a=— NewsDgest
Friday, February 24,1995 Page 2
News... _
in a Minute
Former Congressman arrested
WASHINGTON — Former Ohio Rep. Donald “Buz” Lukens was
arrested today on charges he accepted bribes from two businessmen
who wanted his help for their trade school.
Lukens, who resigned from Congress in 1990 amid charges of
sexual misconduct, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington
on charges of accepting $27,500 from two Ohio businessmen.
One of the businessmen, John Fitzpatrick of Middletown, Ohio,
was charged in a related indictment of conspiring to bribe Lukens and
of conspiring to cover up a fraud involving government student loans
and grants. The other businessman, Henry Whitesell, is dead, the
Justice Department said.
Fitzpatrick and Whitesell ran the Cambridge Technical Institute.
If convicted on all counts, Lukens would face a maximum penalty of
65 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.
Denver may have mislead investors
DENVER— Documents turned over to federal investigators show
city officials were warned repeatedly about delays at Denver Interna
tional Airport and may have misled investors by not revealing poten
tial investment risks.
The city’s reaction to several of the early alerts was to exclude one
bearer of bad news from critical meetings and order the contractors to
meet increasingly unrealistic deadlines.
Denver City Councilman Ted Hackworth says that when he voted
to approve airport bond sales and offer documents to investors he was
unaware of the problems cited in the documents.
“Up until this point I’ve always felt we weren’t guilty of misleading
anyone about progress at the airport,” Hackworth said. “After seeing
these memos, I’m not so sure. We may not have reported as accurately
as we should have.”
Denver International is scheduled to open Tuesday, with all requi
site fanfare. But due to problems cited in the documents, four previous
openings were postponed, investors are considering lawsuits over
unreported risk on $3.4 billion in bonds, and the city has paid a
Washington law firm more than $1 million to deal with investigators.
Teachers say school lunch
program shouldn’t be cut
WASHINGTON — It is lunch
time at New Haven Elementary in
Columbia, Mo., and chattering chil
dren descend on the cafeteria.
For 31 percent, the baked chicken,
mashed potatoes, green beans, salad
bar, fruit rollup and milk may be their
only square meal of the day. They are
youngsters who get a free or low-cost
lunch because their parents are poor.
“It’s probably one of the most im
portant things we do,” says principal
Carole Kennedy. “For some of the
kids we have, it’s just vital.”
But now, it’s getting a second look
in Congress.
As part of Republicans’ welfare
reform plans, a House committee
voted Thursday to replace the subsi
dized lunch program with block grants
for states to spend on child nutrition.
“We’re not saying, 'Take the
school lunch money and build high
ways,”’ insisted Rep. Bill Goodling,
R-Pa., the chairman of the House
Economic and Educational Opportu
nities Committee, upset that Republi
cans are portrayed as callous. “We’re
talking about a more efficient way to
run the program.”
But teachers and principals worry
the changes would leave children
hungry.
“This isn’t a free handout,” Eakin
says. “The children who get it defi
nitely need it, to give them the energy
they need to stay awake and leam in
school.”
In all, about 14 million American
schoolchildren — one-third of all
public school students — received
free or low-cost school lunches last
year. Five million also received break
fast. Not all schools offer breakfasts.
A smaller number of schools also
offer lunch during summer vacations.
On weekends and school holidays,
children are on their own.
Children in a family of four with
income below SI9,240 get the free
lunch. Parents are asked to fill out a
form each year if they think they’re
eligible.
Individual schools have great lee
way in deciding what to cook, within
general guidelines from the federal
government. The Republican proposal
also would wipe out those guidelines.
Teachers have long felt children
don’t leam well if they’re hungry.
But it’s been only in the last decade,
researchers say, that they have found
evidence to support that claim.
A recent Tufts University study
found children who ate a school break
fast had better attendance and stan
dardized test scores than children who
ate no breakfast at home or school.
Several other researchers have found
that even mild malnutrition, such as an
iron, vitamin A or zinc deficiency, can
hurt a child’s development.
Goodling and other supporters of
the GOP plan say that bringing school
lunches under block grants would
bring costs under control, and also
give states leeway to spend federal
money on their most pressing needs.
Under the proposal approved
Thursday, most of the money from
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the current school lunch program still
would go to school lunches. But each
state could spend up to 20 percent on
other programs.
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Carter returns to help
with Haitian elections
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Former Presi
dent Jimmy Carter, who averted a U.S. inva
sion by persuading Haiti’s military leaders to
step down, arrived Thursday to work on the
next step in Haiti’s experiment with democ
racy.
Carter said he planned to help prepare for
peaceful elections and assess progress on secu
rity and economic issues. Carter oversaw the
December 1990 presidential election that Jean
Bertrand Aristide won by a landslide.
The next major democratic test for Haiti is
scheduled for June 4, when the first round of
legislative and local elections takes place. Presi
dential elections are set for December.
Carter, accompanied by his wife Rosalynn,
was to be joined Friday by Sen. Sam Nunn, D
Ga., and retired Gen. Colin Powell, former
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All three
were instrumental last fall in inducing the
departure of Haiti’s military leadership, lead
' ing to the unopposed arrival of the U.S.-led
multinational force.
They will meet with Aristide, Haitian gov
ernment officials and political party leaders,
among others. Also on the agenda during
Carter’s three-day visit is a review of the inter
national aid effort in Haiti.
Carter’s visit coincides with a scaling down
of U.S. forces from a peak of 21,000 troops to
3,000 by the end of the month. Americans are
expected to comprise slightly less than half of
a 6,000-member U.N. force that takes over
from the American-led force on March 31.
Aristide’s government didn’t send a repre
sentative to greet Carter at the airport, and
someone had painted red graffiti in a square in
the capital demanding that he go home.
Although Carter’s September negotiations
forestalled a U.S. invasion and likely saved
thousands of lives, some Haitians resent the
fact that Haiti’s military rulers were allowed to
stay in power for almost a month and then leave
for exile.
Carter was upbeat as he stepped from the
plane.
“I’ve always been welcomed when I return
to Haiti —this time by President Aristide, who
invited us to come, and also, I understand, by
a graffiti artist who in red paint wrote words of
welcome,” Carter said with a smile.
Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras and Brig. Gen.
Philippe Biamby went to Panama and Police
Chief Michel Francois to the neighboring Do
minican Republic.
Several Haitian youth groups and neighbor
hood political organizations spoke out against
Carter’s visit, but a threatened demonstration
at the airport did not materialize.
Venel St. Trouice of the Avenue Pouplard
Youth Movement said Thursday that U.S. sol
diers arrested a colleague as he was painting
graffiti in a downtown neighborhood. An Army
spokeswoman could not immediately confirm
the arrest.
The Haitian army and its attaches killed
more than 3,000 people in the three years
following Aristide was overthrown in a coup in
September 1991. After his return last Oct. 15,
Aristide vowed tocut the army from 7,500 to
1,500 soldiers and establish a separate police
force.
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