Argus-Leader from Sioux Falls, South Dakota • Page 1

SLHV -a 101 Dalmatians si ft i tut 'i-'- i 7 Dnow AAIn aai- nut 'XJ 1 iv i icuxo 1 mo opui ii i State's best prep players profiled i start or movie season 5C j- for turkey ILgidliF Thursdayfv Nov. 28, 1996 Sioux Falls, S.D. 50 cents (40 cents in Sioux Falls stores) it? sun wm a msm SAN FRANCISCO A federal Court blocks California proposition banninq race- and qender-based hirinq judge blocked enforcement. Wwi- seeking preferences on such grounds as age, disability or veteran status face no such barriers. The restraining order does not apply directly to local agencies or to the University of California, which has taken steps to notify new applicants that race and gender will no longer be considered.

Rosenbaum said the ruling sends a message to all government agencies in California that Proposition 209 is "very likely unconstitutional" and that any attempts to enforce it will be challenged immediately. race card pulled from his deck," said Mark Rosenbaum, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued the case on behalf of minority and female contractors, public employees and students. The ballot initiative, approved Nov. 5 by nearly 55 percent of California's voters, amends the state's constitution to ban race and gender considerations in public hiring, contracting and college Wilson condemned the ruling as "an affront to common sense." State lawyers argued that Proposition 209 cannot be discriminatory because it requires equal treatment. The lawsuit claims that despite its neutral wording, it would eliminate only programs that benefit women and minorities.

Henderson's order said the civil rights groups that filed the lawsuit had "demonstrated a strong probability of success." unconstitutionally prevented from seeking discrimination remedies from school boards just as Proposition 209 foes argued against the California initiative. Henderson's ruling left little doubt that he is inclined, at this point, to accept the argument advanced by civil rights groups that the measure selectively bars women and racial minorities from seeking redress through affirmative action programs, while those "Courts must look beyond the plain language of an enactment," the judge wrote. "The relevant question is whether, in reality, the burden imposed by a law necessarily falls on minorities and women." Henderson relied on a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a Washington initiative prohibiting school boards from ordering busing for desegregation. That ruling said minorities were nesday of a California initiative to dismantle affirmative action, saying civil rights groups have a "strong probability" of proving it unconstitutional.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson issued a temporary restraining order barring Gov. Pete Wilson and Attorney General Dan Lungren from taking any action to enforce Proposition 209 at least until a Dec. 16 hearing. "I think the governor just had a Exhumation fails to resolve woman's search t.

i Answer to 34-year-old mystery may lie in tests on possible bone fragments 1 1 v- if A tiny fragment is examined, then placed into a plastic bag for later inspection. The fragment could be bone, or just rock. By CARSON WALKER Argus Leader Staff WORTHINGTON, Minn. The exhumation of a 34-year-old grave Wednesday yielded possible bone fragments but did not answer a Sioux Falls woman's question of whether her newborn daughter was buried there. Marlys Thomas, 54, wonders if her daughter Mary Agnes Gross died the day she was born, June 12, 1962, or if someone took her from the Worthington hospital.

Memories and discrepancies in records prompted Thomas' quest. Burial and pathology experts dug up the grave in St. Mary's Cemetery to try to find the answer. Thomas is convinced that whatever was found was not her daughter's remains. "I don't have peace," she said tearfully.

"I'll still say that was not a grave there at that time unless there was something buried there before 1962." Experts brought together to exhume the grave did not find a skeleton but did uncover tiny fragments and wood chips. The pieces were placed in bags and boxes, along with soil surrounding the apparent casket that might offer more clues. Dr. Brad Randall, Minnehaha County coroner and a forensic pathologist hired by Thomas' lawyer, will analyze the pieces and determine if they are bone. He might send them away for DNA testing, which could offer definitive proof of whether Thomas' daughter is buried here.

"Dry it out and sift it and see if we find anything at all," Randall said. "The whole question of U.S. troops put on alert for possible Zaire airdrop By GEORGE GEDDA Associated Press WASHINGTON The United States put troops on alert Wednesday for participation in a potential airdrop of relief supplies for hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees in Zaire. The airdrop proposal was put forth by Canada as part of a broader Canadian plan that also includes the establishment of a multinational base of operations in central Africa to coordinate relief efforts. The Clinton administration endorsed the base concept but stopped short of supporting airdrops, saying consultations with Canada are required.

Some U.S. officials have serious reservations about airdrops because the supplies might fall into the hands of disreputable Rwandan Hutu militiamen or inadvertently kill or maim innocent refugees. About 400 U.S. troops were sent to Kenya and Uganda on a contingency basis last week to provide an "air bridge," if needed, for delivering supplies to the refugees. "We are prepared to increase that number and increase it rapidly," Defense Secretary William Perry said Wednesday at the start of a foreign tour.

A statement by White House press secretary Mike McCurry said, "The United States welcomes Canada's proposal to establish the multinational headquarters for the planned humanitarian mission in central Africa." It said the mission's purpose would be to deliver humanitarian assistance and to facilitate the return of refugees to Rwanda. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the United States is eager for significant African participation in the multinational force. McCurry's statement said the United States is "putting personnel on the alert for potential airdrop operations and taking other steps that would enable the U.S. to respond swiftly in the event that airdrops are required." Countries willing to donate troops or money to the international effort had debated the issue without decision ever since the crisis took a dramatic turn 12 days ago with the sudden repatriation of 600,000 refugees to Rwanda. v.

svij.t whether there is a body remains to be determined. Right now we just have dirt. Just plain dirt." The grave site had the apparent outline of a disintegrated tiny casket. The outline was not clear but could be distinguished through colorations in the clay. "That's the side walls of the box," said Doug Houseman, a Fulda, funeral director overseeing the procedure.

"We got wood. We don't know if it's the casket or wood around the casket." During the two-hour dig, yellow police tape strung around trees and a gravestone kept onlookers from peering too close. About two dozen reporters and photographers from Minneapolis, Worthington and Sioux Falls watched. Thomas and a friend were present as was the family of an infant buried next to Mary Gravedigging See16A Marlys Thomas, 54, watches Wednesday as the ground beneath her daughter's grave marker is dug up. "I don't have peace," Thomas says.

Argus Leader photos by Lloyd B. Cunningham Marlys Thomas of Sioux Falls watches as Don Peters (left) and Denny Kruger remove dirt and look for confirmation that her baby was buried in this Worthington, gravesite in 1962. Infant's horrifying death focuses attention on air-bag dangers From staff and wire reports BOISE, Idaho A parking lot fender-bender that decapitated a 1-year-old girl prompted a federal investigation and drew even more attention Wednesday to the potential hazard of air bags. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dispatched a team from Los Angeles to investigate Tuesday night's accident. Rebecca Blackman, 21, rear-ended a car that had just entered a mall parking lot, police said.

The impact deployed the passenger- side air bag of the Volkswagen Jetta, killing her daughter, Alexandra Greer. The girl's head was severed and thrown through the broken passenger-side window into the parking lot. "It otherwise would have been a minor traffic accident," police Lt. Tim Rosenvall said. It was not immediately clear how fast Blackman was driving or in what position her daughter was riding.

She was in a child seat, police said, but they could not provide details about which way it ufacturers and government agencies has organized a campaign to pass out millions of leaflets at rest areas along the busiest highways in all 50 states during the heavily traveled Thanksgiving holiday. In Sioux Falls, a booth was placed in front of Sears at The Empire mall on Wednesday. "They gave out stickers and brochures to parents and children to alert them about the beginning of the holiday travel season," said Connie Hood, South Dakota Safety Council office administrator. was facing or whether it was secured by a seat belt. Air bags deploy at up to 200 mph.

They had been blamed for the deaths of 31 children and 20 adults mostly smaller women in low-speed crashes they might oth-, erwise have survived. As a result, the NHTSA is requiring strongly worded warning' labels about air bags in new cars' and is considering bags that deploy less forcefully. A coalition of auto and insurance companies, safety equipment man An estimated 31.8 million people more than 12 percent of the population travel 100 miles or more for Thanksgiving, the American Automobile Association said. Some safety advocates want laws barring children riding in the front seat, as Germany has done. "It blows me away that people drive all the time with kids in the front seat or not in car seats at all," said Paul Mitchell of Portland, who picked up a pamphlet at a rest stop.

His daughters, ages 2 and 4, were strapped in the rear. Mishap makes giving thanks an everyday act for Don Tiede High 34 inside Low 20 Sunny, south winds 10 to 15 mph. Partly cloudy tonight. Mostly cloudy Friday. A chance of freezing rain or snow Saturday and Sunday.

For a full report, see Page 2A. STEVE YOUNG 72 pages Ann Landers 6D Bridge column 10B Business 5C Classified ads 6-1 2B Comics 6D Crossword puzzle 9B Health 8A Life Section Lottery results 1C Movies Venture Nation news3-4, 6, 12, 15, 17, 20A Obituaries 3C Opinion 1QA Sioux Empire Section Sports Section Stock markets 6C Television 7D World news 2, 15,18, 20-21A holiday and get a little work done. He and his wife, Karen, had been in Parkston, helping one of Tiede's elderly aunts move out of her home. They arrived midafternoon at their home near Spring Creek Golf Course, east of Harrisburg. Both were tired, and Karen Tiede suggested they kick back and take a nap.

But her husband was eager to mow the grass. So he slipped into his Harley-Davidson T-shirt, a pair of shorts and sandals, and climbed aboard his Kubota tractor. The 60-inch mower mounted on the belly of his tractor sliced easily through the flats of the ditches near their house. But time was slipping away, Tiede See 16A i I Don Tiede had a terrible dream a couple of months ago, a vicious, wild nightmare that has stayed with him to this day. People were holding down his arms and legs, keeping him from getting up.

He couldn't breathe, and couldn't figure out why a cold wind kept sweeping over him. I On top of it all, his wife's voice was repeating: "Don, I'm with you. I'm here." Today, on this Thanksgiving holiday, the 55-year-old is celebrating his good fortune because he awoke from that nightmare. He almost didn't. "I am a lucky man," said the staff assistant to the director of the Royal C.

Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital. Argus Leader columnist Steve Young writes about Interesting people and events shaping our community. Ideas welcome. Phone 331-2306 or write: Box 5034, Sioux Falls, SD 57117. 40901 "08576 Printed on recycled paper wh soybean-based On Sept.

2, a sultry Labor Day afternoon, Tiede was just another South Dakotan trying to enjoy his Greg Latza Argus Leader Don Tiede: "I am a lucky man." 1996 Gannett Co. Inc. For S.D. recycling center nearest you call 1-800-438-3367..