The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin • 6

A-6 NATIONAL NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1998 einate tobacco 1i Minnesotans starting to pick up tlie pieces NDScostlvwi ith few protections -C 1-7 i Industry calls plan that of an elderly man and a 6-year-old boy. Just last month, 42 people died in tornadoes in central Florida. The tornado that hit St. Peter packed winds estimated at 200 mph, and more than a mile across. At least 38 people were injured.

Dustin Schneider, the boy, died when a twister blew the van in which he was a passenger into a muddy field near St. Peter. He was sucked out of the vehicle and hurled 150 yards away. Louis Mosenden, 85, of Hanska died Monday afternoon as a result of injuries he suffered when the tornado hit his home. The state and Red Cross said more than 800 homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the hardest-hit areas.

Gov. Arne Carlson said he will seek federal disaster aid. ST. PETER, Minn. (AP) A tornado splintered the roof of his garage and heaved a tree through his neighbor's house.

But Dan Breeding pointed to something delicate, something unscathed by nature's fury. Amid the wreckage of his garage and the home stood a birch sapling, untouched, with a small bird feeder still hanging from a branch. To Breeding, the sapling was a reminder that the funnel clouds that raged through nine southern Minnesota towns on Sunday -upending hundreds of trees, cars and lives did not destroy everything, even the most vulnerable. The devastation was so surreal in St. Peter, a town of 10,000, that many residents wandered around with video cameras.

But they also knew they had weathered a major catastrophe with only two deaths 1 AP photo by Joe Rossi TERESA MAAS SURVEYS damage tothe second-floor bedroom of her home in St. Peter, Monday. HMO accreditation group to start comparing plans nergy rniscoveries Saving energy tor lh Future Wisconsin Electric A WISCONSIN ENERGY COMPANY sented the bill at a news conference Monday. The measure he presented would limit the amount of punitive damages the industry could be forced to pay every year to $6.5 billion. It provides none of the immunity from class action and other lawsuits the industry had agreed to in the $368 billion June settlement with 40 states suing it.

McCain acknowledged that the provisions requiring companies to steer advertising away from kids could be meaningless if challenged or ignored by the industry, but said he puts little credence in threats from tobacco executives. "I can't and will never be subject to a veto by the tobacco industry," McCain said, adding that he doubts companies could win a public relations war against the bill. Besides, he said, the issue is fluid. "If some tobacco executive drops dead tomorrow, that may change the equation." Sen. John Chafee, shared that sentiment.

"If we get into a game of hardball with the industry, the industry is going to lose," said Chafee, who co-authored a bill with similar legal shields with Sens. Tom Harkin, D-lowa, and Bob Graham, D-Fla. "If the Congress gets its back up, there's a whole series of taxes that can be levied." McCain's final draft, which some Democrats will attempt to change during a formal committee meeting Wednesday, is significantly tougher than the June settlement. Under the June proposal, the industry would be protected from class action and other types of lawsuits for past conduct if it voluntarily curbs its advertising restrictions. an act of vengeance I WASHINGTON (AP) Congress' leading tobacco bill contains few legal protections demanded by the industry, an election-year ef fort by both parties to cede little to cpmpanies they believe lied for years about hooking kids on smoking.

1 Even before Sen. John McCain, the Commerce Committee chairman, unveiled his compromise Monday, the industry called the bill an act of "vengeance" and threatened not to go along with any congressional curbs on tobacco advertising. Many experts say ad restrictions would be unconstitutional if forced by Congress. lt "This is a punitive and unrealistic assault on the industry, the millions of people who work in it and with it, and the millions of American adults who use its products," industry representative J. Phil Carlton said during a conference call with reporters.

"The industry can-riot and will not give its assent to it" Though they criticized the bill as too lenient on the industry, the White House and Democrats called it a good starting point for debate. McCain said "the vast majority" of Republicans and Democrats on his 20-member panel would support the measure in a vote expected this week. The legal protections had been the sole sticking point that prevented round-the-clock negotiations from winding up over the weekend. Seeking Democratic votes, McCain stripped the bill of most legal shields 90 minutes before he pre- REBATES! REBATES! REBATES! FREE SETBACK THERMOSTAT FREE PIPE WRAP FREE SHOWERHEAD FREE FAUCET AERATORS Energy Discoveries in cooperation with Wisconsin Electric Company is offering FREE Weatherization Products and Rebates to their natural gas and electric heating customers in the cities of Appleton, Neenah, and Menasha. mation to consumers: Medicare is developing new ways for senior citizens to compare the quality of HMOs as the government encourages them to enroll in such programs to save money.

Businesses and states are creating more and more "report cards" on the quality of plans. President Clinton's commission on health quality this month recommended that the private sector develop ways to standardize measurements and make that information available to consumers. "We want to identify the best performers and understand how they are achieving superior results," said Janet Corrigan, the commission's executive director. WASHINGTON (AP) As part of new efforts to help Americans find good health care, a group that accredits HMOs will soon begin using measurements of quality when it decides which plans deserve its seal of approval. The National Committee for Quality Assurance has been collecting information for several years about how health plans compare, but it has never used that data to determine whether a plan will receive accreditation.

Beginning next year, however, 25 of a plan's score will come from that data and from consumer-satisfaction surveys. A plan must compare well with other HMOs to earn an "excellent" rating. The move comes amid new interest in getting health quality infor These promotional items will be distributed in conjunction with a FREE home energy assessment starting Tuesday, March 31, 1998. Please call us at (920) 730-0866 or toll free at 1-888-443-9559 to find out the details! Mistrial ends hired hitman deliberations ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) A deadlocked jury means former Sen ate candidate Ruthann Aron is free from prison, but prosecutors still get a few more chances to convince a jury that she tried to have her husband killed and even made made an attempt on his life herself.

Aron trial on charges of hiring a hitman to kill her husband and a lawyer ended in a mistrial Monday after nearly If hi i lit Hi 30 hours of deliberation over five days. "I'm happy ARON that, the system worked and there are those who take it seriously," she told The Associated Press, Aron, 55, could have been sen tenced to up to 36 years in prison if she had been convicted of solicitation to commit murder. The state will try Aron again as soon as possible, said State's Attorney Bob Dean. She also is scheduled for trial next week on charges of assault and attempted murder, accused of trying to kill her husband by sprinkling a lethal dose of prescription medicine in his chili. i Juror Royce Hernandez said the.

problem stemmed from a female juror who didn't reveal during airy selection that she works with children with emotional problems, including the same ones doctors for tjie defense testified Aron had. Aron ran in the 1994 Maryland Republican primary, losing to former Tennessee Sen. William E. Brock. She pleaded not criminally responsible the equivalent to an insanity defense in Maryland to charges she tried to have Dr.

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