Longview News-Journal from Longview, Texas • Page 1

MONDAY 35 cents November 23, 1992 Two sections, 16 pages Weekeec Mother Nature shows her ugly side of tiav Jo Twisters rake South, killing 20; church, homes sustain damage Yr 1 p5rv, as i i i GAS PRICES DOWN: Gas prices dropped at the pump during the past two weeks because oversup- plied refiner- ies yv charge- 1 retailers less, an industry analyst said Sunday. The overall average price of all grades of gasoline, including taxes, was $1 .194 per gallon on Nov. 20, a drop of 0.74 cent per gallon from the Nov. 6 figure, according to the Lundberg survey of 12,000 gas stations nationwide. At self-serve pumps, the average per-gallon price of regular unleaded gasoline was $1 .137, middle unleaded was $1 .233, premium unleaded was $1 .312 and regular leaded was $1,147.

At full-serve pumps, regular unleaded was $1 .395, middle unleaded was $1 .463, premium unleaded was $1,545 and leaded was $1,469. The price drop stemmed from Environmental Protection Agency clean air rules that went into effect Nov. 1 in most metropolitan areas, analyst Trilby Lundberg said. The EPA rules forced refineries to oxygenate gasoline to make it burn cleaner, but oil companies overproduced and created more supply than needed. church.

Thousands in Indianapolis were without power. South Carolina was hit by at least two tornadoes Sunday night. Texas and Louisiana were hit by tornadoes Saturday, with heavy damages and numerous injuries, but no deaths. Among the hardest hit areas was in and around Brandon, where 10 people died. "It's unbelievable.

We're lucky we didn't lose more lives than we did," said W.L. Whittington, mayor of Brandon. A 'tornado smashed through a mobile home park and then skipped across Braodnon to an upscale neighborhood, where it killed a father and son, along with two of the boy's Cub Scout buddies spending the night there. At the mobile home park, where six people died, rescue workers used doors from smashed houses as makeshift stretchers, said Char-See Storms, 3-A By The Associated Press Weekend tornadoes raked across the South and northward into Ohio and Indiana, killing at least 20 people, smashing houses and tearing a church steeple loose during Sunday services. Several states in the path of the storm were under tornado watches Sunday night.

Tornadoes killed 15 people and injured at least ISO in Mississippi late Saturday and one person was killed early Sunday in Tennessee. Three people were killed and scores of others were injured as tornadoes moved across Georgia on Sunday. One person was killed and at least nine injured in northern Kentucky Sunday afternoon. A tornado touched down in the western Ohio village of Arcanum Sunday night. There was no immediate word of serious injury.

Thunderstorms and tornadoes wrecked homes and businesses in Alabama, Indiana and Georgia, where a steeple was ripped from a wti.Vjr mr it I AP LaserPhoto Phil Martinez of Channelview carries part of his roof from his kitchen Sunday after a tornado Saturday afternoon destroyed his home in the Sterling Green subdivision. Martinez and his family hid in the kitchen when the tornado hit. Sorties it. out Gladewater ISD earns high marks Houston residents pick through soggy belongings NO PRESSURE: Roseanne Arnold said no pressure was necessary to get her husband's new 0" ISP i show, "Jackie Thomas," on the ABC schedule following her own hit series. Bob Iger, president of ABC Entertainment, told TV Guide in the Nov.

28 issue that when Tom Arnold's show exorbitant legal fees and other noninstructional costs. Some of the more flagrant abuses cited in the report were Grapevine-Colleyville ISD traveling to San Francisco for a national convention and attending the Kenny Rogers and Jay Leno shows, at district expense, and Fort Bend ISD using school funds to purchase alcohol, But in several cases, state auditors praised Gladewater for cost-saving measures such as encouraging Texas University to donate 54 two-way radios for Gladewater school buses with a savings of $52,650 and an energy savings contest which had savings of 17,000. The report said the district had a total savings of $92,600. However, the report recommended savings of $5,800 and See Gladewater, 3-A By DeAnn Smith Staff Writer Gladewater Independent School District emerged relatively unscathed in a state audits and Su-. perintendent David Sharp declared the investigations "a political ploy" by state leaders.

"I honestly think the state! wasted about $1.5 million on audit," Sharp said. "Honestly, I think this audit was poorly done. They found a few things in a few school districts around the state; They tried to cast a bad light on everybody.M State leaders said the abuses found in the audits of 55 school districts warrant an additional round of audits aimed at finding waste and inefficiency. A report from the state auditor's office presented to legislative leaders Nov. 11 criticized districts for wasting tax dollars on excessive travel, pverstaffing, "In Channelview, we've got about 400 homes with major damage, and we have about 200 with minor," said Laverne Thompson, deputy coordinator for the county's emergency management center.

Damage estimates for businesses and mobile homes were not available, she said. The sound of chainsaws filled the air Sunday as residents "began the massive cleanup. "I've never seen anything like this," said Debbie Hayden as she stood inside her wrecked home. "I don't know where to begin." Part of the roof had been blown off and one side of the Hayden's home was smashed. Wet, shredded insulation was scattered inside the home, and debris, including the family freezer, littered the yard.

"We're getting clothes out of trees. We're finding things that are not ours," she said. See Houston, 3-A The National Weather Service said tornadoes also were spotted Saturday in Fort Bend, Wharton, Brazoria, Liberty and Polk counties. A severe thunderstorm system moving across Southeast Texas spawned the afternoon twister system. The hardest hit areas in Harris County were in sections of southeast Houston-and in Channelview, a suburb east of the city.

About 4,000 people, most of them in Channelview, were still without power Sunday, according to Houston Lighting Power said. The funnel clouds smashed homes, uprooted trees, overturned cars and toppled power lines. About 20 planes stored in three hangars at the West Houston Airport also were demolished, airport manager Woody Lesikar said. Channelview sustained massive damage in several subdivisions where neighborhoods looked more like battlefields Sunday. Roseanne Arnold wasn't put on the fall schedule, the Arnolds were "passionate" in arguing for it.

Roseanne Arnold gave a different version. "Hey, I didn't have to hold a gun to anybody's head. I'm too powerful," she said. RABIES EPIDEMIC: Health officials say a persistent rabies strain, attributed to South Texas coyotes could spread to pet dogs and cats and even their human masters. "It's been a four-year, sustained outbreak By The Associated Press HOUSTON Residents picked through their soggy belongings Sunday a day after several destructive tornadoes stormed through Harris County, injuring several people and damaging hundreds of homes.

Authorities said at least six people were injured when the twisters struck Saturday afternoon, but none was considered life-threatening. An estimated 300 homes in Houston and another 900 homes in Harris County sustained some type of damage. Officials said they were still trying to assess the situation. "I think you're looking at a human tragedy," Houston Mayor Bob Lanier said Sunday after touring the Denver Harbor neighborhood, where about 200 homes and as many businesses were damaged. Lanier said he will seek state and federal assistance for tornado victims.

Counting the days Tatum cheerleader will participate in Houston parade By DeAnn Smith Staff Writer TATUM Watch carefully Thursday morning, and East Tex-ans might just get more than a glimpse of one of their very own cheerleaders. Christl Pitre, 14, a ninth grader at Tatum High School, will join an elite group performing in Foley's 44th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in downtown Houston. ABC will nationally televise the parade from 10-11 a.m. Thursday. "I am excited.

I can't wait," Pitre said last week. Just as thrilled is the high school's cheerleader sponsor, Jennifer McNatt. "It is an honor. I am excited about having someone down there," McNatt said. Pitre is one of only six Texas freshman cheerleaders who will be chanting, dancing and cheering in the parade.

About 100 girls from Texas were selected to join i i among coyotes, and we've never seen that before," says Dr. George McKirahan, chief veterinarian for the regional health department in Harlingen. "Before, it was sporadic. We saw one or two cases each year or every other year. Now we're getting cases every month." This year, 102 confirmed cases have been reported compared to 87 in 1991 and 44 in 1990.

-1 (' Mi' Clinton rhetoric softening By The Associated Press WASHINGTON Candidate Bill Clinton was unequivocal on China policy, adamant about lifting the ban on gays in the military, insistent on a middle class tax cut and eager to make an example of the staff-happy Congress. President-elect Clinton says he hasn't softened his position on any of these issues. Perhaps not, but he has softened his rhetoric. Since winning the election, Clinton's words have been more carefully chosen, and more consistently diplomatic, missing many of the "eithcr-or" campaign contrasts as he makes the transition from running to governing. Clinton signaled the rhetorical shift, and conciliatory approach, in his first post-election news conference, after questions about how fast he would implement major campaign promises.

"there are a lot of factual ques- See Clinton, 3-A JEWISH MAN KILLED: A Jewish man was beaten and set on fire by neo-Nazi skinheads, who dumped By Qary Lyttectaff photographer Tatum ninth grader Christl Pitre wears her Universal Cheerleader Association outfit as she stands outside Tatum High School last week. The cheerleader is counting the days until Thursday, when she will perform in Foley's nationally televised Thanksgiving Day parade in downtown Houston. the scorched body in the Netherlands, Israel radio reported German author ities refused to comment on the The chccrlcading association sent video tapes of the routines for the participants to practice by. Performing the cheers and dances for the first time with an unknown group will be "nerve-racking," Christl said. Still she is eager for the trip.

"It will be fun and exciting," she said. Christl is the daughter of James and Lome Pitre of Tatum. cheerleaders from more than 40 states. McNatt said she wasn't surprised when Pitre's name was announced in the Universal Cheerleaders Association's regional competition held in San Marcus in late July. "She is an all-around excellent dancer with a great smile.

Her cheers are always up to perfection," McNatt said. "You can just look at her and tell she is having a good time." Christl said she had to perform a cheer, chant and a dance with an entrance at the camp in south Texas. A little more difficult will be Thursday's performance. The ninth grader has been studying the routines she will perform in the parade. a report, which said the slaying took place earlier this month in Wupper-tal, north of Bonn.

But police in the Dutch city of Venlo confirmed Sunday that the body of a 53-year-old German man was found in the nearby town of Kessel on Nov. 13 and two suspects were arrested Friday. They declined to identify the victim or confirm whether he was Jewish. If the killing is determined to have been racially or religiously motivated, it could have explosive political ramifications in Germany as the nation struggles to control a rise in neo-Nazi terror. Cai This newspaper ii recyclable, CLOUDY: Increasing cloudiness, warmer.

High COWBOYS WIN: A big crowd brings out the best in the Dallas Cowboys and the worst in the Phoenix Cardinals. Troy Aikman overcame a stout Phoenix defense Sunday with a pair of touchdown passes for a 16-10 victory. See 1-B. ANSWER LINE: Why did the controversy, but overlook the Gennifer FlowersBill Clinton controversy? See2-A. REMEMBERING JFK: Sunday, about 1,200 people visited The Sixth Floor exhibit at the former Texas School Book Depository In Dallas, marking the 29th anniversary of the assassi Ann Landers 5-A Classified 4-8-B Comics page Dear Abby Editorials 4-A Horoscope 6-A Longview today 2-A Movies Obituaries 8-B Sports TV listings 7-A Mostly cloudy to-night, Tuesday with 50 chance of rain.

Low mid 40s, high near nation of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald. See 2-A. Longview News-Journal give coverage to i themClarence ThomasAnita Hill 60. More weather, 8-A.

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