Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 21

FRIDAY. JANUARY 17 1997 STAR TRIBUNE PACE B3 MetroState Briefs A LEGISLATIVE J1 report RESOURCES Senate Information Office 1-612 296-0504 Minnesota Legislature Web site wwwJeg.ctaU.mn.us House Public Information Office 1-612 296-2146 Star Tribune Online InSession www.tartribunxompoBtlc Today LGubymg firm drops i wins, limits xooacco worn The Senate took similar action on Monday, raising monthly per diem to $56 and lodging to $750. Robert Whereatt Tobacco-regulation bill makes return appearance A bill to license all tobacco retailers in the state was introduced Thursday in the House. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, also would require cities to conduct Bone chips from Worthington grave were baby's, expert says SIOUX FALLS, S.D.

Bone fragments from a Worthington. Minn-, grave confirm that a full-term baby girl was buried there; now DNA tests should determine if the remains are those of a South Dakota woman's daughter. Marlys Thomas, 54, of Sioux Falls, questions whether her daughter, Mary Agnes, died when she was born June 12, 1962, or someone took her from a Worthington hospital. A bone-fragment sample was sent last week to North Carolina, where scientists will do DNA testing to determine if it matches Thomas' blood. A pathologist and other experts opened the grave in November.

Dr. Michael Finnegan, a forensic anthropologist from Manhattan, has concluded that the bones are from an infant girl, but he could not determine how long the infant lived or its race.He did conclude that the remains are from a girl roughly the same age as Mary Agnes or another newborn buried in an adjacent grave, said Scott Heidepreim, Thomas' lawyer. "They were both born and died within the same 24-hour period," he said. St. Mary's Cemetery in Worthington does not have complete burial records from the early 1960s.

1 Associated Press Prayer back on Brooklyn Center agenda Brooklyn Center has decided to resume having a prayer before City Council meetings, five months after a firestorm erupted when a local pastor recited a lengthy prayer for forgiveness for "those who call evil good." The pastor, making a guest appearance before the council, prayed for those who have created a world where, among other things, "We've rewarded laziness and called it welfare" and "worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism." -j- The City Council voted 3-2 Monday to reinstate the prayers because "praver as oart of our civic process has been a tradition in In the Star Tribune State of the State: It's pros-. perous but cold, the governor says. Page Al Education: High school hazing victim campaigns for bill to crack down on practice. Page Bl. State not among the best in national education ranking.

Page Bl. At the Capitol Key events today: State of the State: Rebroad-cast of governor's address; 8 a.m.,KTCI-TV(Ch.l7). Housing: Agency and legislative initiatives; Senate Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee, 10 a.m., Room 123, Capitol. Data Privacy: Overview of is-. sues, Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Data Privacy and Information Policy, noon, Room 15, Capitol; televised.

Crime: Overview of state-funded crime prevention programs; Senate Crime Prevention and Judiciary Budget subcommit-. tee, 2 p.m., Room 15, Capitol; televised. Messerli and Kramer severed its lobbying contract with the Minnesota Twins and will not represent the Brown and Williamson Tobacco company on tax-related issues, a principal in the firm said Thursday. Ross Kramer said the St. Paul law firm was bound by the attorneys' ethics code to step away from both clients after a potential conflict arose.

Tobacco interests, including Brown and Williamson, are expected to oppose a 10-cent cigarette tax increase proposed to help pay for a new Twins stadium. North State Advisors and Associates, a Minneapolis lobbying firm, faces the same potential conflict. However, no official code of ethics forces them to step aside because it is not a law firm. An employee of North State said this week that the firm is likely to give up its Twins contract but keep working for the Tobacco Institute, a trade group. Twins officials have expressed concern that the firms, which have been privy to the team's research and legislative strategy, could use that information on behalf of their other clients.

Robert Whereatt Briefs House raises members' daily expense allowance House members Thursday received a raise in living expenses, to $56 a day. That is up $8 from last year's $48. Members who live away from home during the session also will now get $735 a month in monthly lodging expenses, up from $650. The House Rules Committee approved the increases on an unrecorded voice vote. Members can collect the daily expense allotment, or "per diem," without documenting expenses.

House Minority Leader Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, objected to the per diem increase, saying it amounted to an "enhancement" of members' $29,657 salary. A House spokesman said the increase was the first since 1977. But one legislator said that in the 1980s per diem was temporarily reduced from $48 to about half that amount in conjunction with a salary increase. regular compliance checks to make sure cigarettes are not being sold to minors. Both merchants and clerks would be subject to fines.

The bill also would prohibit most self-service tobacco sales. The Senate passed a similar bill last term, but the House failed to hear it. Instead it debated an industry-backed bill that would have stopped local governments from enacting their own controls on cigarette sales. That measure failed. Rest's bill would allow more restrictive local rules.

House Speaker Phil Carruthers is a cosponsor, an indication that Rest's bill will be heard. Conrad deFlebre Bill du jour America since the founding of this nation." The move was led bj Bob Peppe, a new council member who was elected in Novernher after promising to reinstate prayer. Under new guidelines adopted by the city, however, the City Council will determine who will be permitted to deliver the All invocations will be limited to two minutes, cannot "deliver any political message" and must be "a petition for guidance anjdj be addressed to 'God', which is the broad-based spiritual term used in our nation's Pledge of Allegiance." The move last August to ban the prayer and replace it moment of silence brought a wave of publicity to the Minneapolis suburb. "I got a lot of negative mail from people who don't even live! in Brooklyn Center," said Kathleen Carmody, a council member who voted against reinstating the prayer. "To be quite honest, I've had enough of the issue," she said.

"But I don't think it's the last we've ever heard of it." MikeKaszuba I II 1 BILlroroBl Teen, mother work to make hazing a crime in Minnesota Intersection scheduled for signals In '98 li Time to pay the Patrol piper Gov. Arne Carlson he dispatched members of the State Patrol to Minneapolis last summer to help keep bad guys in check. He said he would worry about how to pay for it later. The Patrol, whose main job is highway enforcement, not general police work, is funded by the state gasoline tax. Now Rep.

Bernie Ueder wants $290,000 from the general treasury to reimburse the highway fund. He is chairman of the subcommittee that oversees transportation funding. Robert Whereatt Want to know more? Bill number: House File 19. Sponsor: Rep. Bernie Lie-der, DFL-Crookston, 296-5091, Internet access to text of bill: An intersection in Roseville where a 17-year-old Mounds View High School girl was killed last week is scheduled to receive a stoplight in 1998.

Ramsey County is investigating how to proceed with putting in a traffic signal at Hwy. 88 and County Road C2. Until that investigation is complete, star irioune map county traffic engineer Dan Soler said, he will not make a judgment about having the work done sooner. The victim. Lauren Borestrom, was a Photo from KARE-TV This video shot shows a hazing In progress In the Rosevllle High School parking lot last fall.

The student being carried Is wrapped In plastic. Ibices Rep. Mindy Greiling, the Rose-ville DFLer who's the chief sponsor of the bill, said, "At least it's a start. "My concern about hazing is that kids do dumb things. And they don't think ahead.

They think that nothing will ever happen to them." Rather than make hazing a crime, Greiling's bill would just make it easier to sue people or organizations linked to hazing. For example, suits could be filed against those who create "a substantial risk of causing physical harm" to any person. Minnesota is now one of only a dozen states with no anti-hazing law, according to the bill's supporters. They say the bill stands a much better chance of passing if hazing is not made illegal. "It provides a new civil remedy for those who have been harmed," said Rep.

Charlie Weaver, R-Anoka, a co-sponsor of the bill. "I think we've got enough crimes on the books, frankly. I'm just not convinced that making it passenger in a van driven by a friend who told police she did not see. the pickup truck that broadsided the van last Friday. The Minnesota Highway Patrol said the accident is under investigation.

Up until last summer, Hwy. 88 had been a state road, and state, engineers had put that intersection on a list to receive a traffic signal under a state and federal hazard-elimination program. The terrain at the intersection is flat, but the two roads cross at an angle, which makes it harder to see cross traffic. Between Jan. 16, 1996, 41 accidents were recorded there.

i Although none of those accidents was fatal, the high number had qualified the intersection for a signal, said Gabriel Guevara, traffic: studies engineer for the Department of Transportation. A'T Last summer, Hwy. 88 was transferred to Ramsey County, which now is pursuing installation of the signal, Soler said. "We intend Dm following through with that project." "My concern about hazing is that kids do dumb things. They think that nothing will ever happen to them." Rep.

Mlndy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, the bill's chief sponsor. them was Ruth Johnson, the associate dean of students. Johnson is now a newly elected state legislator and is one of the co-authors of the anti-hazing bill. "There were cases of injury," she said. "I remember a broken arm." And she remembers a case in which fraternity men etched their club insignia into pledges' skin with silver nitrate.

The marks "turned out to be far more permanent than intended." College officials withdrew offi Laurie Blake 1 j- The Star TribuneKTCA Citizens Forum will meet Saturday to begin a public debate on the five big issues before the Legislature. We asked readers to comment as well. Here are some responses about education and welfare: "Legislators should connect some of the issues. The Is-' sues of welfare and educa-. Hon could be combined.

If welfare parents could work at their children's school to maintain their welfare benefits, we would see positive results. This would build their skills, their connectedness to their children and they would be involved In their children's a crime makes sense. Early reviews of the bill are mixed, but Greiling said she is noticing a difference between the sexes: Many women are supportive, while most men aren't. "It seems like it does strike a chord with mothers," she said. "And fathers are more apt to say, Search still on for bus system manager-J The search continues for a new general manager for the Metrd politan Council Transit Operations (MCTO) Since Tom Sather resigned in June, the council has conducted a national search for a replacement.

Three candidates were selected for interviews late last year but all were rejected. "The first three candidates after pretty extensive review didn-'t fit. our needs in terms of their experiences or in terms' of the kinds of -issues that face the organization," said Jim Solem, Metropolitan Council administrator. "We are continuing to look for someone who has real management and operational experience in running a transit 1 system of enough size that they will be able to understand our issues. We have another three people that we are looking at right now." Laurie Blake Bloomington man dies in traffic accident MONTEVIDEO, MINN.

The State Patrol has Identified a. Bloomington man killed in a weather-related traffic accident near1 this southwestern Minnesota city as Dale Syde, 64. The patrol said a semitrailer truck rear-ended Syde's car Wednes-1 day when he stopped on Hwy. 7, which was open to only one lane of traffic. Authorities said visibility was very poor when the accident -happened about 3:25 p.m.

about 6 miles east of Montevideo. Syde's wife, Helen, 59, was hospitalized with head injuries in I Montevideo; hospital officials declined to comment on her condition Thursday. The driver of the truck was not injured. Associated Press i cial recognition ot all the fraternities and sororities, meaning the clubs could no longer use college buildings for meetings. Recognition was restored in 1994 after the clubs, one by one, agreed to abide by new, tighter rules.

'We are not going to quit Nikki Cosentino is a student with big goals: She wants to participate in the Olympics and work as a broadcast journalist, just like Barbara Walters. She is accustomed to the public stage, having participated in beauty pageants since she was 3 years old and after landing two small parts in movies that were made in Minnesota. She portrayed a toy-store clerk in "Jingle All the Way" and was Sophia Lor-en's niece in "Grumpier Old Men." Her grandmother even boasts that she might be a Miss America someday. But the hazing ordeal has taken its toll. Nikki has received counseling and has suffered nightmares that began shortly after the sophomore kidnap.

"I get shot all the time in my dreams," she said. It's a tough crusade, but Nikki said she has adopted a motto: Always stand up for yourself, stuff. Then the victims were untaped and told to jump into Minnehaha Creek to wash off. Police arrived after the ritual was over but managed to stop a carload of students and get them to clean up the mess. No one was arrested, and no names were turned over to school authorities, said Principal Ron Tesch, so no discipline was meted out at school.

And at South High in Minneapolis, 15 upperclassmen were suspended in 1995 for hazing that ranged from pushing ninth-graders around to burning a cheek with a cigarette lighter. In colleges and universities across the country, hazing has caused injuries and even death. Minnesota hasn't had much trouble in recent years, but it has had incidents. At Moorhead State University three years ago, three active members of the Owl fraternity were accused of burning a pledge with hot wax, wrapping a kite string around his neck and forcing him to eat dog food. Criminal charges were lodged, but the upperclassmen were allowed to avoid prosecution by performing community service and paying restitution to the victim.

The fraternity was suspended by the university and reinstated last year after members agreed to put on public programs on hazing and alcohol abuse. The University of Minnesota, which has 29 residential social fraternities and sororities, has not had a significant incident of hazing in more than a decade, said June Nobbe, director of the Campus Involvement Center. Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter had a series of incidents 64-year-old man hit and killed by truck 'What are you doing? Does there have to be a law against It's uncertain how the bill will fare, but Greiling already has been promised a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. To get ready, the Cosentinos are turning into genuine citizen lobbyists.

They've created anti-hazing posters and have cranked out 600 letters and color brochures on their personal computer. Once the bill hits the committee, the Cosentinos intend to find a legislator who will offer an amendment to ban hazing completely. They say that hazing victims shouldn't have to file lawsuits to get justice. "The money Is not going to help," Nikki said. "The only thing that's going to help you Is to see these people punished for what they've done." Minnesota not Immune Hazing, long identified as a college-level sport among fraternity men, appears to be practiced more by high school students In Minnesota.

Edina has an annual event called Tapefest. Last fall, Edina High upperclassmen took selected sophomores to a park In southwest Minneapolis for the ritual of taping them to trees and pelting them with eggs and assorted other gooey i Debra Pltton, Burnsville 'Education taxes should come out of the general so that all school dts-; tricts get the same dollar ration and all public schools are equalized. Give no money to private schooling. If you can afford a private school, you should pay for It" Delores Ahmann, Crystal think that the people who are on welfare now should be able to remain on It until their children are five and then go to They will no longer be eligible for any more welfare If they continue to have more children, and maybe give them birth control'' y- Ramona Perron, Minneapolis "I'm on welfare. I tried to get off welfare two years ago, out how can a person get off welfare If you're making $3001 It really does-n 't make any sense to work, If you're not getting child care and other benefits that single women need." Delores Caples, St.

Paul A Minneapolis man was killed Wednesday when he was hit by a semitrailer truck after he slipped on ice while trying to walk across a busy St. Paul street, authorities said. i Charles Sjogren, 64, who reportedly works for the Minneapolis library system, died at the intersection of Snelling and Concordia said Lt. Mike Morehead of the St. Paul Police Department.

The incident happened about 10:15 a.m. near an on-ramp to Interstate Hwy. 94. The truck driver apparently did not know he had hit someone, police said. He eventually was stopped without Incident by a state trooper.

who located the rig on eastbound 1-94 in Woodbury. The 42-year-old driver, who Is from Canada, was not charged Wednesday and will be allowed to return home. Police said an accident report will be forwarded to the Ramsey County Morehead said the trailer part of the rig, which was empty, was Impounded. A blood sample also was taken, but Morehead said it would be two weeks before the results are back. "We can always eo-.

through the extradition process if we have to," he said. "But right now my gut instinct is that we are not dealing with a felony." Herdn Mdrquez Estrada even if you re standing alone. For the Cosentinos, the State Capitol is just the first step. Ultimately, they want a federal law against hazing. Nikki and her mother have one more request: They want the legislation to be known as the Cosentino Bill.

"I never understood how somebody could have a passion to fight for something, until now, Mary Cosentino said. "We are not going to quit." in the mid-1980s, and one of the officials who had to deal with.