European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 27, 1994 . The stars and stripes Page 11 court backs klan s right to show Christmas Cross Cincinnati apr the Kun flux klan has the right to display a Cross at Christmas outside the Ohio statehouse a a Federal appeals court ruled monday rejecting claims it would create a conflict Between Church and state. A a the state attorney general a office said it would Appeal the 6th . Circuit court of appeals ruling to the . Supreme court. The klan is Likely to seek another permit for a Cross this Christmas season its lawyer said. A i think the decision of the court. Is clearly a Victory for the first amendment for the free exercise of religion and the concept that a Public forum once opened can to be closed to the views of people who May be regarded As hostile to the establishment a said Benson Wolman an american civil liberties Union lawyer who represented the klan. The court rejected the states argument that allowing the wooden Cross on Capitol Square in Columbus violated the constitutional separation of Church and state by creating the appearance the state was endorsing a religion. A in a Public forum the religious Content of private speech is absolutely irrelevant for first amendment purposes a judge James Ryan wrote in the unanimous three judge opinion. A the klan a display of across is private  the panel based its ruling on its 1993 opinion in a Michigan Case that opinion said the Constitution at lows a private organization to display a religious Symbol a a menorah in that Case a on a Public Square As Long As All private groups Are afforded equal Access to the Public forum. Capitol Square has been used for rallies and speeches by groups As diverse As the klan and the United Way and for Holiday displays that have included Christmas Trees and menorahs. A the klan sued after the Capitol Square review and advisory Board which oversees use of the state owned Square refused its request to display a Cross during december. A. Mondays opinion upheld a ruling by  District judge James Graham in Columbus who said that because a private party sought to display the religious Symbol a reasonable observer would not perceive it As government endorsement of religion. After that ruling and after the state lost emergency appeals a klan Cross was erected on the Square dec. 21. The Cross was knocked Down three times in the next 24 hours by klan opponents and was not replaced. A woman and a Man hold a Confederate ban Nifcas anti Flag demonstrators pass by in Myrtle Beach . Fight Over Confederate heats up at s. Myrtle Beach . Apr some 129 years after Lee bowed to Grant this town of miniature Golf courses amusement Parks and packed beaches is where southerners Are taking a stand on the Confederate Battle Flag. Thousands marched Here saturday As tourists watched from sidewalks and simmered in traffic jams. A Dixie we re going to bring your Flag Down a Sang the predominantly Black anti Flag marchers. The pro Flag group All White launched its rally with rebel yells and chanted a never take it Down Quot deep in the sea of rebel flags some shouted racial slurs and wore to shirts Reading a you Wear your x and ill Wear mine a a a it a a White things and a the original boys in the Hood Quot depicting Kun flux klansmen. Some pro Flag demonstrators took a Calmer approach. A a it a heritage not hate. Its history a said Massachusetts born Bob Aube owner of the civil War store amp museum. _. Countered the Rev. John Hurst Adams a Bishop in the african methodist episcopal Church a the Confederate Flag says the same thing to me that the Sevasti a says to my jewish  with anti Flag sentiment growing and supporters digging in their heels across the South a showdown looms in South Carolina. Civil rights leaders threaten labor Day demonstrations in the resort area of Hilton head Island and Promise an economic Boycott if the Banner continues to Fly Over the state House As it has since 1962. A a this would be one More Feather in their hat. We re not going to let it happen a said Michael Parker taunting Black marchers with a portrait of a Klansman on horseback bearing a flaming Cross. Both sides agree the starry Blue a  on a red Field is a powerful Symbol a what it symbolizes depends on who stalking. Defenders grow misty eyed thinking of the sacrifice of valiant Gray Clad underdogs fighting for a lost a use the genteel Honor bound South of Ashley Wilkes rising not for slavery but against Yankee oppression. A a it a heritage its Honor its glory Quot said demonstrator Sherman Todd 31, who wore a Flag to shirt Reading a a it a a Southern thing. Yall   to opponents each Flap of the Flag is a slap a reminder of the time when Blacks were chattel and of those More recent Days when Blacks ostensibly free were subjected to brutally enforced segregation. A it represents the scars and stains of our past not our future. It symbolizes divisiveness instead of Unity a . Rep. John Lewis d-ga., said recently. Throughout the Region Battle lines Are being drawn. Georgia a democratic governor Zell Miller seeks re election this year after stirring bitter debate in 1993 with his unsuccessful drive to change the state Flag. Georgia incorporated the Battle Flag in 1956. There were demonstrations at this years super bowl in Atlanta and More Are expected when Atlanta plays Host to the 1996 olympic games. Last week Holiday inn worldwide asked its franchises to remove the Georgia Flag and Flag foes Are pressing Mcdonald a to take it Down from Georgia restaurants. Theft of its instruments fails to Stop army band from the associated press san Antonio a and the band played on. Despite losing an estimated $500,000 Worth of musical instruments when a rental truck was stolen the . Army band got by with a Little help from its friends. Air Force and army bands around the country shipped in replacement instruments so the band could play As promised monday for the Texas bandmaster association. Fort Sam Houston in san Antonio provided uniforms. The bands 24-foot truck packed with instruments disappeared sunday from the parking lot of a Houston hotel. Police found the truck empty that afternoon said staff sgt Donald Newsome one of the truck Drivers. Exxon settles 1 spill suit Anchorage Alaska a Exxon agreed monday to pay $20 million to Settle a Federal lawsuit by 3,500 alaskans who claimed losses from the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil spill. The agreement was announced by Exxon and the plaintiffs As an Anchorage jury entered its third week of deliberations Over a separate $900 million claim brought by alaskan commercial fishermen Over lost Harvest and depressed fish prices. Claims by the 3,500 alaskans that the spill destroyed such traditional food sources As seals kelp and fish had been scheduled to be heard by the same jury As soon As deliberations Over the claims by the fishermen were Complete.  statement announcing the out of court settlement plaintiffs attorneys declined to elaborate. They said they wanted to avoid speaking out while the jury deliberated and while a state court jury was still hearing evidence in a Case brought by other alaskan groups and coastal towns. That lawsuit focuses on Oil spill damage to lands. Justice on the Wing Concord Calif. A police thought it was a flight of fancy but Ahab Ohanlo Wasny to kidding. Someone cracked his Windshield and he Wasny to going to let the perpetrator Fly the Coop so lie opened his Lunchbox and showed officers the evidence a dead Pigeon. Ohanlo said he was driving along the freeway Friday when the Pigeon hit the Windshield of his 1981 Oldsmobile. He retrieved the dead Bird froze its carcass and reported the Pigeon incident to the state Highway patrol. A i took the report Pigeon is. Vehicle a officer Mike Walker said. �?o1 was looking around for candid camera. 1 was trying to keep a straight  the Bird was a racing Pigeon with a tag on its Wing Ohanlo said. He planned to track Down the owner and was considering suing for Windshield replacement. Walker said he told Ohanlo he could keep the evidence. Killer bees in puerto Rico Washington killer bees have been found in puerto Rico the agriculture department said monday. The department said it is trying to determine if the Africani Zed honeybees have been established on the Island. Since june they have been detected at the Reserva natural Las Cabezas in old san Juan the Naviera terminal shipping Yard about 17 Miles away and near san Juan. The aggressive bees arc established in Arizona new Mexico and Southern Texas after first being discovered in the United states in 1990 near Hidalgo  for complaint St. Joseph to. A the Coffee just did no to taste right so workers at wire rope of America set up a hidden camera to try to find out Why. What they found was a co worker using the Coffeepot As a  i just wanted to break his legs shoot him or whatever a said Richard Poe a Plant electrician. Instead Poe and his fellow factory workers turned the videotape Over to police and company officials. Police in turn gave the tape to Buchanan county prosecutors who Are considering bringing charges. The Many a identity Hasni to been released. The Man who Poe said was feuding with other workers was fired after the july 16 incident. A company official declined to say if the dismissal was related to the Coffeepot affair