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

0 a in MAY 1 7 932 VOL. 114, NO. 138 Copyright 1992 SUNDAY, MAY 17, 1992 3-STAR HI 3 Firm's Bills Questioned In 'Therapy9 For Elderly I By Theresa Tighe Of the Post-Dispatch Staff 1992, SL Louis Post-Dispatch To hear 90-year-old Lena Lehman tell it, life at the Frederick Retirement Hotel In Boonville, got a bit brighter last year when employees of a Cope Care center began calling bingo and helping with crafts. Lehman since has learned that Cope Care characterized the bingo sessions as outpatient psychiatric services and billed Medicare and other insurers up to $6,000 a month for each resident served. She feels she was used.

"We played bingo for a dish of soap and a piece of candy, and they got a lot of money," Lehman said. Several Cope Care centers provide outpatient psychiatric treatment to residents of boarding and nursing homes in central and northern Missouri. Cope Care is an extension of Kirksville Osteopathic Medi cal Center's Laughlin Pavilion, a psychiatric hospital. Cope Care staff members traveled from Columbia to the Frederick in Boonville to provide therapeutic services to its residents. Medicare statements list billings from the Laughlin Pavilion totaling about $580,000 over the past two years for Cope Care's services to 14 residents at three boarding homes.

That figure is not comprehensive but represents the bills made available to the Post-Dispatch by clients or the homes. The three homes are: The Frederick, a once-elegant hotel in Boonville that has 40 residents, about three-fourths of them elderly. The rest are mental patients. Montgomery Care Center, a three-story red-brick building in Montgomery City that is home to about 15 frail elderly and 15 mental patients. Sturgeon Rest Home, a large white frame residence in Sturgeon that 20 elderly people call home.

James LeBaron, the hospital's administrator, said in an interview that there were problems with the operation of the Columbia center, which served six homes. He said that in an internal review last fall, hospital officials had determined there was inadequate documentation to support billing for about $190,000 In services provided to residents of the three boarding homes. The hospital has reason to believe that some of the services weren't provided to patients, he said. He said the hospital had returned to Medicare or written off as uncollectible the 43 percent Medicare allows the hospital to collect on those bills, or about $82,000. It also has returned or written off about $7,000 to Medicaid, he said.

Some of the boarders referred to Cope Care were mental patients and got therapy, See MEDICARE, Page 7 Sam LeonePost-Disnatch il iir.i. innnn.li.n r. i iHmIum Taking in the view from the lobby of her retirement hotel in Booneville is 90-year-old Lena Lehman. She says she feels "used" by a company that charged high fees to organize bingo games there. THE INTERSTATE KILLINGS raw Johnny Carson: The real' Johnny remains inscrutable.

Master Of Illusion Next to Merlin's work in medieval England, "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" was the longest-running magic act in history. 1C dot )mi c6ov mm Many Lawmakers Cite Bickering Costs May Rise For Kiel Center The group that wants to build a downtown arena, Kiel Center, is refiguring all of its costs. The most recent estimate, $115 million, may prove low. ID Fa I ii 1 1 i 1 1 I 1 ii in i 1 1 1 1 By Terry Ganey Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau Chief JEFFERSON CITY The day before the start of this year's legislative session, Gov. John Ashcroft, House Speaker Bob Griffin and Senate President Pro Tem James Mathewson were to appear at a joint news conference to endorse an anti-drug abuse bill.

But the event was canceled at the last minute. Griffin, D-Cameron, was at odds with Ashcroft, a Republican, on a number of issues and would not come out in support of the bill. The bickering was a portent of things to come. For the next 4'2 months the scene was repeated on a larger or smaller scale as the Missouri Legislature spat and sputtered, but never addressed many of the state's problems. The Senate was at odds with the House; individual lawmakers tested their power against one another; the Legislature was at odds with Ashcroft.

Often the General Assembly seemed paralyzed by the complexity of the issues or overwhelmed by the number of bills demanding attention. GOVERNOR, LEGISLATORS put best face on Page 6B LEGISLATOR WANTS to be House speaker Page 6B In the halls outside their chambers lobbyists demanded attention, and constituents telephoned from home wanting action or inaction on issues such as abortion or the concealed weapons amendment. And as a result, when lawmakers adjourned at 6 p.m. Friday, several major jobs remained undone, including revision of the state formula of distributing money to public schools and a bill Ashcroft sought for three years to fight drugs. Also dying were such issues as state regulation and inspection of church-run day-care centers and consolidation of children's services.

Even bills that were passed, such as revision of the workers' compensation system, were temporary patches on spots where major overhauls were necessary. Phyllis Rozansky, executive direc-See LEGISLATURE, Page 8 Balanced-Budget Amendment Gains Congress is rushing toward adoption of the long-stalled constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. IB Scott DinePost-Dispatch RAYTOWN, A shopper peering into the closed Store of Many Colors where Sarah Blessing was killed. Blessing is believed to be one of six victims of a serial Killer. Interstate 70 Killer Leaves Trail Of Death And Grief Police: 'We Don't Know What We're Looking For' By Peter Hernon, Bill Smith and Susan K.

Brown Wall Street's Latest Milestone Two hundred years ago Sunday, two dozen New Yorkers founded one of capitalism's sturdiest branches. City, County Win Dollars From Legislative Session IE INDIANAPOLIS Wednesday, April 8. 1 p.m. Jeff Meyrose, manager of the the MAB paint store at 7324 Pendleton Pike, said he first noticed the strange man in the green coat walking west on the street known by locals as "The Pike." The man was coming from the Disappointment In Jefferson City (EDITORIAL) Simple Justice Eludes Blacks (EDITORIAL) 2B Of the Post-Dispatch Staff 1992, St. Louis Post-Dispatch The first to die was Robin F.

Fuldauer, 26, a manager at a shoe store in Indianapolis. The latest was Sarah Lynn Blessing, 37, a clerk in a health foods store in a Kansas City suburb. In all, five women including Nancy Kitzmiller of St. Charles and one man have been shot to death by a gunman police say may be a roaming vagrant. The killer has crisscrossed four Midwestern states and traveled at least 1, 700 miles during a monthlong murder spree.

The killings are linked by weapon, a pistol; by location, busy shopping malls close to interstate highways; and by cause of death: gunshots to the head. Still, police are baffled. "We don't even know what the hell we're looking for, said a frustrated Joe Newport, assistant police chief in Terre Haute, the scene of one of the murders. Three Post-Dispatch reporters and a photographer last week followed the trail of the killer. What follows is a chronology of the bloodshed.

direction of interstate 465, three miles north of 1-70, and Meyrose assumed that he was a hitchhiker. He was carrying a large bag, about three feet long, and Meyrose said when the man got to the paint store, he circled the building several times before sitting on a concrete curb outside a closed Ed and Ed's hamburger stand next door. By Fred W. Lindecke Missouri Political Correspondent JEFFERSON CITY St. Louis and St.

Louis County received substantial financial help and some potential help during this year's session of the Missouri Legislature. The Legislature, which adjourned Friday evening, appropriated $700,000 for the Museum of Transport in SL Louis County. The appropriation is intended to be the beginning of state and county funds, together with federal matching funds, to prevent deterioration of the train and transportation collection and improve display of exhibits at the museum. For St. Louis, the Legislature approved $1 million to begin work on a new 400-bed honor center on Mul- lanphy Street north of downtown.

That would replace the St Mary's Honor Center on Papin Street. Lobbyists for both St. Louis and St. Louis County worked for appropriation of the state's $10 million annual payment for construction of the Cervantes football stadium and convention center expansion. The city and county each put up $5 million annually.

Also in state appropriations was $126,000 to the county for development of the former National Lead site into a Mississippi River port. The St. Louis School Board and Jewish Hospital received help from a three-way swap of property with the state. As a result of the deal, the School Board will get some newer See BILLS, Page 8 Fuldauer He sat there for 30 to 40 minutes, Meyrose said, rummaging through his bag and staring toward the Payless ShoeSource store almost directly across the street. "He looked," Meyrose said, "like a guy who had been See MURDERS, Page 6 ArtsMusic 4C Automotive 35Q Books 5C Business 1-8E Classified 2-67G Commentary 3B Editorials 2B Everyday 1-14C Movie Timetable 11C News Analysis Obituaries 90 People 7A Real Estate 1Q Sports 1-1 4F St Louis 1-1 00 Style Plus IJiS Travel "MOT Governor's Race Full Of Sound And Money No Problem Ohio Teen-ager Makes Preparation Count In National Math Contest General William L.

Webster, Secretary of State Roy Blunt and state Treasurer Wendell Bailey. On the Democratic front, Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan is running a low-profile campaign. Meanwhile, St.

Louis Mayor Vincent C. Schoe-mehl his main Democratic opponent, is spending most of the money and garnering most of the head- By Jo Mannies Post-Dispatch Political Correspondent With 79 days remaining before Missouri's primary on Aug. 4, the governor's race is blasting off like a Roman candle: Lots of sparks and money are flying in all directions. When they weren't raising cash or spending it, the five major candidates Thunderstorms GOVERNOR'S RACE Haitian Refugees Are Surging Again 1992, New York Times News Service GREAT ABACO ISLAND, the Bahamas Haitians have suddenly resumed the flight from their country aboard small boats in numbers that surpass the surge seen in October in the aftermath of a violent military coup. With an average of almost 250 people a day being plucked from the seas off Haiti in recent weeks, the number being temporarily housed at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba has risen to about 8,500, from a low of 2,000 in March.

On Wednesday 903 Haitians on 11 rickety vessels were plucked from the seas. When relatively few Haitians were found at sea In March, officials thought the exodus had crested. But now, exasperated officials see new urgency In diplomatic efforts to restore Haiti's elected government. Diplomats from the Organization of American States will meet Sunday in the Bahamas to discuss Haiti. Officials seeking to explain the resurgence in refugees point to the sharp deterioration of living conditions in the island nation, in large part because of a hemisphere-wide trade embargo imposed last November to punish the coup leaders.

Some officials also complain that although the Coast Guard has stopped Haitian vessels from reaching the United States, a sizable portion of those picked up have been admitted to pursue grants of asylum, thus encouraging many others to risk the voyage. Others stress the calm seas and favorable winds, which may encourage more Haitians to risk voyages in often frail and leaky boats. Last week, a senior State Department official estimated that the combined costs of the settlement at Guantanamo and the Coast Guard's interdiction had risen to more than $60 million since the coup Sept. 30. Immigration officials See REFUGEES, Page 8 FORECAST: Sunday: Occasional likely.

High 83. Gradual clearing Sunday night. Low 62. Monday: Becoming clear to partly cloudy. High near 78.

Other weather, 2A Compiled From Newt Services WASHINGTON Quick as a Michael Jordan dunk, Andrei Gnepp, 13, of Orange, Ohio, calculated the comeback odds involving a hypothetical pro basketball playoff to win a national math contest on Friday. Andrei, whose father is a computer scientist and whose mother is a math professor, blurted out a few of his answers faster than the moderator could complete the questions in the final rounds of Mathcounts, a sort of counterpart to the National Spelling Bee. The competition was among 223 seventh- and eighth-graders. "I like soccer, and I like writing," Andrei said. But math is what he likes best, he said.

It took him just seconds to come up with the solution to this problem: If the Bulls lead the Pistons three games to two in a seven-game playoff, and assuming the probability of the Bulls winning any game against the Pistons is three-fifths, what is the probability that the Pistons will win the playoffs? Four-twenty-fifths, the soft-spoken Andrei correctly replied. Jennifer Hoffman of Greenwich, won second place, the first time In the competition's nine See MATH, Page 7 two Democrats and three Republicans spent last week lobbing firecrackers at one another at a frenetic pace for so early in the season. And the attacks crossed party lines, which is unusual in heated contested party primaries where there is no incumbent for all challengers to attack. The stage is set for what many believe will be the state's most spirited and nasty battle for governor in decades. After a springtime truce, the Republican candidates are sparring over a wide range of issues, including debates, endorsements and disclosing personal income-tax returns.

The three major candidates are Attorney lines. Many of the headlines aren't to the mayor's liking: He's spending a bundle rumored to be $200,000 or more to saturate outstate and Kansas City television and radio with ads, by far the most of any of the candidates. He's fending off accusations of questionable tactics for targeting some ads and fliers towards blacks. He's returning a $25,000 campaign contribution that raised questions and confusion about the donor from Ladue who gave the money through his London company. He's accusing two of the GOP candidates of engaging in "Willie Hor-ton for their welfare proposals, See CAMPAIGN, Page 8 1 POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRO HgQ OFF.

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