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

Pi 11 Vol. 121, No. 260 1999 Friday, September 17, 1999 50i II Vsss- III Urk 1 1 1 i mmmi mm ds ms Itfef Banks pleads guilty of filing false tax returns Gov. Carnahan becomes just the seventh governor in Missouri history to have a veto overridden. Planned Parenthood will be in court today to seek an injunction against the new law.

A senator says any flaws in the law can be corrected by the Legislature in January. 1 Longtime Democrat could lose his Senate seat Senate completes overrride of Carnahans veto Perjury charge is dropped i 1 1 1 1 IK-? i. By Terry Ganey and Virginia Young Of the Post-Dispatch JEFFERSON CITY State Sen. J.B. "Jet" Banks, a Democrat tyho has represented parts of St.

Louis for nearly 30 years, pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony Charge of filing false income tax returns for 1994 and 199S. i Accompanied by his attorneys, Don Wolff of St. Louis and Mark Richardson of Jefferson City, Banks, 75, en tered the plea in Cole County Circuit Court. He could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined up to $5,000. The sentence will be up to Cole County Circuit Banks State senator By Bill Bell Jr.

Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau JEFFERSON CITY After an emotionally draining and historic debate, the Missouri Senate on Thursday made a hotly contested abortion ban into law. Voting 27-7, the Senate overrode Gov, Mel Carnahan's veto of the Infant's Protection Act. The measure took effect immediately. Lawyers for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region will be in federal court in Kansas City this morning to seek an injunction barring enforcement of the law.

To issue the injunction, a judge would have to be convinced that the law would eventually be struck down as unconstitutional. Until an injunction is obtained, no abortions will be performed at the St. Louis clinic, said Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood. The law is "unconstitutional and a direct attack on the constitutional protections found in Roe v. Wade," she said.

The vote was the second major defeat for Carnahan in as many days. The House of Representatives overrode his veto Wednesday. He is the seventh governor in state history to suffer a veto override this one at the hands of his own party. The sponsors were both Democrats. The House sponsor, Rep.

Bill Luetkenhaus, D-Josephville, said, "It's a good day in Missouri. "We banned 'partial-birth abortion' today." In a news conference after the vote, Carnahan said members of his own party were under "extreme pressure. It caused them to make a mistake." Carnahan attributed the override to a campaign of misinformation, much of which was distributed in churches and "preached from the pulpits." "It's an unforturiate day for the women of Missouri," Carnahan See Abortion, Page A7 Deal for vote is alleged Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, accuses a House member of killing his crime bill in return for a future appointment as a judge. A7 Judge Byron Kinder, who ordered a pre-sentence investigation.

In return for the guilty plea, Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Callahan dropped a perjury charge against Banks. He had been charged with making a false statement on April 30, 1998, to a grand jury investigating his finances. See Banks, Page A4 Jam KEVIN MANNING POST-DISPATCH Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan (right) takes an elevator from the Senate area of the state Capitol on Thursday after lobbying senators to sustain his veto of the Infant's Protection Act. He Is accompanied by press aide Jerry Nachtigal.

Texas shootings leave heartbreaking gaps at church, seminary, high school and homes Fearful of Floyd, Northeast takes no chances, calling off classes, flights, even a U.N. meeting ith to identify Susan "Kim" Jones, 23. But the pastor said he had found it difficult to recognize Jones, whom he remembered as a warm, exuberant student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. "I couldn't be sure it was her, because she wasn't smiling," Meredith said. "She just beamed.

There are people who walk into a room, and it lights up." Jones was one of seven people killed by Larry Gene Ash-brook, 47. Ashbrook entered a See Shootings, Page AS Killer's guns were legally obtained, police report From News Services FORT WORTH, Texas -Hours after a gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of Wedgwood Baptist Church, pastor Al Meredith was in the morgue standing over the body of one of his congregants. Authorities had asked Mered i A i Provocative ad spotlights binge drinking on campus THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A traffic signal dangles in the wind as Hurricane Floyd passes through Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Thursday. Floyd knocked out power to 1.4 million people In the Carolinas and flooded highways and basements with more than a foot of rain. Weakened storm soaks Atlantic coast, but damage is less than expected At least 12 deaths are reported The Associated Press MONTAUK, N.Y.

Creating havoc even at half-strength, Tropical Storm Floyd raced into the Northeast with gusty wind 6nd drenching rain Thursday, grounding hundreds of flights, closing school for 3 million students and postponing a U.N, fneeting on war. Drenching much of the East Coast, Floyd raced across Long Island and into New England af-ier rolling through the Carolinas in the morning. By 11 p.m., its Winds had fallen below hurricane force to 60 mph. At least 12 deaths were blamed on Floyd, eight from traffic accidents in the Carolinas and Virginia. Two girls in Delaware drowned after a storm-swollen creek swept them into a sewage pipe, a woman was killed in Virginia when a tree fell on her mobile home, and one man was presumed drowned in the Bahamas.

The storm swept away portions pf a bridge in North East, forcing 100 families downstream to abandon their homes. Four oil tanks holding 80,000 gallons collapsed, though officials were unsure if the oil contaminated nearby Chesapeake Bay. While still a hurricane, Floyd drilled ashore at Cape Fear, N.C., knocking out power to more than 1.4 million in the Carolinas and dumping more than a foot of rain that flooded hundreds of North Carolina homes. But the overall See Floyd, PageA13 Wait a minute. What kind of ad campaign is this? The full-page ad, which has appeared in several U.S.

newspapers, is nothing if not an attention-grabber. Which is exactly what its sponsor, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, intends. The point is blunt: Some college students drink to excess and, under the influence, wreak harm on themselves and others. The ad copy turns off the irony eventually and ends by asking parents to talk to their children about the dangers of overindulgence. The small print at the bottom of the page bears the names of 113 of the 204 college and university chief executives who belong to the association.

The endorsers include Manuel T. Pacheco, president of the University of Missouri system; Richard L. Wallace, chancellor of the University of Missouri at Columbia; John T. Park, chancellor of the University of Missouri at Rolla; and John S. Jackson, chancellor of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

"There has been a national flap over whether or not (the ad) is too graphic," Jackson said. He added that he found it "a lot less offensive than some of the jeans commercials I've seen." See Beer, Page A7 College group sponsors campaign to stem excess By Susan C. Thomson Of the Post-Dispatch The ad proclaims a new brand of beer "hitting college campuses this fall." It's called Binge. "At Binge," says the ad, "we understand that sometimes you just need five or six drinks the night before the big test." Binge is also said to help students make friends, fall off balconies, riot and assault one another. North Carolinians head home: Evacuated residents jam highways on their way home to assess flood damage caused by as much as 20 inches of rain dropped by Hurricane Floyd.

A13 Life resumes In Bahamas: At least no one died was the refrain of residents of Abaco Island, who began to salvage possessions from their flattened homes Thursday. A13 I 0 II Weather Today: Mostly sunny. High 77. Low 55. Landlords lean on tenants who complain of lead, legal service says Saturday: Wlfm-Partly cloudy.

nS -k Hieh81. lJtTMh ah a Winer jjw- v5 Clinton approves use of about 200 troops in East Timor President Bill Clinton has approved the limited participation of U.S. troops in an Australian-led peacekeeping force for East Timor. He said about 200 U.S. troops will be involved, but the Pentagon said the total could increase if Australia asked for more help.

Half bf the U.S. personnel will be on the ground in East Timor. The rest will be in Darwin, Australia. WORLD, PAGE A14 weather Weekly science page, column debut with news on learning On Science, a column by George Johnson, a professor of biology at Washington Uni-yersity, makes its first appearance today on a weekly Science and Health page. Johnson says, "My goal is to act as a bridge between today's science and the general public, not as a reporter but as an explainer.

In this column I teach about new advances in science, and sometime controversial issues nvolving science." Today's On Science explains recent discoveries about how the brain learns. SCIENCE AND HEALTH, PAGE A10 rage do Mf f'k Legal Services of Eastern Missouri says it has received about 140 telephone calls from tenants this year charging that their landlords are unfairly and illegally trying to evict them in retaliation for their complaints about lead paint in their homes. Cases of this kind are a growing problem in the St. Louis area, which has one of the worst lead-poisoning records in the nation. METRO, PAGE Bl A city Inspection detected lead In the apartment building where Tyanna Cleghorn, 5, lives with her family.

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