El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 1

TEEN TALK 3D School scores INSURANCE SALESMAN -u )m Riverside 22 Odessa 12 i Andress 20 Franklin 2 Bel Air 28 49 i Del Alb. Del CUTS CD -II .1 II NEW LIBRARY OPENS BORDERLAND IB itxcrt snows focus ON YOUTH Insights Museum gets telescope McGwire, Sosa' -tied at 66 lt 11 LIVING ID SATURDAY SEPT. 26, 1998 90 62 SUN, CLOUDS COPYRIGHT 1998 A GANNETT NEWSPAPER 35 CENTS HURRICANE GEORGES: A PATH OF DESTRUCTION st ninin tJ ay ft fc. Candidates want to avoid gaffes VOxNf 1 .4 jui I LM fl LiJ 1 lei I Jack Kurtz El Paso Times Rick Perry, the GOP lieutenant governor candidate, stopped by Friday to see the UTEP theater that will house tonight's debate. Democrat John Sharp arrives in Paso today.

4 Dave Martin Associated Press ELECT10NM98 Lieutenant governor debate Brian Goss, left, George Wallace and Michael Mooney hold on to each other as they battle 90 mph winds along Houseboat Row in Key West, Fla. The storm is now gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico. By Gary Scharrer El Paso Times Republican Rick Perry and Democrat John Sharp have a common mission today when they meet at UTEP for what likely will be the only debate in their campaign for lieutenant Avoid the big blunder. Winning a debate is not as important as dodging the sort of grand gaffe that could dominate the final six weeks of the campaign, some Austin political experts said. "You never really win a debate, but you can certainly lose a debate," said Mark Sanders, a Republican political consultant.

Winning a political debate won't necessarily earn headlines, Sanders said: "If there is a clear loser, however, because someone gaffed or someone erred, then that becomes the news out of El Paso and that becomes the news for this critical race as we go into the home stretch." Better to be boring than to stick foot-in-mouth, he said: "The duller, the better. You want to play error-free baseball in a debate no mistakes. You don't have to hit the home run. You just can't afford an error." But the El Paso debate could produce some drama because there's no scheduled follow-up, said Bill Miller, a consultant who advices Republicans and Democrats. "Normally, when there's a succession of debates you're careful about what material you use because you don't want them to become accustomed to what you're going to be saying," Miller said.

"In this case, since that won't blows toward Gulf Coast Receptions will be at UTEP Student Union building 2A Debate Scorecard 2A Perry wants to back youth centers IB Georges Miami Herald MIAMI A maelstrom with a magnetic and sinister attraction to land, Hurricane Georges buzzsawed the Low JII'lJL I MISS. ALA. LA. ti A Position: 24.9 N. 82.9 ob.te Sharp Savannah" Moving: WNW at 14 mph ittaha Sustained winds: 105 mph asse GalVMtoA OfteaniVlp i i yvma gusis: 13 mpn Great debate What: Debate between candidates for lieu-- tenant governor, Rick Perry and John Sharp.

When: 5 p.m. today. The audience is asked to be seated by 4:45 p.m. Where: Wise Family Theater, UTEP Fox Fine Arts Center. Cost: Free, although tickets are required to attend.

Approximately 30 tickets should be available at the door. Television: The debate will be broadcast live on Channel 7-KVIA (cable Channel 6) and will be-available by satellite to stations across Texas. Channel 7 will join the debate in progress if ABC's college football coverage runs past 5 p.m. The broadcast will be repeated at 11 a.m. TLA flaV Tamp As of: Friday afternoon.

C3 Tropical storm warning "1 Hurricane warning 9 a.m. uiiu)rsO Projected path ft 200 miles 5 p.m. TodaWIx Hurricane watch Today )Snir AnRuWftAthAr Jnc U.K.. lUvJoy 'IWV It was quite another story in the Keys the islands connected by bridges. The hurricane's 105-mph winds and towering waves whipped and smashed these islands and the wet, shaken, brave and foolhardy people who defied orders and pleas to flee.

Georges inflicted structural damage to some homes and businesses, authorities said. The hurricane shifted some off their foundations, blew the roofs off others. Roiling seas battered docks and fractured boats. The storm surge the sudden rising of the tide swamped homes, businesses and occur, you can expect that they will put their best material out there. And they'll be going straight for the jugular.

"This is the signature race in the state this year and these two guys are in a very close race, and this is the only debate," Miller said. "This will be as important as any single moment in the whole campaign." The reporting of the debate can be more significant than the even itself, Miller and Sanders said. Please see Debate 2A er Keys and returned to sea Friday, nourishing itself for another attack. Next stop: the upper Gulf Coast, possibly Pensacola. Early reports spoke of no fatalities in the Keys, but they raised the specter of significant damage in some areas.

Power failures darkened almost the entire string of islands. At least 25,000 people were without water. In the Dominican Republic, the death toll was believe to Associated Press In Key West, sea water stood knee-high two blocks from the ocean. Some people paddled kayaks down historic Duval Street. Miami-Dade and Broward counties received a reprieve: No damaging wind, but black curtains of rain that rolled from ocean to Everglades.

be around 300 as post-Georges rescue efforts continued. In coastal western Florida, authorities imposed a curfew until 6 a.m. Sunday. More than 700 National Guard troops prepared to move into the area from Homestead; 200 reinforcements were en route from North Florida. Border Coalition wants federal reimbursements Undocumented juvenile immigrants live, learn at INS-sponsored center I cry -7-v I Victor Calzada El Paso Times ten to us," said El Paso County Commissioner Carlos Aguilar, who was named the Texas co-chairman of the border coalition.

Besides approving a charter for the lobbying organization, the coalition members said they will compile a comprehensive analysis of all the costs each county is paying to meet federal obligations. "Far too long, border county taxpayers have been picking up the bill for obligations that clearly are the federal government's," said conference organizer Ron Morriss, a supervisor from Santa Cruz County in Arizona. "The coalition's highest priority will be to work with our congressmen and senators to ensure that the federal government meets those Bv Mike Glenn El Paso Times One of the primary missions of the newly-formed U.S.Mexico Border County Coalition will be convincing the federal government to reimburse communities for the cost of jailing adult undocumented immigrants, members said Friday. After two days of negotiations in El Paso, elected representatives from 16 out of 24 county governments located along the U.S.Mexican border agreed to band together to address regional problems that other inland counties in their states may not face. "By combining our political resources, we can ensure that the decision makers in the federal government will lis that any complaints about civil rights violations should be filed.

Children housed in Casa El Paso are caught in limbo between their families and the promised land. The homes are havens where children, mostly Central Americans aged 14 to 17, receive schooling, counseling and recreation. A typical day may consist of several hours of schooling in English, computers, vocational skills and other traditional subjects, a couple of hours of recreation outside the home, psychological counseling, entertainment and, of course, three hearty meals. "There is lots to do inside here," said the dimpled 13-year-old, who has been detained for about two months. By Alison Gregor El Paso Times The children come alone, sometimes traveling three months straight on foot through unfamiliar lands, dependent on a money-hungry coyote to get them here, Sometimes their parents pay almost a lifetime's Wages to buy the trip to the United States, only to try to disown the children when they're taught.

I Arrested as criminals and treated accordingly, the children then get sent to Casa El Paso, a center set up td house a growing but indeterminate number of juvenile immigrants living in this country alone and unlawfully. Another home is to open in El Paso in October. Details on detained juveniles 2A "For me, everything is good in this house," a pint-size 13-year-old said. She alleged police pointed a gun at her when she was detained, and that she was handcuffed and subjected to intimidation under a dark overpass by federal agents. In this house, "they protect me," she said.

Lawyers Tor the Central American girl, who was 12 when she was captured, wouldn't allow her to give her real name or country, or give the place of her arrest, for fear of jeopardizing her legal defense against deportation. U.S. Border Patrol officials said they couldn't respond to her case without specifics, but Undocumented immigrants work on math lessons in Casa El Paso, a detention center operated by Southwest Key under contract with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. that is terrorizing his Hon-duran village. He taught catechism in Honduras.

He, like the 13-year-old, also came to the United States for educational opportunities. "I like it here because there are games, and I Please see Center 2A "I like the English classes. We play basketball or soccer every day at the gymnasium." "I've learned more here than in my country because I don't have to work here," said a 17-year-old boy who came to the United States to escape the gang intimidation INSIDE Low recruiting numbers force lawmakers to reconsider military draft Air quaSty OK High Business 10B Classified 1E Crossword 6D, 7C Deaths 2B, 23E Living 1D Movies 4D Opinion A kOK to water EVEN million is sufficient for now, though they suggested better pay, benefits and living conditions for the troops. After a House hearing on military readiness, a key defense lawmaker, GOP Rep. Stephen Buyer of Indiana, said, "A lot of young people for several years that reviving the draft might be necessary if attracting Americans to the military becomes too hard.

"The worst nightmare for a congressman is to have to vote for Selective Service. But there's a possibility that that's going to happen," Sisisky said. Male high school graduates benefits to a draft." Buyer, chairman of the House National Security subcommittee on military personnel, asked during the hearing, "Have we reached the point where we can no longer fill the ranks with the all-volunteer force?" Rep. Norman Sisisky, said he has been "preaching" Associated Press WASHINGTON Lawmakers concerned about filling the ranks of America's fighting forces raised the prospect Friday of renewing the draft. But military leaders said the all-volunter force of 1.4 Pollution Pollen still must register for the Selective Service, but the United States has not drafted the nation's youth into the military since the Vietnam War ended.

Some military branches are having trouble signing up recruits, military leaders told lawmakers it is too soon to consider renewing the draft, j. Southwest oo Printed on recycled newsprint using a soybean-based Ink A. I CONTAINS S0Y0IL are escaping tneir civic responsibilities. There are "40801.