The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 16

THE COURIER-JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1 5, 1 992 3 7" Kentucky board ranks fifth in disciplining physicians -y Homeless coalition's new program aims to aid abused women 7 tf Jf an opportune time because more women are fleeing abusive situations. In Kentucky, an average of 5,000 abused women and children seek refuge at homeless shelters each year. In 1989, the most recent year for which statistics are available, nearly a fourth of the women who stayed in Louisville-area shelters said spouse abuse was the main reason for their homelessness. Joanne Weis, chief operating officer of the Center for Women and Families, said the spouse-abuse center is not capable of providing help for the influx of women escaping By DAWN S. ONLEY Staff Writer The Kentucky Medical Licensure Board which has been at the center of controversy for allowing Dr.

Joseph Rich to practice in Kentucky after losing his license in Kansas ranks fifth nationally in taking disciplinary actions against doctors. The 11-member licensure board took 9.55 serious actions per 1,000 doctors in fiscal 1991, up one notch from a sixth-place ranking in 1990, according to the Federation of State Medical Boards. Kentucky has about 6,000 practicing doctors, said David Carby, general counsel for the board. "We're happy the national ranking has confirmed what we believed all along," Carby said yesterday. "And that is, we've been doing a good job.

It's kind of reassuring that the ranking comes from an outside group." Indiana ranked 15th, with 5.55 serious actions per 1,000 doctors, down from 10th in 1990. Alaska ranked No. 1 with 18.02 serious actions per 1,000 doctors; South Dakota and Rhode Island tied for last with none. Kentucky's board has come under fire for licensing Rich. He had surrendered his license to practice medicine in Kansas in October 1988 in an agreement with the Kansas board to drop a petition accusing him of performing unnecessary or inappropriate surgeries on 20 women.

The Kansas board previously had fined Rich $2,500 after he practiced for three months with a lapsed license in 1987. Rich is fighting the Kentucky board's decision May 21 to temporarily suspend his license. The suspension was upheld by a hearing officer and a Jefferson Circuit Court judge. Rich has appealed the hearing officer's decision, and a committee of the state licensing board will review it tomorrow. During the past year, the Federation of State Medical Boards has broadened the category for serious actions to include instances involving doctors who voluntarily surrender their licenses, who lose privileges but whose licenses are not suspended or revoked, and those whose licenses are limited or restricted but who are not placed on probation.

Previously, the federation included only license revocations, suspensions and probations in its compilation of serious actions. The Public Citizen Health Research Group, a consumer organization, said the federation hoped that including the new penalties would "inflate" the number of serious disciplinary actions in each state and prompt state boards to go after doctors more aggressively. By M. DAVID GOODWIN Staff Writer For several years, abused home-' less women in Louisville had only 1 the Spouse Abuse Center to turn to for help. Even then, space was limited.

In 1990, 205 abused women with families in tow were turned away because the facility was full. And, without comparable services available, women sought refuge at other homeless shelters. -r "They (abused women) know that we've all been too ill-equipped to deal with victims of domestic violence," said Claire Kuennen-Jordan, director of family programs at Volunteers of America. Last summer, an anonymous do- nor issued a challenge to the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless and the Volunteers of America, asking: "What would you do with $100,000 to empower homeless abused wom- en?" At its annual meeting today, the coalition will unveil a new program, Project PEP (Partnerships Enhancing Potential), designed to help abused homeless women and their families. The project is a collaboration of the coalition, Volunteers of America, the Jefferson County Office for Women and the Center for Women and Families, which operates the Spouse Abuse Center.

Volunteers of America has expanded services at one of its shelters and is providing shelter, coun-' seling, advocacy, financial assis- tance and education for abused women and their children. Two women currently are en- rolled in the program there. Kuennen-Jordan said the organization expects to help 28 abused women and their families each year and will also work with abused pregnant women who are in the last trimes-- ter. l- Sue Speed, executive director of the Louisville Coalition for the I Homeless, said the project comes at STAFF PHOTO BY KEITH WILLIAMS ETCHED IN STONE: Jena Van Arsdale, 7, wore protective goggles as she chiseled away during a children's limestone carving workshop yesterday at the Newman Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. Conducting the class was Albert Nelson of Louisville, who says his passion Is teaching young people the art and relating it to life experiences.

Sinking Fund, short on space, plans move to West Main Street Magre renews Li library challenge Continued from Page 1 nal go to the Metro United Way.) But Magre told the aldermen: "In 1, baseball parlance, The Courier-: Journal is the heaviest hitter I know. For them to back away from l' the plate in the library's 11th hour and to be brazen enough to use the excuse that they swung and hit their home run back in 1988 is quite fickle. This serves as a prime exam-' pie of the ill effects of non-competi-Z tion in our capitalist society." Magre told the board he initially backed down because he didn't want to make "the library part of the apparent rift between George Gill, The Courier and myself." Magre said afterward that he has become the newspaper's whipping boy since the effort to pass a gay- 'rights ordinance began last fall. Magre is one of most visible oppo-! nents of the ordinance, which would amend city law to prohibit discrimi- nation against gays in housing, ac-Z- commodations and employment. In the past several months, Magre said, the newspaper's editorial board ran a "blistering editorial" criticizing him, a local columnist has also taken him on, and one of I the newspaper's editorial cartoon-; ists "depicts me as being an ogre." abusive situations.

The center can shelter 21 women nightly. Speed said the $100,000 grant will enable the group to establish a second program at Volunteers of America to meet the growing need. The eventual goal, she said, is to provide training to staff at other shelters to help them deal better with abused women. Soni Castleberry, who will oversee the project for the coalition, said many emergency shelters have wanted to work with spouse-abuse victims but were not equipped to do so. "Our remedy is to provide training to staff at all homeless shelters," she said.

The Coalition for the Homeless also will mount a public-awareness campaign and sponsor community forums addressing domestic-vio lence issues for homeless women. Project PEP will assist women in addressing medical and legal concerns; provide TARC tickets; help find free child care; offer counseling for women and children; and assist in finding housing. A key component in the program will be follow-up assistance for all women and their families. The Coalition for the Homeless will rely on a team of social workers, seminarians, nurses and others to make sure families continue to head in the right direction. Gill said there is no rift between Magre and the newspaper.

"He's a politician and he spouts off. We have differences with politicians all over the place. Any rift he's talking about is his own creation." If the newspaper doesn't match his challenge, Magre said, he will give the Shelby Park branch $32,500 over the next two years. In other business, the board: Approved a resolution designating the library's Western branch as the official repository of a collection of Muhammad Ali memorabilia and artifacts. Twelfth Ward Alderman Paul Bather bought the collection hundreds of boxing magazines featuring Ali stories, newspaper clippings and other materials with his discretionary money.

Bather originally proposed storing the material at the Shawnee branch, which is in his ward. Last night he said it made more sense to place it at the Western branch, which houses the African Cultural Center, a separate archives section of African-American materials. Heard the introduction of an or- dinance that would create a new process for dealing with people who fail to respond to citations for city code violations. The city prosecutes at least 500 such people a year in Jefferson District Court. Under the proposal, those people would be summoned before a city-run administrative hearing board.

delegates pledged to Clinton and 12 unpledged "superdelegates" who are at the convention by virtue of their office and are expected to vote for Clinton. Uncommitted delegate Cynthia Happel of Louisville cast the only straw vote for Brown. Happel, a longtime Brown supporter, said before the convention that she signed up to be an uncommitted delegate in early May because she didn't think Brown would get enough votes in the state's May 26 primary to get her a seat. Martha Bottom of Springfield, president of the Danville Area Central Labor Council, voted for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a failed pro-labor candidate because "I don't like shoo-ins." Virginia Stallings of Highland Heights said she voted for U.S.

Rep. Louise Slaughter of suburban Rochester, N. a Harlan County native who impressed many with her call at yesterday's meeting for more women to run for office. The delegation also voted 48-2, with two abstentions, to reject a platform plank offered by former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas, an early Clinton primary rival.

The plank called for delaying a proposed middle-class tax cut "until the federal budget is under control." Tsongas offered three other planks, but Clinton forces asked delegations for straw votes only on the tax-cut proposal. REGIONAL ROUNDUP COMPILED FROM STAFF AND SPECIAL DISPATCHES Cooling-off shelters are open People who want temporary relief from the heat can go to all Louisville police substations and Jefferson County government centers and most Housing Authority of Louisville community centers. The sites will not provide sleeping quarters and are intended primarily to provide a few hours of relief. Shelters with additional facilities are not being opened because emergency agencies have reported relatively few heat-related calls, said Jack Nevin, city-county Disaster and Emergency Services chief. The city police substations, the county Urban Government Center at 810 Barret Ave.

and the three county regional government centers 7201 Outer Loop in Okolona, 200 Juneau Drive in Mid-dletown and 7219 Dixie Highway will be open 24 hours a day. Some Housing Authority facilities may not be available at night. For heat-related emergencies, call the Community Action Agency at 585-1631 or the Crisis and Information Center at 589-4313. Man sentenced for robbing 2 banks A Louisville man was sentenced yesterday to 22 to years in prison and ordered to pay more than $7,500 in restitution for two bank robberies he committed last year, federal officials said. Carl Gary Crite, 38, of the 2200 block of Osage Avenue, was convicted in February in U.S.

District Court of robbing Cumberland Federal Savings Bank's Southland Terrace branch on April 18, 1991, and First National Bank's Woodlawn branch on May 3, 1991. U.S. District Judge Edward Johnstone ordered Crite to repay the Cumberland $1,483 that he stole and First National $6,110 that he stole. Postal clerk sentenced for theft A Louisville postal clerk was sentenced yesterday to three months in prison for stealing $23,700 worth of food stamps from the mail at the main post office on Gardiner Lane. William J.

Meyer, 48, of the 300 block of Rockcliff Court, was convicted May 6 in U.S. District Court of embezzling and stealing mail matter entrusted to him as a U.S. Postal Service employee, and illegally acquiring and possessing food stamps. Postal inspectors watched Meyer, an eight-year employee of the Postal Service, take a tray of 100 food stamps to his car, according to court records. Under questioning, Meyer admitted taking the food stamps to support a crack-cocaine addition, court records say.

Volleyball tourney set this weekend More than 4,000 players on 630 teams will compete in the third annual Operation BrightsideCoca-Cola Volleyball Classic from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Teams of all ages and skill levels from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio and Missouri will play on 42 courts at Churchill Downs, The Brewery and Baxter Jack's. Proceeds from the double-elimination tournament will benefit Operation Brightside.

Admission to the event, produced by the Volleyball Connection, is $1, but parking is free. No coolers will be allowed, and the tournament will be played rain or shine. A pre-registration party, featuring a pasta buffet and music by Dr. Don the Love Dogs, will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Holiday Inn-Downtown, 120 W.

Broadway. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children under 12. of names music school dean The University of Louisville has named Herbert Koerselman dean of the School of Music. Koerselman, 51, has been chairman of the department of music at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, since 1982. He also has performed as principal trumpet with the Portland (Ore.) Symphony Orchestra and assistant principal trumpet with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and was principal trumpet and founding director of the Sam Houston Brass Quintet.

He becomes dean at of today. Schools get abuse-prevention grant The U. S. Department of Education has awarded $1.6 million in alcohol-abuse-prevention grants to school districts and educational organizations in Louisville and seven other cities around the country. The Jefferson County schools were awarded $160,574 to help youths at risk of abusing alcohol to avoid using it.

of department receives grant The U. S. Department of Education awarded an $83,825 grant to the University of Louisville's Department of Exceptional and Remedial Education to support a teacher-certification program. The Career Opportunities in Special Education program will allow minority teaching assistants in the Louisville area to pursue teaching certification while remaining in their current positions in the school system. By SHELDON SHAFER Staff Writer The Louisville Sinking Fund, which collects occupational taxes and delinquent city property taxes, plans to move from its cramped quarters near City Hall to a West Main Street office by Dec.

1. Sinking Fund secretary-treasurer Joe Walls said the agency plans to lease the first two floors of a five-story building at 734 W. Main. The building, which dates to the late 1800s, is owned by partners in the architectural and development company Louis Henry Group. Walls said the Sinking Fund pays the city about $60,000 a year for its office space at 617 W.

Jefferson St. The agency also has extensive storage space for its vast files in the Judge is urged to let woman die Continued from Page 1 petition to end life support. But his questioning of those who did testify seemed weighted against it. Yesterday's testimony from the ethicists probed deeply into abstract concepts: when life ends, the purpose of life, whether death is a creation of God or of an evil force such as Satan, and what God would want in this case. DeGrella and Eckert are both Catholic.

Simmons, who has written many books and articles in the area of "bioethics," said Christians generally believe there is "a higher purpose of human existence than simply biological considerations" that is, to serve God. Keeping alive a body that has no capacity to think amounts to "an idolatry of biology," which does not serve God. Bioethics is the discipline dealing with the ethical and moral implications of biological research and the practice of medicine. Hendrickson, the priest, said many Catholic theologians believe continuing to give the patient food and water could in some cases be considered "extraordinary" measures, and therefore unwarranted. "The benefits of the procedure must clearly outweigh the burdens of that procedure," he said.

However, Hendrickson acknowledged, other Catholic theologians believe that food and water should never be withdrawn, and some also disagree on how one judges whether treatment is effective. In the end, he said, when the Catholic Church offers no clear moral teaching as it does on abortion, for example a church member should decide what he or Death penalty sought for teens Continued from Page 1 documents support charges of conspiracy to commit murder filed against Loveless and Tackett Monday. The affidavits say Lawrence told Indiana State Police Detective Steven Henry that she heard Loveless and Tackett discuss killing Shanda and that she was present when Loveless "did aid in setting fire to the body and clothing" of Shanda. Loveless and Tackett are also charged with murder, murder while aiding inan attempt or attempting basement there and at City Hall. Walls said the 68-member staff is so crowded that some vacancies have gone unfilled because there's no room.

"We have people sitting on top of one another," he said. Walls said he expects a lease for the Main Street space to be submitted to the Louisville Board of Aldermen for approval next month. The Sinking Fund's files will be consolidated at the new location on the southeast corner of Eighth and Main streets, and the agency will have a waiting area and a tax-service area. The Sinking Fund often gets more than 100 walk-in customers a day, Walls said. He said the city probably can recover the lost lease payments by renting the Jefferson Street site to another agency.

she believes is morally right. The judge also heard emotional testimony yesterday from DeGrel-la's ex-husband, Richard DeGrella, who divorced her in 1981 and got custody of the three children born during the 14-year marriage. Richard DeGrella confirmed the testimony of Sue DeGrella's brothers and sisters, who said on Monday that she had told them before being injured that she would not want to be maintained by artificial means. Richard DeGrella said he and his wife had talked about the Karen Ann Quinlan case, which attracted national attention around the time the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered her respirator disconnected in 1976. Still connected to a feeding tube, Quinlan lived until 1985, when she died of pneumonia.

Sue DeGrella made her husband promise that he would not do anything to merely "keep her body going," he said. Richard DeGrella thought back to 1977, when Sue DeGrella was gravely injured in a traffic accident, had to be resuscitated, and was in a coma for about 10 days before recovering. When she found out later about the measures taken to keep her alive, she "came unglued" with anger, Richard DeGrella said. He said he thought she was being unreasonable about it, but "Sue didn't want any limitations" on her lifestyle. Crying softly, Richard DeGrella pleaded with Eckert to let his ex-wife die, saying he has almost forgotten the good times he had with her before the divorce, before the beating and the coma.

He said he recently spent a whole Saturday watching home movies so he could remember her when she was healthy. Information for this story was also gathered by staff writer Todd Murphy. to commit arson, arson, criminal deviate conduct, battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, criminal confinement, intimidation and child molesting. Rippey also faces all these charges except child molesting and conspiracy to commit murder. According to Lawrence's statement to police, she, Loveless, Tackett and Rippey enticed Shanda into their car and then drove to Madison, where Loveless and Tackett beat and sexually molested Shanda before setting her on fire.

Shanda died of burns and smoke inhalation after apparently being doused with a flammable liquid, said Dr. George R. Nichols, Kentucky's chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy. I Stumbo rejects New York roll call Continued from Page 1 Jerry Abramson's speech to the con-t vention tonight won't be quite the same as scheduled last week. Ab-' ramson will still speak on Clinton's urban platform, but to fit an altered order of convention business, he will have to use the first minute or so to oppose a party reorganization plan offered by former California Gov.

Jerry Brown, Clinton's only re-- maining opponent. Because Brown's recalcitrance has been a major running story of the convention, Abramson's speech may stand a better chance of being telecast on Cable News Network. The speech may be earlier than the originally planned time of 5:47 p.m., depending on how much time is consumed by Brown delegates, whom Abramson will follow. Kentucky delegates solidly for Clinton The Kentucky delegation will cast almost all its votes for Arkansas I- Gov. Bill Clinton when he is nomi-; nated for president tonight, based on a straw vote yesterday.

Clinton got 50 of the 55 votes cast, including most of the 17 un- committed aeiegaies. The Kentucky delegation has 35 I Jk A it il i.