The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 21

3 THE TENNESSEAN Wdn dy, HUrch 28 7B LOCAL NEWS oaurd approves concept of WDCN split iiiM nMi 1 iit iW Station must prove its independence "It's not that we are disposing off WDCM." JUNE LAMBERT Metro School Board about 10 years ago. But the move has become more urgent in recent years, because the station is going to have to convert to digital broadcast by 2003. That change, mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, could cost $4.85 million, Shepherd said. "It's not that we are doing away disposing of WDCN," school board Chairwoman June Lambert said. "It's we are giving WDCN an opportunity to expand and hopefully become bigger and better than ever before." Board member Murray Philip expressed some concern, saying he Shepherd said, it should be easier to convince donors to help out the station.

"It's a challenge, but it's one I think the community can meet" he said. "It's been a long time coming, and we're very pleased that we've been given the opportunity." WDCN has a budget of $5.5 million. Metro gives the station $2.1 million. Fund raising brings in another $2.4 million, while $1 million comes from state and federal funds, officials said. The idea of spinning off WDCN from the school board first surfaced By PAUL DONSKY Staff Writer Nashville's public television station appears headed for a divorce from the Metro school board.

The school board, which has run WDCN-Channel 8 since the station was founded in 1962, agreed in principle last night to spin off the station and let it operate itself under a new community board. The agreement approved by the board does not guarantee freedom for WDCN. Rather, the document approve a final separation agreement The board can pull the plug on the deal if it feels there are financial or management problems. Identifying donors and making sales pitches now becomes a focus for station management The school board has little day-today control over WDCN, but a 1995 study found that donors have been reluctant to give the station because they assumed it received enough money from Metro. Once the station is on its own, gives station officials until June 1999 to show the school board that they can raise enough money to operate on their own.

The big winners in the deal will be viewers, station officials say. The result of the spin-off will be more local programs, such as a long-planned current affairs show tentatively called In Focus, said Bob Shepherd, WDCN general manager. The board must approve the make-up of the new board, sign off on the station's business plan, and didnt want the WDCN officials to put the station property up as collateral on a loan. "We have an obligation to protect the taxpayers' resources, their investment in the community," he said. Citizens ready police to help 1 gilt in crime iff 7V Jr' (I By JON YATES makeshift uni- Staff writer forms, police ra- Nashvillians want to take a more dios and mag-active role in Metro's fight against netic signs for crime, the president of the city's their cars.

Neighborhood Alliance told police While they department officials yesterday. dont have the The comments, made during a authority to meeting with Police Chief Emmett make arrests, Turner and Assistant Chief Charles the citizens are Smith, came after a months-long encouraged to 4 TURNER talk with police stuay Dy tne alliance to gauge citizens' feelings toward the police department The results, John Stern said, are that people want more communication with the police department and other city agencies, and that they want to develop better relationships with their neighborhood officers. "We found that there are a lot of Nashvillians who want to form partnerships, they want to get more involved," Stern said. "They want more opportunities." Police say they are coming. In the coming weeks, the department will start a pilot Citizens On Patrol program in the Hermitage and Donelson area.

The program, called COPs, will be based on a similar program in Fort Worth, Texas, where volunteers are given frequently, report crimes and keep an eye on their neighbors' homes, garages and cars. Turner said his department has funding to cover part of the program and will soon begin the selection process to choose citizens who will participate. Turner said he hopes to use a Neighborhood Alliance report, to be released Thursday, to find additional ways to improve relations with area residents. "Certainly, the one thing we want and this survey helps us is that we want to know what the neighborhoods perceive as the problems," he said. "Now we know what the issues are and we can work from here." GEORGE WALKER IV STAFF Security officer Linda Greaves reads the "Pink Flamingo Lounge" sign on the insulation hiding broken glass panels in Metro Courthouse elevators.

Beautiful to broken in just three weeks Gobbell and Purkey said in a recent interview that it was "a major challenge" to fit new elevators into 60-year-old shafts. They said they couldn't increase the size of the elevator cabs, but they used the backlit glass panels to make them look light and airy. Rebuilding the first bank of elevators took about nine months, but Gobbell and Purkey say they expect the second phase of the renovation to be finished by September. In the meantime, just two of the six elevators are open to the public resulting in long waits at times. Another elevator is being used only to transport prisoners.

panels were designed to get more light into the relatively small elevator cabs, and to reflect the art deco style of the courthouse, which was completed in 1937. Gobbell said he does not know the cost of replacing the panels. Peter Heidenreich, who is coordinating the $1.6 million elevator renovation project for the Metro government, said he will ask the architects to rethink the design of the cabs before similar glass panels are installed in three other elevators across the hall, which are currently shut down for renovation. "We've got to put in something that's going to last" Heidenreich said. Courthouse regulars thought that might have been accidental, but late last week most of the glass panels in both cabs also showed cracks, resulting from what the architects said appeared to be vandalism.

"There's no doubt that it was deliberate," said Jay Purkey, one of the architects. The glass panels are hard to shatter, like car windshields, Purkey said. But the insulation was installed Friday to allav DeoDle's fears of broken glass and to prevent further damage. "Well take a look at it and see what we've got to do to get it architect Ron Gobbell. He said that the backlit glass By KIRK LOCCINS Staff Writer The rebuilt elevators in the Metro Courthouse have gone from sleekly elegant to battered and bruised with pink insulation glued over the cabs' etched-glass rear panels in three weeks.

The architects say they'll have to go "back to the drawing board" and find a material more resistant to kicks and blows from visitors to the courthouse. Someone posted signs saying "Pink Flamingo Lounge" in the shadowy elevators on Monday. It took just a week, after two of the elevators went into service on Feb. 26, for the glass panels in one of the cabs to get cracked. Crime comparisons Violent crime rose during the first two months of 1998 as compared to the same period last year, Metro police statistics released yesterday show.

Jan. 1 through Jan. 1 through Annual Crime type Feb. 28,1998 Feb. 28,1997 change Murder, non-negligent manslaughter 18 17 5.9 Forcible rape 77 85 Robbery 448 429 4.4 Aggravated assault 904 797 13.4 Total 1,447 1,328 9.0 SOURCE: Metro Police LEIGH SINGLETON STAFF Double Cellathon! Judges, attorneys agree: Courtroom cameras inform 2lptiiics 2 Choose From a Digital Phone 1 Vj ny 1 (Call for price) ministration of justice," Chief Justice Riley Anderson told a room full of media representatives, judges and attorneys.

"We felt if people could see the judicial sys By BETH WARREN Staff Writer Next time a murder suspect takes the witness stand, the general public should be able to feel closer to courtroom action through newspaper photos and television cameras. Camera access to courtrooms, however, is a new privilege still under scrutiny in Tennessee courts. Last night several judges and attorneys spoke at a forum at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, agreeing that for the most part cameras helped inform residents without much intrusion. "We felt cameras could be allowed in the courtroom and it would be compatible with the ad tem as it is, they ANDERSON would have confidence in it would think it is a good system. And to the extent it isnt a good system, there could be accountability." Cameras were allowed in Tennessee courtrooms under Rule 30 on a trial basis in 1996, then were adopt- WITH 30 MINUTES TALK TIME EVERY MONTH! PER MONTH includes 200 minutes per month talk time.

Ericsson DH 388 M) MOTOROLA PROFILE 353 BEEPER SPECIAL! ed permanently Jan. 1, 1997. Last night's meeting was held to clear up the rules after a few violations in which juvenile witnesses were photographed in court "Let's not lose the privilege that's been so hard-fought and hard-gained," said Jon Ross, an attorney for WTVF-Channel 5. Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn, who requested last night's meeting, said she will ask prosecutors and defense attorneys to inform the court and news media when a witness is younger than 18 so there is no confusion. Juvenile defendants who have been transferred to adult court can be photographed.

Drug dog finds marijuana in car Police intercepted 19 pounds of marijuana Monday they say was en route to the Carolinas from Texas. Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said officer Chris Taylor of the Drug Interdiction Unit stopped a Camaro with a Texas license plate on Interstate 40 East, near Bellevue, for a traffic violation. Police dog Barney was brought to the scene and smelled drugs in the car, Aaron said. During an inspection, officers found the marijuana hidden between the car's gas tank and trunk. Luis Alberto Morales, 25, of Donna, Texas, was arrested and charged with possession of a con- rid substance for resale and pos-on of drug paraphernalia.

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