Marshfield News-Herald from Marshfield, Wisconsin • 7

Marshfield News-Herald Monday, March 30, 1998 Page 7A Struck by tornado Attorney-client privilege protects Foster notes: Court LI kT vtis tii tsj. ihr 1 WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court today delayed efforts by Whitewater investigators to obtain notes taken by the lawyer for White House aide Vincent Foster during a meeting shortly before Foster's 1993 suicide. The court said it will hear lawyer James Hamilton's argument that attorney-client privilege protects against disclosure of the notes even after Foster's death. A decision is not expected until sometime next year. Hamilton also says the notes are protected as "work product," reflecting his judgments about the matter.

Kenneth Starr wants the notes to help determine whether presidential aides lied about whether Hillary Rodham Clinton had a role in a White House purge of its travel office staff. She has said she had no role. Starr had urged the justices to let stand a lower court ruling that said the notes were not necessarily protected by attorney-client privilege. If the highest court had done so, he could have immediately asked a federal judge to decide whether the notes should be surrendered to a grand jury that subpoenaed them in December 1995. In other action today, the court: Agreed to study a sweeping constitutional challenge to the federal law against carjacking, in tackling a case from Bakersfield, Calif.

Let stand the federal government's deregulation of local rates for pay phones. Rejected the appeal of a U.S. soldier facing a bad-conduct discharge for refusing to wear a United Nations shoulder patch and U.N. blue beret for a peacekeeping mission. Hamilton took the three pages of notes on July 11, 1993, during a meeting with Foster about the investigation of the travel office firings.

Nine days later, Foster was found dead of what authorities say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a park outside Washington. Whitewater investigators said they were entitled to Hamilton's notes since they can no longer call Foster as a witness in their investigation. A federal judge ruled the notes were protected by attorney-client privilege. A federal appeals court reversed the decision. An overturned automobile lies in the rubble evacuated because of the extensive damage, of a home on the south end of Comfrey, At least 11 people were injured, but no one after a tornado struck the town on was killed by the storm.

Sunday. The community of about 550 was (AP Photo) Handling of campaign finance bills criticized After latest surgery Some guidelines on impeachment i 1 A 5V I oX- Republicans who has joined Democrats in seeking more comprehensive changes to campaign finance laws, had criticized his party leaders' tactics. "I was told we would have input. We had no input. This was pretty much a sneak attack," he said Friday.

Of the four related bills being considered today, the most controversial is a GOP leadership measure that would make it more difficult for labor unions to use member dues for political activities. It also would allow local election officials to verify the citizenship of prospective voters and increase the sums individuals and political action groups can contribute to candidates. Other bills would bar contributions by nonciuzens, limit political spending by unions and require more prompt disclosure by political candidates. Shays and Rep. Martin Meehan, are backing a bill that does not target unions but puts restrictions on "soft money" donations contributions to parties rather than individual candidates.

It was excluded from today's debate. Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said the House could return to campaign finance overhaul later this year, but that with today's votes "certainly we feel that we have identified the key crucial issues that are of concern to the American people." WASHINGTON (AP) Now that many people in the capital are talking about impeachment in the investigation of President Clinton, it is time to try to understand how this rarely used procedure works. The Constitution is clear on two points: The House has the sole power to vote impeachment, and the process then moves to the Senate for trial something that has happened only 14 times in U.S. history. Beyond those jurisdictional questions, impeachment gets a little murkier.

Here, in question-and-answer form, is a primer on how the process works. The answers come from a Congressional Research Service study of impeachment. Q. What is impeachment? A. An impeachment is a formal accusation of wrongdoing, like an indictment.

Conviction can only occur at a Senate trial. In the case of Richard M. Nixon, the House Judiciary Committee voted articles of impeachment against the president, but he resigned before they were acted on by the full House. Q. Who can be impeached? A.

The answer is not as simple as it might seem. The Constitution says that "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States" are subject to impeachment. Civil officers are recognized as officials of the executive and judicial branches. But the first official impeached and brought to trial in the Senate was Sen. William Blount of Tennessee.

He was acquitted on the ground that members of Congress are not subject to impeachment. Q. By what margin must the House vote articles of impeachment? A. A simple majority is enough. Q.

What about the Senate? A. It would take two-thirds majority of those voting to convict. Q. What are the grounds for impeachment? A. The Constitution says "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The first two are self-explanatory.

The last is a catchall that can cover everything from covering up a political burglary to lying about your sex life. Q. What happens to most impeachment resolutions? A. Nothing. They are referred to the House Judiciary Committee and never heard about again.

Impeachment resolutions were filed against President Reagan in 1983 and 1987 and against President Bush in 1991. 4 4 Carl Strehle, 52, receives well-wishes and a heart pillow from his wife Jo Ann on Friday at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee. Strehle underwent 11-hour coronary bypasss to remove plaque from clogged arteries to stop his angina pain. Strehle has suffered from the crushing pain of angina since his first heart attack in 1984.

(AP Photo) Man doing well after 121st heart operation Spring break mecca trying to shed its tacky image MILWAUKEE (AP) A man who has undergone about 120 heart operations in the last 13 years was doing well after receiving treatment from a doctor who takes in difficult cases. Carl Strehle, 52, has suffered from the crushing pain of angina since his first heart attack in 1984. Strehle underwent an 11 -hour coronary bypass at St. Francis Hospital after Milwaukee heart surgeon Dudley Jonson took his case. Strehle said he has not had an episode of chest pain since the operation on Wednesday the longest he has gone without such pain in more than a decade.

In the past 13 years, Strehle has undergone 53 angioplasties and as many as 70 cardiac catheterizations at hospitals in four states. Now, he said, "I look forward to just being able to stroll down the aisle at the grocery store." Previously such modest exertion would have caused his inadequately oxygenated heart to ache. In all the years he underwent heart procedures, he said, cardiologists never recommended surgery until March 13 when he was hospitalized in Mesa, where he and his wife, Jo Ann, live. The cardiologist contacted Johnson, who has been willing to take on the most difficult of heart surgery cases. WASHINGTON (AP) A senior House Republican says his party is wrong to rush campaign finance bills to the House floor in a way that ensures their defeat.

Bringing the legislation up under rules that restrict debate and amendments and require a two-thirds majority for passage is "not the right way to go," said Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio. "We should have given people with another position the opportunity to amend the bill," Kasich, a possible contender for the GOP's 2000 presidential nomination, said on "Fox News Sunday." House Republican leaders announced Friday they planned votes tonight on four GOP-backed campaign finance bills, reversing an earlier decision to postpone action for several weeks. The votes would fulfill a promise House Speaker Newt Gingrich, made last year to bring the campaign finance issue to the floor this spring. But Democrats, and some Republicans, denounced the procedure as a sham. The opponents complained about the lack of debate time and their inability to amend the bills or offer their own.

Kasich, who supports the measures, said it was unlikely they will pass. Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut, one of the Mideast accord try fails JERUSALEM (AP) Wrapping up a four-day Mideast shuttle today, an American envoy failed to win agreement from Israelis and Palestinians on U.S. peace proposals. The deadlock triggered new clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops.

Protesters chanted "Death to America" and burned U.S. flags. In the West Bank towns Bethlehem and El Bireh, Israeli troops fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets at hundreds of Palestinian stu- dents, injuring several. The U.S. envoy, Dennis Ross, was to meet one more time with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tonight before returning to Washington to brief President Clinton: Ross has been trying to win support for a U.S.

proposal for an Israeli withdrawal in stages from 13.1 percent of the West Bank, with each step accompanied by Palestinian security gestures. Netanyahu denied Israeli media reports that a compromise was being worked out and that he had increased his initial withdrawal offer from 9 percent to 1 1 percent. "We have not discussed specifics on percentages, and therefore reports of a supposed agreement are not true," Netanyahu said, adding that he did not expect Ross to conclude a deal on this trip. Palestinian officials said they were concerned that the United States was ready to modify its initiative under Israeli pressure. "We feel that this is a real test for American political will and the ability to withstand Israeli intransigence," said Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian Cabinet minister.

In a U.S. -backed agreement signed last year, Netanyahu pledged to carry out three troop pullbacks by this summer. However, he later said he would go ahead with only one withdrawal before launching talks on final borders. The Palestinians have said they would not accept any changes in signed agreements. Netanyahu hinted today that he was softening his position, saying he was ready to discuss an additional withdrawal witn-the Palestinians.

However, the Palestinians reportedly insisted that the Americans be present at such talks, an idea Netanyahji rejects. said. "If they'd let me ride down this beach and say, 'This goes and this stays, and this sign goes and this one I could have it cleaned tomorrow." Along the two-lane Front Beach Road, businesses of all description display large, garish signs some artistic, others amateurish and several have names suggestive of drugs or sex: The Joint, Blue Haze and Condom Knowledge. "It looks like a spring break place. It has the atmosphere," said West Virginia University student Joey Knecht, 21, of Woodland Hills, Utah.

"Older people like my parents won't want to come here because they figure it's going to be a bunch of drunk kids." Efforts to improve student behavior include a Spring Break Court. It gives those charged with misdemeanors primarily drinking on streets and sidewalks, underage drinking and disorderly conduct a chance to avoid an arrest record by spending a day picking up litter instead of paying a fine or going to trial. PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) Front Beach Road is 12 miles of motels, liquor stores, fast-food restaurants, bars, miniature golf courses, tattoo parlors and body-piercing salons. It spells "atmosphere" to college students in search of spring break debauchery but reeks of tackiness to city leaders trying to erase this Panhandle resort town's honky-tonk image.

Hoping to appeal to more families and higher-income tourists, they want to tone down spring break excesses and restrict the proliferation of adult-oriented businesses. "We cannot let our success in spring break be our failure in our tourist industry the rest of the season," said Mayor Philip Griffitts, who owns the family-oriented Sugar Sands Hotel, Even Griffitts uses the t-word when he talks about efforts to shed the bawdy image that makes his city so popular with the young crowd. "If the Legislature would allow me to regulate tacky, I could clean the beach up today," Griffitts OFFICE FURNITURE FURNITURE Check out our entire display and make your selection TODAY! VERTICAL LATERAL FILES 51 2P FILES 683L GUEST Fs OU AID wi min jfr? IS 'i 1 4008 era LAMINATE WOOD DESKS 10771 won EXECUTIVE Panama City Beach, has passed ordinances banning any more adult-oriented business such as Condom Knowledge, shown on Friday, as well as tattoo parlors and body piercing salons from tourist corridors as part of an effort to improve the spring break mecca's image. (AP Photo) STATIONMASTER WOOD SEATING 2901 DESK 66577 STEEL BOOKCASES SECRETARY CHAIR 5820 Available in 2,3, 4 and 5 shelf models HIGH QUALITY COMPUTER SYSTEMS NETWORKS SERVICE "Dedicated to providing area businesses with quality products and timely service. Driver killed in UP By The Associated Press A Wisconsin man was killed in a weekend traffic accident in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

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