The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

1 Yhew rinnf tata Vi en2esS basketball nn. thlS SfU hghtlV fW mh Co the Crusaders add Some displays outshine the rest Jj i CUWpe JOCs hoops title to football crown? Tempo. D1 Buln.s.. B6 CfcCp F1 nn FINAL35t MII'IflWIMBll ill Will CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Lockland will lose 400 more jobs cutting. Jefferson Smurfit ees Wednesday that the boxboard mill and carton plant on Cooper s.

1 Moore said the company "has looked at services to assist displaced employees," but he could not say what that help would include. Lockland village and school officials estimated the closing' and drop in earnings and property taxes would deplete 10 of their respective budgets. The Lockland carton plant produces boxes for cereal, detergent and other consumer goods. The Lockland plants were picked for shutdown because the (Please see CLOSING, Page A6) Lockland's options, A6 closing carton plant BY BETH MENGE and MIKE BOYER The Cincinnati Enquirer LOCKLAND Jefferson Smurfit Corp. will close its box-board mill and carton plant Jan.

30, and lay off 400 employees. The closing comes as another blow to the Hamilton County community of 4,357, where other industrial plants have laid off workers. Stearns Foster the Fox Paper Co. and Celotex are landmarks to an industrial age that has left Lockland behind. Jefferson Smurfit told employ Avenue will close.

The closing is part of a $150 million restructuring program that will cut jobs and realign plants. "It's a blue Christmas it really is," said Marvin Smith, a pipefitter and father of five from Burlington, who has been with the company I6V2 years. Well-paying jobs for skilled pipefitters are difficult to find, he said. "We'll just keep looking (and saying) a lot of prayers." Terry Moore, spokesman at company headquarters in St. Louis, said the company was also closing a carton plant in Chicago employing 100 and three other container-division plants as part of the cost- UjtfyominBAve.H si) )) The Cincinnati EnquirerPhaedra Singelis Charlene Carter of Hartwell has worked at Jefferson Smurfit for 17 years: "We kept hoping they would be able to turn it around." ri lFiy(pttow iC P-C r'anv I dmi mm.

A mm yj is' tr i KKK cross denied by two cities Official says display same as 'fighting words' BY JEFF HARRINGTON and STEVE KEMME The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati and Loveland on Thursday rebuffed Ku Klux Klan plans to place crosses in their downtowns. In a move that is expected to prompt a legal battle, Cincinnati Public Works Director John Hamner denied a request for a permit to erect a KKK cross on Fountain Square, saying it constituted "fighting words" and therefore was not protected as free speech under the First Amendment. In Loveland, officials dismantled and removed their traditional Nativity scene in front of City Hall rather than risk a legal battle over a KKK request to put up a cross. The suburb then rejected the request. "What they're trying to do is stop us for this year.

They're going after the (KKK) cross all around the country," said Tristate Klan spokesman Ron Lee of Ross, Last holiday season, a cross erected by the KKK on Fountain Square was repeatedly defaced, toppled and replaced, bringing national attention to Cincinnati. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plans today to appeal Cincinnati's rejection. The Knight Riders of the Ku Klux Klan of Ross sought a permit to put the cross on the square between Dec. 19 and 29. Representing the Knight Riders, the ACLU will ask Cincinnati City Manager John Shirey to reverse Hamner's decision and, if that fails, will file suit in U.S.

District Court. Loveland City Manager Wayne Barfels said to have legal grounds to deny the Klan group's request, the suburb had to remove a Nativity scene, which had been set up Wednesday and had been in front of City Hall during the past 20 holiday seasons. "It's the price we may have to pay for freedom of speech," Loveland Mayor Ro- (Please see KKK, Page A6) Other applications, A6 Loveland's dilemma, A6 .5 -r, Enquirer news services BOGOTA, Colombia Pablo Escobar, who rose from the slums of Colombia to become one of the world's most murderous and successful cocaine traffickers, was killed Thursday in a rooftop shootout with security forces in his hometown of Medellin, officials in Bogota reported. The fugitive with an $8.7 million price on his head was surrounded by 500 police officers and soldiers and shot to death, officials said. A bodyguard was also reported slain.

Authorities said Escobar, 44, and the bodyguard ran to the roof and fired at troopers who raided their two-story house. The two were shot trying to escape over the rooftops. Witnesses said the raiders fired weapons into the air and shouted, "We won!" Escobar's death was not expected to seriously affect the daily flow of tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States and other countries. The killing of a drug lord who amassed an illicit $4 billion fortune and was blamed for the killing of hundreds from presidential candidates and judges to police officers, journalists and innocent bystanders ended a 16-month manhunt launched after his escape from prison in July, 1992. Authorities tracked down Escobar through a phone call he made Monday to a radio station to complain about treatment of his family by Germany, army Gen.

Hernan Guzman said. Germany turned the family away after they sought asylum this week. Life on the run and the death or surrender of many of his lieutenants severely diminished Pablo Escobar's reign of terror 1984: Colombia's justice minister is assassinated. Escobar is charged and becomes a fugitive. 1989: Presidential candidate is assassinated; Escobar is blamed; government cracks down on drug cartels.

1989. Colombian jet explodes, killing 107. Escobar is blamed. 1991: He surrenders for immunity from extradition to United States, is jailed in luxury prison. 1992: He escapes before move to military Escobar's role in the drug trade, but he once supplied what experts said was 80 of the cocaine in the United States.

Analysis: No relief for U.S., A5 The Cincinnati EnquirerMichael E. Keating Rather than give the Klan legal grounds to fight for a cross at City Hall, Loveland moved its creche scene from the administration building to the public works garage Thursday. The scene had been in front of City Hall for 20 Christmas seasons. WEATHER Scientists zero in on cancer-causing gene Health news inside, A3 Wet weekend jiiiyf ftyfirrn. High 53 Low 45 I WA Cloudy and rainy.

1 A Heavy rain likely to- 7 i ni9ht' Tnere an i 80 chance of rain I Saturday, but skies 'r 1 1 will start to clear Sunday. Details, back page this section INDEX Seven sections, 153rd year, No.237 Copyright 1993, The Cincinnati Enquirer Teen smoking is up after a 1 5-year decline. One researcher says "Joe Camel" is to blame. Depression costs the United States $43.7 billion a year in lost productivity, wages and absenteeism, a study shows. Wilmington teen guilty of murder Eighteen-year-old Joseph Haynie was found guilty Thursday of murdering his ex-girlfriend's mother and trying to kill her father.

The Wilmington teen could face life in prison. Story, B1 Convention center called too small Hotel officials say Cincinnati should stop worrying about convention cancellations because of passage of Issue 3, the anti-gay-rights measure, and pay attention to business lost because the convention center is too small. Story, B1 that is working to identify all 100,000 genes in the human body. So far, almost 4,000 genes have been located. The new gene was discovered in a six-month burst of scientific detective work by two groups of scientists, working separately but in constant communication.

When it is working correctly, the gene acts as a molecular "spell-checker," correcting mistakes that occur when cells divide or suffer environmental damage. When it is flawed, the mistakes accumulate, sometimes leading to the growth of cancerous tumors. At a press conference, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the genome center, called the discovery "the most exciting news of the year in genetic medicine." Enquirer news services BOSTON Scientists have tracked down a flawed gene that causes about 10 of all colon cancer, one of the most common inherited disorders. They say it should quickly lead to the first broadly used genetic screening test.

"It was like finding a single misplaced comma in a 300-volume encyclopedia," said Jeffrey Trent, a researcher at the National Center for Human Genome Research. The gene is also blamed for uterine and ovarian cancer. Doctors say this scientific discovery, unlike many others, will have almost immediate practical uses. They predict that within a few months, or two years at most, they were 50, should consider being tested for the gene, the scientists said. In addition, analysis of the gene has revealed a new way for cancers to start, opening the door to progress against many other types of malignancies.

Much of the research that led to the discovery was done by the genome center, a federal agency there will be a simple blood test to spot people with the defective gene so they can be carefully watched for signs of cancer. Colon cancer is easily stopped if found soon enough. The gene could be present in almost 1 million Americans. Anyone with a family history of colon cancer, especially if their relatives were diagnosed before Abby 02 Obituaries B4 Business B6 People 02 Comics PJ Puzzles D7 HealthScience A3 Sports JFI Lotteries A12 Stocks B8 Metro B1 Tempo D1 Movies D5 JV D19 Nation A2 World A2, 4-5, 8 Classified G1-8 Printed on recycled newsprint using soy oil ink A i.