The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 1

Highly touted prep running back commits to Auburn 1D SINCE 1 8 9 Aiiiitomate TUESDAY Jan. 30, 2001 Montgomery Edition 50 cents JOB LAYOFFS The DaimlerChrysler job cuts will affect plants in the following North American cities. Montgomery dealer- ships should be affected little 6D The cuts involve 19,000 hourly workers and 6,800 on salary; much of the cuts will come through retirement programs but necessary in the face of, "brutal" competition and slack U.S. sales. The Associated Press AUBURN HILLS, Mich." DaimlerChrysler is eliminating 26,000 jobs at its money-losing Chrysler division in the most dramatic sign yet that the 1998 merger of the German and American automakers is not living up to its promise.

Under the plan announced Monday, Chrysler will cut one-fifth of its pany, more closely aligned with current and future market conditions." Laid-off members of the United Auto Workers union will get 95 percent of their take-home pay for their duration of their contract. global work force over the next three years and idle six plants. Dieter Zetsche, a German who was named Chrysler's president and chief executive in November to stem the losses, called the moves painful Chrysler posted a third- may be painful for many quarter loss of $512 million he said. "How-and warned that its fourth- ever, to be truly competi-quarter loss could be more tive in today's auto indus-than $1 billion. try environment, we need The job cuts involve to be a more nimble com- Sclh! Weed and Seed marls first year altadh -i ovtiifi-' A TECH SECTION MP3 upgrade packs in more music MONTGOMERY Teen convicted of robbery, kidnapping 1C Bush funds religious groups The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Bush, challenging traditional notions about separation of church and state, opened the door Monday for religious groups to receive government money for their work aiding addicts, prisoners, the homeless and more.

"We will not fund the religious activities of any group, but when people of faith provide social services, we will not discriminate against them," the president said. By his signature on a pair of executive orders, Bush created a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives with counterpart offices in five Cabinet-level departments that will facilitate competition by religious groups and charities for a share of the Bush Page 2A President pledges to quickly confront energy problems 4A FORECAST (LA0 Clouds and sun a I I. loudy. luuk. iui a A f0 "iccic.

rainy HU cloudy tonight. 8A 'We're already acting as if proration has been Ron Glover said By Ken Spear Montgomery Advertiser With the threat of state-mandated education cuts looming, Montgomery County school leaders are taking quick steps to reduce spending for the current fiscal year. Freeze and reduce is the action plan for the school board's finance committee, who are working to jump-start the process of across-the-board cuts, or budget proration. A state grant to help high school students struggling with the exit exam is frozen before its spent. The purchase of new textbooks may be put on hold.

And teachers will receive a smaller classroom supply budget Davis Elementary fifth-grader Jessica Manora, 10, gets help with a reading exercise from Sonja Prit-chett as part of the Weed and Seed program. Program benefits five Montgomery neighborhoods P1 I Brampton, Ontario wontario Belvidere. iToledo, jL--r-NewaR U2 iri'ookm r. The Associated Press EDUCATION "We're already acting as if proration has been declared, knowing that this is all subject to change both by the amount of proration, if and when it's declared," said Ron Glover, assistant superintendent of finance. Instead of using the $396,000 remediation grant, school leaders said they'll tap into other resources to make sure students pass the high-stakes Alabama High School Graduation Exam, which tests students on what an llth-grader should know.

The next test date is March 12-16. "We've got to take steps immediately," Glover recently told the school board while presenting potential CUtS. In the process of proration, cuts can't legally be made to salaries and benefits. But several contracts of non-tenured teachers may Cuts Page 2A Schools Kevin Van Hyning Staff elderly ScripTalk this summer. First, vision-impaired veterans at Chicago's Hines Veterans Administration Hospital are pilot-testing the gadget to learn how helpful it truly is and nearby Rush-Presbyterian-St.

Luke's Medical Center soon begins a separate study to see if ScripTalk could reduce medication errors. "When you're vision-impaired it's very difficult to find the necessary information" to use a drug properly, explains Rush pharmacist Bruce Gaynes. If 19,000 hourly workers and 6,800 1 on salary. Zetsche said he expects a large part of the job-cutting to be done through retirement programs, with others phased out through layoffs and attrition. Tart ot this 5 process David Alan Planchet Staff File photo This Weed and Seed sign on Patton Avenue has upset some residents.

required to set goals and report progress in four areas: law enforcement, community policing, prevention interventiontreatment and neighborhood restoration. Weed and Seed Program Coordinator Claire Watson said the first year of the program has gone well, and she is looking ahead four years to when the funding Program Page 2A saving fine print. Millions of Americans have eyesight so bad they can't read newspaper type, and thus struggle with medication bottles that put the drug's name, dosage and important safety warnings in even smaller print. It's a problem that's only going to worsen as the aging population booms. Inability to read pill bottles can lead to very dangerous mistakes: taking the wrong pill at the wrong time; or the wrong dose; or missing the warning not to drink alcohol or MS SEED ikL AREA OF ON CUTTING BLOCK WEED AND SEED NEIGHBORHOODS The goal of the Weed and Seed program is to reduce crime and bring in positive programs.

In Montgomery, five neighborhoods are targeted. NTH Mobile ill Heights I Edgemont Westgate I Westwood Ridgecrest I National QjEiiiiJ3' Patt Avenue Here's a glance at items in the 2000-01 budget. I High Hopes (exit exam remediation) Plan: No further expenditures to help struggling students in passing the graduation exam. Savings: $369,000 I Classroom materials and supplies Plan: Reduce total allocation to 80 percent. This means $525 stipend for each teacher is cut to $420.

Savings: $240,000 I Technology Plan: Reduce total allocation to 50 percent The current allocation drops from $181 per teacher to about $90.50. Savings: $200,000 I Library enhancement Plan: Reduce total allocation to 50 percent. Savings: $150,000 I Professional development 4 Plan: All budgeted spending in training educators at cost of $60 per teacher. Savings: $100,000 I Secretarial assistance Plan: No more spending for staff secretaries to work for summer school programs. Savings: $75,000 I Board magnet allocations Plan: Five of the system's 1 1 magnet schools don't receive federal funds but are funded locally.

Spending will be reduced by 50 percent Savings: $100,000 1 I Other items affected Textbooks, central office departmental alloca-, tions, travel, substitutes, personnel vacancies, i maintenance services. By Cynthia Yeldell Montgomery Advertiser Annie Lewis knew her time-worn home needed what she couldn't afford. The paint on the pink and burgundy house in West-gate was faded, and many of the wooden boards were rotten and desperately needed replacing. Help did come. Neighbors volunteered to help make her old house like new again thanks in part to a Westgate Asso-ciation grant funded Watson through the Weed and Seed program.

"It makes the whole neighborhood look better," Lewis said of her restored home. "I am proud. This is our neighborhood, and I want it to look good because I live out here." Montgomery's Weed and Seed program, a five-year program that receives $125,000 per year through a grant from the U.S. Depart- I I Quin Chattmon Staff aimed at developing safer, stronger communities, and participants say it's working in Montgomery. Eyesores such as junk cars are being removed from yards, crime is going down and, this year, an additional $50,000 will target truancy.

Program participants are RAPPER'S TRIAL BEGINS 'Talking' pill bottles help INDEX Alabama 3C Autauga Elmore 2C Business 6D Classified IF Coffee Break 4E Comics 5E Crossword 4E Editorial 7A FY 2 Lifestyle 1 Lottery 2A Montgomery 1C Movies 3E Nation 4A Obituaries 5C Sports ID IS 1 Washington 4A Weather World 8A Page edited and designed by Neil Probst A Gannett Newspaper 40 pages Volume 1 74, Number 30 2001 The Advertiser Co. ment of Justice has been implemented for a year. It has served more than 9,000 residents in five targeted communities: Mobile Heights, Westgate, West-wood, Ridgecrest and Carver Park. The "seed" money is distributed to various projects fired shot inside dub fled the club with his girlfriend, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, who has not been Combs charged. The defense said in its opening statement that the prosecution is picking on Combs because he is famous.

"This was a star-struck selective prosecution of a superstar," defense attorney Benjamin Brafman said. The Associated Press Source: Montgomery County Public HEALTH take various over-the-counter drugs with the prescription. Or even when to call a doctor about side effects. Enter ScripTalk. Beam a small voice synthesizer at a prescription bottle with a special computer chip embedded into the label.

The wireless technology translates the printed label into speech, literally reading aloud the pill instructions. Manufacturer En-Vision America Inc. of Normal, 111., hopes to begin selling Prosecutors say Combs NEW YORK The weapons and bribery trial of Sean "Puffy" Combs began Monday, with prosecutors for the first time saying the rap star fired a gun inside a Times Square nightclub as one of his proteges allegedly shot and wounded three people. "Mr. Combs fired a shot" into the club's ceiling, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos said in opening statements.

"Witnesses will say they saw the muzzle flash." Combs, 31, isn't accused of shooting anyone in Club New York on Dec. 27, 1999. He was ar rested after he The Associated Press WASHINGTON The man squints at his medication, but his dimming vision can't make out even whether he picked up the Coumadin or Celebrex. So he aims a gadget the size of a deck of cards at the bottle, and a computerized voice begins reading his prescription instructions. Call them talking drugs.

If pilot testing goes well at two Chicago hospitals, blind and elderly Americans could soon begin buying prescriptions with "smart labels" that read aloud the potentially life- SUBSCRIPTIONS 269-0010 1 -1.