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

a fPIUI U3 VOL. 115, NO. 185 Copyright 1993 SUNDAY, JULY 4, 1993 (6) FINAL 5-STAR a Lv UmirsEs Don mM iioin SHsr By Donald Berns Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The Mississippi River, surging south at levels far above flood stage, found a weak spot in a dirt levee at Winfield on Saturday and rushed across Missouri farm fields on the river's bottomland. The river crashed through a 30-foot section of the levee in Lincoln County about 1 '2 miles south of Lock and Dam 25. The water quickly demolished several hundred feet of the levee that had been reinforced last week to try to keep out the river.

The break meant that part of the pressure was relieved on levees and floodwalls downriver, although families in some areas including West Alton and Grafton still were forced to leave their homes because of the water. Upriver from Winfield, the full fury of the river was continuing to cause damage. People were leaving their homes in the small Calhoun County, 111., communities of Mozier and Hamburg, while the worst flooding was reported in Iowa. Unaffected so far by the flooding were revelers at the VP Fair traffic. The water was moving closer to the north side of Winfield and toward nearby Foley.

Lincoln County Sheriff Everett Rottger said there were no plans to reinforce the levee until after the water receded. "When it's like that it's dangerous to lives to get around it," Rottger said. "We can't repair it It completely blew." If the water continues to rise, Rottger said, as many as 300 families might be evacuated in the next few days. Rows of cots sat unoccupied in a school building on a hilltop in Winfield on Saturday afternoon. Truckloads of furniture, lamps and animals darted onto Highway 79 Saturday on their way out of town.

One resident, Michael R. Frost, was lucky to get out. Frost's house sits between the river and levee that burst. He walked along the levee at 2 a.m. Saturday and saw water coming over the top.

At 9 a.m., he stood on the levee and heard an ominous sound. "It was gurgling, like the sound a bathtub makes when you pull the plug," he said. "It was like a vacuum sucking the water. I ran to See FLOODS, PageS "I It was gurgling, like the sound a bathtub makes when you pull the plug. It was like a vacuum sucking the water.

I ran to my road crossing, and the levee blew. MICHAEL R. FROST, lives near levee in St. Louis and the Riverfest in St. Charles both beside swollen rivers as well as riverboat gamblers on the Alton Belle at Alton and the Casino Queen at East St Louis.

Nearly 100 families were evacuated near Winfield, where the water covered about a mile of Highway which was closed to if Peoples Crowds Aren't Scared Off By Water "VS. i-'vja? IFDOOCDS tL A group of Air Force reservists parade. 'r" By Martha Shirk and Stephen Kirkland Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Never mind that the Mississippi River was carrying more water than it has in years and that the excursion boats were grounded. St Louis' riverfront was bursting at the seams Saturday night with hundreds of thousands of local folks and tourists who weren't going to let a little old flood spoil the first night of the annual VP Fair. As a full moon rose over the river, fairgoers stood elbow to elbow or crowded onto blankets and the steps to the Arch to watch the evening's grand finale an 18-minute display of fireworks that many fireworks fans claim is second to none.

Below the Arch grounds, Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard, which is usually the fair's midway, was totally covered with water. Temporary fencing kept fairgoers from being swept away. But many dipped their feet in to cool off during the afternoon, when the temperature hit 93 and the humidity topped out at 50 percent, making it feel like it was actually 100 degrees. "It feels greasy," said Julie Merck-ling, 17, posing for a picture calf-deep in the flooded Mississippi River with schoolmate Heather Jameson, 17.

Mercklin, from Topeka, and Jameson from Kearney, are attending summer classes at St. Louis University. "We don't have anything like this in Topeka," Merckling said, referring both to the river and the fair. While levees were breaking upstream along the Mississippi, fairgoers and fair organizers said the flooding Mississippi might actually be a boon for this year's VP Fair. The rising water forced fair officials to change the traditional layout of booths.

The food and souvenir stands that usually line Sullivan Boulevard are arrayed along Memorial Drive. Traffic was barred from Memorial Drive, and vendors, games of chance and rides replaced the cars. See FAIR, Page 6 Graf Laugh: Steffi Graf cele- brates her fifth Wimbledon championship. Nerves KO Novotna; Graf Wins Jana Novotna falls 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4, handing Steffi Graf her fifth Wimbledon title with one of the worst chokes in Grand Slam history. IF Cards Lose 6-0, Stay 6 Games Out Darryl Kile wins his seventh consecutive decision with his first major-league shutout to lead the Houston Astros to a 6-0 victory over the Cardinals, keeping the Redbirds six games behind Philadelphia in the NL East.

if Hall Of Famer Drysdale Dies Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale, a Hall of Famer, is found dead in his hotel room at age 56. IF Promoting Sense Off Community Some communities are ponder- Ing whether to provide gavel-to-gavel cable television coverage as one weapon among many to promote citizen involvement in -government. z-: IB A Plan For A Troubled Forest (EDITORIAL) Life And Liberty, Happiness And Property (EDITORIAL) 2B Emnu ,14 from Scott Air Force Base carrying a huge American Flag down food safer than home barbeque, officials in parade have day in the sun, but shade schedule of events, through Monday Opening day sights as colorful as ever 10 Jerry Berger reports a ton of sightems at the fair 1 Sawyer Brown band was as hot as Saturday's temperatures 2D Haitians Sign Pact To Restore Democracy 4 VP Wayne CrosslinPost-Dispatch Market Street during the VP Fair ST. LOUIS say 3D crowd seeks 3D 3D VP faira tide adviser. "It's a major breakthrough and a wonderful accomplishment for the United Nations." The accord also offered the promise of a new start for Haiti, whose experiment with democratic rule imploded in blood and bitterness after just seven months, and whose suffering spurred tens of thousands of refugees to seek haven often with tragic results on the high seas in the United States.

Aristide signed the agreement at 10:44 p.m. Saturday (9:44 p.m. St. Lou-See HAITI, Page 5 here. Tom BorgmanPost-Dlspatch See BOATS, Page 9 Disagreement over how many casinos area can support I firmed by a newly constituted parliament will take charge, possibly within weeks, according to the delicately sequenced, 10-point plan.

The United Nations, which clamped Haiti under a punishing arms and fuel embargo, will suspend its sanctions as soon as the prime minister takes office. The United Nations will provide aid and technical help on matters from judicial reform to the profes-sionalization of the army. Aristide will declare a general amnesty for political crimes related to the Sept. 30, 1991, coup that nearly Current And Probable ST. CHARLES CO.

Alton Fair Marchers the VP cost him his life and forced him into exile, and the Parliament will consider pardons for those not covered by the presidential decree, according to the agreement. The fruit of grueling negotiations and international pressure on both sides, the agreement marks a historic effort to overturn a military coup by peaceful means, diplomats said. "This is the first time in the Western Hemisphere that a sitting president, through international pressure, has been restored to power through negotiations," said Robert White, an Aris 1993, Knight-Ridder Newspapers NEW YORK Haiti's exiled president and its army commander agreed Saturday on a plan to restore civilian, democratic rule to the Caribbean island nation. Exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will return to office on Oct. 30, following the early retirement of Lt.

Gen. Raoul Cedras, Haiti's military chief, under an accord signed by both men Saturday and endorsed by the United Nations. In the meantime, a new prime minister appointed by Aristide and con Big Changes Will Roll In With Gambling ArtsEntertainment 3-4C Automotive 25G Business 1-8E Classified 2-46G Commentary 3B Editorials 2B Everyday 1-14C Movie Timetable 13C News Analysis 1.4B Obituaries 9D People 6A Real Estate 1G St Louis 1-10D Sports 1-14F Style Plus 1-4S Travel 1-4T Riverboat Casinos And gaming positions at each location in i.i ii 1 1 I Belle II A ton i-acieae a 850 positions Keeping Families Together Nation Takes Note Of State's Success By Martha Shirk Of the Post-Dispatch Staff When a St. Louis police officer saw a shoeless, shirtless 3-year-old alone on a busy corner one day last spring, he recognized him as Mikey, the child he'd found wandering a block from his home a few days before. This time, the curly haired, gap-toothed boy was a mile from home.

The officer took Mikey home, lectured his mother and called the child abuse hot line. A year ago, Mikey almost certainly would have ended up in a foster home for a few days or for a few years. But a state program, Family Preservation Services, allowed Mikey to stay home with his mother and two brothers. A social worker spent 10 to 20 hours a week in the home, teaching his mother how to supervise him. "She taught me to be an active parent," said Mikey's mother, who asked not to be identified.

"I tended before to just sit on my butt and yell." Missouri was the first state to offer family preservation services in every county. In five years' time, the program claims to have kept about 4,900 children out of foster care, strengthening their families in the process. Now, partly because of Missouri's success, Congress is on the verge of making family preservation services available nationwide.with the federal See FAMILIES, Page 5 Missouri ST. CHARLES 1 1,830 positions Zt VI City Won't Close Up Early Any Longer By Phil Linsalata Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Chiselers, hoods, con artists and card sharks. These are the images associated with gambling, the legacy of an era when bets were laid in back rooms, when craps games floated.

But the days of prohibition are over. Gambling has emerged from speakeasy status to the bright of day. The explosion echoed from the opening of Resorts International in Atlantic City, N.J., 15 years ago. It has since engulfed almost half the states, where casino gambling is legal on main city streets, riverboats or American Indian lands. On the Mississippi River, a boat won't float more than 75 miles without encountering a legal riverboat gambling town.

In Missouri, 15 municipalities have voted to allow gambling since November. By the time the VP Fair comes around again next year, St Louis will be a different place. St. Louis will be a gambling city. Here, visitors will be greeted by a sanitized version of what has long been regarded as a vice.

But the existence of eight or nine casinos in downtown St. Louis and other locations within a half-hour of the Gateway Arch can't begin to tell the Ay wCT Tti 1 Jy' i Casino Queen yfTL MISS0URT ARCH 1 1,150 positions J0 MARfiAND 'If (70) i heicHts I sf IV Belle of St. Louis ferali's (Promus Corp.) XJ ll HJSiti0nS ST. L0 I CO! fe Chance Of Storms FORECAST: Sunday: Chance of afternoon thunderstorms. High 92.

Chance for storms overnight, low 72. Monday: Scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms, high 88. Other weather, 2A "ill POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD Developer and exact size of casino unknown. 0 Assumes that President Riverboat Casinos chooses to position the Belle of St. Louis story.

The sudden opening of casinos with room enough for 10,000 gamblers to place their bets simultaneously Gambling will become a part of our culture, with its own language, Its own set of problems and its unique form of i.