VOL. 99 ” COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 35
SPORTS
Ready to Run
Though his times have yet to improve, Nebraska
sophomore runner Marcus Witter is racing
stronger than he ever has. PAGE 8
kll
Where the Crowds Are
The Haymarket is a hustling and bustling center,
but as more businesses open shop, the parking
crunch becomes tighter. PAGE 12
October 8, 1999
— \
Cooling Off
Partly sunny, high 72. Cleartomght, low 48.
Matt Miller/DN -
TOP: Smoke and flames erupt from
the reef ef the Embassy Suites
Hotel, at 10th and P streets,
Thursday morning. The cloud of
black smoke was partly the result
of burning tar- and petroleum
based roofing material that is used
to waterproof the reef.
RIGHT: Taken from the reef ef the
Georgian Place building, 139 H.
11* St., the fire that erupted In the
Embassy Suites Hotel started at
about 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Minor
injuries were reported, and the
blaze forced seme downtown
streets to be temporarily closed.
■ The blaze at the Embassy
Suites Hotel in downtown Lincoln
was started after a steel kettle of
tar overheated, fire inspector says.
By Jake Bleed
Senior staff writer
The roof and top floor of the unfinished
Embassy Suites Hotel at 10th and P streets
caught fire Thursday morning after overheated
tar in a steel kettle on the building’s roof ignit
ed, Chief Fire Inspector Bill Moody said.
“The fire could’ve been prevented if the tar
kettle would’ve been monitored,” Moody said.
“It appears as if it overheated and ignited the
deck itself.”
Killian Construction Project Manager Ron
Barrett said fewer than five men were on the
roof of the $42 million hotel when the fire start
ed.
The roofers laying the tar were contracted
from Boone Brothers Roofing Inc. in Omaha. A
Boone Brothers representative refused to com
ment on the cause of the fire.
The heavy, black smoke rising from the
burning building could be seen across the city.
Demarcus Weaver said'he was driving down
town to take his son to lunch after a doctor’s
appointment and could see the smoke from the
intersection of 84th and O streets.
Despite die large amount of smoke, Barrett
said, the building was insured, and damage was
limited and would not delay construction of the
hotel.
“We don’t think it’s going to set us back,”
Barrett said. “We’re going to work a little hard
er.”
The hotel’s target completion date will
remain May 1,2000, Barrett said, who added
that investigators were still trying to estimate
the cost of the fire.
“We have to pull some things apart to really
see what happened up there,” Barrett said.
One injury was reported during the fire. A
construction worker was taken to St.
Elizabeth’s Hospital with a head injury but was
later released, a hospital spokesman said.
Barrett said about 140 people were working
in die hotel at the time of the fire.
“We accounted for every individual's soon
as we evacuated the building,” Barrett said.
Firefighters were dispatched to die burning
hotel at 10:44 a.m., Emergency
Communications Manager Julie Righter said.
Lincoln Mayor Don Wesely said firefighters
arrived in fewer than three minutes.
Ten fire companies took part in combating
the blaze, Fire Chief Mike Spadt said.
Because the building was still under con
Please see FIRE on 3
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Mourners
reminisce
on Melvin
Jones’ life
By George Green
Staff writer
Darryl White silenced a somber audience
Thursday with a solemn trumpet rendition of
Amazing Grace.
, , ——. . JL White, a UNL assis
& . • "b .
tarn protessor oi trumpet,
opened a memorial ser
vice for the late Melvin
Jones, vice chancellor
for business and finance
at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jones died Sept. 28 in
Washington, D.C., after
attack.
Jones’ memorial ser
vice was held I hursday at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts. Friends, family, co-workers
and students gathered there to celebrate
Jones’ life.
UNL’s Office of Public Relations estimat
ed that as many as 750 people attended the
service, which lasted an hour and a half.
Chancellor James Moeser welcomed the
Please see JONES on 3
Tom Green
brings act
to Memorial
Stadium
By Derek Lippincott
Staff writer
For probably the first time in history, the
Nebraska football team was not the center of
attention inside Memorial Stadium.
The football team made its scheduled
appearance last night at die annual homecom
ing “Tailgate on the Turf” pep rally, but it was
not who most people cange to see.
For most of the students who filled the
west stadium, MTV’s Tom Green was the
show - and not the annual Husker Howl skits
happening at the same time as Green's
appearance.
And after Green did his thing and left, so
did the majority of the students.
Tom Cabela, a sophomore English major,
said he didn’t come to see die pep rally.
Please see GREEN on 6
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