The Michigan Daily-Saturday, June 30, 1979-Page 3
AGREES TO REPA Y $40,000
Diggs admits taking kickbacks
From UPI and AP
WASHINGTON - Rep. Charles
Diggs, (D-Mich.), yesterday confessed
he received $40,000 in payroll kickbacks
from his staff in the mid-1970s, and
agreed to repay the money and accept
House censure without a prolonged
Ethics Committee hearing.
The committee promptly voted 11-0 to
accept the offer and recommend the
House censure Diggs, already convic-
ted on 29 federal payroll-padding and
mail fraud counts and facing a three-
year sentence which he is appealing.
Voters in Diggs' district in Detroit
overwhelmingly reelected him last
November despite the conviction.
DIGGS TOLD the committee, "I ad-
mit I was personally enriched" by
$28,385.02, which was received from
four other employees. But he said in
those cases he did not intentionally
violate any rule.
"I apologize to my colleagues for the
discredit that I have brought to the
House by my conduct," Diggs said in a
letter read by attorney David Povich.
"I sincerely regret the errors in
judgment which led to this
proceeding."
The committee cannot bind the
House, which still could vote to expel
the 13-term veteran, its senior black
member. Diggs already had given up
key committee and subcommittee
chairmanships pending his court ap-
peal.
CENSURE, WHICH is the severest
punishment in House rules short of ex-
pulsion, traditionally means the mem-
ber is publicly rebuked at a House
See DIGGS, Page 6
Pair charged with
cocaine possession
By TIM YAGLE
Two Ann Arbor residents were
arraigned in U.S. District Court in
Detroit yesterday on charges 'of "con-
spiracy to possess with the intent to
distribute cocaine," according to U.S.
Attorney Thomas Kramner.
Sandra Lopez, 31, and her brother,
John Lopez, 29, were arrested Thur-
sday night at 617S. Forest by agents of
the federal Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration in Detroit. The agents con-
fiscated 1,000 grams of cocaine, Kram-
ner said. ,
KRAMNER, OF the Control Substan-
ces Unit in the agency, could not
disclose the street value of the drug, as
it currently is being examined for
purity.
The maximum penalty upon convic-
tion is 15 years in jail and/or $25,000 in
fines, Kramner said.
Officials did not know whether the
two suspects are part of a drug ring.
FEDERAL DRUG Enforcement
agents staked out the house, and were
inside the house with the suspects for
more than an hour Thursday before'
emerging from the residence with
them.
Dr. Erwin Salisbury, landlord of the
house where the two were apprehen-
ded, said yesterday he was surprised at
the arrests.
"Gosh, the people I got in there are
responsible people," he said. "All the
tenants have always been responsible."
AP Photo
REP. CHARLES DIGGS (D-Mich.) yesterday admitted to violating a House rule
in using employe salary money to pay personal debts and said he would accept
censure from the full House.
today-
Adieu
The Fourth of July long weekend again puts the
Daily on hold. This is the last issue until July 6. En-
joy the vacation!
The mail standard
New standards for sizes of envelopes go into effect
July 15, according to Postmaster Richard
Schneeberger. Envelopes and cards measuring less
than three and a half inches high or five inches long
will be returned to the sender starting that day. En-
velope and greeting card manufacturers have had
three years to prepare for the new standards, so few
retailers should still be stocking odd-size material,
Schneeberger said. Also post cards will have to be
at least seven-thousands of an inch thick.
Freedom of information
and the college press
The federal government currently is contem-
plating action against the Daily Californian, the
student newspaper at the University of California at
Berkeley, because on June 13 the paper printed a
letter the government considers classified. The let-
ter was written by four atomic scientists to U.S.
Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), and deals with infor-
mation, both public and classified, about ther-
monuclear weapons. The letter speaks to the gover-
nment's lawsuit against The Progressive to prevent
publication of an article on the hydrogen bomb.
Daily Californian editors may face 10-year-prison
sentences and $10,000 fines. The Daily Illini, the
student newspaper at the University of Illinois,
joined the Daily Californian and printed the letter in
its June 26 issue. The Illini stated that it received
the copy of the letter and a cover letter in the mail.
An editor's note above the letter, which appeared on
the Illini's editorial page, said the paper printed the
"letter in the name of freedom of information." The
Michigan Daily has not yet received a copy of the
allegedly classified material similar to the one sent
to the Illini.
Happenings ...
... kick off the holiday weekend with a poetry
reading by Stephan Dunning and Isaac Eickerstaff
in West Park at 2 p.m.... there will be reading the
play, Hadrian VII at the Canterbury Loft, 332 S.
State St., at 8 p.m.... The Lighthouse, a Christian
performing group, will do their thing at 8 p.m. in the
Mendelssohn Theatre . .. Leo Kretzner will play
the dulcimer at 9 p.m. at the Ark ... FILMS: Ann
Arbor Co!op-Young Frankenstein, 7 p.m., and
10:20 p.m.; Start the Revolution Without Me, 8:40
p.m., both in Aud. 3, MLB ... Cinema Guild - The
Fury, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Old A & D
Aud. ... Cinema II-Smiles of a Summer Night,
7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Aud. A, Angell
Hall ... SUNDAY, James Dapogny, jazz pianist,
will perform during Brunch on the Terrace at the
Campus Inn at 10 a.m. and again at noon. Call 769-
2200 or 769-2282 for reservations ... Robert Wolf,
music student, will give a recital in Hill Auditorium
at 4 p.m.... the Spartacus Youth League is spon-
soring a meeting to discuss organizing sit-down
strikes to protest the closing of Chrysler Corp.'s
Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck. The meeting will
begin at 7:30 p.m. at the P.'R:C;U. Club at 2320
Caniff Ave., three blocks east of 1-75. Call 1-868-9095
for information and/or rides ... Joe Hickerson, ar-
chivist of folk songs for the Library of Congress will
be at the Ark at 9 p.m.... FILMS: Cinema
Guild-Chaplin shorts, 8 p.m., Old A & D
Aud... MONDAY, Hudson Ladd, carilloneur will
preform magic with the bells of Burton Tower from
7 p. m. until 8 p.m. ... TUESDAY, nothing is
planned. FILMS: Ann Arbor Film Co-
op-Minstrel Man, 7 p.m., Desperate Search, 8:30
p.m., both in Aud. A, Angell Hall ... WED-
NESDAY, Hudson Ladd will again provide musical
cheer with the Burton Tower bells between 7 p.m.
and 8 p.m.... enjoy the fireworks at the Ann Arbor
Airport on Airport Rd. near Ellsworth Rd. The sky
will light up at sundown ... THURSDAY, it's
American Heritage Night at the Michigan League
from 5 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. The menu is from the
Mexican Border states... the Palestinian Human
Rights Committee will meet in Conference Room 3
of the Michigan Union at 8 p.m.
On the outside
The odds are on catching some rays today, but
you'll have to wait until the afternoon when the
skies clear and the rain stops. The high will be 82,
and the low near 60*.
now
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