The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 1

26 PAGES A GANNETT NEWSPAPER LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1995 50 CENTS KENTUCKY EDITION lis fflgprote OT1T1 DM I 1 -j 11 a a i i a. a. a job a jrr i ,1 1 1 Senate fa President Clinton opposed the amendment, although aides said he would be open to some sort of law protecting the flag. "The guys in the powdered wigs had it about right in 1792," White House press secretary Michael McCurry said. Hatch blamed Clinton for the amendment's defeat and vowed it will be introduced again.

"It unraveled this morning before our eyes," said Susan Ridge of the Citizens Flag Alliance, a coalition of about 100 groups lobbying for the amendment. She said the alliance, Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, floor manager for the proposed amendment. To fail to protect the flag demeans it, he said. Foes countered with the argument that flag-burning is rare, with the Congressional Research Service reporting three incidents last year and none the year before hardly enough, they said, to merit curtailing free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. "The flag is important but freedom of speech is more important," argued Minority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.

D. islatures as well as Congress to enact flag-protection laws. The flag amendment would have overturned Supreme Court rulings in 1989 and 1990 that struck down flag-desecration laws as unconstitutional violations of individual rights to free speech rulings that were decried by some as an insult to the flag and defended by others as an affirmation of the Bill of Rights. "Isn't it ridiculous that the American people are denied the right to protect their unique national symbol in the law?" asked Senate Judiciary which includes the American Legion, would concentrate its efforts on the 1996 elections. "See you in November," the alliance said in a terse message.

Every state but Vermont has passed a resolution urging Congress to support the amendment. Before voting the Senate rejected, 71-28, a substitute proposed by Sen. Mitch McConnell, to ban flag desecration by legislation rather than See FLAG-PROTECTION Back page, col. 5, this section By HELEN DEWAR The Washington Post WASHINGTON The Senate yesterday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed Congress to pass legislation barring physical desecration of the American flag. The vote was 63-36 in favor of the amendment, three short of the two-thirds needed to propose an amendment for ratification by the states.

Last June, the House approved 312-120 an amendment allowing state leg aw Patton: Universities need 'new vision' 1 vj is- 1 7 1 "I "We must have a system of higher education which is more responsive, more efficient and more relevant to today's realities and to tomorrow's needs. Our people deserve no less, and I will accept no less." Gov. Paul Patton in his inaugural speech INSIDE A retired Whitesburg couple whose televised testimonials about injured coal miners influenced the race for governor, had choice seats at the inauguration. A6 The inaugural parade drew many from Eastern Kentucky. B1 Text of Patton's at inaugural STAFF PHOTO BY JAMES H.

WALLACE speech. Forum Newly Inaugurated Gov. Paul Patton and his wife, Judi, greeted a supporter who approached their car during the inaugural parade yesterday on Capitol Avenue in Frankfort. Patton is Kentucky's 59th governor. mmmmmmmmmi No retreat from school reform, he vows Brown, coal firm convicted of fraud By DEBORAH YETTER Staff Writer A federal jury convicted a Western Kentucky coal company and its majority owner yesterday on all charges they faced in a massive bribery and kickback scheme to win a multimillion-dollar coal contract from Big Rivers Electric Corp.

of Henderson. Clyde Brown 68, of Central City and Green River Coal Co. of Madison-ville were convicted of three counts each of fraud in the scheme to pay $1.7 million in bribes and kickbacks. Brown, who owns 70 percent of Green River Coal, also was convicted of two counts of income-tax fraud for deducting bribe payments as business expenses on the company's corporate tax returns. Green River Coal holds a $35 mil-lion-a-year coal contract with Big Rivers and is the power company's largest coal supplier under a 20-year contract that runs until 2004.

It is an enormous setback for Green River Coal, which will face renewed efforts by Big Rivers to cancel the contract it has been fighting to keep. The case was the first of three criminal cases to go to a jury that involve allegations of widespread corruption in Western Kentucky's coal and power industries. And it is a major victory for prosecutors. "We're very pleased with it," Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Frye said.

"I think it sends a message to the coal industry that bribes and kickbacks won't be tolerated." U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coff-man scheduled sentencing for Brown and Green River Coal for March 21. Brown could get up to 21 years in prison and be fined the firm faces a maximum $750,000 fine. See VERDICT Back page, col. 1, this section Peres asks Syria to join drive for peace By BARRY SCHWEID Associated Press WASHINGTON Standing before the U.S.

Congress with a solemn reminder that "Yitzhak is no more," Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres yesterday urged Syria to put aside old grievances and join the quickening, drive for peace in the Middle East. Reminding his rapt audience of legislators, Cabinet officers, Supreme Court justices and diplomats that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was slain by a rabid foe of territorial compromise, Peres vowed to continue in the path of the "captain of peace." To Syrian President Hafez Assad, who is demanding surrender of the Golan Heights on the border with Israel, Peres said he was ready to make important decisions though he again stopped short of offering to return all the land in exchange for a peace treaty. At a press conference later, though, he inched in that direction, saying "the time has not come for me to announce it." He said he would first like to have "the whole picture" of what Israel would give in exchange. "I stand before you with one overriding commitment," Peres told the joint meeting of Congress, "to yield to no threat, to stop at no obstacle in negotiating the hurdles ahead, in seeking security for our people, peace for our land, tranquility for our region." Syria broke off negotiations with Israel in Washington in June, objecting to an Israeli demand for a foothold on the Golan Heights to install See PERES Back page, col. 5, this section Happy landings French combat pilots Lt.

Jose-Manuel Souvignet, left, and Capt. Frederic Chiffot arrived in Paris after nearly four months as captives of the Bosnian Serbs. News, A3 Hate in the ranks The Army, responding to the arrests of white soldiers in the killing of a black couple, will investigate troop involvement with hate groups in America and abroad. News, A2 Pacific storm Wind gusting over 100 mph along the West Coast led to three deaths and knocked out power to 1.5 million people. News, A2 Whistleblower An ex-Brown Williamson executive was ordered to tell the tobacco company what secrets he intends to reveal.

Business, B8 Jumping the gun Clergyman Jeb Stuart Magruder, whose civil rights were restored by outgoing Gov. Brereton Jones, illegally voted in 1991. Kentucky, B1 "F' 1 t.M 1 In shapes Cookie cutters get a workout in Darlene Roby's Louisville home. This season she will bake more than 3,000 cookies for friends and colleagues. Food Features, CI FAMILIES Get the picture Families in Louisville can have a free photograph taken of each of their children to give to police in case a youngster is lost or missing.

Kentucky, B2 Calling choices More options for phone customers: BellSouth proposes expanding the area reached through local calls from Louisville. Business, B8 FORECAST Hand-warmers Kentucky: Chance of rain north today, west tonight and north, west tomorrow. Highs today, 40s northeast, mid-50s south; tomorrow, 55 to 60. Lows, 40s. Details, B2 INDEX Business B8 Lottery A2 Comics C4 Movies C3 Crossword C5 People A2 Deaths B4 Racing D5 Food C1 Regional B1 Forum A4 Sports D1 Horoscope C5 Television C2 Classified A3, C4, C6 0 10706 higher education but said he probably would propose a reform plan to the General Assembly, which will convene Jan.

2. Patton said he had worked for a week on his inaugural address, taking ideas from advisers but writing most of it himself. In it he said that Kentucky "must have a system of higher education which is more responsive, more efficient and more relevant to today's realities and to tomorrow's needs. Our people deserve no less, and I will accept no less." Patton's other remarks about education surely encouraged supporters of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act. In his campaign, after Republican Larry Forgy said KERA was failing in the classroom, Patton ran ads saying he would "fix KERA." Yesterday, he put it less bluntly: "We will have See PATTON Back page, col.

1, this section long trek to the governor's chair, which took him through the rough and tumble of Pike County politics and three statewide races to become the first Eastern Kentucky politician to hold the office in a generation. The ceremony drew hundreds of Pike County residents to Frankfort, where they stood along Main Street and Capitol Avenue to see the new governor and his wife, Judi, ride at the head of the inaugural parade in a black Corvette convertible. Patton began his triumphant day by taking the official oath just after midnight as the term of Gov. Brereton Jones expired. Before the parade, Patton attended a prayer service at Frankfort's First Presbyterian Church with Lt.

Gov. Steve Henry and other members of the Democratic slate, which swept the election. In an interview, Kentucky's 59th governor declined to say what reforms he has in mind for By AL CROSS, Political Writer FRANKFORT, Ky. Paul Edward Patton began his term as governor yesterday by issuing a challenge to the state's universities, vowing not to retreat on education reform and setting other grand goals for himself as a leader. "I challenge the institutions of higher education to throw off the shackles of the past," Patton said in his inaugural address on the steps of the Capitol, with university presidents and legislators in the audience under a cold, gray sky.

"I challenge you to articulate a new vision, propose a new method, show me a system more devoted to innovation than it is to turf, more concerned about the big picture than it is about its own place in that picture, and I'll work with you to find the money to do the job." Patton's inaugural represented the end of his Memorials mark 'day the Army stopped' 7 By JAMES MALONE Staff Writer HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. Sgt. Christopher Engelbert was just a "big, goofy, peaceful, gentle guy somebody that didn't deserve to die," his younger brother Matt recalled yesterday. Christopher Engelbert was one of 248 Fort Campbellsoldiers who were killed a decade ago when a plane chartered by the military crashed on takeoff at Gander, Newfoundland. They were coming home for Christmas from a six-month peacekeeping mission in the Sinai.

Matt Engelbert said the "road to healing is going well." But for the family, "Christmas has turned into miss Chris." The New York City resident was one of the relatives and friends who gathered for two emotional services Sesterday at memorials erected to onor the dead. Like many of them, he expressed doubt that the government did everything in its power to investigate the crash, saying he doesn't buy the official explanation that ice buildup on the plane's wings caused it. A few suggested that links to terrorism and skullduggery were secreted away. But in a community that well knows the price of peace and the drill to defend it, the official line was honor, healing and closure. During a service filled with precision and military pageantry, families See GANDER Back page, col.

1, this section jr Hi fa ASSOCIATED FflESS Max Raney of Arlington, Texas, saluted during a memorial service yesterday at Fort Campbell, honoring the 248 soldiers who died In a plane crash 10 years ago In Gander, Newfoundland. Raney, who served In a U.N. peacekeeping mission with the victims, returned home a week after the crash. V..