The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 4

3 Merger endorsed Shareholders approve deal between Goodrich, Coltec. Busniess D7 State praises Canton Schools win acclaim for spending, but audit says some can be cut. The beat goes on Indians win big again, this time beating Twins 14-5. Sports El Goodrich CI I Local A fe Copyright Hntin Journal Puttiishirif; Co ACON 350 SATURDAY, April 10, 1999 4 Northeast Ohio Edition i Serving the community for 160 years .11 a 2 twister Ml Win lMJiJi Tornado flattens 200 homes, businesses near Cincinnati .8 1. M(r ill WW -x it? OnTheLnternet Cigarette maker tells of risks of smoking Brown Williamson Tobacco the maker of Kool and Lucky Strike cigarettes, has unveiled a Web site that acknowledges in its strongest language ever the health risks associated with smoking.

The new Web site (www.brownandwilliamson.com) also offers advice to kick the habit, but tobacco critics dismissed it as a smoke screen intended to shield the nation's third-largest tobacco company from liability lawsuits. In Space Satellite for detecting missiles is launched An Air Force rocket thundered into space with a missile-warning satellite yesterday ec in the first Titan IV flight since a spectacular $1 billion launch explosion last August The Titan IV-B, the nation's largest unmanned rocket, hoisted a Pentagon satellite capable of detecting missile launches as well as nuclear blasts. The Air Force put the cost of the mission at $682 million. The satellite, essentially a 2Va-ton infrared telescope, should become operational in three to six months. In Health Democrats start Web health-care petition President Clinton portrayed Republicans as handmaidens of insurance and health-care companies yesterday as Democrats launched a novel Internet petition drive to mobilize support for the "patients' bill of rights." "The people who are against it basically the large HMOs and the insurers have got the ear of the congressional majority, and they have a lot of political influence," Clinton charged in a speech in Philadelphia.

Across the nation, House and Senate Democrats staged rallies to ask Americans to raise their voices by petitioning for new health-care rights. The Internet address for the petition is http: www.familiesusa.orgpbr. In Divorce Andre Agassi splits from Brooke Shields Actress Brooke Shields and tennis star Andre Agassi are splitting up after two years of marriage, a publicist for the couple said yesterday. No reason was given. Today's weather Associated Press Twisted debris is strewn about the ruins of splintered homes after a powerful tornado swept through Cincinnati's upscale suburb of Montgomery yesterday morning.

Drills help local schools prepare for emergencies Storm strikes before dawn 1 1 vli igm- By Candace Goforth Beacon Journal staff writer For Northeast Ohio school officials, the deadly twister that tore through suburban Cincinnati yesterday was a dramatic reminder of the importance of providing a safe place for children to crouch and cover their heads. That isn't always an easy task. "The problem always is finding spaces where we're not just jammed-crowded together," said Kathy Wetta, principal of Medina City Schools Kindergarten Center, which is housed in a converted YMCA building. "In the lobby area, we have a lot of glass," she said. "We have to find rooms that don't have windows." Glass from blown-out windows is a major cause of tornado-related injuries.

Televised images of devastation in Blue Ash and Montgomery yesterday prompted at least one call from a concerned parent about the school's tornado safety proce- See DRILLS, Page A5 By Jon Craig and candace goforth Beacon Journal staff writers Montgomery: Jessica Brown hid with her 12-year-old son in the basement Above them, a tyrant was ripping their suburban Cincinnati house apart Next door, it was pulling their neighbors from their home, blowing their bodies across the street Officials referred to the Cornell Road neighborhood as "ground zero" of a tornado that hit a series of communities in northern Hamilton County before dawn yesterday, its 206 mph winds flattening as many as 200 homes and several businesses. When the quiet finally came, at least four people were dead and scores were injured. The same storm system killed two in Illinois. Besides Brown's neighbors, a couple in their 50s whose identities were being withheld by the Hamilton coroner, two Ohio motorists were killed. Charles Smith, 40, of Miami Township in Clermont County, and Donald E.

Lewis, 38, of Blanchester, were in their cars, when the storm plowed through the suburbs about 5 a.m. Damage was reported as far north as Warren and Clinton counties, but Montgomery See STORM, Page A4 Partly sunnyCf PHIL MASTURZOBeacon Journal David Nichols, president of Interlott Technologies looks at what remains of his company yesterday after a tornado swept through the Blue Ash Industrial Park in Cincinnati's suburbs. Inside Ohio has a long history of deadly tornadoes. How do these killer twisters form and what should you do if one strikes? These tips could be lifesavers. See illustration on Page A4.

57 High 37 Low NewsChannel 5 forecast, PageA2 Inside Nursing agency succumbs to cuts of Medicare knife Wadsworth's Tri-County Affiliates shutting down Lottery C1.2 Nation A9 Movies E2 Real Estate Tab Religion A13-15 Soaps E5 Sports Dl-6 TV Listings E5 Weather A2 Business Jewell Cardwell CI Classified Bl-28 Comics Deaths C3, 4 Editorials All Ann Landers D6 Local News Cl-3 series of bombings INSIDE Cypriot leader fails to win release of U.S. servicemen. See Story Page A2. Serbian TV station organizes human shield as protection from airstrikes. See Story Page A2.

that has included mass executions in 50 villages. The reports, which have not been con Fun activities for kids Ohio-corn In an emotional farewell to skilled nurses, home health aides, case managers and staff, Tri-County owner Marylea Stizel thanked them for their commitment and blamed the decision on cutbacks in Medicare forced by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. "We're being paid based on our 1992 and 1993 costs," Stizel said. "Unfortunately, we don't live in 1992 anymore and others are be- See CUTS, Page A8 By Stuart Drown Beacon Journal staff writer Wadsworth's Tri-County Affiliates yesterday suspended its Medicare-funded home nursing service and laid off more than 130 workers, saying it couldn't operate under reduced government payments. The agency's decision affects more than 450 clients in 17 counties.

All but 60 of the patients have been shifted to other home health agencies. led Yugoslav government, accusing its soldiers of systematically raping and murdering ethnic Albanian women in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon cited what he called "disturbing reports" that Yugoslav soldiers have herded young ethnic Albanian women into an army training camp near the town of Djakovica in southwestern Kosovo, raped them and killed 20 of them. The State Department, meanwhile, accused Yugoslav forces of waging a scorched-earth campaign against ethnic Albanians Envoy blames strikes for failed negotiations. Rape of women alleged From Beacm Journal wire services A barrage of NATO airstrikes across Yugoslavia on Orthodox Good Friday sent a fireball soaring from a fuel depot and choked nearby vineyards under black smoke.

A Cyprus envoy blamed the bombing for a Yugoslav decision not to free three captured U.S. servicemen. In Washington, the Clinton administration launched a new rhetorical offensive against the Serb- firmed, were the most damaging so far in a sustained campaign by the Clinton aclminis-tration and its NATO allies to depict President Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslav government in the See BOMB, Page A3 '51 Business: Northfield may get retirement complex. Story Page D7. qm 1.