Robert W. Plaster LEBANON, Mo. (AP) _ Robert W. Plaster, a Missouri business leader who was accused in the 1970s of plotting to bomb a competitor's truck in an effort to dominate the propane business, died Saturday. He was 78. Plaster died of natural causes at his home south of Lebanon, Laclede County Coroner Steve Murrell said. He made his fortune by turning Empire Gas into one of the nation's largest propane distributors. In the 1970s, he was acquitted after the U.S. Justice Department accused Empire of antitrust violations by using a variety of tactics to acquire a monopoly of the propane market. The Justice Department also accused Plaster, Empire and another man of working with two other men to use dynamite to destroy a competitor's tank truck. Plaster was defended by famous lawyer F. Lee Bailey and acquitted after a three-week trial. ___ William Claxton LOS ANGELES (AP) _ William Claxton, a photographer who worked with such entertainers as Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra and who helped establish the organization that runs the Grammy Awards, died Saturday. He was 80. Claxton died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications stemming from congestive heart failure, his son Christopher said. He was best known for his soulful portraits of jazz artists such as Chet Baker, and he went on to photograph Dylan and other musicians such as Joni Mitchell and Tom Jones. His images graced the covers of numerous albums. Claxton, a founding member of The Recording Academy, started his photography career in 1952 while a student at University of California, Los Angeles. He also worked with Sinatra, Steve McQueen and Rebecca De Mornay, and his photographs regularly appeared in such magazines as Life, Paris Match and Vogue. ___ Allan Spear MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Allan H. Spear, a former Minnesota state senator who was one of the nation's first openly gay legislators, died Saturday. He was 71. He died of complications after heart surgery performed Thursday, said Don Jorovsky, a longtime friend who used to work for Spear. Continued... |