Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 1

itt0lttMjI $00 At least UNDft NOVEMBER 12, 2000 worth of coupons inside Vol. 74, No. 104 One Of America's Great Newspapers 9 t-fiasette la ifc. 1 1 There goes the Neighborhood Mister Rogers will make last episodes of show in December i wan v. i ft -Ltd office at WQED in Oakland, Rogers said the timing was right.

Next year when production concludes, Pittsburgh's favorite Neighbor will celebrate his 50th year in television. "It was a fairly simple, straightforward decision," he said. "Of course, I prayed about it." He compared this decision to when he left a job at NBC in New York to come to Mac's tack By Rob Owen Post-Gazelle TV Editor Copyright 2000, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The beautiful days in "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" will continue, but next month on the show's simple set, Fred Rogers will hang up his famous cardigan sweater for the last time. Taping of the final five installments of the 32-year-old series will wrap in December. When this last week of episodes airs in August 2001, Rogers and his Family Communications Inc.

will have completed 33 seasons and almost 1,000 episodes of what is the longest-running children's program airing nationally. During an interview Thursday in his cozy, den-like John BealePost-Gazette Fred Rogers in his office at WQED. Pittsburgh in 1953. His friends thought he was crazy. WQED wasn't even on the air yet.

Then, as now, he had a feeling that it was what he should do. "I don't like to be spooky about stuff, but I do think that sometimes you feel inspired to make certain deci sions," Rogers said. "I've never tried to make a decision that had to do with selfishness. I think we certainly have done the kind of work I have wanted to do for chil- SEE ROGERS, PAGE A-l 2 Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon promises no team of his will ever be an embarrassment to the city. Sports, Page D-1 TODAY fo) 0) 1 mm WEATHER Partly sunny and cool.

High 52, low 34. PAGE A-2 SPORTS Pitt and Penn State both lose handily, but the Penguins thump Edmonton, 5-2. PAGE D-1 BUSINESS David vs. Goliath battles rage across the country as independent franchisees take on parent company General Nutrition Companies in court. PAGE C-1 Says hand count adds confusion in 2 Fla.

counties with ballot errors A II aii ii A V-''i', wmkASHs; is MAGAZINE With the city's public schools mired in a huge deficit, the district is banking on John W. Thompson to change its fortunes. Although his methods don't always win popularity contests, Thompson promises the results will. PAGE G-1 TRAVEL A husband and wife shed their clothes-minded attitudes at a nude beach. PAGE F-1 KIDS EXTRA On Thursday, plan to buy your special edition of the Post-Gazette, By David Espo The Associated Press Republicans sent the 2000 presidential race into the federal courts yesterday at the same time election officials in one of Florida's 67 counties completed a laborious hand recount sought by Vice President Al Gore.

Officials would not say when results would be made available. "We're all in limbo," said George W. Bush at the end of a week of unprecedented political turmoil. A federal judge set a hearing for tomorrow morning in Miami on the Bush campaign's request for a court order blocking the manual recounts from continuing in Florida's improbably close vote. The Texas governor holds a narrow lead after an unofficial recount, with an unknown number of overseas ballots yet to be counted.

The winner of the state stands to gain an electoral college majority and become the nation's 43rd president. The dispute came as Bush overtook Gore to lead by four votes in New Mexico, with at least 189 disputed ballots to be counted. The GOP suit cited a need to "preserve the integrity, equality, and finality" of the vote. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III said that with a manual recount, "human error, individual subjectivity, and decisions to, quote, 'determine the voters' close quote, would replace precision machinery in tabulating millions of small marks and fragile hole punches." Democrats responded forcefully a few hours later, calling for the withdrawal of the suit and expressing confidence they would prevail in court "The hand count can be com- Eleted expeditiously and it should said former Secretary of State SEE ELECTION, PAGE A-l 9 Allen EyestonePalm Beach Post Palm Beach County election officials examine a ballot during the hand recount yesterday.

Settle presidency this week, experts concur benefiting iJ WIIIIUICII nside KPDs Hospital. Look for volunteer sellers in Oakland EXTRA! the courts, expressing their support for lawsuits already filed by some of their backers, and it was the Republicans who had resisted that idea. But yesterday morning, it was the Republicans who pursued legal remedies first, in an abrupt reversal of positions that they must have found politically painful. Once begun, it was widely said, even before the Republicans had acted, litigation could only spawn more litigation and drag on and on, to the detriment of the political system. But there was no consensus on what to do to help head off the looming court battle.

"When the officials in Florida announce and at selected retail locations. By R.W. Apple Jr. The New York Times WASHINGTON Another week and no more. By next weekend, a group of scholars and senior politicians interviewed this weekend agreed, the presidential race of 2000 must be resolved, without recourse to the courts.

With remarkable unanimity, they said that would be in the nation's best interests and, in the last analysis, those of the candidates, Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. It was the Democrats who had talked during the last four days of seeking redress in Americans have different solutions to the presidential problem, but most agree "We need to move on." Page A-18 George W. Bush leads in New Mexico as missing and rejected ballots are counted.

PageA-19 A study of exit poll results shows older voters and women gave Al Gore an edge in Pennsylvania. Page A-21 INDEX H-11 Last Lottery Magazine SEE ASSESS, PAGE A-18 Election coverage, Page A-18 through A-25 AbbyAnn H-39 G-2 Books G-10 Bridge E-8 Business C-1 Clicks Gene Connections 1 Crosswords E-8 Editorials E-2 Food G-16 Forum E-1 Horoscope Movies G-8 Obituaries E-5 Brian O'Neill The Region B-1 Scoreboard Sports D-1 Travel F-1 Weather A-2 Austria cable car fire kills 1 70 Social and political impact among the lofty goals. CMU launches its 2nd century MxqiC 'vJ CLASSIFIED ADS Automotive H-41 Misc H-36 2 Real Estate H-1 post-gazetiasfiom Check Western Pennsylvania's social scene online at our SEEN package, including "Breakfast with," and our selection for the region's "Best Dressed." Visit www.post-gazette.com fr-. i By Melissa Eddy The Associated Press KAPRUN, Austria A cable car crammed to capacity with skiers and snowboarders caught fire yesterday while being pulled through an Alpine tunnel, trapping the passengers deep inside a mountain and killing about 170 people many of them children and teen-agers. Most of the victims apparently managed to escape the burning car but were killed by acrid smoke as they tried to flee by running upward on narrow stairs leading out of the tunnel, said Manfred Mueller, the head of cable car technical operations.

The few survivors among the 180 people on board apparently ran the opposite way, evading most of the smoke being blown upward by strong drafts pushing through the tunnel. "Most of them were youths," Salzburg Gov. Franz Schausberger said of the dead in an interview with state television. "Today is a day of mourning." Rescuers were unable to reach the car as the fire raged for hours, sending smoke spewing from the SEE FIRE, PAGE A-l 1 By Bill Schackner Post-Gazette Staff Writer Carnegie Mellon University has churned out its share of Hollywood stars over the years. It has programmed robots for space exploration.

It has even talked about growing human organs one day. Quite a set of accomplishments for a campus that 100 years ago was nothing more than a cabbage farm. Yet how many of its graduates have gone on to occupy the Oval Office? How many of its alumni have ended up a prime minister? If you guessed zero, you are correct. And that ought to change, Carnegie Mel- SEE CMU, PAGE A-6 osonn fw. Wvv-y ISM V- Pictures Unlimited.

A survivor is taken from a rescue helicopter in the Austrian Alps yesterday. 6 36 "26303'.