Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 2

Page 2, Daily Sitka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Thursday, August 12,1993 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Needs Assessment Editor; As a part of our com- muniiywide public ass- the Alliance for Health has recently completed a series of focus group'discussions. The feedback from these discussions will assist us in developing a well-rounded picture of what Sitka needs in terms of substance, abuse prevention. Data from the focus groups and several surveys, including those of the 500 households we visited, will be analyzed this month and be made available to the public this coming fall. The results will also be used in the Alliance and citywide comprehensive planning ef- fort. The Alliance for Health would like to thank every person who has been involved in each phase of the assessment since its beginning.

In our attempts to meet the needs of Sitkans, the feedback is essential. Thanks to everyone from focus group facilitators and to the door-to-door participants, and everyone else who either responded or had a part in making the information-gathering possible, we are on our way to meeting prevention goals -successfully. Their contribution of and enthusiasm are greatly appreciated. Alliance for Health Staff Marines' New Policy on Married Recruits Axed Congress Nixes Delay In Welfare Work Plan The Heidi Chronicles: A This Story Bit Different By DEBORAH HASTINGS Associated Press Writer LOS -ANGELES (AP) Ah, yes. We've been here before.

Hollywood, sex, hookers and the Los Angeles Police Department. But the case of Heidi Fieiss, reputed madam to the stars, is different There's a new police chief in town, and according to the LAPD, the old days of vice cops looking the other way in exchange for a litle on-the-job spying by prostitutes are long gone. And that has spelled trouble for this privileged daughter of a noted pediatrician. "We've had our problems in the past, with compromises made and other things. That's not what we're doing now," said CapL Glenn Ackerman "of the LAPD vice squad.

"Heidi never did anything for us. It's 100 percent above board." Fieiss became one of Ackerman's top priorities when he took over the vice unit in December, six months after Philadelphia Police Commissioner Williams replaced an embattled Daryl Gates as chief of the Los Angeles force. The squad went after her with a task force culled from the LAPD, the Beverly Hills Police Department, the state Attorney General's office and the state Alcoholic Beverage- Control Agency. On Monday, after reports of her ar- Test in June turned Hollywood on its gossip-filled ear, the 27-year-old Fieiss pleaded innocent to pandering and cocaine possession. She could get up tol2 years in prison.

The LAPD's approach in this case is a far cry from tactics used previously against call-girl; rings-Vatenng to Elizabeth "Alex" Adams, the Beverly Hills Madam, reigned for two decades in Hollywood. She also was a longtime LAPD informant Placed on probation in 1991 for pandering, she is now retired and the author of "Madam 90210," which is being rushed into print to take advantage of the Heidi scandal. Before her sentencing, detectives in the department's Organized Crime and Intelligence division testified in her defense, saying she was an important informant who had passed on "pillow talk" about murder suspects, terrorists and fugitive financier Robert L. Vesco. "What was done back then, I would never do," said Ackerman, a 26-year veteran.

"I came (to vice) in 1970.1 remember Madam Alex perfectly. There were some things done along the way that muddied the waters." Unlike Adams, Fieiss was brazen about her business, police said. She hung out with rock stars like Billy Idol. Her competitors and former employees began to complain. In April, a Beverly Hills officer and a state agent pulled up to the hip Rangoon Racquet Club in a Ferrari.

The undercover officers were introduced to Fieiss as businessmen who wanted to hire entertainment for Japanese clients. The following night, Fieiss dispatched four women to the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Ackerman said. They carried cocaine, he said, "just to add a little excitement" The Fieiss probe has widened, with investigators looking into at least two deaths, including the fatal drug overdose of a woman earlier this year. The woman, 22 year-old Laurie Was takeri to the'hbspital'Jjy an associate of Fleiss and of rher boyfriend, alleged paiiderer Ivan Nagy. Fieiss' lawyer, Anthony Brooklier, said she never met Dolan.

By ROBERT BURNS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) The Marine Corps' decision to stop recruiting married people in 1995 caught civilian military leaders by surprise, from an "astounded" President Clinton on down. And it didn't take Defense Secretary. Les Aspin long to order an about-face. The Marine Corps commandant, Gen. Carl Mundy, ordered the no- married recruits policy last week.

It. became public Wednesday afternoon when Marine released a copy of Mundy's Aug. 5 message to all Marines which he spelled out the policy changes. By evening senior Aspin aides, including Ed Dorn, the assistant secretary of defense in charge of personnel policy, were meeting to consider how to announce that Aspin had killed the move and disclose that the defense secretary never had approved it. A three-sentence statement released Wednesday night simply said Aspin had ordered the policy withdrawn, the Marines had done so, and Aspin had demanded that any new policies on the matter of marriage "be subject to a full departmental review" beforehand.

White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers said Clinton "was astounded when he heard about the general's order" Wednesday. She said Clinton asked presidential counselor David Gergen to call Aspin to find out what was going on. By the time Gergen reached Aspin by phone, however, the order already had been withdrawn, she said. A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Aspin did not necessarily disagree with the policy but'strongly objected to it being decreed by the Marines without first gaining approval from the civilian leadership. "It's a sensitive policy arena," the official said, "and he (Aspin) hasn't had an opportunity to consider this policy." Mundy's policy changes had three main elements: --No married recruits would be allowed to join the service after September 1995.

Starting in October 1993 the number of married recruits would be limited, leading by the end of the 1995 budget year to a complete cutoff of marrieds. --All Marines already in uniform would be required to go through an -''educational awareness program on the advantages of delaying marriage." --Those new enlisted Marines who are serving their first tours of duty and who decide to marry would be re- Squired first to consult with their commanding officers. Mundy said this did not mean they needed their permission, but that they would have the advantage of advice from more Marines. The Army, Navy and Air Force have no such policies on marriage. The policy would not have affected Marine Corps Reserve.

At Camp Pendleton, Cpl. Thomas Kent told a reporter he and his wife, who is blind, would be uncomfortable with Mundy's order. "For them to tell me no I couldn't get married I think I would have had more problems," he said while shopping at a base exchange. He married just a few months after joining the Marines in 1990. Staff Sgt Kelley Ramsay disagreed.

Ramsay, 28, who got married last year, is four months pregnant "I think marriage is a really big step to take, and not all young Marines realize the responsibility that goes with it," the seven-year veteran said. "This (proposal) gives Marines a chance to focus on their jobs. It doesn't mean they can't have a personal life." CHICAGO (AP) Tens of thousands of unemployed parents on welfare mainly fathers will have to go to work beginning Oct 1 if they want to continue collecting a monthly check. The laid-off parents will be required to spend 16 hours a week working in their communities -mowing lawns at a local school, doing handyman chores at the county garage, shelving books, at the library or helping out at a nursing home in exchange for a share of their family's welfare benefits. More than 120,000 unemployed parents could be pushed into on-the- job training or community work service as a result of 1988 law scheduled to take effect this fall, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E.

Shalala; The requirements target a segment of the 5 million families on Aid. to Families with Dependent Children -the 371,000 two-parent families whose principal wage earner, in most cases the father, is unemployed. The Clinton administration had sought to postpone the requirements until 1995, saying they would be a hardship on states that have seen revenues shrink and welfare caseloads mushroom since the late 1980s. The House agreed to a one-year delay as part of President Clinton's economic plan, but the Senate balked and the delay was dropped from the final version of the $496 billion tax and spending bill signed into law Tuesday. States will now have to find jobs or training for at least one parent in 40 percent of two-parent families on AFDC, in addition to continuing their efforts to train and educate single mothers on the welfare rolls.

Those that fail to put enough parents to work risk losing substantial amounts of federal matching money. David Ellwood, HHS assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, said some states are worried about the new requirements. But JOBS the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills training program for welfare recipients will remain a "core foundation" of Ellwood said Wednesday after a daylong hearing held in Chicago by a presidential task force that is drafting a plan to overhaul the welfare system. "Programs in education and training will be strengthened," he said. Mark Greenberg, senior staff attorney with the Center for Law" and.

Social Policy, said the Oct 1 requirements may force states to shift their limited resources from education and training for AFDC mothers, some of them at risk of long-term welfare dependency, into "make-work" jobs for laid-off fathers. "It's pouring money into creating unpaid work activity that is not likely to improve their skills and riot likely to improve their ability to get a job," said Greenberg, whose liberal research and advocacy -organization focuses on issues affecting poor families. "At the same time, states'are having to deny basic educational activities and.needed child care to single- parent families that very much need those services to have a chance of succeeding in the labor force," Greenberg said. But Robert Rector, a welfare expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation, believes the work requirements will prompt many men to leave the rolls for a private sector job. WEATHER Warning Labels Ordered On the Handling of Meats Produce Prices Drop; Second Month in a Row WASHINGTON (AP) Falling energy costs pushed prices paid to producers such as farms and factories down by 0.2 percent in July following a 0.3 percent decline in June, the gov- eminent said today.

They were the first back-to-back decreases in the Labor Department's Producer Price Index in two years and represented one of the few benefits from the economy's lackluster 'growth. In a separate report, the Commerce Department said retail sales edged up just 0.1 percent to a seasonally ed $172.3 billion in July, restrained by a big decline in automobile purchases. Also, the Labor Department said fc firstrtime claims for unemployment benefits fell by a slight 3,000 to a sea' sonally adjusted 332,000 last week, DAILY SITKA SENTINEL Thad Poulson Managing Editor, Published by Verstovia Corporation, wholly owned in Sitka, daily except Saturday and Sunday at 112 Barracks Street, Sitka, Alaska 99835, Mail address: Box 799. Subscriptionrat.es: Three months $25 Six months $45 One year $75 Inquire for mailed rates. National ad Branham, Inc.

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indicating essentially unchanged conditions in the job market. "At least one of the luxuries we have in the economy right now, despite all our problems, is that a resurgence in inflation is not in the cards," said economist Jeff K. Thredgold of KeyCorp in Albany, N.Y. "Given the relative economic weakness, both domestically and globally, it's very difficult for anyone to sustain price increases." The producer index measures prices paid by wholesalers and others to those who produce goods and commodities. It's a good early warning sign of inflationary pressures headed toward the consumer.

In advance, economists were looking for a slight 0.1 percent rise in the index. The unanticipated drop was sure to dispel any lingering worries of inflation resurging this year. From January through April, producer prices soared at an annual rate of 4.7 percent Judge Orders Smoker to Quit CLEVELAND (AP) A man who slapped a flight attendant when she tried to get him to put out a cigarette was ordered to stop smoking or go directly to jail. Albert A. Lancry, 57, was told Wednesday he may not smoke a single cigarette as a condition of a four- year probation.

If he does, he could be sentenced to six months in prison. "As a previous smoker I know that can be a tough sentence," U.S. District Judge George W. White said. White also sentenced Lancry to home confinement for four months, fined him $1,500 and ordered him not to drink alcohol.

Lancry slapped a flight attendant when she tried to remove him from the smoking section of an international flight in 1991 for smoking in the aisles and in a flight attendant's seat, Lancry's lawyer, Leonard Yelsky, said his client "wasn't thinking very clearly" because he suffered from diabetes and had not eaten in several hours. Lancry was convicted of assault. Lancry said he smokes five or six cigarettes a day and has not drunk alcohol in years. By DIANE DUSTON Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) The government has ordered that warning labels be affixed to ail raw and partially cooked meat and poultry as of Oct. 15, to advise both professional and household cooks on how to prevent food poisoning.

Agriculture Department was Motivated' by food ppispriing outbreak in the West last January, traced to undercooked hamburgers tainted with E. coli bacteria at a fast- food chain. Hundreds of people became ill, and three children died. Two of the deaths were traced to undercooked hamburgers tainted with E. coli.

Here are a few questions and answers on the issue: What in meat causes illness? E. coli bacteria reside in many raw animal products, but they are killed when the meat is cooked thoroughly. What constitutes "thoroughly?" Most experts say the internal temperature should be 160 degrees and the meat should no longer be red or pink; The agriculture department has not ordered the label to specify such details, saying there are slight variations, depending up on the kind of meat Does that mean I should no longer prepare or order a rare or medium rare steak? Not necessarily. But to be perfectly safe, experts advise more thorough cooking. The government is still leaving it to restaurants and consumers to make their own decisions regarding preparation and personal tastes.

Are there other ways to be infected other than by eating tainted meat? Yes. Raw meat carrying E. coli bacteria, can pass it to other, foods, or "to the Hands or food'preparation How can you avoid such infections? Wash hands after handling raw meat. Additionally, keep raw meat away from other foods. Wash working surfaces, including cutting boards and utensils after they've been used for raw meat, How should meat be stored after purchase? Keep refrigerated or frozen until ready to use it How should it be thawed? Thaw it in the refrigerator or microwave.

Don't let it sit on the counter at room temperature. If the meat or poultry is to sit out during a buffet meal, what should be done? Maintain the food in a hot tray at 140 degrees. Food that is not kept hot should sit out no more than two hours before being stored in the refrigerator. What else is being done to protect against food poisoning from meat? The Agriculture Department says it is stepping up meat inspection and will continue to research ways to test for unseen harmful bacteria and vaccinate animals against bacteria. Sitka Forecast Today, showers with variable winds to 15 mph.

High near 60. Tonight, showers likely with southwest winds to 15 mph. Low in the lower 50s. Friday, mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers. High near 60.

Sitka Weather Temperatures ranged from 57 to 62 degrees and .54 inch of precipitation was measured in the 24 hours ending midnight "last night, Flight Service Station. The barometer -was at 29.96 and falling- slowly. Sunup today was at 5:22 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:39 p.m. Alaska Summary A small low pressure center spread showers today throughout the Panhandle, where Sitka reported about one-third inch of rain in a six- hour period ending this morning.

A few light showers also lingered in southwest regions of lha state. Northwest winds behind an arctic cold front sunk overnight readings to near freezing along the North Slope. Temperatures south of the Brooks Range were in the 40s and 50s, whfle downtown Anchorage was among hoi spots with a reading of 60 degrees. Elsewhere much of Alaska was under cloudy skies with a few clear patches in the eastern Interior and Southcentral. Dense coastal fog prevailed along the Aleutian Islands.

Visibility there was as low as one-quarter mile. Alaska Temps 80s for the Northeast, Midwest, Plains and pans of the West, with 90s for much of the South and Southwest The northern Plains were expected to get seme 70s. Nation's Temps Temperatures indicate previous day's high and overnight low to 8 a.m. EDT- Hi Lo Prc Otlk Albuquerque Amanllo Anchorage Ashevflle Atlanta AtlanucCity Austin Baltimore 79 95 92 69 82 91 79 100 84 64 66 69 57 61 71 56 74 62 .02 cdy cdy cdy rn cdy .44 cdy Bismarck Boise Boston Brownsville Buffalo Casper Charleston.W.Va. New York to Stop Providing Shelter to All Who Request It NEW YORK (AP) New York City is ending a 10-year policy of providing shelter to virtually every family that requests it.

The move is aimed at easing overcrowding and separating the "truly homeless" from those who are just tired of where they live, the city said. Under the policy, which takes effect in several weeks, homeless families will have to prove they have no other options, such as staying with a friend or relative. Seventeen city workers will investigate such claims ofhomelessness. Advocates for the homeless said Wednesday the policy will force families onto the streets. They said they will sue to block the policy.

"The city's whole approach is that people have a choice to enter the homeless system," Ted Houghton of the Coalition for the Homeless said. "But they're exhausting all their resources before they turn to the city." Officials said they don't know how many families might have to move from shelters because of the new rule. The shelter system now has 5,700 families, each costing $3,200 a month. Up to 950 new families apply for shelter month. Deputy Mayor Cesar Perales said the city can no longer provide shelter on demand.

"No city in America no city in the world can afford to make that kind of offer," he said. Deaths Bob Blair McDONOUGH, Ga. (AP) Bob Blair, a newsreel photographer who covered D-Day, died Tuesday. He was oo oo. Blair worked for Fox Movietone News during World War II.

He shot more than 40,000 feet of film in 107 consecutive days of combat. After the war, Blair was hired by NBC. Blair is survived by his wife, Anna; a daughter, a son; and four grandchildren. Harry Bellaver NEW YORK (AP) Harry Bellaver, a film, TV and stage actor who played Sgt. Arcaro on the 1960s series "Naked City," died Sunday of pneumonia.

He was 88. From 1964 to 1969, Bellaver played Ernie Downs on the soap opera "Another World." He appeared in the movies "From Here to Eternity" and "The Old Man and the Sea." In the 1930s, as a member of the Group Theater in New York City, he helped found Actors' Equity. Anchoragc.rain Annette.cloudy Barrow.cloudy Bethel.rain Beules Cordova.cloudy Fairbanks Gulkana.misg Horner.cloudy Kenaijair Kodiak.cloudy McGrath North way PrudhoeBay.rain StPaul.cloudy Sitka.rain High 69 64 44 65 64 57 72 61 70 63 64 60 62 59 66 55 73 59 60 57 58 66 61 68 62 58 High, 73, at McGrath. Low, 31, at Barrow. Low 57 57 31 55 43 48 52 56 45 52 54 50 49 54 57 46 49 43 47 36 50 62 56 54 52 53 Prc 0.11 0.00 0.05 0.14 0.19 0.00 0.32 0.00 0.80 0.00 0.14 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.63 0.03 0.05 2.01 Nation's Weather The West was mostly fair and clear today while cloudy skies threatened to bring rain to parts of the East.

Heat baked sections of the SouUiwest and southern Plains. A heat advisory was posted today and Friday over portions of north-central Texas and temperatures near 100 were forecast as far north as Oklahoma City, Okla. The mercury climbed to 105 in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, breaking the 56-year-old record for the date of 103. Tucson, broke its 1962 record of 107 with a 108-degreemark. Scattered showers and thunderstorms were expected today along the Atlantic and New England coasts, while parts of the Northeast and Great Lakes states could have some showers with limited sunshine.

Severe thunderstorms were expected in parts of the northern Plains, Southeast and across the lower Ohio and upper Tennessee valleys. On Wednesday, heavy rains nd large hail battered parts of the Northeast, Plains, Midwest and West. More than an inch of rain fell in 30 minutes at the Williamsport-Lycoming airport in Pennsylvania. Thunderstorms drooped about 3 inches of rain near Omaha, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Today's highs were forecast mostly in the Cheyenne Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Dallas-FtWonh Dayton Denver DesMobes Detroit Duluih ElPaso Evansville Fairbanks Fargo Flagstaff GrandRapids GreatFalls Greensboro HartfordSpgfld Helena Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jackson Jacksonville Juneau KansasCity LasVegas LittleRock LosAngeles LomsvDle Lubbock Memphis MiamiBeach Midland-Odessa Milwaukee Mpls-StPaul Nashville NewOrleans NewYorkCity Norfolk.Va.

NorthPlatte OklahomaCity Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Providence Raleigh-Durham RapidCity Reno Richmond Sacramento SiLouis SaltLakeGry SanAmonio SanDiego SanFrancisco SantaFc SlSleMarie Scaule Shrcveport SiowFafls Spokane Syracuse Tampa-StPtrsbg Topeka Tucson Tulsa Wichita Wilkes-Barre Wilmington 88 86 75 95 80 78 91 83 79 88 83 88 88 82 92 86 80 100 86 88 85 86' 86 105 92 70 91 84 86 61 88 82 72 87 98 90 92 88 60 84 104 93 86 91 98 91 86 100 87 88 92 92 82 82 84 101 85 94 84 111 86 72 79 81 88 93 80 86 81 88 87 99 76 69 91 91 81 75 97 87 80 79 92 85 108 99 86 94 74 81 cdy .01 cdy cdy .02 cdy .11 rn .03 cdy cdy .01 cdy cdy cdy clr ody cdy 70 1.27 68 cdy 64 69 cdy cdy cdy cdy -cdy cdy .08 .38 cdy cdy. cdy cdy cdy .04 cdy dr .20 cdy .28 .80 74 2.02 79 dr 76 66 73 72 76 82 71 65 70 73 72 70 65 63 77 cdy cdy .08 dr cdy .01 dr cdy cdy cdy cdy cdy clr cdy cdy cdy cdy cdy cdy 68 137 74 cdy 69 cdy 83 cdy 63 60 cdy 59 'cdy cdy cdy 62 65 57 49 65 56 cdy .02 cdy dr 703.06 55 .27 76 65 57 81 61 55 53 74 67 47 63 74 75 77 81 64 73 63 66 clr cdy clr .01 cdy cdy cdy dr dr cdy cdy .08 clr cdy .49 cdy .29 cdy cdy National Temperature Extremes High Wednesday 115 at Cooiidge, Ariz. Low Thursday 38 at West Yellowstone, Mont.