The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 29

The Tampa Tribune 3-NW Thursday, August 20, 1987 Mom says dead man beaten in past was still unknown pending a finding "The police thought his car had been stolen, but then they found it The repair shop called and left a message on my son's answering machine saying that his car was she said. Ward's body was discovered by a motel maid at 1:30 p.m. Monday in room 154. His body was lying just inside the doorway. Cole said.

Ward had checked into the motel Sunday night, but Cole declined to say whether he was alone or the exact check-in time. Ward's mother said she and her husband are still reeling from the loss of their son, but are eager for more information. "My husband is just she said. "But nobody has told us what happened, and we'd like very much to By ANDREW GROSS by the medical examiner. Ward's mother said that her son was in perfect health, except for the injuries he suffered when he was mugged six weeks ago in Sarasota.

"He was choked and hit on the head," she said. "He hadn't gone back to work since, and he had been wearing a neck brace." Neither the Sarasota Sheriffs Office nor the Sarosota Police Department could confirm the mugging incident. The woman said Ward, a lifelong bachelor, may have brought his Pontiac to Tampa to have a faulty transmission repaired. She also said her son had been contemplating a move to Tampa. Police later recovered the car, but declined to say where it was found.

Tribune Staff Writer The mother of a 44-year-old Sar asota man found dead in a Tampa motel Monday said her son had been mugged and badly beaten only six weeks ago. The woman, who asked not to be named, said her son, Gilbert Taylor Ward, was thinking about moving to Tampa recently. Ward, of 7133 Point of Rocks Circle, was found sprawled on the floor of his motel room bv a maid at the Interchange Motor Inn, 109 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa police are investigating Ward's death as a homicide, but are releasing few details.

Police spokesman Steve Cole said Monday that Ward did appear to have suffered a blow, but the exact cause of death Hearing on sewer rate fees set for today TAMPA A public hearing on raising sewer con nection, improvement and disposal fees is planned this morning before the City Council. Immediately following the hearing, the council will vote on the increases. It will be the second public hearing on the subject and the second and final reading of the ordinance before council members. "So far, we've had no negative comments about the A sewer improvement fee of $2,500 would be imposed for new customers. The sewer rates change every two or three years, Morriss said, and the connection and improvement rates would rise for the first time in 14 years.

The rates would take effect after Oct. 1, when the fiscal year 1988 budget goes into effect. "I'm in favor of it," said Tom Vann, the council chairman. "I've told the administration to go out and get with the various builders associations that have endorsed it." Craig Weber, of the Builders Association of Greater Tampa, said his organization supports the increases. The new fees would pay for expanding the Hooker's Point Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant and for improving water transmission systems.

increases. No one's called to complain," said Jack Mor-riss, sanitary sewer department director. "On the contrary, people have said it's a reasonable change and it'll enable us to respond to the city's growth." The proposed increases are: The monthly sewer rate for an average household would go from $12.40 to $16. The sewer connection fee for new users would go from $800 to an an average of $1,543. First-grade testing abolished as traumatic According to information provided to School Board members, the elementary school principals recommended ending the program because some parents and students feel they have failed when bright students do not pass the test.

The early entrance tests will be given this fall because some parents already expect their children to take them, officials said. The tests will not be offered for the 1988-89 school year. The School Board abolished the testing policy Tuesday on the recommendation of Superintendent Raymond Shelton and elementary school principals. Shelton said the testing, which was used to allow students to advance to the first grade before age 6, created more problems than it solved. Only 12 of 100 students who were tested last fall passed the early entrance examination, school records show.

TAMPA Children seeking early admission into first grade won't have to pass the entrance test next year because Hillsborough County school officials think it could promote feelings of failure among parents and pupils. The testing program will be replaced by a committee in each elementary school that will decide whether a child is mentally, socially and emotionally mature enough to skip kindergarten and go directly into the first grade before age 6. CONTACT LENSES AND EYE St. Tropez Tanning Spa AUGUST SPECIAL GLASSES AVAILABLE when your looking tor Quality, Style, Price unlimited monthly tanning sessions Cialicxu First quality ladies sportswear, sweaters, jeans, pants, woven blouses, jackets, culottes, walk shorts. No seconds or irregulars! INC Bourbon Street of Carrollwood 5265 Ehrllcti RrJ.

i2L 8019 A West Hillsborough Avenue Hillsborough Commons Suite 102 Phone: 485-3044 968-3969 LADIES' $9 FASHIONS j3 (Next to Karry) CURLEW RD. ULUjffliiin -586 Woodlands Square 3120 S.R. 584 Oldsmar 786-4499 I plus I I 4f HILLSBOROUGH AVF M5B0iWiHgBHARB0fl ArS SSTcAMPBELUW GULF TO I HAT HI VII MM 19 OLD TAMPA BAY I Of Equal Or Lesser Value I I Right Timing Key to Lower Prices in Clothing By Kathryn Whitworth OR rp One Pair! 0vflLUE vision 10939 N. 56th St. In Sherwood Forest Temple Terr.

985-1400 i fcJMe, Ctrlh Cnulof- itiiio wuiii mm FACTORY DIRECT TO THE PUBLIC Visit our decorator The store carries all the latest, name-brand fashions. There is no need to put a price tag on each item, they all sell for a mere $9. You may wonder how Tom Swayze and his partner Nancy Dugan can own and operate a store which sells women's apparel for $9 when other department stores are getting anywhere from $20 to $50 for the same items. The answer to that question, Swayze says, is the secret to the success of Ladies $9 Fashions, a women's apparel store in the Woodlands Square Shopping Center, 3120 S.R. 584 in Oldsmar.

"We buy at the end of the buying season instead of at the beginning like most department stores do." Swayze said. Swayze said the stores carries the season of clothing in conjunction with the season of weather, "We don't jump seasons like department stores do," Swayze said. "For us, we will carry summer fashions all and we'll pick up fall at the beginning of the season." The profitability of the store lies in the two owners' each 20-year veterans of the buying industryskills in strategic buying and marketing, according to Swayze. They purchase clothing from companies that may have had an overrun of certain items, or those items which are out of season for the major department stores, which display winter clothers in the dead of summer and vice versa. "We have made our niche in this market because we sell quality merchandise at one low price without any catches," Swayze said.

The price of everything in the store is either $9 or less. All of the name-brand clothes sell for $9. They do not carry second-hand or irregular clothing; it is all top of the line merchandise, Swayze said. However, if they do receive something which is less than perfect, they may put it on a special rack for $4.50. Before jumping into the business of discount fashions, Swayze spent a year traveling around the country to study other stores using the same concept of one-price merchandise, that one price varying, but remaining under $10.

Swayze said he arrived at the $9 ticket price because consumers have a "price point" of $10. "As long as it is under $10, it doesn't matter if it is $5 or $9.99," Swayze said. The store carries a wide range of sizes in juniors, and missy sizes, including pe-tites. "The customers we see are like this," Swayze explained, "A grandmother, mother and two daughters walk into the store and every one of them walk out with clothing." Swayze said he hopes to make the Oldsmar store the first of a locally based chain of stores serving the Suncoast. Ladies $9 Fashions is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday noon-6 p.m.

excerpts reprinted from Suncoast News $499 5 t-S 4 fsf rj pi L2 5 he Fi rs fi 13 fca v2r ps ai i i i 14 verticals in selected fabrics up to 79" wide 84" high includes valance or laminated track Free shop-at-home service also available. showroom featuring a large, colorful selection of custom-made verticals and miniblinds at factory prices. Get the highest quality products and installation with a lifetime warranty. 2 Showrooms open 9am-5pm S3t. 10am-3pm Moved out Carrollwood Store to New Larger Showroom located at: Grand Plaza 14407 N.

Dale Mabry Hwy. Tampa (between Chevy's and Workout America) 962-3336 Brandon Lakes Plaza 2020 W. Brandon Blvd. (next to Thomasville furniture) 681-7192 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE 1987.