St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 21

ft OCT 91989 ILLINOIS EDITION 3A VOL. 111, NO. 282 Copyright 1989 MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1989 2 3-STAR 25 Refugee Dam Breaks ST. Louie SRwc i Irs si you 7 it i ii I a ni mi By Bob Adams Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief WASHINGTON It is both an irony and an embarrassment: For years, the United States pressed the Soviet Union for greater Jewish emigration. Stop holding people prisoners in their own land, U.S.

officials demanded. If Soviet Jews want to leave, let them leave. Now, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev is doing just that. And the United States, to its chagrin, Is finding that it can't absorb them all.

The numbers tell the story. In the mid-1980s, the number of Jews allowed to leave was only a trickle. It was 896 in 1984, 1,140 in 1985, 914 in 1986. Then the trickle turned into a stream. In 1987 it grew to in 1988 it was 18,965.

In the first nine months of this year, it was 41,886. Fully 8,000 were allowed to leave in September alone. At that rate, this year's total will go well over the previous high of almost 51,000, reached in 1979. The National Conference on Soviet Jewry estimates the number of Jews in the Soviet Union at about 2 million. As many as 500,000 may want to leave.

The vast majority who leave want to Come to America. But U.S. ceilings for immigration are far too low to handle such numbers. The United States has-set a world-wide limit of 125,000 refugees to be admitted in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Of 'these, 50,000 can be Soviet refugees. Another 30,000 Soviet emigres can come to the United States on "parole" status. That means they get no financial aid, no permanent resident status, and not much chance of getting American See REFUGEES, Page 5 Kevin ManningPost-Dispatch Mina Sheinina with her grandson, Konstantin Natanzon, 10, in their new home in Olivette. 1 1 Soviet Emigres Building Lives Of Security, Freedom Here children and our grandchildren to grow up Jewish, and that wasn't possible In Odessa," Sheinina, 66, said in an interview last week. "There was always a fear of harassment.

Even if It wasn't happening at the moment, there was always the possibility that It might. We wanted to emigrate In 1979, but we were turned down with no explanation." Said her son-in-law, Arkady Natanzon: "Whatever happens In the Soviet Union, with the economy or See EMIGRES, Page 5 A Little Bit Of Italy Under Th Surface: Workers create a new environment in the Climatron. From The Ground Up Fiberglas and a keen eye for detail are reproducing a "small mountain" in the Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden. id A's Beat Toronto For AL Pennant The Oakland Athletics win their second consecutive American League pennant with a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the Championship Series. The A's win the series -four games to one.

Hungarians Debate Party Hungarian leaders debate how to handle politics under the country's new Western-style system. 8A Shuttle Launching Is Drawing Protest Individuals opposed to the use of plutonium for a probe to Jupiter threaten to interfere with Thursday's shuttle launching. 8A AIC New England 23 Oakland 4 Houston 13 Toronto 3 Philadelphia 21 NFL T3Y Giants ...19 Indianapolis 37 LA Rams 26 Buffalo 13 Atlanta 14 Tampa Bay 42 .35 Cincinnati ...26 Pittsburgh 16 Miami. 13 Cleveland ...10 Green Bay 31 Dallas ......13 Minnesota 24 Detroit 17 Kansas City 20 Seattle 16 San Francisco 24 New Orleans 20 Denver 16 San .10 Washington 30 Phoenix 28 Details In Sports, Section mm wi gi The Fading Soviet 1 Threat (editorial) Forbidden Fruits (EDITORIAL) 2B PT' i. J.TC8.V-Vy.lilTiJU I ''t.

I rami 7TT Erich Honecker East German leader dren, the elderly, punk rockers and teens who looked like hippies wandered in and out of the church most of Sunday. Many had sewn on their clothing badges that said "I'm staying," referring to the thousands who had gone West. For a few hours, the police permitted foreign reporters to enter the church, but in mid-afternoon the police threw the reporters out and sealed off the neighborhood as well as the church. Opposition leaders and church officials calculated on Sunday that about 700 protesters had been arrested in See PROTESTS, Page 10 Rantoul Fights For Base Townspeople Rally To Keep Chanute By Patrick E. Gauen Post-Dispatch Political Correspondent RANTOUL, 111.

In a back room of his Ford and Chrysler dealership, Warren Manley's copy machine has all but melted from grinding out tens of thousands of pages that his workers call ammunition in their assault on Washington. Against terrific odds, Manley and others in this table-flat village in east-central Illinois are waging what some observers have called one of the largest-scale David versus Goliath political battles seen in the state. Rantoul, sustained by bipartisan but badly outnumbered allies In the congressional delegation, is desperately clinging to hope that it can stop the planned closing of Chanute Air Force Base, which is literally half the town in size and economic influence. "I've got about $20,000 of my own money in this battle so far," Manley said. "But I've got to do something.

My business is off about 30 percent already, and the base is still four years from being closed." This is the kind of fight that people 1 in the Metro East area, dependent in See CHANUTE, Page 9 3 Perish In Crash At Tricky Exit By Bill Bryan Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Two sisters and a friend were killed early Sunday when their car struck a wall on Union Boulevard at the top of the exit ramp from Interstate 70 in north St. Louis a troublesome exit for many motorists, police said. Killed were Sandy Hertlein, 22; her sister, Bobbie Case, 25; and Theodore Linton, 24. Hertlein lived with her parents, Robert and Caroline Hertlein, on Derhake Road in Florissant. Case lived with her husband, Patrick, and their two daughters.

Heather, 3, and Michelle, 1, on Mary Avenue in Jennings. Linton lived on St. Brendan Lane in Florissant. "I was out there and saw that exit ramp," said Caroline Hertlein, the mother of two of the victims. "It's treacherous." Police said the Union exit could be tricky for westbound motorists such as the victims because it is on the left, not to the right, as are most exits.

The crash happened about 3:15 a m. "There were no signs that anyone had been drinking," said Lt. Tim McEntee. "The driver was probably confused by the exit ramp." It was unknown who was driving, McEntee said. The car, a 1989 Pontiac Lemans, was registered to Sandy lee Compiled From News Services BERLIN East German security forces put a security stranglehold on East Berlin on Sunday after a night of the worst protests and violence since 1953.

On Saturday night, nearly every major city in East Germany was convulsed by thousands of demonstrators asking for political changes and by soldiers attacking them. The protests came as the nation was concluding its 40th anniversary celebration, and as its guest of honor, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, was taking off for home. On Sunday night, hundreds of pro-democracy demonstators began a sit-down strike on Schoenhauser Allee, witnesses said, and security forces immediately encircled them. At least 10 people were arrested.

Earlier Sunday, East Berlin felt like a city that had awakened with a bad hangover to find itself virtually under martial law. Along the city's main thoroughfare, the Unter der Linden, plainclothes security men stood in obvious bunches of four to 10 every half block. Almost as many police officers were patrolling. Special riot soldiers sat in army vehicles parked in alleys and side streets just off the Unter den Linden. For the fourth straight day, East Germany barred Western tourists from entering East Berlin.

Police clamped a cordon around the Gethsemane Church, where many of the capital's protesters gathered Saturday night to avoid being beaten by soldiers. Parents "with small chil- Jerry Naunheim Jr.Post-Dispatch f. vl W4i On NBC's "Meet the Press," Baker said Sunday, "The message that was sent was that if there were an opportunity to do this, without risking bloodshed and significant loss of American life, and to do so without open military involvement, then Gen. Maxwell Thurman was free to go ahead the commander on the ground was free to go Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said that, at the outset of the coup attempt, he had told Thurman to be prepared to use peaceful means to take custody of Noriega, but the See NORIEGA, Page By Martha Shirk Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Mina Sheinina and part of her family arrived in St. Louis 10 days ago 10 years after they first sought permission to leave their home in the Soviet Union.

Their decade-long journey was fraught with raised hopes, dashed dreams, incidents of anti-Semitism and the death of Sheinina's husband a year ago. Through It all, they kept their eyes on the prize resettlement in the United States. "Mv husband and I wanted our gorio, strutted up and down the parade line. In his gruff, no-nonsense tone, he ordered the dozens of entries into position, then gave the command to start. Under the crystal noon sun, mounted St.

Louis police officers took the point. Not far behind was 9-year-old Anna Mazzuca, riding a tiny two-wheeled cart pulled by a miniature quarterhorse. The ride was bumpy in the ornately stenciled replica. "I wouldn't want to live anywhere else," said the girl, who represents her family's fourth generation on The Hill. Nearly 60 percent did not know that the Korean War started when Harry Truman was president, 58 percent did not know that William Shakespeare wrote "The Tempest" and nearly a fourth believed a famous saying from Karl Marx was part of the U.S.

Constitution. "If the students' answers were to be graded, more than half of those tested would tiave failed," concluded the survey, which was conducted for the National En-See SCHOOL, Page 7 ABOVE: Mary Davis and Brian Schleper, 7, flying the Italian flag. RIGHT: Jennie Barrale watching the parade. The Hill Salutes Its Heritage j' Floats festooned with green, red and white balloons filled Southwest Avenue Sunday in The Hill's annual celebration of its Italian-American heritage. The colorful event, held the day before Columbus Day and dating back to 1867, is a tradition almost as strong as The Hill itself.

"It's a way for the Italian people to show their pride and community spirit to the rest of St. Louis," said Mark Aiazzi, turned out in a crisp tuxedo to serve as grand marshal. Aiazzi owns Rigazzi's Restaurant. The man known as "The Ambassador of The Hill," Roland De Gre- Business 1-36BP Classified 5-18B Commentary 3B Editorials 2B Everyday MOD Food---' -14F Movie listings 6D NationWorld 8A News Analysis IB Obituaries 4B Reviews 3D St Louis 3A Sports 1-10C Television 70 U.S. Had Planned To Capture Noriega Before Coup Failed College Daze Depths Of Learning Shallow, Gallup Says Mostly Sunny MSTORIC Error FORECAST: Today: Mostly sunny with a high of 67 degrees and south winds 5-12 mph.

Fair skies tonight with a low of 43. Monday: Mostly sunny and cool with a high of 65. Other Weather, 2A POST-DISPATCH VEATHERBIHO Compiled From N.ws Services WASHINGTON U.S. servicemen were preparing to seize Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega in an attempted coup In Panama last week, but the uprising collapsed before the plan could be executed, top officials said Sunday.

President George Bush approved the plan near the end of a failed coup last Tuesday, and the order was conveyed to the commander of U.S. forces in Panama, according to Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Brent Scowcroft, the president's national security adviser. WASHINGTON (AP) A Gallup Poll says one-fourth of American college seniors either never heard or do not remember the childhood ditty: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." In addition to finding that one in Jour do not know that Christopher Columbus made his famous landing in the Western Hemisphere prior to 1500, the Gallup Poll suggests considerable Ignorance of other facts about history and literature. 4.