Summer NebrcsJccn July 17, lft3 7
NU relief to Grand Island citizens continues
By Jeanne Mohatt
The tornadoes that destroyed many
Grand Island homes and businesses June
3 have left the city and some residents
facing financial, economic and possible
psychological problems.
Don Pursell, NU Bureau of Business
Research director, said his office is help
ing the city determine how much money,
if any, it has lost from reduced electricity
revenue. 5
Bureau of Business Research person
nel have walked the routes with Grand
Island meter readers, collecting data on
how much electricity the city's homes
and businesses are using, how much of a
Ilk a
given route nas Deen destroyed and
whether meters are broken, he said.
"We're trying to get information on
how many customers and kilowatt hours
they've lost, if any." A kilowatt hour is a
unit of measure of electricity, he said,
and the citv generates millions of kilo
watt hours a month.
Possible lost revenue
If the city is generating even 5 percent
fewer kilowatt hours, that means lost
revenue, Pursell said.
The research office will complete a
two-year projection of the impact lost
electricity revenue will have on the city,
he said. The projection should be com
pleted by July 31.
The Bureau of Business Research also
will conduct educational seminars in
Grand Island on the benefits of and dif
ferences between-the sales tai and
property tax. A proposed increase in the
sales tax will be on the November ballot,
Pursell said.
UNL students volunteer
UNL Sociology professor Jack Sieg
man said he has sent the names of five
UNL students, who have volunteered
their time and services, to the Grand Is
land Community Development Agency.
The agency appliles for and administers
grant programs for Grand Island.
The agency's director, Mike McCord,
said he will contact the university stu
dents this week.
He said they will help organize demo
graphic information that the Red Cross,
Small Business Administration and
several church groups have collected.
"The informtaion will be used to
structure a wide range of grant applica
tions, McCord said.
Federal grants
The agency is applying for Economic
Development Agency and Housing and
Urban Development grants. It also is ap
plying for SBA loans.
The university students will "make
house-by-house and person-to-person
contact," McCord said. They will lead
survey teams throughout Grand Island
to update information Red Cross has col
lected. Red Cross and other groups have
asked business owners what costs they
are paying now, whether they are in-
Progressive coalition will endorse candidates
By Jeanne Mohatt
The Nebraska Progressive Coalition
met Tuesday night to decide which legis
lative candidates they should endorse for
the November election.
But, Doug Kruse, the coalition's coor
dinator, said the group did not endorse
any of the candidates.
The Harvard University senior said
the coalition, formed this spring by 18
Lincoln "activists," sent questionnaires
to 45 state legislative candidates asking
their views on taxes, labor law, social wel
fare, support for public education, civil
liberties, open government, reproductive
rights and environmental protection.
"Seven out of 45 responded," he re
ported. "Not a big turnout."
He said the coalition will call some
candidates in the next few weeks to talk
with them about their political beliefs,
and then the group will decide who to en
dorse. f
A letter sent to some Nebraskans ask
ing for their support and membership
says the group's purpose is to elect prog
ressive senators to the Nebraska Legisla
ture. conservative candidates for national oi
fices. This targeting strategy is now being
used by right wing groups to defeat pro
gressives in the Nebraska Legislature."
To combat this move, the group will
endorse five key progressive candidates,
and members " will be asked to send a
The letter says, "The 'new right
movement in this country has beentar
geting specific candidates for election or
defeat. Often these efforts are focused on
a single issue such as abortion...We have
repeatedly witnessed the 'new right's'
success in mobilizing voters to elect ultra
contribution to one specific candidate. ..to
insure an equitable distribution of funds
to all endorsed candidates."
Kruse said some progressive candi
dates may not want the coalition's en
dorsement. Nebraska is so conservative, a
liberal group's endorsement might mean
"the kiss of death" for the candidate.
"We're not going to make a big display
out of it (the endorsements)," he said.
The coalition now has more than 100
members and may have from 200 to 500
by the end of the summer, he said.
Kruse, who has lived in Nebraska al
most all his life, is an energy researcher
for the Legislative Council this summer.
He will-return to Harvard this fall to
complete his economics major.
Kruse said the group will appoint
someone to take his place as the coali
tion's coordinator before he returns to
school.
Sen. Rex Haberman of Imperial re
cently asked Neligh Sen. John DeCamp,
who hired Kruse as energy researcher, to
fire Kruse because of his association with
the coalition. DeCamp refused.
sured, if they are eligible for SBA loans
and what their plans are if financial help
is available.
They have asked homeowners what
the household size is, the number of bed
rooms needed, the income of the family
or business, and other demographic infor
mation. Compiling information
This information "has been piece
mealed together by SBA, Red Cross, the
Mennonites and GIFT (Grand Island In
terfaith Task Force). But no one has
brought it all together, McCord said.
That will be the students' job, he said.
The federal money would "be a tre
mendous aid to the community. It would
be a benefit to low and moderate income
workers and would benefit housing and
economic development," he said.
David Ambrose, UNO Business Col
lege professor, said he sent a seven-member
team of counselors and consultants to
Grand Island to evaluate the future per
formance of the city's businesses.
Predicting the future
The group filled out performance
statements, making monthly and yearly
projections of the businesses occupancy
costs, the cost of goods, the profits, the
advertising expenses, the costs of furni
ture, fixtures and trucks, and other ex
penses. The consultants limited their projec
tions to five years, he said.
"Sending a university planning system
- u r-m - t ,1
Staff Photo by Janet Hammer
Doug Kruse, member of Nebraska
Progressive Coalition
into a disaster area is a national first," he
said.
"It's pretty powerful to look at the fu
ture, especially when the past is all blown
away."
Psychological strain
Economic growth may be in store for
Grand Island, but coping with the many
problems after the tornadoes has already
emotionally and psychologically strained
some citizens.
McCord said psychological problems
"are becoming more and more apparent"
"HUD and the Economic Develop
ment Agency don't provide for that kind
of assistance."
The Neighborhood Self-Help Grant,
administered by GIFT, has a provision
considering the neighborhood's quality of
life and provides counseling services, he
said.
Convention continued from page 1
members from groups such as, Citizens
Revolting Against a Sick Society
(CRASS), ERA advocates, Irish Amer
icans protesting the British presence in
Northern Ireland and Americans protest
ing treatment of Greeks on Cyprus Is
land, to march through downtown De
troit, chanting political slogans and wav
ing brightly colored banners.
Perhaps the most creative of demon
stration strategies were the plans of the
Yippies, who had said they would seek
political asylum in Canada after REagan
officially received the nomination. Ex
pecting to be denied asylum in Canada, a
group spokeman said the Yippies then
will board boats to become the nation's
first "boat people."
Members of the Nebraska Republican
delegation gained air time on a local FM
rock station singing the Nebraska Uni
versity fight song.
When asked by a station disc jockey
why they emphasized football at such an
important political event, the delegates
explained that football is very big in Ne
braska, and then predicted the Corn
huskers would defeat the Oklahoma
Sooners in this year's Big Eight contest.
"This is the type of astute political
participation that has made Nebraska fa
mous," the disc jockey responded.
irillGltATlOtl
LAWYER
Stanley A. Krieger
478
Aquila Court Bldg.
Omaha, Nebraska
68102
(402) 346-2266
Member, Assn cf
Immigration and
Nationality Lawyers
f
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