A. Planning

     The secretary of the city Zoning and Planning Board, Betty Forde, telephones to say that the regular board meeting scheduled for tomorrow night is called off because of the death this morning of the wife of the chairman, Philip Nicholson. The meeting, set for 8 o'clock in the city council chambers, will be held next Tuesday at 8 p.m. instead. Her name is Alice Nicholson. She was 42 and died of cancer.

B. Wind

     Police report: High winds last night damaged residences and businesses on State Highway 166 near Clovia. The winds were estimated at 80 miles an hour at their height, and they touched down for about two minutes at 11 p.m. Most of the damage, totaling $15,000, was to outbuildings. Largest single damage, about $5,000, was to the Crossroads Grocery at Three Corners Junction, where all the glass was blown out and merchandise shaken from shelves. Two gas pumps shattered and a storage building flattened. No injuries.

C. Zoo

     Information from Cyrus Tucek, the director of the zoo: The Newman Municipal Zoo has purchased two animals, a 6,000 pound female African elephant and a burro. After becoming accustomed to their surroundings, the animals will be put on exhibit. The elephant is named Baby and was obtained from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. The burro, which will be added to the Children's Zoo, is from the H. Gage Ranch in northern New Mexico and will be named by children who use the zoo. Suggested names will be put on a bulletin board and the children will vote. Names put up by zoo workers are Pancho, Rodney, Eeyore, Captain B, Secretariat, Taco, Chico, Cyrus, Mr. Cronkite and Cyrano.
     Tucek also said the zoo is considering the use of birth control methods to keep its tiger population down. The female tigers have been producing litters of three to five cubs every 10 months, he said, and the zoo has no room for them. Nor will other zoos accept the young tigers. "They're full up, too, and are using a time-release contraceptive implanted under the skin for females and vasectomies for males.
     "Lions, tigers and leopards are disappearing in the wild and proliferating in zoos and wildlife parks so fast there's no room for them," Tucek said.

D. District Attorney

     Paul Robinson, the district attorney, calls to say he will give a talk at a National Conference of Prosecutors convention in Chicago on July 23 where about 1,500 district attorneys will meet. His talk will be about the career-criminal tracking system that he says he has begun to use in Freeport. The system is designed to identify the frequent offender on arrest. An assistant district attorney is immediately assigned to the case and follows it, beginning with arraignment. "The purpose is to avoid plea bargaining with the resultant lenient sentences and probation for these offenders," he says. Robinson says the latest data show that career criminals commit 61 percent of all homicides, 76 percent of all rapes, 73 percent of all robberies and 65 percent of all aggravated assaults.

E. Laundromat

     Police report: Jerome Pardee, 20, 1874 Ogden St. in Freeport, arrested and charged with public drunkenness. Found naked in a laundromat at 402 Newell St. at 11 p.m. yesterday, Pardee told police that he planned to put his clothes back on as soon as the dryer was finished with them. Police had to wait 30 minutes for the cycle to finish before they could take him in.

F. Weather

     The weather bureau said temperatures over the past 24 hours ranged from 25 at 5 a.m. to 40, the high, at 2 p.m. This was the third straight day of unseasonably cold weather. This morning's temperature of 25 was the lowest for this time of year in 15 years. The all-time low for the date was in 1880, 15 degrees. The all-time high was 69 in 1991. The forecast for today is for lows in the 40s, highs in the 50s and an end to the sudden cold snap.

G. Fire

     The Freeport fire department reports two small fires overnight: a storeroom blaze at the IGA at 135 Kentucky Ave., 10:30 p.m., cause unknown, damage $450 in canned goods; a fire in a car in a garage at 630 Orcutt Ave., 11 p.m., cigarette ignited papers on car seat, $1,200 damage to the car. Dennis Held, car owner who lives at Orcutt address, treated for minor burns at Community Hospital and discharged. Wife saw smoke and pulled him from car. He had fallen asleep listening to a baseball game.

H. Parade

     The county volunteer fireman's association calls: It will hold its annual Kiddies Day Parade next Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m. at Massachusetts Avenue and Albany Street and running down Massachusetts through Freeport's business section to the grounds of the First Congregational Church, where judges will make awards for funniest costume, prettiest costume, smallest pet and best float. On display at the church grounds will be the new pumper purchased last month. Last year, 200 children from three to eight years took part. Mayor Sam Parnass will lead the parade, carrying his l-year-old daughter, Candy.

I. Ombudsman

     Bruce Stroh, a former high school basketball player in Freeport who was sentenced to 15 years in the state penitentiary for armed robbery he committed when he was 19, has been appointed state ombudsman for prisoners in state institutions. Stroh served nine years in prison where he earned a bachelor's degree in criminology from Mallory College's extension program.
     Gov. Janet Kocieniewski made the announcement today from the state capitol. "Stroh will investigate prisoner complaints and report directly to the governor," she said. "This is a new system that is designed to make us more responsive to the needs of inmates."
     Stroh was paroled five years ago and has worked as a probation officer in Freeport.

J. Recital

     Telephone call from the Freeport parent association secretary and notes from the switchboard operator: Artur Rothstein, a French concert pianist, has donated his services for a recital in the music wing of the Horace Mann School, Friday, 8 p.m. Tickets are $5. The concert will include Chopin's mazurkas and études, Beethoven's piano version of music from The Magic Flute and several works of Franz Liszt. Proceeds will go toward the purchase of a high-fidelity system for the music department.