The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 1

LOW HIGH f. 's "7V" '-AT py V-iL Rapid recovery 20-year-old struck by car makes miraculous last-minute comeback from coma Ak Putting on their game faces Replacement players and a few fans -show up at camps for spring training 1C On the fast track Monte Carlos rule Twin 125s at Daytona 1C WEATHER Cooler today with an 80 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms Details, I4A I If MONTGOMfflY ADffflT Incorporating the Alabama Journal FEBRUARY 17, 1995 FINAL EDITION 35 1 to DDH Supporters hold rally for Foster il: 4 I 4 By Jay Reeves ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER ARAB Two tornadoes that struck before dawn Thursday killed three people, injured more than 100 and raised questions anew about an early warning sys-, tern that once again failed to alert rural north Alabama. "Normally they give us a siren warning, but they didn't this morning," said Karen Berry. "There was nothing." There was, instead, the nightmarish howl of tornadic winds in the dark shattering windows with flying debris, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees and demolishing trailers, homes and lives. Marshall County Coroner Dempsey Hibbs said among those killed was a 4-year-old girl, Kristi Parker, whose mother was hospitalized with injuries.

Mr. Hibbs said the others killed were Robert Earl Hayes, 49, and Joseph David Price, 36. All were from Arab. In the aftermath of the tornado, as rescue crews looked for more possible victims, rain pounded the area some more and winds shook cars moving slowly over littered roads. No more victims were found but one small miracle was.

"We found a 1 -year-old baby under two trailers," said Arab fireman Robert Reynolds. "He was sitting there, not making a sound." The tornado lifted the wooden A-frame home of Ricky and Di-anne Fortenberry from its cement foundation and carried it about 40 feet over a car before dropping it Please turn to ARAB, 1 1 A ASSOC1ATKD PRKSS Local ties: Dr. Henry Foster practiced at a Tuskegee hospital from to 1973 By Richarde M. Talbot ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER TUSKEGEE Those who knew Dr. Henry W.

Foster Jr. when he practiced here rallied Thursday to publicly defend him as an eminently qualified and compassionate physician. Dr. Foster has been the target of political fire since his Feb. 2 nomination for the surgeon general's post.

Dr. Foster practiced at John A. Andrew Community Hospital, which has since closed, from 1963 to 1973. Opponents have criticized him for performing 39 abortions in his 30-plus years of practice, participating in a drug study in the early 1980s that terminated the pregnancies of 55 women and performing hysterectomies on severely retarded women in the 1960s and 1970s. He also has been under attack for what detractors call a lack of credibility because of varying answers about the exact number of abortions he has 7.

Supporters said that lost in the fiery debate sur-" rounding his nomination are the thousands of births i' i Please turn to FOSTER, 1 1 A I GOP dissenters foil missile plan By Donald M. Rothberg I ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER 1 WASHINGTON Republican dissenters held firm Thursday against the "Contract With America" commitment to missile defenses, giving the majority leadership an unexpected lesson in the limits of his newly gained power. Moments after the House voted 241 to 181 in favor of a bill setting a Republican tone for U.S. foreign and defense policy, Speaker Newt Gingrich dismissed Wednesday's vote on a national missile defense system as a "man bites dog" interpretation of what happened. "It is true that having had 145 votes (in the new Congress), we've lost one amendment," he said.

"We think overall that's pretty astonishing." it The Republican leadership had planned to revive the missile defense provision Thursday but backed Qt'f when it became clear that not enough dissenters would change their votes. 'I', Please turn to GOP, 11A Cindy Robinson collects toys that belonged to her neighbor, 4-year-old Kristi Parker, who was killed early Thursday when a tornado destroyed her home in Arab. The tornado ripped through north Alabama before dawn, killing three people and injuring at least 100. Path of destruction New system didn't give much warning Early Thursday, severe thunderstorms ripped through North Alabama, spawning killer tornadoes. I gHuntsville I Tj7! Jackton Scottsboro -J (65) M.d.n (431) I 15 miles I 15 km Arab li 1 Geraldine 1 Morgn Vy 6' Gunlersvill9 "tennessee Detail area 1 NDouglat I 1 Bimmgham THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BIRMINGHAM The National Weather Service's new radar system spotted Thursday's deadly tornado before its pre-dawn strike in north Alabama, but not in time to give sleeping residents much warning.

Thursday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, D-Tuscumbia, asked the National Weather Service for a complete accounting of the warning procedures that were followed before the tornado struck. The tornado, which killed three and injured more than 100, provided a real life test of the service's radar modernization plan when it hit Cullman and Marshall counties less than an hour after lightning struck the service's Huntsville office, forcing its evacuation. Under the $4.4 billion plan, the Huntsville office Please turn to SYSTEM, 1 1 A How to help Officials with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency ask that those wishing to help victims of the north Alabama tornado send money rather than goods.

The American Red Cross has established a hot line for those wishing to donate money. The number is: 1-800-842-2200 Contributions can be sent to: American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund 364 S. Ripley St. Montgomery, AL 36104 Montgomery ALABAMA FLORIDA DAMAGE REPORT Three deaths reported in the Arab-Joppaarea. More than 100 injuries reported.

Mobile homes, houses and downtown businesses destroyed in Arab. Source; Huntsville Times ASSOCIATED PRKSS ri! Nathan Alexander 1853- 1915 who served the city under three Republican Carver student dies after collapse on field athan Alexander, a black activist during CM Reconstruction and a Republican leader, was BUSINESS 4B CLASSIFIED IE COFFEE BREAK 40 COMICS 5D CROSSWORD 4D EDITORIAL 12-1 3 A GOVERNMENT 3B HOROSCOPE 40 LOCAL NEWS IB MOVIES 2D OBITUARIES 6A SOAPBOX 13A SPORTS 1C a lifelong Montgomery resident. He held important offices under three Republican presidents and gained national prominence as a party leader. 14A WEATHER presidents for 10 years, four under the administration of President Harrison and six under President Roosevelt. Then, in June 1908, President William Howard Taft promoted him as receiver of the entire Land Office.

Mr. Alexander lived at 503 South Union St. for many years. He purchased the property in the late 1880s and built his home scxn afterward. He was a trustee of Langridgc Academy and treasurer of the school.

An able thinker and speaker, he filled a large place in Montgomery during his lifetime. Mr. Alexander operated a drugstore on South Court Street in partnership with A.C, Dun-gee. At the time of his death in 1915 at age 62, he was a director and vice president of the Alabama Penny-Prudential Savings Bank of Montgomery. LucyHidolphiStaff Although not an elected official during the Reconstruction period, Mr.

Alexander was actively o3 The 15-year-old sophomore and offensive guard collapsed on the Carver athletic field while playing touch football with other students shortly before 3 p.m., said Susan Rountree, Montgomery Public Schools spokeswoman. The sixth-period athletics class, made up of mostly football players, was almost over when Jacquis collapsed, said John Barnes, a 17-year-old Carver senior and fellow football player who witnessed the death. "We were still playing," John said. "We ran a play and turned around, and he was on the ground gasping for air. A few minutes later, he stopped breathing.

Our coach started performing CPR and 30 seconds later the medics arrived." Please turn to STUDENT, 11A By Malcomb Daniels ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER A 15-year-old George Washington Carver High School football player, said to have had a preexisting heart condition, died Thursday after collapsing on the school's athletic field. Jacquis Patterson of Southlawn was pronounced dead at 4 p.m. at Montgomery Regional Medical Center, said Capt. Wyatt Gantt, a Montgomery police spokesman. "In talking to individuals there (at the school) and checking into his medical history, it was determined that the victim had a preexisting heart condition," Capt.

Gantt said. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will perform an autopsy today to determine the exact cause of death, Capt. Gantt said. I ft' 74Mi Baptist 7 a.m. today to 7 a.m.

Saturday We recycle paper and use soy-based inks. BLACK HISTORY MONTH STATE AKCHIVKS istrar of federal lands and later as receiver. He was appointed a receiver of public money in the local U.S. Land Office by President Benjamin Harrison and again by President Theodore Roosevelt. Mr.

Alexander served at the public money office for the city involved in Republican affairs. In the latter part of the 1 870s, Mr. Alexander and James L. Rapier, a former Alabama congressman, published The Republican Sentinel in Montgomery and Hayneville. Mr.

Alexander served as reg- A Multimedia Newspaper 1995 The Advertiser Co. Vol. 168, No. 48 40 Pages.