The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 1

SATURDAY 1 Black Santas play an important role Kids need identifying role model The time is here for UT hoopsters O'Neill's first big test: Memphis TODAYS Mttaw, I TONIGHTS HIGH: rfn. LOW: 51 1SI 33 Complete weather forecast on 10B 1 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE -fl A GANNETT NEWSPAPER Volume 90, No. 351 5 sections Copyright 1994 Second Class postage paid in Nashville, TN TENNESSEAN Hall. elocatnom mot dead "Today, maybe after the initial shock it feels to me like everyone has taken a deep breath and said that wasn't the fight that was Round 1." BILL IVEY Director, Country Music Foundation ft Vsr s. il "I can't tell you my plan have enough support to pass the Metro Council Tuesday night The foundation would have had to come up with the remaining $16 million to move into its proposed home.

Hall of Fame officials, stuck in a building too small for its operations and with too little parking at the corner of 16th Avenue South and Division Street, were approached by Bredesen last year to consider a move downtown. The arena would get a boost, and the museum and archives a new home, three times its current size. To swing it financially, Bredesen asked the Metro Council to spend $1.9 million of surplus cash. That would have matched a $1 million feder- of 'yes, I'll bring Is it. ves.

I I' yes, I Mayor believes timing was off By GAIL KERR Staff Writer Round 1 of the Country Music Hall of Fame's fight to move downtown had it down for the count, but yesterday it came up swinging for Round 2. Options, including waiting a year to proceed with plans to move next door to the new arena, were being tossed around by Country Music Foundation and Bredesen administration in six-point-seven weeks MUSEUMS Behind the scenes, Country Music Foundation is overflowing; talk of Grammy hall of fame here reaches impasse, on 7 A. "Today, maybe after the initial shock of this legislation being withdrawn, it feels to me like everyone has taken a deep breath and said that wasn't the fight, that was Round 1," foundation director Bill Ivey said. "The project next to the arena is now very much alive." The comments came a day after Mayor Phil Bredesen announced he was withdrawing a $1.9 million proposal to help the foundation move its Hall of Fame downtown because the plan didn't it back' or something but. think it is a good project.

If we could put it back together I'd like to do so." MAYOR PHIL BREDESEN Turn to PAGE 7 Column 1 Eagles grounded over Midwest odd KL Chorea i i SEOUL, South Korea (AP) A U.S. Army OH-58 helicopter made an emergency landing in North Korea early today, but Pentagon officials said they had no confirmation of reports out of North Korea that the aircraft had been shot down. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said two people were aboard the aircraft "We lost radar contact with the helicopter at 21:15 EST (8:15 p.m. CST)," Bacon said VS. military officials had reported.

Bacon said he was aware of reports out of North Korea that the helicopter had been shot down, but added that U.S. officials had not confirmed that "We are listing it as an emergency landing. Our information is preliminary and He said he had no Information about the crew aboard the helicopter and that military officials were working hard to get additional details on the incident A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said no diplomatic notes on the incident had been exchanged as of early this morning. The North's Korea Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul, said the helicopter "was brought down at one shot in the area of our side in a self-defensive measure." The helicopter was shot down near Ipho-ri in North Korea's eastern front line, it said, adding that North Korean officials were investigating the illegal Intrusion. The South Korean news agency said the helicopter crash-landed about three miles north of the northern sector of the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone that has separated the capitalist South and the communist North since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The small, twe-seater helicopter was on a routine reconnaissance mission, Yonhap said. About 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea under a mutual defense treaty. 1 tj ,.1 fiiiaiirr-'i'ti Counter personnel help an American Eagle passenger find an alternate route at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Pilots: More cold-weather training needed Grassmere to close for study of services Shuts down Jan.

1, may re-open in March Whom to call American Eagle flights from Nashville are expected to go as scheduled during the holidays, but service In several other cities will be canceled. Call 1-800-433-7300 to check flight status. hub in Raleigh-Durham, N.C, to Dec. 28. The moves will not affect Eagle's schedule at Nashville International Airport But travelers to Chicago, Raleigh or New York might have trouble with connecting flights.

The schedule shuffle is the latest twist in a harrowing two months for Eagle, the feeder airline for American Airlines. The trouble started with the Oct 31 crash of a Super ATR aircraft in Roselawn, which killed 68 people. That led to federal ban from flying the ATR in icy weather. Eagle then had to shift non-ATR aircraft to its Chicago hub. Just weeks before Raleigh service was due to shut down, a Jetstream plane headed for that airport crashed Tuesday, killing 15 people.

One day after that crash, VS. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena announced plans to hire more federal aviation safety inspectors and perform safety audits of all VS. airlines. By TIM MARTIN Staff Writer The aftermath of American Eagle's aviation disasters will be felt until at least Jan. 4 for passengers headed to the Midwest Eagle has temporarily canceled all its flights from Chicago and several other Midwest cities as it trains transferred pilots for cold-weather flying.

The move was sparked by concerns from the airline's pilots union, which said some of the pilots who recently transferred north from warm-weather cities need more training for winter travel. The company said that concern is unfounded, but it's not taking chances after two accidents in six weeks. It plans to resume flying next month. "While we believe the pilots who have been temporarily assigned are completely capable, this is not the time for any debate about commuter aircraft safety," said John Hayes, president of the American Eagle operation in Nashville. Also yesterday, Eagle accelerated the closing of its AIR SAFETY Cockpit recorder detects warning -system tone in Carolina crash, on 2A.

Wide-ranging developments in airline industry yesterday, on 2A. Travel industry officials predict Eagle's public-relations problems to go away in matter of months, on 1E. nently. Riebeling said he does not anticipate the same obstacles for the 50-year-old Cumberland Science Museum, whose programs will also be reviewed. Museum attendance has been down this year compared to last but Riebeling said he did not feel it was a trend.

"We are a strong institution and there is no reason to think that we are not going to be around," he said. Financial figures for Grassmere were unavailable yesterday, but the park has been operating in the red for at least a year, said Bob Sullivan, Cumberland Museum's chief executive officer. Less than half of the park's revenue comes from admission fees, a low percentage, he said. The rest comes from contributions and government support "It's a difficult decision but the correct decision," Sullivan said. More money is "the solution to most problems in life," Riebeling said, but added that Grassmere's problems are deeper, rooted in the services and programs it provides.

"It's much more fundamental I Turn to PAGE 2A, Column 5 By ROCHELLE CARTER Staff Writer Grassmere Wildlife Park will close Jan. 1 for at least three months, possibly forever, after falling attendance and lower-than-an-tlclpated contributions pushed the park's board of trustees to vote for closure. Rich Riebeling, chairman of the Cumberland Museums board, said the Thursday night decision was based on the basic principle of business: Give customers what they want Riebeling has appointed a committee to determine just what that Is and how the Nolensville Road-area park can deliver it The committee is reviewing Grassmere's long-term future and will report to the board by Jan. 31. The park will be closed at least through March, he said.

question, it is unusual that we would take this action. You can't wait until no one comes to your door or buys your product to make that assessment" Riebeling, who has been state commissioner of economic and community development under Gov. Ned McWherter, acknowledged it was "a possibility" that the 4-year-old park could close perma FDA investigates charges of secret blood deal compromising the safety of the nation's blood supply." The Red Cross and the Pentagon both strongly deny this, and an FDA spokesman stressed the agency so far has no evidence blood is being drawn from "unsuitable donors at military bases." However, Ken Shelin, FDA district director, told Gannett News Service the allegations are being taken "very seriously," and his office has from military personnel on bases, forts and installations in the Baltimore-Washington area. In return, Walter Reed Instead of being charged for Red Cross blood is granted "credits" for pints donated, at a savings of almost $160,000 a year to the huge Army hospital, which normally has to pay as much as $90 a pint Costello, fired by the Red Cross in June when he protested the quietly negotiated deal, filed a month later with FDA investigators a 10-page affidavit claiming it "creates the possibility of By JOHN HANCHETTE and NORM BREWER Gannett News Service WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration is looking into a complaint blood supplies may be endangered because of a secret deal between the Red Cross and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. According to William Costello, former Red Cross blood services accounts manager, the agreement permits the Red Cross to seek blood I Turn to PAGE 2A, Column 1 FOOTBALL Vanderbilt Athletic Director Paul LOCAL NEWS movie about A mother charqed with shooting BTDATOEAK Hoolahan will begin the interviewing process for the vacant head If IA(MOW I CONTENTS CONSUMERS You feel cheated, wronged, ripped off by a store, a professional adviser, a manufacturer; what are you going to do about it? Odds are.

you won't take action, according to a survey. Yet the same poll indicates one out of four deals has some sort of glitch. But you are not helpless. There is an art to lodging a complaint, several experts say. You must ask the right people the right questions.

Press your demands the right way, and your needs can be satisfied. A guide to the finer points of complaining. On 1E. TELEVISION Remember that being stuck in a cabin with Olivia Newton-John? The film had sweet music, sweeter close-ups and oh, excuse me, that wasn't a movie it was a daydream. Now, at last, It's also a film.

A Christmas Romance has its debut at 8 p.m. tomorrow on CBS. coaching position today. Added to the list of those interested in the assignment: former Buamaaa- 1-4E 20 VSO her 13-year-old son during an attempt to discipline him won't be allowed to move back with her family until a trial set Jan. 19.

But Kathleen Davis has permission to be with her family Christmas day. On 2B. Several African dignitaries are in our city for a conference to foster stronger ties between developing African nations and Afrtcarv Americans. Councilman Kwame Leo Ullard hopes It will increase Classified 4-22E living. if I CO Local News V108 2D Movies.

70 Comics Crossword Houston Oilers assis Dear Abby 2D Newsmakers 3A SB Scoreboard 7C 16A Sports VC Entertainment 3D Television 50 Ob 2A: The World In 5 Minutes tant head coach Kevin Gilbride, Southern California offensive coordinator Mike Riley and Nebraska running-back coach Frank Solich. On 1, 5C. NEWTON-JOHN international trade for the area On 1B..