The Times from Munster, Indiana • 1

HAMMOND FINAL WEATHER TUESDAY AUGUST 4, 1998 An edition of The Times serving Hammond, East Chicago and Whiting I SPORTS Highland hockey player taking game to Arizona Skies will be nnostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Fid report, A8 BUSINESS Viking sells its rail division Progress Rail Services of Alabama bought the East Chicago-based company. E-l Jeff Rose took the norvtraditional 8365 route to a junior ice hockey league: he started out roller blading. C-l www.thetimesonline.com Newsstand: 50 cents 6 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES TODAY IN THE TIMES A quick look at the news LOCAL Gary mayor hopes to spark growth Scott King voiced his Business associate says she was paid to arrange phone contract, but says payment was by check, not in cash payoff for the contracts. The FBI launched an investigation into those allegations last week.

Maggie Taylor, an Olympia Fields, businesswoman who set up the deal, also produced bank records that show she was paid by check rather than cash, as previously claimed by RCD Pay Phones president Richard Dunne. Dunne was at a loss to explain why he had confused the check for a cash payment. In two previous interviews, Dunne told The Times he gave cash to both Taylor and Clay at a November 1996 meeting for the right to install pay phones in the Gary and East Chicago courthouses. Dunne confirmed the validity of the $2,100 check made out to Taylor's company. He also verified his signature when shown a copy of the BY JOE CARROLL Times Staff Writer A business associate of Lake County Commissioner Rudolph Clay said she accepted $2,100 to arrange contracts between Clay and an Illinois pay phone company.

However, she refuted allegations by phone company executives that any of that money went to Clay as a check Monday night. But Dunne maintained Monday night that Taylor made it clear that a portion of the $2,100 was to go to Clay in exchange for his help in securing the Lake County phone contracts. Clay has previously vigorously denied the allegations made by Dunne. Clay did not return a phone See CLAY, A-7 support Monday for a plan that provides loans and expertise to Rudolph Clay Has previously vigorously denied Dunne's allegations Richard Dunne Worries about his credibility with federal investigators entrepreneurs: B-l Suspect caught in cemetery robbery Police are crediting two -Elmwood Cemetery workers with spotting a man they had seen the day of the robbery. B-l NATION Search on for driver of flaming truck Police were searching Monday for the driver of a Police schooling carries price tag Hobart police recruit gets $4,000 bill from Gary Police Department for cost of his academy training.

truck carrying a bomb that smashed into the in Lafayette. A-3 lib ') v. is iter BY DEBORAH LAVERTY Times Staff Writer Crash on 1-65 adds to traffic logjam Two men injured when car hits semi-tractor trailer after not slowing for stopped traffic. Times Staff Report MERRILLVTLLE Two men were injured and traffic halted for more than two hours Monday after a car ran into a semi-tractor trailer parked on the shoulder of Interstate 65 about two miles south of U.S. 30.

Charles Melton of Portage was driving north on 1-65 about 3:25 p.m. when he failed to realize traffic was stopped because of construction near U.S. 30 and an accident on the interstate, said Cpl. Dale Morgan of the Indiana State Police. Melton swerved to avoid the accident, in front of him and drove into the median before he over-oorrected, causing him to come back across the lanes of traffic and smash into the side of the semi, Morgan said.

The semi driver, Randy Lavi-gne of Kellogg, had stopped to help with a previous property damage accident when his rig was hit, Morgan said. Lavi-gne was not injured. Melton, 23, suffered cuts and Clinton confidant to face questioning As President Clinton's aides dampened speculation that he would change his story about Monica Lewinsky, a federal tsar- appeals court refused on Monday to block prosecutors from questioning presidential adviser Bruce Lindsey. A-3 Where's Digger? 0 Digger is checking out a new store in the region. ALDINO GALLO THE TIMES Merrillvllle firefighters work to rescue Anthony Freeman of Lake Station, a passenger in the blue Plymouth four-door driven by Charles Melton of Portage that crashed Into the side of a stopped semi-tractor trailer Monday on northbound 1-65 In Merrillvllle.

Both Freeman and Melton were hospitalized. HOBART Scott Blake, 26, was sworn in just last week as a patrol officer. But aside from moral backing from his new employer, Blake is on his own when it comes to resolving a contractual dispute with his former boss, the Gary Police Department, Hobart Police Chief Ronald Taylor said Monday. "It's his responsibility, and Pm sure he'll live up to it," Taylor said. Blake, who became a Hobart officer last week, said Monday he may hire an attorney to aid him in sorting out the legal snarl that could mean his being forced to pay $4,000 to the Gary Police Department.

That's the amount Gary maintains Blake owes the city for his training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy See POLICE, A-7 Rumors of layoffs hit at Inland Employees hearing that 30 percent of salaried work may be forced to go. BY RUSSELL PEARLMAN Times Steel Correspondent EAST CHICAGO Anxiety is running high at Inland Steel Co. as salaried employees in numerous departments wonder how long they will have their jobs now that new owner Is-pat International has completed its takeover of the company. From the metallurgists to the information technology specialists to the sales force, a wave of layoff anxiety has See INLAND, A-4 See CRASH, A-4 INK Hr met I I AI It i A CL a tr- bit Li L. I I AM -i- Contest builds Lego love in local youth A Valparaiso toy outlet is sponsoring a contest that is inspiring building creativity.

D-l INDEX Advice D-6 Bridge F-2 Classified Crossword (Classified) E-6 Crossword (Newsday) D-6 Horoscope D-6 Movies D-2 Obituaries Opinion A-6 Stocks BRETT REIERS0N THE TIMES 1-65 became a parking lot, and the grassy median became a mall as motorists left their parked vehicles to try and catch a glimpse of what held up traffic for more than two hours on Monday. Beetlemania Asian long-horned beetle infestation in a Chicago neighborhood sparks concern in Northwest Indiana communities Alex Bernal of Gary believes this bug, found in his back yard and temporarily housed in a fruit jar, Is an Asian long-homed beetle. The Times is printed with soy color inks, exclusively on recycled paper. brown markings resembling tree bark, six legs and long tentacles. He plans to send the critter to state officials for analysis to see if he has, indeed, discovered an Asian longhorn.

The recent media attention given to the tree-munching pests from across the Pacific alerted Bernal to the dangers the beetles pose to hardwood trees. See BEETLE, A-4 BY LAURI HARVEY Times Staff Writer GARY When Alex Bernal saw a strange-looking bug with long tentacles swimming in his backyard pool Sunday, he feared he'd found an Asian long-horned beetle. Chances are he hasn't, but state officials say Bernal took the right steps. Bernal's bug temporarily housed in a fruit jar is about 2 inches long, with light INSIDE Think you've seen an Asian long-horned beetle? These tips will tell you what to do about it. A-4 I08956ll00050 NATALIE BATTAGLIA THE TIMES.