The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 1

THE DAILY WESTERN COLORADOS CHRONICLE OF RECORD SINCE 1893 Vol. 106, No. 55 28 pages 35t newsstand GRAND JUNCTION. COLORADO JANUARY 13, 1999 Clinton team says Houses case is weak Charges detailed in brief overblown, Lockhart says fleas slow down Concerns about block schedule legitimate, say school officials By BOB DEANS Cox News Semce President pays Jones $850,000 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON President Clinton mailed a check for $850,000 to Paula Jones on Tuesday to settle her sexual harassment allegations, officially ending the sensational legal battle that cast his presidency into crisis In the week his Senate impeachment trial was to resume, the president drew about $375,000 from his and Hillary Rodham Clmtons per sonal funds and got the rest of the settlement, about $475,000, from an insurance policy, a White House official told The Associated Press "This ends it the check is being fedexed" to Bill McMillan, one of See PAYS, page 5A WASHINGTON President Clintons lawyers prepared to out line their impeachment defense in detail today, as his spokesman lambasted the legal brief speUmg out the charges against him, saying "it reads like a cheap mystery. With openmg arguments in Clintons Senate impeachment trial set to begin on Thursday, Clinton himself remained mum on the matter that threatens his office.

As he has for weeks, the president said nothing about the impeachment trial during the one public event he held a 15 minute speech on the environment before perhaps 100 environmental activists at the National Arboretum. Leading the charge was White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, who assailed the legal brief filed with the Senate on Monday by Clintons House accusers Lockhart said that in some cases, the 105-page document expressed the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice differently than the formal articles of impeachment the House approved last month The hallmark of a weak case is one where the charges are constant ly shifting, as they have here. Lock hart told reporters In order to try to strengthen a case that they have not to date effectively made on the law and the Constitution, the sands keep shifting Lockhart further charged that the House brief, filed with the Senate on behalf of the 13 House members elected to be the floor managers for 9 By TED TAYLOR The Daily Sentinel In the last School District 51 Board of Education meeting before a district committee is to in troduce a possible common high school schedule, only a handful of parents representing both sides chose to testify. The meeting room at the Basil T. Knight Staff Development Cen ter was packed, forcing a few people to spill into the hallway, but when the time for audience com ments came, only eight stood before the board to voice their opinions.

Before they spoke, Superinten dent George Stralace addressed the issue and agreed with what many parents throughout the district have been saying in informal schedule discussions "It is legitimate for people to have some concerns, he said, and I believe the communication through this could have been more effective But Straface said the timeline wouldn't change for the common schedule committee They are stiU being asked to come to the board with at least a rough draft of a See SCHOOL, page 5A DEAN HUMPHREYThe Daily Sentinel DEBBIE JACOBSON, FRONT, a Grand Junction High School parent, speaks out against the proposed common schedule for Distnct 51 high schools at Tuesday nights school board meeting. We need statistics to show us this is the way we need to solve the problems here in the Grand Valley, she said. the prosecution of impeachment charges against Clmton, was written more to excite the senses than to nail down a legal jiosition "The second hallmark of a weak See CASE, page 5A Gov. wees ttakes High court rejects states regulation of ballot initiatives By THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON The Supreme registered Colorado voters, that they States new chief executive says we can do better By C. PATRICK ClEARY The Daily Sentinel displayed for he had once been stopped from trying to improve on one of his old masterpieces, Owens said "I think most Coloradans would agree that the spirit of Colorado is the spirit of Picasso We can do better, even when we are improving our ow Colorado masterpiece There are those who say Ow ens has already improved on that through his appointments to the cabinet The nominees including four with ties to Grand Junction come from DENVER Tuesday was sworn as Colo rados 40th governor and the first Republican governor in 24 years Owens was joined by Lt Gov Joe Rogers and several other state-elected officials a ceremony under gray skies and a cool wmd on the west steps of the Capitol More than 1.000 people were on hand for the festivities "It is said that in his later years, (Pablo) Picasso was not allowed unattended through art galleries where his works were Bill Owens on THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AS MEMBERS OF THE COLOR GUARD PASS, Colorado Gov.

Bill Owens, right, and outgoing Gov. Roy Romer, left, look on during inauguration ceremonies at the state Capitol on Tuesday. See OWENS, page 5A wear badges identifying themselves by name and that sponsoring organisations employing paid petition circulators include in reports the name, address and compensation of each worker. The regulations were challenged by a Denver based organization, the American Constitutional Law Foundation, which promotes voter referendums as a form of direct democracy While examining each regulation separately. Justice Ginsburg said that in general they were not warranted by the state interests invoked to justify them, which she identified as "administrative efficiency, fraud detection and inform mg voters Justice Ginsburg said the Fust Amendments free speech guarantee required the court to be vigilant in guarding against undue hindrances to political conversations and the exchange of ideas Justice Ginsburg herself has been critical of the court 's 1976 decision in Buckley v.

Valeo, which in equating political spending with speech has blocked efforts to limit the flow of money in politics. In a campaign finance case three years ago, she joined a dissenting opinion by Jus tice John Paul Stevens. Jourt on Tuesday rebuffed Colo-ado's effort to regulate the process getting initiatives on the ballot, decision extolling the First unendment value of uninhibited, communication with voters The decision. 6-3 in most respects, lad possible implications for the ourts approach to political speech, he doctrine at the heart of the delate over campaign finance reform reiterating its long held view that wlitical messages should be deliv-ired free of government imposed ob-itacles. the court gave little comfort critics who have speculated that he justices might be willing to low er he level of First Amendment scruti ly'for campaign regulations jeneral.

Nor are the states that are uneasy about the use of jallot initiatives, the subject before die court on Tuesday, likely to get much help from the court curbing the igorous populist impulse that is forcing contentious social and political issues onto ballots grow mg numbers The Colorado regulations that Justice Ruth Bader Gtnsburgs majority opinion struck down on Tuesday included requirements that people who circulate petitions be Arrest made in slaughter of wild horses Lance Cpl Scott William Brendle, 22, as be mg held at Camp Pendleton, Calif, and Lance Cpl. Darien Thomas Brock, 21. was being held at Twentynme Palms east of Los Angeles, Storey County District Attorney Janet Hess said "Its sad but true. said Maj Lenny Rvan of Camp Pendleton Both are members of the 1st Marine Division Both were residents of the Reno area Washoe County Sheriff Richard Kirkland said Merlino was booked into the county jail on charges of grand larceny, grand theft and maiming, poisoning or killing another persons animal Arrest arrants on the same charges hich carry combined maximum penalties in excess of 10 years in prison have been issued for the two Marines being held Tuesday night at Marine Corps bases California By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RENO. Nev.

Police arrested a Reno construction worker Tuesday and planned to charge two Marines California as well the slaughter of 34 ild horses shot to death in Nevada with high powered rifles Anthony Jon Merlino, 21 was arrested at his work site in neighboring Sparks on Tuesday, rrr: Z3 1C IB Uc4m Sports Local Todays forecast Cloudy High: 40, Low 19 Complete forecast on 2A IB SB 7B 1C 38 a 5C ID St SB Sentinel Online v' www.gjsentinel.com Tiger boys, girls sweep Central in SWL action. City, county share expense in study of Grand Valley transportation. 953201 035.