The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 1

a 04011W1nrIPtte' 'VIM! ontt too-too -to If on o--1 co 1042 Alailk 4140100i1140AitistieltatiffadIaa1M001 it '4 SPORTS DI 1 IPORTSDi ety 141 141 Kings miss buzzer shot lose heartbreaker to Houston miss buzzer shot lose heartbreaker to Houston Li'''JNnqs miss ouzzer snot lose nearmreaker to HOUSIOn WINE Yuletide cookies: 13 makers roll out their best FOOD WINE Yuletide cookies ulnae COOKIUS: 13 makers roll out their best I 0 1040t4 1 Ii ir 1 Oeif 4pA 1 he SzerNm ervl 4 1 err 411 Lir TB 4 lt I Innerrfitto -01 Eil CO 1988 THE SACRAMENTO BEE WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 21 1988 CO 1988 THE SACRAMENTO BEE WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2 1 1988 FOUNDED 1857 VOLUME 264 25(r1 I Now playing Us finds big farm loans loss Hap st 111s Cabinet sellection Pick for health chief backs abortion right $36 billion deficit at Farmers I Iome unit i By Nathaniel Nash New York Times By Leo Rennert Bee Washington Bureau Chief WASHINGTON President-elect George Bush and his aides facing a strong challenge from anti-abortion groups fought Tuesday to salvage the choice of Dr Louis Sullivan as the next secretary of health and human services Bush canceled plans to make new Cabinet announcements after Sullivan president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta set off a storm of opposition from anti-abortion groups when a newspaper quoted him as saying he favors a woman's right to an abortion Sullivan would be the first black in Bush's Cabinet Another black retired Lt Gen Julius Becton head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in line for appointment as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs Bush had scheduled an afternoon news conference to disclose more Cabinet selections but the session was abruptly canceled According to transition team sources the vice president planned to announce the Sullivan appointment and the selection of Chicago rapid-transit official Samuel Skinner as transportation secretary Sheila Tate Bush's press secretary said she was givent a go-ahead to announce the news conference by Craig Fuller co-director for the transition But Fuller callpd See SULLIVAN back page A24 0411 0 Oi fike-41" lo A w' 1' 2 pA loto An IP 0 illo -ip I '0 4:410 1 irik 0 IP 1 ilk 4 $4 -'i 0 0 I 4111 0 A 0 t- t--Co -404600 -0 -t 4 -t- 0 -0 -1' 410000 0 ei di Mir 1 fo go- sec 11 0 Ci 'i '')1 110 0 0 't -0 0 40 -1 V' oloo o1P-- 0 -oo-- o' s--s to db 411- '4144 4106 4' ur 'n 1 44- 0 sere sib 0 440 0 0 or leolo A 141' I- it 1100 0 '4 0 'qtr: 9 111 it 0 0 0 010i 9 40 gp dk II fib lov 7 40 11 lw 4 4014a 0 4 woo 41pdg 4 0 111110 111- AP 4 i41111 talk sitipi- -ill ell A' II 0 0 440 ilk II 4 'It 0 011-0 0 ---1 30:0 It 411 II 0111 fit O'llP 0 '-'1' I -11100 4 4 --s- 111 gli 2' At' -It -40 7 I 4 4 s'-' I 'I' 0 1 I 0 11' I 1 '44P 4r -I i 1' e's--I' 4 11- 46 -A:" c-- If 14 11 4 fir 4 4 ttl 2 '41 ri't A AN 4 1 4 4 1 -4 -N 4 to I 1 1 4 2 I I 740 1 i i P- 0 1 -4- -st 1 i it 1- 1- 4 1-14-4- 6 ti- i 4 4 i-- vt A 1st 4 4:144 1-2i' A 44 4 11 4 i 4 's: 4 i ot 'Ig't -4 1 '-'r it''' 4 1 4 -1-1 :1 vt Lii' nL i'- 1- -4- r- 4 't :4 '''4" 's 4-'1 i iik 't i'' 4 0'rt Z2wiviaiii Pe 4 04 7 3 i -2011'''" 'I 'L 4 44 4 -r' 4' -Jes i I' 4r T0 -3 Ls 'el' 4 '1' i' --if4 --('- I IV vf'l 0 'I "'5 4- 3 "1 4- i-2 2 kk 3 ---01-R'Ir-i tle '04' ''r 'f r' 4 i A A K- 1 4ik An'ir Ao' 4e(1t i 40 100- 1 f--i i 0-1i is ii 1 IPA '11 vF ''ri -4 1 1r 4 :5 Ir- --44 of 1 04 fAkqL Ai4i i 46 (11 1 140 i i i 't ir 0 :4 ''3' i 'AZ 1 4'4''-4--1'-4t" ff I 4'' j' re t4' 7 444 V'kt ri 1 1 ::11 44" l'' r4t-4 LAI 1' 01' lif V7i V-s 't IL '1 4 1 filati 1 't1 lib -N '4'2 1 74 1 4 Z'4- --1 I -w a f- -C ti 4' l'- 1 4' -7 --'4 r'r -'i 4' 1 e-11 isz 44- i ii '4 q-ia i 4' -t n-' 40 -rt '7 44 4- 11 0 1---- 4 --t1 1- i -'t fl bf I l' i l'''' AV 4- -4 4 l'' 4 'frit-')4 i-e or 7 ne--- 1 1 i -y 1 4: "-t 1 1 -4 P' 4c )' 14 1 A'''' i' e'' li) 4 -I 4' i' 11 0' 4 A 0 4 4 -4 4- 1 Ai If- -4 1 i 1- 1 v' i -4 7 1 ''P )t 4 4 4' 't i '44 f'0 4 -11 i 0 4 i -i4 4 -1 i' -J -4 1 7 0 i '1' log I 41! 'A 11" 1'''''' '4'11 l' -4 'I 1 )y 1- 0- A -I 1 44 -of' -7 t- K- A' 1 e- a' -f Jc 1 '--1r4 -4 -v 'i 2'''''-7- i 4- 1 c- fp'--'1 '4 i 44-: 41' r' i '1 i 14 4 1 7 4 -1 4 I 7 ---If WASHINGTON A government agency that makes loans to farmers has accumulated losses of at least $36 billion that it will not be able to i recover according to an audit by the I General Accounting Office The GAO said Tuesday it found that the financial condition of the Farmers Hc lie Administration had seriously deteriorated in recent years and that it would be "unable to meet its outstanding debt obligations without additional borrowings or congressional appropriations" The Farmers Home Administration was formed more than 40 years ago to provide low-interest loans to farmers The audit which was sent to Secretary of Agriculture Richard Lyng earlier this month was the first thorough examination of the financial condition of the $90 billion lending program It raised the possibility of yet another multibillion taxpayer bailout The audit was part of a program begun by the GAO the independent investigative arm of Congress to examine major lending programs of the federal government that have not been routinely scrutinized "We've known for a while that the problem is serious but this is the first real comprehensive look at it" a top aide to the Senate Agriculture Committee said "Congress started to address this problem last year and this report will continue to keep us focused on the issue" At the Agriculture Department Wilmer Mizell head of public affairs said the only person who could comment on the report was the acting administrator of Farmers Home La Verne Ausman Ausman could not be reached While the GAO findings mean that taxpayer subsidies for the farm lending program could sharply increase the direct impact on the budget deficit might be minimal to nil one senior Senate aide said Tuesday He noted that the $90 billion lending program has been financed by the Treasury and is already part of the national debt Yet the timing could hardly be worse for the Bush administration It comes when the government is beginning to recognize the pressure to approve the use of taxpayer money to bail out more than 500 insolvent savings and loan associations at an estimated cost of at least $50 billion Moreover news about the disaster at the Farmers Home Administration comes just a year after the Congress approved a $4 billion bailout package for the other major government farm-lending agency the $50 NY firm buys Channel 40 for $56 million By Joyce Terhaar Hee Staff Writer In the second sale of a Sacramento television station in two months the owner of KTXL Channel 40 said Tuesday it agreed to sell the station for more than $56 million to Renaissance Communications Corp of New York The owner BMA Corp of Kansas City Mo said It fnust sign final papers and obtain approval from the Federal Communications Commission before the sale is final BMA expects to run the station for three to six months while it waits for approval The sale of the independent UHF television station comes less than two months after Narragansett Capital Inc sold KOVR Channel 13 to Anchor Media Corp for $162 million Anchor Media is partly owned by the Robert Bass Group of Texas which has been investing heavily in the Central Valley Channel 40 would be the fourth station for Renaissance Communications a start-up company out of New York City that plans to buy a string of stations in the top 25 US markets according to Michael Fisher general manager for Channel 40 Fisher said Renaissance already has earned a reputa BeeDick Schmidt Visible from Interstate 80 at Donner Summit the elec- begun their struggle to keep a long stretch of 1-80 navtronic sign at Boreal Ridge ski resort Tuesday con- igable and free of chain controls Up to 3 feet of new firms what's falling all around it Ca crews have snow is expected in the Sierra Story on page Bl I fitt ill i 1 See CHANNEL back page A24 See FARM back page A24 I Every hour helps AIDS victim cope State workers give up vacation to keep stricken colleague on payroll By Ricci Graham Retail prices up only modestly in November Bee Staff Writer They ate giving (me) something more than time Phil Buchacher AIDS victim By Robert Hershey Jr New York Times 1 SAN FRANCISCO Life and time for Phil Buchacher are slowly being drained away by AIDS Yet time in another form has been given to Buchacher by his friends Now Buchacher a former California State Lottery employee who was disabled by AIDS in March can keep his S500-amonth apartment take in a movie now and then and pay for the powerful drugs prescribed to combat the debilitating virus The gift in the form of 939 hours given to Buchacher by fellow California Lottery employees has kept the former data opera ments they may have shared with family or friends "Without it I would have had to move out of my apartment get rid of my belongings and depend on friends to survive" Lottery workers used the catastrophic leave policy an obscure civil service reg tor on the payroll since the ravages of the virus forced him to quit his job in March The time ha made life with AIDS easier to cope with "They are giving something more than time" said Buchacher his body gaunt and weakened by the 10-month battle with AIDS "They are giving up the special mo INSIDE Max' I Robinson iti LT Ennomon hr': First black TV network 'i anchorman i I if dead at 49 11- Page C2 'Working Girl' saved by sarcastic jokes Joe Baltake Scene El Business Fl Classified Cl D12 Comics E8 Crosswords D18 E9 Editorials Be Jumble C4 Movies E7 Obituaries C2 Scene El Sports D1 Television E4 Weather B2 PUBS MOT Today: 2 5low 41 0tAlir Yesterda 1 1111Malowir high 50 See AIDS back page A24 Mysterious Marin killings leave police baffled WASHINGTON Despite widespread fears and scattered evidence of quickening inflation retail price increases remain moderate figures compiled by the Labor Department showed Tuesday The Consumer Price Index increased by 03 percent in November the eighth straight month in which the rise in this inflation gauge has varied scarcely at all The latest reading moreover showed that five of the index's seven principal components slowed their rate of Increase while the other two the heavily weighted housing and transportation sectors rose at the same modest rate as in October "We've had remarkable consistency" said Patrick Jackman a senior Labor Department specialist "And it doesn't look like there's anything that's going to kick it up" in the next few months Among the five metropolitan areas for which monthly data are published the biggest November changes were Philadelphia's increase of 06 percent and Chicago's decline of 05 percent Los Angeles' was up 01 percent San Francisco's was down by 01 percent and New York's rate eased by 02 percent bringing its 12-month increase to 45 percent On Friday the Labor Department reported that the index of producer prices for finished goods which tallies wholesale prices and tends to foretell inflation at the re tail level also rose in November by 03 percent At the same time however some analysts were disturbed by a Commqce Department report on Ttrsday See ECONOMY back page A24 cline of 05 perce Francisco's was rate eased by 02 to 45 percent On Friday the dex of producer wholesale prices tail level also ro! At the same ti turbed by a Corr 1 By Chris Bowman Bee Staff Writer suspect and a motive when the baby's biological mother sought custody of the child immediately after the killings But investigators said the woman Tracy Medeiros convinced them she was at work in the Boston area on the day of the shootings Dec 13 Police said the killings are not connected to drug dealings Nor is there evidence Of forced entry at the Novato home "An officer was able to push open the front door even though it was locked" Sib-bald said There was no sign that the Stephenses 1 See DEATHS back page Ai4 ers well-known in the area were found dead of multiple bullet wounds to their heads The killings occurred Just a few feet from the baby who was left unharmed in his crib Police said this is the most mysterious case and the first multiple slaying in the history of Novato a bedroom community of 50000 in the rolling oak-studded hills along Mann County's Highway 101 "We've had other somewhat confusing homicides but none that have gone on this long without a clue as to why" said Sgt Scott Sibbald of the Novat9 Police Department At one point police thought they had a i Tasia Stephens was lying on the bed in her nightgown the covers pulled up to her waist Her husband Bill was sitting on the edge of the king-size mattress barefooted and wearing a sweat shirt and shorts It was the couple's day off They were at home in the north San Francisco Bay community of Novato with their 8-month-old adopted son Travis and their golden retriever Vickie That is about all police have ben able to reconstruct of the crime scene 14 the week since the Stephenses small business own i 1 1.