Wisconsin Wednesday July 31,1985 Madison, Wisconsin State Journal *** 35 cents Mountaintop lures hikers to a grisly end By E.A. Torriero Besides Frith, 24, of Mountain View, Calif., another Illuminated by moonlight, the survivors were ©Knight-Ridder News Service hiker, Brian Jordon, 16, of Hayward, Calif., was killed plucked from Half Dome in a daring and dangerous when lightning struck the top of Half Dome early midnight helicopter rescue nearly six hours after YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Robert Saturday evening. lightning danced across the football-field-size peak. Frith was rolling toward his death. Two other hikers — Thomas Rice, 28, of Los Gatos, Rangers say the men, part of a nine-member hik- Like four of his hiking friends, Frith had been Calif., and Bruce Weiner, 24, of Mountain View — were ing party, played a risky game. jolted by lightning atop Yosemite's Half Dome. listed Monday in serious but stable condition at the Ignoring three signs warning them to turn back if He was convulsing, spitting up food, hysterically University of California at Davis Medical Center in electrical storms were in the area, the men continued chanting meaningless words and thrashing about only Sacramento. their trek to the crest of granite that was once thought inches from the edge of the 8,842-foot monolith. Doctors said the men's legs were burned so se- inaccessible to humans. A hand, that of a burned and pain-stricken friend, verely that the muscles bloated. Surgeons operated They literally walked into a charcoal thunderhead reached out. For a few seconds, Frith held on. for nearly two hours to release the internal pressure that shrouded Half Dome from the view of Yosemite It was raining. It was dark. Death would have its caused by the lightning shocks. It was uncertain Valley. way. whether the victims would be able to walk again, doc- Nearing the end of their six-hour hike, five of the The friend lost his hold. He made a desperate tors said. men ascended the slanted, wooden, cable-supported reach for a piece of Frith's T-shirt. A fifth hiker, Adrian Esteban, 27, of San Jose, Calif., stairs that mark the final push to the lip of Half Dome. "Inch by inch, his shirt tore," said Jim Lee, a U.S. was treated Sunday at a medical clinic in Yosemite There was a driving rain. One of the men report- park ranger. "Finally the shirt gave. He fell 1,800 feet. and could not be found for comment Monday. edly slipped but got up and continued upward. That was the end of him." Esteban told rescue workers that he was clinging On nearby peaks, hikers reported hail so large that On Monday, U.S. rangers were piecing together the to the granite when lightning stuck. Numb for 15 cars were dented. Thunderbolts lit up the sky every sequence of what they say is one of the worst hiking minutes, Esteban suffered burns and bruises, on his tragedies in the modern history of the park. legs and buttocks from the electrical charge. Turn to Page 2, Col. 1 Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Town has worst rate of crime By Marvin Balousek 9,534.6 per 100,000 population, second- Police reporter highest in the state. The highest rate in Wisconsin for The town of Madison had the all property offenses was in Glendale worst crime rate in Wisconsin last (pop. 14,003), a Milwaukee suburb, year, according to a Wisconsin Coun- with 9,644.6 offenses per 100,000 popu- cil on Criminal Justice report. lation. The town of Madison ranked The rate for index crimes in the third with 9,243.8 property offenses town of Madison (pop. 6,480) was per 100,000 people. 10,493.8 per 100,000 population — the Besides placing second in property highest in the state. Index crimes in- offenses, Monona also had the second- clude murder, forcible rape, robbery, highest theft rate with 7,309.9 per aggravated assault, burglary, theft, 100,000 population and led the state in motor vehicle theft and arson. arsons with 158.9 per 100,000 people. Per capita offenses are calculated Monona actually had 840 property by figuring the number of offenses if crimes, including 644 thefts and 14 each municipality had a population of arson cases in 1984. 100,000. Milwaukee (pop. 602,934) led In the city of Madison (pop. the state in raw numbers of crimes — 172,583) the rate of 252.6 violent of- index (48,080), violent (3,456) and fenses per 100,000 population was property (44,624). about the same as the rate for Black With a rate of 1,250 offenses per River Falls or southern Polk County. 100,000 population, the town of Madi- The city of Madison had a rate of son also had the highest per capita 7,173.9 index crimes and 6,921.3 prop- rate for violent crime in Wisconsin erty offenses per 100,000 population. last year. The city actually had 12,381 index In 1984, the town of Madison had crimes last year, of which 436 were no murders, 4 forcible rapes, 11 rob- violent offenses and 11,945 were prop- beries and 66 aggravated assaults. erty offenses. The number of robberies declined Weather takes a dive from 21 in 1983 while aggravated as- The safest place in the state was saults more than doubled from 28 the Waterloo (pop. 2,505), which reported Judges at the all-city diving meet might just as well have place medals were awarded in eight age categories. The previous year. no violent crimes last year. rated Tuesday's weather a "5" — bad form, with rain and a Parkcrest team, coached by Karl Miller, won the team The town of Madison also led the The lowest crime rate in Wiscon- high of 66 degrees (17 degrees lower than the normal high championship. The All-City swimming meet will be Thurs- state with a rate of 1,018.5 aggravated sin was reported in Algoma (pop. for July'30). The meet, at the Monona City Pool, attracted day through Saturday at the Nakoma Golf Club pool. Details assaults per 100,000 population. 3,711), which had 646.7 total index 180 divers from seven teams. First-, second- and third- in Sports. In Monona (pop. 8,810), the per crimes and 619.8 property offenses —State Journal photo by Joseph W. Jackson III capita rate for property offenses was per 100,000 population. ton State quizzes UW booster clubs Inside slaying suspect Faulty sensors Associated Press she said. Glarus. The others are based in Madi- Under state law, charitable organ- son. A shutdown of a main engine Nine booster groups that contrib- izations that raise more than $3,000 In letters dated July 16, Ms. Popp that threatened to dump Chal- By Richard W. Jaeger ute to the UW-Madison athletic pro- annually must register with the state asked five more groups to submit the lenger into the ocean during launch was caused by faulty Regional reporter gram were asked to provide informa- so the degree of their fund-raising is same type of information by Aug. 5. tion about their activities so the state made public, she said. sensors and not flawed rockets, Those groups were the Bench Warm- meaning that future shuttle Lafayette County Judge Daniel can determine whether they should Two of the groups have submitted ers, the Crew Association, the Over- McDonald, accused of murdering a flights can go ahead as sched- be required to meet more stringent letters detailing the scope of their time Club, the Weigh-in Club and the Darlington lawyer, was transferred standards. uled, a NASA source said Tues- Tuesday from his jail cell in Darling- fund-raising and several others had Wingfoot Club. day in Houston. See Page 2. ton to University Hospital in Madison As of .Tuesday, none of the sports telephoned the department to seek The Dugout Club was given an ex- for treatment of malnutrition. Daniel McDonald booster'groups had provided enough details about the request, Ms. Popp tension until Aug. 15 to provide finan- The move was ordered by doctors information to determine whether said. She said she would probably ask cial information, Ms. Popp said. The Soviets ripped who examined McDonald after jail- prosecutor, said McDonald's family their fund-raising activities will re- for more detailed information from National "W" Club was given an ex- ers reported difficulty waking him members told him during the week- quire them to file registration and an- the groups after she received their Secretary of State George tension until Aug. 6 after a represent- Shultz lashed out at the Soviet Tuesday morning. end that McDonald was not feeling nual financial disclosure statements initial responses. ative called Tuesday, Ms. Popp said. Milwaukee County Judge Thomas well and complained he was not get- with the department, according to Union In Helsinki, Finland, Doherty approved the move Tuesday ting enough food. Patty Popp of the Department of Four private sports groups — Tuesday with an item-by-item afternoon after an emergency tele- Hayes said McDonald was exam- Regulation and Licensing. Butch's Badger Bologna Benefit, the recitation of charges that it has phone conference among the parties Dugout Club, the National "W" Club betrayed promises in human ined at the jail by two doctors, David The deadline for four of the groups Today's chuckle involved in the murder case. Ruf and Richard Roberts. They said and the Women's Intercollegiate rights made 10 years ago when McDonald's lawyer, William McDonald was "about 5 percent dehy- to meet the request is today.