European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a the stars and stripes tuesday May 12, 1992 California insurance firm fights giant rebate order Sacramento Calif. Apr in the first Case settled under rate Rollback rules for californians automobile insurance Industry a state official has ordered 20th Century insurance co. To refund More than $100 million to 650,000 policyholders. Century shearing challenging rebates was the first completed under state Rollback regulations adopted in october 1991 by insurance commissioner John Gara Mendi. Century unsuccessfully filed suit against the regulations and was fined $9,000 for bad Faith. A the company s delay tactics have failed and they should now do the right thing and pay their customers the Money they be been owed for three years a Gara Mendi said in issuing the order Friday. But 20th Century said it would Appeal in state courts. The company has More than 5 percent of the states Auto insurance Market with most customers in Southern California. Company officials have said their rates arc among the states lowest. Garamendi issued his rebate order following a Deci Sion by administrative Law judge Elizabeth Laporte that Century policyholders should be paid a 12.2 percent Rollback. The refunds if they Are eventually paid will average about $157. The Case is the first completed under a voter initiative known As proposition 103, insurers fought proposition 103 before its passage by voters in november 1988 and have continued to oppose its provisions in court. The measure together with court rulings requires rate rollbacks based on firms rates of return. The insurance commissioner has ordered a total of More than $1 billion in rebates from scores of companies but most Are fighting the ruling in court and in hearings before administrative Law judges. Insurers have spent More than $100 million fighting the rebates Garamendi said. One major Auto insurer the automobile club of Southern California waived its right to an administrative hearing and paid policyholders $104 million in rebates last year. California s Gold Rush is Back helped by Modem technology Alleghany Calif. Apr at Sunset grime covered men emerge from 19th-Century tunnels clutching treasure gleaned from a legendary mine. Once called the Home of the worlds Best Gold the original sixteen in one is Back. What s different is that today a prospectors use a tool the old sourdough would have coveted the Best Metal detectors they can find. A a it a there. You just have to get it a said a Man As he removed his miners helmet after an eight hour shift. The mine a 25-mile Tunnel network Cut into an isolated Canyon 180 Miles Northeast of san Francisco is yielding top Quality Gold from Quartz veins to the Delight of strapped mine owners who were forced to Lay off Crews last fall. In january two jobless miners approached company chief Michael Miller with a Deal. They asked permission to use a Metal Detector in the mines Dank abandoned passages retaining a percentage of what they found and giving the rest to the company. A i said a sure go ahead and give it a try a reported Miller who was initially sceptical. Almost immediately the two prospectors struck Gold a 2 ounces the first Day 150 ounces the first week. The following week they hit a 50-ounce trove bringing the value of their find to More than $70,000. Since then Millers Crews have resumed work. They enter the aged tunnels with the most sensitive Metal detectors they can find. They must find about 4 ounces of High Grade Gold each Day to break even. So far they be succeeded tenfold Miller said. At the Entrance to the mine Miller sits on the Tail Gate of his pickup and unwraps Gold encrusted Quartz nuggets and Flat Gold slabs a about $40,000 Worth. The Gold does no to Shine or glow it is Dull and discoloured. A 4-ounce Nugget might be Worth about $1,400 in Gold Content but fetches $2,000 to $3,000 or More when sold As jewelry. Gold has lured prospectors to the Canyon since 1851, when a group of hawaiian sailors jumped ship and joined the California Gold Rush settling in the Steep Canyon below what is now Alleghany. The original sixteen in one mine is a Hodgepodge mine formed Over 140 years by combining some of the most hallowed diggings in Gold Hunt lore a the Minnie a the morning glory the Al Dorado and the Golden King among others. A government publication describes the sixteen in Michael Miller shows off Gold nuggets and Gold encrusted Quartz taken recently from his old mine. One As a one of the most productive and profitable Gold mines that California has Ever known. One that provided Many thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars of Gold  roughly a million ounces of Gold have been mined there since 1911, when the modern sixteen in one was  mine remained Active during the great depression and world War ii. It finally closed in 1965, a victim of rising costs Low yields and poor development planning. More Freedom for disabled urged Chicago up1 a hundreds of activists for the disabled caused a minor disruption sunday at the University of Illinois at Chicago As they tried to get the attention of . Health and human services Secretary Louis w. Sullivan. Sullivan on hand to deliver a commencement address to medical school graduates did not speak to the protesters members of american disabled for attendant programs today. Guests at graduation ceremonies filed past police barricades while the activists Many in wheelchairs circled outside the doors of the ulc Pavilion chanting a we want  the demonstrators urged the Bush administration to redirect 25 percent of medicaid funds currently budgeted for nursing Homes and other institutions to set up Community based programs to allow the disabled to live on their own. An estimated 1.6 million disabled people live in nursing Homes which the group said is a More expensive and less humane option than helping them live independently.  Rafter killed on West Virginia River Fayetteville . A Virginia woman was killed during a rafting trip when she fell into a rapids along the new River and became trapped under a log. Cheryl Taylor 34, of Stafford va., was killed saturday when the Rushing Waters carried her Down the River and wedged Ner beneath a log before others in the raft could grab her the National Park service reported. A she floated fairly close to the boat and they tried to pull her Back in. The guide actually had a hold of Ner at one Point a said David Arnold co owner of class i River runners which operates the White water  sued Over Label Little Compton . A Rhode Island Vineyard is suing a California winemaker for trademark infringement for using the name a a american a cup on its labels. The lawsuit filed recently in Federal court asks that the California company Callaway Vineyard and winery Stop using the americans cup Label on products sold East of the Mississippi River. Earl and Susan Samson who own Sak Onnet vineyards said they own the rights to the name. A a we be been making americans cup for 15 years a Earl Samson said. A we built a very popular Brand  John Voorhees a lawyer for Callaway Vineyard said the rights to the name Are controlled by cup properties inc., which holds All trademarks related to the americans cup sailing Competition. Americans cup properties granted a License to Callaway last year Voorhees  backs students Providence . A Jesse Jackson praised Brown University students who have demanded that the Ivy league Campus change its admissions policy and enrol any qualified student including those who cannot afford tuition. A it does not make sense for us to bail out Eastern Europe and the former soviet republics and not bail out americans cities and americans people a Jackson said in a letter to students for Aid and minority admissions. The letter was read saturday at a Campus rally in support of a new admissions policy. Three weeks ago 253 students were arrested when they occupied University Hall to demand More student  Man chides police los Angeles a a deaf Man who sued Pasadena police for jailing him for a crime he did not commit said he Hopes a jury a $100,000 award makes a Case for providing deaf inmates with sign language interpreters. Jeno Koth 32, filed the lawsuit after he was jailed overnight As a Bank robbery suspect and no interpreter was provided. Koth sued for false imprisonment emotional distress and violation of his civil rights. A i Hope the verdict will Send a message to All police departments that they must adopt a policy and procedure for dealing with the deaf Community said Koth speaking through a special phone for the deaf. A jury ruled in Koths favor two weeks ago. Attorney Carol Ann Rohr who represented the City of Pasadena said Koth never asked for an interpreter. She said police thought they were communicating Well with him. The City May Appeal Rohr said. Koth was arrested in january 1988 after a Teller at a Bank where he was cashing a Check thought he was the same person who had committed a robbery there the week  murders Rise Oakland Calif. A another bloody weekend continued to keep Oakland Well on Pace toward setting a record Tor homicides in 1992. The latest outbreak of violence on saturday brought the City a 1992 murder toll to 77. By this time last year 50 killings had occurred. By years end the number was a record 165 homicides. The latest homicide victims included a 50-year-old Man stabbed to death 21 and 25-year-old cousins found shot to death and a 15-year-old boy who was also shot to death