North County Times from Oceanside, California • 1

udgt sent to governor SACRAMENTO (AP) A no- bill, the Senate began debate on frills state budget that gives more nearly dozen budget-linked mea-money to prisons and takes it away sures. from welfare recipients and univer- The budget seeks to spread a sity students was approved by the chronic deficit over two years, cut-Senate late Monday and shipped to ting about $1.2 billion through next Gov. Pete Wilson. summer and nearly $420 million The upper house, in a rare the following year. Fourth of July action, approved the Virtually all senators were $58.7 billion document in a 27-11 unhappy with the budget, including vote, the bare majority required, those who voted for it.

Many ques-two days after the Assembly tioned the budget's assumption that approved the proposal. When the the federal government will give states federal spending is includ- California $3 6 billion over the next ed. the budget totals more than $86 tw'o years to pay for the impact of billion. illegal immigration. The Republican governor was But Sen.

Tim Leslie. R-Car-expected to sign the budget later nelian Bay. who carried the budget this w'eek after the Assembly acts on the Senate floor, said passage of on a number of budget-related the spending plan was necessary in bills Wilson said he would not sign order to keep the state operating, the budget until all the budget leg- To reject the budget would cre-islation reaches his desk. After approving the main budget See Budget, Page A-7 Five-year-old Elise Wittner enjoys a snack while taking a break from some water action at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas during a visit to the ocean with her family to celebrate the Fourth of July. See stories on holiday celebrations, Pages A-3, B-1.

ravel cost Oceanside $25,000 By Evan Dreyer Staff Writer OCEANSIDE Their offices may be located at 300 N. Hill St. But as anyone whos ever called or stopped by City Hall in person knows, city officials often arent there. Appointed administrators and elected leaders spend hours upon hours away from Oceanside at regional meetings, huddling with state officials in Sacramento and, once a year, testifying before Congress. Without question, traveling costs money.

Taxpayers spent $25,000 from December 1992 through the present on travel expenses for city leaders, according to a Blade-Citizen review of expense receipts and reimbursement claims. City Manager Tom Wilson, who reviews nearly all travel costs for top city officials, has no problems with the amount of money spent on travel. This is the cost of doing business, he said. We are not going to fare well, be it on a legislative issue or an economic issue, if we are not well-represented. The city has secured millions of dollars over the years for federal and state projects, largely, city officials say, because of personal appearances by Oceanside leaders.

Were not out there doing casual celebratory travel or shooting off to conventions just for convention purposes, Wilson said. Mayor Dick Lyon Since assuming office in December 1992, Lyon has claimed $3,640 in travel reimbursements, much of it for the 6,074 miles hes driven within Oceanside and to San Diego. He sits on several regional boards covering issues such as transportation and solid waste. The City Council last summer reduced the reimbursement rate of 51 cents per mile for top officials to 28 cents. Lyons expenses include $228 in January to fly to Utah for a tour of the East Carbon Development Co.

landfill and $325 for the 62nd Annual Conference of Mayors in Portland three months ago. The bill could have been a lot higher, though. Lyon stayed with family. He also kept his travel costs dow'n when in Washington, D.C., the past two springs testifying before congressional appropriation committees. This past April, when he, Councilwoman Colleen OHarra and Deputy City Manager Dana Whitson went to D.C., Lyons bill came to $573.

Whitson and OHarra cost taxpayers more than $900 each. Lyon got a discounted air fare of $287, compared to $500 rates for OHarra and Whitson. And the mayors lodging cost a total of $134.63 for four nights at the Navy Yards Visiting Flag Quarters, See Travel, Page A-7 Study: Rail susceptible to temblors paredness and response programs, said Vahak Petrossian, supervisor of the PUCs Legislative Task Force. This years study took on added significance after 29 cars of a Southern Pacific freight train derailed at the epicenter of the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake.

Thirteen cars spilled 2,000 gallons of sulfuric acid and 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel were released from a locomotive, the study stated. The next phase of the earthquake study involves meetings ith rail carriers and seismic experts in the next six to 12 months to determine if a refined and unified emergency response program is needed, Petrossian said. Among the rail carriers that the PUC will confer with is the newly created San Diego Northern Railway, an NCTD subsidiary that will operate a commuter-rail line connecting Oceanside and downtown San Diego. Though mindful of the danger quakes pose for railroads, SDNR spokesman Pete Aadland said the railway continually takes steps to make sure its track, bridges and trestles are structurally sound. Federal inspectors examine the rail line on a regular basis, and when an earthquake does strike, the route is shut down immediately, Aadland said.

They measure the width between the tracks and look for telltale things for trestle damage, he said. There have been no quake-related derailments or other major problems since NCTD purchased the rail line, and an eastern extension connecting Ocean-side and Escondido, from the Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe Railway Co. 1992, Aadland said. In fact, the most dangerous portion of the coastal route is a sharp curve in San Diego that could be prone to a derailment during a quake, Petrossian said. As an insurance policy, however, NCTD has adopted a written policy out- See Rail, Page A-7 By Tom Bradley Jr.

Staff Writer A state Public Utilities Commission study has determined that trains running along coastal rail lines are highly susceptible to earthquake-induced derailments. However, a North County Transit District official said the coastal rail line from San Onofre to San Diego is the subject of frequent safety inspections and could be safer than most rail routes in the event of a temblor. In its annual study, the PUC found that railroads differ in how they respond to quake emergencies and recommends further research to evaluate existing pre Military cutbacks put Clinton on the spot are compromising military readiness. Some lawmakers and many commanders say the Clinton administration is cutting too far, too fast, and spending much of what is left on weapons like the $2.4 billion Seawolf submarine instead of on training and pay raises for troops. Readiness and capability are good right now, but the cracks are beginning to show, said Sen.

John McCain, an Arizona Republican on the Armed Serv ices Committee who was a career Navy avoid using expensive batteries. Marines trek 17 miles to their training ranges to conserve truck fuel, tires and maintenance. The trade-off is that they spend one day hiking up and one day hiking back when they could be doing something else, but were trying to get a bigger bang for our dollar, said Scheferman, the regimental commander of the 5th Marines. As the Pentagon budget dwindles, a debate is raging over whether the cuts Military surveys show that fewer young men and women want to join the armed forces, but the trend is more pronounced among men. America's shrinking ranks are serving in more peacekeeping and humanitarian missions, from Iraq to Haiti, and divorce rates are nsing in some units whose troops are away from home two-thirds of the year or more.

To pay for training, many commanders are deferring maintenance on equipment See Clinton, Page A-7 New York Times CAMP PENDLETON At this sprawling Marine Corps base, which would send thousands of Marines to the Korean peninsula if war erupted there, Col. Jeff Scheferman is busy training troops on a no-frills budget. Marines practice shooting at homemade papier-mache dummies instead of costly cardboard targets. Officers run command-post drills outside their office windows and pretend to be in the field to Index Burns makes career out of prosecuting Accent D-1 Ann Landers D-2 Bridge D-2 Classifieds D-5 Comics D-4 Crossword D-6 Editonals-Letters B-6, B-7 Horoscope D-2 Movie Listings B-4 Nation A-3 North County B-1 Public Notices C-8 Sports C-1 StateRegion B-4 TV Listings D-2 Weather A-6 World A-4 By Stacy Finz Staff Writer SAN DIEGO Two years ago Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Bums sent a former car-dealership owner to prison for the rest of his life for murdering an Encinitas man.

And on Wednesday, Bums 40th birthday, the prosecutor spent the day at the home of the victims widow. He still receives flowers every Christmas from the family of a San Marcos woman whose ex-husband strangled her and slashed her throat Bums also put him away. Since working in Vista as a deputy dis trict attorney, Bums, who is hailed as one of the finest prosecutors in the county, has handled some of the highest-profile cases in local history. He has a gift of reducing complex situations to a straightforward story without sacrificing the troth, said Bums boss, U.S. Attorney Alan Bersin.

Thats the mark of a talented prosecutor. Larry is blessed in that way. And our office is blessed with Larry. After working six years as a deputy district attorney, Bums signed on at the U.S. attorneys office.

Recently Bersin promoted the once assistant to deputy U.S. attor- See Bums, Page A-7 Please recycle this newspaper (This newspaper uses recycled fibers) Panama to take Haitians PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) The government agreed Monday to accept as many as 10.000 refugees fleeing the political crisis in Haiti. The decision comes in response to a request by the United Nations, and the U.S. government has also asked Panama to help with the refugee crisis, said Vice Presidentelect Tomas Altamirano Duque. He did not say whether the U.S.

request was a factor in Panamas decision, or when Panama would start taking in refugees. It was not immediately known what type of screening procedures would be put in place. The Panamanian decision will take some of the heat off the United States, which has been inundated with asylum-seekers since it liberalized its policy on Haitian refugees last month. About 10,000 Haitians have been intercepted by the Coast Guard in the past 11 days, including 2.628 by late Monday. Critics say the exodus was set off by Clintons new policy, which permits Haitian boat people to make a case for political asylum, and by intensified economic sanctions to pressure military coup leaders to give up power.

White House sources said Clinton personally requested Panamas help in a telephone conversation with Outgoing President Guillermo Endara on Saturday night Staff Photo Scott Vartey Deputy U.S. Attorney Larty Bums opens a birthday card. Reach Us Experts mixed on Simpson evidence QrculabonCustomer Service 433-4441 Classified Advertising 967-2000 News-Advertising 433-7333 Soiana Beach, Del Mar 1-flOG-MY-BLADE (Tol Free Number 1-800439-9456) Get Results evidence are scheduled for today. The hearing is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. PDT.

Also pending before the preliminary hearing judge is a decision on what will become of a mysterious manila envelope containing possible evidence gathered by the defense and sealed under supervision of a court special master. Without eyewitnesses and the weapon used in the killings, the prosecution has been crafting a largely circumstantial case one for which evidence culled early on June 13 is especially valuable. Bloodstains from Simpsons Bronco, blood found on his driveway and in and around his house and a bloody glove like one found at the murder scene could yield important clues. But a favorable ruling on Shapiros motion could prevent the evidence from being examined in court. LOS ANGELES (AP) Prosecutors could still make a case against J.

Simpson without bloody evidence taken from his property and Ford Bronco, but would have to rely more on scientific tests, experts testimony and crime-scene clues, attorneys say. Its clear theyre developing other evidence, but certainly a major gaffe by the police which would result in the loss of the evidence, at Mr. Simpsons home is something that the prosecution can ill afford, said Myma Raeder, a professor of trial advocacy and evidence at Southwestern School of Law. But Raeder cautioned against drawing conclusions just two days into whats expected to be a one- to two-week preliminary hearing. The object of the hearing is to decide whether Simpson isfto be tried for murder in the killingsNhis former wife Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman, 25.

Defense attorney Robert Shapiro has asked Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy-Pow-ell to throw out 34 pieces of evidence he says were improperly taken from Simpsons property the day after the killings. Shapiro says police scaled a wall at Simpson's mansion without a warrant, and later obtained a warrant by misrepresenting circumstances. He contends police said Simpson had left unexpectedly on a flight to Chicago the night of the slayings, even though they knew Simpson had planned the trip. The law does allow police to enter a home or property without a warrant in some cases, for example, if they are pursuing a suspect or believe evidence will be destroyed; Arguments on Shapiros motion to suppress Deals on Wheels $29.95. Run a classified ad until your vehicle sells.

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