The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 1

FRIDAY i a -'V Manning dawns in Tennessee Rookie QB learns, improves Manic comedy suits Broderick 'Road to Wellville' a winner NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE A GANNETT NEWSPAPER folume 90, No. 301 5 sections Second Class postage paid in Nashville, TN TODAYS I ZZZ7 TONIGHTS HIGH: Jr" LOW: 66lO 43 Complete weather forecast on 6B Li Making it safe for child's play School gets Syrians warming to peace Assad gives Clinton private assurances Tennessean News Services JERUSALEM President Clinton made a one-day foray into shuttle diplomacy yesterday in hopes of speeding the way toward an Israeli-Syrian peace. The President and his top depu Is Pi .1. UL. I -Hi r1 ties said that Syrian President Hafez Assad had made private commitments that could lead to substantial progress in moving the peace talks 4 protections By MARK IPPOLITO Staff Writer A line of second-graders marched below the "ridge line" yesterday at Kirkpatrick Park to shield themselves from any possible gunfire on the street corner.

Kirkpatrick Elementary School Principal John Lifsey excuses himself for using mmmm military termi- CAPPTY nology. But the TZZlZ. way he sees it, t0, keep drug dealers drug dealers have his school under siege. Henry Hale Lifsey has not Homes, on 1B. allowed children to stay outside during recess since an Oct 6 drive-by shooting at South Ninth and Sylvan streets while young students played nearby.

"It's Just a matter of you cannot have drug dealers operating around a school," Lifsey said. "If it's not a physical danger, call it a moral danger. We try to teach children to obey school rules and to obey the law, and they see people out here, with gold chains on disobeying the law every day." In response to appeals from school officials, parents and neighbors, Metro department heads met around a long table in Mayor Phil Bredesen's office yesterday to map I Turn to PACE 2A, Column 1 4 1 It along, and Clin- CLINTON ton discussed those details with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel after arriving here yesterday afternoon. Neither Clinton nor Rabin would reveal what Assad had said in private. But the President pronounced himself satisfied by what he said he had gained during more than three hours of talks with Assad.

"I went there because I was convinced that we needed to add new energy to the talks," Clinton said, "and I came away convinced that we have." Clinton's debut as an intermedi- Turn to PAGE 2A, Column 3 IiiiiiH till Rick Musacchio Staff indoor recess at a nearby community center. Metro officials fear for students' safety outdoors after an Oct. 6 shooting. Kirkpatrick Elementary School teachers Mike Westveer and Susan Cunningham watch their second-graders return from Liberal longinj Justice's quitting lets McWherter choose Town Meeting participant will ask Senate hopefuls about party loyalty While front-runners campaign in style, independents struggle with little money or media attention, on1B. Mfsansii By BONNA H.deli CRUZ Staff Writer The conservative cloud that hangs over the Nov.

8 election has left Lewisburg, resident William Mason with no one Bill Frist paying former opponent Steve Wilson to win over conservative Christians, on 3B. 4 Gov. Ned McWherter campaigns for Jim Cooper in Eaststate, on 3B. YVKRN Crunn 2 I to vote for in the race for Vice President Al Gore's old U.S. Senate seat "I almost feel like they don't care about my vote," said Mason, who calls himself a liberal.

By LARRY DAUCHTREY Staff Writer Gov. Ned McWherter will name a new member of the Tennessee Supreme Court as Democrats face the possibility of losing the governor's office and its appointment powers Nov. 8. The abrupt resignation of Justice Charles O'Brien yesterday, after less than 60 days as the court's chief justice, raised the possibility that McWherter could appoint a woman to fill the vacancy. It sets in motion for the first time an elaborate plan that would give Democrats control of the gateway to the state's judicial offices.

Among the leading contenders for the slot: Gary R. Wade, 46, appointed by McWherter to the Court of Criminal Appeals in 1987. Wade is a former Democratic mayor of heavily Republican Sevierville and an early supporter of McWherters 1986 candidacy. Penny J. White, 38, Johnson City, another McWherter appointee to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

White is the only woman on Tennessee's appellate bench. Jerry Summers, 53, a former president of the Chattanooga bar and leader of the state, association of trial lawyers. McWherter has quietly promoted Summers for federal judicial vacancies in the past On the campaign trail yesterday, McWherter urged White and "any other qualified woman" to apply. He said the state would be "well-served" by the addition of a woman to the four men on the court O'Brien, 74, surprised even members of his own five-member court yesterday with the timing of his retirement He appeared at an early morning rally in Crossville, his hometown, with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Bredesen. If O'Brien had delayed his retirement an- I Turn to PACE 2A, Column 1 heart transplant surgeon Bill Frist face off in tonight's Town Meeting, 7:30 on WKRN-Channel 2.

The statewide hookup is sponsored by The Tennessean, WKRN and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. Fifty Tennessean readers and WKRN viewers will question Sasser and Frist at 7:30 p.m. and Cooper and Thompson at 8:15. "I'm turned off by Cooper's commercials," Mason said. "I feel like I have no one to vote for.

They're not talking about anything I agree with. "I'm angry at Cooper more than anything. He's turned away from the Democratic Party. He talks like a conservative Republican." It will be the last time the candidates will face each other in a televised format before the Nov. 8 election.

California Senate candidate endorses crackdown on illegal immigrants, then admits hiring illegal alien, on 12A. SEC documents shed new light on Texas candidate George W. Bush's stock sale, on 12A. Commentary: "At least debates have some meat," on 15A. "It's almost like this year everyone is trying to run away from the President and the Democratic leadership." Mason, who works for a grocery wholesale company, wants to hear U.S.

Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat, respond to his complaint Cooper, his Republican opponent, lawyer-actor Fred Thompson; Sen. Jim Sasser; and First stage of interstate relief expected soon 1-241-440 interchange modification project The interchange at 1-24 and 1-440 will be modified to improve trattic tiow at tne junction ot i-m east ana Traffic from downtown to 1-24 east and traffic from 1-40 to 1-24 will be physically separated by a median barrier. 1-24 eastbound lane markings. A major chunk of rock at the Murfreesboro Road on-ramp will be blasted away in December, forcing the contractor to close the road for seven to 10 minutes at a stretch during slow traffic times.

Traffic lanes will not be closed during rush hours, 6-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. "The lanes will be smaller and it will be slower through there. There wont be any shoulders," Grandinetti said. "YouH have to be careful." Motorists seeking recorded information on this and other construction projects may call 741-2015, or outside the Nashville calling area 1-800-858-6349.

Road and adding one eastbound lane on 1-24 from the 1-440 flyover bridges to Briley Parkway on 1-24. 1-24 traffic eastbound from downtown will be physically separated from traffic entering 1-24 from westbound 1-40 by building a median barrier from the junction to east of the 1-440 bridge over 1-24. That means motorists traveling west on 1-40 and wanting to get to 1-440 will have a designated lane taking them directly to 1-440, rather than having to skip across several lanes of 1-24 traffic. The project also includes resurfacing and installing concrete medians, guardrails, signs and pavement Luanne Grandinetti. "They currently have to cross 24 outbound traffic to get over to 440." The configuration has caused motoring hassles since 1-440 was built in the mid-1980s, Grandinetti said.

"There havent been any serious accidents, but it has been frustrating for motorists and people have complained and mumbled about it forever." The $4.5 million project will begin Nov. 7. It includes: The interchange 1-24 and 440 will be modified to improve the flow at the junction of the two freeways. The work includes widening the 1-24 bridge over Murfreesboro By CARRIE FERGUSON Staff Writer The 91,000 road warriors who each day negotiate the hair-raising junction of Interstates 40, 24 and 440 southeast of downtown will see the first stage of a relief project in just 10 days. But until the redesign work is completed next year, motorists can expect lane closings, blastings, detours and traffic delays, state transportation officials said yesterday.

"We are attempting to correct the weaving problem that people traveling from 1-40 westbound would experience as they try to go to 1-440," said department spokeswoman "from To 1-440 M40 Widening 1-24 bridge li over Murfreesboro Rd. List A40 Murfreesboro Rd. Kent TravisThe TENNESSEAN SOURCE: Tennessee Department ol Transportation BASEBALL HALLOWEEN Ghoulies and ghosties and PTfDAYBREAK Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros i 1 fc 4.1 long-legged beasties, I 1 1 with Freddy Krueger thrown in for good CONTENTS measure, will go bump JOBS "NOW It Just Seems like people are lost, wondering what they're going to do next," said Mitch Bowman, an employee of American Bread after learning the century-old bread maker will shut down its Murfreesboro Road bakery around Dec. 30. The move by the new owners Lewis Brothers Bakers of Ev-ansville, Ind.

affects 284 workers. Some may be able to hire on at their facility in Murfreesboro. American, maker of Sunbeam and Roman Meal breads, has been in business since 1889. On 1E. MUSIC Eagles fans will have another chance to see their favorite rock group, even though this year's concert was canceled.

The group is scheduled to kickoff the '95 Starwood concert season with two performances, April 19 and April 21, 1995. Some 5,000 tickets, returned for refunds when the original September dates were postponed, go on sale Monday. The Eagles canceled the concerts when band member Glenn Frey underwent Intestinal surgery. About one out of seven ticket holders have asked for refunds. On 2B.

in the night this week end. Wherever you are was voiea ine National League MVP unanimously yesterday, receiving ail 28 first-place votes. He hit 39 home runs, batted .368 and drove In 116 runs. "I don't think I could have played much better," Bagwell said. He beat Matt Williams of 1 in Middle Tennessee, It I seems there's a haunt Bridge 500 Local Hut 1-68 Bininw 1-4E Movies 4-100 Classified 4-16 Newsmakers 3A Comics 48-51D Scoreboard 5C Crossword 510 Sports 1-C Deaths.

56 Television 44-450 Editorials 14-15A Things to do 30 Horoscope 490 Weekend 1-52D On 2A: The World In 5 Minutes a ed house (or barn, or trail, or woods) to inspire gooseflesh and screams loud enough to wake the dead, as well as to raise money for charity. In Weekend. -j the Giants. On 6C. BAGWELL 4.