The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 1

www.pantagraph.com FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2002 50 Cents GRAf ft rf-V ILLINOIS CONNECTING 1.1 JL 9 S5 Master Gardeners put theories Wliile Sox shut out Rangers 4-0, Konerko's hilling slreak reaches 12 games Sports -V to work in yard makeover Focus dO i jJ ASSOCIATED PRESS the forecast for more rain. Fifteen to 20 Indiana families had been forced from their" homes by flooding from the Wabash, White and Patoka rivers, said Joe Deal, emergency management director in Gibson County. 1 In Illinois, Gov. George Ryan declared the entire state a disaster area as a pre-emptive measure. Chris Tamminga of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said state workers were fighting rising water in about 15 locations.

Mason County Coroner Jerome Hurley said. High water is causing prob lems in all three states. Missouri Gov. Bob Holden declared a statewide emergency, which frees up state resources to help flood-damaged areas. State emergency officials said more than half the state's 114 counties reported flood damage.

Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon said flooding in central and southern Indiana could reach record levels. He activated the National Guard and ordered other precautions because of in the Midwest. The forecast called for 1 to 3 inches of rain through Friday With the rain heading east, residents in flooded areas of Illinois and Indiana also were on edge. So far this month, flooding has been blamed for eight deaths, all in Missouri.

It contributed to a boy's drowning Thursday in Illinois. Christian Turner, 8, apparently panicked when a boat where he was playing drifted into a flooded tributary of the swollen Illinois River. They boy jumped out of the boat and drowned, I Few new problems for McLean County, area I Central Illinois expecting additional rainfall Page A3 backed- up through a normally shallow creek and turned part of downtown into a lake. Some, like Runnels, sandbagged. Others, like a rental shop just down the road, moved everything.

Three days of dry weather ended Thursday with more rain CRYSTAL CITY, Mo. Joe Runnels flicked ashes from his cigarette into a puddle, looked to the sky and winced as more rain bounced off his face. "We've done everything we can," said Runnels, whose Etched in Flesh tattoo parlor was surrounded by sandbags piled 3 feet high. "In a situation like this, what can you do? You're at the mercy of it all." Merchants in this St. Louis-area community of 4,000 got ready for more misery as the flooding Mississippi River Rice defends decision for no warning --vw, Fewer teens are smoking By Paul Swlech HEALTH EDITOR BLOOMINGTON McLean County data reflects the nationwide drop in smoking among high school students.

The county's top public health official and a high school student involved in an anti-smoking campaign applauded the news but said it's too early to celebrate. Bob Keller, director of the McLean County Health Department, said it will be at least a couple of years before health officials know whether the declines are "a blip on the radar screen" or the start of a long-term decline in cigarette smoking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 28.5 percent of high school students surveyed in 2001 had smoked a cigarette in the previous month. Five years earlier, the number was 36.4 percent. The rate is the lowest since 1991.

CDC credited higher cigarette taxes and school-based, anti-smoking programs. In McLean County between 1999 and 2001, the number of eighth-graders who smoked in the previous 30 days dropped from 25.6 percent to 9.32 percent and the number of lOth-graders dropped from 35.29 percent to 30.88 percent. Eighth-graders who smoked in the previous year dropped from 33.17 percent to 13.35 percent, while lOth-graders who smoked dipped from 42.25 percent to 38.95 percent. Keller said those numbers may reflect some early success of anti-smoking programs in schools. The health department's Tar Wars program aimed at fourth-and fifth-graders began slowly in 1998 and has grown since then.

The department also sponsors a program in which high school students are trained to mentor younger students about dangers of smoking, and a smaller high school program. Programs so far have targeted children in intermediate grades because studies show that if people don't smoke by age 18, it's unlikely they will start, Keller said. The department hopes to increase its efforts among high school students because the question remains whether the smoking drop will be long-term. SEE SMOKING BACK PAGE ASSOCIATED PRE.SS WASHINGTON, D.C. Congressional Democrats demanded Thursday to be told what President Bush knew about terrorist threats before Sept.

11 as the White House and its GOP allies defended the president for not disclosing intelligence last August that Osama bin Laden wanted to hijack U.S. airplanes. "You would have risked shutting down the American civil aviation system with such generalized information," said National Security Adviser Con-doleezza Rice. "You would have to think five, six, seven times about that, very, very hard." With politically charged hearings looming, the White House scrambled to shield Bush from damage, and Democrats sought to exploit a potential crack in the president's record-setting popularity. Worried aides dispatched top advisers, including Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney, to public venues as the controversy mushroomed.

"What we have to do now is find out what the president what the White House knew about the events leading up to the events of 9-11, when they knew it and, most importantly, what was done about it," said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. I Federal regulators say airlines were warned of possible hijackings Page A14 Cheney called Democratic criticism "deeply disturbing" and warned foes to tread lightly. "They need to be very cautious and not seek political advantage by making incendiary comments," he said in a speech to New York conservatives. Rice said the intelligence, tucked in a l12-page CIA terrorism report given to Bush during an Aug. 6 briefing while on vacation in Texas, mentioned bin Laden's al-Qaida network and "hijacking in a traditional sense" not suicide hijackers slamming fuel-laden planes into American landmarks.

She said the administration learned of increased threats of terrorism in May, earlier than previously disclosed. The public was not informed of the threats, which Rice said were vague and uncorroborated. "The most important and most likely thing was that they would take over an airliner, holding passengers and demand the release of one of their operatives," Rice said of the report's reference to al-Qaida. SEE RICE BACK PAGE A i The PantaqraphLORI ANN COOK Lawrence Bivens and Lina Wombacher talked about the fund raiser for Bivens, a locker room supervisor at Bloomington Junior High School. Wombacher coordinates the work and careers program at the BJHSh 5 OUt eipini ZD Former Twin City man guilty of rape ily' member a iam INSIDE ABBY D3 CLASSIFIED C4 COMICS D6 CROSSWORD D4 ENTERTAINMENT D4 HOROSCOPE D3 LOTTERY A2 MOVIES D4 OBITUARIES All OPINION A16 STOCKS C3 "This whole time, I don't understand why this is happening -1 never did from the beginning." Erik Crompton convicted of rape "I think I've been truly blessed.

I'm just so thankful for the people in the school." Lawrence Bivens locker room supervisor By Steve Silverman PANTAGRAPH STAFF BLOOMINGTON When a woman was too drunk to walk home from a party last summer, her friends carried her back to her Twin City apartment, changed her clothes and put her in bed. A short time later, Erik Crompton subjected her to three different sex acts acts that the woman was unable to "knowingly consent" to because of her extreme intoxication, Associate Judge James Souk ruled Thursday. Souk convicted Crompton, 22, of Des Plaines, of three counts of criminal sexual assault. The former Normal man wept as the verdict was read, and friends and family members of both the victim and the defendant choked back tears. Sentencing is set for July 1.

Crompton faces a mandatory prison term of 12 to 45 years, Prosecutors bolstered their case by presenting evidence alleging Crompton sexually assaulted the victim's best friend about two hours after committing the crime of which he was Weather TODAY'S FORECAST Breezy, a few showers early High 52 Low 38 For complete weather information, see Today's Weather on the back page. Copyright 2002 The Pantograph A PULITZER NEWSPAPER whose class organized an ongoing bake sale. The cookies are sold throughout the school. "I felt happy that we could help out," said seventh-grader Victoria Kamara. "That is exactly how I want them to feel," explained Lewis.

"I want them to feel good about helping someone." Seventh-graders Ryan Marquardt, Alex Wade and Kelli Elsenpeter created and produced musical CDs with the help of teacher Lyn A'Hearn and her husband. The discs have raised $630. Earlier in the year, Kelli had written an essay about helping people through song. "I found that in my folder and it just clicked that I'd done what I wanted to do," she said. Eighth-grade art students are making and selling pho-tograms; sixth-graders are selling used books.

SEE BJHS BACK PAGE By Rebecca Loda PANTAGRAPH STAFF BLOOMINGTON As Lawrence Bivens talks about Bloomington Junior High School, his eyes well with tears and a smile crosses his face. "It's very overwhelming," says Bivens, a locker room supervisor at the school. "I think I've been truly blessed. I'm just so thankful for the people in the school." In less than a month, the school's students, teachers and staff have raised more than $3,200 for Bivens, who has chronic liver failure. The fund-raising goal of $5,000 will help Bivens obtain health insurance.

Students and teachers mobilized in late April when the news broke, and those involved say the response is remarkable. "The sense of community is very strong here among faculty, staff and students," convicted. No charges were filed in connection with the allegations involving the second woman, but prosecutors are expected to cite the incident in seeking a longer prison Crompton maintained his innocence during more than three hours of testimony Thursday. He said he had consensual sexual contact with both women, and is baffled by their allegations. "This whole time, I don't understand why this is happening I never did from the beginning," he said.

SEE RAPE BACK PAGE says Principal Sue Silvey, who has known Bivens since he started working at the school in 1994. One staff member at the school signed her entire paycheck over to the fund for Bivens, who still needs tests to determine further diagnosis and treatment. 'I want them to feel good' "We just kind of felt like this school is kind of our family," said special-education teacher Krystal Lewis, Illl 5 sections, 96 pages.