Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 1

Inside Outside Michael Jordan closed out his NBA career with a loss Page 17 Business25 Entertainment15 Classified26-29 Fun Features30 Comics31 Lifestyles14 Deaths2 Sports17-24 Editorial4 Virginia Lottery10 Weather details Page 3 or on our Web site wwwjohnsoncitypresscom gOLr ''jersssr-- 1 Sa 4-V -f wnnr i ne rsvrM wrt mivv mM tivm i Vol 83 NO 248 JOHNSON CITY TENNESSEE Daily 50c Sunday $125 THURSDAY APRIL 17 2003 Welcome sight Funding for roads reduced Phillips says DOS morale high despite cutbacks a rumor that employees will have to pay up to 100 percent of the health care I heard that NASHVILLE (AP) Gov Phil Bredesen on Wednesday announced his first new state road projects which includes 50 highways bridges bypasses and interchanges that will be funded with $225 million That is about $175 million less than in previous years in part because Bredesen required the Department of Transportation to cut 9 percent from its budget to help avoid a government deficit next year The department funded by dedicated taxes traditionally has avoided budget cuts Department officials also decided to use about $100 million catching up on three years of expenses for overruns and project extensions rather than start any new major projects think now is a good time to retrench" Commissioner Gerald Nicely said TDOT Chief Engineer Bill Moore said the overruns are not from contractors spending too much but typically changes in the scope or projected cost of a project over time Nicely said the move is in keeping with the intention to account for all state government dollars Nicely briefly presented the list to members of the House and Senate Transportation committees saying there obviously many projects we include but this was our best judgment of how to proceed" House Transportation Committee Chairman Philip Pinion D-Union City said the highway improvements in 40 of 95 counties appeared to be spread across the state With the money available to the department done an excellent Please see ROADS Page 8 The addition of a welcome center will give motorists another location to stop at in Kingsport Kingsport gets OK for highway center leave Kingsport as US Highway 23 going into Virginia The welcome center Fleming said will be for those drivers coming south out of Virginia along this route heading into Tennessee and then toward 1-26 Though the traffic heading along both 1-126 and 1-26 through is going north or south this interstate is considered an east-west route Thus southbound traffic will be stopping at the east-bound center Where along US 23 the Please see CENTER Page 8 By James Watson Press Stall Writer Despite no pay increases and expected jumps in health insurance premiums Commissioner of Safety Fred Phillips said morale among his employees is high and things are still moving forward With the state in the midst of a funding crunch due to TennCare most state departments are cutting budgets by 9 percent Phillips said not only has that resulted in some job losses in his department it also means less spending power for the employees that remain troopers have a pay plan that was funded by the General Assembly but is not going to be implemented this Phillips said Wednesday after meeting with Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers in Fall Branch The commissioner said he also expects health insurance costs to go up for employees though not as high as some fear a rumor that employees will have to pay up to 100 percent of the health Phillips said heard With cuts to the Department of Safety totaling more than $99 million local officers have accepted the decreases THP Capt Don Bradley said troopers understand the budget is something we have to live Bradley said ups and downs but the doing an excellent job with what he has to deal But not all bad news for the troopers or his department Phillips said He still plans on pushing ahead with a program to install a statewide computer system to handle vehicle license and viewed with evident disgust gold sink fixtures a gold toilet paper dispenser and a toilet bowl brush inside one of the bathrooms the oil for palace he said a biting reference to the UN program that allowed Iraqi oil exports on condition that the proceeds went to food for civilians visit to Baghdad from his command headquarters in Qatar came less than two weeks after Army tanks first rumbled through the capital and one week after Iraqis aided by Marines 1 toppled a statue of Saddam in a downtown city square signaling the end of his regime Saddam twice was the target of US bombs dropped on places where he was believed to be but his whereabouts are unknown US officials say they know if he is dead or alive fact of the matter is though he is gone Whether he is dead or alive he is Secretary of State Colin Powell told Associated Press Television News is no longer in the lives of the people of Slowly cities across Iraq were struggling to shed the effects of the war After days of looting and mayhem in Baghdad Americans i armed newly recruited Iraqi I Please see BRIEFING Page 8 Bush gets briefing from palace By James Watson Press Stall Writer KINGSPORT -The east-bound welcome center for Interstate 26 actually going to be on the highway but is planned to be located here around US Highway 23 state officials announced Wednesday several years the city has been requesting the consideration of a welcome center for Kingsport Assistant City Manager for Development Jeff Fleming said Wednesday When the system opens cu through Asheville in July 1-26 will start in Charleston SC and end at the intersection with Interstate 81 between Johnson City and Kingsport Jeff Fleming The roadway north of 1-81 will be designated Interstate 126 representing a finger route of the interstate system This road will blamed the Americans but the circumstances were cloudy Gen Tommy Franks in command of more than 200000 troops in the war zone ht up a cigar as he toured the palace just outside Baghdad that had been Fred Phillips safety commlsisoner titling There is a backlog of more than 50000 of these requests to be processed in Nashville and Phillips said he has seen it as high as 300000 in past year The new system would put the responsibility for processing these requests in hands of local county clerks who would have a turn around of days not the weeks experienced in Nashville The commissioner has also been forced to cut back on license administrative personnel but is making an effort to get residents to renew licenses on the Internet or through the mail yourself some time in line and help us Phillips said Renewal notifications are sent to those whose license is about to expire with directions on both options Along with these plans Phillips said he has also expanded a school bus inspection team by six people to bring the total up to 16 inspectors These must approve each Please see MORALE Page 8 University to welcome Bredesen to graduation By Sam Watson Press Education Writer Despite cutting the higher education budget Gov Phil Bredesen should be a welcome visitor to East Tennessee State University when he delivers his first commencement address as governor May 3 Phil Bredesen ETSU President Paul Stanton said Wednesday think everybody on campus appreciates what having to Stanton said of the call to slash 9 percent from 2003-04 higher education allocations amounting to $748 million in losses at ETSU think be warmly received by the Stanton said he felt sure the governor would mention the budget issues in his address although Bredesen had not related the topic or contents of Please see BREDESEN Page 8 Deaths JOHNSON CITY Mrs Anna "Ann" Martin James Stegall BUTLER JL Lowe DUBLIN Ga Mrs Consawillo "Connie" Billings ELIZABETHTON Mack Roller GLEN BURNIE Md Denver Forrester JONESBOROUGH Avery Harrison KINGSPORT Carol Jones James Rhoton NEWPORT NEWS Va Polly Ramsey Gold fixtures leave general unimpressed By The Associated Press The top commander of US forces in Iraq briefed President Buuh on the war from inside one of Saddam ornate palaces on Wednesday underscoring the death of the old regime At home the administration reduced the terrorist threat a notch from orange to yellow Bush urged the United Nations to lift economic sanctions against Iraq saying the country had been liberated by US-led forces and tyrants have now been put on notice" he added Four weeks after the war began American troops in Baghdad raided the home of the mastermind of biological weapons laboratory and discovered a recently abandoned terrorist training camp operated by Palestinians and the Iraqi government Army forces exchanged fire with a small number of die-hard paramilitary fighters north of Baghdad then took out two sur- Army Spc Shoshana Johnson is carried on a stretcher Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany on Wednesday face-to-air missile systems and three anti-aircraft guns left over from military Iraqis in Mosul said three people were killed and at least 11 wounded when shooting erupted for the second straight day Iraqis AP Photo to an ambulance at the part of realm Franks and other senior officers sat in plush green chairs with gold wood trim for the briefing with Bush in Washington held over a secure videoconference linkup Earlier the four-star general rulers of their nation can quickly restore basic services bring law and order to their cities and stop shooting their people Basra will On Mosul trying Iraqis and Brig Command After Marines seven On Many Iraqis see Americans as new oppressors British are here to and liberate Iraq we But if they come to fight them to the Emad Fadil Basra worker if they come to occupy Iraq we fight them to the end like the Tuesday a crowd in the northern city of allegedly attacked a group of Marines to take over a government building threw rocks hit the Marines with fists elbows and spat at them according to Gen Vincent Brooks at US Central in Doha Qatar reporting incoming fire the opened fire on the crowd killing people he said Wednesday another shooting in Mosul killed three people and wounded at least 11 including several who said American troops fired at them from rooftops A Marine sergeant near the scene Please see NEW Page 8 BAGHDAD Iraq (AP) Just days ago US troops were cheered and kissed as they destroyed the symbols of Saddam regime Today after a week of chaos a whole different story After looters ran wild American forces shot civilians and the lack of basic services spread misery across the land many Iraqis turned their anger away from Saddam Hussein and toward what they saw as their new oppressor: the United States of America are aggressors" wheezed Ali Ahmed 17 lying in a hospital bed as a tube drained fluid from his lungs destroyed us They put us in war and let us sleep They just raided Ahmed said he was shot in the back by an American bullet Friday as he left his home to purchase bread for his breakfast A suicide bomber attacked US troops up the street and Ahmed accused the Americans of responding with indiscriminate i fire US troops rolled across the deserts of Iraq expecting to find people dancing in the streets and cheering their arrival There was some of that But there was also anger Many Iraqis say that could subside quickly if the Americans now de facto 4 I Americans and destroy the regime welcome them occupy Iraq we will end like the Others say they need thing: leave Americans and British are here to destroy the regime and liberate Iraq we welcome said Emad Fadil a 26-year-old worker in the southern city of do one more.