Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 6

6a TIMES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1992 DECISION '92 THE NATION Hotel queen headed for prison Buchanan now predicts Bush will be re-elected in November An appeals court rejects arguments that Leona Helmsley's sentence on tax evasion charges be altered. defense attorney Alan Dershowitz. He asked the appeals court to allow Helmsley to do community service work instead of going to jail. But prosecutors argued that the 71-year-old hotel queen remains an active woman and that allowing her to avoid prison would "make a mockery of the law." "The end has come," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hellerer.

Two months ago he didn't think Bush had much of a chance. But Buchanan says defending against his challenge helped make Bush a better candidate. Associated Press mm iBjJiiMn wyi By PAUL TASH Tlnws Washington Bureau Chief Helmsley was convicted in 1989 of evading in taxes by billing personal expenses, such as renovations on a mansion, to companies the Helmsleys owned. She has remained free on $25-million bail, but the appeals of her conviction ran out in February when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Helmsley would have to serve at least a third of the prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole. She has paid about $8-million in fines and restitution. Her lawyers have argued that the stress of life behind bars could kill Helmsley, whose NEW YORK Former hotel queen Leona Helmsley said Tuesday she was prepared to serve the four-year prison term she received for tax evasion now that it has been upheld by an appeals court. Helmsley had been ordered to report today tax day to a federal prison hospital in Kentucky. "I accept the judgment, and I'm prepared to abide by the law," Helmsley said through publicist Howard Rubenstein.

Earlier Tuesday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected arguments from Helmsley's lawyers that the Helmsley was sentenced to four years. on his "no new taxes" promise, that he fired the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. But in Buchanan's view, there is much, much more to be done in the rehabilitation of George Bush. Disregarding the advice of many prominent Republicans, Buchanan is carrying on his campaign through the last primary in California.

He promises to support Bush after the Republican convention, but as Buchanan describes his myriad differences with the administration, it is easy to wonder why. "I don't think George Bush has a deep political philosophy. He's doing the best he can for the country," said Buchanan, damning with faint praise. "I call him the 'in-box' president," because of the way Bush reacts to problems, one at a time. "I think he considers a lot of this domestic stuff a hellish distraction from what he would like to do." Which is, in Buchanan's view, the construction of some New World Order, the topic that most animates Buchanan.

The candidate who unabashedly made "America First" his campaign slogan opposes the administration's plans for aid to former Soviet Union. For that matter, Buchanan says he would phase out all aid to foreign governments. "I don't think we ought to fight other countries' wars or balance other countries' budgets. We can't even balance our own," Buchanan said. As for a global environmental conference in Brazil later this year, Buchanan urges the president to stay home.

"It's a shakedown of the American taxpayer for another transfer of income to Third World incompetents, socialists and thugs," said Buchanan. "I wouldn't give them a dime." For all their differences, Buchanan recognizes the political reality that in August, George Bush will be the Republican nominee and he will not. Buchanan said he wants to make a prime-time speech at the convention, but if he gets that chance, he will fall into line with other good Republicans behind George Bush. And he will wait for 1996. ailments include hardening of the arteries and severe high blood pressure.

They maintained that separating Helmsley from her ailing husband, 83-year-old Harry Helmsley, would kill him as well. Harry Helmsley also was charged with tax offenses but was ruled not competent to stand trial. sentence should be reversed. The lawyers said that the sentence may have been fair when imposed in 1989 but that the "dramatic change" in her health since then has turned it into a virtual life sentence. "We're arguing not that the original sentence was wrong, but that circumstances have changed," said WASHINGTON There was a time Pat Buchanan thought he might actually do it.

On the afternoon of Feb. 18, when he first heard the survey results from New Hampshire voters as they left the polls, the conservative commentator thought he might actually topple a sitting president and seize the Republican nomination for himself. But then the returns came in. Two months later, even Buchanan acknowledges what was apparent to him then, that George Bush will be the Republican nominee this fall. And contrary to what he thought then, Buchanan now says Bush likely will be re-elected.

"George Bush was the Jimmy Carter of the Republican Party. I thought that George Bush was basically unelectable," Buchanan said Tuesday at a breakfast with Washington reporters. "If I had to bet on anybody right now, I'd bet hands down on George Bush." For that improvement in the president's political outlook, Buchanan gives some credit to Democrat Bill Clinton and his critics. The "Slick Willie" label is sticking to Clinton the same way that "Tricky Dick" stuck to Buchanan's old boss, Richard Nixon. Not one for false modesty, Buchanan also gives some of the credit to himself.

Like a baseball team that uses spring training to sharpen its play, Bush became a better candidate by defending against the challenge, Buchanan said. It's good, said Buchanan, that the president started pounding Congress, that he apologized for yielding PEOPLE Stooges fans 'nyuk-nyuk' it up Associated Press Bush makes play for Reagan Democrats hi a i 1 He put the emphasis on reform in economically troubled Michigan. LEWISTON, Maine It was pie-throwing and "nyuk-nyuk" time in Maine over the weekend, as scores of Three Stooges aficionados gathered to swap memorabilia, throw pies and impersonate their knuckleheaded heroes. "It's a cult; it really is," said Joe Jerrier of Farmingdale, Maine, founder of the Three Stooges Convention. Stooges lovers and their guests soaked in the wealth of memorabilia on display, held contests and took in Stooge films shown around-the-clock in three theaters Saturday and Sunday.

Some fans dressed as Moe Howard, his brother Curly or Larry Fine and smashed each other over the head with foam-rubber hammers. Others smashed pies into people's faces. For the more serious Stooge aficionados, Curly's daughter, Janie Howard Hanky, presented a slide show. The enduring appeal of the Stooges is that they're always good for a laugh, said Dave Carter, who has a nearly complete collection of Stooge films. Associated Press AP A royal welcome with the economy, schools, health care, the legal system and government accountability.

Bush spoke to business leaders and workers at Giddings Lewis manufacturing plant, a leader in automated machine systems. He also was building up his campaign war chest with a fund-raising dinner in nearby Dearborn. The plant where Bush spoke is in suburban Detroit's Macomb County, a mostly white, working-class area that is considered a hub of Democratic defectors. Macomb voted 2-1 for Ronald Reagan and helped put Bush in office, but the economic downturn has clouded Bush's prospects this year. Michigan has been hurt by plant closings, auto layoffs and high unemployment.

Playing to auto workers, Bush boasted of trade victories against car-making rival Japan and reiterated he would veto any congressional effort to mandate an increase in fuel-efficiency standards. Bush also detailed financing for previously announced jobs programs. He said he would seek $50-million for programs to streamline federal job training and vocational programs and $55-million for a job apprenticeship project to discourage students from dropping out. Princess Yasmin looks at her daughter, born April 3 in Washington. The photo was taken by Reza II, son of the late former shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi.

FRASER, Mich. President Bush sought Tuesday to hold the political allegiance of Reagan Democrats in this economically battered state, portraying himself as a champion of reform pitted against a paralyzed Congress. "I'm the first to admit that I can't always count on Congress to act, no matter how great the urgency," Bush said, reciting problems John Travolta, Kelly Preston have first baby Reuters Runyon, a Los Angeles spokesman for the couple. It was their first child. Travolta and Preston, who married in Florida last year, first met in 1988 while co-starring in the movie, The Experts.

Travolta, 38, and his wife, 28, reside in Florida. LOS ANGELES Actor John Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, announced Monday the birth of their son. The child, named Jett, was born early Monday at Daytona Beach Hospital in Florida, said Sharyn DU PONT SAVE 40 to 60 STAINMASTFR 0VER ROLLS IN STOCK 1 IUUAT IriOlALL IUMUHHUW CARPET RIDE OUR GOLF CARTS PAST 100s OF ROLLS TO SELECT FROM HE! kHj M' liiDESS A I 7v 1 I STAINMASTER CUT LOOP $J99 STAINMASTER CUT LOOP $Q99 SY STAINMASTER SAXONY While It Lasts! Whole House STAINMASTER $9900 Up to 60 SY Installed wPad XTRA LIFE HEAVY SAXONY $4999 1 sy Compare at $20.00 SY 8 to 6, Closed Sunday We'll Bring Samples 321-9590 1-800-226-9590 For In-Home Service 321-9590 1-800-226-9590 Southwest Corner 22nd Ave. N. 28th St.

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