The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 28

B4 THE BOSTON GLOBE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1998 GLOBE STAFF PHOTO GEORGE RIZER WLVI-TV was knocked off the air yesterday when a 42-ton Link Belt crane and its load, a 140-foot-hlgh radio tower, toppled over onto the station's Crane tips over, sending tower through Ch. 56 roof Crane collapses Nightly news show broadcast with help from rival station A crane and the radio tower it was lifting collapsed on the roof of the Channel 56 building yesterday, knocking the station off the air. A look at what witnesses say happened: roof. Radio tower 140-foot tall structure was being moved to concrete base. It was lifted to an angle approximately 70 degees from the ground before the difficulty began.

"ORRISSEY BLVD. S3 r' f- towerI-beam rig out of control and onto building. Mew England News Briefs 3 are injured in Route 3A crash Three people were seriously injured in an accident on Route 3A in Plymouth last night, fire officials said. Details were not immediately available, but officials said a pickup truck and a sports utility vehicle were involved in the crash, which occurred about 9:15 p.m. just south of the Plymouth Country Club.

A man traveling in the pickup truck and a man and a woman in the SUV were flown to Boston hospitals with injuries that are considered life-threatening, officials said. Lynn man jumps off boat, drowns A Lynn man drowned yesterday after he jumped off a boat into Chebacco Lake in Essex, police said. According to police Benjamin Campbell, 30, was underwater 12 to 15 minutes. He had jumped into 15 feet of water after telling friends with him that he was hot. When he did not surface, the friends at first thought he was playing a game.

Pulled later from the lake, he was pronounced dead at Beverly hospital about 5:30 p.m. Gas main leak forces evacuation A Big Dig backhoe accidentally hit a gas main near Dewey Square last night forcing police to evacuate a few dozen people from, three office high-rises. No one was hurt, said Steve MacDonald, a Fire Department spokesman. Boston Edison capped the leak soon after a Big Dig crew called 911, but the odor of gas lingered about an hour. The buildings evacuated were 175 and 176 Federal St.

and 99 High Man killed in dive to Andrea Doria NANTUCKET In the third time in three months, a diver exploring the wreck site of the Andrea Doria has died, Coast Guard officials said. A 32-year-old recreational diver from the charter dive boat Sea Inn surfaced unconscious near the site 46 miles south of Nantucket around 4:30 p.m. yesterday. Crew members administered CPR until Coast Guard rescuers could fly him to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. He was declared dead on arrival, Coast Guard officials said.

The man's name was not immediately released, but officials said he was from Brooklyn, N.Y. The Andrea Doria, an Italian liner that sank more than 40 years ago, is a popular site for experienced divers. Two others died recently, one last month and one in June. (AP) N.H. priest guilty of altar boy abuse DOVER, N.H.

After deliberating for less than six hours, a jury found a Farmington priest guilty yesterday of sexually assaulting two altar boys. The jury convicted the Rev. Roger Fortier on 16 counts of felonious sexual assault involving a now 14-year-old boy and an 18-year-old youth. Fortier, 51, of St. Peters Church, faces up to 20 years in prison on each countProsecutors argued that Fortier abused the older boy from May 1994 to September 1995 and molested the other from May to October 1997.

(AP) Tutor must testify on 1975 slaying BRIDGEPORT, Conn. A judge yesterday compelled the former tutor for two Kennedy nephews to testify about the unsolved 1975 slaying of a Greenwich teen. Under state law, the order to testify means Kenneth Littleton cannot be prosecuted for any crimes connected to the death of 15-year-old Martha Moxley, except perjury. Littleton was a 22-year-old live-in tutor to the Skakel family, who were neighbors of the Moxleys. Rushton Skakel, father of the brothers, is the brother of Ethel Kennedy, US Senator Robert F.

Kennedy's widow. Littleton and two of the Skakel children Thomas, then 17, and Michael, then 15 were identified as suspects in Moxley's Oct. 30, 1975, beating death. Authorities over the years have shifted their focus away from Littleton and toward the Skakel brothers. Littleton and the Skakels have denied any involvement in the killing.

(AP) I- "nJ rv, By Patrick Flaherty GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Competition took a backseat to cooperation last night as WLVI-TV (Channel 56) used part of WCVB-TVs (Channel 5) Need-ham studios to broadcast its 10 p.m. newscast after a crane collapse forced the station from its Dorchester building. As the start of "The 10 O'Clock News" neared last night and the final pieces of the set were put in place, employees scurried past a maze of computer wires and through a make-shift newsroom to prepare for the broadcast. In the end, the show did go on. Channel 56 spent a large portion of its newscast reporting on the crane collapse, including the first 12 minutes of the broadcast.

Steve Ratner, Channel 56 director of creative services, said of Newton. Neither Elaine officials nor representatives of the radio group would comment on the cause of the collapse. "We are just very fortunate no one was injured," Peter Smythe, the senior vice president of Greater Boston, said about four hours after the accident, which had become such a curiosity for passing motorists that as Smythe spoke, two drivers collided on Morrissey Boulevard. They were unhurt, but their cars needed to be towed away. While cranes sometimes snap a cable or rupture hydraulic systems, managers from two other crane companies said it was extremely rare to see a crane flip on its side.

"The simple jobs are always the ones that get you in trouble," said one contractor who requested anonymity. The operator of the Mark Equipment Link Belt was not identified and declined to be interviewed. Franco LaPietra, the chief engineer for WLVI-TV, said the contractor had used the 25-foot-long I beam By David Arnold GLOBE STAFF A Link Belt crane attempting to erect a 140-foot-high radio tower on Morrissey Boulevard yesterday toppled over and its load, which included a I-beam, crashed through the roof of WLVI-TV (Ch. 56). Although approximately 50 WLVI employees were in the building when the deluge of steel ripped an 8-foot hole in the ceiling of the television station's central hallway, no one including the crane operator was hurt.

The 42-ton crane was being used to erect a tower for a radio company moving into a building under renovation next to the TV station. "It was a miracle," said Robert Snell, a district chief for the Boston Fire Department. WLVI abruptly went off the air at 10:45 a.m. when falling steel created "the loudest thunderclap imaginable," one employee said. With the help of a sister station in New York City and fibre optic technology, WLVI was back on less than one hour later, although the station was broadcasting from a remote site.

WCVB-TV (Ch. 5) in Needham loaned studio facilities for WLVI's "The 10 O'Clock News" last night. The crash of steel ruptured gas and water lines and employees were ordered out of the building by fire and building officials who feared the roof might collapse. City inspectors expected to enter the building this morning after crews working through the night removed the crane boom, I beam, and steel tower from the roof. It was unknown last night how long the building would be closed.

The exact cause of the toppling was under investigation last night, but Snell said: "I think it's fair to say the load shifted while the operator was lifting it." A team from the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration also is investigating. The crane, rented from Mark Equipment of Stoughton, was erecting the pre-assembled tower for the Greater Boston Radio Group, which owns five local radio stations and is renovating a building for offices on Morrissey Boulevard. The chief contractor is Elaine Construction Co. telly calls HIRING Continued from Page Bl challenged the city's minority quota system for exam schools. While laws regarding racial preferences have been the target of lawsuits around the country, the challenges to such laws have not been as successful regarding employment as they have for school admissions, said Merita Hopkins, city corporation counsel.

Kelly, a foe of court-ordered busing in the 1970s, said he is not willing to concede that any member of a racial minority has ever suffered work-related discrimination in Boston. He invited anyone who feels they have been discriminated against on the basis of race in hiring and promotions within city police and fire departments to step forward. Conversely, he contends that there are many victims of court-enforced agreements that have been in effect since the 1970s that give minorities preferences over whites. "I'm sure over the years there LIFTING BEGINS Base for radio tower I-beam Used to support radio tower 0 CRANE COLLAPSES Crane Asthetowerl-beam rig begins to tip, it pulls the crane over onto its side. The crane operator climbs out the window and stands on the side of the cab as it rolls over.

He was not injured. SOURCE: Eyewitness accounts has heard her husband describe technical difficulties. When the I beam, crane boom, and radio tower crashed through the roof, he recalls uttering an expletive, to which his wife apparently responded: "Oh dear, did you just go off the air?" "Worse," Goodman responded. City building inspectors expect to resulted from settlements of discrimination claims filed by minority officers in the 1970s. "Even if we're out from under a court order we still feel a compelling interest to maintain diversity because of past discrimination and public safety responsibilities," Hopkins said.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he sees no end to the need for diversity on public safety forces. "We have to have that diversity; it's so important," said Menino, noting that the city has hired Vietnamese and other Asian police officers who better understand the language and culture of Asian city residents. "Is there a point and time where you could relax" preferences for minorities? Menino asked. "Probably some time, but now is not the time." Kelly took issue with the idea that police and fire forces need to be diverse.

"A good police officer can represent all of the people," he said. "If we follow that thinking, there would be no black police 'officers al hi a rjWj 5 Crane Dirt Radio Swings crashes the station was offered help by almost every media outlet in the area yesterday, including its 10 p.m. news competitors. "Every television station in the market offered us some type of help," he said. "There was a lot of cooperation." Ratner said they started setting up in Channel 5's studios about 4 p.m.

and began broadcasting regular programming about 7 p.m. As news copy was written in one room, employees down the hall munched on pizzas delivered to the temporary quarters. Paul LaCamera, Channel 5 general manager, said Channel 56 was putting together "a very humble, modest set to broadcast from" separate from the set Channel 5 uses. "I would hope that any Boston station would do the same for another station in a crisis like this," he said. as a temporary support for the radio tower to keep it from snapping as it was lifted upright.

Contractors familiar with tower assemblies said using a heavy I-beam to bolster the tower seems like overkill for the job. They said that lifting a tower upright can be done with a fraction of the weight by rigging cables from the crane along the tower or by using two cranes. Witnesses said the trouble started when the crane started lifting the radio tower and I beam rig. "It was like the operator knew he was in trouble as the whole thing began to swing out of control," said AJ. Pugliese, a worker at the site.

Pugliese said events appeared to unfold in slow motion. "As the rig began to tip, the operator jumped out of his window, stood on the side of the cab, and just rode it." At the moment of impact, Michael Goodman, an assistant chief engineer at WLVI, happened to be on the telephone with his wife Louise, who on more than one occasion Asian. The Fire Department has a work force that is at least 25 percent minority, said Steve MacDonald, a Fire Department spokesman. The department defines minority as black or Latino. "There has been tremendous progress in rank and file officers because of the court order," Yancey said.

"I don't think the Police Department would be as diverse as it is today without the court order." Yancey yesterday vowed to fight Kelly's proposal. Several other city councilors declined to comment until they had a chance to read Kelly's proposal, which is to be introduced at today's council meeting. Indeed, the City Council does not have the power to change the policies or end the federal consent agreement that binds the Fire Department. The city Police Department continues to honor its consent decree even though the agreement has ended, Hopkins gaid. The city's consent agreements MORRISSEY BLVD.

Li Vrt 55 GLOBE STAFF GRAPHICEO WIEDERER determine this morning if temporary shoring can make the station structurally safe enough to occupy again. WLVI officials said there was a small chance the 130 employees could be back at work in the station as early as tonight. "Of one thing, we're sure," said reporter Tim Estiloz. "We had this story first." fire forces lowed in South Boston" they could only patrol black neighborhoods. One of the sore points in the consent decrees with white applicants, Kelly said, is that the goal was to promote minorities until their percentage among city police and firefighters "equals the percentage of minorities in the city." In fact, the minority composition of Boston has increased since the consent agreements were written in the early 1970s.

In 1970, census figures show that whites made up 81.8 percent of the city population, but in 1995, whites made up 55.8 percent of the population. Continuing to honor the spirit of the consent agreements in a city with a changing complexion not only redresses past discrimination but averts future bias against minorities, Hopkins said. "Completing the police consent decree does not preclude us from responding to it so we're not back in a system where, there's discrimination," she said. for end to racial decrees on police, have been tens of thousands or at least thousands of white males who have been denied jobs as police officers or firefighters because of their race," Kelly said. Councilor at Large Stephen Murphy, who chairs the council committee on police and fire departs ments, said he supports the idea of taking a "second look at affirmative action policies." "There should be equal opportunity for everyone to pass the test," he said.

But City Councilor Charles C. Yancey of Dorchester said eliminating the federal court decrees would be inappropriate, noting that the Police Department has no minority captains. According to a police spokeswoman, the city has 21 police captains 20 white males and one white female. The ethnic breakdown of the Boston Police Department, as of February, was 68.6 percent white, 23.6 percent African-American, 6.3 percent Latino, and 1.4 percent.