The Times and Democrat from Orangeburg, South Carolina • 2

QHje QTitncB anil democrat "Good morning Page 2A, Orangeburg, S.C., Saturday, February 18, 1995 N.C. may require elderly poor to work weather News at-a-glance The Accu-Weather forecast for noon, Saturday, Feb. 18. 20s. Bands separate high temperature zones for the day.

fSNvS TN rM FRONTS: Jy Compiled from wire reports WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Republican legislators want to go statewide with a "workfare" experiment in five counties that could require elderly food-stamp recipients to work for their benefits. The proposal being considered by the state House could mean that nearly 14,000 food-stamp recipients ages 60 to 64 would be required to work for nonprofit agencies in return for their food-stamp benefits. Under the program, officials determine the dollar value of the food stamps to which a recipient is entitled and divide that number by the minimum wage to get the number of hours the recipient must work. The recipients typically work at school cafeterias and libraries, government offices, landfills and arts councils.

Many do custodial or secretarial jobs. Because people over 60, those with children under 6 and those with disabilities are exempted, the program currently reaches only 4 to 5 percent of the people on food stamps. Joella Jordan, the workfare coordinator in Alamance County, one of the five counties in the experiment, told a House committee this week that of 2,371 food-stamp cases in Alamance, about 300 are in the workfare program and 108 actually are working. The program scares away able-bodied recipients who refuse to work, she said, and roughly a third of those who enter the program eventually get real jobs. But the bill filed by Rep.

Julia Howard, R-Davie, would raise the age threshold for the program to 65, and that worries advocates for the poor and the elderly. "If your stated goal is to get people to the private job market, clearly these people are not going to be doing that," said Sorien Schmidt of North Carolina Legal Services. "You're not old at 60, and that was almost the stigma they felt was on there," Howard said. "Look at all the people working at McDonald's: they're all Stockbroker making solo Pacific crossing by balloon SEOUL, South Korea A 50-year-old Chicago stockbroker headed into the sky early Saturday, trying to become the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean alone aboard a balloon. With the same gear he used to cross the Atlantic two years ago, Steve Fossett donned a white helmet and climbed into a cramped yellow pressurized gondola that will be home for four to five days.

"I think this will be a great trip," he said before boarding the 150-foot-high white balloon. "Perhaps we can make some ballooning history." He lifted off from Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul for the journey to San Francisco. The Pacific has been crossed in a balloon only twice before and never solo. Fossett said that if he does reach the West Coast, he plans to travel an extra 1 25 miles to set a record for the longest balloon flight ever. The last solo attempt across the world's largest ocean ended in disaster when Japanese balloonist Fumio Niwa was forced to ditch his craft in the sea and was killed in 1991.

Fossett hopes to average about 75 mph. He will be able to alter his direction by moving up and down into different layers of the jetstream about 20,000 to 40,000 feet above the Earth. Perry: Arduous military training under inspection WASHINGTON The arduous Army Ranger exercise that claimed the lives of four soldiers will be closely scrutinized, Defense Secretary William Perry said Friday. But he said training for the military's toughest combat assignments "will never, never be risk free." The Army has ordered four separate Investigations into the tragedy in a remote area of Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Fla. the worst in the 44-year history of the Ranger training program.

"On a statistical basis, there Is no indication that there has been a trend, or an increase in accidents," Perry said. "Nevertheless, we look at them very carefully." Army officials reported Thursday that four soldiers died of exposure after struggling through chilly, chest-deep swamp waters dunng the last days of a rigorous two-month Ranger training regimen. Lawmakers want warning of marriage hazards OLYMPIA, Wash. Attention, marriage-license applicants: The union may be hazardous to your health. That's the message a handful of state lawmakers, mostly women, want in a proposed revision of the wording of marriage licenses.

"Neither you nor your spouse is the property of the other," the licenses would say, and The laws of this state affirm your right to enter into this marriage and at the same time to live within the marriage free from violence and abuse." They also would say that the laws against abuse and assault are applicable to spouses and other family members. Domestic violence continues to be a leading cause of death and injury for American women, and more public education may help to reduce it, sponsors of the measure said. "I would say, simply, beware. Stop, look, listen and be cautious," said Sen. Margarita Prentice, a co-sponsor.

"Marriage is serious business," said Prentice, who has been married for 37 years. "It affects more than just the couple. It affects their children and society at large." Prentice said too many people still consider their spouses to be their property. The origin of the wedding ring represents part of a chain binding the wife to her master," she said. Ferguson found guilty in LIRR train massacre COLD WARM STATIONARY 1995 Accu-Weather, Inc.

hPL EE3 E3 EH 0 E3 i HIGH LOW SHOWERS RAIN T-STORMS FLURRIES SNOW ICE SUNNY PT. CLOUDY CLOUDY Saturday, Feb. 18 Accu-Weather1 forecast for daytime conditions and high temperatures N.C. I Greenville 49 I ---1 Spartanburg 50 I Via Associated Press homish. Winds gusted as high as 87 mph on the Oregon coast at Cape Blanco.

High winds also blew through the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Montana and Wyoming, and Interstate 25 was closed overnight between Casper and Douglas because of blowing, drifting snow. A few rain showers were reported in northwest Montana, while some snow was developing in pahs of northern Minnesota along a Canadian cold front. Forecasters expected more bands of showers and thunderstorms from Louisiana to the Carolinas, with some rainfall amounts heavy enough to cause flooding. Lake levels COLUMBIA Lake levels in South Carolina as reported Friday: HartweH. 659.7, 0.3 bekiw.

up U. R.B. Russell. 476.3. 1 .3 above, up 0.6.

Thurmond, 330.7, 0.7 above, up 0.2. Greenwood, 96.4, 3.6 below, up 0.9. Murray. 356.5, 3.5 below, up 0.4. Keowee, 99.4, 0.6 below, up 0.4.

Marion, 76.5, 0.3 below, down 0.1. Moultrie, 75.2, 1.6 below, down 0.1. Wateree, 95.4, 4.6 below, up 1 .6. W.C. Bowen, 31 .7, 783.3 below, rva Agricultural forecast Cobia48.

iMyrtieBeacV GA' I Charleston I 53j Forecasts Statewide: Saturday, periods of rain. Highs in the lower 50s. Saturday night, scattered evening showers along the coast with mostly cloudy skies elsewhere across the state. Lows in middle 30s mountains to lower 40s south coast. Sunday, becoming partly cloudy.

Highs in upper 50s mountains to Tower 60s south coast. Bamberg, Calhoun and Orangeburg counites: Saturday, cloudy with rain likely. High in the lower 50s. NE wind 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Saturday night, mostly cloudy. Low near 40. Sunday, partly cloudy. High in the lower 60s. Dorchester County: Saturday, high In the lower 50s.

NE wind 10 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent. Saturday night, a 30 percent chance of showers before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy. Low in lower 40s. Sunday, mostly cloudy.

High in the lower 60s. Coastal: South of Little River Inlet to Savannah out 20 nm, a frontal system will remain near the coast through Saturday and areas of low pressure will move NE along the front. The front will move farther offshore Saturday night. Small craft advisory due to rough seas. Saturday, NE wind 15 kt.

Seas 5 ft. Periods of rain. Saturday night, variable wind 10 kt or less. Seas 2 ft. Scattered showers in the evening.

Sunday, variable wind 10 kt or less. Seas 2 ft. Extended: Monday, mostly sunny. Lows 35 to 45. Highs in 60s.

Tuesday, mostly sunny. Lows in 40s. Highs in the 60s. Wednesday, mostly sunny. Lows in 40s.

Highs 60 to 70. Orangeburg The maximum temperature in Orangeburg for the 24-hour period ending at midnight Thursday was 80 degrees and the minimum was 46 degrees, according to the Department of Public Utilities, the official Orangeburg observer for the National Weather Service. The temperature at midnight was 63 degrees. There was 0.57 inch of precipitation for the 24-hour period ending at midnight Thursday. At 6 a.m.

Friday, the North Edisto River was at 158.9 feet mean sea level. At 10 p.m. Friday, the temperature was 47 degrees. South Carolina COLUMBIA High and low temperatures and precipitation levels for South Carolina as reported Friday by the National Weather Service: City HI Low Prep Beaufortmcas 68 53 0.05 Charleston arpt 69 5 1 0.07 Charleston city 67 5 1 0.0 1 Columbia 6 0 4 7 1.35 Florence 5 4 4 7 0.6 6 Greer 4 8 4 5 0.3 4 HriyrteBch. 5 6 4 8 0.6 9 The nation 'Pain pelted areas from southern Louisiana to the Carolinas on Friday, and powerful storms pounded the Pacific Northwest with high winds, heavy rain and snow in the mountains.

Many streams and rivers approached flood stage or have already caused some flooding throughout the Gulf Coast states and the Carolinas. No serious problems were reported. Up to 4 inches of rain had fallen in some areas within 36 hours. Along coastal areas of Washington and Oregon, as well as the Puget Sound region and the northern Willamette Valley and Portland, nearly 3 inches of rain fell, while a couple inches of snow dropped on Sno- Showers T-storms Rain Flurries Snow Ice Sunny PI. Cloudy Cloudy S)l 995 Accu-Weather.

Inc. Via Associated Press QraprticaNet -ill rO I Mrtands Lowcountry MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) -Colin Ferguson was convicted Friday of murdering six passengers and wounding 19 others on a commuter train, ending a bizarre trial in which he slow 70 0 70 0.25-0.50- Drying condition slow Minimum rh 70 Hours of sunshine 1 Solar radiation (langleys) 100 Rainfall 0.10-0.25' Ferguson Tides i r. x.J.- Saturday, February 16- High at 9:41 a.rn. and 10:12 p.m.: Low at 3:41 a.m.

and 3:58 p.m. Sunday, February 19 High at 1 0:27 a.m. and 11 :02 Low at 4:28 a.m and 4:43 p.m. To find approximate times of high and low water add or subtract as Mcated. Beaufort: High, 1 hour and 7 minutes, Low, 52 minutes.

Edisto Beach: High, -26 minutes. Low -35 minutes. Georgetown: High, 1 hour and 25 minutes, Low, 2 hours and 9 minutes, McCleHanville: Hh, 27 minutes, Low, 25 minutes. Murretls Inlet: High, -2 minutes, Low, 24 minutes. Little River: High, 12 minutes, Low, 32 minutes.

Sunrise, sunset Saturday, February 18- 7:05 am. and 6:10 p.m. Sunday, February am. and 6:11 p.m. Temperatures Temperatures Indicate previous day's high Birmingham 49 44 .47 dr Miami Beach 80 73 cdy Bismarck 20 10 ody Midland-Odessa 57 26 dr Base 46 37 .04 ody Milwaukee 40 17 cdy Boston 44 29 cdy Mpls-StPaul 45 11 cdy BrownsvUa 56 58 ody Nashville 51 32 dr Buffalo 35 19 cdy New Orleans 53 51 1.66 cdy 37 19 cdy NewYorkCity 47 32 cdy Casper 46 29 dr 44 39 .32 dr Charteston.S C.

67 51 .01 cdy North Platte 70 20 dr 47 32 cdy Oklahoma City 55 23 dr CharWe.N.C. 45 42 .42 cdy Omaha 59 22 dr Cheyenne 50 30 dr Orlando 83 62 cdy Chicago 47 19 dr Philadelphia 47 34 cdy Cincinnati 45 24 cdy Phoenix 73 50 cdy Cleveland 43 19 cdy Pittsburgh 44 20 cdy CdumlM.S C. 60 47 1.35 ody Portland Maine 39 16 cdy Cdumbus.Oro 43 20 cdy PorUandOra. 55 41 1.01 Concord.N.H. 40 13 cdy Providence 47 30 cdy Dallas-Ft Worth 60 36 cdy Ralegh-Durham 47 39 .53 cdy Dayton 44 21 cdy FtaptOCrty 55 25 cdy Denver 60 36 dr Reno 58 28 dr Des Manes 53 19 dr Richmond 48 39 .07 dr Detroit 40 19 dr Sacramento 63 38 dr Duluth 29 01 .03 cdy St Louis 49 21 cdy El Paso 61 37 dr Salt Lake City 52 23 dr Evansville 48 27 dr San Antonio 66 43 cdy Fairbanks 06 -21 dr San Diego 70 56 dr Fargo 16 07 ody San Francisco 65 45 dr Flagstaff 50 20 cdy SanJuanPR.

85 71 .07 cdy Grand Rapids 38 15 dr Santa Fe 57 24 cdy Great Falls 53 11 dr StSteMarie 33 05 .01 dr Gresnsboro.NC. 45 40 .25 cdy Seattle 51 45 .49 Hartford Spgfld 44 22 cdy Shreveport 56 40 cdy Helena 54 26 ody Sioux Falls 45 23 cdy Honolulu 82 74 .08 cdy Spokane 46 34 .42 cdy Houston 63 48 .01 cdy Syracuse 34 21 cdy Indianapolis 43 21 cdy Tampa-SlPtrsbg 83 63 cdy Jackson.Miss. 46 43 .27 dr Topeka 56 17 dr Jacksonville 82 62 cdy Tucson 71 44 cdy Juneau 24 07 sn Tulsa 55 22 dr Kansas City 55 23 dr Washington.D.C. 48 33 .04 cdy Las Vegas 69 41 dr Wrttta 54 20 dr UtksRoc 52 31 dr Wities-Barre 42 22 cdy Los Angeles 76 57 dr Witmngton.Del. 46 30 cdy Louisville 46 29 dr National temperature extremes for Friday: Lubbock 58 20 dr High: 85 at Fort Myers and Naples, Fla.

Memphis 50 32 dr Low: 10 below zero at Grand Forks, NO. Joppa Elementary School Principal Mickey Tankersley stands in front of a gymnasium destroyed in a tornado Friday in Joppa, Ala. (AP Photo) refused an insanity plea and defended himself. The jury deliberated for 10 hours before returning its verdict at about 9:20 p.m. in a courtroom packed with survivors of the attack and families of the slain victims.

In addition to the murder counts, Ferguson was convicted of 22 counts of attempted murder, weapons possession and reckless endangerment. However, he was acquitted of 25 counts of civil rights violations, charging he targeted victims because of their race. Even Ferguson anticipated the guilty verdict; only the length of the deliberations surprised him, said his legal adviser, Alton Rose. "Guilty," said jury foreman Del-ton Dove when asked about the first murder count. He repeated it five times, once for each of the other victims shot to death aboard the 5:33 p.m.

train on Dec. 7, 1993, just outside New York City. Comatose man awakens and overnight low to 8 p.m. EST. HI Lo Pre Otlk Albany.N.Y.

39 19 cdy Albuquerque 59 30 cdy Amahio 62 21 dr Anchorage 20 01 dr AshevUle 50 49 .04 cdy Atlanta 55 51 .56 cdy Atlantic City 47 31 .02 cdy Austin 63 43 cdy Baltimore 50 35 .02 cdy Billings 59 38 dr Judge: 50 million smokers could join nicotine lawsuit By The Associated Press GREENBRAE, Calif. Julie Christine thought she was losing her son when he slipped into a coma after being hit by a car two weeks ago. Sitting next to his hospital sobbed and prepared for the worst. Then she felt his hand brush her hair. "I looked up and I said, "I love you," she said.

Stunned, she watched as he mouthed back, "I love you." "I define it as a miracle. That's my opinion as a mother," Christine said Thursday, recalling the moment Sunday night. Dr. Merrill Nisam, critical care director at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, said 20-year-old John Martin's emergence from the coma was "pleasantly fortu- By The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS Tobacco companies lost their bid Friday to limit claims in a lawsuit accusing them of covering up knowledge that nicotine is addictive and manipulating the drug in cigarettes to hook smokers. "Plaintiffs claim that defendants' acts reached throughout the nation to addict cigarette smokers and keep them addicted," U.S.

District Judge Okla Jones II wrote. He certified the claim as a class action law "This is an unprecedented application of the class action rules," the company said in a statement. The order includes as a class member virtually everyone who currently smokes and many former smokers." The nation's other tobacco giants are also named in the lawsuit: The American Tobacco Co. Brown Williamson Tobacco Phillip Morris Liggett Myers Loril-lard Tobacco and United States Tobacco and parent companies including RJR Nabisco Inc. suit so anyone who has ever had a doctor tell them to quit smoking can share if damages are awarded.

No doctor's note is required. Up to 50 million people would be eligible to join the lawsuit, which currently has only four plaintiffs, the judge and lawyers said. The tobacco companies want lawsuits against them tried separately. But plaintiffs' lawyers argue that very few people can afford to sue on their own. R.J.

Reynolds Tobacco Co. said it will appeal Jones' ruling. eQItmeBanbSe hints and ItJetnacrat 31)1 (USPS 630-240) Mandela: Won't be pushed around CAPE TOWN, South Africa President Nelson Mandela, facing growing discontent, opened Parliament on Friday with a warning that his government won't accept lawlessness as it struggles to fulfill its promise of a better life for poor blacks. Hit with demands from public workers for better pay, agitation by black police over lingering discrimination, white protests about black children in their schools and even criti was ready to compromise and accept a gradual Israeli troop withdrawal from West Bank towns, signaling an end to the months-long impasse in the Israel-PLO autonomy talks. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin delayed the West Bank withdrawal because he felt Arafat didn't do enough to foil attacks by Islamic extremists that have killed 56 Israelis since October.

On Friday, the Muslim militant group Hamas threatened reprisals against Palestinian security forces if more Hamas supporters were arrested in the Gaza Strip. itous, but it's not rare." Martin, who could stand up with assistance Thursday, faces months of rehabilitation. It probably will be at least a year before doctors know whether he will make a full recovery from his severe head injuries, Nisam said. Before his awakening, Martin had two brain operations, his medication had been withdrawn and a respirator had been shut off. That frightened his mother, although Nisam said Martin no longer needed the medication or respirator.

It was the second time in as many months that Christine had rushed to the side of an injured child. She flew to North Carolina when her 23-year-old daughter, Eileen, was injured in a car crash on Christmas Day. The young woman fully recovered. Congress calling for resignation of ABA president WASHINGTON (AP) Eighty-two Republican members of the House are calling for the immediate resignation of the American Bar Association's president for referring to some members of Congress as "reptilian bastards." In a letter to ABA President George Bushnell, a Detroit lawyer, the GOP members called his phrase "a reprehensible and unforgivable insult" to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other Republicans. At the ABA's national convention in Miami, Bushnell last week labeled as "reptilian bastards" those in Congress seeking to slash funding for the Legal Services which helps the poor with some legal problems.

Asked for comment Friday, Bushnell gave no indication that he would resign. He called the controversy regrettable, but said his "strong and passionate" remarks "were aimed only at those who would blithely eliminate or restrict funding for the Legal Services thereby denying millions of Americans the dignity of justice." "I regret that some in Congress have taken offense at my remarks. But it would be more unfortunate indeed inexcusable if millions are denied access to their system of cism from his estranged wife Winnie, Mandela sound Hamas, the leading opponent to tne israei-KLO peace accord, also claimed it has obtained antitank ed as it ne nad had enough. Mandela promised to resist unreasonable demands Dy public employees and crack down missiles and would tire tnem into jewisn settlements and army posts in five attacks. Published every morning by Sunbelt Newspapers, 21 1 Broughton.

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No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for omissions or errors occurring in advertisements, but correction will be made at no additional cost in the next issue following, when attention is directed to them. SUBSCRIPTION RATES By carrier, special Sunday carrier and mail Daily and Sunday on crime, ne said his 9-month-oid government is fighting "the forces of anarchy and chaos." mm Anglers go from bites to bytes ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland Newfoundland's bustling high-tech sector has enough prosperity to share with some fishermen forced Police raid cocaine lab BOGOTA, Colombia Police on burned a cocaine processing laboratory by the collapse of cod stocks to haul up their and more than half a ton of cocaine and cocaine nets, an industry spokesman says. Dennis Younq, spokesman for an organization 75 of women smokers say they can't quit By The Associated Press ATLANTA About three-quarters of women who smoke say they want to quit but can't, federal health officials said Thursday. In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study involving more than 7,000 female smokers, about 73 percent said they wanted to quit and 75 percent reported at least one sign of addiction.

Of those who said they had tried to stop smoking in the past year, 80 percent said they failed. Only 2.5 percent of all smokers successfully quit each year, and the rates are about the same for women and men. About 22 million of the nation's 48 million adult smokers are women. "Quitting smoking may be the most important thing women can do to improve their health," said Dr. Wanda Jones, acting director of the CDC's Office of Women's Health.

Unpublished figures from the CDC show that about three-quarters of male smokers say they want to quit but can't, according to Michael Eriksen, director of the CDC's office of smoking and health. paste that was discovered in Colombia's Amazon representing 80 of Newfoundland's 150 high-tech jungle. Anti-narcotics police troops, flown in by heli 1 Wk. $2.31 $1.85 IMo. 13 Wis.

26Wks, 52Wks. S10.00 $3000 $6000 $12000 Daily Only $8.00 $24.00 $4800 $96.00 Sunday Only $52.00 $4.35 $13.00 $26.00 $1.00 For mail subscribers outside Orangeburg. Cal houn and Bamberg Counties, please write or call for rates (803) 536-1812. companies, said fishermen could map the province's coast for sophisticated databases. "That type of thing is not new, not radical.

It's happening in other parts of the world," Young, head of the Newfoundland Alliance of Technical Industries, said Friday. Thousands of fishermen have been laid off and forced onto federal relief since 1992 because of problems in the once-prosperous sector harvesting bottom-dwelling ground-fish like cod. Fundamentalists terrorize attorney ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Militant Muslims rioted outside the Lahore High Court on Thursday to disrupt an appeal of a death sentence given a 14-year-oW Christian boy for allegedly insulting Islam. Chanting protesters in green turbans the color associated with Islam hurled abuse at defense attorney Asma Je-hangir, threatened violence against the two justices hearing the appeal and went on a rampage outside the court. "They smashed my car.

I escaped with my life," Ms. Je-hangir said in a telephone interview. Later, she left the country for Britain, to undergo treatment for a heart aliment copter, discovered 220 pounds of cocaine ready to be shipped out and another 990 pounds of cocaine paste ready to be processed. About 50 people who worked at the lab were at large, police said. Rioting closes schools GABORONE, Botswana The failure of police to catch the killers of a teen-age girl whose mutiliated body was found in November has prompted the worst unrest in Botswana in nearly three decades.

Stone-throwing crowds prevented motorists Friday from entering the central business district Riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse student demonstrators, and most entrances to the city were manned by police. PLO accepts gradual withdrawal JERUSALEM Yasser Arafat on Friday rejected an Israeli proposal that as a step toward expanding Palestinian self-rule he start running the West Bank town of Jenin while Israeli troops remain there. However, a senior Palestinian negotiator said the PLO Al carriers, dealers and of The Times and Democrat are independent contractors Ad vance payments for subscriptions may be made directly to The Times and Democrat as ogent. No esponsibility for odvonce payments Is assumed by the newspaper until the money Is received at the office. The Times and Democrat is a member of the Audit Bureau of CiraJotion..