Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 1

iKV A A 9ml Final edition 9-27-911 0 1( VOL. 65- -NO. 50 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1991 6-Day Home Delivery 35 CENTS Smart plans or wishful thinking? Airports are on a building binge In the midst of a long-term travel slump. A sampling of some of the projects being planned. Traffic trend! 1991 86-91 IIS.

bufldmp against Iraq is halted Saudis: No more airpower needed Project Airport $2.4 billion Denver 21 3 new airport Memphis J177 million runway -9 -23" expansion Atlanta $300 million 7Q Int'l terminal Pittsburgh $690 million new terminal Newark $2 billion re- developement Runway inflation Airports' building binge belies plateauing demand By Jonathan Dahl Wall Street Journal DENVER This hardly looks like a place that needs a new airport. The one major airfield here served 7 million fewer passengers in 1990 than in 1986. The second biggest airline serving Denver, Continental, is teetering in Chapter 11, and a whole corridor of gates is literally roped off for lack of use. And far from falling apart, the airport got a $200 million face lift that was completed in 1987. Yet city officials in Denver are planning to mothball the airport in two years, in favor of a brand new one.

And it won't be just any airport. At a cost of $2.4 billion, it will be the most expensive in history and will sprawl over 53 square miles, twice the size of Manhattan. Across the United States, the nation's airports are in the midst of a building binge that flies in the face of a plateauing demand for airline travel. The airline industry is reeling from record losses in 1990 that forced four of the nation's 12 major carriers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection. After years of double-digit gains, air traffic has been flat for three years, and analysts don't expect any big upturn for years.

1 Yet cities from Pittsburgh to San Jose, are adding giant terminals and runways as if the roaring '80s were still around. Confident that a big rise in airline traffic is in the offing, they are raising millions to improve unused facilities. And they are lavishing money on things such as wood-pan- SEE RUNWAY, PAGE 3 Since peak year "1987-1990 "As of July. Current figure The Wall Street Journal WHAT A WEEKEND Fireworks thunder in the skies and well-shod feet thunder through the streets this weekend, which is bursting with things to do: Roughly 1 ,200 row-' ers skim down the Allegheny River Downtown 8:40 a.m. to 2:30 pm.

tomorrow in the Head of the Ohio regatta. Another watery lure will be the All-Species Tropical Fish Show and Auction at the convention center noon to 6 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. Zambelli sets off the fireworks tomorrow at 9 p.m. near the Point The Great Race starts at 9 a.m.

Sunday on Beechwood Boulevard, Frick Park. Details in Weekend By Patrick E. Tyler New York Times News Service WASHINGTON The Bush administration halted plans yesterday to send attack helicopters and additional warplanes to Saudi Arabia as tensions seemed to ease in the confrontation with Iraq, and after the Saudi defense minister told Washington that he saw no need for more firepower to be sent to the kingdom, administration officials said. The pause in military planning came as the U.N. Security Council, with the concurrence of the Bush administration, agreed to an Iraqi compromise to end the standoff in a Baghdad parking lot, where 44 U.N.

inspectors were being prevented from leaving with a load of documents they had seized detailing Iraq's nuclear weapons program. Iraq said the U.N. inspectors could leave the parking lot if they provided an inventory of the documents they were taking. In halting major military move ments, Bush administration officials disclosed that preparations for possible new military missions inside Iraq and bombing raids had been both advanced and extensive. A helicopter base was being established in northeastern Saudi Arabia to support any U.N.

helicopter searches inside Iraq. Also, Gen. Joseph Hoar, new chief of the U.S. Central Command, had received presidential authority in recent days to begin drawing up a list of targets in Iraq should Bush decide to order punitive air strikes to force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to comply with U.N. cease-fire terms.

What was unclear to Washington officials was the motivation behind the Saudi decision not to accept any more U.S. warplanes and armed helicopters. But some suspected that the Saudis were becoming increasingly uneasy with heavy publicity in the West about U.S. plans to deploy military units in Saudi Arabia. SEE BAGHDAD, PAGE 2 It's not a Taj Mahal' Allegheny County and USAir officials, defending their decision to build a $690 million terminal at the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, see the drop in traffic at Greater Pitt as temporary turbulence caused by the Persian Gulf war and the recession.

"It's not a Taj Mahal by any means," adds Commisioner Pete Flaherty. "It's intended to be a comfortable, functional airport:" Page 3. The Justice Department drops its antitrust investigation of USAir's operations at Greater Pitt. Page 4. PLO gives ground on talks Compromise on role of Palestinians removes obstacle ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) PLO leaders have agreed to accept a behind-the-scenes role in Mideast peace negotiations in an apparent effort to get by Israel's objections to talking to the organization it claims sponsors terror.

But the Palestine Liberation Organization leaders did not forsake their right to secretly name the negotiating team that will bargain for Palestinians at the conference the United States wants to start as early as next month. The compromise yesterday by PLO faction leaders could remove the last major obstacle to convening the proposed talks. Members of the PLO's Executive Committee must vote to formally approve the decision. It was not known when a vote would be taken. Within the PLO, the decision could test the strength of chairman Yasser Arafat, who faced growing opposition to compromise from hard- linpr anH nie mum mainstrpam Fatah faction.

i imi. in I i.xi.j.i I c'm "1 f' uv 1 1 1 1 i 1 1,4 5 ikjf ii ----Tii lYffr winrfffiimfci TODAY Cool, cloudy Partly sunny and cool with a high in the upper 50s. Tonight will see a low in the upper 30s as increasing cloudiness brings a 30 percent chance of showers. Details, Page 6. Win at last, then split A 15-inning game to start a double-header is the last thing in the world the Pirates wanted.

Don Slaught's double in the 15th scores Barry Bonds to give the Bucs a 4-3 victory. But the Mets hang in and take the second game, 2-1, at almost 1 a.m. Sports, Page 11. Archbishop in Oakland The Catholic archbishop of Warsaw gives his homily entirely in Polish to more than 1,500 people in St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.

He tells them to direct their thoughts toward heaven while seeking peace on Earth. Page 4. Pure politics The state reapportionment plan announced this week tends to strengthen the power bases of the incumbent politicians. While some districts changed only slightly, others were altered significantly. Page 7.

Telephone calls The Federal Communications Commission proposes that telephone customers have limited ability to block Caller ID, a service that displays the phone number of incoming calls. The FCC also adopts rules intended to protect consumers from unscrupulous providers of pay-per-call "900-number" telephone services. Business, Page 19. Ilia Marian Associated Press Angry workers Tear gas rises as Romanian miners seize government armored vehicles in Victory Square, Bucharest, yesterday. Prime Minister Petre Roman resigned, bowing to the violent protests against his economic reforms.

Story, Page 2. 7 WPTT to air WPGH programming 9 hours a day PLO officials said the decision to compromise was made after studying assurances from Secretary of State James A. Baker III, including a pledge to work toward a Palestinian homeland and to pressure Israel to halt construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. The officials said PLO leaders decided to support a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to peace talks that includes Palestinians only from the Israeli-occupied territories, a key Israeli demand. The leaders also decided to allow the Jordanians or another Palestinian group to formally announce the participants, the officials said.

Still, the PLO is expected to play a major role in choosing the delegates and setting their negoth ation strategy. In exchange for the concessions, the United States has assured the PLO that Palestinians would get equal footing with Jordanians and be recognized as a distinct group, the officials said. The United States also guaranteed its backing of Palestinian autonomy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip under a three-year timetable, rather than the five-year plan out 4 By Ron Weiskind Post-Gazette Staff Writer The owner of WPGH-TV plans to buy nine hours of ah- time daily on WPTT-TV and supply programming to replace the station's home-shopping shows during those hours. Under the arrangement, WPGH will buy all of the airtime on fellow independent WPTT from 3 p.m. until midnight.

It will provide the programs and collect the advertising revenues they generate. The shows will not be the same ones seen on WPGH and could conceivably include syndicated series, movies, news or sports, said David Shopping Network. That action and the possibility of other defections prompted the new plan, Edwards and Smith said. Home Shopping Network pays Edwards for the use of his air time and gives him a cut of sales. If WPTT is not available to cable subscribers, it could cut those payments.

Smith said he hoped to choose the programming within 60 days and begin running it by year's end. Edwards said he would re-evaluate the station's programming during the hours not covered by the agreement with WPGH. SEE WPTT, PAGE 6 Smith, president of Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns WPGH. WPTT has been carrying the Home Shopping Network around the clock since Aug. 30, the date Eddie Edwards of Plum bought the station from Baltimore-based Sinclair.

Sinclair sold WPTT to buy WPGH, a Fox affiliate and the largest of the city's independent stations. Sinclair also financed Edwards' purchase of WPTT. He is one of a handful of blacks to hold a U.S. television station license. At least two area cable systems New Channels and Armstrong Utilities have dropped WPTT since it switched to Home.

lined in the 1978 Camp David accords, the sources said. Poverty rate rose as income dropped Falling GNP shows economy stalling Gross Steelers Worley arrested Allegheny County Police arrest Steelers halfback Tim Worley, above, and charge him with drunken driving, failure to obey police, public intoxication and speeding. Worley, currently on the injured reserve list with the team, could face a suspension of up to four games because of the NFL's drug policy. Sports, Page 11. By Ernie Hoffman TOMORROW James E.

Casto, in a letter from West Virginia, reports on Rep. Bob Wise, and his concern for patients in Veterans Affairs hospitals who no longer are allowed to smoke in the buildings. Weekend Perspectives. National Product Percent chang from prtvloua quarttr 6 2nd quarter (revised) 4 zsdtd broad, were not universal. For instance, the main increases in poverty occurred among white and Hispanic people, not blacks, and took place in the Northeast.

The poverty rate rose tor both children and the elderly. It rose inside metropolitan areas, but not beyond them. The main drop in income occurred among white men, rather than among women or blacks. Income declined in the Northeast and the West, but not in the South or Midwest. It dropped for households at all levels of the earnings ladder, but not for those 65 years old or more.

SEE POVERTY, PAGE 2 By Jason DeParle New York Times New Service WASHINGTON The poverty rate rose sharply last year and the incomes of Americans declined, according to a Census Bureau report that provides the first detailed look at suffering in the current recession. Yesterday's report immediately touched off a debate about how much pain the recession would ultimately inflict, on whom, and for how long. What was clear, however, was that 2.1 million more Americans were living in poverty in 1990 than in the previous year. The trends of rising poverty and declining income, while The stock market posted inconclusive results. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, which had fallen 8.05 points on Wednesday, dropped 3.80 points to 3,017.22.

But advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts had been expecting the report on gross national product to show newfound weakness from April through June, but they were surprised that the drop was put at 0.5 percent. Consumer spending, government spending and business restocking of inventories all were revised lower. SEE GNP, PAGE 19 By Martin Crutsinger Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON The U.S. economy declined at a worse-than-expected annual rate of 0.5 percent in the spring, and the number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits jumped early this month, the government said yesterday in the latest reports showing a struggling economy.

"The recovery is in trouble," said David Jones, an economist at Aubrey G. Lanston a government securities dealer. "The weak spots are employment, consumer spending and housing. Those could be dangerous signs that the recovery will stall out." ho- -2 INDEX Astrology 17 Business 19 18 Divorces 15 Editorials 8 Lottery 6 Weekend pages Ann Landers. 22 Comics 21 Movies 4 Marriages 15 Obituaries 6 14 Sports 11 Want ads 15 Weather 6 Seen 21 Stage 18 TV 25 '88- -1989- -1990 '91 Quarterly at annual rate Source DM Commerce.