------— —— —
—— —
------
A p ril 16, 1997
C om m itted to cultural divers
V o lum e X X V II, N um ber 16
American
Choreographers
Showcase
American Choreographers
Showcase has 12 upcoming
performances.
Helen Baylor
m in
Helen s vocals are still the
heart behind the music that
speaks most powerfully.
Tiger Hoods on Sunday
became the youngest golfer
in history to win the
Masters.
See Metro, page B i.
(Ehe
iïiu q v v i
See Sports, puge A 6.
See Religion, Page B4.
taith (Ohsm n'r
250
M M i■■■■■■■■■■■
■ M M
Dr. J (Julius
Erving) prepares
to sign
autographs at
the Hayden
Meadows GA.
Joe's during his
visit to Portland
on March 27.
1997.
FBI crime lab faulted
The Justice Department’s inspector gen
eral is strongly criticizing the FBI 's crime
laboratories for providing flawed evidence
in key cases. The report demands the
removal of the heads of some laboratories
and the overhaul o f their operations. But
the report also contains a scathing denun
ciation of the ‘’whistleblower” employee
who first noticed the problems. The report
says some important allegations made by
FBI lab expert Frederic W hitehurst were
substantiated.
Cancer Therapy?
Researchers at the Y ale School of Medi
cine have identified salmonella as a pos
sible means of fighting cancer. Yale can
cer biologist Dr. John Pawelek said his
team has genetically altered salmonella, a
food-poisoning bacterium, to seek out and
destroy tumors in mice. "It’s potentially a
huge step forward,” he told Reuters. Yale
has licensed a New Haven, Conn.-based
company, Vion Pharmaceuticals, to de
velop a clinical product. Vion said it an
ticipated clinical trials in humans by the
middle of next year.
U.S. Bank donates nearly
$300,000 to non-profits
U.S. Bank of Oregon has announced a
contribution of $299,450 to 37 organiza
tions throughout the state, as the result of
its first cycle of charitable funding for
1997. “Our customers and our communi
ties are the reasons w e’re in business,”
explained John Eskildsen, president and
CEO, U.S. Bank of Oregon. "By support
ing efforts that help to build healthy and
productive communities, we arc able to
show our appreciation for the trust our
customers place in us."
US gives more
food to N. Korea
The United States has announced it
will provide $15 million in additional
food aid to feed children in famine-threat
ened North Korea. State D epartm ent
spokesman Nicholas Burns says the new
donation is being offered because the com
munist nation’s food shortages will reach
a critical stage this spring. This brings the
total U.S. food aid to North Korea to $33.4
million since late 1995.
Court bars
candidate drug tests
Since 1989, the Supreme Court has
upheld the constitutionality of drug tests
for student-athletes, government workers
and railroad employees. But the justices
yesterday exempted politicians. In an 8-1
ruling, the court struck down a Georgia
law requiring that political candidates
pass drug tests before they can ge, on the
ballot. In previous cases, the court al
lowed drug testing out of concern for
public safety.
EDITORIAL..................... A2
FAMILY............................A5
SPORTS......................... A6
METRO........................... B I
ARTS & ENT.................. B3
RELIGION.......................B4
HEALTH.......................... B5
CLASSIFIEDS................B6
Senate allows seeing-eye dogs
mbarrassed by a blind congres
“This is the right thing to do,” said Major
sional aide being kept off the
ity Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. He said the
Senate floor in a dispute over
interim step was taken, pending a review of
her guide dog, the Senate unanimously
a proposed permanent change in Senate
agreed Tuesday to make the chamber
rules on access involving people with dis
more accessible to people with disabili
abilities.
The change will not expand the list of
ties.
A congressional fellow, working for Sen.
people allowed on the Senate floor while the
Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was kept out o f the
Senate is in session. That generally is re
Senate chamber because she insisted that
stricted to members and former members of
her guide dog, a big yellow Labrador named
Congress and staff aides.
Beau, remain with her.
The issue surfaced Monday when Wyden
It took less than 18 hours Tuesday for the
had sought unanimous consent from his
colleagues to allow Moira Shea, an energy
Senate to realize its gaffe and engineer a
policy expert, to accompany him onto the
delicate retreat.
The senators agreed unanimously to lift
floor for a debate on nuclear waste.
any prohibition against guide dogs and di
But a Democratic senator, later identified
rected the sergeant at arms to allow staff
as Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., telephoned
members with disabilities to bring into the
the cloakroom to object. That was enough to
chamber w hatever aids they consider neces
keep Ms. Shea and her dog waiting at the
door.
sary.
E
Byrd issued a statement Tuesday saying
that he objected because he wanted to ensure
“proper procedures" were followed before
the Senate considered changing its rules on
access.
After the vote Tuesday, Byrd said he was
"pleased that the Senate agreed to accommo
date on a case-by-case basis the special
needs o f disabled Americans" who have
business on the Senate floor. During a brief
discussion with a reporter he explained he
had nothing against dogs.
"I have a dog myself, Billy Byrd," said
Byrd, appearing a bit embarrassed by all the
uproar.
Ms. Shea, 41, an economist who has
worked for the government for 20 years and
since January as a congressional fellow in
W yden’s office, said she was delighted at the
Senate's change o f heart.
When Wyden took to the floor Tuesday to
speak about the turn o f events. Ms. Shea sat
nearby with Beau at her feet along the
Senate's center aisle.
“ We re delighted you are on the Senate
floor with your dog. It's an historic day for
the U.S. Senate," Sen. Carl Levin. D-Mich.,
intoned Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called it
"historic and unprecedented."
Outside the Senate chamber, Wyden told
reporters that “ it's been a very good day ....
I he Senate made a judgment that a double
standard w on’t be tolerated.” The day be
fore, he had accused the Senate of violating
the American with Disabilities Act by ex
cluding Ms. Shea's dog.
Beau seemed to take all the attention with
the calm that marks most guide dogs. “ He
graced the chamber with his presence," said
Ms. Shea, amid the hubbub of the Capitol.
Just then Beau shifted suddenly. A passerby
had stepped on his tail
James Earl Ray gun test authorized
continue the circus atmosphere, whether
ames Earl Ray may finally get
what he's been asking for-a
this is going to produce anything, who
know s,” prosecutor JohnCampbell said.
comparison of his rifle with the
bullet that killed Martin Luther King Jr.
Ray avoided a possible death sentence
when he pleaded guilty to the slaying and
The State Court o f Criminal Appeals said
received a 99-year prison term. He re
Wednesday that a Tennessee judge has the
canted soon after, although his plea has
authority to order the test, which did not
been upheld seven tim es by state and
exist when King was shot to death on a motel
federal courts.
balcony in 1968.
In 1994, Memphis Judge Joe Brown tried to
Ray, 69 and suffering from liver disease,
order the new tests, but was overruled by the
claims the test will show his hunting rifle
appeals court. Now the same court has said
was not the gun used in the assassination.
Brown has the authority to order scientific
W ednesday's ruling opens the door for
testing on evidence under his supervision.
R ay's lawyers to ask the judge presiding
Whether he will do so, and whether such
over the case for permission to conduct the
testing would lead to a new trial, remains to
tests. Prosecutors were skeptical about the
be seen.
ruling’s effect.
Ray maintains he was set up, and that he
“Other than the fact that it’s going to
J
Wrong suspect chosen
woman who police say saw the
killer of Ennis Cosby has failed
to pick the suspect out of a
police lineup, and even chose other
instead, according to media reports.
The woman “categorically elim inated "
18-year-old M ikail M arkhasev during at
least one lineup held after his M arch 12
arrest, defense attorney Charles Lindner
said in to d ay 's edit ions o f the Los A ngeles
Tim es.
She also picked out other men in the
lineup, according to WCAL-TV.
The shooting took place Jan. 16 on a
stretch of road where the 27-year-old son of
entertainer Bill Cosby was changing a tire
A
on his Mercedes-Benz.
The witness was called by Cosby, who
wanted her to light up the area while he
men
changed the tire. As she waited in her car,
the suspect knocked on her window and told
her to get out.
She fled, then returned to find the doc
toral student shot dead.
A drawing o f the suspect was based on the
w om an's description Police, receiving sev
eral tips, arrested Markhasev and claim an
informant led them to the murder weapon.
LAPD Cmdr Tim McBride declined to
discuss whether a witness wasable to iden
tify Markhasev. Ih e district attorney's of
fice also refused comment
brought the rifle to Memphis on instructions
from a gun runner he knew only as Raoul
Even members o f the King family have said
they believe him.
But prosecutors said new test resu Its would
not be enough to overturn Ray 's guilty plea.
“ He was convicted on a lot o f other evi
dence, too,” Campbell said.
Ray bought the rifle, brought it to Mem
phis and used an assumed name to rent a
room a few hours before the shooting in a
rooming house across the street from Ihe
Lorraine Motel, where King was shot, inves
tigators said.
Ray's fingerprints were on the rifle, and
there was evidence he had stalked King in
other cities. A bundle found with the rifle
contained a radio identified as belonging to
Ray. according to investigators.
In the 1970s, the FBI and the U.S. House
Select Committee on Assassinations tested
the rifle, but could not establish that it was
the murder weapon I he House committee
eventually concluded Ray killed King but
may have had help.
Bill Gibbons, the state's chief prosecutor
in Memphis, said he is convinced o f Ray's
guilt but will ask Tennessee’s congressional
delegation to open the House committee’s
investigative files, which are under seal
until the year 2029.
"If there is some information in there
involving someone else's possible involve
ment in addition to James Earl Ray, then we
would certainly be prepared to pursue that,”
Gibbons said
Social (in)Security
he Social Security Administra
cern that such personal information was not
tion said it had shut down an
enough to keep people from obtaining confi
Internet site that supplied in
dential electronic data about others
formation about personal income and
Ihe acting commissioner o f social secu
retirement benefits because of con
rity, John Callahan, said them service was
cern that it might violate privacy rights.
shut down at 3 p in.
“The Internet is a new world." Callahan
Thousands of people have obtained such
data on the World Wide Web, by requesting
said, refleeting on the effort to balance
“personal earnings and benefit estimate
customers needs and privacy rights. "We
statements."
want to provide the highest level of security
A computer user seeking the information
for our beneficiaries and wage earners "
needed to supply a name, address, telephone
Callahan said the agency would hold
number, place of birth. Social Security num
public forums around the country in the
ber and mother's maiden name Experts on
next 60 days to hear from beneficiaries and
computers and privacy law expressed con
experts on privacy and computer security.
T