The Atlanta Journal from Atlanta, Georgia • 6

Tuesday June 18 1996 NEWS The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution nu'u ATLANTA GAME 8 State ACOG related duties are questioned By Rhonda Cook and Ron Martz STA WRITERS Questions arose Monday over the legality of having the Georgia State Patrol guard top execu tives of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games know of no authority for the State Patrol to be providing security for anybody other than govern ment Attorney General Mike Bowers said when asked about the bodyguards drivers as signed to ACOG president Billy Payne and chief operating officer AD razier Gov Zell Miller signed an order assigning the troopers to the ACOG executives under a law that authorizes him perform any action which in his discretion is necessary to prevent overt threats of violence or acts of violence to the personal proper ty of the citizens of the responded Steve Tompkins a spokesman for the governor has been some questions about who we can provide protection added Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sid Miles has come up before but as long as the governor desig nates us to do a job we do After the Georgia Department of Public Safety came under fire in the late 1980s for providing se curity for University of Georgia and Georgia Tech football coaches the Legislature changed state law to allow troopers to serve as bodyguards for coach es and teams from year postsecondary that are part of the University System of Georgia Troopers also provide protection for the gover nor the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House Miller ordered that two troopers each be as signed to Payne and razier at the request of ACOG The first bodyguard driver went on the special duty in September 1992 Two more were added in March 1995 and a fourth in November 1995 The troopers who accompany the two ACOG leaders throughout the day are still employed by the State Patrol and their assignments are not considered off duty jobs By the time the Olympics ends in August the state will have spent more than $320000 for those bodyguard drivers according to Miles ACOG has said it would cover the travel costs for the troopers when they are out of the state Asked if the Olympic organizing committee would be willing to repay the state for the cost of provid ing Payne and razier with State Patrol security ACOG spokesman Dick Yarbrough said: want to wait and see what his rul ing is Then we would take a look at it at that point We made the request several years ago in good faith We assumed they had the authority still comfortable that it needs to be looked at Tompkins acknowledged that the same state funded protection would not be offered executives of major corporations or utilities threatened be cause of their high public profiles is the Tompkins said a once in a lifetime experience We feel a pru dent expenditure of funds because the Olympics is going to bring tremendous benefits to the state of Georgia and tremendous exposure that we get IN SPORTS Track trials continue DI and more Olympic sports news D6 8 I 7 IN BRIE 4 4 Charity firm "reach agreement on tickets By Sandra Eckstein STA WRITER An Atlanta charity will have the tickets to take dying children to see Olympic competitions af ter all Lawyers for an Atlanta ad vertising and public relations agency worked out a deal Mon i day to settle a lawsuit by turning over Olympic tickets to the Chil i Wish oundation Intema tional Jan Cohen the lawyer said representatives of the foundation and of Pringle Dixon Pringle will meet riday to split the tickets The foundation filed suit ri day in ulton Superior Court claiming it had contracted with i the agency to buy half its allot I ment of Olympic tickets Jan Pringle president of the agency said her firm has a box at the Georgia Dome and had agreed 1 to sell Olympic tickets to Chil Wish for $763550 But i Pringle said Wish owes her firm more than $60000 i Linda Dozoretz executive di rector of the foundation which grants wishes to terminally ill i children could not be reached at her office Monday for comment PROTEST Toilets requested Using the Olympics to focus atten tion on their cause about 40 people protested the lack of public toilets in Atlanta at City Hall on Monday Po lice arrested eight members of the group according to Elizabeth Dede i of the Open Door Community Most of the protesters represented the Open Door Community a homeless shelter Some carried and sat on toi lets in front of City Hall Later they went to the office of Mayor Bill Campbell but he did not meet with them With the world coming to At lanta Dede said the city needs to consider public toilet facilities for the homeless the elderly and those with medical problems requiring frequent urination The protesters were charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct and were be i ing held at the Pretrial Detention Center GUEST HONOR Making amends In 1936 the Germans robbed Marga ret Bergmann Lambert of a chance to compete on the German national team But last month a letter told her National Olympic Committee for Germany has decided to invite you to be our guest of during the Olympics in Atlanta Lambert 82 was not allowed to compete in 1936 because she was a Jew in Nazi Germany In 1935 Lambert known then by her nickname and maiden name Gretel Bergmann won the British high jump champi onship She emigrated to the United States and won the US high jump and shot put championships in 1937 and the high jump again in 1938 She was preparing for another run at the title in 1939 when war broke out in Europe since my family was still in Europe I stopped compet she said ASHION Cardin makes ashion designer Pierre Cardin has announced that show a collec tion of wear and 'haute couture caijed on July 10 at the Woodruff Arts Center Dragon of strength tops Olympics clock 7 "7 wBr "A 7' JERRY INLAY Special Surveying Centennial Olympic Park from 265 feet up this dragon is part of a Swatch Art Clock been installed near Global Olympic Village Imported from Beijing the work was created by Chinese artist Han Melin who said China the dragon has always been regard ed as a symbol of strength a powerful depiction of energy and an exhortation to It is the first of three international art clocks that will be installed before the Games TORCH RELAY Jaded New Yorkers excited as flame passes through city ROM STA REPORTS New York Bryant Gumbel kidded her Olympic shirt and shorts ensemble Matt Lauer men tioned that the ancient Greeks ran naked and Katie Couric took all the joking with good natured grins this morning as she carried the Olympic torch for one block in midtown Man hattan during the opening of the show ACOG President Billy Payne was on hand outside Rockefeller Center headquarters where a large crowd had gathered despite a drizzle After joking that she had trained for her run by loading up on cinna mon buns Couric took the torch and ran at a fairly brisk clip up 29th Street to the Avenue of the Amer icas run was probably seen in about 4 million homes based on average ratings The entire staff begins daily broad casts from a new set overlooking the Olympic Village on July 17 The notion that jaded New York ers would yawn at a symbolic jet of burning gases was belied by smiling cheering crowds from the mani cured suburban lawns of Rye to the glitzy uptown welcoming ceremony at Rockefeller Center whole city is excited about said Gwen Monroe sitting near the stage whdre the flame arrived about 10 pm after its trip past Cen Torch Relay DAY 53 JUNE 18 7 r5 hiladejphia "7 New York City to Philadelphia Miles to cover: 1028Transportation: On foot bike Highlight: Relay stops at the historic Liberty Mall home of the Liberty Bell and site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence tral Park and other New York land marks After spending the night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel the flame will take a ferry to the Statue of Lib erty this morning York is ready for the said Dorothy Mobley Bo dino let me ask you a question Is Atlanta ready for the SETTING THE PACE: Nasal New Yorkese is the latest accent in which Kate Collier has heard the in evitable two words: get it from one out of every one person I talk to Everybody says said Collier a former Denver bar tender wno drives the pace car ahead of the Olympic torch caravan when driving past I can just see them mouth the words The pace car is a silver BMW Z3 Roadster convertible Collier said it would sell for about $27000 BMW is a provider for the flame relay of course and the car was made in South Carolina The comment has come in a Tex as drawl and a Tennessee twang and flat Midwestern monotone Boston accent was something Collier recalled IN MEMORY: The torchbearer is a white haired fellow strolling through a neighborhood where ev eryone seems to know him Walking on the sidewalk beside him are two women carrying a long banner saying run is for this all a report er yells from the back of the media truck Everyone along the way knows the story The torchbearer is Norman Mar tinelli and the women with the ban ner are his sisters A third sister Lo retta Martinelli was chosen to carry the torch because of her community service with Special Olympics but she died several months ago As a deathbed wish she asked that her brother carry the flame for her Staff writers Phil Kloer and Bob Dart contributed to this article Critic of Games carries message to global meeting By Louis Salome STA CORRESPONDENT Istanbul If the ears of the Olympics organiz ers are burning in Atlanta it may be because Loret ta Ross is shouting nasty things about them from faraway Istanbul one of the bidders for the 2004 Games not anti security and not anti Olym pics just anti said the Atlanta hu man rights campaigner way the Olympics are planned is to benefit people with money not to protect the most ounder of the Center for Human Rights Edu cation in Atlanta the 42 year old flew to the two week UN global cities summit to press her causes Bearing what she claims is the first global petition organized on the Internet Ross and 500000 peti tioners from around the world persuaded the con ference to proclaim housing a basic human right When John Nicolades a city planner from Sid ney Australia asked her to participate on a panel to discuss the social impact of the Olympic Games Ross was more than eager to join in She told participants that Atlanta three shelters for the homeless to make way for the Olympic Village Sydney will host the games in the year 2000 City officials there asked Nicolades to advise the government on how to minimize the negative ef fects of hosting the Games Ross carried with her to Istanbul 200 copies of a pamphlet called a Guidebook to At It is laced with irony and biting humor charging Olympics planners with march ing to the tune of the rich and powerful at the ex pense of the poor and powerless She distributed the pamphlets at the request bf the another Atlanta based hu manitarian organization Ross said Ross says landlords engaged in by raising rents and driving old tenants into the streets in the hope of making more money from visitors to the Games State owned park as European festival site 'f By Lyle Harris STA WRITER Achtung Warsteiner a German beer maker is sponsor ing a 31 day festival bratwurst meets bar at a forlorn state owned park near the state Capitol The European Celebration Pavilion will feature a beer garden food live entertainment arts and crafts and large screen televisions displaying Olympic competitions At night an indoor cafeteria will be turned into a nightclub with comedy and I musical acts The festival is scheduled to open July 1 in the Georgia Plaza Park an open dining area directly across from the state Capitol and Atlanta City Hall The flower lined plaza with its rectangular fountain will be covered by a 12000 square foot air conditioned tent during the festival In addition to fare from Italy and Germany corn barbecue pork and Buffalo wings also will be sold And of course beer Visitors will pay $5 to get in and be given a commemorative pin said Michel Nebbling one of the organizers of the event thought we were pushing European cit ies but not doing Nebbeling said want it to have a European ambience but we want to have a Southern feel The proposed beer garden at the plaza is the largest of several properties managed by the state such as the Georgia Railroad Depot leased out as Olympic hospitality sites Don Maynard a local liquor distributor has a contract with the Georgia Building Authority to sublease the properties tc corporations such as Sie mens Monsanto and Coca Cola Luther Lewis executive director of the Georgia Building Authority said the state will receive about $1 million for the leases half of whiqh al ready has been paid up front Torch Relay.