The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 1

SATURDAY 1 A Which way will the Vols go? Brown: It's either up or down Chesnutt defies music formulas He does what no one is doing 40' Complete weather forecast on 8B NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE A GANNETT NEWSPAPER VOLUME 93, NO. 312 5 SECTIONS Copyright, 1997 PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID IN NASHVILLE, TN 59- ID lB JL JLI )L I aJ GltdD ltd Dtrsisa mJO 1 WASHINGTON (AP) In a rising war of words, the Clinton administration warned yesterday it is considering military options, including a cruise missile strike, if Iraq carries out its threat to shoot down U.N. surveillance planes. At the White House, President Clinton declared that the United States and its allies must be "resolute and firm" and that U.N. inspec State Department spokesman James P.

Rubin said that even though the United States has gone "the extra mile with diplomacy," Aziz would be given a visa to hold meetings at the United Nations. Rubin said additional U.N. sanctions that could heighten pressure on Baghdad might be considered next week. Clinton, however, said he sees no "I think it is important to be resolute, and I think it would be a mistake to rule in or out any particular course of action at this moment," the President told reporters gathered in the Roosevelt Room. Clinton said he expects agreement among the allies.

"I have seen no indication that any of our allies are weakening on this. Everyone seems to be united in their determination." In Baghdad, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz claimed yesterday that the United States has used the U.N. spy planes to gather information for attacks against Iraq and declared: "I simply cannot accept that "When a strange plane enters the Iraqi airspace, it might be shot by the Iraqi anti-aircraft facilities." tions of Saddam Hussein's weapons arsenals must resume. Clinton said a decision on military action would wait until after a U.N. diplomatic delegation returns Monday from Baghdad and the United States consults with its allies.

The diplomats have been unable to persuade Iraq to back down on an order expelling US. members of U.N. weapons inspection teams. reason to believe that Saddam is bowing to threats of sanctions or military action. Asked if he sees any reason to hope that Saddam will comply with demands that U.N.

weapons inspections resume, he said: "No, I dont" I Turn to PAGE 9A, Column! State grades well on report cards How your school scored Nashville to get big speedway Winston Cup races could make return By CHARLES SEARCY Sports Writer Nashville's hopes for the return of NASCAR Winston Cup, the top level of stock-car racing, received a boost yesterday when Dover Downs Entertainment and Gaylord Entertainment announced plans to build a $23 million superspeedway in Davidson Seeschcol-by-school, grade-by-grade breakdowns on how students scored and how much they improved. Charts on Pages 14-17A feature scores from schools in SCHOOL REPORT CARD 1997 lV-j-'- BHIHBL IfflBS'i AT' these counties and cities Sumner Williamson Franklin Wilson Lebanon Cheatham i Davidson Dickson Robertson Rutherford Murfreesboro By DORREN KLAUSNITZER Staff Writer The big picture of education in Tennessee's public schools is rosy, state educators say. Students learned more than their national peers in math, reading and language arts. The dropout rate is the lowest in state history. And student expenditures for regular instruction have gone up 34 since the 1991-92 school year.

While not all the news is good reading comprehension is slowly spiraling downward state Education Commissioner Jane Walters said the 21st Century Report Card, released yesterday, provides taxpayers with enough information to get an accurate snapshot of schools statewide. The report cards mark the sixth installment of annual accounting to the public on how state dollars are spent, how students are performing, and how smoothly individual districts arc run. The documents contain student performance data for the state as a whole, school districts, schools and individual grades within schools. In addition to Including scores on the state's assessment test, the documents show how much students have learned, how they scored on college entrance exams, and whether they are attending class. The report cards peer into school systems' wallets to measure how well they spend their allowances.

Since the education funding for- THE TENNESSEAN Winston Cup Series races, which feature popular drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip, were last run in Nashville in 1984. But construction of the track does not mean getting the circuit back Is a sure thing, said Denis McGlynn, Dover Downs president and chief executive officer. "We dont have a Winston Cup race at this time and no promise of one. But we think this will be a profitable venture even if we dont have the Winston Cup Series." NASCAR President Bill France said last night that no Winston Cup dates would be awarded based solely on the construction of a new track. "We make those racing dates on a yearly basis.

Who knows what will happen in 10 or 20 years?" Dover Downs Entertainment operates a mula was adopted in 1991, regular instruction spending statewide increased from $1.56 billion in 1991-92 to $2.24 billion last year, and teacher salaries rose to 134,222, up from $32,477 for 1994-05. But more money does not always mean better test scores. Student gains in social studies "have remained essentially flat and reading comprehension has been trending downward," said Bill Sanders, the University of Tennessee statistician who developed the mod-, el which measures how much students learn year by year. JACKIE BELL STAFF Representatives of Dover Downs Entertainment Inc, Gaylord Entertainment and Nashville Speedway USA meet with Mayor Phi Bredesen and chat over the sale of Nashville Speedway's lease. Turn to PAGE 2A, Cohmui 1 Police say HOV lanes too difficult to enforce Brokers suggest racetrack sites 1 JiliiiiifillUX PcccIhUs dbs for now NASCAR ccmplox Local real estate brokers speculate that one of these four areas could be home for the new NASCAR racing facility, based on available land in the area and the sites' proximity to interstates.

Officials of Dover Downs Entertainment say they haven't picked a site for their $25 million track, but it will be built inside Davidson County. INSIDE Effect on Fan Fair uncertain, on 2A. Waltrip, Marlin can't wait, on 1C. 141 COMING TOMORROW NASCAR Cafe opens Monday In downtown, the city's newest example of the fan fervor that has made stock-car racing the fastest-growing spectator sport On 1E Sunday. Joelton LGoodlettsviileW andl-24 7jS 1 ft Old Hickory CiLtr By JAY HAMBURG Staff Writer Wanted: acres of real estate inside Davidson County.

Must be near an interstate and tire-friendly. Buyers will develop. With these specifications for the proposed NASCAR motorsports complex, there are only a few sites that fit the bill, local real estate brokers say. Officials at Dover Downs Entertainment, which operates a successful NASCAR track in Dover, said the company is still looking for sites. But several real estate brokers speculate the most likely spot may be found in northwest Davidson County, around Joelton and 1-24.

There's some pretty good farmland up there," said Ben Goodwin, a broker with ColUers, Turley, Martin, Smith Co. Another possible site could be in southwest Davidson County between Bellevue and Pegram near M0, said real estate broker Tony Martin, of CB Commercial That area has the advantage of large lots of land in the hands of few owners but has the disadvantage of hilly terrain. "You'd have to put a blade to it and level it," Martin said. By JON YATES Staff Writer They're supposed to reduce traffic by getting commuters to double up, but police say the HOV lanes sprouting up around Nashville are too hard to enforce, meaning most violators whiz by undaunted. Although state officials say new high-occupancy vehicle lanes have more space to pull motorists over, Assistant Police Chief Charles Smith said yesterday that, to his knowledge, Metro officers have not issued a single ticket this year for HOV violations.

And while troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol have written hundreds of citations outside Davidson County, Smith said Metro officers probably will not ticket violators because doing so causes too many problems. "I dont think they're a bad idea, I just think the ones we have in Davidson County are poorly designed. I think the way we have them now, I would do away with them. They're just not a good idea at all, and they're ripe for abuse." Smith's comments come one week after Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Luanne Grandinettl wrote The Ten-nessean complaining that Metro officers were Ignoring HOV violators. The lanes, which cover about 18 miles on Interstates 40 and 63, require motorists to have at least one passenger during weekday rush hours 7-9 a.m.

for inbound Nashville traffic, 4-6 p.m. for outbound. A majority of HOV lanes lie outside the county and are enforced by the Highway PatroL Fewer than six miles of HOV lanes fall under Metro jurisdiction. Grandinetti, who praised THP troopers for their enforcement, said Metro officers are simply sending the wrong message. "We recognize it's tough to enforce any traffic violation on urban interstates, but they do pull over speeders.

What we'd like to see is a recognition that HOV lanes are important" Highway Patrol spokesman Anthony Kimbrough said his troopers have stopped 1,331 people since last November for HOV violations. The brokers pointed out that each site has potential problems that range from nearby residential areas, which could protest the noise and congestion, environmental impact on rivers and lack of current utility service. John Nelley of the Weeks Corp. added two other potential sites: east Davidson near 1-40 and between Old Hickory Boulevard and the county line. He also mentioned the Bells Bend area in west Davidson.

The brokers said sites could sell for an acre.1 hf Pearam -CTr Bellevue -Pegram near 1-40 ANGIE WALTON STAFF HUM I riiinim Without NatsTse, Maniacs Henry Cannon, husband of late Minnie Pearl sO have 10,000 Oves Sections: Local News JB Sports uvtng Business Support could wane If CHnton gives too much President Clinton and the White House staff went Into overtime yesterday to lobby for House passage of "fast-track" legislation, but Democratic supporters threatened to abandon the bill If the President gave away too much to anti-abortion Republicans. Voting on the trade bill was postponed until sometime this weekend. On 10A. Brad About You Classified 2-14E Comics .60 To subscribe: 242-NEWS Delivery problems: 254-5661 or 1-800-342-8237 For personal servtcs, ca! during these times: Monday-Frtdsy: 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 pm i Saturday: 6:30 am.

to 10.30 a.m. Sunday: i 7:30 am to 12:30 p.m. mm i rni.i i i To reach our newsroom: Local, stats mnm: 2594095 Shorts: 259-8010 Ljvfcig: 259-9050 SeH-off spreads, but Dow ends on h'h note Three days of Wall Street calm were washed away yesterday in a sea of selling that began in Asia, spread through Europe and hobbled markets in Latin America The Dow industrials, at one point down 195 points, came back In late trading to substantially cut the clay's losses and wound up the week with a gain. Contributing to the markers gyrations was a report on the jobless rate. Unemployment dropped to 4.7, the kjifvest level in nearly a They could have just just renamed the band 9,999 Maniacs.

But, instead, after lead singer Natalie Merchant left 10,000 Maniacs, the folk-rockers found a new singer -without having to look very far -and carried on with its He was most recognizable as the husband of the late Sarah Cannon, Grand Ole Opry star Minnie PearLBut Henry Cannon, 80 had his own reputation as a 4 Ui DearAbby i. Deaths 5D 6-7B 18A Edtorfate, I Entertainment A IT' 1 Horoscope 3D Movies NaSoneiNews Scoreboard 9C .70 MERCHANT music-making busi- lefcvWon nrTr CANNON nessman, char- ter pilot and shrewd investor. On 1 B. ness as usual. On 3D.

i WotiNews.