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

(t (rj (g pnTflRPATPIK Copyright 1993 THURSDAY, JULY 1 1 993 (3) 5-STAR (X Vfrt-et VOL. 115, NO. 182 50C I Q) rjn State Officials Dispute Audit Mental Health Department Is Accused Of Overpayments ira-M)Bltoira Fojondl CLOSE DOWN 3516.08 2.77 2B Kelly certain the fate of future abortion-related measures. Activists on both sides of the issue acknowledge that using federal tax dollars for abortions is one of the most controversial aspects of abortion rights. The size of the margin was a blow to the hopes of abortion-rights advocates for future battles.

Still to come: congressional debate on the Freedom of Choice Act, which would limit restrictions states can impose, and a decision on whether abortion should be covered in the administration's health care package of benefits. Complied From News Services WASHINGTON After furious debate, anti-abortion forces won a significant victory Wednesday when the House voted to keep the government's longstanding restrictions on federal financing of abortions for poor women. President Bill Clinton had advocated repeal of the ban, and the 255-178 vote represented the first major test for the new Congress on the highly emotional issue. Wednesday's action marked by shouting matches, name-calling and finger-pointing on the floor left un With 114 newcomers in the House this year, both sides viewed the federal-funding vote as a barometer. About one-fourth of the first-term Democrats voted for the ban; almost all of the Republicans did.

Since Clinton favors abortion rights and had backed a repeal of the restrictions, abortion-rights supporters had hoped for a different outcome on the ban, which was added to a Medicaid spending bill later sent to the Senate. "Everybody thought this was a See ABORTIONS, Page 13 By Virginia Young Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri Department of Mental Health overpaid a private agency at least $310,000, and the money helped finance large raises for the agency's employees, State Auditor Margaret Kelly charged Wednesday. The target of Kelly's criticism was ADAPT Institute of Missouri a St Louis-based agency that works with mentally ill people in nursing homes. In a special review released Wednesday, Kelly said ADAPT got a windfall from the state because of a complicated billing error and overcharges for group-therapy sessions. She recommended that state officials try to recoup the money.

See OVERPAID, Page 13 Persistent Floods 'Tragic9 For Farmers i TFV WFW CruifcingtToro.Cfuise as young lawyer Mitch McDeere in "The Lawyers Take Aim At 'The Firm' Local lawyers play movie critics after getting a preview of the new movie "The Firm." 1G A -ii Whiten Powers Cards Over Phils Mark Whiten muscles up with a double and a three-run homer, leading the Cards past the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-3. ID Erwin GebhardMilwaukee Journal via AP Lightning striking flooded fields Tuesday night near the home of Dee Bedtka in Prairie du Chien, Wis. Farmland is inundated along the Mississippi i r-- Across Midwest, Millions Of Acres Are Too Waterlogged To Plant 3 Officials Quit At Channel 2 Chief Executive A. Wayne Thomas and two other executives quit at KTVI (Channel 2) as the TV station prepares to change owners. IB Court Retains Conservative Cast A year ago, the conventional wisdom had it that a new moderate center of three justices had emerged on the Supreme Court.

Now that seems more mirage than reality. By Linda Eardley Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Doug Bauer and Paul Sattler of O'Fallon, are farmers, but this year they've planted sandbags more than anything else. They stacked 5,000 sandbags during the flood this spring. Next week, the Mississippi River is forecast to rise even higher. "That's another foot of sandbags, plywood, straw anything we can to help hold the levee," Bauer said.

Wednesday. The two men sharecrop the farm. The spring flood wiped out 180 acres of wheat. Twenty-seven; other acres dried out enough for them to plant corn in May. Tjie remaining 1,093 acres 84 percent ar unplanted and probably will stay that way for the season In Missouri and Illinois, especially along the swollen Mississippi, soggy farmland is unplanted due to persistent rain and renewed flooding.

For instance, in Missouri about 391,000 acres of corn, soybeans and sorghum are unplanted statewide, said Max Sell of the U.S. Agriculture al and Stabilization Service in Missouri. Figures of unplanted cropland in Illinois were unavailable. Across the Mississippi watershed, nearly 3 million acres of soybeans remain unplanted because of soggy,) water-covered fields. Flooding also threatens much of the planted land.

But Sell said it is too early to predict a grain shortage. "The crop that is planted now and not subject to flooding could turn out to be extremely good," he said. Flood predictions change daily as rain continues to fall in the Upper Mississippi Basin. July is expected to be, wetter than normal in northern Missouri and near norj; mal in central and southern Missouri, the National-See FLOODS, Page 1 6 Tornadoes, rain hit Midwest again 16A St. Louis submerged, some believe 16A Lower Mississippi should be spared.

16A Targeting TV Violence (EDITORIAL and CARTOON) Aldermanic Housing Plans Facing TeSt (EDITORIAL) Sam LeonePost-Dispatch An aerial view Wednesday of a farm in St. Charles County flooded by the Mississippi River. The site is near Grafton. The government estimates that 391,000 acres in Missouri remain unplanted because of flooding. 2C Business 1-6B Calendar 1-16E Classified 1-6F Commentary 3C Editorials 2C Everyday 1-8G Movie Timetable 14E NationWorld 10A News Analysis 1C Obituaries 11A.4C People 6A Reviews 3G.5G Sports 1-8D Television 5G 'Hair Force One' Story Clipped By FAA Records scheduled passenger flights no circling planes, no traffic jams on the runways.

Commuter airlines 1993, Newsday NEW YORK The story was that planes were kept circling as President Bill Clinton Chance Of Storms FfeLD Of Streams I 7 I TV Warnings In Slow Start Only A Few Shows Will Be Labeled For Violence During Next Season By Stephen Casmier Of the Post-Dispatch Staff WASHINGTON While network executives and Washington legislators congratulated each other for "leadership and insight," they admitted Wednesday that they foresaw using violence warning labels on only a few television programs this fall. Also, critics of violence on television said the voluntary Advance Parental Advisory Plan announced Wednesday was not enough. "It's the beginning of the final realization by the industry that there is a problem here, but it does not go nearly far enough," said Bill Abbott, president of the Foundation to Improve Television. Abbott was interviewed by telephone at the foundation headquarters in Boston. "This is the least step that can be taken at this point," Abbott said.

"It's the easiest thing to do." The networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox will introduce the warning system at the start of the new season in September for movies, mini-series and specials. They will phase in See WARNINGS, Paget Ruling Threatens Free-Trade Pact U.S. Must Determine Agreement's Environmental Effects, Judge Says Compiled From News Services WASHINGTON The White House announced Wednesday that it would challenge a judge's order blocking congressional action on the North American Free Trade Agreement until the agreement's impact on the environment is determined. U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said that President Bill Clinton's administration would seek a quick reversal of the ruling and would press ahead with plans to put the agreement before Congress.

The ruling Wednesday, made by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey of Washington, cast further uncertainty over the already troubled free-trade agreement. The ruling could delay congressional approval of the pact for months, if not years. An environmental impact study would take at least six to nine months to perform, said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, one of three environmental groups that filed the suit that prompted the ruling.

The environmental groups Public Citizen, the Sierra Club and Friends See TRADE, Page 14 Clinton urges Japan to open markets 14A had his hair clipped on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport last month. The runway haircut by Beverly Hills stylist Cristophe became such a metaphor for perceived White House arrogance that the president himself felt compelled to apol that fly routes reportedly affected by the president's haircut confirmed that they had no record of delays that day. The FAA records show that an unscheduled air taxi flight had the only delay attributed to the closure of two runways for an hour in anticipation of Air Force One's de FORECAST: Today: Partly cloudy; chance of afternoon storms. High 89. Scattered storms tonight.

Low 70. Friday: Chance of storms. High 89. Other Weather, 2A ogize for the reported Clinton flight delays. With new But the reports hairstyle were wrong.

According to Federal Aviation two POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRO MQ. PAT. UF r. parture. The air taxi took off 17 minutes after leaving the gate minutes late, by FAA Administration records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the haircut May 18 caused no significant delays of regularly accounting.

"If you understand the air traffic system, you'd find that statement See HAIRCUT, Page 14 Many view TV warning as positive step 9A 0 00' I.