Biplane Crash Lands Remembering Martin Luther King by Ron Hefner Washington Rally of Requested Support for the Staff Writer 1964
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
> nil ' ' Police reports Walk on wiidside Music man page 3A page 1C JANUARY 17, 1997 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 10 3 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES Biplane crash lands Remembering Martin Luther King By Ron Hefner Washington rally of requested support for the Staff Writer 1964. In June of that St. Augustine march. "He fully believed that year, King was conduct- "We were told that we we would overcome," ing a protest march in St. would probably be reminisced Rabbi Augustine. "The move- arrested," said Saltzman. Murray Saltzman, who ment was sort of falter- "Seventeen rabbis came not only marched with ing there," said down and joined the Dr. Martin Luther King Saltzman. "Police were march. We were in a seg- and was jailed with him, hostile and were threat- regated black park and but today continues what ening demonstrators." were reciting the twenty- he sees as a life-long cru- King called the third Psalm. All of us, sade against racial dis- Central Conference of including King, were crimination. American Rabbis, con- arrested and charged Saltzman had heard vening at the time in •please sec page 2A King speak at the famous Atlantic City, and Lee pleads guilty in court Emergency crews and witnesses chat near the crash location as a rope is tied to the sightseeing plane. By Maryjeanne McAward which carries a prison term up to 5 By Mark S. Krzos Special to the Island Reporter years, involving Exchange Equity Inc. News Editor Pecten Court resident Jack M. Lee, of Peoria. This was a partnership Witnesses said they could hear the 56, pled guilty to nine of 41 federal formed to acquire and renovate the nlane's enjjine sputteiing from the charges, including bank, mail and wire Gtiffith Building, a historic building in ground and up in the air the pilot of a fraud, money laundering and perjury, m Newark, N.J. Thirteen Gnfiith partneis 1940 Waco biplane knew something U.S. District Court in Peoria, 111. He lost $70,000 to Lee, after he used the was wtong. was scheduled for trial Monday, Jan. partnership's working capital to pay, For the second time in four months, 13. among other expenses, his own legal Craig vStiansky owner of the Page The plea agreement entered last July fees and taxes on real state unrelated to Field based company Barnstormer Air could send him to prison for the rest of Exchange Equity. Inc. and pilot of the sightseeing plane his life. According to the agreement, Lee Lee will be sentenced May 16 by also pled guilty to three counts of bank named "Barnstormer" cravsh-landed on a Southwest Florida beach. U.S. District Court Chief Judge fraud, each of which carries up to a 20 Tuesday, Stransky was giving an Michael Mihm. As part of the agree-' year prison term. In February, 1990, he aerial tour of the islands when 15 min- ment, Lee waived his right to appeal illegally obtained $337,000 from utes into his flight he realized some- the sentence imposed by the judge. He Amcore Bank of Pekin, 111., by provid- thing was seriously wrong. will also forfeit $337,000. Prosecutors ing false information on three separate "The engine was pounding. It dropped the other 32 charges in loan applications. sounded really bad," Stransky said exchange for the plea. He also pled guilty to one count of wiping salt-water from his brow. "I Supervisory Assistant United States money laundering, which carries a told the passengers we're gonna have Attorney Darilynn Knauss in the U.S. prison term up to 10 years, stemming to do an emergency landing." Attorney's Office in Peoria said Lee •please see page 2A Stransky said he spotted an area of pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, beach that was people free and braced the two German teen-age boys for an Sewer system public meeting Tuesday emergency landing. By Mark S. Krzos island, "I had to do a downward landing. News Editor Since some of the subdivisions in There was a strong tail-wind," Pilot Craig Stransky, wrapped For well over a year the city of question are among some of the lower Stransky said. "It was going fine even in a towel, answers questions Sanibel has been gearing up for this income areas of the island, forcing con- after we touched down, but I started from the local media after a moment and for over two months nection to the Sanibel Sewer System at going toward the water and I couldn't crash-landing on Sanibel's Sanibel residents in 13 subdivisions are such a high cost could be detrimental to shores. eagerly awaiting Tuesday's meeting of the economic diversity of the island. control it." the City Council where they will finally Although the city has remained on Stransky, who's been a pilot for 16 the best I could." get a chance to kick, shout and scream course in hammering out plans for the years said the beach appeared to be a Stransky said once the plane hit the in opposition of the city's plan for a sewer system, some alternatives to the perfect location for an emergency water it overturned and his responsi- sewer system. current plan are expected to be present- landing. bility as a pilot became one of rescuer. According to the city, a sewer sys- ed. One alternative suggested by City "When I touched down, it felt like I "When I hit the water, my number tem is an environmental must due to Council member Andrew Reding is a hit a rut," Stransky said blaming the one priority was making sure everyone the island's high ground water levels mixed formula of financing where indi- beach for forcing his plane into the was okay," Stransky said. "We came to and the unstable base on which most vidual connection should be paid gulf. "It just started drifting toward the septic systems are built. entirely by the homeowner, sewer water. I couldn't control it and as soon •please see page 2A But for homeowners slapped with an mains should be paid for by the city and the gravity feed should be paid by as it hit the water, it flipped over. I did exorbitant cost to connect to the system (some are being asked to pay over both the city and the homeowner. $13,000), the bad may far outweigh the Tuesday's public meeting of the City It's time to stop by... good. Council will finally give islanders a The Island Reporter pictorical history books are in and available for pick up at According to some residents at the chance to speak out either in favor or in the office at 2340 Periwinkle Way. Anyone who did not pay for postage should December informational meetings on opposition of the sewer system. Tabbed sewer connection, the high cost of con- for the afternoon session, the sewer pick up their copy of the book. Additional orders are now being taken for the necting to the system will force some debate promises to be one of the most next printing of the Sanibel-Captiva history book. to sell their homes and relocate off- heated discussions this year. s ^BM^IA" &3E![r'!rr'?!^r^ 2A Q JANUARY 17, 1997 • ISLAND REPORTER MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. -from page 1A with felony and conspiracy. They put us in a chicken "He was filled with faith and coop, outside in hundred-degree heat. We were kept hope...He was concerned that we were there for several hours without food or water." going to break the law, but he felt it was The protesters were then crammed like cattle into a tiny jail cell designed for one or two people. "The our responsibility to do so." sheriff came in with several armed policeman," remembers Saltzman. "He told us we would have to -Rabbi Murray Saltzman separate, blacks from whites. When we mentioned our constitutional rights, he said 'You have no consti- answered, "The challenge is no different today than tutional rights. We'd just as soon shoot a nigger or a yesterday. King stood opposed to all forms of bigotry. Jew as shoot a squirrel.'" He spoke out against anti-Semitism and Hispanic dis- What happened next can only be described as an crimination. He was concerned with the injured, the unforgettable moment: "The Reverend Fred vulnerable, the poor in all walks of life. And he was Shuttleworth, King's top aide, broke through the line, clearly committed to non-violence. He believed in went up to the sheriff, and said, 'I love you, brother.' America's ability to change." Then, they marched out peacefully. The sheriff nearly Saltzman said King's assassination brought "a had an apoplectic fit." sense of great loss. And, a sense of fear that disillu- At the time, Saltzman figured he was not only sionment would deter people from their commitment. headed for a jail sentence but had also lost his job. "I Violence always frightens people; it makes them called the president of my congregation and told him move back and abandon the cause." I was probably going to miss the Sabbath services. For Saltzman, the battle is one which is passed on He told me this was what I was getting paid for, and from generation to generation. "The counterculture of if I couldn't be there, don't bother coming back. I had that time believed too much in the achievements of every expectation of losing my job." one lifetime. The problems aren't going to be As it turned out, Saltzman returned home a media Rabbi Murray Saltzman is a leader in civil rights and was jailed with Martin Luther resolved in a short period of time.