Rocky Mount Telegram from Rocky Mount, North Carolina • 1

3 Little lost boy Child left by mother in toy store Regarding the gold Grillo has parting shots about Olympics Volume 86, No. 284 Monday, July 29, 1996 50 cents 4 i Shady downtown PH0 ills nn nnnn si ULIUU UTOy I 7. 1 Medals table -i ijf' -4 1 1 i 1 4 'r ir I -it-- --v I 111 f) -w, f-L. -iIii 1. IM'U i 5 'j fl'Ti mm mm I r.

ao if 4. rr zi Through Sunday, July 28. -Through 143 total medals Owmtry TMal Germany 8 11 1837 Russia 15 11 7 33 France 12 6" 1 2 30 Australia 7 'fTs 29 China 9 11 626 .1. 10 5 8" 23 Cuba" 4" 4 -Canada 2" 6 14 Poland 5 5 3 13 Romania 4 4 4 12 Hungary 4 3 5 12 Netherlands 1 3 7 11 Japan 3 4 3 10 South Korea 3 4 2 9 Ukraine 2 1 5 8 Britain 1 2 58 Belarus .14 2 7 Brazil 1 2 4 7 Bulgaria 0 3 4 '7 Greece 3 3 0 6 Merchants say these Bradford Pears obstruct the TelegramClifton Hughes vievwbf their stores want trees By Ana Radelat Washington bureau WASHINGTON Sen. Jesse Helms continues to hold a narrow lead over Democratic challenger Harvey Gantt, a new Thomson News Service poll shows.

The statewide telephone survey of likely voters showed Helms leading Gantt by a margin of 48 percent to 42 percent. Another TO percent were undecided. "It's going to be Helms' race tO lose," pollster Del Ali predicted. He said the North Carolina Republican is likely to mamtainjus lead up to Election A poll in May showed Helms, with an S-point lead over Gantt. But Helms campaign spokeswoman Julie Wilkie said nothing is being taken for granted.

"It's good to be out in front, but the election is still 104 days away," Wilkie said. The race is a repeat of a 1990 matchup between the four-term senator and Gantt, an African-American. Helms, an arch-conservative, is running strongest in the state's rural regions and the "TTreensboroWinston-Salem area. Gantt, a former mayor of Charlotte, -is -strongest, in that city and in the Raleigh-Durham area, the poll showed. In memory Merchants By C.

Michelle Taylor Staff writer About five years ago Rocky Mount was sent into -a tizzy whea Holly wood movie studio announced plans to film a movie on Main Street. film, Love "-Fields-starred Michelle Pfeiffer and though the actress received an academy award nomination for the part, the movie soured at the box office. Love Field, as it turns out, left downtown merchants pretty sour, too. When studio executives came to scout the downtown location, they decided the holly trees that lined the sidewalk had to go. City leaders hastily OK'd a plan to remove the trees on the basis that the studio would, in Talladega remains tOUgh tO tame -Talladega continues difficult to tame.

Every race at Talladega Superspeed- way is like a wild west shootout these days. Sunday was no excep tion, with Jeff Gordon" winning a Gordon 1 7 five-lap trophy dash. p- -V IB- '1 Old YMCA gets new Republican Sen. Jesse Helms would defeat Democrat Harvey Gantt by a narrow margin if the election were -held today. In a Thomson newspapers sur-vey'of 81 2 registered voters, here's how North Carolinians said they would vote in the Senate race between Sen.

Helms and Gantt: Helms: 48 percent Gantt: El Undecided: 10. percent VPn9nm 4rlrnin tVMl Miiitnuriniili Here's a look at the strength of each candidate among men and women, and blacks and whites: CHelms: 53 percent men, 43 percent women. Gantt: 40 percent men, 44 percent women, CHelms: 59 percent white, 1 percent black. Gantt: 30 percent white, 94 percent black. of news from National Public Radio and Monitor Radio, plus classical music and jazz during the week.

Music for diversified tastes can be heard during the weekend. The station went on the air in 1990 as WESQ, a station at North Carolina Wesleyan lege. It changed hands this year to become a public radio station for the. Rocky Mount community. cut down a sign no one can see," said Rocky Mount Furniture store owner Bill DeLello, a downtown merchant since 1991.

DeLello opened his store just after Love Field was shot on Main Street, but speaks of the film1 with as much- vas he leaders who he feels have abandoned downtown merchants. "The council, the city man-ager, they've never down here to see what we want," he. said. "They go down to the malls, but they're not here." Merchants readily admit their fuss over the trees is actually a symptom of a much larger problem; that of a growing distance between his- torical downtown, city resi- See TREES, page 2A tenants that targets kids up to the age of five, though it actually receives funding from a variety of sources and targets children of all age groups. But because a substantial portion of the $327,500 the organization used in purchasing the building did come from Smart Start funds, the new and expanded Down LEast facility will feature a developmental play space designed for kids 0-5.

"Right now, as a vision, we plan to utilize much of the space, but we are hoping to rent out some of the offices on the second floor," Allen said. Though no other organization has committed to leasing space in the new building, Allen said Down East has made an offer to the of Social Services. Listeners in Rocky Mount, Greenville, Tarboro, Wilson and surrounding counties can become charter members for an investment of $90.90," or a sustaining member for $50. Listeners can make their bu- sinesses. or organizations an underwriting sponsor and receive daily sponsor credit for an investment of as little as $175.

Supporters of WRQM can call in their pledges any time this turn, pay for the removal of the old trees and the purchase of new ones. Downtown merchants contend the new trees, all 100 or so of them Bradford Pears, were planted without their input, and are now towering so high they block out their sighs and storefronts. City leaders, including the council and the city manager, say they plan to meet with the merchants soon to discuss solutions in light of a 30-signa-ture petition they received in May. The petition calls. for the removal of the trees and the" Leyergreen of some a size and shape that will not have the same facade-hiding effect as the (bradford pears)." "I paid $1,000 for that sign "It's working out well for everyone because the school system felt like they needed the space that was the impetus and-for us it was a good way to create a system of family resource centers in both counties," said Down East's information exchange director Pat Allen.

Zalkind said once the organization moves into the YMCA building Down East will become a "one-stop shop for parents who want to learn child development skills." The organization's main focus is to help parents find quality care while also assisting child care providers improve their level of service. Down East has become- syn- onymous with Smart Start, Hunt's early childhood initiative Friends of Down East Public Radio. "In order to continue operating, we must raise a minimum of $20,000 during this first on-air effort to reach our listening audience for their support," Dickens said. "These pledges will pay for programming, utilities, payroll, music, equipment, and all the operating expense of a radio station." By C. Michelle Taylor Staffwriter The old YMCA building on Lexington Street, vacant for two years now, will come alive once again with the sound of children when its new owner the Down East Partnership for Children moves in.

The three-year-old non-profit organization will likely" move into its new home the week after Labor to executive director Henrietta Zalkind. Crews have already removed asbestos fibers from the building's interior, and are now busy cleaning and painting the exterior. The move will mean a lot of additional space for Down East, which has thus far been housed rent-free in the Nash-Rocky Mount Schools teacher resource center. Leader wants aid, but no troops Burundi's new president doesn't want foreign troops in his land. World, 5A Police flooded with tips, pictures Authorities have been flooded with information on the Olympic bombing.

Nation, 8A Classified Comics. OpinT6n.T Sports Weather TUESDAY Fair High 88 0 Low 68 VIRGINIA LOTTO: Day Drawing: Night Drawing: PICK 3: 9-8-9 PICK 4: 9-7-9-4 PICK 4: 5-4-5-8 CASH 5: 13-21-22-24-32 LOTTO: 233-34 6A 4A 111 -1 1 iinwiiTMMmi1 Students attend one of-many memorial services in Atlanta Sunday, following the Olympic bombing early Saturday. The story is on page 8A. WRQM takes to airwaves in major fund-raising project week by dialing 446-9090 or faxing their pledges to 972-FAXJ. Volunteers are needed to help with the campaign for on-air solicitation and manning telephones during the eek.

The studios and offices of WRQM are located at 434 Falls Road in the former headquarters of Coastal' Plains Insurance'. WRQM broadcasts 18 hours a day with six half-hour segments By Martha Reedy Staff writer WRQM board members took to the air this morning in a major fund-raising effort for Rocky Mounts public radio station. Financial support for the station has not been as high as organizers had hoped, and federal and state funds have been drastically, cut back, according to Jim Dickens, president of It's the time of year when rabies and ticks are a real problem Tuesday life.