St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

JUL 23 2002 5 Vol. 124, No. 204 C2002 Tuesday, July 23, 2002 50 3 nl THURSDAY (1.6) I FRIDAY (4.6) I MONDAY (2.9) mi row mm MBS Israelis hit house of Hamas leader Other leading market indexes sink to finish at five-year lows Bush defends his Treasury chief, says stock prices will rebound il Attack kills at least 12 and wounds more than 100, Palestinians say average losing 14.5 percent in that period and culminating in a 390-point decline on Friday. Some disappointing earnings announcements, news reports about Citigroup and investor jitters aU helped puU the stock market lower on Monday. Over the weekend, investors were reminded repeatedly in news stories that in the past, as in the case of the 1987 crash, big seU-offs on Friday often were followed by even bigger ones on Monday.

"Households, pension funds, insurance companies and foreign investors are simultaneously withdrawing their support of See Markets, A6 By David E. Sanger New York Times ARGONNE, 111. President George W. Bush defended his Treasury secretary, Paul H. O'Neill, on Monday, saying he had "all the confidence in the world" in O'Neill's management of the economy.

Then, in a rare violation of the unwritten rule against presidential predictions of how markets will act, he said that as stocks become a better value "you'll see the market go back up." The president made his comments during a visit to the Ar- gonne National Laboratory to review new technologies to detect and combat terrorist attacks. They went considerably beyond his past discussion of the market and showed the depth of the White House concern that Bush is being blamed for the country's economic performance. It also was the first time he came strongly to O'Neill's defense, at a moment that some Republican leaders are quietly urging the administration to begin thinking about candidates who could replace O'Neill after the November elections. See Bush, A6 By Jonathan Fuerbringer New York Times NEW YORK Stocks continued their sharp decline Monday in volatile trading after Friday's plunge, as an attempt to recover from a midday sell-off failed. The Dow Jones industrial average feU nearly 3 percent, sending it to its first close below the 8,000 mark since the faUofl998.

Other leading market indexes dropped to five-year lows. Monday's tumultuous trading came on top of the Dow's worst two weeks since the 1987 market crash, with the RON EDMONDS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President George W. Bush said Monday of the Dow's slide: "I believe people are going to come back into the market. But listen, I'm not a stock broker." By Ibrahim Barzak The Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip An Israeli air force F-16 blew up a house belonging to a Hamas leader in Gaza City early today. At least 12 people were killed, including the wife of the Hamas official, Sheik Salah Shehada, and three of their children, Palestinian officials said.

The missile strike also injured more than 100 people, Recycling slows from fast track to treadmill Governments here and elsewhere fret over the cost while resident participation levels off. I I- doctors said. It took place at a delicate time in Palestinian-Israeli relations, with the sides trading ideas to relieve tension in the West Bank. But the attack appeared likely to derail the efforts as the Shehada. --I casualty of missile strike By Sara Shipley Of the Post-Dispatch Ron Darling will do almost anything to get people to recycle even if it means putting on a blue gorilla suit.

But soon he may have to do more. As the manager of St. Peters' recycling program, Darling has masqueraded as Billie the Blue Beast, the city's recycling mascot. He has handed out dozens of prizes to households that recycle. He has even sent a family of four on a grand prize trip to California.

After all this effort, Darling is puzzled over a 25 percent drop in the amount of recyclables collected this year. It's the first significant slide since the St. Charles County suburb started a curbside recycling program five years ago. "The signs are there that our energizing bunny needs a battery recharge," Darling said. "Our community loves our program.

It's just a matter of, how do you maintain an enthusiasm level when everyone has no time?" Ten years after recycling took off with many Americans, the once-golden trend has lost some of its luster. While still popular with the public at least in theory recycling suffers from sluggish markets for recycled materials, stagnant participation rates and inconsistencies in household pickup. See Recycling, A10 1 1 militant group Hamas threatened revenge. The house belonged to Shehada, founder of the military wing of Hamas, known as Izzadine el-Qassam in Gaza and the West Bank, security officials said. Shehada's wife and three of their children were killed, said Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas spokesman.

He did not say whether Shehada himself was among the casualties. But announcements on loudspeakers in Gaza said Shehada had been wounded. The Israeli military confirmed that Shehada was the target and said he was hit. The military said Shehada was behind "hundreds of terror attacks in the last two years against Israeli soldiers and civilians." Hamas threatened to hit back. "Not only will Hamas take revenge for the martyrs, all the Palestinian people will unify to revenge for the blood of the martyrs," Haniyeh told reporters at Gaza's Shifa hospital, where the dead and wounded were taken.

The Hamas military wing has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against Israelis in almost two years of fighting, including many suicide bomb attacks. See Middle East, All ,0 iiiiS GABRIEL B. TAIT POST-DISPATCH Lisa Hilton, a sorter of recycled items in St. Peters, separates plastic, aluminum and glass last week at the municipality's Central Material Processing Facility, commonly called Recycle City. The amount of recyclables collected in St.

Peters is down 25 percent this year. "Now when we're going after mixed paper, contaminated paper, plastics these are very low-value materials and hard to recycle." John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America MONDAYS HIGH 100 TODAY'S FORECAST 85 Not many register as domestic partners here Over five years, just 135 partnerships have been registered in St. Louis. Supporters say many may not know of th registry, which is largely symbolic. SOPPING UP THE SWEAT Ed Edgar, an employee of Soulard Construction feels the effects of the heat while shoveling asphalt Monday on Wichita Avenue near Kingshighway.

Story on Bl. al St. Louis Pride parade. "Now I think people are less and less aware that it's out there." Manda and Lisa Chessor became official domestic partners on Feb. 24, 1998, after eight years of unofficial partnership.

The couple, who both work for St. Louis Public Schools, have an 11 -year-old son. They decided to get the certificate for See Partners, All for the symbolic gesture. In all of 2001, there were 13 registrations a petal in the bouquet of the 3,282 traditional marriage licenses registered in the city of St. Louis that same year.

"The first year it was announced, it was big news and lots of people were aware of it," said Rolf Rathmann, a single gay St. Louis resident who helped organize the city's annu By Dawn Fallik Of the Post-Dispatch Maybe it's fear. Or lack of publicity. It could be that the thrill is gone. Whatever the reason, St.

Louis' domestic partnership program is suffering from lack of interest. When the program started five years ago, 33 couples signed up .1... GABRIEL B. TAIT POST-DISPATCH WEATHER IN BUSINESS IN THIS SECTION IN METRO INSIDE Today Morning storms possible. It BEAR FACTS Illgll oo.

Business CI Classified Fl Corrections A2 Editorial B6 Everyday El Movie times E2 Obituaries B4-5 Sports Dl Prosecutor will seek execution of former nurse Richard Allen Williams, 36, of St. Peters, is accused of killing 10 patients at a veterans hospital in Columbia, Mo. Bl New clinic accommodates disabled women Access WOW is the only clinic of its kind in the St. Louis region and was designed for women with a wide range of medical conditions. Bl Local NAACP branch has seen struggles The group has been in turmoil after an acrimonious election and eventual removal of its president by national leadership.

Bl Boeing will double bombr-kit work The missile plant in St. Charles will increase production of tail kits that turn ordinary bombs dropped from military jets into satellite-guided smart bombs. CI Judge in WorldCom case OXs examiner The independent examiner's task is to ensure an honest accounting of the company's value during the company's bankruptcy case. CI Wednesday Mostly sunny. Low 65.

High 87. Details, B8 Suspected terrorists In Greece led ordinary lives Since police began hauling in suspected members of the November 17 terrorist group, Greeks have been stunned by the suspects' seemingly ordinary jobs. A2 Suspect in abduction is charged with murder The charges against Alejandro Avila came a week after 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was abducted in California. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty. A2 U.S.

troops replace Karzai's bodyguards "Serious threats" to the Afghan president prompt the move, an aide to Karzai says. A8 For Post-Dispatch news updates throughout the day, look on STLtoday.com. 09 189V 1100' 0.