Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 1

GATOn.7 BOWL Michigan 35 Mississippi 3 HALL OF FAME BOWL Clemson 30 Illinois 0 ROSE SUGAR BOWL Tennessee 23 Virginia 22 ORANGE COTTON BOWL Miami 46 Texas 3 FIESTA BOWL FLORIDA CITRUS BOWL Georgia Tech 45 Nebraska 21 BOWL BOWL SSs Washington 46 Iowa 34 Colorado 10 Notre Dame 9 Louisville 34 Alabama 7 v. Copyright 1991 Lansing State Journal, Lansing, Michigan Wednesday, Jan. 2, 1991 35e HamiSDmig State Newspaper A Gannett Iraq pads its elite 6 6 On Election Day the people demanded a significant tax cut. We will answer their call without compromise and without delay. We will cut taxes.

99 Gov. John Engler troops fira Associated Press 1 im mil mv I iii ijiii iiiiiiiii jiniij inpjiy iniiiij Mjlip II I II II II ii i II i 11 1 1 11 IWWWIi fz? umuyumm I NICOSIA, Cyprus Saddam Hussein has formed five new divisions of his elite Republican Guards, an Arab military analyst said Tuesday. They could be deployed in occupied Kuwait to counter any U.S.-led attack. The new divisions of Saddam's Praetorian Guard include 130,000 men and were formed with troops from other divisions mobilized since Iraq seized Kuwait on Aug. 2, the analyst said.

MIDEAST CRISIS "Most of them have good combat experience from the war with Iran and many have served in the Guards corps before," said the analyst, who has long experience in Arab military affairs. Baghdad radio said Tuesday that Saddam visited military forces on New Year's Eve and cooked dinner for some of them. The report of new elite divisions came amid a nationwide mobilization by Iraq. The original six Republican Guard divisions led the invasion of Kuwait; they also fought in most major battles of the Iran-Iraq war. The analyst said the guards are probably the Iraqi units most suited to carry out assaults against U.S.-led forces.

The new divisions would raise the strength of the Republican Guards to 250,000. The forces in. Kuwait have an estimated 4,000 tanks 2,500 armored fighting vehicles and 2,700 artillery guns. In Washington, President Bush called his top advisers to the White House Tuesday for a fresh review of the gulf crisis. Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Gen.

Colin L.Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, White House chief of staff John Sununu, national security adviser Brent Scow-croft and Secretary of State James Baker were attending the meeting. In other gulf developments: A U.S. soldier died after apparently shooting himself, the U.S. Central Command reported Tuesday. Iran said Tuesday its forces would launch monthlong maneuvers in mid-January.

Many Western embassies in Baghdad have decided to cut back drastically on their staffs before Jan. 15, sources said Tuesday. Lansing State JournalGREG DeRUITER Michigan Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley administers the oath. A crowd estimated by state police at 1 ,500 witnessed the event. Gov.

John Engler takes the oath of office Tuesday at the Capitol as Michigan's 46th governor. His wife, Michelle, holds the family Bible as jiQy Engler, 42, defeated Democratic Gov. James Blan-chard in the Nov. 6 election, which was one of the tightest in Michigan political history. Engler cen GOVERNOR'S INAUGURATION Downscaled Engler inaugural is upbeat By CHRIS ANDREWS Lansing State Journal The big chill wasn't about to spoil John Engler's Big Day.

Not by a long shot. From morning to night, Engler savored a day he spent two decades building toward his inauguration as governor of Michigan. The Republican from Mount Pleasant beamed as a crowd estimated by state police at 1,500 gave him a standing ovation. The applause, muffled by gloves, sounded like a buffalo stampede as a mostly partisan group cheered enthusiastically. Later Tuesday evening at the Grass Roots Gala at the Lansing Center, some 3,500 in-the-trenches Engler supporters gathered to get a little piece of inaugural magic.

"I came here to people-watch," said Kathy Brooks of Delta Township. The people-watching was of the decidedly mild variety. Tuesday's event was not one of the $150-a-plate balls for the movers and shakers. Rather, it was a business suit and sweater set affair for the Republicans next door. See INAUGURATION.

Page 4A Engler vows new spirit of enterprise By CHRIS ANDREWS Lansing State Journal State government too often stifles individual initiative, new Michigan Gov. John Engler said Tuesday, as he called for a restoration of the spirit of enterprise. Engler, who took the oath of office shortly before noon, repeated campaign pledges to cut taxes, downsize government and improve schools. He said a strong economic future depends on a commitment to free enterprise not from state agencies. "We still have that same spirit, but sadly, because of government, it has been impaired," he said.

"It is now our opportunity and our responsibility to restore and renew this great state." 1 Blanchard has no regrets. 4A I More photos. 4A 1 Text of Engler's speech. 7A attend. Support changes in ethics and election laws to rebuild trust in public officials.

Begin holding regular office hours next week, giving the public direct access to their governor. Department directors will hold office hours as well. "We pledge to talk to people and let them talk to us," he said. "And, most importantly, we promise to listen." During the campaign, Engler criticized Blanchard for what he called an imperial style of leadership. Engler promised to visit all 83 counties at least once a year.

Blanchard, who sat on the dais as the torch of power passed to Engler, offered mild praise for his longtime political rival. Engler succeeded in blocking, delaying or scaling down many Blanchard initiatives in seven years as Senate majority leader. See ENGLER. Page 4A Quayle pep talk. Page 3A Bank of America cuts prime rate Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Bank of America will cut its prime lending rate from 10 percent to 9.5 percent, making it the first of the nation's 10 largest banks to do so in recent weeks.

The bank said it would lower its "reference rate," the term it uses for the prime, starting today. The majority of banks have kept their prime rate at 10 percent since Jan. 8, 1990, when it was lowered from 10.5 percent. The prime traditionally has been the interest rate banks charged their best corporate customers. tered his campaign around promises to cut property taxes and reduce government spending.

He charged that Blan-chard had lost touch with the people and created programs that interfered with the free enterprise system. Engler laid out a vision of a smaller, less-intrusive government that would be less costly and more accessible to the public. "Revitalizing our economy means reducing our tax burden. On Election Day the people demanded a significant tax cut. We will answer their call without compromise and without delay.

We will cut taxes," he said. Engler also said he would: Push for educational reforms that would let parents choose which schools their children Cuomo gives clemency to inmate with AIDS I NEWSMAKER INSIDE Ann 2D BusinessStocks Classified 6C-10C fl CrosswordComics 4D 2B LocalState 1B-4B 2B Opinion 6A.7A Sports 1C-6C a Television Today 1D-6D OUTSIDE Partly cloudy skies today with a high in the mid- to upper 20s. Details, Page 2 A. Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. Gov.

Mario Cuomo has granted clemency to a 35-year-old prison inmate dying of AIDS, the first time Cuomo cited the disease as a factor in granting a prisoner's request for freedom. But Cuomo rejected requests for clemency for i 4 i --r quired immune deficiency syndrome. A statement from Cuomo's office described Lopez's condition as "grave and one of extreme physical limitation." Cyomo has proposed a medical parole program to make dying inmates eligible for parole, but the Legislature has rejected it. Cuomo wouldn't say why Lopez was granted parole and other inmates weren't. An attorney for the Prisoners' Rights Project of the Legal Aid Society said it was unfortunate Cuomo hadn't released more dying inmates.

"I'm happy for Mr. Lopez. But there are dozens of people that would fit the description of his physical condition," said William Rold. COMING UP The New Year's Eve clemency request for Miguel Lopez also was the first Cuomo has granted in two years. The decision whether to free Lopez will be made by the Board of Parole, scheduled to meet in early January.

Lopez was sentenced in January 1989 to two concurrent terms of three to six years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree attempted drug sale. Lopez, an inmate at a medium-security prison, is one of about 1,000 inmates in New York's prison system suffer from ac The switch to CDs has made quality the sacrifice on some albums. Read about it Thursday in Today. Cuomo Jean Harris, the headmistress convicted of killing "Scarsdale Diet" Dr. Herman Tarnower, and more than 400 other inmates.

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