The Palm Beach Post du lieu suivant : West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 68

4B THE PALM BEACH POST TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1994 StateRegional News WIRK-FM, WBZT-AM won't. Politics expected to dominate change formats, buyer says Southern Baptist Convention Rome Hartman started WIRK-AM in 1947 as "The Rock of the Palm Beaches." It later became WPBG and, under Price, WBZT. Field and Hartman started their FM station in 1964 and a year later abandoned the call letters they had selected, WPBF-FM, to make it WIRK-FM. They switched to the country music format in 1973. Pearlman did not disclose, the sale price.

Price Communications President Bob Price could not be reached Monday, but an American Radio Systems Inc. news release praised them as "well-run radio stations" in a "robust radio market, with lots of growth in its future." The new owners are scheduled to meet with the staff of both stations this morning. Pearlman is promising "a lot of investment" in the stations, but will not say whether that means any changes in local management. "I haven't even met these people yet," he said Monday before catching a plane from Boston. American Radio Systems was formed in November when Stoner Broadcasting Systems, Atlantic Radio and Multi Market Commu nications merged.

Besides its three stations in Boston, it has stations in Buffalo, Rochester and Binghamton, N.Y.; Hartford! Dayton, Ohio; and Des Moines, Iowa. It also has proposed purchases' of stations in Cheektowaga, N.Y.; Boston, Buffalo and Hartford. The Federal Communications Com mission must approve those sales and the one of WIRK and WBZT; But if it does, American Radit) Systems will have 24 stations. New FCC rules allow broadj casters to own up to two AM ana two FM stations in the same man ket, and American Radio Systems may be poised to do that here. Chairman and co-CEO Steve Dodge said in the news release that the company will buy more stations in "geographically attractive" markets as it nears "completion of our efforts to double up' in American's existing markets." By MITCH McKENNEY Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH A Boston-based company is buying two of Palm Beach County's most-listened-to stations: WIRK-FM and WBZT-AM, the respective homes of country music and Rush Limbaugh.

American Radio Systems Inc. has no plans to change the format or personalities of the two stations, co-Chief Executive Officer David Pearlman said Monday. "We don't want to break their momentum," Pearlman said. WIRK-FM 107.9 competes closely for the top spot in area Arbitrons with WRMF-FM 97.9 and WEAT-FM 104.3. Among AMs, WBZT-AM 1290 usually wins during Lim-baugh's show, though it trails WJNO-AM 1230 overall and loses to WPBR-AM 1340 in some time periods.

The seller, Price Communications, had owned them since 1983 and was only the second owner of the stations. Founder Joseph S. Field Jr. and business partner "Jhe Associated Press ORLANDO Fundamentalists are in control, 'and conservative political and social causes are expected to dominate the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando this week. About 23,000 delegates representing 15 million 'church members will select a new leader today.

Jim Henry, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Orlando, and Fred Wolfe, pastor of Cottage Hill Baptist Church in Mobile, are the candidates for president. Both are conservatives. Wolfe is considered the front-runner, but Henry seen as having strong support from many of those -tired of political infighting. Wolfe, 56, has been "in the trenches" of the conservative movement since it seized control of the denomination in 1979, observers say. The Alabaman "is supported by an influential group of former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The more moderate Henry, also 56, decided not to campaign, but Wolfe supporters are worried about his popularity in his home state. They also think Henry might make appointments that could make some changes in the denomination's political direction. x. "There are indications that the conservative 'leadership considers this race to be closer than originally anticipated, and they're stepping up their efforts in recent days to bolster the vote for Wolfe through telephone campaigns, said Greg Warner, executive editor of Associated Baptist Press. The Jacksonville-based news service covers Southern Baptists and is supported by moderate Baptists.

The activist arm of the convention is the Christian Life Commission, which produces tapes, pamphlets and other materials for those who wish to spread the message for school prayers, against abortions and anti-gay rights positions. "We are neither Republican nor Democrat. We are God's people," said Louis Moore, the commission's media director. "God expects us to bring Biblical principles to bear in the public policy arena." Others disagree, saying that religion should be strictly separate from government and that the commission is trying to legislate morality. The commission is "ready for government entanglement and involvement in religion, and we're not," said James M.

Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. The committee represents about 20 million other Baptists. "The fundamentalists are in complete control" of the convention, Leo Sandon, chairman of the department of religion at Florida State University, told The Orlando Sentinel. "I see them as fully aligned with the political right." T7 mm Ji 1 1 i If if SiViM a iMM vs 1 ill- ktiJft i Chancellor: Universities face double challenge The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE State university regents will be asked for big increases in the system's $3.2 billion budget when schools make spending requests next month, Chancellor Charles Reed said Monday. The universities are not only trying to improve quality of education, but also trying to expand at a rapid rate, Reed said.

"You have to pay for that," he said at a workshop for regents new to budget-making. Half the 14 members have been on the board less than a year. Reed said he won't predict how big a budget boost will be sought until the board gets proposals in July from the nine operating universities and Florida Gulf Coast University, preparing to open in 1997 in Fort Myers. But the regents have wrung about all they can from efficiency improvements in the system, he said. The state universities want to boost spending on enhancements of educational quality such as research, libraries, and faculty salaries.

But while trying to improve in those areas, the schools also must be ready for an onslaught of Florida high-school graduates, Reed said. mmgm i I fcl Nil MARK MIRKOStaff Photograpner Drew Adams, 9, dives into a spillway off Alternate A1A as Lawrence Wyzykowski (left), 13, and Ryan Parks, 15, fish. Logs have been placed in the levee while a gate undergoes repairs. Rains prompt opening of floodgates THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Teen Allowed To Stop Medication MIAMI Dr. Andreas Tzakis discusses the case Monday of Benito Agrelo, a 15-year-old liver transplant patient who was forcibly taken by state social workers to a Miami hospital after he stopped taking anti-rejection medicine.

Agrelo got an apology Monday from Jim Towey, head of Florida's Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. A circuit judge Saturday allowed Agrelo to return home and ruled he doesn't have to take the drugs, which have unpleasant side effects. By WILLIAM HOWARD Palm Beach Post Staff Writer PALM BEACH GARDENS Heavy afternoon storms prompted the South Florida Water Management District to open floodgates on the Earman River and drop water levels in the Thompson and Earman rivers and Lake Catherine to the lowest some residents have seen in years. "It's terribly low," Pearl Brightbill, who has lived on Lake Catherine for 13 years, said Monday. "I saw 11 turtles.

I've never seen 11 turtles." The water management district opened its water-control gates Thursday just east of Alternate A1A in the Earman River and intentionally dropped the level by 1.5 feet to reduce the chance of flooding, district spokesman John Neuharth said. The district recorded 4.84 inches of rain at the levee between 7 a.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Friday. Neuharth said vandals fouled the mechanism that controls the floodgates, forcing the district to remove one gate and control the water level special logs that fit into a slot in the levee.

Repairs are expected to cost about $5,000. He said the vandalism did not force the districtK to drop the water level any lower than planned. Residents called Seacoast Utility Authority and the Palm Beach Gardens Public Works Department to ask why the water levels dropped. Bruce Gregg, Seacoast's director of operations, said the water level is the lowest he's seen in nearly 16 years. The lower level will not affect Seacoast's operations, and Gregg noted that tional rainfall could easily bring levels back to normal.

Palm Beach Gardens Public Works Director Bob Patty said a foot of the bank is visible on the Thompson River. Patty decided to take advantage of the situation by sending crews in a boat to collect once- submerged tires, bicycles and other debris. Brief Chiles waves off Crenshaw's health-care debate proposal Mil $200,000 in stolen clothing recovered The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE State Sen. Ander Crenshaw, one of several Republican candidates hoping to defeat Gov. Lawton Chiles this fall, wants to debate the Democratic incumbent on health-care reform.

The clothing was stolen from Sears stores from Miami to West Palm Beach. il By JOE BROGAN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer RIVIERA BEACH Fifty-dollar dresses were stacked as high as the living room ceiling. Men's clothing filled entire rooms. City police uncovered an estimated $200,000 worth of stolen clothing from Sears stores from Miami to West Palm Beach when they entered a home at 854 W. 10th St.

on Monday afternoon. Although no arrests were made in connection with the stolen clothing Monday, police said they have suspects. A search warrant was obtained after neighbors began complaining driving the truck, was arrested on an unrelated warrant, Brochu said. "There were a whole mess'of hangers leading up the driveway to the house," Brochu said. A deep pit was dug in the back yard, where thieves apparently burned boxes containing the clothing.

The rented house was being used as a storehouse for the clothing, but steel bars on rear windqws had been pried off during apparent burglary attempts. "It's sort of like drug dealers being ripped off by other drug dealers," Brochu said. The challenge came Monday on the heels of last week's special session, when the 20-20 Senate that trucks delivered clothing to the house. The clothes were then sold to bargain hunters. When police first arrived at the address, drivers of a rental truck and several cars fled, said Detective Sgt.

Ed Brochu. Jeffrey Dunbar, 33, of 1148 25th Riviera Beach, who was Pilot had expected be intercepted Palm Beach Post Wire Services MIAMI A Cuban crop-duster pilot wasn't worried about being spotted in Cuban airspace, but he said Monday he expected to be intercepted by U.S. jets before he landed at a Navy base in the Florida Keys. Ariel Correal Gonzalez defected with his sister and brother-in-law in a vintage, cloth-covered biplane Sunday and was telling a Miami radio audience Monday about the flight. Correal's flight was detected, but U.S.

jets did not escort the aircraft to Key West Naval Air Station, said Navy Cmdr. Drew Malcomb, a spokesman for NORAD air defense in Colorado Springs, Colo. "I cannot at this point tell you when we knew it was coming in, and frankly it might have been toward the last moments before it landed," Malcomb said. Stomach-stapling suit ORLANDO Kids were afraid of their teacher, but not because of anything ha did. It was Steve Hall's sheer bulk, at 517 pounds, that intimidated his students.

Now that he's had a gastric bypass operation, Hall, 43, has dropped 190 pounds and is considered energetic, bighearted, even radiant. But Hall plans to sue the school board. The school system's insurance policy excludes coverage for medical procedures that are viewed as risky, such as Hall's. The teacher and his supporters claim that without the surgery, commonly called stomach-stapling, he would have died. A The operation cotf $22,000.

Priest locked out of Royal rectory Rodham says he's in Senate race to stay The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE U.S. Senate hopeful Hugh Rodham waved a white napkin even before he took the rostrum at a political luncheon Monday after being made the butt of jokes about his campaign. A few minutes after his mock surrender, the candidate chided the group during a lull in questioning. "Come on folks, I had this target painted on my back for a good reason," Rodham joked at his appearance. The former Dade County assistant public defender had expected a grilling at his latest campaign stop as he crisscrosses the state promoting himself as the Democratic alternative to Republican U.S.

Sen. Connie Mack. Rodham, 44, said he wanted to "set the record straight" about his campaign and said the Democratic Party needed to be "represented by people who cared." Rodham supports military intervention to restore democracy to Haiti. When asked whether he planned to get out of the race, Rodham said, "Only if I have a heart attack and die." blocked Chiles' plan. The governor already has pledged to call the lawmakers back to the capital this fall, although he said he would wait until he had enough support to win.

Crenshaw said his debate proposal had nothing to do with gubernatorial politics. "I've got an obligation as a member of the Senate to say, If you're going to call us into special session, then we need to know ahead of time what your plan the Jacksonville lawmaker said. Chiles said thanks, but no thanks, with a chuckle. "I would look forward to debating Ander Crenshaw as soon as he is the nominee of the Republican Party," the governor said. "I don't know that I need to spend all my time giving the Republican aspirants a forum." Chiles has proposed helping hundreds of thousands of low-income Floridians receive health insurance.

In last week's three-day special session, Crenshaw and other Senate Republicans said there were too many unanswered questions about Chiles' proposal. get rid of me." Symons wanted to meet with him on May 9, Fernandes said, but he was busy with church business and couldn't go. The next day, when Fernandes went to the rectory to collect his personal belongings, the locks had been changed. The Rev. Leo Armbrust, pastor of the church, stood watching when Fernandes was allowed to gather his things.

"I never felt so small in my life," Fernandes said, "and these are people preaching Christian charity?" Several calls to Armbrust were not returned Monday. Our Lady Queen of the Apostles, the only Catholic parish in Royal Palm Beach, previously held Mass in the Lions Club building on Camellia Drive before moving to a pavilion constructed for it on a lot owned by the diocese on Crest-wood Drive in November. Steve Gadosh is one of Fej-nandes' staunchest Gadosh formed a group in January, which started questioning the finances of the church and where the money was going. "We held a meeting and questioned how money was being spent," Gadosh said. "I think they thought he (Fernandes) was head of the group." "Some of the people are weli-intentioned and ill-informed," Symons said.

"(Fernandes) has led them deliberately astray knowing the church he has founded is not within the Catholic Church." PRIEST From IB previous admonition. Simply, be out tomorrow, Fernandes said. "I was dumbfounded," said Fernandes, who was ordained in 1971. "I asked, 'What are the I was told by the bishop that he didn't need to give me the reasons." Symons said he had scheduled a meeting with Fernandes for May 9 at 11 a.m., but Fernandes didn't show up. Fernandes instead, called at 1 p.m.

to say he couldn't be there. Fernandes knew the meeting was regarding his termination, Symons said, because it had gone before the Priest Personnel Committee on April 28. "That is a lie," Fernandes said. "I never knew he was calling to.