec. 7,1951 a shoeless Joe Jackson key figure in baseball s Quot Black sox Quot scandal in which seven Chicago players were accused of Quot throwing the 1919 world series and the Man whom Tycobb called a the greatest hitter that Ever lived a died of a heart attack at 63. To i u War i fifty years ago today 7 dec. Some 350 japanese planes flying from six aircraft carriers pummel the . Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and surrounding air bases. Across the Pacific japanese troops invade Malaya and Thailand and Singapore and the Philippines Are bombed. Exemption for themselves one for a spouse and one for each dependent child. The earned income credit which benefits Low income working families with children also is being adjusted to offset inflation. The maximum Benefit a family May receive is rising from $2,020 this year to $2,211 in 1992. Next year some part of the credit will be available tit qualifying families with adjusted Gross income As High As $22,370, compared with $21,250 this year. Other changes Are a the $5,700 Standard deduction for couples filing joint returns will increase to $6,000. A the Standard deduction for singles now $3,400, will go to $3,600. A the $5,000 Standard deduction for Heads of households will Rise to $5,250. A the additional Standard deduction for the Blind and those 65 or older will Rise by $50, to $700 for couples and $900 for single persons. A higher income earners will be allowed to make More before they Start losing their exemptions. The value of a couple s exemptions will begin declining once adjusted Gross income exceeds $157,900 up from $150,000 this year and will be eliminated above $280,400 up from $272,500. The comparable figures for a single person Are $105,250 up from $100,000 this year and $227,750 up from $222,500. A the earnings level qualifying for tax Artie treatment of interest on savings Bonds cashed to pay for education will increase. The full tax break will be available for those with incomes including the interest below $44,150 for singles and $66,200 for couples. A upper income people will lose 3 per cent of certain itemized deductions once adjusted Gross income exceeds $105,250, up from $100,000 this year. A for 1992 the first $35,800 of taxable income reported on a joint return will be taxed at the lowest 15 percent rate up from $34,000 this year. The 28 percent bracket will apply until income passes $86,500, when the top bracket of 31 percent will kick in. This year the top bracket applies to everything Over $82,150. A similarly a single person will pay 15 recent on the first $21,450 up from 20,350 the 28 percent rate will apply Between $21,450 and $51,900, and the 31 percent rate will be in effect for incomes above $51,900, up from $49.300 for 1991 returns. Student nurse killer Richard speck Dies of heart attack in Illinois at 49 by Bob sector the los Angeles times Chicago a Richard speck a methodical killer with a born to raise hello tattooed on one Arm and the blood of eight student nurses splattered across his soul died of a heart attack thursday. He was 49 and had spent the last Quarter Century in Illinois prisons. Over a single horrific night in july 1966, speck broke into a townhouse in an otherwise Safe quiet Middle class neighbourhood on Chicago a far South Side hog tied the Young women who lived there and then raped strangled or stabbed eight of them. The Lone survivor a student from the Philippines managed to hide under a bed. Though mass murders since then have taken a far greater toll the magnitude and senselessness of speck s crime was shocking for its Day. The event forever seared his name and jangly features into the Public conscious As a Symbol of fiendish Ness. Quot it was kind of an end to our innocence about How Safe anybody was anywhere a said William j. Martin a former prosecutor who obtained specks conviction in a 1967 trial. A the was t a Guy in a Tower with a rapid fire weapon. He took them one at a time spent at least a half hour alone with each victim ritualistically washed his hands came Back and got the next  e originally sentenced to the electric chair speck s life was eventually spared by the . Supreme court. But he still was ordered to serve 400 to 1,200 years in the Stateville correctional Center a maximum Security facility in Joliet 111. Nic Howell a spokesman for the Illinois department of corrections said speck was transferred from the Rison to a local Ospital wednesday after complaining of Chest pains. He suffered a heart attack thursday morning. Speck had no history of heart problems but was a overweight a Chain smoker and speck had poor eating habits a Howell said. Word of specks death brought a a sense of Relief to John Schmale a Central Illinois physician whose sister then 24-year-old Nina to was one of those killed. Relatives of the victims had to endure the knowledge that speck was periodically considered for release by the state parole Board a procedure required under Illinois Law. A you get angry because when someone strangles and stabs to death eight student nurses it seems like they ought to get their just rewards a Schmale said. Speck was a drifter who had floated in and out of trouble. He had conic to Chicago looking for work on a great lakes freighter. The Union hiring Hall for merchant seamen was just Down a he Street from the nurses townhouse. On the night of july 13, 1966, much of the City was in turmoil As a race riot raged across a wide Swath of the poverty stricken West Side. But the Placid Jeffrey Manor neighbourhood where the nine student nurses lived was Miles from the danger zone. The Case against speck was pieced together largely from the testimony of co Razon Amurao the tiny. 23-year-old Exchange student who managed to scoot under a bed before the killing spree began and later described what she had seen and heard. The murders touched off a massive manhunt aided by Amurao s description of the distinctive tattoos she had seen on the Man Quot born to raise hello on his left forearm a love Quot and Quot hate Quot on his right Knuckles. A few Days after the murders speck was arrested at Cook county Hospital where he was brought after what one doctor said looked like an attempt to slash his wrists. Man who posed As doctor sentenced Cincinnati a a Man who posed As a doctor at four hospitals was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to Tell authorities How he pulled off the charade for More than a year. Thomas David West 33, of Erlanger ky., also must explain How he obtained syringes to give injections to at least two people How he knew what medications were in the Needles and How he knew whether the Needles were sterile. The information is for the people who received injections from West Hamilton county judge Norman Murdock said. Prosecutors said West who does t have a medical License walked into Hospital emergency wards Quot and patients rooms and offered medical advice. He gave women gynaecological exams a mis diagnosing one woman As being pregnant and another As having a sexually transmitted disease. He also treated lesions on a Many a leg and charged at least one person for medical treatment said Dave Stevenson assistant Hamilton county prosecutor. Asked by the judge whether he had anything to say before sentencing. West whispered a a in a  a grand jury indicted West in August of pretending to be a doctor for More than 14 months and treating patients at the University of Cincinnati Good Samaritan jewish and Christ hospitals. He pleaded guilty in october to 12 charges including making false prescriptions practising Medicine without a License and stealing $11,000 from a Girlfriend. In return prosecutors dropped 13 other charges. Spokesmen for University and Good Samaritan hospitals have said they see no reason to change thir Security measures. The hospitals use Security cameras require doctors to produce identification on demand and restrict Access to drug  Strassel spokeswoman for the greater Cincinnati Hospital Council said the Case is no cause for alarm among the councils 34 member hospitals. Man convicted of abducting to actress source the associated press a upper Marlboro my. A a Capitol Heights Man was convicted thursday of abducting a television soap opera actress and stealing her car. A Prince Georges county circuit court jury deliberated 35 minutes before convicting Gerrid Bradley 21, on nine charges including kidnapping armed robbery use of a handgun and theft. Laura Sisk who plays Alison Rescott on Abc tvs Loving soap opera testified wednesday she was abducted by Bradley after she pulled into the driveway of her parents Home in Clinton on the night of april 1. She told the jury that a car started to Fol Low her on her Way Home from a dinner with friends. As she got out of her car Bradley came out of the Woods and ordered her Back into the vehicle she said. After driving a few blocks he ordered Herout and drove away she said. Bradley faces a maximum of 79 years in prison. No Date was Sei for sentencing