The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 1

SATURDAY CP, UJJ II J. I I i' Nashville buyer courts Huizenga Three want NHL's Panthers Williams debuts CD of standards Album mixes jeans with tux tqpay-s 34 25 Complete weather forecast on 8B NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE iE I A GANNETT NEWSPAPER VOLUME 91, NO. 357 5 SECTIONS Copyright, 1995 SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID IN NASHVILLE, TN PTFTFTV TT1X 1 i 1 A TV 1 a if a -m. Whose view willguide WDCN? if a naofi to Deo ill ETf 1 (5 fitoiffl 1 I I PI 1 I i "1' V.r IIS il. By KIRK LOGCINS Staff Wrih-r Seven residents of Clover Bottom Developmental Center filed suit yesterday to force the state of Tennessee to improve conditions at the Donelson facility and ultimately to close it down.

The suit, against Gov. Don Sundquist and other state officials, asks for immediate improvements in staffing, treatment and living conditions for residents of the state center for the mentally and developmental disabled. But the plaintiffs' ultimate goal is moving all of Clover Bottom's 481 residents into their own homes or small group-home settings, lawyers involved in the case said. The class-action complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court here is similar to a lawsuit now pending in Memphis, where a federal judge has fined the state $5,000 a day for not moving fast enough to improve conditions at Arlington Developmental Center in Shelby County.

The judge ruled that care is so poor at Arlington that it violates patients' civil rights, and ordered emergency steps to improve staff levels and medical and psychiatric care at the. center. The problems at Arlington and Clover Bottom "are very similar," said Judith Gran, one of the attorneys who filed suit here yesterday. She works for the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, which has suits pending against institutions for the mentally handicapped in six states. The suit against Clover Bottom asks for court orders that would: Provide independent professional evaluations of all Clover Bottom residents to determine what treatment and developmental assistance they need.

9 Halt admissions to the facility. Require the state to develop "community living arrangements," home-care services and vocational and day-care services for as many residents as possible. Establish a system to prevent, investigate, and punish abuse and neglect of Clover Bottom residents. Hire more professional and direct-care staff at the center, including physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and speech and language pathologists. No hearing date has been set for the lawsuit, which was assigned to Judge Robert Echols.

Elizabeth Carden, a spokeswoman for Sundquist, said the governor's office had not yet received a copy of the "It's not unexpected." Carden said Sundquist "has a strong commitment to the well-being of the mentally ill in Tennessee." She acknowledged that the question of whether to keep people in large institutions, or to try to place them in smaller, homelike settings, "is something that's being addressed around the country." The U.S. Justice Department reported last March that it had found widespread violations of the civil rights of Cloyer Bottom residents, including poor care, physical Turn to PAGE 2A, Column 1 ,) ill ill I "111 111 I 1111 I' Hl NINA LONG STAFF WDCN expects fund raising to make up for. losses of Metro and federal dollars if the school board releases control of the station. Fund-raising drives, such as this one held earlier this month, now make up 39 of WDCN's budget. Budget Public television station at crossroads as supporters try to script its independence comparison Here is a comparison of WDCN's operating budget for 1994-95 and a projected budget for 2002-03, assuming the school board releases control of the station.

The projections reflect losses of Metro ana federal dollars and an increase in fund raising. 1994-95 budget Misc. In-kind Runnort By DCRREN KLAUSMllER SugWriler To Bob Shepherd, general manager of WDCN, getting the Metro school board to relinquish control of the public television station "may be a matter of survival." To school board members like Vera Denney, the transfer to a proposed nonprofit foundation is worth considering. But the Jerimayer's death a 'message' from God $350,082 Metro School Board deal now offered by 1 $1,143,816 WDCN's supporters is not The debate that has involved numerous meetings and heightened tensions I Study finds station would thrive without school board, on 2A. CRIME Warfield shooting suspects may be Florida-bound, on 7B.

Public Broadcasting Service were run by local governing bodies, like school boards. The count now is eight, said Jeannie Bunton, spokeswoman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington, D.C. Of the 171 other stations buying PBS programming, 91 licenses are held by non-profit groups, 59 by universities and 21 by state governments. "The bottom line is that the American people are the owners of public broadcasting. By and large, the community stations reflect the programming needs and wishes of the neighbors they serve," Bunton said.

"Each station knows best how to serve its audience." For Shepherd, WDCN general manager for 30 years, the station's umbilical cord to the nine-member school board needs to be severed. For 1995-96, the board is projected to spend about $1.18 million or 30 of the station's operating budget With federal dollars endangered, Shepherd fears the school connection will hinder rather than help fund-raising efforts to fill the void. "If they the board can't provide, then we are in a downward spiral," he said. The transfer proposals One deal on tne table asks for the school board to give up the station's license to a Turn to PAGE 2A, Column 1 Fund raising $1,615,940 State Dept. of Education $343,732 Projected budget for 2002-03 Metro School Board $640,000 Misc.

In-kind SunDOrt By LINDA A. MOORE Staff Writer The death of Jerimayer Devine Warfield sent a message to a community that finds itself asking: "Why the kids?" Funeral services were last night at the Big Harpeth United Primitive Baptist Church for the 12-year-old who was gunned down Sunday in a drive-by shooting. Six ministers spoke. Their basic message: Jerimayer's death was not accidental but God's way of getting the attention of a community that must "turn loose" drugs, gambling, running each other down, and "killing each other in the street." "We're all on a 'warfield, one minister said. "No family is untouched by this madness." Police said the shooting at the 7th Avenue Market at Seventh Avenue North and Garfield Street where the boy had gone to buy ice cream, was the result of a conflict over drugs.

Police continue to look for four peo- $350,000 between the two groups boils down to an age-old question: What's in it for me? "The current deal doesnt take into consideration all of the options that need to be considered. It is one-sided," Denney said. "It doesnt address what's in it for the board of education." At stake is the control and future funding of WDCN-Channel 8, Middle Tennessee's public television station. It offers daytime instructional programming and more popular shows ranging from Sesame Street to the Newslwur with Jim Lehrer and Mystery! theater. WDCN belongs to a vanishing breed.

At one time, up to 36 stations affiliated with the pie suspected in the crime. An a capella choir began the funeral services, and music rocked the East Nashville church. Soloists sent words of comfort to the large family gathered in the front rows, a few feet away from Jerimayer's steel-blue coffin. The boy was eulogized by the Rev. William Boyd of the Holy Trinity Baptist Church, where Jerimayer was a member.

Boyd told the grieving family, "It's not easy when you have to look at such a blossom that was just begining to bloom and then somebody cuts the stem and kills the roots." The church was filled with family and friends as more than 300 people gathered to pay their respects. Fund raising State Dept. of $4,061,000 Education $499,000 ANGIE STEVENS STAFF Source: WDCN Talks' failure means budget impasse unlikely to end by year's close checks for constituents. Congress also approved money for a pending Medicare payment to the states and a temporary stipend for the District of Columbia, whose budget comes in part from the federal Treasury. Dole said the White House and Congress had also agreed that federal workers who have been fur-loughed without pay during the current government shutdown would be paid in full when the crisis ended, if not before.

ing to happen." Still, Republicans insisted that they would continue to block temporary spending legislation that would allow government offices to reopen until the White House agrees to a seven-year plan to erase the federal deficit. But even as the Republicans did so, they moved to ease the effect of the shutdown on their constituents. Both chambers approved a resolution yesterday freeing money to back a flood of government benefit next Friday, making it almost certain that many federal parks and many government offices will remain closed, at least until the new year. Little was revealed about the discussion by the participants, who included Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and the chairmen of the two congressional budget committees. But people on both sides, all of whom demanded anonymity, said that the two sides had examined the barriers that have so far blocked an agreement, including the important issues of spending for Medicare and Medicaid.

But they reached no major decisions. The most heartening accomplishment one said, may well have been an agreement by both sides to tone down the caustic attacks each has lobbed during the last month of bargaining. "We discussed some very difficult issues, admitting the hard deci Aw York Times Senite WASHINGTON Two hours of budget talks between President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders ended yesterday without the kind of rancor that has so far characterized these negotiations, but it remained clear that the standoff that has closed much of the government for a week is nowhere near ending. Indeed, the principals said after the White House meeting that they would not even meet again until sions haven't been made yet," Dole said later. "Without being too specific, it's fair to say that at least right now, the attitude of everyone is very positive." Beyond a joint statement that pronounced yesterday's meeting "good," the White House had little to say.

"The President wants, above all, wants to see the restoration of the government services," press secretary Mike McCurry said. "But everybody here knows that's not go PERSONALITIES Butterfly McQueen, aka Prissy in BASKETBALL Frank Seckar of vanderbiit with oTDMM 17 CONTENTS HOLIDAYS Just dreani yOU have all the money you ever need for holiday shopping. No scrimping, no mad rush for the best prices, no January credit card angst. On 18. Kwanzaa, the celebration based on a centuries-old African holiday, will be observed beginning Thursday.

Nashville's event will focus on grandmothers. On 2B. Persons! computer sales are a bright spot for retailers but not for manufacturers. On 1E. WASHINGTON The White House yesterday gave the Senate Whitewater panel 13 pages of notes from a disputed 1993 meeting between attorneys for the administration and President Clinton.

But the notes are just raising more questions. On 6A. Congress yesterday overrode President Clinton's veto for the first time. At issue was a bill limiting stockholders' ability to sue for fraud. Separately, the White House said it will veto the GOP welfare bill passed by Congress yesterday.

On 8A. uone With The Wind, died yesterday as a result of suffering second- and third-degree burns over 70 of her body. McQueen told firefighters her clothes caught on fire when she attempted to light a kerosene heater in her home outside Au points today would reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. And his scoring will be needed If the Commodores are to beat Middle Tennessee State today at Memorial Gym (6:30 p.m., Ch. 4) and avenge last year's upset defeat at the hands of the Blue Brad About You 3A Entertainment 30 Buine- 1-2E Horoscope 2D Classified 2-11E Living 1-80 1-88 Comics 60 Local Newt Crossword 2D Movies 3-70 Dear Abby 2D Scoreboard 5C 1-8C 7B Deaths 12A Television 5D On 2A: The World in 5 Minutes gusta, Ga.

On 5A. McQUEEN Raiders. On 1C. SECKAR.