News Digests^
Karnes discounts polls showing big Kerrey lead
Republican Sen. David Karnes
discounted polls Sunday showing
him trailing Democrat Bob Keney by
• a wide margin and predicted he will
come from behind to win the high
stakes race just as he did in the GOP
primary.
Kerrey, the former governor, leads
Karnes 55 percent to 34 percent in a
race that already involves a combined
total of more than $4.5 million in
campaign spending, the Omaha
World-Herald’s latest poll said Sun
day.
The newspaper’s previous poll
showed Kerrey ahead 51 percent to 31
percent The Democratic challenger
has maintained a double-digit lead
throughout the campaign.
Karnes, in a campaign speech
Sunday at North Platte, said he still
expects to win the election, which is
expected to finish as the state’s most
expensive ever.
“I was the underdog throughout
the primary, and expect that will be
the case throughout the fall cam
paign,” Karnes said in reference to his
victory over Rep. Hal Daub in the
GOP primary.
Karnes said newspaper polls are
‘•‘very superficial.” He said his
campaign ’sown polling by a Houston
company shows him trailing Kerrey
by only 4 percentage points, 46 per
cent to 42 percent.
“Our polling was on the mark in
the primary and we are confident it is
right today. These last 24 days will be
hard fought, and we* expect a very
tight race,” Karnes said.
“In the end, however, because of
our fund-raising success and a grass
roots organization of 15,000 persons,
we are confident I can and will win,”
he said during an appearance with
Rep. Virginia Smith, R-Neb.
Karnes, who was appointed last
year to fill the vacancy created by the
death of Democrat Sen. Edward Zor
insky, also campaigned Sunday at
McCook, Alliance and Sidney.
Steve Jarding, Kerrey’s press sec
retary, said the wide advantage in the
polls is evidence that Karnes’ nega
tive advertisements have failed to
sway the minds of Nebraska voters.
Brent Bahler, Karnes’ press secre
tary, said Karnes’ camp would not
comment on the allegations of nega
tive advertising. He said the cam
paign also would not discuss political
strategy over the next month, includ
ing whether such ads would continue.
Karnes and Kerrey each has raised
$2.3 million for the race. Both sides
predicted each would raise and spend
about $3 million to make this the most
expensive political campaign in the
stale’s history.
Federal Election Commission re
ports were filed Saturday by both
campaigns with each showing that
they raised about $1 million for the
quarterly reporting period from July 1
to Oct. 1.
' ; l
John Bruc#/D*My N^breokan
St. Cloud students riot for no reason
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Hun
dreds of rioting students burned
furniture and clashed with police in
a second night of homecoming
weekend violence that resulted in
50 arrests by officers clad in riot
gear, police said Sunday.
At least six people, including a
police officer and a person found in
a trash carrier, were treated at a
hospital for minor injuries suffered
Saturday night and early Sunday,
said hospital nursing supervisor
Patricia Anderson
; As many m 1,500 Si. Cloud
State University students were
involved m the rioting in a four
block area on Friday and Saturday
nights, Assistant Police Chief Jim
Motme said.
Students set of (firecrackers and
some played the Beatles’ song
“Revohuion*’ on a stereo as police
swept through the crowd, esti
mated at about 700 people Satur
day night. Other people tore down
street signs and jumped on cars, or
threw beer bottles and pieces of
lumber.
About 60 officers, including
some from the State Patrol ana
neighboring counties, shot tear gas
to disperse die crowd and made 46
arrests, most on misdemeanor
charges of unlawful conduct or
criminal damage to property,
Moline said.
After a lull of a few hours. 150
officers were sent in early Sunday
to break up crowds of 150 to 200
people, some of whom had set fue
to furniture and a trash carrier that
had been dragged into the street,
Moline said.
“It's like a battle between the
police and the students,*’ said
Karen Jacobs, die managing editor
of the student newspaper, the Uni*
versity Chronicle, who watched
the disturbance from her dormitory
room.
The riots broke out in the midst
of homecoming celebrations by
the school’s 16,400 students. Wit*
nesses said the problems began
when officers tried to break up loud
parties and fights.
Moline said that in his 31 years
on the police force, the weekend’s
violence could be topped only by
demonstrations against the Viet
nam War in the 1960s.
Student Randy Ridenour, 23, of 1
Minneapolis said officers backed
off several times Saturday night to
avoid a potentially disastrous con
frontation.
“It was mob mentalityhe s&iu.
Many people had been drinking
heavily and were enjoying the
havoc, he said.
Some of the handful of people
arrested Friday night probably will
be charged with felony assault for
throwing beer homes, and the ar
rests Sunday morning win result in
several more misdemeanor
charges, Moline said. Thirty-four
of the SO people arrested were
university students.
University President Brendan
McDonald said he \yould appoint a
task force to investigate the vio
lence and met with school officials
to discuss the situation further.
Report: Sabotage caused crash that killed Zia, ambassador
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Sabo
tage or another criminal act caused a
plane crash that killed President
Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, the U.S.
ambassador and 28 others, said a
report released Sunday by a U.S.
Pakistan investigation team.
The 365-page report ruled out
mechanical failure in the Aug. 17
crash of the Hercules C-130 transport
plane, said Pakistan air force Cmdr.
Abbas Mirza, who gave a 27-page
summary to reporters at a hastily
called news conference.
“The board believes that the acci
dent was most probably caused
through the perpetration of a criminal
r |M" ■ ■
actor sabotage,” said the summary by
the 10-member U.S.-Pakistan team.
The summary did not blame any
person or group for the crash but
called for a separate criminal investi
gation.
In Washington, U.S. State Depart
ment spokeswoman Nancy Beck said
U.S. officials received a copy of the
report and “we are studying it.” She
made no further comment
Mirza, who led the four Pakistani
representatives and six U.S. Air Force
officers on the team, said they found
no conclusive evidence to determine
the method of sabotage.
All 30 aboard were killed, includ
1 I 111 ■■■■ 1 ■■■■
ing U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphcl;
a U.S. defense adviser, Brig. Gen.
Herbert M. Wassom; and five lop
Pakistani generals.
Mirxa said investigators sifting
through the debris found chemicals
often used in explosives but no
remnants of a detonator, wh ich would
have indicated a small explosion
aboard the plane.
He said the phrase “criminal act”
referred to the possibility that the
pilot or co-pilot could have disrupted
cockpit controls intentionally, caus
ing the crash in an open field.
Because there was no voice re
corder aboard the aircraft, he said, it
was impossible to dctcrm inc what the
crew said before the crash.
“After a thorough analysis of the
available evidence, the board has
been unable to substantiate a techni
cal reason for the accident,” the
summary said.
“In the absence of the technical
reason, the only other possible cause
of the accident is the occurrence of a
crim inal act or sabotage leading to the
ioss of aircraft control and the
(crash),” it said.
Phosphorous was foi nd on mango
seeds found in the wreckage, the re
port said. Earlier reports speculated
that an explosive device was hidden
in a box of mangos offered as a gift
and placed aboard at the last minute.
Mir/.a made no comment on the
theory.
The plane took off from Is
lamabad, which doubles as a military
air base, to Bahawalpur, where Zia
watched a demonstration of the U.S.
M-l Abrams battle tank. The four
engine turboprop crashed after take
off on the return flight from Ba
hawalpur, 330 miles south of Is
lamabad.
Zia, 64, a military strongman who
imposed eight years of martial law
during his 11 years in power, was
viewed as a bulwark of stability in the
volatile region.
Nefiraskan
Editor Curt Wagner
472-1766
Managing Editor Diana Johnson
Assoc. News Editors Jane Hlrt
Lee Rood
Editorial
Page Editor Mike RetHey
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Copy Desk Editor Chuck Green
Sports Editor Steve Sipple
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Diversions Fditor Joeth Zucco
Sower Editor Andy Pollock
Graphics Editor Tim Hartmann
Photo Chief Eric Gregory
Asst. Photo Chief David Fahleson
Night News Editor Amy Edwards
Asst Night Newt
EditorA.ibrarlan Anne Mohri
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Democrats looking for come-from-behind victory
WASHINGTON — Democrats
found inspiration Sunday in the
Los Angeles Dodgers’ win in the
first game of the World Series,
saying that Michael Dukakis can
still pull off a come-from-behind
victory over Republican George
Bush in the remaining three weeks
of the presidential campaign.
“I think we’re going to be like
the Dodgers last night,” said
Dukakis running mate Lloyd
Bentsen. ‘‘It looked like they were
down and out, and all of a sudden
they hit a home run and won it. I
think we can do that in the next 24
days.”
Bush, alert to that possibility,
said that despite polls that show
him widening his lead over
Dukakis, ‘‘we’re going to keep on
with our original game plan, keep
working hand, keep traveling to
key states... keep moving for
ward.”
‘‘AH I know is to just drive down
to the wire,” the vice president
1 .I PI M'Ml1 ■ 1 III'
said.
Dukakis acknowledged in Bos
ton that he is entering the last leg of
the long campaign as an underdog,
but advised Republicans not to pop
champagne corks loo early be
cause “we’re going to be the ones
celebrating on election night.”
He said he will continue fight
ing for the values he believes in. He
said Bush, as vice president, “sat
on the sidelines for eight years
while America got beaten in world
markets, while they mortgaged our
children’s future to a mountain of
debt, and a piece of America was
being sold off every day at bargain
basement prices.”
The World Series analogy was
used by several Democrats.
“It’s an extremely close race,”
said Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn., on
ABC’s “This Week with David
Brinkley.”
“You’re going to sec Mike
Dukakis come on Tike Kirk Gibson
in the bottom of the ninth inning
... '
Iasi night in that game with two
outs ...he could barely walk around
the base path, but he knocked a
home run to win the game,” Gore
said.
The Dodgers beat the Oakland
Athletics, 5-4, in that first game of
the Series.
Bush told reporters in Denver
that he already has a team studying
the transition to a Bush presidency
and that he is ready to name his
Cabinet quickly. Former Navy
Undersecretary Chase Untcnrieyer
heads the Bush transition team.
“He has drawn up wiring dia
grams, what we should do if we
win,” Bush said. “You have to hit
the ground running.”
Bentsen, appearing on CBS
TV‘s “Face the Nation,” said the
Democratic ticket has been the
target of character assassination by
Bush and his running mate, Dan
Quayle.
“We were subjected to what I
think was the most demagogic at
tack that I’ve ever seen at the presi
dential level,” Benlsen said.
The Dukakis camp was trying to
put the best face on what many
perceived as a clear Bush victory in
last Thursday’s debate with
Dukakis.
Dukakis adviser Robert Bcckcl
said on the ABC program that
“there’s a lot of time left in this
race, there’s a lot of volatility in the
electorate, and I find it amazing
that all of these people are writing
this race off.”
But Ed Rollins, a Republican
strategist, said that “over the last
three months, George Bush has
made the sale; he has convinced the
American public that he has the
strength and the ability to lead this
country.”
Said Rollins: “It’s just a ques
tion now of getting the voters to the
polls on Election Day.”
