The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 1

Co0 Angeles tmee DAILY DESIGNATED AREASHIGHER TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1991 COPYRIGHT 1991niETIMES MIRROR COMPANVOCt 100 PAGES CIRCULATION: 1.225,189 DAILY 1 .514,096 SUNDAY COLUMN ONE Blacks and the Army: Whyjoin? At one recruiting station, protesters say African-Americans should fight for justice at home. Recruits talk of neighborhood violence and see few better choices. Government Must Renew Credibility, Wilson Declares Inauguration: The new governor signals he will try to cut 'remedial' social programs in favor of By GEORGE SKELTON, TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU CHIEF SACRAMENTO Pete Wilson was sworn in as California's 36th governor Monday and immediately challenged the Legislature to help him restore "credibility" to state government and end the "gridlock" in decision-making that has spurred "ballot-box budgeting by initiative." Associated Press MalcmllucasrCalffoTnleVcfiieflustlce.admihlste lodkslbn during Capitol rotunda ceremony. The Gayle Wilson publican lawmaker Is state's 36th chief executive. Cheney Cancels Navy's $57-Billion Attack Jet Defense: He says McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics mismanaged the contract.

9,000 to lose jobs. The new Republican cmet exec- utive also signaled that he will attempt to cut traditional "remedial" programs in health, education and welfare and instead spend substantially more for prevention of society's ailments, such as drug abuse. But while Wilson, in his inaugural address, called it a day for both symbolism and substance, he offered no specifics of what he has in mind. Those details will be spelled out in a State of the State speech to the Legislature on Wednesday and in his first budget proposal on Thursday. Monday was a day for offering an olive branch to the Democratic-controlled Legislature, sketching his vision for California's future and formally celebrating his narrow election victory over former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Fein-stein.

Rain the first substantial downpour in weeks here forced inauguration planners to move the RELATED STORIES: A3 "swearing-in ceremony from the west steps of the Capitol to the cozy Capitol rotunda. There, jam-packed around a huge 19th-century statue of Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus, perhaps 200 invited guests elected state officials, legislative leaders, state Cabinet members, political supporters and Wilson's wife, Gayle watched Wilson repeat the oath administered by California Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas. Outgoing Gov. George Deukme-jian was the first to applaud when power was transferred. While Please see WILSON, A21 By CHARISSE JONES TIMES STAFF WRITER The U.S.

Army Crenshaw Recruiting Station sits tucked between a tax office and beauty shop, an easily overlooked storefront amid the shops, restaurants and offices that line busy Crenshaw Boulevard in Central Los Angeles. You might pass it by and never know it unless you had business there. On a recent Thursday night, while a solitary young man sat on one side of its glass door and spoke earnestly with a recruiter, 50 protesters marched by candlelight on the sidewalk outside, their placards and chants condemning racism, wasted lives and war. "Black G.I.'s, You Bleed for White People What About Us?" read one sign. "Black G.I.'s," read another, "Come Home To Fight the Klan." And yet, on the day after the candlelight vigil, like so many days before, more black and brown young men would troop through the station's doors and inquire about exchanging their blue jeans and sneakers for uniforms and combat boots.

And as they crossed the station threshold, these would-be recruits lent flesh -and -blood context to a debate that has rumbled through the black community for generations: Should African--. Americans fight for this country? Some anti-war activists, mindful of the Vietnam experience, warn that they fear another foreign conflict in which a disproportionate number of people of color will die while back home they still must fight for equal opportunity. They say that blacks constitute nearly 21 of the nation's fighting forces, while making up 12.3 of the population. And they worry that, with a fourth of America's young black men under control of the criminal justice system, a war would wreak more havoc on an already besieged community. "The issue is what you fight for and where you fight for it," said Makungu Akinyela, whose Malcolm Grassroots Movement helped coordinate the candlelight vigil.

"These same black soldiers, if they come home and take off their uniform, can be stopped for no reason and asked to get on their knees to be searched for drugs. The fight for Africans is here on American soil, not in some foreign land." You hear a different story on the other side of the door. There, the talk is of patriotism, of an absence of alternatives and of a homegrown indifference to violence. "I almost want to go to the 5 Persian Gulf," said Robert Jackson, a 25-year-old father of one. "If I've got to go to war I might as well get paid for it, instead of going to war everyday on these streets." In fact, he said, his smile widen-Please see RECRUITS, A18 Boston Bank Failure Eerily Similar to Texas Debacle By JOHN M.

BRODER and RALPH VARTABEDIAN TIMES STAFF WRITERS WASHINGTON In the largest military contract termination ever, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney on Monday canceled the $57-billion A-12 Navy attack plane, charging that the aircraft's builders had so badly mismanaged the program that they could never meet the government's contract terms. Cheney- rejected pleas from the Navy and the two prime contrac- Coup Attempt Fails in Haiti; 40 Die in Riots By DON A. SCHANCHE TIMES STAFF WRITER PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti-A short-lived attempt to seize power by the reputed chief torturer of the Duvalier regime was put down by the Haitian army Monday. The abortive coup ifetat by followers of Roger Lafontant touched off the worst mob rampages in Haiti's bloody recent history, leaving a reported 40 people dead, many of them lynched in rings of burning rubber tires. Most of the victims appeared to be followers of Lafontant, who was interior minister under dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier.

Lafontant seized the presidential palace, Sunday night, declared himself president and held provisional President Ertha Pascal Trouillot hostage for 12 hours. The brief takeover attempt ended Monday morning when a regu-Please see HAITI, A12 GaramendiActs Swiftly, Orders Rate Freezes By KENNETH REICH TIMES STAFF WRITER SACRAMENTO-Within moments of being sworn in Monday as the state's first elected insurance commissioner, John Garamendi imposed a freeze on some future rate increases and said he will leave it in effect until state-regulated companies start paying Proposition 103 rollbacks. Garamendi's declaration, however, does not mean that consumers will get the full 20 rollback of 1989 premiums originally mandate ed by Proposition 103, or even that auto insurance policyholders will escape the increases approved in the last two weeks by former commissioner Roxani Gillespie. But any future rate increases requested by state-regulated lines of. insurance will be subject to Garamendi's new order, he said.

"Proposition 103 will be fully imT plemented and fast," Garamendi pledged in his inaugural speech before an enthusiastic audience in a crowded, state Senate chamber, where he had served as a Democratic lawmaker for 14 years, "No company will be granted a rate increase until its rollback Please see INSURE, A19 Of longer-range concern is whether the problems sparked by plummeting real estate values will hit Western banks as hard. "We do know the economy is very weak. We are in a recession by all accounts, and banks are going to fail," said James Barth, a former government savings and loan and banking expert who now teaches at Auburn University. Many banking experts say they do not expect the Bank of New England failure to trigger a domino effect. They say that Bank of New England was especially sick and that its problems, such as its high concentration of poor quality real estate loans, were well known.

Since 19S3, Bank of New England placed the biggest bet among area banks oh the "Massachusetts Miracle," the high technology and defense boom that helped propel Please'see BANK, A1S Council members accused CRA officials of lying to them and abusing their public trust. CRA officials had said that the cost of the Dec. 28 settlement was $765,375 and that it was required under Tuite's four-year employment contract, which expires in 1992. But CRA officials acknowledged Monday that the payments to Tuite, particularly his pension, are much higher than mandated by his 1988 employment contract with the city under which he was paid an annual salary of $147,000. Under intense questioning by council members at a committee hearing, CRA officials said the $765,375 reflected the agency's Please see TUITE, A20 I IraqiDefectors Fly6Copters to Saudi Arabia By KIM MURPHY and MELISSA HEALY TIMES STAFF WRITERS DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia-Six Iraqi military helicopters.

crossed into Saudi Arabia on Monday and landed near a coastal town in the first major defection, from Iraq's armed forces involving aircraft, military and government sources here said. Four of the helicopters landed at the Saudi town of Ras al Khafjl, on the Persian Gulf coast about 10 miles from the Kuwaiti border, and their occupants sought political asylum the sources said. Two others ran out of fuel and landed in the Saudi desert short of. Ras al Khafji. In Washington, the Defense Department said the defections offer Saudi and' American intelligence officials their first and perhaps most significant access to Iraqi officers who would play a key role in any conflict with U.S.

and allied forces. Although it was not clear whether the helicopters were Iraqi gunships or troop transport craft, U.S. defense officials said the officers flying either type of craft would likely be important sources WAR OR PEACE? Either alternative poses hazards for the gulf region, World Report finds. HI of information about the readiness of Iraqi forces and their plans for the defense of Kuwaiti territory. The Iraqi military has about 500 helicopters, about 160 of them armed.

There was no word on how many people were aboard the six aircraft. U.S. defense officials Monday night stopped short of stating conclusively that the border crossing was a defection, saying the aircraft might have unintentionally Please see DEFECT, A8 tion, held in the autumn, tumbled as alarmingly low as 10 of the draftable 18-year-olds in the republic of Georgia, according to official sources. The crackdown on draft dodging was the latest in a series of Gorbachev's actions that show the growing clout of traditionally conservative institutions such as the armed forces, the KGB and the Interior Ministry in forcing a tougher Kremlin line on law and order, discipline and security affairs. The action, which applies specifically to the three Baltic republics and to Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and some regions of the Ukraine, makes a mockery of the republics' claims of sovereignty or independ-Pleaie see SOVIET, A12 By JAMES BATES TIMES STAFF WRITER What once was known as the Massachusetts economic miracle is turning into what many banking experts believe is a Texas-style financial debacle.

Although widely expected, the sudden seizure by federal regulators Sunday of the three major banks that are part of Boston's Bank of New England the third-largest bank failure ever has sent a sobering chill through the industry and has raised broader questions about the fragility of the nation's banks in a sliding economy. Of immediate special concern is the health of other banks in New England and the New York-New Jersey region, both areas where institutions bet heavily on real estate projects that have gone bad. tors McDonnell Douglas Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. to restructure the program and build fewer planes for unspecified billions of dollars in additional funds, The government already has spent an estimated $5 billion on the A-12 program, which employs 10,000 workers in 42 states, including California.

"This program- cannot be sustained unless I ask'Congress'for more money and bail the contractors out But I have made the decision that I will not do that," Cheney said Monday evening in a statement issued after the financial markets closed. "No one can tell me exactly how much more it will cost to keep this program going. And I do not believe a bailout is in the national interest. If we cannot spend the taxpayers' money wisely, we will not spend it," the defense secretary said. He said that the contract was being terminated for "default" under punitive terms based on the "inability of the contractors to design, develop; fabricate, assemble and test A-12 aircraft" under the contract's performance and schedule terms.

Cheney said that the Navy still needs an all-weather, carrier-based attack plane to replace the 25-year-old A-6 Intruder. But he did not say whether the A-12 Avenger could be resurrected under new terms or whether an all-new plane would have to be developed. The move stunned Navy officials, contractor executives and financial analysts, all of whom had been expecting -the plane to be saved under revised contract terms. The Navy had been icount-ing on the radar-evading A-12 to form the backbone of its carrier-based air fleet for the next 30 years. Please see PLANE, A10 Associated Prtu Rose leaves federal prison.

ROSE IS HALFWAY HOME Former baseball star Pete Rose left a federal prison in Marion, 111., to finish his sentence for tax evasion at a halfway house in Cincinnati. CI INSIDE TODAY'S TIMES Troops Ordered to Baltics to Capture Draft Dodgers Soviet Union: Four other restive republics are targeted in a Kremlin effort to enforce national law. City Buyout of Tuite's Pact Exceeded Contract Terms Politics: Settlement offered to head of redevelopment agency will cost $1.54 million over 30 years, council says. FBI TARGETS TERRORISM FBI agents began interviewing Arab-American leaders in an effort to increase awareness of the possibility of terrorist acts during any gulf war. A8 REDISTRICTINQ STANDS The U.S.

Supreme Court all but assured the election of a Latino to the Board of Supervisors by denying a county appeal of a court-ordered redistricting. Bl OIL PROFITS UP Chevron Corp. became the first major oil company to say it will earn record profits in the fourth quarter as a result of higher oil prices. 01 WEATHER: Mostly cloudy today with scattered showers tonight. Civic Center lowhigh today: 5464, Details: B5 TOP OF THE NEWS ON A2 ByJOHN-THOR DAHLBURG TIMES STAFF WRITER MOSCOW-The Soviet Defense Ministry on Monday ordered army paratroopers, reportedly by the thousands, to track down and capture draft dodgers and deserters in restive areas of the country as President Mikhail S.

Gorbachev again showed his firm determination to enforce Soviet laws nationwide. The Defense Ministry said the decision to employ squads of soldiers to dragoon youths into the military ranks had become necessary to ensure thexountrys ability to defend itself. Inductions during the most recent round of nationwide conscrip By RICH CONNELL and FRANK CLIFFORD TIMES STAFF WRITERS In buying out the contract of Los Angeles' redevelopment chief, city officials offered $375,000 more than required by contract, and the controversial settlement will amount to $1.54 million over 30 years, according to City. Council calculations disclosed Monday. The disclosures regarding Community Redevelopment Agency Administrator John Tuite's severance package came as City Council members angrily grilled CRA officials about the buyout, which has triggered a firestorm of protest and a drive by council members to seize control of the agency..