St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

LOCAL Protestants Call For Tolerance IB Astros Turn On Cardinals The Cardinals' Ray Lankford is safe as he bowls over catcher Scott Servais in the second inning, but the Astros bounce back for a 7-6 victory SPORTS 1C SPORTS Faldo Fires Record 63 Stolen Secrets Cause GM Stir A former General Motors executive may face charges for the alleged theft of documents. BUSINESS 8C 1C NATION FBI Chiefs Ouster Expected 3A FOST-liRaTCH inno ATllDfl AV II II 1 7 -I fino r-r a VOL. 115, NO. 198 Wkmifflmg Don iKSsf Levee Fails, Closes Last Bridge Between St. Louis And Iowa By Virgil Tipton Of the Post-Dispatch Staff St.

Louis police officers and firefighters on Friday night asked residents of 500 more homes near the River Des Peres to evacuate and announced that utility service to the homes would be cut today. Elsewhere Friday night, floodwater continued to dominate attempts to contain it. At West Quincy, the last link across the Mississippi River for 212 miles north from St. Louis closed when a levee blew about 8 p.m. The levee is about a half-mile ran i -l J- 1 i north of the Bay-view Bridge.

The bridge, which had been restricted to local and emergency traffic only, was the last link across a stretch of the Mississippi from St. Louis to Burlington, Iowa. Flames were shooting high from a gas station in the line of floodwater, authorities said, and gasoline appeared to be flowing on the (JSSSTi Because of more rain, the National Weather Service increased its prediction Friday for the Mississippi River's crest. The river will now crest at 46 feet at St. Louis on Monday, 6 inches above the previous day's prediction.

The river could be above flood stage until mid-August. The Weather Service predicts more rain today and Sunday for northern Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and other parts of the Mississippi Valley. Sam LeonePost-Dispatch Carl Zimmerman's dogs staying clear of floodwater Friday on the roof of his house on Missouri Highway 94 near Harbor Point jn St. Charles County; The Missouri River on Fiiaay tore through a major levee shielding the county. As Water Pours In, So Do The Donations By Jo Mannies and Virginia Baldwin Hick Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The Salvation Army and the Red Cross said Friday that the level of giving to victims of the flooding has outpaced anything they have seen Eere.

Jn the last nine days, the Salvation $Tmy here has received more than $40,000 in cash and countless tons of food and supplies for flood wetims in a campaign dubbed Operation Noah's Ark." water. Near St. Charles, the Missouri River breached a levee about 6:45 p.m. Friday. The river had punctured the levee in two other places earlier Friday.

The levee breaks flooded farmland and three mobile home parks just north of St. Charles while a handful of residents desperately flung sandbags at the advance. The rear guard gave up the battle after 4 feet of water stood on the ground. A total of 700 people fled the area late Thursday and early Friday, but 15 to 20 families remained behind in the mobile home parks. See FLOOD, Page 6 By Fits And Starts, It Was High Time For Holdout To Go By Tom Uhlenbrock Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Everyone else had evacuated days ago, and the last, man out was having trouble starting his boat.

"His name is Tim Smith. The guy's a Vietnam vet, kind of set in his ways. He was scared to death he'd have to leave his dogs." The speaker was Dennis Harper, and he stood alone Friday on a soggy levee at the north end of St. Charles, watching as Smith struggled to start the small boat floating at the back porch of his house. The house and a half dozen others were surrounded by Missouri River floodwater, which was on the rise again.

Smith's house used to sit a half-mile from the Missouri River. But the river now filled the bottomlands up to the Hawning Road levee, and the levee threatened to go. Smith has "a brother, but his house is gone, and he's staying at the Salvation Army," Harper said. "He doesn't have artybody else. That's probably why he called me." Disaster crews in St.

Charles County evacuated all residents Friday in the low-lying areas on the dry side of the levee. With water washing over and seeping through, they feared it was only a matter of hours before the levee blew. See EVACUEES, Page 6 1 1 1 mm In addition, $900,000 was given to the American Red Cross just during the last week, says local director Deborah Patterson. That's in addition to food and other supplies, coming in by the truckload. "And all this was without asking," said Col.

Dennis Phillips, divisional commander of the Salvation Army in Missouri and Southern Illinois. The need balances the generosity. The Red Cross estimates that it will spend $2.5 million on shelters and other services to flood victims. The Salvation Army says it is spending at least $50,000 a day, much of that to provide 15,000 meals a day to flood victims and volunteers. It also is giving money to some flood victims to cover their basic expenses until federal aid checks arrive.

More help also is on the way. On Monday, seven tractor-trailers are arriving from Richmond, filled with food and supplies collected by Jaycees service organization, businesses, churches and radio stations there. Other shipments are coming from Jaycees in Logan, Ohio, and 197 Jay-cee chapters in Florida. Wal-Mart has donated a warehouse in Earth City and a distribution expert from Dallas to help the Red See GIFTS, Page 6 I Ik i Flood Summit: Governors have message for Clinton: Send cash 7A i River Des Peres: Sewage backs into basements. 7A i Sandbag Plea: St.

Louis needs sandbaggers. 7 A i Arch View: Sightseers need to get tickets early. 8A i Noah's Ark: The motel and restaurant is aptly named. 8A i Water Delivery: The mail still goes through 8 A Ted DarganPost-Dispatch Sherry Nester and her father, Ralph Nester, leaving their mobile home north of St. Charles on Friday with Sgt.

Mark Bird of the Missouri National Guard. WEATHER Partly Cloudy Clinton Near Verdict On Gays In Military Forfeiture Winner Faces Heroin Charge FORECAST "A Today Chance of storms. High 92, With southwest wind 5-14 mph. Storms tonight; low 74. Sunday Partly sunny; storms likely; high 93.

Other weather, 16B Business 8-1 3C Classified 8-16B, 14-18C Editorials 6B Everyday 1-10D Letters 7B Movies 4-5D NationWorld 3A News Analysis 5B Obituaries 4B Religion 9A St. Louis 1-16B Sports 1-7C Television 7D EDITORIAL PAGE St. Louis Isn't Gotham City Specialized Segregation 6B i tary service by people with "a propensity to engage in homosexual acts," whatever Clinton decides. But Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass a homosexual who had once accepted the idea of a compromise, appealed to Clinton to stick to his pledge to lift the ban outright, even if it meant defeat in Congress.

The administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plan would be unveiled early next week. Clinton is still waiting for a full report from the Justice Department on whether the proposal can be defended in court. Preliminary indications are that it can, said both the senior White House officials and top Pentagon aides. Faced with strong congressional See GAYS, Page 5 By Bill Bryan Of the Post-Dispatch Staff 1993, St. Louis Post-Dispatch One week ago, Eddie Keeper won a court fight to keep a four-family flat that authorities called a drug house.

On Friday he was back in court charged as a major heroin dealer. Keeper, 32, of the 1200 block of Purdue Avenue in University City, was one of six people arrested on heroin charges. Three were Mexican nationals. "Keeper is the main man here in St. Louis buying from these sources from Mexico," said Lt.

Anton Wagner, commander of the St. Louis Police Department's narcotic section. Police recovered at least 10 ounces of "black tar" and "mud brown" heroin, potent forms of the narcotic. The heroin had a street value of $400,000, Wagner said. "Ten ounces is a phenomenonal weight for this town," Wagner said.

The six were charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute heroin. They are being held without bond, pending a hearing Monday before a federal judge. Keeper made news July 9 after a federal court jury decided in his favor and returned a four-family, flat at 5854-56 Terry Avenue to nim and his mother. The government seized the building in 1991, calling it a drug house under federal drug asset forfeiture guidelines. Keeper sued to get it back.

Keeper said after the trial that he See DRUGS, Page 5 WASHINGTON (AP) President Bill Clinton is close to announcing a policy that would bar "openly practicing" homosexuals from the armed forces but limit investigation of discreet gay men or women, the White House said Friday. Clinton decided he could not lift the military ban on homosexuals completely, as he had promised in his presidential campaign, because that action was sure to be overridden by Congress, top officials said at a briefing. They said his policy, to be announced soon, could best be summed up as "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue." Earlier, Sen. Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, served notice that he would pi'h for a law to ban mili- a POST-DISPATCH WEI 0 TOO11" 9.