The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 1

On the road The secret life of the late newsman Charles Kuralt a 30-year affair with another woman AppealEI State of the city Mayor Herenton takes an hour to share his thoughts on schools annexation affirmative action the KKK and other subjects ViewpointB3 i i i 1 Copyright im The CommoroM AppMl WEATHERS Helping hate An East Memphis entrepreneur makes hats for cancer patients UvingFI Going to the dogs Southland Greyhound Park works to devise strategies that will bring back some of the crowds taken by the Tunica casinos SportsDI i i Scrub ths rain I hot and humid I B2 Warm and i tonight Low 74 A repeat Monday and a T-storm Tuesday Maybe DetallsC4 i hist 1 High I sticky On th World Wfd Web: httpywwwgommphlcom Appeal i i SCWm KTWAAD 159th Year No 179 10 Sections Memphis Tennessee Sunday June28 1998 FINAL $200 1-40 vs TtiE Park- Who Was Right? Unity of faith binds us Clinton tells China Christians Church visit targets religious freedom By Terence Hunt Tin Associated Press BEUING From the simple sanctuary of largest Protestant enur largest Protestant church President T- jfrrv 1 A' A vTv 1 a '--v -v V-h-4 t- 1 'r 5 s- v'- vvfc' v- 1 a -fc 4J Clinton preached a message of religious unity today to a nation where Christian leaders have been jailed or harassed by the Communist government believe that Chinese and Americans are brothers and sisters as children of the President told the congregation at Chongwen-men Church come here in that spirit Ji 1 'r rj-fl 1 t'-r-A s' 1 A Vf In a country where very attendance at church highlighted the' quest for religious freedom he said believe our faith calls upon rid of us to seek unity with people across the worl different races and backgrounds and The President spoke in a large sanctuary with walls and brown wooden floor and white plaster ceiling The squat gray building unmarked by any steeple is tucked at the rear of a hotel ig lot past a row of shanties Photographs by Leigh Daughtridge Parishioners said they hoped appe zovernment-sanctioned cnurch ance at the University of Memphis students Mandy Yow (left) and Stasi May come to Overton Park at least four times a week Yow la helping May study for her summer school course In abnormal psychology The main green space had been slated to accommodate an east-west expressway would make a difference that prayed with us the Chinese government will greatly relax its policies toward us Christians and our churches said Liu Suxing She complained that churches not sanctioned by the government where many Christians pre Overton WV fer to worship often are shut down The government there is freedom of religion but in By Wayne Risher Ths Commsrcial Appeal Kix vy -r AJ i i' reality not she said There was a brief disruption when a middle-aged woman unknown to the parishioners walked up the aisle toward the pew Some members of the congregation tried to grab her but she shook them off saying she wanted to see Clinton throw me out leave of my own she shouted She was escorted to the rear of the sanctuary and sat silently through the service Afterward she was allowed to see Clinton and told him she a charismatic Christian thanked- him for Ramps that lead nowhere stand In Midtown near Overton Park and Malvern If 1-40 had been built through the park as planned these ramps would be active Expressway proponents say the 1-40240 Interchange in Midtown Is Inadequate as evidenced by a 1988 propane tanker explosion that killed eight people Where families park their cars to visit the Memphis Zoo and city dwellers commune with an old-growth forest Alan Hanover sees a colossal failure Where Hanover sees a progress-blocking gap in the orderly flow of traffic and commerce Charles Newman sees a treasure preserved for the ages: a much-used park anchoring a vi-' brant neighborhood Both are looking at 342-acre Overton Park battleground for a' civic debate that still echoes 43 years after planners first proposed an expressway through one of the oldest parks 'Through six presidents and a Supreme Court coming to China and expressed hope that leaders would become Christians a White House official said dozens of Protestant Human rights groups say dozens of and Catholic leaders are imprisoned or held in Chinese labor camps for refusing to bow to and Chinese Presi- govemment control Clinton Please see CHINA Page A21 decision ithe fight raged to Kirby proposal recalls park case A17 Live coverage -shows China trusts Clinton carve a 300-foot-wide path through Over-ton Park to complete Interstate ties including Fox Meadows Golf Course and Lichterman Nature 40 through the heart of Memphis alledit Expressway supporters cal quits in the early 1980s trading in hopes of a direct freeway link to downtown for the promise of megabucks for construction of By Erik Eckholm Tlw New York Tbim Nows Service Center acquired by the city with $22 million in federal money paid for 26 acres of right-of-way in Overton Park in 1969 An intact Overton Park that has undergone major improve- ments to the Memphis Zoo Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the park itself On the negative side: Increased travel time for peo- tie driving through Memphis on pie stitute fund is expected to be spent on a section of Kirby be-: tween Messick and Quince Other effects as described by' citizens public officials planners and others familiar with the case include these positives: Cohesive Midtown neighbor-' hoods untouched by an express- way that would have thrown up a physical and psychological barrier between former neighbors An estimated $30 million in private reinvestment in housing in the Midtown corridor an area west of Overton Park where the former 1-40 right-of-way is being returned to single-family homes' Parks 'and recreation facili traffic jams and accidents The project also brought rarely acknowledged benefits: About $280 million in additional federal money for road and transit improvements came to the metro area under the Interstate Substitution program after the east-west expressway was withdrawn from the interstate system The federal funding required about $50 million in matching funds from city county' or state governments Interstate substitution funds have paid for projects from Non-connah Parkway to Germantown Parkway to parts of Kirby Parkway The last money from the sub- BEUING President Clinton handed leaders a gift simply by coming here giving them global respect despi of his China policy back ite the si ie 1-40 and commuters using the ex- out includes nterstate 40-240 Midtown interchange where eight people died after a propane tanker crashed in 1988 the abrupt end of Sam Cooper Boulevard originally designated as 1-40 and the 1-40240 East Memphis interchange site of regular rush-hour to get to and re ssway system work With surprise decision to televise an extended press conference and debate on human rights China may have returned the favor The live telecast allowed Ginton to make forceful state- ments on human NEWS ANALYSIS rights and Tibet Please see OVERTON Page A16 Armentrout exploded oil GCC scene then fizzled district enlarged to take in north' and south Memphis and the medical center area By Deborah Qubb Hm Commercial Appeal With the support and frequent of the business people on the five citizen boards ne involvement of The commission also faces an Internal Revenue Service inquiry stemming from Arr financial missteps On -Tuesday CCC accountants will carry to the IRS documents and reports regarding 25-month tenure as For two years Ed Armentrout fulfilled the faith Memphis leaders placed in him Brought here in 1996 by downtown business leaders and the city helped snag a new elemental ind Triple-A on downtown land His salesman- before a Chinese audience thereby addressing American criticism that he was appeasing a repressive government even as he pressed forward with his strategy of engaging the Chinese Though the basic differences between the United states and China are no secret here it was highly unusual for the Chinese to see anyone on television calling the 1989 killings on Tiananmen Square wrong or praising the integrity of the Dalai Lama Chinese news reports on touchy debates are invariably one-sided and brief as was the television coverage Saturday night on the encounter American officials were elated with the televised debate convinced it would help justify complex policy of engaging a country with fundamentally different views on freedom The live broadcast which must have been approved at the highest levels was a testament to the Chinese trust in Clinton who is viewed here as a statesman who is pursuing long-term interests with China than $609000 in salary tahd expenses in two years Board members also want to know how much the commission will owe in back taxes penalties and interest on some of that money Armentrout has repaid some expenses already declared improper such as $160 in parking tickets and $1449337 in relocation -costs he paid himself that included $2988 for renovation of his Harbor Town home But once the audit is complete the board will have to consider whether it will need to take ftirther and county mayors to reinvigorate the 21-year-old -Center City Com 4 ship also nailed a development deal for a national Grammy hall of fame in The Pyramid But in March the bubble burst By June Armentrout was forced to resign by some people who had been among his strongest supporters Now the Center City Commission with several major projects in development must find another aggressive effective CEO Ed Armentrout chief developer As they scurry to satisfy the IRS summons the Deloitte Touche accountants also are preparing an audit report for CCC board mem-' bers who want to know how Armentrout was able to draw more mission Armentrout was no mere civil servant As the president and chief executive officer he led what amounted to a publicly funded aggressive productive real estate planning and development firm He rebuilt the CCC stan from three to 17 and got the taxing action regarding Armentrout Officials with his previous in Ohio the Downtown Please see SUMMIT Page A21 Please see CCC Page A18 tr Yt it I I I I.