The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 9

he Commercial Appeal SCNPM HOWARD 150th Year No 49 5 Sections Memphis Tennessee Friday Morning February 3 1989 TN EDITION Pit bull roundup By Richard Gardner ts Reform by Ark House on income tax Key victory for Clinton Senate votes against hike in salaries House still budge program to be considered by the legislature Passage of the bill was considered necessary if the The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times By Jerry Huston Staff Reporter LITTLE ROCK Gov Bill Clinton won the first major victory for his tax program Thursday when the Arkansas House approved his income tax reform bill After an emotional 45-minute debate Thursday afternoon the House voted 75-19 to pass the measure which would remove an estimated 265000 low-income Arkansans from the state's income tax rolls That looked like a landslide but was right on the edge The tax issue needed to get exactly 75 votes three-quarters of the total membership Under the tax reform bill individuals who earn less than S5000 a year couples earning less than $9000 a year and families of four earning less than $13000 a year would be exempt from paying state taxes The measure was the first portion of Clinton's omnibus tax EP A wants city to toughen tests Memphis police officer Joe Hoing (left) and Memphis Animal Shelter officer Esso Jefferson hold a pit bull at bay near a vacant house in the 1500 block of Miller Two pit bulls were captured Thursday one of them bearing gashes on its shoulders and legs Even with its injuries police said the dog led officers on a chase and tried to bite its captors WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday night voted to reject a proposed 50 percent congressional pay raise But House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Texas) said the House would let the increase take effect next week then vote to reduce it to decent raise" of 30 percent Wright's plan however was not expected to muster sufficient support in either the House or Senate The Senate voted 95-5 to reject the raise for Congress and other top federal officials and to change the law to eliminate current procedures that allow a pay increase to take effect without a vote Then it gave voice-vote approval to legislation to ban members from pocketing speaking fees or other honoraria should the pay raise take effect The Senate vote was lopsided but largely symbolic since both chambers must vote to block the raise before Wednesday or it will take effect automatically Both the Senate and House votes ore part of a carefully orchestrated plan designed by the congressional leadership to allow a majority of members to vote against the 50 percent pay increase while still reaping its rewards much as they did two years ago when their pay was increased by $12500 Five senators voted against the package to eliminate the Bosed pay increase to roll the pay raise if the deadline is missed by the House and to require votes on all future pay raises They were Sens Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) Spark Matsunaga (D-Hawaii) Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) Meanwhile in the House Wright said a majority" of lawmakers privately supported his plan for dodging a pre-deudline vote then voting a partial rollback of the raise along with a ban on honoraria Wright said a private survey showed 57 percent of House members oposing a pay-raise vote before the deadline and 54 percent instead favoring a vote to reduce the raise to 30 percent However the restrictive parliamentary procedure planned by Wright requires a two-thirds vote before the bill could be sent to the Senate The 50 percent raise would remain in effect unless both chambers agreed to cut it back Congressmen now earn $89500 The 50 percent raise would boost their salaries to $135000 the proposed rollback (or 30 percent raise) would raise salaries to $116350 A similar hike would be provided for fed eral judges and top executive-brunch olficials Tower vote is delayed to consider allegations WASHINGTON The Senate Armed Services Committee citing information" delayed vote Thursday on John Tower's nomination as Defense secretary Official sources in the investigation said more allegations involving drinking and Tower's relationships with women have surfaced Both subjects already have figured in the intensive committee probe into Tower's qualifications for the Pentagon post Sen Albert Gore Jr (D-Tenn) a member of the committee would not describe the latest allegations but told The Commercial Apeul Thursday night he did not think the latest charges would prove to Tower's confirmation Tower a onetime chairman the committee apjieared on clear path to confirmation after telling former colleagues in week of questioning that he had no alcohol problem and would not be swayed by past business ties with defense contractors Committee chairman Sam Please see TOWER Page A12 Elvis called unfit forUS stamp By Janies Brosnan Democrats poised to rise Brown says mg a proposed 1-cent sales tax increase to fund education The bill also doubles the current 10 percent child-care tax credit for Arkansas parents and expands the state's homestead property tax relief To recoup the estimated $166 million lost through the relief revisions the bill would estab-ish a 7 percent flat income tax rate on individuals and businesses that earn more than $100000 a year Waiting outside the House chambers a beaming Clinton thanked those who supported the bill and joyfully embraced Rep David Matthews (D-Low-ell) the sponsor very very happy It's al- Please see TAX Page A5 Senate authorizes Helena cultural center B3 most recent deadline set in that act Memphis still slightly ex ceeds atmospheric standards for carbon monoxide and ozone Carbon monoxide pollution is produced almost solely by vehicle engines Ozone pollution is created by chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons As a result of its failure to meet the Clean Air Act deadline the city technically could face federal sanctions such as loss of highway funds Stricter inspections could help the city reach compliance EPA officials said do have a fairly lax program and they do need to tighten said Thomas Hansen chief of mobile source planning at regional office in Atlanta The Memphis standards for vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are among the loosest in the country Hansen said Vehicles in the city can pass inspection if their exhaust emissions include no more than 21 percent carbon monoxide and if concentrations of hydrocarbons are not more than about 1900 parts per million However EPA recommends that vehicles built since 1981 release no more than 12 percent carbon monoxide and 220 parts per million hydrocarbons while levels for older Please see EPA Page A5 WMKW-TV is target for sale By David ITaum Staff Reporter MT Communications of Nashville has signed a letter of intent to buy WMKW-TV Channel 30 in Memphis from TVX Broadcast Group Inc of Virginia Beach Va for $7 million Channel 30 which broadcasts most Memphis State University basketball games is one of five commercial television stations in Memphis If the transaction goes through Morrie Beitch general manager at Channel 30 said he expects no major management or program changes and expects the new owners will attempt to keep MSU basketball The new owners plan to spend more money on promotion es dally on programs from the Fox Broadcasting Network Beitch said And they plan to upgrade the equipment at the station so it will become better at producing commercials Fox which provides Saturday and Sunday night programming will add Monday nights to its schedule Sept 11 Beitch said MT Communications owned by Michael Thompson of Nashville who also owns WCAY-TV in Nashville and WETO-TV in Greeneville Tenn Thompson could not reached for comment Thursday A contract for the purchase has not yet been signed Beitch Party leader hails South By Terry Keeter Staff Reporter JACKSON Miss Ron Brown who is black and Wilson Golden who is white got together here Thursday and viewed the future of the Democratic Party through rose-colored glasses Brown who will plow new ground as the first black to serve as national chairman of a major political party said it was no accident that he selected Mississippi for his first furrow "I came to the South to bring a message and that message is a clear one that I don't want to be a chairman who writes off this part of the he told about 75 Mississippi Democrats at the Radisson Walthall Hotel A Car pollution stirs concern By Tom Charlier Staff Reporter Federal environmental officials want Memphis to toughen its vehicle-inspection program because the city has some of the most lenient standards in the country on pollution from cars and trucks Currently vehicles can release up to 75 percent more carbon monoxide and more than nine times more smog-producing hydrocarbon compounds than recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency and still pass the local emissions-inspection program according to local and federal figures Local officials have until Feb 15 to respond to the EPA proposal for tighter standards The proposal follows an audit of the inspection program by the agency last year The federal move also comes amid expectations that Congress this year will force cities still in violation of Clean Air Act standards to take more forceful steps to control pollution More than a year after the League leader Bill White former all-star first baseman for St Louis will be named National League president the first black to head a major professional sports league in the United States Story on Page D1 INSIDE AppealCI-l BtrthsCS BusinessB4-7 Bygona DaysCS ClassifledDS-19 CoinicsC7 DatebookCS Deaths D20 LandersCB MovtesE4-7 PeopleC3 PuzztesCB SportsD1-6 The RecordC6 TVC4-5 ViewpolnlAB-7 of a a Washington Bureau WASHINGTON Elvis Presley doesn't deserve to be on a commemorative stamp because he was an influential lawmaker told the Postal Service Thursday Rep Ed Roybal (D-Calif) chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that approves postal subsidies said putting Elvis' likeness on a Ui stamp would send a message to the youth of this Postmaster General Anthony Frank said the Memphis singer's lifestyle will be considered in deciding whether an Elvis stamp should be issued But he noted the Postal Service previously issued a stamp honoring comedian Fields a notorious drinker Rep Don Sundquist (R-Tenn) and Pat Geiger leader of the Elvis stamp drive said Roybal exaggerated Elvis' drug problems and they would lobby to counter Roybal's influence And Rep Bill Alexander (D-Ark) inter- Please see ELVIS Page A5 CBS This Morning spotlights Elvis C4 WEATHER National Weather Service FOR MEMPHIS And Vicinity Rain today High in the North wind 10 mph Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain tonight Low in the lower 30s Sunrise 6:58 sunset 5:31 Partly cloudy Saturday High in the mid-30s THURSDAY'S REPORT High 74 low 47 Normal high 50 low 32 (Maps details on Page B8) in downtown Jackson With that Brown joined the crowd in some Mississippi catfish and some Democratic Party optimism optimism that has been sorely missed Democrats have not carried a single Southern state in the last two presidential elections and Michael Dukakis' meager 39 percent showing in Mississippi was among his worst The group which included Gov Ray Mabus former governor William Winter Atty Gen Mike Moore House Speaker Tim Ford (D-Tupelo) and a number of Democratic legislators met with Brown in the Beauregard Room named for Confederate Gen PGT Beauregard The hotel bears the name of Cary Walthall also a general in the army of the South "I want to be chairman of the party that represents the whole country" Brown said Please see BROWN Page A9 I program to offer low-cost home ownership to tenants who can afford it The Stricklands are among the first public housing tenants in Memphis to take part in the Bertha Wilbert Heights subdivision program Housing officials will cut the ribbon at 2:30 pm and throw open the doors on the family's new home there The aim of the subdivision project Is to free public housing Please see PAY Page A12 AP a coming true for the truly needy by develop ing affordable housing said Rodney Fauser deputy director of the housing authority The subdivision was devel oped by the housing authority with money from state and local governments There will be 48 houses for sale primarily to public housing tenants who pay relatively high rents some that approach $585 a month The subdivision is on a 73- Rail disaster Derailed railroad cars lie at the site where 14 runaway cars from a freight train collided with a locomotive Wednesday sparking a chemical explosion that cut power to 37000 people in Helena Mont The blast shattered windows and overturned automobiles The power outage in 29-degree-below-zero weather sent thousands of people to emergency shelters Story on Page A2 dream of home Doors open on new owner concept By Peggy McKenzie Staff Reporter Today Mr and Mrs James Strickland and their five children will awaken to a dream rather than from one Strickland family members who have been living in public housing for 13 years will move into their own home compliments of the Memphis Housing Copyright 1989 The Commercial Appeal QUOTE honor of America's new presi dent George Bush the groundhog stood tall and proud He spotted a thin short shadow (He) is returning to his burrow with a promise of a kinder and gentler Punxsutawney observer Page B8 1 Please see HOME Page A4 Please see WMKW Page A4.