The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 1

HOPES RENEWED Pacers seek 4th straight victory after Person-able win at Seattle sports C1 UPDEAT MOOD Cummins woos Wall Street with tale of better times BUSINESS D1 LANDING RIGHTS Southwest Airlines to start daily flights in Indianapolis BUSINESS D1 Cloudy 50 percent chance of snow and rain. Low, 22. High, 42. Details, Page D19. rni TT bection I HE INDIANAPOLIS STAR A THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1989 "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty" II Cor.

3:17 cnPve25 Cents (J Hospital merger may bring turf war Chances dim for Tower confirmation 1 tils A By DONNA CASSATA ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington John Tower, his nomination as defense secretary in grave trouble, made an extraordinary public admission of marital infi-d 1 i Wednesday but vowed to keep fighting for Senate confirmation. His prospects dimmed further, however, by opposition from the Senate majority leader. Tower President Bush continued to court Democrats in a last-ditch effort to save the appointment. But Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell further dampened Tower's chances by declaring his opposition, even as Vice President Dan Quayle conceded the administration still lacks the votes needed for Senate approval. Bush dispatched Quayle to Capitol Hill to lobby for the nomination.

"Unfortunately, I detect that a lot of people are really going to vote on the premise that they don't like John Tower," 9uay'e said. "That's very, very unfortunate." Bush said his appeal to senators has been, "Look, do what you've got to do, but remember fair play, remember decency and honor, and then remember also historically the concept of advise and consent where reasonable doubt is given historically to the president of the United States who after all is responsible for the executive branch of this government." The White House effort failed with at least one conservative Democrat, Sen. David Boren of Oklahoma, who announced his opposition to the nomination and Senate confirms Sullivan and Watkins for Bush Cabinet, Page A3 Three being mentioned as possible Tower replacements, Page A15 Werner cartoon, Page A18 urged Tower to withdraw. Boren was one of two Democrats to vote for President Reagan's unpopular Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. The Bush administration is trying to hold all 45 Republicans and sway five of the Senate's 55 Democrats to get a tie vote that Quayle could break in favor of Tower.

An Associated Press survey of the Senate found 36 Republicans supporting the nomination, 33 Democrats opposed and 30 undecided or undeclared. Two senators were unavailable for comment. Mitchell announced that floor debate on the nomination had been postponed until today as the ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sam Nunn, and John Warner, met with White House counsel C. Boyden Gray to decide what material from the FBI report could be made public. Mitchell's position was widely anticipated, particularly since all Democrats who have expressed an opinion on the nomination have opposed it, and almost all Republicans have endorsed it.

Mitchell said "it is not moral perfection or the qualifications of senators that are at issue here. It is the ability to serve effectively in a position of unique power and responsibility." Mitchell said he read the FBI report on Tower and met with Bush at the White House where Mitchell expressed his concerns about the nomination. Tower showed flashes of grit See TOWER Page 15 (111 If By VIC CALECA And ROB SCHNEIDER STAR STAFF WRITERS The announcement Wednesday that Community Hospitals of Indianapolis likely will acquire University Heights Hospital by May has drawn battle lines for a major turf war between two of the city's largest health care institutions. Assuming the merger goes through. Community will be positioned to compete head to head with St.

Francis Hospital Center for patients in the booming Perry Township and Greenwood areas. Although Community officials downplayed the potential competition, spokesmen for St. Francis made it clear they consider it very real. "From a competitive standpoint, we had some plans that were on hold pending what would happen with University Heights," said Paul Hankins, community relations manager for St. Francis.

"At this point, we're going to pick up those plans again." Possibilities include developing facilities on property owned by St. Francis at Emerson Avenue and Todd Road, and moving programs out of the main hospital and into existing "off-campus" buildings in Southport and Greenwood. Such moves, St. Francis hopes, will reinforce the hospital's presence in southern Mar-See HOSPITAL Page 7 More rioting rocks cities in fenezuela By ANTHONY CAPLAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Caracas, Venezuela New riots broke out in the western slums Wednesday despite martial law imposed because of two days of disturbances, and at least four people were reported killed. Venezuelans jammed the few remaining food stores, guarded by soldiers, to stock up after two days of riots and looting during which more than 100 people have been reported killed and 800 injured.

Thousands have been reported detained during the protests against price increases. Witnesses in outlying areas of Caracas said police exchanged gunfire with snipers and drove mobs away from stores. Other witnesses saw four bodies in the streets of Catia on Wednesday, including one woman who had been killed by police as she tried to loot a Police helicopters circled the capital. President Carlos Andres Perez declared martial law late Tuesday, saying the "incredible tragedy" of the violence threatened Venezuela's "consolidation of democracy." The president also announced See VENEZUELA Page 6 INDEX rr STAR STAFF PHOTO KIM TRAVIS With one voice Advocates for the deaf and hearing-impaired rally outside the Statehouse to draw attention to education for the deaf in Indiana. They called Wednesday for better educational opportunities, with more input by qualified deaf people.

Story on Page B1. North aware in 1985 that aid to Contras illegal, witness says Heroic deeds 2 Hoosier recipients of medals modest about what they did r-'t It's nice to be recognized. But I don't care for all that flash and glitter myself." Karl R. Schreiner ''iffy i "tL. w' By KEVIN MORGAN And GEORGE STUTEVILLE STAR STAFF WRITERS Heroism may come reluctantly for most, but two Indiana recipients of the Carnegie Medal for Heroism say the honors shouldn't have come at all.

Of the 19 people who were awarded the prestigious medal Wednesday, Karl R. Schreiner may be the most reluctant. The 75-year-old Indianapolis man says he has no regrets about rescuing a young boy from two pit bull terriers last year. But he's getting a little tired of people who constantly remind him of it. "I'm wondering when the heck it's going to stop," he said Wednesday afternoon after a Carnegie Hero Fund Commission official called him from Pittsburgh.

More than 7,000 people have been given the medals since the fund to honor heroism was established 85 years ago by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The latest recipients come from 11 states and two Canadian provinces. They include another Hoosier Randolph W. Macyauski, 31, of Greensburg, who saved a 6-year-old girl from drowning in rain-swollen Salt Creek near Oldenburg on Aug. 19, 1988.

Schreiner, a retired engineer. See HEROIC Page 6 approval of superiors. The courier testified at one point that North said he had President Reagan's approval, but he said later that testimony was wrong, that North never got more specific than ''superiors." Retired Maj. Gen. John K.

Singlaub, an ardent anti-communist who directed spy activities in three wars, also testified he persuaded Taiwan and another Asian nation with North's knowledge -r- to give $5 million each to the Nicaraguan Contras, but the plan failed for lack of a required signal from the U.S. government. At the time, the Reagan administration was under a Con-See NORTH Page 6 ASSOCIATED PRESS Washington A retired general testified at Oliver North's trial Wednesday that he and North decided in 1985 "to assume the worst" that North's actions were covered by a law forbidding official aid to the Nic-araguan Contras and to act accordingly. Earlier In the day, however, another witness, Robert Owen, testified that he made many trips between Washington and Central America for North, carrying instructions from the presidential aide for how the guerrilla war was to be fought, and carrying maps and money. Owen said North told him he acted with the knowledge and PRAYER Lord, we pray, help us to protect our blessed freedom.

Thank You for revealing that the value of our freedom can help us to better believe in ourselves and strengthen our self-confidence. Amen. CHUCKLE We all have to pay the piper particularly when the plumbing springs a leak. VOLUME 86, No. 270 Copyright 1989 The Indianapolis Star Death penalty hearing fires up Cooper support Arts, Horoscope Leisure Intercom B8 Bridge D19 Dr.

Lamb D8 Business D1-5 Landers D9 Classified LifeStyle D7-9 Ads D11-18 Movies Comics Obituaries D10 Crossword Sports C1-8 Doonesbury Statistics D19 Editorials A18 TV-Radio B7 Graham D11 Weather D19 Heloise 09 56 pages "could be feeling somebody was here today on her behalf," he said. Cooper and three other teen-agers were convicted in connection with the brutal stabbing death of 78-year old Ruth Pelke in 1985. Cooper, who was identified as the ringleader, was 15 years old at the time. On July 11, 1986, Lake County Superior Court Judge James C. Kimbrough sentenced her to death.

Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard said the Indiana Supreme Court typically takes two to three months before issuing decisions on death penalty cases. See COOPER Page 10 By DAVID J. REMONDINI STAR STAFF WRITER At the same time the Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on the scheduled execution of 19-year-old Paula Cooper, a torch was lit on her behalf in Italy. The Rev.

Vito Bracone, an Italian Franciscan friar who will visit Cooper this morning at the Indiana Women's Prison, said the torch was lit in front of the United Nations office in Rome as a gesture of support for Cooper. Because of her age, Cooper has becoome a popular international cause particularly in Italy for opponents of the death penalty. Last June, members of Amnesty International submitted petitions from nearly 2 mil- lion Italians who wanted then-Gov. Robert Orr to commute her sentence. "I do feel Paula Cooper is a very good child and should be saved," Father Bracone said.

In another sign of support, 400 Italians associated with the Italian anti-capital punishment group "Thou Shalt Not Kill" fasted all day Wednesday, he said. Father Bracone and six other Italians were part of a large crowd who attended oral arguments Wednesday in Cooper's automatic appeal of the death penalty. It was Father Bracone's second trip here on her behalf. "I really was impressed with the way it was run," Father Bracone said of the one-hour hearing. He and the others appeared so -Cooper PHONE NUMBERS Circulation 633-9211 Main office 633-1240 Classified Ads Scores after 4:30 p.m.

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