The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 1

SSiouId you buy a satellite dish? Tom Doroey, 02 40 wed 56 PAGES A GANNETT NEWSPAPER LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1996 50 CENTS 5 1 KENTUCKY EDITION Pattern's landmark year: Heavy lifting on workers' comp an analysis built political muscle retary. He was first driven by a desire to rescue his old colleagues in coal from an increasingly unbearable burden of workers' comp costs, then saw that would be very difficult to do without making broader changes or showing that broader changes weren't needed. Second, the legislature already had been brought along. Business interests had pressed the issue with labor through a strong lobbying and public-See PATTON'S Page 7, col. 1, this section Greg Stumbo, the measure's leading opponent, said that in the public's mind now, Patton is "at what may be the apex of his administration.

He's scored a major victory." Senate President John "Eck" Rose whom Patton defeated in the May 1995 Democratic primary for governor, but who welcomed Patton's eventual embrace of many business-backed comp reforms called the current special session "the most productive" and significant "in my 19 years in the General Assembly." However, at least temporarily, Pat ton has alienated some of his legislative allies and organized labor. Labor was an essential element of his narrow victory in the November 1995 election. In the past six months, he accepted the business argument that the comp system hampers Kentucky's economic development because it costs too much. How did he get to that point, and how did he bring the legislature along? First, Patton is not only a businessman, but also a former coal operator and state economic-development sec the General Assembly is all but certain to enact today or tomorrow. But his mastery of the arcane issue and his hands-on approach in selling it to the legislature has evoked comparisons with powerful governors who dominated lawmakers until 1979.

Patton also has new strength and momentum as he confronts his top priority, reform of higher education. "He's a man to be reckoned with now," said House Democratic Whip Kenny Rapier, whom Patton chose to sponsor his bill. House Democratic Floor Leader By AL CROSS and ROBERT T. GARRETT The Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. On the first anniversary of his administration, Gov.

Paul Patton is on the verge of winning passage of a vastly different workers' compensation law, a landmark victory that could signal future successes. When Patton was sworn in a year ago today, few if anyone suspected that he would be the author and finisher of such a workers' comp bill as QUESTIONS LfL 1 AND ANSWERS ABOUT will ra station PBS in Looisville 4rm top Limi- sr. i ii i f. Network to buy assets of ailing Channel 15 By TOM DORSEY The Courier-Journal A new era of public television in Kentucky began yesterday when Kentucky Educational Television and WKPC-15 reached a preliminary agreement for the statewide network to take over the Louisville station. The deal calls for Channel 15 to transfer its license to KET and for KET to purchase the station's assets.

Also yesterday, the Fifteen Telecommunications board, which operates WKPC, accepted the resignation of general manager John-Robert Curtin. Long-time Louisville broadcaster Ed Shadburne was appointed interim president of WKPC to oversee the transition. Shadburne, 71, was general manager of WLKY from 1963-70 Fourth to reopen with fanfare today After nearly a quarter of a century, a portion of the street now known as Fourth Avenue will reopen to traffic today, except between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays.

A reopening ceremony will be at 1 p.m. at Theater Square. Once a bustling hub of theaters and stores, the street fell victim to suburban growth that drew shoppers to outlying malls. And the decision to turn the street into apedestrian mall in the early 1970s only accelerat- edits demise. Kentucky, B1 Mayfield's Leahy Coach of the Year Paul Leahy, who has guided Mayfield High School to two state football titles in four years, is The Courier-Journal's Coach of the Year.

Under Leahy, Mayfield has a 49-9 record, including a 12-2 mark this year. Sports, El Bank-credit union fight leaves victims When Marsha Jackson found a favorable loan rate at her employer's credit union, she tried to sign on as a member but was turned down. She was an unwitting casualty in a fight between banks and the nation's 12,000 credit unions. Business, C1 Please the cook with a cookbook Although new cookbooks appear throughout the year, the holiday season usually brings out the blockbusters. A look at some mouthwatering books that any cook would savor.

Features, D1 Simpson's attorney attacks Fuhrman O.J. Simpson's attorney suggested yesterday that detective Mark Fuhrman was able to roam Simpson's property for 30 minutes plenty of time to plant a bloody glove. News, A6 FORECAST Rain likely Kentucky: Showers statewide today, central, east tonight, then mostly cloudy. Highs, 50 to 60s today, 40s tomorrow. Lows, mid-30s to mid-40s.

Details, B2 INDEX ,1 Tip 1 mil ii im" FDA urged to approve new drug for diabetes KEITH WILUAMS. THE COURIER-JOURNAL QUESTIONS? For a page of questions and answers about the bridge project, see A10. If Prospect, has its way, the eastern bridge will never be built. Many residents oppose it, and the Prospect City Council has voted to put up $150,000 for a legal fight to stop it. A coterie of lawyers will work for free, said Jim Milliman, an attorney who's helping organize them and whose wife, Nan Milliman, is on the City Council.

The opponents haven't decided on the thrust of their challenge, but Milliman said yesterday, "Rest assured, it'll be a major litigation." political activity. Downey's lawyer, John L. "Jack" Smith of Louisville, said his client is certain he did not make the calls. Barrows, a Versailles Democrat who defeated Republican Joe Walters in last month's election, said yesterday that he knew nothing about the calls. "I'm not aware of the nature of those calls, of who made them, or the purpose of them," he said.

Barrows said he was "confident" that Downey, also a Versailles resident, had not done any campaigning I I i 1 1 I I BY Major Investment Study group recommended an eastern bridge linking the Prospect, area with Utica, and a downtown bridge parallel to the Kennedy Bridge, as well as reconstruction of Spaghetti Junction. The Transportation Policy Committee of KIPDA, the regional Planning agency, will decide next uesday whether to adopt the committee's recommendations. But its chairman, New Albany Mayor Doug England, said members favor two bridges. "The arguing's got to stop," he said. "The people want us to get this done." Local and state officials, members of Congress and possibly some business leaders will convene after the first of the year to decide on a financing strategy.

friend of Downey's and a candidate for a House leadership position in the next legislature. On the eve of a Barrows fund-raiser a golf tournament in Nicholasville last Aug. 20 long-distance phone calls were made from Downey's office to four beer distributors, according to a Courier-Journal review of telephone records. Three of them attended the event the next day and donated to Barrows' campaign. As a state employee, Downey was prohibited from using his office for MMKiriifamiHiifirfi and held the same position at WHAS from 1970-75.

The takeover by KET will occur in three stages. KET management will begin operating Channel 15 today, directing its $4.6 million annual budget in addition to KET's $23.3 million budget. No other changes in staffing are expected at this time. Next, the proposed agreement must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. That is expected to take about six.

months. Finally, the Kentucky General Assembly must approve the agreement during its 1998 session. Viewers won't notice any changes in programming until the FCC acts. At that point, KET's schedule, including all national PBS programming, would switch to Channel 15. Channel 68, which has served as KET's outlet in Louisville, would then begin broadcasting college and GED courses and informational programming.

The takeover was driven by wors- See KET Page 8, col. 3, this section WHAT'S NEXT? The Food and Drug Administration will consider whether to approve the drug, a process that usually takes between two weeks and two months. The FDA isn't bound by advisory panel decisions but usually follows them. and more insulin but their blood sugar continues to rise. They are at risk for kidney damage, blindness, heart disease and other complications.

Diet, exercise and pills to boost insulin production and decrease glucose production can help, but over 40 percent of Type II diabetics eventually need insulin shots. Even then, many can't get high enough doses to stay healthy or the inconvenience of taking snots and the weight gain the insulin can cause dissuade patients from taking proper care of themselves. Only these poorly controlled Type patients an estimated 1 million people should be considered for Rezulin treatment, the FDA panel said. In one study of 222 patients, those taking 400 milligrams of Rezulin a day for six months cut their daily insulin dose by 58 percent, Parke Davis reported. About 15 percent were able to stop taking insulin altogether.

Downey's office phone, none of the three beer distributors who gave to Barrows recall speaking to Downey about the event or their donations. The calls were made from Downey's phone, on the third floor of the Capitol, during a 30-minute period on the afternoon of Aug. 19. In between, long-distance calls were made to Barrows' home; to the Midway office of Gene McLean, a lobbyist during the 1996 legislature for See CALLS Page 11, col. 1, this section Louisville's developing waterfront project flows between the John F.

Kennedy, foreground, and Clark Memorial bridges. Where two other bridges might be built remains a point of contention. Bridge proposal doesn't span community's rift By KAREN MERK The Courier-Journal To Heather Thiessen, the pro- Eosal for two new Ohio River ridges "makes a lot of sense" for a growing community. "There's been such an 'either-0 mentality" on whether to build a bridge in downtown Louisville or in eastern. Jefferson County, said Thiessen, a Corydon, marketing-research consultant.

"But the problems the East End bridge would fix are different from the ones the downtown one would fix," she said. "And the problems aren't going to go away if you just ignore them." After a 14-month analysis of projected traffic and the environmental and economic impact of various options, the Ohio River By LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press BETHESDA, Md. Holding out the possibility that thousands or diabetics could reduce or even stop their insulin shots, the government's scientific advisers yesterday recommended approval of the first drug to attack the underlying cause of the most common form of diabetes. Parke Davis' Rezulin is a "novel approach," said the Food and Drug Administration's Dr. Solomon Sobel before a panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously to support the drug.

Rezulin resensitizes the body to insulin, a hormone that converts blood sugar, or glucose, into energy. Researchers believe it stimulates a gene to produce more insulin-controlled proteins that in turn remove glucose from the bloodstream essentially giving insulin more opportunity to do its job. That makes Rezulin the only drug to attack the cause of Type II diabetes the gradual loss of natural insulin's ability to work and as a bonus, decrease the body's glucose production. Some 16 million Americans have diabetes, although only half are diagnosed. Type I diabetes typically strikes children, who cannot produce insulin and need daily shots of the hormone to survive.

They should never use Rezulin. But the majority of diabetics have Type II, or adult-onset, diabetes, where the pancreas produces more for him on state time. Downey, who was fired as director of House operations for the Legislative Research Commission last month, is a central figure in a state and federal investigation. Investigators apparently are interested in whether prostitution was involved in any of the golf outings and other events arranged by a small company Downey operated called Entertainment Outings Ltd. Through his lawyer, Downey has denied any wrongdoing, and he has not been charged with a crime.

Although the calls were made from Calls from Downey's office may be tied to Barrows' campaign Business C1 Insider D3 Comics D12 Lottery E4 Crossword D13 Movies D4 Deaths B6 Racing E8 Features D1 Regional B1 Forum A12 Sports E1 Horoscope D13 Television D2 Auto Classified F1 Courier-Journal review of records raises questions By MICHAEL QUINLAN The Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. The office phone of former legislative aide Kent Downey appears to have been used to make campaign-related phone calls on behalf of Rep. Joe Barrows, a Classified D8 40901" 10706.