The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 1

today's question yesterday's question Michelle Kwan: Do you think smoking should be banned Do you think It's Responses: 810 IS. "fl outside non-smoking buildings? Story Al fair to charge Yes: (909) 386-3888 No: (909) 386-3999 well-off senior cltl- flllVeS fOUlier The Dally Question Is an unscientific sampling of pub- I5 NO 1 lie opinion. If you have an idea for a question, call memcarer I 38 1 ChaiftDIOIl SKater (909) 384-9859 or fax your suggestion to (909) VlinmpiWII 0Sl 885-8741. Please call between 6 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

SPORTSC1 Good neighbors: The people who work to improve neighborhoods LIVINGEl SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SUNDAY August 10, 1997 S.B. Valley: Sunny Smog level: Unhealthful Metro Final Edition TV, f-, Article hv $CtfC Steven Church Sun Staff Writer IK Family struggles with loss i mji i jj res) res;) wsm or years, Redlands and Loma Linda "a-: residents have been it drinking water contaminated with low A hazardous chemical used to make rocket fuel has contaminated water supplies in Redlands and uiiim uiiua nsiui9 nan inmi ui inning ui mwr iw yaarsi lira ciivmiEai, utcbiiiuiaiaf can wnw.a i levels of a hazardous Friends talk about how Travis James and Wendy Witte are coping after their 2-year-old son was killed in a drive-by shooting in Hesperia. By Chuck Mueller Sun Staff Writer HESPERIA The father of Robert Xavier James could only stare at the sky. Days after the 2-year-old was killed in a senseless shooting on minor neann prooiems ana, in nign enougn aoses, a ratal Diooa aisoraer. chemical used to make rocket fuel.

Perchlorate I began seeping into 1 i A 1 1 1 IS 'i'i'i I ti VJt These wells supplying water to Redlands and '-it. Wells Loma Linda residents contain levels of perchlorate i 1 1 Norton TCE Plume t- and other pollutants. Listed for each well is the nrkhppri nHrr-hlnratfl Plume amount of perchlorate per billion parts of water LocKneea percniorate Plume M' and how much water it can produce. Lockheed TCE Plume LL. TcLftJ- Ui 1 Perchlorate: 20 parts per billion I 3 Perchlorate: 5 parts I 1 4 Perchlorate- VWMT jTJki-- I A I Output: 1.4 million gallons a day per billion 6.3 parts per V' I I ar-d Output: 3.6 million billion gWql I neerAve.

2E.v Slv K-l- 1 7 Sm Bernardino Ave) V' bJP 'U i--. I SlllrTM I ocol I Hesperia Main Street, Travis James was unable to conceal his grief. "He seemed totally dis-connected with this planet," said Wade Hoop-es, a former neighbor. 1 Robert some East Valley water supplies as long ago as the early 1960s. State regulators only discovered it in June, prompting a scramble for safe water.

Despite the contamination, Redlands and Loma Linda officials say they can deliver clean water this 5 Perchlorate: 8.7 parts per billion Output: 2.59 million gallons a day ui r- ,1 svl 1 1 1 1 vTiV 7 Perchlorate: 138 parts per billion Output: 5.47 million gallons a day. Off line 6 Perchlorate: 15.1 parts per billion Output: 2.3 million gallons a day 2 Perchlorate: 13 parts per billion Output: 2.9 million summer, when high demand gallons a day forces most cities to use all Consultants check water samples for contaminants. I I 1 i forces most cities to use all 1 I I available sources. But every I 'C V-, i State health officials this year set a provisional limit on perchlorate of'1 8 parts per billion (PPB) while studies determine the chemical's 'iihiefcitlrw iQOTa CiVrii long-term effects. Doctors knowxonsuming percholorate in water-above 39,00,0 parts per affectsyour Lo Uhda-resfcte'rits-haw been.lrinking low perchlorate perWn-tW J'SjC "He said he wished his little boy was still around, getting into things like he used to do." The youngster was shot in the head Aug.

1 while strapped in the back seat of his parents' Chrysler Imperial as they traveled down the desert road. The shooting has shaken this quiet community near the summit of Cajon Pass. "It's scary. These things happen in Los Angeles, not Hesperia," said another former neighbor, a mother of two who preferred that her name not be revealed. "We travel Main Street all the time, and never think twice about it.

We have faith in the Lord that all will be fine. But crime is becoming rampant up here." Detectives are still searching for two men responsible for Robert's death. At least 12 shots were fired from their blue mid-1980s Chevrolet Camaro as it passed and cut off Travis James as he tried to change lanes. James and the boy's mother, Wendy Witte, both seated in the front seat, escaped injury. So did Robert's 6-year-old sister, who sat in the back seat near her brother.

Investigators said the James family and the men in the Camaro did not know each other. "It appears to have been a random shooting," sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson said. The family was returning to an apartment from which they had been evicted to collect belongings. Boxes of clothing and toys and a washer and dryer remained stacked outside after the tragedy. James stopped by the four-unit, wood-stucco apartment complex in west Hesperia four days after the shooting to pick up a few things.

"The family was trying to arrange for the funeral," said Hoopes, 33, a student at Victor Valley College. "He was taking it hard and said his girlfriend was really taking it hard. I feel so sorry for them." James and Witte had been See FAMILY A2 SUN GRAPHICS SOURCE: Lockheed Martin California Department of Health Services, cities of Redlands and Loma Linda Amtrak's Southwest Chief derails; 14 hospitalized "We didn't get hurt, so we decided to help other people," said 15-year-old Geoff Boyd, of Troop 90 from Riverside. The boys were prompted by their training. "The Boy Scout motto is 'be prepared' be prepared for anything," said Jim Hohl, the leader of Troop 90.

"We just did whatever we had to do." About 20 Scouts and adult leaders from Troop 90 and Troop 703, also from Riverside, boarded the train Friday night in San Bernardino, said Hohl's wife. In a telephone interview from the family home near March Air See TRAINA2 miles northeast of Kingman and 80 miles southeast of Las Vegas. A flash flood had undermined the trestle, causing it to collapse when the train crossed, said Jim Sabourin, of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the railroad that owns the track. "We know for sure it was weather-related flooding," Sabourin said. Three Scout troops were aboard the train, and several passengers pointed to the boys as heroes who helped evacuate the derailed cars, provided first aid and comforted those too injured to move.

A train that picked up 20 Boy Scouts in San Bernardino derails in Arizona because of a flooded bridge. Sun Staff and Wire Reports KINGMAN, Ariz. An Am-trak train carrying 300 passengers including 20 Boy Scouts and adult leaders who boarded in San Bernardino derailed Saturday when a bridge collapsed. About 150 people were hurt. Fourteen people were hospi talized, and three were in critical condition Saturday evening, said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black.

"It felt like you were in a car going down the side of a mountain. Everybody was screaming," said Doug Fischer, a passenger from Albuquerque, N.M. The Southwest Chief derailed at about 90 mph as the third of its four engines crossed the 6-foot-high bridge, leaving seven passenger cars behind it zigzagged but upright after crossing the bridge. The accident happened at a 30-foot-wide desert wash, 13 nev.M $ri Kingman aiaHi- 20 miles Needles I I CALIF. 20 km "nmartnlLake Havasu Citv Clinton advances in war on tobacco Guam air crash still under investigation News Al-12 Southland A3 Nation A4-5 World A 8-9 Opinion Local Bl-8 Obituaries B8 Weather B8 Business Dl-3 Scoreboard C9 Motor racing The president bans Living Ei-io smoking in federal Ann Landers ...2 buildings, but backs Off Horoscope E2 from a no-smoklng zone in Family doorways and courtyards.

Movie Marquee By SANDRA SOBIERAJ E4 The Associated Press TraveLl'ES-lO WASHINGTON President Clinton deepened his assault on riassifiPri Fl-14 cigarettes Saturday by outlawing CmSword F4 smoking in federal buildings, but Crossword F4 he backed off plans to bimish smokers from government-owned ro doorways and courtyards. "Americans who've made the reach not only federal agencies and office buildings but also visitors' centers at national parks and other facilities owned or leased by the executive branch. His order does not affect offices outside the executive branch federal court buildings and congressional offices. Saturday's long-anticipated smoking ban was the latest salvo in Clinton's offensive against tobacco. Advisers are working to toughen a proposed settlement with tobacco companies being sued to recover state health care costs.

He has acted to hike cigarette taxes, restrict advertising and crack down with Food and Drug Administration enforcement of tobacco regulations. Clinton appealed to Congress for $34 million Saturday for FDA tobacco enforcement in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The Senate voted for $5 million and the House for about $24 million in appropriations bills awaiting final action after the congressional recess. smoking.

Gore cited a surgeon general's report that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and other diseases in nonsmokers, increases children's risk of respiratory infections and aggravates symptoms of asthma. Contrary to earlier drafts, which would have mandated a no-smoking zone near building entrances or in outdoor courtyards, Clinton's order Saturday gave individual agency heads the discretion to "evaluate the need" for such restrictions. "After a lengthy review by the interagency process, we concluded it was better that that decision be left to the director of the agency," said Rahm Emanuel, senior adviser to the president. Outdoor smoking will be prohibited only in front of building air-intake valves. Indoor smoking will be permitted in enclosed, separately ventilated areas.

The ban, Clinton said, will Investigators looking into the crash agreed Saturday to show photos of bodies recovered from the wreckage to family members to speed up the identification process. Three days after the crash, about 100 bodies still lie in the wreckage of the burned Boeing 747 their recovery hindered by the inaccessibility of the rocky, hilly crash site and the shattered condition of many of the corpses. The National Transportation Safety Board will show photos of 50 to 60 of the more intact bodies to family members to see if they can identify them, said Matt Fur-man, an NTSB official working with the relatives. That's not the usual way of identification, "but we know how much pain the families are in," Furman said. By Joseph Coleman The Associated Press AGANA, Guam Investigators trying to figure out why a Korean Air jet crashed in Guam do not have enough evidence to conclude human error was to blame for the accident that killed 225 people, federal agents said Saturday.

Experts still are trying to determine, for example, whether driving rain that night blinded the pilot to the unlit hillside that Flight 801 slammed into. Though investigators think the pilot was in complete control of the aircraft when it crashed, they said they still have to sift through much more data from the flight before coming to conclusions about the cause. Sports Cl-10 Baseball 4-5 WNBA C8 Golf CT Little League CI, 3 Tennis CIO Figure Skating CI Horse Racing. NHL C8 California League C2 NFL C2 choice not to use tobacco prod ucts should not be put at risk by those who choose to smoke," the president said in his weekly ra dio broadcast. Joined by Vice President Al Gore, Clinton signed an execu-tive order giving agencies and fa cilities under executive-branch control one year to comply with the ban.

More than 15 federal agencies already ban indoor.