The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 5

MAYOR DON FOX Lebanon targets sex businesses Page 4B LOCAL I News roundup 2B Deaths 7B Weather 8B TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1998 ivflian workers boost tteiision srag Tim Chavez Benefits to be same as uniformed officers' ments as an accountant you ought to have the same plan, I think, is clearly contrary to the council's intent and certainly is contrary to any sense of fairness of other employ- Aim It CCA There are about 6,500 civilian employees in Metro. The lawsuit was filed after the Metro Employee Benefit Board al- Turn to PAGE 2B, Column 1 as firefighters and officers. Metro has a month to appeal the ruling, and the mayor said he is considering the city's options. "Aside from the financial issue, there's a serious fairness issue to other Metro employees," the mayor said. "Clearly, there have been benefit plans set up for police and fire because of the hazardous nature of those jobs.

But saying that just because you work for those depart the additional employees in the more generous police and fire pension plan. "This has an enormous financial impact," Mayor Phil Bredesen said. Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle has ruled on a lawsuit, saying that police civilian employees should be on the same plan By ROB MORITZ Staff Writer Nearly 450 Metro police and fire department civilians have been declared eligible for the same early retirement as their co-workers whose jobs are more dangerous. That despite the city's argument there is a difference between uni- formed police officers and firefighters who put their lives on the line every day and civilian employees whose jobs are not considered as stressful. A study estimated it would cost Metro $1.9 million a year to cover Usher backs rules, tears up IJT sign It was a technique straight out of late Mayor Richard Daley's Manual for Crowd Control and Preserving the Public Peace.

Thank goodness the University of Tennessee Lady Vols were winning at the time, so the crowd on this cold Saturday night in Nashville was not in a nasty mood. Because a Vanderbilt University usher almost triggered World War III in what I understand as a relative newcomer to this state is a long-running campaign of disdain and downright hostility between UT and Vandy devotees. Why do some followers of the two camps so dislike each other? It seems much more than a rivalry. Where's Jerry Springer when you need him? But inquiring minds of newcomers such as myself want to know what's behind this most basic of Tennessee cultural lessons. Let me recount the latest incident which my wife witnessed.

The setting was halftime of the Lady Vols regional semifinal tilt with Rutgers, outside of Memorial Gym at Vanderbilt A crowd of orange was puffing down some cancer sticks on one of the ramps. One woman noticed a big sign made of orange poster board sitting on the ground. She held it up. It read: "It's Not Over Till The Fat Lady Sings Rocky Top On ESPN." ESPN was carrying the game, and a cleverly worded sign is a sure way to get on national TV out-! side of claiming the President of the United States grabbed your pri-! vate parts. "This is pretty neat" the Vol fan exclaimed.

"Why didnt they take it Lf" tup'V Boner wins OK on early voting site Election commission member protests action By BONNA M. de la CRUZ Staff Writer State Rep. Bill Boner got Metro Election Commission approval for an early voting site in his East Nashville legislative district on a promise he'd get the Metro Council to pony up $15,000. One Republican member of the Election Commission questioned the action, in part because Boner is running for register of deeds, a countywide office. Commissioner Patricia Heim brought up the issue at a commission meeting yesterday, adding that the commission violated its own rule, which says 4 out of 5 commission votes are needed to approve a specific site.

"I'm willing to go ahead with Boner's site, but I'm USA NIPP STAFF WDCN-Channel 8 videographer Mark Owens prepares to tape a public service announcement by Congressman Bob Clement WDCN seeking independence registering this protest," she said. "I dont want to spend a bunch of money wiring up a site that may only be used once or twice." Early voting turnout in the past few elections, Heim said, has not convinced her that it helps overall voter turnout Boner, the former mayor and congressman, faces five candidates in a Democratic primary in May. The winner will face a Republican Jill BONER nominee and two Independents in the August general Nashville's local PBS affiliate wants to get out from underneath Metro school board's oversight By PAUL PONSKY Staff Writer The station that brings Mister Rogers and Big Bird into homes throughout Middle Tennessee may soon be changing hands. Public television affiliate WDCN-Channel 8 is trying to spin itself off from the Metro school board, which has run the station since it began operating in 1962. The school board is expected to vote tonight on whether to transfer the station to a new, nonprofit community board by June 30, 1999, providing the new board shows it can raise enough money to operate by itself.

Though the school board has little day-to-day control over the station, a 1995 study found that many big-ticket donors are reluctant to give to WDCN, because they perceive it as an arm of the school board which, according the study, is not trusted. Once the station spins off, station officials hope, money will roll in and WDCN will be able to produce new programs to bolster a local lineup that even WDCN executives admit is lackluster. "The school board is very hard-pressed for money and has not been able to give us the funding we have needed to provide us with an outstanding station here in Nashville," said Bob Shepherd, WDCN general manager. "We're a good, solid station now, but we're not able to do the kinds of things that would take us to the next level. That takes money." So what could viewers expect from an independent WDCN? II I i I.

'(' 1. Mi ni election. About $4,000 has been spent getting East Middle School at North 10th and Main streets wired for early -voting, which begins April 23, elections administrator Michael McDonald said. Boner said he pushed for an East Nashville site two years ago, long before he announced he was running for register. He said East Nashville has a large voting population that is hampered by the recent closing of the Shelby Avenue Bridge, a route that once connected East Nashville to the closest site, Howard School.

"The people in East Nashville ought to be treated like the folks in Belle Meade," said Boner, adding he has council support for the $15,000. Bordeaux Councilman Melvin Black disagreed: "I would hope the council would not spend $15,000 for an early voting site to satisfy one candidate. Other candidates who are not state representatives would love to have the same privilege to place an easy location for their voters." Inglewood Councilman Lawrence Hart said he supports Boner's proposal. "There are a lot of retired citizens in this area and they particularly like to take advantage of early voting." Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Murphy, a Democrat, said there is enough money in the election budget to fund the site if Boner doesnt come through. "We didnt shut our eyes and throw darts and didnt listen to politicians," Murphy said.

HOW TO GET TO EARLY VOTING Dates and locations, on 2B. inside? This deserves to be inside. Enter a middle-aged man in a gold jacket an usher, who said something my wife could not make out to the UT fans. But he probably was restating Vandy's long-standing policy of not allowing signage or flags into the gym no matter which team they're for. Then he did something that would be a real crowd-pleaser on pro wrestling's Monday Night Raw but constituted a poor way to treat people in a state noted for hospitality.

The usher tore the large sign in half in front of the Rocky Top-rewed fans. Everybody exclaimed, "Ohhhhhh." My wife said, "Uh-oh." Fans started yelling: "You're just mad because your team's not in it "You see what kind of coat he is wearing," shouted another fan as the usher made his retreat Of course, this event pales next to the time in the adjacent stadium when the secretary of then-Vandy football coach Gerry DiNardo grabbed a female UT fan by the ears and threw her on top of nearby rooters. Her offense: celebrating the Vols' first touchdown in their 654 win over Vandy. In a great column line, Joe Bid-die said his neighbor Ben couldnt believe Vandy suspended the secretary for a week. She was the only one from Vandy who hit someone luring the game, he said.

Back to the present Vandy assis-ant athletic director Rod Williamson said he doesnt know about the sign incident But policy is clear. "We have a policy we do not allow signage into the gym," Williamson said. "It blocks the view of other fans. Our experience over the years is that signs can be annoying to fans sitting around them." He's right That's a good policy. But Saturday night the policy was enforced in a way that would have made Jerry Springer salivate and Richard Daley crow.

And it constituted another weird chapter in a Tennessee family feud that appears downright nasty with offenses on both sides. Volunteer Guerry Jameson of One-With-Another, a singles group, iurn t0 page 2B, Column 3 rings a bell to the start the call-in session of a WDCN telethon. Panels endorse proposed $206 million desegregation plan By ROB MORITZ Staff Writer Two Metro Council committees have endorsed the mayor's proposed $206 million desegregation plan, but shied away from pledging financial support now. substance of the letter." Mayor Phil Bredesen praised the committee's vote and called it "a great example of the council and mayor working hand in hand." He said he supported the amendment. The board, which meets today, must now revise its $247 million plan to fit the $206 million plan Bredesen recommended.

The council will vote on the budget in June. ter to obligate them to vote for the tax hike in June. "I'm not committing to vote for this in June," said Councilman Charles Fentress, who sponsored an amendment to the letter. He said he supports the "ideas in principle" of the mayor's plan, but "I dont have all the answers and I want to have the right to change my vote during the budget process." The council, after some debate, approved the amendment Councilman-at-large Ronnie Steine, who supports the desegregation plan, asked if the amendment watered down the mayor's letter. "What is the purpose of voting on the letter?" he asked.

Councilman Ron Turner, chairman of the Education Committee, defended the amendment "What we're saying is, based on the facts as we know them, we support the the Metro board of education. The recommendation is in the form of a letter detailing the mayor's plan and his proposed 12-cent property tax increase, which would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $30 a year more in taxes. Before the vote, several council members said they didnt want their vote endorsing the mayor's let The council's budget and finance education committees voted unanimously last night to recom-- "mend the mayor's plan, which would settle a 42-year-old lawsuit, to HUM 11 1 LUX! City Editor: Goldsmith, 259-8065 Regional Editors: Bill Choyke, 259-8899 Frank Gibson, 726-5907 Gail M. Kerr, 259-8085 Laird MacGregor, 259-8095 Ellen Margulies, 726-5977 Businessman Cartwright wins Sam Walton award Jim Cartwright of Eaton's Home Center has been awarded the Sam Walton Business Leader Award. He was chosen to receive the award by the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce, which received a $500 grant in Cartwright's name given by Wal-Mart.

Cartwright was one of 650 business leaders across the country selected by their local chambers of commerce to receive the award. JOHN HATCHETT Learn about landscape pests at symposium Exotic pests, such as privet hedge and bush honeysuckle, might seem like part of the native landscape but they're invaders, slowly choking out wildflowers and native trees and shrubs. The fifth annual Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council Symposium will be held Thursday through March 28 to talk about regional efforts to deal with these threats. The gathering is at the TVA Missionary Ridge Place Building, 1101 Market Chattanooga. For more information call Robert Sherborne, 259-8080 Margaret Sizemore, 726-5941 Eight high schoolers suspended over alcohol Eight Brentwood High school juniors and seniors have been suspended under zero-tolerance rules for alcohol use on a spring-break soccer team trip.

Williamson County High School director Charlie Watts said the students were assigned yesterday to the Alternative Learning Center. Zero tolerance specifies a one-year suspension, but the cases will be reviewed during hearings this week. Watts, who described the students as "good kids," would not say where the incident occurrod BARBARA ESTEVES-MOORE Go west, with exhibit at Lipscomb library The wild, wild west will temporarily make a home for itself at Lipscomb University's Beaman Library today. The touring exhibition, The Frontier in American Culture," examines how stories and images of the frontier and the settling of the West helped shape American values. Lipscomb is the only Southern stop on the exhibit's 30-library tour across America.

The collection, funded with a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be on display at Lipscomb through April 30. MONIQUE FIELDS NignvweeKena Editors: Dwight Lewis, 726-5928 Wendi C. Thomas, 664-2194 George Zepp, 25C ogi -Fax: 259-8093 E-mail tips: newstipstennessean.com ANNE PAINE i.