The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 3

Tmk I )i hnk Knil VI vsi aijv 3A National News EMI 'It's Very Disappointing' 'Walking the Beat' in Congress Clinton urges U.S. mayors to lobby for his crime bill Dense fog forced a detour in President Clinton's helicopter route Friday, requiring a side trip to nearby National Airport and a i treetop-level return to the White House. The weather deteriorated as Second Menendez trial ends like first: Deadlock The conference of locil officials has been dominated by the issue. Ki Ri W'mi Smv Washington, D.C. President Clinton urged crime-weary mayors Friday to spend time "walking the Clinton returned from a congressional Democratic retreat in southern Maryland.

Instead of flying directly to the White House. Clinton's helicopter and two others accompanying it were guided through the fog by the instrument landing system at National Airport. Visibility had decreased to nearly zero when Marine One finally settled onto the White i House lawn. beat in Congress to help push through tough legislation against guns and violence. "We do not need to fiddle around with this for six months," Clinton said.

"So i "If you've got an epidemic in your community, it's time for a vaccine," said Louisville, Mayor Jerry Abramson, president of the mayors conference. Clinton asked the mayors not to sit on the sidelines while Congress debates the crime bill. "1 want to ask each of you here today, therefore, to help us to pass this crime bill and to do it in a timely fashion," Clinton said, his voice raspy in his first public comments since a bout of laryngitis. "Come back here with your colleagues, without regard to party, and when you can, bring your police chiefs, and work for the next 60 days walking the beat in the halls of Congress." Mayors emerged from the meeting resigned to the fact that Congress may offer fewer than the 100,000 police officers pledged in Clinton's crime package, and may not give them flexibility to spend federal money earmarked for hiring those officers instead on police overtime or other expenses. "The issue is, do you want to put an experienced cop on the street by allowing some cities to use overtime, or do you add additional, first-time police officers?" said Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.

Erik 's jurors had been ordered by Weisberg not to talk until both cases were finished. Separate juries were empaneled because some legal issues affected only one of the brothers. Three members of Lyle's jury and five of Erik's voied to convict them of first -degree murder, Weisberg said after declaring Lyle's mistrial. District Attorney Gil Garcetti said his prosecutors will seek the death penalty at a second trial. There will be no plea bargains, he said.

Lyle's jury deliberated more than 13fi hours. Talks were halted for a week by the Jan. 17 earthquake that damaged the Van Nuys courthouse, only five miles from the epicenter. The panel returned Monday and revealed the deadlock the next day. The judge issued new instructions aimed at determining the extent of the impasse and gave the jury two days off this week to deal with quake problems.

In the world of Hollywood executives, Jose Menendez had seemed the epitome of success: a Cuban immigrant who built an entertainment industry fortune, married a beauty queen and had two handsome, athletic sons. At the trial, the brothers portrayed their dead father as a philanderer who cheated on his wife and a pervert who preyed on his sons, threatening them with death if they ever revealed his awful secret. Prosecutors never bought that story. To the last, they suggested the molestation didn't occur. But they called neither experts nor other witnesses to disprove it.

And, in final arguments, they took the position that even if Jose molested his sons, it had nothing to do with the charges. 'Get some more evidence and prove it in a convincing one juror admonishes prosecutors, who say they'll retry the case. Los Angeles, Calif. (AP) Two separate juries heard six months of testimony and reached the same conclusion: They couldn't decide whether Lyle and Erik Menendez coldly executed their wealthy parents or shot them out of fear because of years of abuse. Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg declared a mistrial in Lyle's case Friday after his jury reported one final time that it was deadlocked.

Erik's case ended Jan. 13, also in deadlock. Lyle, 2t5, and Erik, 23, admitted killing Jose and Kitty Menendez with shotgun blasts in their Heverly Hills mansion on Aug. 20, 1989. But the brothers claimed they feared for their lives after years of sexual and psychological abuse.

"I think that the complexity of this case, and the fact that it draws on individual life experiences, makes this a case that will probably never result in a unanimous verdict," said Jill Lansing, Lyle's defense attorney. The judge scheduled a Feb. 28 hearing for setting a new trial date. "It was a classic first-degree murder case," said Jude Nelson, one of Lyle's jurors. "It's very disappointing.

I almost feel like a failure." Hazel Thornton, one of Erik's jurors who voted for voluntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder, had some advice Friday for the prosecution: "Get some more evidence and prove it in a convincing manner." Clinton let's do it, and let's do it with the benefit of the "Let's do it" Sharpe James, mayor of Newark, N.J., and president of the National League of Cities, said some mayors are willing to concede both issues to keep the crime bill from becoming stalled further. "Put it this way: for the potential victims, if they see two more police officers out in the neighborhood, it's a start in the right direction," James said. On another hotly debated issue, the mayors said they will consider withholding support from congressional candidates who refuse to back pending House and Senate bills that would relieve state and local governments of the financial burden of complying with an ever-growing list of rules attached to environmental, social and other federal legislation. mayors and the chiefs of police who know what it is to do it right." Clinton and Vice President Al Gore met with more than 100 mayors in the White House East Room at the end of a three-day U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting dominated by the crime issue.

Some of the mayors believe Clinton's approach won't take care of their immediate needs and said they were asking the president for faster relief. Daily Briefing Nation 'This Is a Cover-Up' 8 GOP senators demand inquiry into Whitewater F- ill '1 1 s' i 1 rv A I North aide sent doctored tapes to radio stations Niam'i mi Ni wsDii.vPiti.ss Newport News, Va. On the morning of Oliver North's campaign kickoff, his campaign distributed to radio stations across Virginia a tape supposedly containing sound bites from North's speech in Norfolk. Instead, the tape had been recorded the day before and doctored with bogus applause. "Basically, that was a product of an overzealous young member of our team," spokesman Mark Merritt said Friday evening.

Merritt said the candidate did not know of the staffer's actions. North recorded the tape in a studio Wednesday, the day before the Norfolk appearance, and released it through a public relations firm that distributes radio sound bites. North is seeking the Republican nomination for the seat now held by Sen. Charles S. Robb, a Democrat.

House Speaker Tom Foley declared Friday that he would not allow the Whitewater controversy that has embroiled the president and first lady to slow the pace of major legislation before Congress. "I am not going to be party" to hearings, Foley said, branding the Republican demand "largely or entirely motivated by political considerations." Democrats are trying to stay focused on anti-crime legislation and health-care and welfare reform. But Republicans have increasingly raised questions about the Clintons' half ownership, when he was governor of Arkansas, of Whitewater Development Corp. and whether there was any impropriety involving state regulation of the now defunct Madison Savings and Loan Association. Also signing the Senate GOP letter were Sens.

Phil Gramm of Texas, Connie Mack of Florida, Christopher Bond of Missouri, Robert Bennett of Utah, Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina, William Roth of Delaware and Pete Domenici of New Mexico. GaxvkttNi tt.sSutvit Washington, D.C. Eight Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee on Friday pushed harder for a congressional inquiry into the roles of Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Whitewater land deal financed by a failed savings and loan. "This is a cover-up," Sen. Alfonse D'Amato charged in a floor speech about the government's foot-dragging on telling the committee when the statute of limitations expires on civil actions in the case.

The appointment of a special counsel by Attorney General Janet Reno will only investigate criminal wrongdoing in connection with Madison Guaranty, the failed savings and loan, D'Amato said. In a letter to Sen. Donald Riegle, D-Mich, the Republicans said Congress had a "constitutional responsibility to consider the serious questions of public and regulatory policy." Riegle wasn't available for comment. He rejected a similar request last month from D'Amato. 1 If 'Downright Wicked' Crooks follow the quake Looters ransack apartments that were sealed off to keep residents from returning.

Los Angeles, Calif. (AP) Swindlers and looters are preying on earthquake victims and abusing emergency relief programs, authorities said Friday as they began cracking down on the scams. Federal investigators went to welfare offices to screen phony claims for emergency food stamps. State agents mounted a sting operation in the San Fernando Valley targeting unlicensed contractors and handymen overcharging for quake repairs. "It never occurred to me that people could be that downright wicked," said Karl Kreuter, a clinical psychologist who lives near a condemned Santa Monica apartment building that was looted.

Looted, Vandalized The building's main door was stripped of plywood meant to keep out both looters and residents. At least 20 apartment doors were knocked down, and possessions were rifled, said resident Molly Concer. "They broke TV sets, things were gone, folding chairs, everything," she said. The Jan. 17 earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, killed 61 people and left thousands of buildings uninhabitable.

Moderate aftershocks measuring 4.0 and 3.5 struck Friday, but no new damage was reported. Late Friday, a southbound ramp connecting Highway 14 to Interstate Highway 5 reopened, offering some relief to commuters through the traffic-choked Newhall Pass, 30 miles northwest of downtown. Food-Stamp Fraud To combat fraud, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday ap- AsSOCIATKIll'KKSS As Anh Ngoe Tran of Los Angeles waited in an emergency assistance line Friday at the Winnetka Park tent city, authorities worked to ferret out crooks preying on victims of the Jan. 17 earthquake.

i. ri ORIENTAL RUG SALE Hand KnoUii-frm INDIA CHM Phis the Ultimate in Oriental Denied Rut KasHimar apww STirwt i JJ Dole softens stance on health-care reform Washington, D.C. (AP) Senate Republican leader Bob Dole softened his criticism Friday of President Clinton's plan for health-care reform, saying he, too, wants to find solutions to what he called a "serious problem." Dole, said he wanted to shift the debate's focus away from the refusal of Republicans and some Democrats in Congress to use the word "crisis" when describing the health care system. "I think we're making too much over whether this is a crisis or a serious problem," Dole said. The administration, Dole said, is contending that "anybody who says there isn't a crisis isn't for health SizeStyle Sale (wfringel Rfg.

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Violators face six-month jail terms and $1,000 fines. Four unlicensed contractors offering quake repairs were charged with felonies. proved a 72-hour waiting period for those applying for a one-time allocation of emergency food stamps. The change goes into effect today. Previously, stamp-seekers only had to give proof of residence and declare that they met low-income requirements and were affected by the quake to walk away with the stamps, leading to accusations of double-dipping.

"It's not our intent to hassle people who need food. But a few people are going to cheat, and we're trying to strike a balance," said Dick Mon-toya of the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. Those fraudulently obtaining food stamps could face $250,000 in fines and 20 years in prison, Montoya said. ityjmi Save JlfeM 20-50 I BLACK'S CUSTOM INTERIORS n5063rd274- OURISTAN Mew. 10-7 lues, thru Fri V-1! Sal.

IO-5 2531 IN! Clothing is OP FOMAL Nomination expected for civil-rights position B' Mi Gmm Washington, D.C. The White House expects to announce Boston lawyer Deval Patrick's nomination to be assistant attorney general for civil rights next week after completing some "technical details," officials said Friday. Patrick spent the day here meeting with officials at the Justice Department and at the White House about the nomination, according to an administration source close to the process. The nomination could be announced by Clinton Wednesday or later in the week, a White House official said. PAYS We were closed for 3 days after losing our heat water, but everything is fixed and Clothing is back to normal.

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Freeman Wicklund, 20, of Burns-ville, vaulted a rail at the St. Paul Civic Center and shouted slogans in the demonstration Thursday. Those in attendance paid little attention, and most smiled when they saw Wicklund pink costume. Wicklund was one of six protesters who said they were from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and a student animal-nghts ALL SIZES REGULAR BIG TALL 3 TT Q- MANY OTHER ITEMS ON SALE 901 Locust, Des Moines, IA 50309 Vf.l.QTHlNr. Phone 243-7431 USA Toll Free 1-800-222-7027 Hours Monday Thursday 8 to 8.

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