Judge could close hearings in Biorklund case
By Alan Phelps
Senior Reporter
The pre-trial evidence suppression
hearings in Roger Bjorklund’s first
degree murder case were put on hold
Friday as the judge considered wheth
er to close the hearings to the public.
Lancaster County District Judge
Donald Endacott said the court would
be dealing with “a very sensitive area”
in upcoming sessions, and he must
decide if a future jury might be tainted
by press accounts of what might be
NAACP
Continued from Page 1
had never participated in a march or
rally before and was there out of curi
osity.
“I have a multicultural education
class, and it seemed like a good idea
to go (to the march),” he said. “I was
interested in hearing what they had to
say.”
A variety of speakers participated
in the rally, including representatives
from UNL’s Commission on the Sta
tus of Women, Nebraskans for Peace,
the Lincoln chapter of the National
Council of Negro Women, the Lin
Abate
Continued from Page 1
this is un-American and against the
Bill of Rights,” he said.
Sheeney said popular support was
the key to overturning the law.
“If we showenough support, they’ll
have little choice,” he said. “In the
long run, freedom’s going to prevail.
It always has.”
Kent Bembeck, also of Freedom
First, encouraged all ABATE mem
bers to work together to overturn the
law.
“Who is the Legislature to rein
said in the courtroom.
“There is a great deal of slow,
meticulous tedium... to assure every
one is accorded a fair trial who comes
into our courts,” Endacott said.
The jury is to be selected in the
Sidney area. Chief Lancaster County
Public Defender Scott Helvie, repre
senting Bjorklund, has argued materi
al released through the hearings could
hurt Bjorklund’s chances for a fair
trial.
Endacott ended the hearings Thurs
coln High School Rainbow Coalition
and the Lincoln NAACP branch.
Speakers touched on topics such as
women’s rights, the death penalty,
affirmative action, multicultural edu
cation in public schools and the
progress made in racial equality.
Also included were invocations
from several local clergies such as the
Islamic Foundation of Lincoln, the
Vicar General Catholic Diocese, the
Unitarian Church and the Congrega
tion of B’Nai Jeshurun.
Similar marches to state capitol
buildings took place all across the
country to commemorate the 30th
anniversary of the civil rights march
on Washington.
state something we voted out?” he
said. “There are 900 ABATE mem
bers in Nebraska. Take the time to
take back what is yours.”
Dave Kendle of the Nebraska Lib
ertarian Party said motorcyclists had
to fight for the freedoms big govem
mehts often take away.
“They want to be nannies, but you
don’t need a nanny to tell you how to
run your lives,” he said.
“If you wish to live free, be pre
pared to fight for your freedom.”
Tom Emal, ABATE state coordi
nator, said he was proud of the motor
cyclists that came to the rally despite
Saturday’s rain.
Clinton faces tough issues
EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP)—
A rejuvenated President Clinton
was winding down his summer
vacation Sunday, trading resort
island serenity for a return to the
political wars of Washington.
Fights over the North Ameri
can Free Trade Agreement and an
overhaul of the health care system
loom ahead for Clinton, who spent
much oflus
first seven
months in
office la
boring for
passage of
his eco
nomic pro
gram.
Clinton,
who hadn’t
taken a lengthy vacation in years,
succumbed to the lure of the sea,
the golf-course greens and the
trendy restaurants during his 11
day stay here.
“It’s just one of these periods
when he’s totally relaxed,” said
press secretary Dee Dee Myers.
Asked if she could recall having
seen a rested Clinton, she replied,
“No, not that relaxed before.”
But Clinton will need plenty of
stamina as he approaches a hectic
post-Labor Day schedule.
He wants Congress to approve
the treaty creating the world's larg
est free trade zone among the Unit
cd States, Canada and Mexico. But
a number of fellow Democrats,
including Majority Whip David
Bonior of Michigan, oppose it.
Bonior called the treaty “funda
mentally flawed" Sunday and said
it’s opposed by two-thirds to 75
percent of House Democrats.
“They fear it is making Ameri
can jobs our number one export,”
Bonior said on NBC’s “Meet the
Press.” “This treaty is premature.
It is negotiated in a way Which will
hurt American workers, it will not
help Mexican workers ... It’s a
lousy treaty.”
Senate Republican leader Bob
Dole of Kansas, who supports the
treaty, predicted the bill would be
approved in the Senate where he
said 34 to 35 Republicans proba
bly would endorse it.
“There won’t be any Republi
can gridlock to talk about," Dole
said on CNN’s “Newsmaker Sun
day,” add ing that the president must
“make the case with the Demo
crats.” He said the treaty will pro
duce new exports and new jobs.
On the foreignpol icy front, there
was encouragement in reports that
Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization are weighing mutual
recognition as part ot a package to
establish limited Palestinian self
rule in the occupied territories.
Peace talks resume in Washing
ton on Tuesday.
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Photo Chief
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Angie Brunkow
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Night News Editors
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Senior Acct. Exec.
Publications Board Chairman
Bruce Kroeee
Doug Fiedler
434-0407
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dayjust after Deputy LancasterCounty
Attorney John Colborn asked Lincoln
Police Detective Sgt. Greg Sorensen
for an account of a conversation the
detective had with Bjorklund.
Sorensen said eailier that Bjorklund
had told him his conscience had been
bothering him. Bjorklund, 31, and
Scott Barney, 24, were arrested Dec.
2 in connection with a string of Lin
coln robberies last fall. Police say
Barney later told authorities he and
Bjorklund were involved in the slay
ing of University of Nebraska-Lin
coin student Candice Harms.
Endacott met privately with law
yers on both sides of the case and
lawyers representing the media for
much of Friday morning. When
Endacott reopened the hearing at near
ly 11 a.m., he said it would take the
rest of the weekend toexamine exhib
its for their potential to taint a jury
should the media report them.
While the courts belong to the
citizens, Endacott said, he must also
protect the rights of the accused.
“It is in that delicate area of bal
ancing that we f nd ourselves in now,”
he said.
Endacott said he would make his
decision before the hearings reopen
this morning.
Alan Peterson, a Lincoln lawyer
representing media interests, said he
was under court order not to elaborate
on what evidence would be exam
ined. He said the judge did not say the
media were irresponsible in the hear
ings so far. 1
“Nobody is pointing at anybody,”
he said.
William Lauer/DN
Bikers from across the state Joined a 45-minute parade ride from Waco. Neb., to the State
Capitol steps Saturday afternoon to protest the mandatory helmet law. Organizers said the
rainy weather cut participation by half.
Carolinas
prepare
for Emily
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) —
Waves along the shore weren’t big
enough to interest surfers Sunday, but
Hurricane Emily was on a blustery
path toward land and coastal residents
rushed to stock up on food and sup
plies.
Some people, with memories of
Hurricane Hugo still fresh, made plans
to leave.
“I wouldn’t want to go through the
fear again. It’s easier to get out than to
stay,” said William Holden, who left
his North Myrtle Beach condomini
um to return to his home in New
Jersey.
‘T’m waiting to see and keeping
my fingers crossed,” said Arnold
Wolfe of Little River.
“If it’s going north, I’m going south.
If it’s going south, I’m going north,”
said shrimper Larry Cobb, whose
shrimp boat Bridget floated on the
placid water of Shem Creek in Mount
Pleasant.
Cobb remembers all too well riding
out Hugo on his boat. The storm
smashed into Charleston in Septem
ber 1989. From Caribbean islands to
the inland Carolinas, it caused at least
$5.9 billion in damage and killed 85
people.
Emily was moving west-northwest
on Sunday at 9 mph. Its top sustained
Hurricane Emily heads for Carolinas
Emily
Conditions as of Sun.,
5 p.m. EDT
31.2N., 70.1W.
Max. Winds: 80 mph
Moving: NNW 9 mph
40°
wind speed was about 80 mph with
some strengthening expected. A Na
tional Hurricane Center advisory pro
jected the storm could make landfall
Tuesday, possibly in North Carolina
or even much farther north.
“It continues to pose a threat to the
East Coast,” said Bob Sheets, the
director of the National Hurricane
Center.
Ar
In Manteo, N.C., Dare County
Emergency Management officials met
to review plans, assistant director
Cheryl Booth said.
“There are no shelters, no safe
piace to go, when a hurricane strikes,”
she said. “They will order an evacua
tion once they decide how long it’s
going to be before the hurricane
strikes”
b lood problems return to Des Moines
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Re
newed flooding caused by as much as
10 inches of rain forced hundreds to
evacuate Sunday as crews rushed to
protect the city’s water treatment plant
for the second time this summer.
“Now we can talk about the two
floods of 1993. It’s going to be a
mess,” said Tom Tucker, owner of an
interior design business in West Des
Moines that was flooded twice.
With the ground already saturated
from a record summer rainfall, water
from the latest storm auicklv drained
into streams and creeks, which then
overflowed throughout central Iowa.
More rain was forecast and flood
warnings were issued for the region.
“We1 re not quite out of the woods
yet,” said National Weather Service
forecaster Dan Smith.
Des Moines officials closed streets
throughout the western part of the city
as sewers backed up and smaller creeks
flooded.
“There is very little we can do
other than evacuate,” said Des Moines
Mayor John Dorrian.
The American Red Cross opened
two shelters for evacuees forced from
their homes, and hundreds of volun
teers spent the day filling sandbags.
South-central Nebraska also got
heavy rain, with 6 1/4 inches over
night at Harvard and 3 inches in 3 1/
2 hours at Fairmont. Streets, rural
roads and some basements flooded
but water was receding quickly Sun
day.
Many in the DesXoines area were
still reeling from flooding earlier this
summer.
Weather service officials said Sun
day's deluge made this the city’s wet
test summer on record. As of early
Sunday, rainfall for June through
August totaled 29.06 inches, break
ing the 1881 record of 26.54 inches.