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O’Rourke of Houston said the decision had blown a possible out-of-court settlement out of the water. Lo-Vaca’s chief executive confirmed that the company had been in the process of reaching an agreed settlement with its customers. Walter Wendlandt of Austin, former head of the RRC’s gas utilities division, called the decision a “donothing, buck-passing copout,” which is very strong language indeed for Wendlandt. However, Wendlandt noted that the cities of Austin and San Antonio got themselves into this mess by opposing RRC regulation a few years ago, when Coastal wanted out of its long-term, low-cost contracts. At this point, the options don’t look good. The RRC, having stalled for two and a half years, could easily keep granting extensions on the decision, while customers continue to pay 100 percent passthroughs, until the RRC gets a new member next January. Or the customers could just shoot the horse, as it were, and take their chances with the federal bankruptcy folks. Or the customers can go with the RRC’s own, notoriously inadequate rate-making practices, which Don Butler, Austin’s utility consultant, calls “a gimmick to allow the utilities more money.” Bob Folsom, the millionaire, ex-SMU football star, won the Dallas mayor’s race. He beat former city councilman Garry Weber, the other millionaire, ex-SMU football star in the race, by a couple of percentage points. The two, in their millionaireish, ex-SMU football star fashion, managed to spend about $700,000 between them vying for the $50-a-week job. Some fine old mud-slinging developed in the latter days of the run-off. Folsom took out an ad revealing to an unsuspecting citizenry that “Garry Weber actively seeks and accepts support of ecology and environmental groups. On the other hand, Garry Weber has a roomful! of game trophies he himself shotmany of which are on the Endangered Species list.” The spelling and the emphasis are Folsom’s. A drawing of a melancholy rhino head decorated the ad. The Dallas Morning News, which seemed to endorse Folsom every other day, took a pet over Weber’s referring to Folsom as “the CCA candidate.” Folsom was smart enough to realize that an endorsement from the Citizens Charter Association, THE Dallas Establishment, was a political liability in this race, so the CCA didn’t endorse him. But even the DMN was aware that Folsom’s candidacy was not the result of parthenogenesis. He was the CCA candidate. Notwithstanding the inroads made by single member districting, it looks as though the old Dallas Establishment is riding high again. Speaker Billy Wayne Clayton and his . minions are out to scuttle the liberal House Study Group again, and this time they may succeed. The House Administration Committee, chaired by Pete Laney of Hale Center, voted to change the House rules so that no employee can be paid by more than two members. That seems to obviate the four-member staff of the HSG, whose salaries are paid by the 40-odd members in the HSG. The members were apparently too busy campaigning before primary day to raise much objection to Laney’s coup. The Laney ruling will also affect other employees paid by two-or-more reps. The ad hoc House group concerned with utilities regulation, the black caucus, the chicano caucus, House environmentalists, and any other group of reps who want to pool resources to get research done on a specific Observers and some participants including the speaker, have been predicting that House liberals will be in a bad way next session, what with veteran libs like Neil Caldwell of Alvin and Carl Parker of Port Arthur no longer on the scene. At this rate, the libs won’t even have to wait for the start of the session for the gutting to begin. Ann Fears Crawford, co-author of John B. Connally: Portrait in Power, is suing James Conaway and his publisher, Alfred Knopf, Inc., for plagiarism in Conaway’s book The Texans. Jack Keever, the other author of the Connally book, hasn’t yet decided whether to join the suit. Conaway’s Texans was the subject of a stinging review by Hoyt Purvis in the Houston Chronicle. Purvis said Conaway had “vastly underacknowledged dependence on other published sources,” primarily the Crawford/Keever book and Ronnie bugger’s book on the University of Texas. Classified advertising is 200 per word. Discounts for multiple insertions within a 12-month period; 26 times, 50%; 12 times, 25%; 6 times, 10%. BOOKPLATES. Free catalog. Many beautiful designs. Special designing too. Address: BOOKPLATES, P.O. Box 28-1, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387. PLAYING THE RECORDER IS EASY. Free catalog, best recorders, recorder music. Beginner’s Pearwood Soprano Book, $11.95. Amster Music, 1624 Lavaca, Austin. GUITAR PICKERS. Buy your guitar strings from us and save 20%. Mail orders accepted. Amster Music, 1624 Lavaca, Austin. BOOK-HUNTING? No obligation search for rare or out-of-print books. Ruth and John McCully. Austin, Texas 78703. WANTED. Political campaign buttons and memorabilia. National or state. George Meyer, 2204 Matthews Dr., Austin 78703, or phone 478-2848. FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY Y: For the Bicentennial year, people currently involved with the University Y in Austin are writing a short paperback history which will salute our organiza The Pedernales Electric Co-op has confirmed that it paid its legal coun sel, A. W. Moursund, $10,000 in 1975 above and beyond his regular annual salary of $22,000. The co-op has repeatedly refused to let its member/consumers look at the PEC books. In other PEC news, U.S. Sen. Lee Metcalf of Montana read Highlander editor John Moore’s article on the co-op in the March 26 Observer. He then wrote a letter to the Rural Electrification Administration asking the REA to comment on the company’s reticence about financial affairs and other questionable practices mentioned in the Observer article. Metcalf also shot off a letter to the chairman of the Federal Power Commission concerning another piece in the March 26 issue, the article concerning power company contributions to the Trinity Improvement Association. Some companies the Observer investigated did not specifically list in FPC reports their expenditures for such things as country club memberships, charitable donations, and directors’ salaries. Metcalf reminded FPC Chairman Richard L. Dunham that it is FPC policy to require itemization of miscellaneous general expenses under Account 930. Metcalf asked Dunham to provide him with a list of all the electric and gas utilities that did not properly itemize their entries last year and to inform him of what action the FPC intended to take to get compliance with reporting requirements. May 7, 1976 11 tion’s eventful past. We need information from all of you who gave your time and energy to the Y. Please take the time to write us a letter telling the high point of your involvement with The University YMCA/YWCA. Clippings, photos, and anecdotes will be appreciated. Send to: The University Y, 2330 Guadalupe, Austin, Texas 78705. THE NEW YORK TIMES Sunday edition delivered to your home in the Dallas area. Call 2395325 for rates and information. NEED SOMETHING from Germany? Jim & Hanni International, 1600 Northwood, Austin 78703. 474-2582. INTERESTED IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE RE-FORM? Join the National Council on Crime and Delinquency in Texas. Write NCCD, 3409 Executive Center Drive, No. 212, Austin, Texas 78731. BUMPERSTICKERS. “S.1One Giant Goosestep for Mankind.” 3 for $1. Texas Civil Liberties Union, 600 West 7th, Austin, Texas 78701. NEW ORLEANS ON $8 A YEAR. The Weekly Courier, 1232 Decatur, 70116. JOIN COMMON CAUSE. Only one person can make democracy work again … YOU. $15 \($7 Lavaca, Austin, Texas 78701. CLASSIFIED