The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 1

Auburn women's coach celebrates 500th win on the Plains 1B SINCE 1 8 2 9: Bitter cold snap sends shelters into action MONDAY Dec. 18, 2000 Montgomery edition 50 cents Homeless shelters in the Capital City opened as temperatures Sunday night dropped below freezing we had room," David Marl-er of Faith Rescue Mission said shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday as temperatures dropped into the high teens. "We try not to turn anyone away. If we have to, we'll let them sleep on the floor or the couch." Jason Deese, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said today's high temperatures are expected to reach into the mid-40s be- said traffic flow into the shelter was surprisingly low Sunday afternoon.

However, mats were placed in hallways just in case shelter demand increases. "We had a lot of people to an overflowing capacity the week of Thanksgiving and the week past Thanksgiving," Jones said. The Salvation Army has an "open house" whenever temperatures fall below 35 degrees or the wind-chill when high temperatures will reach only into the mid-30s, Deese said. Temperatures will again drop into the teens Tuesday night, he said. Doug Jones, shelter manager at the Salvation Army, (DM mm 14 By Ken Roedl Montgomery Advertiser Montgomery's homeless shelters provided warm places with hot meals Sunday as the Capital City coped with bitter cold temperatures that could bring snow flurries Tuesday.

"Right now we're completely full, but we've had some phone calls from people on the streets asking if The governor hugged those who had lost their belongings in the powerful tornado By Alvin Benn Montgomery Advertiser TUSCALOOSA Gov. Don Siegelman walked through Bear Creek Trailer Park on Sunday afternoon, stunned by devastation that claimed 11 lives and injured dozens of others during a Saturday tornado. "This is a tragedy beyond words," said Siegelman, who spent part of the day inspecting the damage from a helicopter and then on the ground. "When you lose two children and nine adults and see the fright in the eyes of those who survived, it makes you want to do more to help them." State and federal emergency management officials arrived Sunday to see what they could do to assist those whose lives were shattered by a tornado that slammed into Tuscaloosa about noon Saturday. Christmas decorations could be seen everywhere hanging from trees, toppled roofs and in driveways.

The tornado, classified as an F-4 on the Fujita Scale with winds of up to 260 mph, destroyed $200,000 brick houses and $25,000 mobile homes not far away. Little was left in parts of the Bear Creek Trailer Park, where Siegelman spent part of the early afternoon. He tried to help those who escaped the killer storm as well as relatives who came to see what they could do to help. A 15-month-old boy, identified as Wesley Crowder, Damage Page 12A Man's life may have been saved by fate 3C Church stands firm in path of a big tornado 3C Gov. Don Siegelman uses a cell phone Sunday afternoon to describe the scope of the tornado destruction in Tuscaloosa to Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt.

MONTGOMERY New school to be closer for some 1C Watkins leads change in party By Sallie Owen Montgomery Advertiser A new organization seeks to change the political landscape in Alabama, potentially wresting away 150,000 black voters from the Alabama Democratic Party. Black voters have been loyal to the Democratic Par ty since the civil rights movement, but banker and lawyer Donald Watkins thinks those loyal voters have been Watkins taken for granted. "It appeared that the leadership of the party is locked into people who represent its past, not its future," Watkins said. "We thought we could restore our political strength if we organized independent voters particularly blacks who are looking for an alternative to the Democratic Party." So he and a handful of fellow businessmen have decided to break away, classify themselves as independents, pool their resources and start a political newsletter. They already have a database of about Watkins Page 2A FORECAST 46 lncreasin9 clouds loaay.

look ior showers tonight, Jl then clearing. 12A I i factor is below 32 degrees or if it is raining and the wind chill falls below 40 degrees. Both Jones and Marler said they could use some help from the public. Blankets, toiletries, towels and linens are always welcome at either shelter, but Marler said there's another way to help. "If you see somebody out in the cold who needs a place, let them know we're available," he said.

Vfcl Tamika Moor Staff Tamika Moore Staff diversity Bush spokeswoman to be his counselor 5A Alabama native will head the National Secu- rity Council 5A fore falling near the freezing point again tonight. Rain enters today's forecast, with a 40 percent chance this afternoon and a 60 percent chance of fain tonight. Snow flurries are possible all day Tuesday ALABAMA'S OWN Electors to cast votes at Capitol ceremony Alabama's nine electors will be in the company of colonial re-enactors as they join in a historic Electoral College vote at noon today in the Capitol. Secretary of State Jim Bennett said the public is invited to observe. Bennett said he and Republican Lt.

Gov. Steve Windom would speak at a 30-minute ceremony that would also be attended by "folks from American Village dressed lilrn Bennett Madison and Benjamin Franklin." American Village is a colonial-style park that features replicas of Mount Vernon and the Oval Office. The electors are Martha Stokes of Carrollton, Melba Peters of Huntsville, Bob Flncher of Woodland, Homer Jackson of Birmingham, Edgar Welden of Birmingham, Elaine Little of Pelham, Glen Dunlap of Ozark, Jean Sullivan of Sel-ma and Jerry Lathan of Theodore. The Associated Press Ik ML verts' nnii mi F'Sfs Alvin Benn Staff Siegelman holds a photograph of Wesley Crowder, 15 months, who was killed in Saturday's tornado in Tuscaloosa. Adam Tobiar, who moved to Tuscaloosa from England six months ago, examines the remnants of his house in the Hillcrest Meadows subdivision.

Bush stresses hiring Electors prepare for solemn duty INDEX Alabama 3C Autauga Elmore 2C Business 6B Classified 6C Coffee Break 4D Comics 5D Crossword 4D Editorial 8JA FYJ 2C Lifestyle 12 lottery 2A Montgomery 1C Movies 2D Nation 4A Obituaries Sports 1B TV 6D Washington 6A Weather 12A World Page edited and designed by Allison L. Griffin A Gannett Newspaper 36 pages Volume 1 73, Number 353 2000 The Advertiser Co. The Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas Carrying through on a promise to bring diversity to his administration, President-' elect Bush on Sunday named a second black to his foreign policy team and selected a Hispanic Texas Supreme Court justice to be chief White House counsel before going to the nation's capital. He also reiterated his support for a $1.3 trillion tax cut and urged congressional Democrats not to reject it until they've heard him make his case in person. Before departing Texas for Washington, D.C., Bush named Stanford professor Condoleezza Rice his national security adviser and Justice Alberto Gonzales to the White House counsel's job.

He also announced his longtime communications director, Karen Hughes, would take the post of counselor to the president to help oversee "strategic planning." "America will be better off that these three have agreed to serve," Bush said at a news conference in the governor's mansion in Aus- rff nii 1 1 ftmuyn The Associated Press President-elect George W. Bush answers a reporter's question during a ceremony at the Executive Mansion in Austin, Texas. tin, a day after he nominated retired Gen. Colin Powell to be secretary of state. Asked if he was trying to send a message by including among his first appointments two blacks, two women and a Hispanic, Bush said, "You bet: that people that work hard and make the right decisions in life It a The Associated Press Some are bitter, while others try their best not to be gleeful.

But for many of the 538 members of the Electoral College preparing to cast the final votes for president today, the overwhelming feeling is one of solemn purpose. "It's a once in a lifetime event," said LaVelle McCoy, a George W. Bush elector from Flagstaff, Ariz. McCoy will join seven other electors in the executive tower of the state Capitol in Phoenix, where they will all take the oath of office and then sign ballots for president and vice president. Similar meetings will take place in every state capital and the District of Columbia, except Alaska, where they meet at an Anchorage library.

Afterward, the results are sent to a number of state and federal officials, with the final, national count tallied in a joint session of Congress the first week of January. The meeting is as brief as 20 minutes in some states, two hours in others. Some have invited marching bands and costumed actors, turning the meeting into a celebration. Several have invited schoolchildren to witness the vote. But for others, the hard-fought weeks of postelection campaigning made this last vote even more poignant.

"I go down there with a heavy heart," said Joyce Sa-vocchio, a Gore elector from Erie, Pa. "In '92, 1 was absolutely ecstatic." Some Republicans were modest. "The way it has turned out doesn't leave me a sense of exultation or clicking my heels," said Chuck Clay, chairman of Georgia's GOP and a Bush elector. "I'm happy. I'm satisfied.

There'll be time for partying at the inauguration." Some voters still hope for an upset, flooding Bush electors with e-mail, letters and phone calls urging them to switch their vote to Gore because he won the popular vote. can achieve anything they want in America." Bush then headed for Washington to spend three days meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, visiting Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, paying calls on President Clinton and Vice President Gore, and interviewing prospective members of his Cabinet. Incoming first lady Laura Bush was getting a jump on her husband in visiting the White House, accepting an invitatation from first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to have tea together in the residence this morning. The Bushes arrived at Dulles International Airport in suburban Virginia on Sunday evening and went directly to their hotel in downtown Washington without making any public remarks. Powell, meanwhile, vis-isted with Secretary of Diversity Page 2A SUBSCRIPTIONS 269-0010 muni lillii 4 i.