Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 1

dstetr Friday 0 February 5, 1999 Metro edition Jackson, Mississippi Mississi ppi's Newspaper Water hazard STATEMETRO i Jr ii mm- MM Officer who shot dogs on desk duty Chief says he'll require officers to take animal sensitivity course ByJNIFarrell King Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer A Jackson police officer who has shot and killed two dogs since October has been removed from his patrol beat and reassigned to desk duty. Police Chief Bracy Coleman also said he plans to require all officers to attend a sensitivity training course regarding the handling of animals. Coleman said he decided to reassign Precinct 2 Patrolman Walton McJordan, a 6V6-year veteran, after reviewing a preliminary report into the latest shooting, which happened Saturday. "Everyone was screaming at me to fire him or put him on administrative leave but I fa" L'V hi 1 CLINTON TRIAL TENTATIVE SCHEDULE Senate trial adjourned until Saturday at 9 a.m. v( -n 1 If The House trial managers and the White House lawyers each will have three hours to present evidence from the depositions of Monica Lewinsky, Clinton friend Vernon Jordan and White House aide Sidney Blu-menthal.

They will be able to show videotapes taken of those depositions. Beginning at noon, the House trial managers and White House lawyers each will have three hours for closing arguments. The 100 senators then move into deliberations. Gauging gift in gallons "You're never too old" to give blood, says frequent donor, at 35 gallons and counting. 1 AG eyes plan to sell hospitals Attorney general monitors proposed sale of Methodist Healthcare to for-profit corporation.

1 Lott asked to condemn CCC Will Trent Lott ask the Senate to condemn the Council of Conservative Citizens? 8A SPORTS No fan-ban suit, just more talk Kenneth Stokes' long-threatened lawsuit seeking to overturn cancellation of today's Lanier-Provine basketball game never got filed. 1D Brewer's case gets go-ahead hadn't had a Brian Albert BroomThe Clarion-Ledger Waters of the Pearl River rush through the cab County near Rockport collapsed under the of an 1 8-wheeler Thursday morning after the weight of the truck Wednesday. The driver was bridge between Copiah County and Simpson not hurt and may face charges. Details, 1B chance to do an investi-g a i Coleman said. "After reviewing the preliminary findings I decid GOP backs off plan for declaration of wrongdoing by Clinton The Associated Press WASHINGTON Trial-weary senators moved briskly on Thursday to wrap up President Clinton's impeachment proceedings, voting to permit the showing of portions of Monica Lewinsky's videotaped deposition after dealing a bipartisan brush-off to a personal appearance.

Parts of her recorded deposition are to be played at the nationally televised trial session on Saturday. As lawmakers settled that issue, Republicans retreated from their plan to find Clinton guilty of wrongdoing without removing him from office. With those decisions, the senators moved to bring the trial to a conclusion by the end of next week. "I do think it's time we get to a vote and we move on" to other issues, said Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. Clinton's acquittal is assured on the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, which stem from his efforts to conceal a sexual relationship with Lewinsky.

While Republicans backed away from their plan to find Clinton guilty of wrongdoing before the trial ends, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said lawmakers in his party were putting the finishing touches on a censure proposal. He said he wants it voted on either during an interruption in the proceedings or after the conclusion. Under the Senate's decisions on Thursday, prosecutors and White House lawyers will have up to three hours each to make presentations including portions of Coleman Bill in Senate resurrects choice in public schools The date set for the Senate to vote on the two articles of impeachment, charging the president with perjury and obstruction of justice. Those final votes could come as early as Thursday, Feb. 11.

Senate OKs more nursing home beds Opponent says plan only benefits those who own property By Emily Wagstor Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Plans for public school choice, thought dead earlier this week, came to life in a bill the Senate passed Thursday. Senate Bill 2156 started as a conservatorship plan to help low-ranked districts. A Former Ole Miss football coach Billy Brewer wins a procedural victory in the Mississippi Supreme videotaped depositions on Saturday. In addition to Lewinsky, lawyers questioned presidential friend Vernon Jordan and White House aide Sidney Blumen-thal earlier this week and recorded the proceedings. An effort by the House prosecutors to call Lewinsky for live questioning was rejected, 70-30, with 25 of the Senate's 55 Republicans joining the 45 Democrats in opposition.

Brewer Court. ID Legislature BUSINESS limited form of school choice came in on an amendment by Sen. Jim Bean, R-Hattiesburg. Under Bean's plan, parents who live in one school district and own property in an adjacent, By Joseph Amman-man Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The Senate voted Thursday to approve more nursing home beds in Mississippi with the condition that they be filled only with people who really need them. Senate Bill 2679, the last measure handled late Thursday afternoon, passed unanimously.

"There has been a lot of work put into this by many people," said Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Jim Bean, R-Hattiesburg, who handled the bill. "We had a whole mass of folks to begin with so let me make it clear this is not my brainchild." The bill provides for 1,040 Medicaid nursing home beds and 500 additional beds for private patients. It also includes funding for a pre-admission screen ing plan and additional home- and community-based services. Under Bean's bill, people's needs would be screened before they were admitted to a nursing home and those who qualified could receive care in their homes or other independent settings. "The sky's the limit on this if it's developed," Bean said of home-based care.

"The elderly will have more quality in their lives because they can remain at home or in other settings, independently in other places. "In addition there'll be a lot of sons and daughters and husbands who will feel much better about themselves because their elderly relatives are living independently rather than being institutionalized." See HOMES, 8A ed to put him on desk duty." McJordan, 31, will handle paperwork and other clerical duties until further notice, Coleman said. He said McJordan will work from his precinct or from police headquarters. Coleman said the reassignment does not mean the officer is guilty of anything. "It's very common for us to reassign officers or put them on administrative leave while we conduct an investigation," Coleman said.

McJordan could not be reached for comment Thursday. Last October, McJordan shot and killed a foot-tall, 7-year-old English bulldog named Drax while on duty on Whitworth Street. McJordan claimed the dog made a threatening move toward him. He was cleared by the department's Internal Affairs division after the dog's owner filed a formal complaint. Saturday night, McJordan was off duty when he shot and killed his neighbor's 15-pound beagle and hound mix.

He said the dog was in his driveway barking and growling. The dog, named Grunt, was owned by Russell Bozeman, whose 40 acres border McJor-dan's 30 acres on Dry Grove Road in rural Hinds County. Bozeman filed a complaint with the Hinds County Sheriffs Department but Wednesday said he wouldn't file a formal complaint with Jackson police. He could not be reached for comment Thursday. McJordan said Monday that Grunt scared his wife and he was protecting his family by shooting the dog.

"Guns are meant to be fired and when I pull my gun and See GRUNT, 8A Mississippi senators on losing side in witness vote A Senate reunion, IB House sets procedure for construction projects, 3B Editorial: City bills hitting potholes, 10A By Dennis Camire Gannett News Service Sunny forecast for economy Yet another forecaster predicts a good year for the U.S. and Mississippi. 1C SOUTHERN STYLE" Sharing the wealth Tiny St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Kosciusko is making a big difference thanks to a $2.5 million bequest. 1 FORECAST impeachment.

The move was rejected 56-44. Cochran said he judged any request for more testimony or other evidence "against the standard of whether or not the testimony to be offered would be relevant and material." "I think this meets that test," Cochran said. Lott said it would be "very interesting" for the public to see the videotapes of Lewinsky's deposition and those of the others. "But different people will have different reactions to what they see and how they interpret her demeanor and what she has to say," he said. "I have long since given up trying to predict what the public reaction will be to any part of this.

I don't know." WASHINGTON Mississippi's two Republican senators supported an effort defeated on a 70-30 vote Thursday to allow House prosecutors to call Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses to testify at President Clinton's impeachment trial. But Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Sen. Thad Cochran were on the winning side in a 62-38 vote to permit House prosecutors to use videotapes and transcripts of their interviews at a Saturday session of the trial. Both also were among those voting to reject a Democratic move to proceed immediately to closing arguments on the two articles of higher-ranked district could send their children to school in the higher-ranked district. Sen.

Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, said the bill would give a privilege to the wealthy but not the poor. "It discriminates against parents who may not own any property, which means that they would have to keep then-children in a school that's performing at a lower level," Simmons said. The plan does not say whether a school board could deny admission if the higher-ranked schools are already crowded. The plan could create a i Sunny with highs in the low 70s. Increasing clouds tonight with lows in the 40s.

shuffle among Jackson-area school districts, possibly luring some children from private schools. Officials contacted Thursday said it's difficult to tell how many families own property in more than one school district. But, the plan doesn't require people to own a large spread. In theory, a plot of land the size of a "postage stamp" would be enough, said Senate Education Chairman Grey Ferris, D-Vicksburg. Public schools are ranked on a 1-5 accreditation level, with 1 the lowest and 5 the highest.

Districts in the Jackson area have a range of rankings: Canton School District has Level 2 accreditation. See SCHOOLS, 8A Weather details, 2A INDEX Ann Landers 4E Movies 2E Business 1C Opinion 10-11A Calendar 3E People 2A Classified 1F SouthemStyle 1E Comics 4-5E Sports 1D Crosswords 5E.3F Spotlight 4A Deaths 4B StateMetro 1B JackSunn 4E Stocks 2C.4-5C Jumble 5E TV listings 6E Cancer-stricken king returns to Jordan Volume 1621 No. 353 Copyright 1999 formed on Tuesday. On Thursday, Hussein left the clinic where he has been receiving treatment for recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer since Jan. 26.

His plane took off Thursday afternoon. In Amman, a royal palace statement read over the state-run Jordan Television said: "Upon King Hussein's persistent wish, he will return home tomorrow morning" today. Just before leaving for America, the king named his oldest son as his successor in for a relapse of lymphatic cancer. The condition of the 63-year-old Hussein "has become critical due to the failure of the function of internal organs," the king's private physician, Lt. Gen.

Samir Farraj, said Thursday. Farraj's statement, issued at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, gave no further details on the king's health. But an official in Amman said Hussein's body had apparently rejected a bone marrow transplant per an apparent move to ensure Jordan's future stability. Hussein is the Middle East's longest ruling monarch; he has been on the throne 46 years. He is known as a force for moderation in the volatile Middle East and, after Jordan's 1994 peace with Israel, he has pushed for a broader regional peace.

In Washington, President Clinton urged prayers for the king who had helped forge the Wye River peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians in October. Hussein goes home after marrow transplant fails The Associated Press AMMAN, Jordan A gravely ill King Hussein left a U.S. hospital Thursday after an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant and flew back to Jordan, accompanied by his wife and family members. The king's trip home came only 10 days after he had abruptly traveled to the United States seeking care A matter of death and life Jackson funeral home employees form a choir and are invited to sing at Gospel Expo at Disneyworld. Associated Press file photo Jordan's King Hussein (left) embraces his son and successor, Crown Prince Abdullah, 37, in this March 1 998 photo.

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