Titusville Herald (Newspaper) - June 4, 1993, Titusville, Pennsylvania 1859 June 14 1865 Oldest Daily Newspaper in Northwestern Pennsylvania Gray Skies Variable cloudiness today Highs in the upper 60s Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph Tonight cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers Lows in the low 50s Saturday TITUSVILLE PA FRIDAY MORNING JUNE 4 1993 35 CENTS President Abandons Guinier Nomination With Deep Regret STEERING COMMITTEE The steering committee of the Oil Region Heritage Park met Thursday afternoon in Perry Street Station The meeting followed one Wednesday evening at which time the consulting firm of Lane Frenchman and Associates Inc of Boston outlined five alternatives for the management action plan of the park Steering committee members on day appeared to favor the fifth alternative which combines features of the other four featuring marketing recreation tourism and economic development Among those at Thursdays meeting were 1r A David Pack executive director Venango County Planning Commission CJ Tisi executive director Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce John Cramer of the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad Pa Rep Teresa Brown Jonathan Lane of Lane French man and Associates Inc and Pa Rep Scoit Hutchinson Herald photo by Jon Sherman By TERENCE HUNT AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON AP Presi dent Clinton abandoned his nomina tion of Lani Guinier to head the Justice Departments civil rights division Thursday night bowing to a storm of criticism over her legal writings on minority rights Clinton announced the decision at a midevening White House press conference where he said he had reviewed her legal writings Had 1 read them before I nominated her 1 would not have done so Clinton said Clinton said he made the move with deep regret and saluted Guinier as a superb civil rights attor ney and personal friend But he said she had views that clearly lend themselves to interpretations that do not represent the views that I expressed on civil rights during my campaign Clinton excoriated critics saying they had been engaged in a vicious series of will ful distortions This has nothing to do for the political center this has to do with my center Clinton said explaining that he had to cut Guinier loose because he could not defend her positions on minority rights issues Guinier had been seeking a chance to defend her views before the Senate But White House officials were searching for a way out of what several said was a situation Some said it was unlikely that Guinier would voluntarily withdraw That would leave Clinton with two choices to drop Guinier and take the heat from liberals or to allow her to make her case before the Senate and prolong the controversy over her legal writings The Congressional Black Caucus rallied to support at a news conference Caucus chairman Kweisi Mfume DMd said he had contacted the White House twice to urge in the strongest possible terms that Clinton stand by his nomination Womens and civil rights groups added their voices to cause and said at a news conference they were mobilizing their grassroots organizations to contact all senators Guinier a 43yearold University of Pennsylvania law professor who attended Yale University Law School with the Clintons has been attacked as a quota queen with far out views about the federal Voting Rights Act The initial criticism came from conserve tive activists but it has spread to the centrist Democratic Leadership Council Guinier sas that her views have been distorted and that fairness requires that she be given a chance to defend herself at a Senate hearing Clinton some of her legal writings Thursday and was briefed on possible support or opposition in the Senate The White House canceled its daily press brief ing and Guinier pulled out of sche interviews In brief comments in a Justice Department hallway Guinier said she was told that calls to the White House were running 121 in her favor Apologizing for refusing to respond to more questions she said Im trying to play by the rules They keep changing them Army of Health Workers Searches For Cause of Indian Mystery Illness By DANIEL Q HANEY AP Science Writer Some of the medical sleuths trying to solve a frightening outbreak of suddenly fatal illness in New Mexico run tests for elusive viral genes Others comb dogs for fleas More than 100 epidemiologists physicians and other health profes have converged on the vast Navajo reservation where most of the 13 people died Theyre taking blood samples scanning medical records asking questions Many more work in labs in Albu NM Atlanta and else where looking for the residue of a poison a bacterium a virus that can kill its victims within a day of their first flulike symptoms Twenty people have fallen ill most of them with ties to the reserva tion that stretches into Arizona and Utah All of the tools of modem medical investigation hightech and low are being used to keep the death toll from rising We absolutely have our eyes and minds open said Bob Howard of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Were not front loaded We go listen observe review records and try to do good science and medicine The agency is assisting the New Mexico and Arizona state health departments and the Indian Health Service in an allout effort to find the cause a crucial step toward treating and stopping the outbreak We are looking for any clue to a common source either through geographic location person contact or a food or water source said Anna Levy a New Mexico state epidemiologist At this point we are not able to rule very many things out On Thursday New Mexico health Casey Says States Million Surplus Will Balance Budget HARRISBURG AP Gov Robert P Casey said Thursday the state will end the fiscal year June 30 with a million surplus But the extra money wont mean tax cuts Instead it will be used to balance the new budget Casey signed Friday The 199394 budget increases spending by about 5 percent without raising taxes In an interview Casey noted taxes were cut last year million a blockbuster of a story that never played too well because I guess it was too good to be true or something The surplus will help underwrite such new programs million extra to help 311 needy school districts and more money for childrens services and medical care for the poor This is the second straight year the administration the fiscal year with a surplus In August 1991 Casey had to a record tax increase to make up for revenues that dried up wih the economic downturn The governor declined to commit himself to a proposal offered by Senate Democratic President Pro Tern Robert Mellow of Lackawanna County last week to cut the 1225 percent corporate income tax by 085 percentage points in return for increasing the grost receipts tax on electric utilities The change in the utility tax was mistakenly left out of the 1991 tax increase A second by Senate Democratic Floor William Lincoln of Fayette County would fix a million mistake that might other wise allow corporations to avoid taxes on dividends from their The money would be used for a oneyear tax break for business that would let them credit losses in 1992 against profits in 1993 to cut their tax liability Its an interesting Casey said of the bills But he added he wants to wait several months to see what happens to the economy and state revenues Part of the surplus was generated by the state not spending million allocated in this years budget Of that million was in savings in medical assistance for the poor because caseloads were not as high as anticipated million was saved by educed interest rates for shortterm borrowing the state contribution to the school employees retirement fund was cut by million md money allo for various smaller programs was not spent sai i Budget Secret ary Michael Hershock The Legislature also returned million from the unspent money it accumulates year to year Hershock estimated the Legislature had about million in unspent funds officials said they were heartened by the absence of new cases since the weekend death of a teenage girl But just because weve not seen new onset cases since Saturday doesnt necessarily mean weve turned the corner Dr Gary Simpson cautioned As in other mysterious outbreaks such as Legionnaires or Lyme disease the investigation has been divided between the field where experts look for common links between the victims and the laboratory In the labs of at least 10 different organizations across the country researchers are scouring samples of tissue blood sputum and stool for evidence of microbes and poisons that could be causing the disease You have to go through an elimi nation process until you get focused down to what it might be said Dr Richard Krause of the Fogarty Inter national Center at the National Insti tutes of Health Dr Toby Merlin a pathologist at Lovelace Medical Center in Albu said investigators began by drawing up a ong list of every possi ble cause they could think of Then they went over it one by one ranking them from the most to the least likely There are me things way at the bottom But nobody would be so cavalier as to exclude anything he said Investigators already have conducted tests to eliminate some of the most likely suspects plague flu anthrax strep Legionnaires disease and other common pneumo nia bacteria tularemia a disease spread by rabbits and a lung infection caused by a soil fungus Also ruled out are many possible toxic substances including cides heavy medicines and abused drugs Manufacturers Association President Supports Free Trade Agreement By TOM BOYLE Herald Staff Writer Ralph Pontillo president of the Manufacturers Association of Northwest Pennsylvania told The Herald on Thursday that he supports the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement also known as NAFTA I feel that overall the plan is good Pontillo said Shortterm there will be job losses but in the long run it will help the US economy The North American Free Trade Agreement would create the largest free market in the world with 364 million consumers and a North American Cross Domestic product GDP of trillion annually We are no longer competing in a parochial economy Pontillo stated Now we must deal with a world market The trade agreement is essential for creating an expanding market NAFTA would break down such Mexican trade barriers as tariffs import licensing requirements import quotas restrictions on foreign investment and certain technical regulations and standards In addi tion it would protect patents trademarks and copyrights lower the cost of Mexican products for consumers and ease dependence on Middle Eastern sources of oil According to a recent report by the Manufacturing Policy Project a Washington research group NAFTA up to 350000 production jobs in Pennsylvania Several are against the pact as is Ross Perot who attacked the NAFTA proposal in a recent television appearance In a related discussion Pontillo rapped President Qi econom ic policy His whole economic plan is riddled with holes Pontillo said its entire entity is against small business ft proposes to tax both individuals and businesses too much Pontillo also said that representatives from his organization will be meeting with several state lawmakers including Sen John Peterson in Erie today to discuss the new state budget Plan for Independent Promotion Ditched by By JOHN KING AP Political Writer WASHINGTON AP The Democratic Party abandoned plans Thursday to establish a nonprofit foundation to drum up support from Republicans business leaders and others for President Clintons health care reform package After providing a seed loan to the organization the Demo cratic National Committee decided the new group never would be perceived as nonpartisan Given that DNC Chairman David Wilhelm decided it would best be run as an arm of the party The whole goal was to create a nonpartisan or bipartisan umbrella organization something we would kick off and then let go out and emerge on its own Wilhelm said in an interview But this was being construed as a front group of sorts for the DNC So since we could not achieve the benefit we hoped from it being independent it might as well be a part of the DNC The National Health Care Campaign run by Democratic activ ist Ceila Fisher had set up shop in a Washington off ice building ironical ly in space used as the campaign headquarters last year It had planned to operate as a non profit foundation which would allow it to seek unregulated dona tions from corporations labor unions and others who supported Clintons health care proposal The money was to be used for advertising telephone banks and other projects designed to generate public support for Clintons prog ram Critics have suggested the organization was being established as a nonprofit foundation to cloak its ties to the Democratic Party and the White House in hopes of estab lishing nonpartisan credibility Now the organization will go forward with its plans to promote Clintons plan but now operate explicitly as an arm of the Democra Health Democrats tic Party It will still have access to lated contributions but will have to disclose the sources The laws governing nonprofit foundations do not require such disclosure but Wilhelm said that avoiding sure was not a factor in the founda tions plans Wilhelm said he had hoped that once the organization was up and running it could prove its dence from the DNC and White House and then attract Republicans and others who want health care reform Wilhelm said some Republican leaning or business organizations end trade groups that might have joined the foundation effort probably would be reluctant to work with the as an arm of the party Other Clinton allies in the health debate said the change would not affect their support HHS Secretary Welfare Mothers Should Work Like Middle Class Moms By JENNIFER DIXON Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON AP Low income women should not stay home at taxpayer expense while working class mothers must help support their families Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E Shalala said Thursday in tough comments on requirements I dont think we should subsidize poor mothers to stay out of the work force when working class mothers are going into the work force Shalala said in an interview with The Associated Press Her tough talk comes as the Clin ton administration begins work to overhaul a welfare system serving a record 5 million families comments on work requirements for welfare mothers including those at home with infants and toddlers are at odds with the positions taken by the Childrens Defense Fund during her long tenure on its board of directors The liberal advocacy group opposed passage of a 1988 law that required states to put a growing share of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children into education and training President Clinton wants to go even further He has said that low income Americans should be given education training and public assis tance for two years followed by work requirements for those who are able Asked Thursday whether mothers of young children would be exempt Shalala said Not necessarily There are large numbers of mothers of young children in the work force because they have to be And we should not have different expectations for public programs than what society at large has evolved into Shalala said The issue is what kind of work she said It may not be fair to ask them to work an day but it may be appropriate to have parttime work for mothers who have young children Robert Rector policy analyst for welfare issues at the conservative Heritage Foundation dismissed comments as hypocrisy He noted that HHS asked Congress earlier this year to delay a work requirement for unemployed parents on welfare The requirement is scheduled to take effect Oct 1 Welfare reform is on a slow boat to China and is going nowhere fast Rector said She wants mothers with young children to work while she guts a work requirement on fathers in two parent families Abso lute hypocrisy Shalala said national welfare reform would include a day care system and a child care system thaf s supportive ok people that go to work As part of that effort the admi wants to spend an addi tional billion over five years to make Head Start and year round One of the reasons we need to extend the hours of Head Start is that its got to fit with our changing ideas about welfare she said Shalala said welfare reform also is likely to include a national network and a national data base to track child support cases so that people cant cross state lines and not allow us to reach intc their pockets and get them to support their children Now mon than 30 percent of what is is never collected
