Abortion protest debate to continue
Bt Brian Carlson
Staff writer
City lawmakers met late into the
night Tuesday to consider whether anti
abortion protests directed at a Lincoln
church constitute legal free speech or
harassment that should be curbed by a
city ordinance.
The Lincoln City Council heard tes
timony on a proposed ordinance that
would require protesters from Rescue
1 the Heartland, an anti-abortion group, to
move its protests across the street from
Westminster Presbyterian Church from
30 minutes before services until 30 min
utes after their conclusion.
Rescue the Heartland has targeted
the church for the past 20 months
because a member of the churchb gov
erning body, Dr. Winston Crabb, per
forms abortions. Protesters have wield
ed large signs depicting bloody, mutilat
eaooaiesoiaooneafetuses. .
Cad Horton, an associate pastor at
Westminster, 210 Sheridan BlvcL, said
the protesters had overstepped their
right to free speech by harassing
churchgoing children.
‘The children of our church are being
intentionally taigetedby and subjected to
. the reprehensible tactics of Rescue die
Heartland,” he said. “They have been spir
itually and emotionally banned.”
A queue of Westminster parish
ioners made its way to the podium
Tbesday to describe their run-ins with
protesters, accusing the picketers of ver
bally abusing churchgoers, including
children, and shoving 6-foot pictures of
aborted fetuses into their feces.
Church members who testified,
some of whom said they were lifelong
members, said they were concerned
about the psychological harm done to
their children by the protesters. They
said they worried their children would
be discouraged from attending church.
Some, such as Jane Sievers, who
attended the hearing, said she and her fam
ily had made the “agonizing” decision to
leave Westminster because dealing with
protesters had become too burdensome.
Westminster member Maureen
Allman, who also was at the city hear
ing, said she had arrived at church late
one day when she was confronted by a
protester who lambasted her for attend
ing church with an abortionist She said
the protester then told her, in the pres
_- ^1 j uir « 1 T\
cuvc ui uci umu, iuu ic ui.
Crabb didn’t abort your child.”
“The church is being held hostage
by terrorists whose demands
Westminster cannot meet,” Horton said.
But Larry Donlan, director of
Rescue the Heartland, called the testimo
ny of those in favor of the buffer zone a
“dog and pony show” and said he did not
believe the alleged incidents had taken
place. He said church members should
have filed more reports with the police if
they felt their rights had been violated
Church members had filed one
complaint with the Lincoln police. No
charges were filed in that complaint
He downplayed church members’
accusations that the group’s tactics were
harmful to children, saying his group
would continue to draw attention to its
opposition to the practice of abortion.
“It is very ironic that the whole
argument here is couched in terms of
protecting children,” he said
He said the group would cease its
protests if Crabb discontinued his abor
tion practice and repented
Alan Peterson, a Lincoln lawyer
representing Westminster Presbyterian
Church, urged protesters to “picket on
somebody your own size.” He said the
ordinance would meet the tests for con
stitutional restriction of speech.
The ordinance is content neutral, he
said, meaning it addresses the conse
quences of speech rather than the mes
sage itself. It serves a significant gov
ernmental interest and is narrowly tai
lored, he said
Although inspired by the
Westminster incidents, the ordinance
would apply to any church, synagogue,
temple or mosque m Lincoln.
But Bill Austin, aLincoln city attor
ney, and Rick Duncan, a University of
Nebraska-Lincoln law professor, said at
the hearing that die ordinance would be
unconstitutional.
Austin said the ordinance could be
found to be directed against a particular
viewpoint and could fail to allow pro
testers with adequate channels to pro
mote their message. Duncan said the
ordinance amounted to “criminating
one side of a religious dispute.”
The City Council will hold another
hearing on the ordinance at next week’s
meeting, 'when it is expected to vote on
the measure.
Accessibility an issue for Wendy’s owners
By Kim Sweet
Staff writer
As Wendy’s restaurants across the
’ nation try to cook the best burger, they
also will try to make those burgers
more accessible.
i ■ But Wendy *s establishments in
Lincoln will be a little slower in making
restaurants more convenient for people
with disabilitiesin an out-of-court set
tlement in late August, the Wendyfc cor
poration agreed to either widen or
remove die serpentines, or zigzag rail
ings that lead up to the counters, in their
1,700 corporate-owned or leased loca
tions across the nation. The goal is to
make the ordering lines more accessi
Die 10 people wno use wneeicnairs.
As Wendy’s establishments nation
wide scramble over the next 18 months
to make the renovations, Lincoln-area
Wendy’s restaurants will not be as
quick to make die changes, said Drew
Harris, franchise owner.
Because the restaurants in Lincoln
are locally owned, they are not required
to make changes in line with any agree
ments made by the corporate office.
But that doesn’t mean the changes
won’t take place, Harris said.
Renovations started this summer in
a Wendy fc restaurant on 930 N. 48* St
The purpose of the renovations was not
to make the lines more wheelchair
accessible, but to remove die salad bar;
Harris said.
Although a new serpentine layout is
in the works, the contractors’ plans
most likely do not contain the new mea
surements. This happened because the
renovations began, before the agree
ment, said Rebecca Lusk, spokes
woman for Wendy’s International.
Those measurements were approved by
the U.S. Justice Department after the
out-of-court agreement
The downtown location on 1336 Q
St., which is up for renovation next
l/AQt iirill o nn/Ior ntola
all Wendy's blueprints contain new
measurements after die Department of
Justice approved than, Lusk said.
The plans for renovations at local
restaurants are drawn up by the corpo
rate office, Harris said.
Though renovations are only being
made at two of the four locations,
Harris stressed that the Lincoln
Wendy’s establishments strive to be
handicapped-accessible. She has
received no complaints from cus
tomers.
Currently, the stores’ serpentines
contain removable chains, which allow
wheelchairs to navigate through the
line.
Hosts and hostesses are available to
help if the customer desires, Harris
said.
She said customers have been .
appreciative of the special treatment
“I believe they are all grateful,”
Harris said. “To my knowledge we
haven’t received complaints from any
one”. ; . r I 7.;,^ L:,' ,
Jonathon Gonasis, assistant manag
er of the Wendy’s on 3210 Corhusker
Highway, said the restaurant’s policy
keeps customers happy.
“We’ve generally got a way to treat
diem really well,” he said.
Hams said the serpentines are nec
essary for customer control.
“Wendy’s concept was always first
in line, first served,” he said.
Lusk said that most corporate
owned or leased restaurants will opt for
the wider serpentine rather than remov
ing diem completely.
Currently, all Lincoln Wendy’s
stores comply fully with Americans
with Disabilities Act guidelines, Harris
said.
If the changes in the out-of-court
agreement alter ADA guidelines, the
Lincoln Wendy’s stores will comply,
Harris said.
“We’ll be there in the future,”
Harris said. “If the government asks us
to change codes, we’ll change diem.” *
Friends, family mourn loss of professor
By Ckyotie Nichols
Staff writer
Albert Stone, a professor of interior
design, will be affectionately remem
bered by his students and colleagues at
die University ofNebraska-Lincoln.
< Stone died June 8 in Lincoln after
suffering a heart attack. He was 47.
He had a great impact on many of
his interior design students, including
senior interior design major Sara
Tf-4.
raster.
“He was the most influential profes
sor I’ve ever had,” she said.
“I teamed more in his class than any
other in my past three years. He was
vary passionate about interior design
and for his students to achieve the
knowledge and understanding of the
concepts of design.”
A ceremony will be held to remem
ber Stone’s life Friday at 6 p.m. at
Cornerstone, 640N. 16* St
“He was an honest man who would
go out of his way to help anybody” said
his father; Elmer Stone ofYictoi; Idaho.
Stone’s father received a stream of
letters from his son’s students and col
leagues. He learned his son was well
appreciated in Lincoln:
He said one letter from a fellow pro
fessor stated, “UNL was a better place
because he associated among us.”
Stone’s father was proud ofhis son’s
awards, especially the Who’s Who
Outstanding Teacher^ Award.
Albert Stone was an assistant pro
fessor of architecture. He resigned last
semester to move back to his hometown
in Idaho to help take care of his par
ents.“The college will be lacking and he
is going to be missed,” said Krista
Hottovy, a former student of History of
Design.
Stone was bom May 28,1951, in
Driggs, Idaho, to Elmer and Annie
Sterne.
He graduated from Teton High
School in 1969. He then served with a
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints mission in Japan from 1971-73,
according to an obituary that appeared
in the Teton Valley (Idaho) News in
June.
He received his associates degree
from Rides College in Rexbuig, Idaho,
in 1973. He then attended Brigham
Young University in Provo, Utah, and
received his bachelor of arts in 1976. He
earned his master of Science from
Oklahoma State University in Stillwater
in 1982.
Along with his love for teaching,
Stone had an extensive antique collec
tion, which included his 1938 Chevrolet
sedan that he had restored. .
His Ideh adventures included trav
els to Europe and white-water rafting.
He also was an accomplished mnsiciffli
who touched many lives with his music,
the newspaper article stated
He is survived by his parents, Elmer
and Annie Stone of Victor, Idaho; his
sisters - Louise Wrathall and ho* hus
band Don of Las Vegas; Beth Osborne
and her husband A1 of Bhifldale, Utah;
and numerous nephews and nieces. ,
Funeral services were June 13 in the
Victor Second Ward Chapel in Idaho.
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