The Sacramento Bee du lieu suivant : Sacramento, California • 20

A1 Friday September 26 1 997 FROM PAGE ONE The Sacramento Bee lewwBWswww frrWi TPWWWWWI 1 WiW wiywpw Papers discarded after calls i Gore aide says nance irregularities that that were completed those sheets we Asked if Gore him-1 self kept a copy of the sheets Mar? abeti said did not He would give them back to Peter (Knight) or put them in his Out'' box and we would discard Maggie Hickey a counsel with' the majority staff asked Marabef ti you keep any type of re- cord of the phone calls that were Marabeti replied Ginny Terzano secretary said Thursday that the record-keeping was the responsibility of the DNC relied on! the DNC and copies of completed! call sheets were returned to the DNC generally through likely cause Reno to extend the 30-day review to a preliminary inqui-ry office was able to come up with copies of call sheets in 46 cases because Peter Knight chief fund-raiser kept copies and was present at most but not all of the nearly dozen sessions when Gore phoned for contributions to the Democratic National Committee In a number of cases a source said attorneys had to rely on to determine whether Gore had solicited contributions from a particular person Officials said they could not be certain they have copies of all the must close it down or order a formal preliminary investigation Such an investigation would be the next step in the legal process Reno must follow before deciding whether to recommend appointment of an independent counsel attorneys had hoped that the Justice Department task force investigating the phone calls would concentrate on legal questions of whether a law barring fund-raising solicitations on federal property applies to the vice president or to calls made to people not on federal property But one Gore associate said Thursday that the absence of orderly record- made because there was no master list The absence of such a list could complicate the effort of Justice Department and congressional investigators who are trying to assemble all the information on phone calls In all some 125 individual call sheets were prepared for Gore by the Democratic National Committee Each call sheet contained the name of the potential donor professional position history of previous giving to the DNC and other personal background Some call sheets carried notes handwritten by Gore Heather Marabeti executive assistant said in a Sept 3 deposition to the Senate committee investigating campaign fi not establish the full extent of fund-raising calls at the end of a 30-day review period ordered by Attorney General Janet Reno Reno opened the review earlier this month to determine whether she should seek the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate White House calls Under the terms of the Independent Counsel Act Reno could be required at the end of the 30 days to order a 90-day preliminary investigation of the Gore calls if investigators conclude that critical information is missing or might be obtained through further inquiry The 30-day review period expires Oct 3 at which point Reno Vi A1 7 Vn v' -1 "4 By Bob Woodward Washington Post WASHINGTON The executive to Vice President A1 Gore has testified that she or her Assistants routinely discarded copy of the call sheets prepared for his telephone solicitations of potential campaign contributors after Gore talked to the potential donors Government officials said there was no suggestion the call sheets were disposed of improperly or discarded to conceal information from Justice Department investigators reviewing telephone But any missing documents could be important if the investigators determine they can rrJt Ayr A LS SF office was instructed to collect more in less time keeping in office would I struggle through jack-knifed big rigs and multi-car pileups In Imperial County agricultural officials estimated that the storm did $4 million in crop damage mostly to lettuce carrots broccoli and cauliflower That damage could increase as mold sets in Workers already were replacing the roof at New Temple School in south El Monte and it sprang several leaks as the rain came down School officials canceled classes today to repair the damage For Ventura surfer Jerrett McFarland the storm was a disappointment He said the surf was 3 to 5 feet in Ventura but it was a wave not as clean as surfers Still surfers could be spotted i all along the south coast despite Los Angeles County health warnings that runoff presents a health hazard for anyone entering the water during and after a storm In Yuma Ariz the city directly in path forecasters had expected the storm to dump a Associated Press photograph beachfront homes were severely damaged and 45 others sustained minor damage Nicole Dravigne 12 waits for help with sandbags in front of her Seal Beach home Three Nora: 228 accidents on A freeways 293 wrecks in San Diego area reported i call sheets or records of all calls CALIF Los Angeles VSeal Beach Imperial County Diegoj -Colorado River ARIZONA Yuma UNITED juana- STATES i JD Penasco 7 1 Tropical storm Nora Pacific Ocean MEXICO As of 2 pm EDT: Tropical storm warning -Moving: North at 28 mph Sustained winds: 65 mph Gusts at: 80 mph Cabo San 100 miios i Facts about Nora Los Angeles area: Power outages affect about 40000 customers in city another 85000 in surrounding counties Seal Beach: Massive waves cause severe damage to 3 homes minor damage to 45 Imperial County: $4 million damage to crops Yuma Ariz: 275 inches of rain (yearly average is 36 inches) Somerton Ariz: 100 people evacuated Puerto Penasco Mexico: 170 families staying in a local high school Bee graphic worth of rain The city of 60000 gets 36 inches of rain in an average year and it received about 275 inches from the storm Authorities had given out more than 300000 sandbags to residents who waited in lines up to 30 cars long lived many years in Florida and this is said Norm Lucken who retired to Yuma two months ago Authorities had ordered more than 100 people evacuated in a low-lying area of Somerton about 14 miles south of Yuma said American Red Cross spokeswoman Carol Miller About 50 people remained in a shelter in a Somerton school by afternoon she said Nora was expected to move inland today bringing rain to parts of Nevada and Colorado Bee staff writer Emily Bazar and Bee news services contributed to this report that because the people did their jobs what happened was what always happens with good television Viewers forgot about the play acting and got sucked into the story They became more involved with Dr Greene (Anthony Edwards) and the aftermath of his mugging with Dr Carter (Noah Wyle) mugging for the documentary crew and with the fact Ross and Hathaway kissed at the end of last season And in a way as entertaining as it was that made the hour a bit anti-climactic Unlike a live game or award show there was no moment of truth no win-or-lose point of built-up tension There was just engrossing drama that made viewers feel happy sad and wistful just like any other week of shows like But even more than handling a live show with grace deserves credit for that of the rarest achievements in Hollywood living up to the hype Continued from page A1 collectors their identities shrouded by voice distorters and a 9-foot-high barrier told Senate investigators that revenue agents sometimes browse tax records to check on ex-husbands neighbors coaches and potential boyfriends The collectors also told of unnecessary property auctions that gained the government only a small percentage of the real value of property seized from delinquent taxpayers They also described how IRS managers retaliate against employees who want to be honest IRS needs help It needs careful attention it cannot possibly provide said a 25-year veteran of the IRS Six IRS insiders testified at the final day of Senate Finance Committee hearings called to reveal abuses by some of the 102000 IRS employees Only senators and staff members were permitted to see the witnesses who spoke into microphones designed to hide their voices so that their bosses and co-workers could not identify them is shocking to sit here and listen to said Sen William Roth R-Del the committee chairman Dolan said the agency has taken steps to prevent unauthorized browsing through tax files And he said he would look into charges that the agency had intimidated taxpayers and its own employees Dolan who is serving as the top IRS official until the Senate confirms a Clinton nominee for the post said he would summon hundreds of IRS district directors and senior collections officials to Washington within 45 days to review allegations that the agency was violating rights Among his other proposals: Each of the 33 district directors will be required to spend a day each month listening to taxpayer complaints All 43 regional directors will immediately review all taxpayer complaints of poor IRS service from the past several months He will appoint a special project manager to oversee review of all other cases of taxpayer abuse uncovered by the Senate Finance Committee of how small a minority of employees may have misused their authority or judgment it is no less said Dolan is my responsibility to sound an alarm with the organization These kinds of instances erode confidence in the entire Witnesses said there was plenty to investigate have seen more violations of IRS procedures and policies than I can said one witness almost every instance IRS management supported the erroneous actions of the revenue Said another: have observed little or no accountability for misconduct mistakes andor errors whether innocent or intentional and seldom if ever does the IRS or the responsible employee ever apologize to the taxpayer for the errors committed by the Senators said they were stunned by the testimony accounts are absolutely appalling fearful and intimidated said Sen John Breaux D-La getting an inside look at the culture of the Internal Revenue said Sen Robert Kerrey D-Neb are not the ravings of individuals with a denial that the IRS uses Continued from page A1 gled to get to work along snarled freeways The California Highway Patrol reported 228 accidents on highways in the Los Angeles basin during the morning commute and 293 wrecks on San Diego area freeways before 4 pm Rain fell intermittently and subsided by midafternoon storm pretty much passed us National Weather Service meteorologist Vladimir Ryshko said It totally passed Northern California by except for a few clouds some isolated showers in the foothills and increased humidity said National Weather Service meteorologist Randy Hartley subtropical moisture made downtown Sacramento high temperature of 94 degrees feel even hotter than the day before when the mercury hit 101 he said Noontime humidity was 38 percent compared with 22 percent Wednesday Local temperatures will remain in the 90s into the week Associated Press photogragtv Acting IRS Commissioner MU chael Dolan told senators would investigate charges -the agency had Intimidated taxpay ers and its own workers i a quota system to push agents to- ward improper tax collections received skeptically by Roth wfflj presented a 1996 report from the San Francisco IRS office It said San Francisco agents were failing to reach reve-1 nue goals and noted they were dl- rected to bring in more money and spend less time doing it i The report noted that San Ftan- cisco agents working on audited individual tax returns were ing in only $771 an hour against goal of $1000 an hour The avetj age for the IRS Western region! was $980 an hour the report not ed general improvement tta the San Francisco map agers told their agents largd improvement can be made bjJ bringing down hours per Dolan said he would pressure on agents to prevent up warranted pursuit of taxpayer? by banning a practice where the dis trict offices are ranked based their collections One radical restructuring of the IRS suggested by experts at th( hearings and endorsed by sever-i al committee members woulc? split the agency into two parts: service agency that would collect tax returns and provide tax advice and an enforcement agency that would audit taxpayers and colled! delinquent taxes 1 The Los Angeles Times contrib -uted to this report Setting It Straight The 24th annual homes! tour of the Sacramento Old-' City Association will be from? 10 am to 4 pm Sunday Ari? item in the city edition ofi Neighbors on Thursday gave! an incorrect date In a Sept 10 obituary on- page B5 about the death of Robert Williams a fighter! pilot with the first all-Afri-1 can American US air squadron known as the Tuskegee Airmen the ciated Press incorrectly stat- ed that the Pentagon did allow African Americans in: the militapr until 1943 Afri-1 can Americans have always1 served in the US military? -The Army Air Corps first ad-! i mitted them in 1941 and the! Tuskegee Jjnit was format: soon after The group first saw combat in 1943 end but the mugginess should decrease today as Nora loses force and heads north and east Hartley said In Orange County storm waves during a pre-dawn high tide Thursday sent water rushing toward oceanfront homes Residents used sand from the beach to fill sandbags Then firefighters wading through knee-deep water used kayaks to ferry the sandbags to dozens of homes lining the beach Seal Beach city crews bulldozed a canal to divert the water back into the ocean and then created a seven-block-long 8-foot berm to protect homes from breakers up to 20 feet high Three beachfront homes were severely damaged and 45 others sustained minor damage as floodwater gushed through garages and patios Besides knocking out power to an estimated 40000 customers in Los Angeles and another 85000 customers in surrounding counties the storm caused a rush-hour crunch on many freeways that forced commuters to RICK KUSHMAN TV Columnist viewers eager to see if the gang could pull it off While the answer for the East Coast was yes the West had to wait until 10 pm to find out America had been hearing all week how nervous everyone was how mistakes were inevitable and how Clooney the practical joker in the cast was going to slip in the word the title of his new movie (He If there were mistakes from actors musicians or special effects experts viewers tell Because of the documentary device Kushman: Documentary context covered bobbles little things bobbles hesitations a cough looked normal The documentary was only one in a long list of contingency measures and cover-ups the producers had in their pockets It started with the tape of dress rehearsal that could have been used if say Los Angeles got destroyed by an earthquake There also were backup generators satellite links cameras crew and even scenes Cast members stood by in a room on stage ready to perform a self-contained backup scene if one was needed Maybe they were used maybe they Who could tell? There was also at least one that could have been lengthened or shortened in 10-second increments if the show ran off time And some of the hospital people blending into the background wearing scrubs were actually technical crew and stagehands trying to look like they belonged on camera The irony Thursday night was Continued from page A1 was explained away by the main plot theme: Viewers were watching a day in the emergency room through the lens of a documentary camera I And the episode was laced with witty reminders that the doings yvere both live for the characters and the actors George Clooney (Dr Ross) made faces behind an interview Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) spilled coffee (Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben) garbled a diagnosis and asked if She should start over I Viewers also got all the tension fchaos quick cuts smiles triage tears gurney sprints and multisyllabic medical terms that have tnade an emotional thrill ride and the hottest show on TV in its first three seasons What made this different was that the whole thing happened in one hour on Soundstage 11 at the Warner Bros Burbank studios -hot the normal eight days in the full glare of live cameras and 7.