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

On The Internet: WWW LATIMES COM OPYRIGHT AGES Designated Areas Higher By Richard A. Serrano and John-Thor Dahlburg Times Staff Writers WASHINGTON Capping a day and night of political, legal and emotional drama, Congress passed and President Bush signed legislation early this morning permitting the parents of a brain-damaged Florida woman to ask a federal judge to order her feeding tube reconnected. The president, who traveled Sunday from his Texas ranch to the White House for the sole purpose of signing the bill, did so less than an hour after the House voted at 12:45 a.m. EST to pass the legislation, 203 to 58. The Senate passed the bill Sunday afternoon by unanimous consent, with only three senators present.

cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of Bush said in a statement. presumption is especially critical for those like Terri Schiavo who live at the mercy of Outside the hospice in Pinellas Park, where Schiavo has lived for several years, her family was exultant after the vote was announced. very, very, very thankful to have crossed this said Suzanne Vita- damo, sister, we are very hopeful that the federal courts will follow the will of Congress and save my The legislation would give parents the standing to file suit in federal court on their behalf. petition will be quite said David C. Gibbs III, an attorney for the parents.

get the food and water back to Terri At 2:15 a.m., Gibbs said he had prepared a lawsuit and a request for a restraining order and was leaving from the hospice on the 20-minute ride across Tampa Bay to file both at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. moving really quickly because Gibbs said. He said a judge was on his way to the court and that a ruling was expected sometime overnight. Carlos Barria Reuters RELIEVED: Terri father, Bob Schindler, with daughter Suzanne Vitadamo after President Bush signed the law this morning.

Bush Approves Schiavo Review in U.S. Court President signs a bill sent by Congress early this morning. The law lets the parents ask a judge to order her feeding tube reinserted. RELATED STORY In Florida supporters want to change state law. A15 See Schiavo, Page A14 Shawn Thew EPA BACK TO WORK: President Bush cut short his Texas vacation to sign the bill.

By Chris Kraul Times Staff Writer SALAMA, Honduras Father Andres Tamayo, for eight years the priest for this farming town in the piney woods of central Honduras, look like a man who can marshal a thousand followers at a few notice. The 48-year-old Roman Catholic priest is, in his own words, a balding and lumpily built, who usually dresses in faded jeans and rag- gedgolf shirts. Away from the pulpit, he easily is lost in crowds. Yet when he preaches, his arms waving and his tenor voice booming, his usually timid flock of poor farmers and careworn homemakers is galvanized, eager to be transformed into a corps of shock troops to stop what he calls indiscriminate environmental destruction by the loggers. After decades of mismanaged loggingthat has erased half of forests, rural communities such as Salama are left with what residents say are the consequences of deforestation: ruined water supplies, eroding topsoil, thinned-out wildlife and adried-out climate.

Many say they have nothing to lose by following Tamayo. padre is our said Alonso Santos Paz, an impoverished farmer who said he had grown desperate with the failure of his bean and corn crops the last two years for lack of water. it for what our family members send us from the be dying of hunger Adozen times last year, the people of Salama and thousands of other followers blocked highways and bridges to stop timber lorries, took over city halls and shut down logging operations here in Olanchoprovince, which has the largest timber COLUMN ONE Creating a Logjam in Honduras 8 As deforestation erodes rural life, a priest has taken on the timber industry and forced an unofficial freeze. Critics call him inflexible. See Honduras, Page A10 rection by passing officials, the council members hurrying over to whisper in his ear and squeeze his shoulder.

Miguel Contreras carried a certain amount of clout as one of the five members of the Airport Commission. But airport officials had asked him to sit in the front row on that October morning last year because of his other role. As the leader of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Contreras has transformed the association of 345 local unions into what is broadly acknowledged as the most formidable political machine in Southern California. The labor leader had lobbied By Matea Gold Times Staff Writer It was the first day of hearings on a controversial $11-billion plan to modernize and expand Los Angeles International Airport. In the gilded chamber of the Los Angeles City Council, airline representatives, residents and business leaders bustled around the marble columns.

One man stood out. It just his demeanor the contented look of someone anticipating a big victory. It was the knowing glances cast his di- exhaustively for the airport expansion, which promised to create thousands of construction jobs. Before the council meeting, he had warned that those who opposed the plan would be to explain their when seeking endorsement. In the council chamber, he addressed the 15 elected officials.

labor movement encourages all of you, every single one of you who have come to us in friendship, to cast your vote in Contreras told them. Disgusted, Westchester resident and LAX expansion opponent Denny Schneiderwatched L.A. Power Broker Faces Test Miguel Contreras built a political machine based on clout. Siding with mayor carries risks. Miguel Contreras See Contreras, Page A16 By Christopher Hawthorne Times Staff Writer Thom Mayne, the Santa Monica architect known for hard-edged, aggressively unconventional designs, today will be named the winner of the 2005 Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious honor.

Mayne, whose most prominent completed projects include the new Caltrans District 7 Headquartersin downtown Los Angeles and Diamond Ranch High Schoolin Pomona, is the first American architect to win the prize since Robert Venturi in 1991and the first from Southern California since Frank O. Gehry in 1989. first reaction was Mayne, 61, said in an interview at the airy if surprisingly nondescript offices of Morphosis, the firm he co-founded in 1972. you run a cultural and artistic practice, as we do, instead of just a business, you never know where going to not likely to be the only one surprised by the news. Although Pritzker winners have included several members of the architectural avant-garde, Mayne has beenconsidered one of the most polarizing figures in architecture.

His verbal battles with clients and builders are legendary in the profession. And there is nothing traditionally beautiful or explicitly welcoming de Los Angeles Times NOT COPYING Thom Mayne, architect of downtown L.A.’s Caltrans site, is known for battles with clients. Architect of Unyielding Designs Takes Top Prize See Architect, Page A14 By Eric Malnic Times Staff Writer John Zachary DeLorean, the dashing former General Motors executive whose flamboyant lifestyle faded into obscurity after charges that he tried to use drug money to salvage his own fledgling DeLorean Motor has died. He was 80. DeLorean, who created the gull-winged car adapted as Michael J.

time-traveling vehicle in the to the films of the 1980s and died Saturday at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J., of complications from a recent stroke, a funeral home spokesman said. The innovative carmaker handsome, charismatic, known for his flashy clothes, his lavish tastes and the beautiful women who accompanied him was ac- quitted in 1984 of drug and conspiracy charges, but his DeLorean Motor Co. had been fatally wounded. Despite being videotaped in the act of allegedly buying cocaine and pronouncing it than DeLo- rean never admitted guilt in the case that led to his arrest in a Los Angeles hotel room Oct. 19, 1982.

He said he was the victim of a government frame-up by drug agents and prosecutors bent on self-promotion, and JOHN Z. Marty Lederhandler AP AND His firm built a distinctive gull-winged car, but the venture ultimately failed. Maker of Futuristic Car Lived Fast Life See DeLorean, Page A12 By David Zucchino Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD When Army Brig. Gen. Karl Horst fought during the invasion of Iraq two years ago, he bother learning the names of Saddam generals.

care who they were we were going to kill he said. Last week, during a parade ground ceremony at the Bagh- dad airport, Horst kissed the whiskered cheeks of an Iraqi general who once had been awarded the highest military honor by Hussein. The airport scene, where top U.S. commanders shared roast chicken and rice with several former officers of the deposed army, brought into sharp focus the new military reality here two years after the invasion. American generals are literally embracing former enemy lead- ers, many of them once banned from the new Iraqi army by U.S.

authoritiesbut now courted as partners in building an effective Iraqi fighting force. Today, the top priority of U.S. commanders is training the Iraqi U.S. Joins Old Foes to Build New Iraqi Army See Iraq, Page A8 RELATED STORY Regrets: U.S. invaded via Turkey, Rumsfeld says.

A8 Enthusiasm Cools for Social Security Deal The best hope for a compromise, investment accounts, may not have a chance, Ronald Brownstein says. A11 Tab Continues to Rise The consulting firm hired to manage the hospital asks the county for more money. B1 Workplace Stress Takes Toll, Research Shows Longer hours, faster pace and insecurity are linked to rises in heart trouble worldwide. C1 Back The singer is excited about his new album, but not eager to relive his moment in the sun. E1 Weather Partly cloudy today; a chance of showers developing tonight.

L.A. Downtown: B10 News Summary A2 E13-15 A11 E13 B7 Dear E9 TV E12 B8 A3 INSIDE 7 6 859 44 00050 By Mark Magnier Times Staff Writer BEIJING Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned North Korea today that if it return to nuclear disarmament talks the U.S. would to look at other to resolve the issue. Rice did not give a deadline for North Korea to rejoin the stalled six-nation negotiations, nor did she specify what conse- quences the U.S. might be contemplating in case Pyongyang refused.

While Rice has said the U.S. has no plans to attack North Korea, hard-liners in the Bush administration have been pushing for tough U.N. sanctions on trade and limits on aid unless North Korea becomes more cooperative. goes without saying, to the degree a nuclear-free Korean peninsula gets more difficult to achieve, to the degree North Korea more we will have to look at other she said at an afternoon news conference in Beijing after talks with Chinese officials. everyone is aware there are other options in the international veiled threat came on the final day of a weeklong, six- nation tour of Asia.

Prodding North Korea to return to the talks was a major focus of the trip. On Sunday in South Korea, Rice indicated that patience was waning. need to resolve the she said. cannot go on China, which has played host to previous rounds of the talks and is North biggest trading partner and closest ally, is considered key to bringing Pyongyang back to the table. In her meetings with Chinese leaders, Rice said she had spoken Rice Puts Pressure on N.

Korea In Beijing, she courts China and warns Pyongyang that time for talks is running out. See Rice, Page A9.