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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 9, 1990)
Wednesday, May 9,1990 The Battalion Page 7 lements threatens to veto school finance bill "tourt may appoint special master aFLOUPOT'S^ n -Ci IA| I|Ik I AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clements threat ened Tuesday to veto the latest school finance re- ■orm plan offered by legislative leaders, while a state judge neared naming a special master who could write his own plan for Texas schools. I The Legislature and Clements face a June 1 deadline.If they fail, the job will be done for jtheni by the special master being appointed by suite District Judge Scott McCown. I Three people were nominated for the job T uesday. The names were offered by parties in the lawsuit that led to the Texas Supreme Court’s ■nanimous school finance reform order. Recom- Biended to McCown were: I — Billy Walker, a school finance expert who ■erved on the Governor’s Task Force on Public ■Education. I — Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Wil liam Kilgarlin. I — Jose Cardenas, an education expert and former superintendent of the Edgewood school district in San Antonio. The master may be named this week, officials laid. The Democratic-controlled Legislature now is in its third special session on education. This ses sion was called after Clements, a Republican, last week vetoed a half-cent sales tax increase needed to fund a $555 million reform plan earlier adopted by lawmakers. Another $555 million reform bill was passed Monday by the Senate. A measure lacking a price tag will be considered Wednesday by the Flouse. Both bills are virtually identical to the plan Clem ents killed last session with his tax veto. Clements said Tuesday that he’s not afraid that his continued opposition to the Legislature’s school finance reform plan will lead to court in tervention. “Just as soon as that bill hits my desk, I will im mediately veto it,” Clements said of the latest re form legislation. “I have remained absolutely firm in my posi tion that we will not have any new taxes,” Clem ents said. Senators on Tuesday OK’d some $140 million in state budget cuts to help pay for school re form. Lawmakers are looking for more cuts and are examining raising some state fees, said Sen. Kent Caperton, D-Bryan. But legislative leaders said they see no way around a tax increase to meet the Supreme Court’s order to make more money available to property-poor school districts. If state taxes aren’t raised, there will be in creases in local property taxes, lawmakers said. “We chose the sales tax. Apparently the gover nor has chosen the property tax, which we think is more devastating to the citizens of our state,” said Flouse Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort Worth. In offering names for the special master post, the poor school districts nominated Kilgarlin and Cardenas. Walker was recommended by the state. Kilgarlin, defeated for re-election in 1988 af ter serving a six-year Supreme Court term, did not participate in the court’s school finance rul ing, which was handed down in October. State program will close lid J;| e an 5 of G pictit 518; dudf ies AUSTIN (AP) —Thousands of seriously ill T exas children, too poor to afford private medical care, will be dropped from state assistance next month because the program has run out of money, officials said. Stale Health Commissioner rt Bernstein notified Jegis- leaders this week of the une funding cutoff for the ■hronically I If and Disabled Chil dren's Program, saying a pro jected $1$ million deficit left him no choke. Other officials said money could actually run out sooner be cause of an April ruling by Attor ney General Jim Mattox that made an additional 1,700 sick children eligible for benefits. The program is the provider of last resort tor about 16,000 chil dren who cannot be covered by Medicaid or private insurance and who suiter from cancer, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis., epi lepsy, AIDS and other diseases, officials said. The number of children who would be affected by a cutoff would be something less than 16.000. “We must either acquire addi- Is, Ill' to Kt Walt service levels or discontinue ac cepting new patients and autho rizing additional services.” said Bernstein's letter to knvmakers. “Unless a funding solution is found for the CfDC Program, we have no alternative,” Bernstein wrote. John Evans, director of the health department’s Bureau of Crippled Children’s Services, said no additional spending is being authorized after June L “To most of the diems, tins means we will not pay their bills after June 15,” Evans said. “This covers all cases. IPs an in- discriminate case of cost con tainment,” he said. “This is a re sult of running an appropriated program with only so many dol lars, and when they run out, we can’t continue paying bills.” Evans and other officials said they were unsure how many sick children would be affected. Private social service groups earlier estimated that about 4,000 children would be affected by a cutoff of funds. , - <x > Deaths raise suspicions Woman charged with murdering four-year-old GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) — The police chief of a small Texas town said Tuesday he does not plan to investigate the deaths of five chil dren of a Carden City woman now charged with murdering her 4-year- old son. “The only way I’ll open anything up is if a judge orders me to,” said Bovina, T exas, Police Chief Gary Coleman. Diana Lumbrera, 31, was charged Monday in Finney County District Court with first-degree murder in last week’s death of her 4-year-old son, Jose Antonio Lumbrera. She was being held Tuesday in the Fin ney County Jail on $100,000 bond. Her next hearing was scheduled May 15. The deaths of her five other chil dren, which occurred in and near Bovina in the late 1970s or early 1980s, were ruled natural by Texas child-welfare officials at the time, said a Texas deputy sheriff. Coleman, who said he was not personally familiar w'ith the cases be cause he’d been chief in Bovina for only 18 months, said there was no evidence of foul play in the deaths of a 4-year-old girl, a 2Va-year-old girl and 5-rnqntJi, 3-mpmn and U/a- month-ofd infants. He can fy^d that^pply two autop sies were performed. They showed two children died from sudden in fant death syndrome or congestive heart failure. “There wasn’t anything suspicious at the time they occurred, and I read nothing in the two reports that would indicate anything different,” Coleman said. “If you can’t prove anything, you can’t do anything.” But a Parmer County, Texas, sheriffs deputy who served pre viously as police chief in Bovina, said he had always been suspicious of the childrens’ deaths despite the rulings they had died naturally. Jerry Atchley, who served as po lice chief from 1978-1979 in the Panhandle town of 1,400, said he never discussed his suspicions with Coleman. “I really always felt there was something wrong,” said Atchley, who attended two of the childrens’ funerals. “If she had another child and another death, I can’t believe it’s happening like that.” Meanwhile, the woman’s sister said all the children had died in a similar way, after simply turning pale with purple lips. Scientist side examines fannies Jury awards no damages in Dallas newspaper case 'acul) relin- basis beii' qitf I DALLAS (AP) — New research Ras bolstered theories that a fat (army may be better for your health Tan a bulky belly, the American Heart Association says. Results of a recent study suggest [hat the type and location of body fat re just as important as the total (mount of fat in determining a per- Jon’s risk for certain diseases — and [hose with padded posteriors have Jhe advantage. I David Freedman of the Centers (or Disease Control in Atlanta, who (o-authored a study on the subject, jays a team of scientists examined |he body shape and blood fat levels of 1,124 healthy men and women in vlilwaukee, Wis. He said women tend to be more [‘pear-shaped,” accumulating fat in the buttocks and thighs, while men psually store fat in a “spare tire” Wound their waist, making them [‘apple-shaped. ” Men also are more likely to have (ugh levels of cholesterol and other plood fats, putting them at higher Hsk of heart and blood vessel dis eases, Freedman said. HOUSTON (AP) — A Harris County jury on Tues day said the Dallas Times Herald was not harmed un fairly by the loss of 26 comics and features last fall to its larger rival, The Dallas Morning News, and declined to award damages requested by the Times Herald. The jury voted 10-2 on the case. The Times Herald had asked for $33 million in ac tual damages and what its attorneys termed significant punitive damages. The $33 million, under Texas anti trust and conspiracy laws, would have been tripled if the Times Herald was successful in its suit, which con tended The Morning News and parent A.H. Belo Corp. took the features in a move to drive the Times Herald out of business. “We feel strongly we have been vindicated,” said Robert Decherd, Belo chairman. “The law and the facts of this case have been with us all along. We never doubted the outcome. If you apply the law to this case, there was no case.” “We’re delighted with it,” added Belo President James Sheehan. Times Herald Publisher John Buzzetta said, “I’m dis appointed,” then hurriedly left the courtroom with his attorneys. “We’ll keep on fighting,” said Times Herald attorney Wayne Fisher. He said an appeal was likely. Morning News and Belo attorneys said an appeal would be groundless. “They may complain,” Belo lawyer Harry Reasoner said. “We have no concern.” “Every case I try is appealed,” said State District Judge David West, who presided over the six-week trial. “It won’t hurt my feelings. If I’m wrong, I’ll be glad to try it over.” West said the jury’s judgment would be made official within 30 days. The lawsuit challenged a Belo joint venture with Uni versal Press Syndicate that stripped the Times Herald “X I he law and the facts of this case have been with us all along. We never doubted the outcome.” —Richard Decherd, Belo chairman of 26 features, including Doonesbury, Dear Abby, The Far Side and Erma Bombeck. Jurors deliberated five days before reaching the ver dict Tuesday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the jury re ported it had made no progress and asked for help in the case. The Times Herald contended the features transfer violated antitrust laws, was intended to strengthen Belo and Morning News market dominance in Dallas and drive the smaller Times Herald out of business. AT A&M NEARLY EVERYBODY (40,000 active, affluent Aggies) >05# 111# t liS W; pci »s0 chil^ l/ 14 Reads The Battalion SELL YOUR BOOKS NOW at IFTFO rn.m University Bookstores [Pt FD THREE CONVENIENT LOCATIONS NORTHGATE CULPEPPER SHOPPING CENTER PLAZA 409 University Drive Texas Avenue & Hwy. 30 409/8464232 409/693-9388 rn.irH VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER University Drive across from the Hilton 409/8464818 We Buy ALL BOOKS Textbooks, Reference Books, Professor Desk Copies, Cookbooks, Novels, Pa perbacks, etc. We buy ALL Books BOOKSTORES Pays CASH For Used Books Come by Today! Offering Summer Rates • 2 Bedroom - One Bath • 24 Emergency Maintenance • Water & Sewer Paid • On Shuttle • Fireplaces • Washer-Dryer Connections • 1034 sq. feet 779-3637 1005 A Vertta Dr. Bryaa ___ rjT3REST CREEl^ X. 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