Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 7

Page 8, Daily Sitka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Weduesday, July 21,1993 White House Attorney An Apparent Suicide Lawmakers Question Military-Gays Policy By NANCY BENAC Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) At the pinnacle of his career, Vince Foster should have been riding high after seeing his boyhood friend elected president and then joining him in the White House. Instead, the No. 2 lawyer at the White House left work early on Tuesday, drove to an isolated park overlooking the Potomac River in a wooded part of suburban Virginia and took his life. A revolver in his hand, slumped against a Civil War-era cannon, he left behind no note, no explanation. Only friends, family and colleagues in stunned sorrow.

And a life story that until Tuesday had read like any man's fantasy. "There is really no way to know why these things happen," an ashen- faced President Clinton told reporters during a brief appearance in the Rose Garden. "And it is very important that his life not be judged simply by how it ended, because Vince Foster was a wonderful man." The 48-year-old father of three was a lifelong friend of Clinton. They had attended Miss Mary's kindergarten together in tiny Hope, and Foster had been a partner of Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock. His record could not be more impressive: standout athlete, high school student body president, first in his class at law school, top score on the state bar exam, a partner at his law firm within two years.

As a lawyer, the awards and acclaim -kept coming for two decades. Then, on Jan. 20, the same day Clinton took the oath of office, the new president appointed his ever-polite friend Vince to be White House deputy counsel. There were plenty of bumps in the road ahead, as the counsel's office caught blame for several high-profile administration missteps, but Clinton- rejected suggestions they might have driven Foster to suicide. "I certainly don't think that can explain it, and I certainly don't think it's accurate," he said.

A White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Foster had expressed frustration at recent criticism of the administration, but nothing out of the ordinary. Another said he had been acting distracted lately. Clinton canceled his public appearances on Wednesday and met privately with White House staff to console "I encouraged the staff to remember that we're all people and that we have to pay maybe a little more attention to our friends and our families and our co-workers, and try to remember that work can never be the only thing in life," he said. Foster had proudly showcased his college-age daughter, Laura, at a giant media dinner in Washington earlier this year. He said his only complaint with his new job was thai it kept him away from his family too much.

Clinton had -been shocked and pained once before by the 1971 suicide of a close friend, Frank Aller, an Oxford classmate who stayed in England to avoid the military draft. The president said Foster had always been a stable friend. "For more years than most of us like to admit, in times of difficulty he was normally the Rock of Gibraltar while other people were having trouble," he said. Hickel Unhappy Over List of Judge Nominees ANCHORAGE (AP) Attorney General Charlie Cole says he's researching to see if new names may be added to a list of nominees for an An- Superior Court vacancy. Cole said he was acting after Gov.

Walter J. Hickel expressed displeasure over recommendations made by the state Judicial Council. "I'm really concerned about the names I just got," Hickel said Tuesday in response to a question on a statewide radio call-in show. According to the state Constitution, the governor appoints judges from a short-list of nominees interviewed by the council. Hickel spokesman John Manly said the names submitted "don't necessarily reflect his (Hickel's) point of view." "I guess that translates to they're too Manly said.

On the list are Peter Ashman, a lower court judge from Palmer, Michael Wolverton, a former public defender and lower court judge in Anchorage; Larry Card, an Anchorage lawyer in private practice and a former federal prosecutor; and Brant McGee, head of the state Office of Public Advocacy. Hickel said he has asked for a legal opinion to see if he can ask for more names to choose from. Cole said he has begun researching to see if additions may be made without running afoul of the Constitution. "The governor does not necessarily have objections to the names of those nominees who were sent to him by the Judicial. Council," Cole said.

"But you know, he expressed the view that he may want a broader selection of nominees." Cole said Hickel's concerns may be resolved by simply asking the council to amend its own list. The council is a board of three lawyers named by the state Bar Association and three non- lawyers named by the governor and approved by the Legislature. The state Supreme Court chief justice, the council's seventh member, votes only if there is a tie. Public complaints leveled against the council say it is tilted against prosecutors and conservatives. Former state legislator Fritz Pettyjohn, a newspaper columnist in Anchorage, and Anchorage police officer Mike Grimes, president of the Alaska Peace Officers Association, are among detractors.

"We just feel people from the prosecution side and from the district attorney's office get automatically eliminated by the Alaska Bar Association," Grimes said. He said he wrote Hickel a week ago urging him to decline making an appointment from the council's list. Bill Cotton, the council's executive director, said former prosecutors make up about half ef the Alaska bench. Saturday and Sunday, July 24 25 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.mT WHO'S ELIGIBLE: All households and certain small businesses and government agencies.

Please contact Dick Smith at 747-5500 for more information. ELIGIBLE: Solvents, oil, paint, antifreeze, cleaners, poisons, acids, caustics, furniture stripper, herbicides, pesticides, printing photographic chemicals. WHAT'S NOT ELIGIBLE Explosives, blasting caps and gun powder, reactives such as sodium metal and radioactive wastes. WHERE: Wastewater Treatment Plant Sponsored by: City Borough of Sitka and Southeast Conference in partnership with Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Alaska Marine Highway System By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Les Aspin today brushed aside charges that President Clinton's new policy on homosexuals in the military will prompt scores of leual challenges. "The proposal is essentially a sound compromise and probably more enforceable than the one we currently have," Aspin told the House Armed Services Committee.

The proposal probably will be tested in the courts, he said. But, he argued, previous Defense Department regulations, including the one in place when Clinton took office, were ambiguous. "It's not a credible attack to say it's headed for the Aspin said. The secretary was responding to a Republican critic of the plan; Rep. Jon Kyi of Arizona, who said all sides on the issue agree "this policy is headed for the courts.

It's an admitted, troublesome aspect of the new policy." Earlier in the day, the Defense Department's general counsel said the new policy leaves grounds for discharge unchanged. Jamie Gorelick sought to clarify the confusion that surfaced for members of Congress Tuesday over what behavior would be grounds for a commander to investigate under the new policy. Sen. Sam Nunn, the committee's chairman, recited a litany of statements, and whether those would require a servicemember to rebut a presumption of homosexuality. A statement such as "I am homosexual" would place the burden of proof on the servicemember to con- Continued from Page 1 to do no further building on his lot.

Williams said he had received few comments from neighbors, but the ones he did get were quite strong. He read a letter from one residnet who felt the rezoning would degrade the neighborhood. "We wish to publicly oppose this rezoning because we feel that it will eventually have a long-term negative impact on our current land holdings in the Kincroft Subdivision," wrote Michael and Klaudia Leccese. "We own two lots in the Kincroft Subdivision and long-term plans to reside in the area. Our purchase of both pieces of property were partially based on the current zoning of our neighboring lands we do not want to live near more apartment complexes, condos or trailer parks than we have to." They went on to say: "Currently we have an R-2 MHP zone area close by and the negative impact is very difficult to deal with.

The noise level is very high from vehicles of all sorts (including ATVs), barking dogs, screaming children, loud music and people fighting late into the night. We do not wish to have any additional problems of this nature in our neigh- borhoood." Morrison read two brief letters from neighbors who are in support of the change. He said the impact on the Continued from Page 1 Kessler said the two died of a virus Two other children had. been found dead from lack of care when the UN patrol first reached the hospital, caught in a no-man's-land between Croat and government forces. Kessler said the aid cutoff was aggravating the plight of the other patients, many of whom suffer from dehydration and nutrition.

Bosnian Croat militia leaders, demanding intricate details about'con- voy destinations, have not allowed any to travel from southern Croatia to central Bosnia since Friday, severing aid to about 1 million people, Kessler said. ''They should be held responsible, he said. "They're creating a humanitarian crisis." He accused Bosnian Serbs of orchestrating daily protest blockades by women, who have prevented convoys from reaclung the besieged Muslim enclave of Gorazde for two weeks. "These women are being brought there. They are being rotated," he said.

Serb troops, meanwhile, continued to assault the enclave. Gorazde and Sarajevo are among six UN. "safe areas" designated special protection. But Serbs were refusing to allow peackeepers to deploy in Gorazde, and they have continued attacks in the Sarajevo region. The heavy fighting and aid disruptions appeared aimed at pressuring the government into accepting a plan to divide Bosnia into Serb, Croat and Muslim mini-states.

Bosnia's collective presidency continued closed-door consultations on the crisis. Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes, who holds the rotating European Community presidency, arrived in Sarajevo to meet with U.N. and Bosnian officials. Although Serbs and Croats have borne the most blame for disrupting relief operations, Frewer said Muslim-led government troops also have vince a commander it is not so. "I am "I am lesbian," "I am bisexual, Nunn said, and Gorelick said those also applied.

Clinton's chief rival on military matters in the Senate, Nunn said at the start of the hearing that although the president's policy requires clarification, Tuesday's testimony from the Joint Chiefs of Staff shows that the policy can be enforced without undermining military readiness. "We received effective and persuasive testimony the policy could be implemented without degradation" to the armed services, Nunn said. senator said he hoped to write legislation in next year's defense bill consistent with the president's policy. Defense Secretary Les Aspin and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who testified before Nunn's committee Tuesday, move over to the House Armed Services Committee today. Led by their chairman, Gen.

Colin Powell, the Joint Chiefs defended the policy Tuesday as acceptable and workable. "I believe this is the right answer," Powell said. Opposition in Congress and from the military forced Clinton to abandon his campaign pledge to lift the ban on gays in the military outright Instead, the president unveiled a compromise Monday allowing homosexuals to serve as long as they remain silent about their sexuality. Clinton, in an interview with Wisconsin journalists, heatedly denied that the new policy betrayed political weakness, "It may be a sign of madness, sir, but it is not a sign of weakness," he snapped. Later, in a televised interview with CNN's Larry King, the president said neighborhood would be minimal.

Betty Henning, who lives at 3201 Halibut Point Road, attended the meeting and said, "We are not opposed to it at this time." But the panel denied the request with only Jim Williams voting in favor. The planning director reminded Morrison that he can appeal the decision to the Assembly. In other business the panel: tabled a request by Lloyd Swanson who is seeking a permit to build a bank stabilizer and a single family dock at 1408 Sawmill Creek Road. The area is zoned Waterfront. Swanson and an adjacent property owner could not come to an agreement during the meeting about how far the dock should extend into the channel, so Chairman Nelson suggested they work it out oh their own time with city staff.

granted a variance to Steve Shaffer to reduce the front setback to zero for a home he plans to build at 3003 Mikele Street. The planning director said the variance had been granted previously, but had expired. Shaffer noted: that the zero front setback is needed because a cul-de- sac, which will eventually be vacated, dips into the property. Once the vacation takes place, he noted, the house will be 10 feet back from the road. The planning panel's next meeting is Aug.

2. blocked convoys, seeking to redirect aid. The war erupted in April 1992 when Bosnian Serbs rebelled over Bosnia's independence from Yugoslavia. At least 138,000 people are believed to be dead or missing. Inmate Executed In Missouri POTOSI, Mo.

(AP) Missouri's longest-serving death row inmate was executed by injection early today for a 1979 contract murder he blamed on a man now dead. Walter Junior Blair, 32, went to his death after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay issued by a federal appeals court earlier in the day. It was the fourth stay he received during his more than 12 years on death row. He had no final statement Prosecutors alleged Blair was paid $6,000 to kill art student Katherine Jo Allen to keep her from testifying at the rape trial of Larry Jackson.

The 21-year-old woman was shot to death in Kansas City. The defense had claimed to have new evidence that Emest Jones, the star witness against Blair, carried out the slaying. Jones died several years ago. Among those signing sworn statements accusing Jones was Jackson who is serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder and was never tried for the rape of Ms. Allen or her slaying.

Body Identified BETHEL (AP) A body found near this southwestern Alaska city has been identified as Lawrence Kasayuli 40, of Scammon Bay, Bethel police said Tuesday. Kasayuli's body was found near an old airport runway across the Kuskokwim River from Bethel. Cause of death was not known, and Kasayuli's body had been sent to Anchorage for an autopsy. "the Joint Chiefs came a long way on this policy from where they were back in January." "They know that there are and always have been homosexuals in the service who have served with distinction," Clinton said. As to the compromise, Clinton said, "I believe it's the best we can do right now." But at Tuesday's hearing, skeptical lawmakers peppered Aspin with hypothetical situations that might arise from such a policy.

What if a soldier admits to a bunk mate that he is homosexual? Would the service academies be forced to change their code of conduct that says cadets cannot lie since die new policy requires service members to hide their sexuality? After nearly three hours of questioning, Aspin added to the confusion when he acknowledged that the policy would still discourage homosexuals from signing up. "If a person is homosexual, they would be much more comfortable pursuing another profession than the military," Aspin said. Still, he described the president's plan as progress for homosexuals who want to be in the armed forces. "The policy before was 'don't What's new is 'don't ask' and 'don't Aspin said. Nunn expressed frustration when Aspin was presented with a hypothetical situation in which one soldier tells another he is gay.

Would that be credible information sufficient for a commander to investigate? Aspin said no. Rather, he said, grounds for an inquiry would be a pattern of homosexual conduct defined as "a homosexual act, a statement that the member is homosexual or bisexual, or a marriage or attempted marriage to someone of the same gender." Nunn contended that Aspin was contradicting himself, arid declared, "This has to be pinned down. We' can't have a commander out there saying, 'What do I and somebody says, 'Call the attorney Aspin said that the policy leaves the final decision to the discretion of the commanders. Sex Offender Hounded After Leaving NW Jail ByDAVIDAMMONS Associated Press Writer OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) When child rapist Joseph Gallardo was released from prison, word reached his hometown before he did.

Warned by the sheriff that a bearded 35-year-old with "sadistic and deviant sexual fantasies" soon would be in their midst and might strike again, neighbors held a rally. A few hours Gallardo's house was burned down. He fled to his brother's in Deming, N.M., but was hounded from there too, slipping out of town just before a protest march Sunday. About half the states Washington included have laws requiring sex offenders to register with a local police agency upon their release, state prison chief Chase Riveland said. But only Washington expressly authorizes law enforcement agencies to notify the public, said Judith Schretter counsel for the National Center for Missmg and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va.

The uproar in Gallardo's case has stirred debate over whether such measures give rise to vigilantism. "It very volatile sex, children, the bogeyman and notification is like a match struck near the gasoline," said Gerard Sheehan of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which opposes the notification law. "Our officials need to tje concerned about fanning what I call 'private Ex-conyicts have been hounded in other states in recent years, including California, Minnesota and Virginia. But in other states some of which notify only the victim when the offender gets out word gets out mostly by word of mouth or when law enforcement officials notify neighbors without express legal authorization. In California, for example, residents kept Lawrence Singleton on the run from town to town after he was paroled.

He was convicted of raping a teen-ager and hacking off her forearms with an ax. He is now believed living in Florida. The measure allowing Washington law enforcement to notify the public when a sex offender gets out was part of a tough 1990 law that was spurred by the sexual mutilation of a 7-year- old boy and the sex-slayings of three youngsters. When Gallardo was freed July 12 after serving nearly three years for having oral sex with the 10-year-old daughter of a friend. Before he got out, Snohomish County sheriffs deputies released a flier with his picture.

Based on drawings and writings by Gallardo that had been found in his house, the sheriffs office described him as someone at high risk of committing another sex offense. It said he had sexual fantasies "which include torture, sexual assault, human sacrifice, bondage and the murder of young children." Neighbors in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood quickly organized a rally near Gallardo's house. Hours later, the house went up in flames before he could move in. Gallardo was on the run Monday his brother, Pierre, told KING-TV in Seattle. Although some legislators and citizens are calling for tougher laws against sexual predators, others are warning against a mob mentality taking away the basic rights of the offender, no matter how despicable the crime.

"We don't want vigilantes, that's for sure," prison chief Riveland said. "This man was convicted of one sin- sex offense, with someone he knew. The rest is fabricated from what he had written and drawn. Normally, we convict people on their behavior, not on what we think they might do." Ginsberg Doing Well in Confirmation Hearing WASHINGTON (AP) Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg said today judicial intervention on social issues is justified "when political avenues become dead-end streets." Ginsburg, under friendly questioning on her second day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, cited issues such as voting-rights cases where blacks were excluded from voting in primary elections. Ginsburg has sought to strike a balance on judges' place in the legal system, saying they must follow the Constitution and avoid injecting their personal opinions into their rulings.

But, she said, "When political avenues become dead-end streets, judicial intervention in the politics of the people may be essential in order to have effective politics." Under questioning from Sen. Dennis DeConcini, she said she was referring to cases where people were being shut out of the political process. DeConcini said he wanted to find out when Ginsburg thought judges should lead and when they should follow the public in creating societal changes. "It sounds to me like you're going to lead and that's fine with me," he added. Ginsburg also said any legal distinctions based on sex should be treated skeptically.

"It was always my view that distinctions on the basis of gender should be treated most skeptically because of the history of (laws) that in fact limited women's opportunities as one that was cast benignly in her favor" Ginsburg said. "As you know, I was an advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment and I still am," she said. On the hearing's opening day Tuesday Ginsburg sought to answer cntics who said she was wrong in suggesting the Supreme Court went too far in its 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Ginsburg has said the decision halted a reform trend that had already begun in the states.

Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D- Ohio, questioned whether that trend would have moved quickly enough to help many women seeking abortions. "Once states begin to change, then it takes a while but eventually most of them move in the direction of change," Ginsburg said. But after the high court's ruling, abortion-righjs advocates seemed to relax "while the other side had a single target to rally against," she added. Ginsburg's legalistic answers did not hold senators' rapt attention as did the 1991 fireworks over law professor Anita Hill's sexual harassment allegation against now-Justice Clarence Thomas.

Senators came and went during the seven-hour hearing as the 60-year-old federal appellate judge sat at the witness table, back straight. President Clinton wants the Senate to confirm her nomination to replace retired Justice Byron R. White before lawmakers recess in early August. "It's going very, very well," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt "Her real love of the Jaw comes through and her commitment to what the law can and should do." "She's making a good impression added Sen.

Orrin Hatch, R- Utah, who said questioning cf Ginsburg could continue into Friday. "I think it's got to be a bit disconcerting to some of the more liberal members that she seems to be talking of restraint" instead of judicial activism. She sought to strike a balance on judges' place in the American legal system, saying they must base their rulings on the Constitution, not their own personal values..