St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 19

0 JUL 71998 Se Ri Pak wins U.S. Women's Open tjShe is youngest winner of the tournament, ci Wir i patip TTTJ ll v. i i 1 I I I ftfESDM, 50t, 110 return tan i Firefe I r'iyyr 'in fJ I i I A- ill liiiiMiiiMniiMHMMM laMnmni iiimuii ilfiJM iiniiain -ff fr-im-tmmmmr ri- WMMmimmmmjmh, July 7, 1998 Most find the flames spared their houses Rain helps; much more is needed The Associated Press PALM COAST, Fla. Three days after being driven out by wildfires closing in around them, the 40,000 people of Flagler County were allowed to return Monday and found the woods and fields charred but most of their homes unscathed. Neighbors ran up and hugged each other.

Some stopped passing firetrucks to thank the firefighters who saved their homes. "I love you guys," Diane Mas-tropietroi told them. By early afternoon, even the weather seemed to cooperate it began to rain. The entire county was ordered 1998 Roy Rogers Nov. 5, 1911 -My 6, 1998 oy Rogers, who found success as a singing cowboy fighting for the right and always winning in the end, died Monday of heart disease at 86.

Rogers starred in 87 movies, 101 television shows and scores of recordings. From 1943 to 1954, he was the top Western box office star. See Everyday Page Dl Investigation was teaching Math teacher, 65, had three DWI convictions State has scheduled hearings By Valerie Schremp Of the Post-Dispatch Following a statewide investigation to track down Missouri teachers who are convicted felons, state education officials have taken the first steps to possibly revoke the certificates of nine of them. Four are from the St. Louis area; one of the four has taught at Vashon High School as recently as this year.

When they released the list early Monday, officials for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that as far as they knew, none of the nine was still teaching. However, a Post-Dispatch check of a department database revealed that Donald Bright, 65, has taught math at Vashon for the last 13 years. The news also came as a surprise to St. Louis Public Schools officials. "You are dealing with information that we don't have," said school system spokesman Chester Edmonds.

Bright pleaded guilty in 1991 to his third offense of driving while intoxicated, a felony. He was on probation for five years. He is known for his work in distance learning, a new technology that allows students in different See Teachers, Page A8 Marcia Heuss of Scottsmoor, dances in the rain Monday in her driveway. Behind her is what's left of her stroyed in the massive fires. Her house was saved.

Vol. 120, No. 188 IT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Mark McGwire salutes other competitors Monday in the Home Run Derby at Denver's Coors Field. McGwire's bashes are far, but few BY MIKE EISENBATH Of the Post-Dispatch DENVER Mark McGwire apologized with words. Ken Griffey Jr.

apologized with his presence. In a prelude to tonight's All-Star Game, America's bubbling fascination with the home run and the pursuit by a few players of Roger Maris' single-season record took center stage at Coors Field. The place was sold out for Monday's Home Run Derby, and fans made no secret of their support for the Cardinals' McGwire to take advantage of the thin air. They also didn't hide their disdain for Griffey, Seattle's star outfielder who has been the smiling poster boy for all that can be right about baseball. Up until late afternoon, Griffey had said the travel of the long season would have him too tired to swing for home runs for a national TV audience and 51,231 fans at Coors.

Then, after listening to advice from people such as Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson and the Denver fans, Griffey changed his mind. "I don't like to get booed," he said. "I don't think anybody does. This is not a time to get booed, the All-Star Game. If they want to see me in the home run competition, the fans, that's the reason why I did it, for them.

I'll be a little worn out. Hopefully, I can be ready for the second half." He might actually be energized. He won the Home Run Derby. "I wasn't expecting to win," Griffey said. McGwire didn't even make it to the second round.

But he saw his money's worth of pitches, 23 in all, as he took nine without swinging. Batting-practice pitcher Rick Mathews, Colorado's minor-league pitching instructor, might have helped out pitchers across the National League by exposing a McGwire weakness. See Griffey, Page AS 1 Griffey wins Home Run Derby; lac is out early 4 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS shed and carport, which were de-; Woods and Indian Trails parts of Palm Coast looked like war zones, with burned-out homes, scorched yards and not a green tree in sight. At the Matanzas Woods Golf Club, trees were blackened and the fairways were burned. Hugh and Geraldine Conklin's house was the only one in their Palm Coast neighborhood to be destroyed.

"I cried a lot last night and a little bit this morning," Geraldine Conklin said. "I'll probably cry some more." Some people who returned to find their homes still standing were angry that the lush greenery of palmettos and pines that had been a big reason for their moving to Flagler County were gone. Some also found that their neighborhoods had been plowed up by firefighters using bulldozers to create fire breaks. John Ostorch of Palm Coast had intended to put his house on the: market last week because of a job-" related move to Pennsylvania. He; had recently spent $15,000 on! See Fires, Page A7'.

Express ScriptsValueRX, a Louis-based company that adviseis' corporate clients on their prescription! drug benefits, is standing by its con-' elusion that companies should pay for Viagra if they pay for other impotence! drugs in their benefits package. "It's a benefit design issue, not clinical or therapeutic issue," said Michael Flagstad, senior vice! president and chief clinical officer; of Express Scripts. Viagra, a pill that takes one hour to take effect, See Viagra, Page AT. Weather Today: Hot, humid. High 95.

2rrf SbdHffeN. tonieht. Low 77. Wednesday: Hot, humid. Storms possible.

High 93. Other weather Page 14 3JiH5iTt.1rf:H:r.'im!H:l:ll:)i-,tT1 http:www.stlnet.com oiiii0j189ii21100iiii9 in i evacuated Friday for fear that four fires would merge and burn all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. By Monday morning, firefighters had managed to contain the blazes, though the threat of flare-ups remained. Shifting winds and rising hu-. midity helped firefighters calm the" fires during the weekend, reducing flare-ups and encroachment into residential areas.

About 97 percent of the homes in Flagler County escaped the fires, Sheriff Robert McCarthy said. At least 46 homes were destroyed and 179 were damaged, and 49,000 acres were scorched. More than 2,000 fires have scorched more than 474,400 acres in drought-stricken Florida since Memorial Day. The flames have damaged or destroyed more than 300 structures. The damage was concentrated in three counties along the Atlantic Coast Flagler, Volusia and Brevard from St.

Augustine south to near the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. In Flagler County, the most heavily damaged areas in the Matanzas challenges to the safety of Viagra are factually and medically incorrect," Pfizer spokeswoman Mariann Caprino said. "It's irresponsible to raise the concerns of the general public over the safety of this drug." Prudential insures about 62,000 people in Missouri, and Humana has 103,000 health-maintenance organization members. The state's largest HMOs, United Health Care of the Midwest and RightChoice Managed Care said Monday that Unknowns Travis felt an Two top insurance firms say they won't cover costs of impotence drug fear among consumers. "Any chal- they will continue to cover Viag fear among consumers.

"Any they will continue to cover Viagra. shows felon at Vashon Who kiued Audrey Cardenas? Lawyers discussed possible confession by another man by Carolyn tuft Of the Post-Dispatch Before Rodney Woidtke stood trial for Wiling a Belleville newspaper reporter, his public defender and the state's attorney discussed whether another man might confess to the murder, according to court papers filed Monday. The two discussed their belief that Dale Anderson might confess that he killed the reporter, Audrey Cardenas, the court papers say. Anderson was later convicted of a double homicide. Later, in a letter to Woidtke's public defender Brian Trentman, then State's Attorney John Baricevic recalled his conversation with Trentman before Woidtke's three-day trial.

Baricevic, now the St. Clair County Board chairman, had charged Woidtke with the murder. "As you are aware, during the (Woidtke) trial, Dale Anderson was in and out of the investigation involving Rodney Woidtke," Baricevic's letter said. "As you recall, there was a discussion on whether you would call Dale See Woidtke, Page A8 Accused killer The Ennis Cosby murder case went to the jury. The panel met for 45 minutes before retiring.

Bill Cosby and his family appeared in court for the first time. wn'mmVLW President More people for which eligible. President began a to awareness Maker of Viagra insists it is safe from News Services NEWARK, N.J. Two major insurance companies, Prudential and Humana, said Monday that they won't cover Pfizer Viagra impotence treatment out of concern over the long-term safety of the drug. Pfizer responded by accusing the insurers of causing unnecessary fi Tomb of the II guard Mark mm" In Other News I j'rTil 1 found the body of an Arnold boy miss-liiililii'gj big since a boating accident on Friday.

The boy, Danny Kamadulski, 8, was pulled from the Mississippi River about 10 miles north of Ste. Genevieve, Mo. He was one of six people who drowned over the July 4th weekend. Five of the victims were children. 1 uncommon bond with the Vietnam War soldier buried there.

Now that the remains have been identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael J. Blassie, Travis wonders what Blassie would have wanted: to be able to bring peace to his family or remain anonymous as a symbol for the nation. A4 i yy Brazil and the Netherlands I World Cup's high-profile meet today in the semifinal. But Wednes U.S.

envoy The Yugoslav government is to blame for the growing influence mm Pfi The vague language of Ireland's peace agree day's France-Croatia match is the emotional one. The French team is playing before a home crowd, and Croatia is the underdog after making a quick rise from nowhere. C3 Clinton than 3 million low-income aren't getting Medicaid help they're Clinton campaign increase and participation. Page A3 I TWA and its pilots union resumed contract talks. Both Mark Travis Church standoff I sides said that a deal was within reach.

The airline ment allowed both sides to claim victory. In the face of these contradictory claims, the confrontation over the Protestant Orangemen's attempt to march through a Catholic enclave provides a graphic, unambiguous test of who's really "winning." A6 of Kosovo's militants, a U.S. official said. Serb police action in March polarized the situation, he said. Read more has been hit with more flight cancellations than usual this summer because pilots unhappy with the talks are turning down voluntary overtime, leaving Ihe airline short of flight crews.

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