The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 1

Eagles to sign Everitt N.J. budget challenged Ravens center makes $1 1 .5 million deal. Sports Extra. Senate GOP questions disability program sale. South Jersey. 1 mtiaief iia jump Thursday, March 6, 1997 South Jersey 75 cents some locations pa outside the metropolitan area vCfl 5 Price tag on a Clinton lunch? $50,000, says a donor Hillary Clinton's chief of staff accepted $50,000 campaign check at White HouseJ A leading Democratic supporter from Philadelphia says he was offered a White House visit if he paid the money. No way, says an ex-campaign official. By Suzanne Sataline INQUIHKR STAFF WRITER A Philadelphia Democrat says one of Bill Clinton's top political fund-raisers offered to get him into a "truly intimate luncheon" with the President at the White House if he wrote a check immediately for $50,000. Peter L. Buttenwieser, a philanthropist and one of the region's most generous Democratic contributors, says the offer was made last June 14. He complained about it six days later in a letter to the fund-raiser. Buttenwieser, 61, says the offer came in a telephone call from Terry McAuliffe, who had just completed his stint as finance chairman for the Clinton-Gore primary campaign and was raising money for the party. McAuliffe vehemently denies Buttenwieser's contentions, calling him "a kook." The veteran fund-raiser says that he never telephoned Buttenwieser and that the donor must have misconstrued something McAuliffe said on an earlier occasion. Buttenwieser said McAuliffe offered to make him one of eight guests at a lunch with Clinton in the Blue Room on June 17. He said the offer smacked of a "quid pro quo" and he declined it. Amid revelations about the Clinton campaign's use of White House coffees and sleep-overs for top contributors, Buttenwieser's account is unusual in several ways. Other donors have said that invitations were not linked to specific amounts, or that the tie between a White House event and a donation was inferred or implied. Buttenwieser says a clear-cut price tag of $50,000 was placed on hav-See DEMOCRATS on A24 Chung's contribution was later returned because of concerns about its legality. Williams' acceptance of a campaign donation could increase pressure on Attorney General Janet Reno to recommend appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the campaign-finance controversy. Although the White House defended Wil- liams' action as legal, federal employees are' typically warned never to accept or solicit i See DONATION on A17 I ByJodiEnda INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief of staff accepted a $50,000 campaign contribution from California businessman Johnny Chung while he was visiting the White House, the Clinton administration acknowledged yesterday. The chief of staff, Margaret A. Williams, accepted Chung's check perhaps after Chung had had his picture taken with Hillary Clinton. The check was made out to the Democratic National Committee, and Williams forwarded it to the committee. The Philadelphia Inquirer CHARLES FOX Peter L. Buttenwieser wrote to the Clinton fund-raiser last year complaining of the lunch offer. A Buddhist temple gives documents to a grand jury in the fund-raising probe. A22. Cincinnati endures a river's might Conrail chief tells workers he'll try to protect them LeVan said the breakup was "the last result I ever intended." He was vague on employees' futures. Vj J. seeks additional courses for teachers They'd have to take them every 5 years to keep up certification. N.J. is the only state that I I 4 i6i 4 doesn't require this. 3 By Andrew Casscl INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Taking swipes at fickle merger partners and predatory investors, Conrail chairman David M. LeVan formally told his 21,000 employees -yesterday that their company's days were numbered. In a speech telecast on closed circuit to Conrail employees in 15 locations around the country, LeVan conceded that his plan to preserve the company through a "merger of equals" with CSX of Richmond, had collapsed. Conrail, he said, is headed for "the last result I ever intended to see to see this company broken into pieces." While remaining vague on just what that will mean for employees, including the nearly 2,000 who work in Philadelphia, LeVan pledged to try to protect existing benefits and to secure severance and other payments for those losing jobs. "The priority right now is to do everything we can do for the protection of Conrail's people," he said. Although he displayed little emotion, the 51-year-old executive said he had been working through a range of feelings "from disappointment to frustration to anger" over the collapse of the Conrail-CSX deal. "Even CEOs have insecurities," he said. "I've been searching my soul over the last couple of weeks: Is there something more I could have done, or something I could have done differently" to keep Conrail intact? Some of the more than 1,000 Conrail workers who listened to Le-Van's speech at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel wondered as See CONRAIL on A14 By Patricia Smith INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT TRENTON The New Jersey commissioner of education yesterday proposed requiring public school teachers to complete state-approved continuing education courses every five years to maintain their teaching certification. New Jersey is the only state that does not mandate any professional development for teachers once they earn their licenses. "The mere fact that we're the only state that doesn't have this shows that we're out of step with common practice," said Commissioner Leo Klagholz. "New things come along, and there needs to be a system in place to ensure that they become available to teachers and students." While teachers' representatives did not immediately oppose Klagh-olz's plan, they raised questions about who would pay for the additional courses for teachers. Under the preliminary plan that Klagholz outlined at a state Board of Education meeting, teachers would have to take at least six credit-hours of continuing education classes that are directly related to the governor's new core curriculum, and they would have to demonstrate that they are applying their new knowledge and skills in the classroom. If teachers failed to complete the courses within the five-year period, the state could suspend their teaching certifications. The idea, said Klagholz, is to make sure not only that teachers remain up to date in their subjects and educational techniques, but also to guarantee that information directly See TEACHERS on A13 Cincinnati Enquirer ERNEST COLEMAN The Ohio River swells through Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, at its highest level since 1964. The river crested yesterday at 64.2 feet 12 feet above flood stage. Lower parking decks of Cincinnati's stadium were awash. Across the river, Covington, was under 8 feet of water. Roiling floodwaters bring out gawkers forecasters, could be the harbinger of a spring full of floods across the middle of the country, with predicted thunderstorms and record snowfalls this winter. Yesterday, more than eight feet of water flooded Covington's historic residential riverfront, lapping against the red brick and wrought iron of the century-old gentriiied homes. Across the river, Cincinnati's riverfront parks, warehouses See FLOOD on A19 "It's an event, a piece of history, that's what it is," said Al Weber, 47, a musician taking snapshots. "We read about the '37 flood. Now, I get to see this one." Folks who live along the Ohio mark time by the devastating floods of 1937 and 1964. The monuments and markers can now add a notch for 1997 with the water cresting here yesterday at 64.2 feet 12 feet above flood stage and nearly 40 feet higher than normal. The flood, said By Daniel LcDuc INQUIRER STAFF WRITER CINCINNATI With the chocolate, churning Ohio River reaching its highest levels in 33 years here yesterday, thousands turned out above the soggy banks to gawk, take photos, and stand in awe. On foot and in slow-moving cars that snarled traffic, they swarmed the Civil War-era blue metal suspension bridge connecting Cincinnati wilh Covington, Ky. They trudged the earthen levees, their children in tow. They endured a steady afternoon rain, clutching their video cameras under their jackets. They posed toddlers in strollers with the fast-flowing water for a backdrop. They lined the upper parking deck at Cinergy Field, once known as Riverfront Stadium, and watched the flotsam and jetsam of life from upriver pass them by the tires and barrels and porch chairs, the car parts and trees and dead cows. City leaders start a drive to keep a rail headquarters. Business, Dl. tech.life If you bank with Mellon PSFS, get ready to do business via video. Fl. Unstoppable gypsy moth finally meets its match The conqueror of the insect pest? A fungus. I Sections Nationallnt'l South Jersey City Region Magazine Features Comics CIO Editorials. A26 Legal Notices A18 Movies C4 Newsmakers. C2 Obituaries R2 Television C8 Inside NationalInternational The Swiss plan to set up a $4.7 billion victim's fund. A2. President Clinton pushes for a ban on the carrying of firearms by foreign visitors. A12. South Jersey An appeal in the Blind Faith murder is rejected a second time by the state Supreme Court. Bl. Sports Temple beats Duquesne. El. The Flyers sue WIP radio over a story about Eric Lindros. El. Tommy Lasorda is elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. El. iBBih Year No. 279 1997, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Call or tor home rlelivwv Business 0 Sports tech.life Classified Specifically, Entomophaga max-maiga a myslerious, microscopic cousin of bread mold that is spreading through forests from Maine to West Virginia. The spores stick to young gypsy caterpillars on their spring travels, leading to a deadly infection. Apart from its fatal attraction to gypsy moths, the fungus is a puzzle to forestry experts and a bit of a worry. Although they had been gathering up mounds of it and spreading it in woodlands, they've since stopped. No one can say for sure whether the fungus is a threat to other insects, including butter-See GYPSY MOTHS on A17 By Susan Q. Stranahan INQUIRER STAFF WHITER They toiled in labs for nearly a century and spent inestimable millions. They tested an arsenal of pesticides, parasites, predators and viruses. But the best brains in bug science couldn't produce the silver bullet that would bring down the gypsy moth. Through it all, the voracious insect chewed its way across the Northeast, stripping vast swaths of forest. Now, faster than you can say "Mother Nature," researchers appear to have found the solution growing right under their noses. Fungus. Weather Windy, sunny today. High 50, lows in the 20s. Dry and chilly Friday. Full report, R3. Philadelphia Online To get today's Inquirer electronicalfy, browse: http:www.phillynews.com Lttlffliii' Associated Press ARTUHO MARI Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Gov. Ridge in St. Peter's Square during a general audience in Vatican City yesterday. Ridge was in Italy to boost Pennsylvania tourism. He is to return home today. illHHKl