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The Hometown Newspaper of Clinton, Essex, Franklin Counties Vol. 103 - No. 111 © Copyri#»t 1995, PwM-Republican Plottsburgh, NY 12901, Monday, December 11,1995 Suggested Price: 50 c 24 Pages I i i By SRECKO LATAL Associated Press Writer SARAJEVO, Bosn la - Herzegovina (AP) — Dropping flares before landing to make sure their runway was safe, the first group of U.S. Marines arrive ed Sunday in Sarajevo, holding the American flag high. The 22 Marines flew from Naples, Italy, to join NATO soldiers deployed across Bosnia in recent days — advance teams charged with the daunting task of setting up headquarters and logistics for the 60,000-strong NATO troops that 'will enforce peace in former Yugoslavia. Later Sunday, 32 U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers arrived from Germany to help coordinate NATO and non-NATO forces. The Marines arrived as U.S. politicians continued to grill Balkan leaders about the safety of sending American troops to Bosnia, where Serbs in par- ticular are angered by parts of the agreement negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, to end 3Yi years of war. But Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's comments indicated he may be resigned to relinquishing Serb districts of Sarajevo to the Muslim-led gov- ernment, as the accord foresees in its division of Bosnia into roughly equal Serb and Muslim-Croat entities. Karadzic said that, with the signing of the accord in Paris on Thursday, the war \will come to Bankruptcy? Rate hikes? NiMo sends strong message of change By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press Writer ALBANY, N.Y.. (AP) - ..It may seem like Niagara Mohawk is saying do it our way — or else. The largest electric and gas utility in upstate' New York is asking state regulators to adopt a massive restructuring plan that would, among other things, freeze prices for cus- tomers and .split the company. If it doesn't get its way, Niagara' Mohawk has told regulators it could be forced to seek rate increases of more than 10 percent. The utility has even said it could go bankrupt if drastic regulatory changes aren't made. And fast. • Is Niagara Mohawk presen- ting a realistic scenario or cry- ing wolf? Industry analysts say there are elements of both. . \I'm sure h^alf of it's postur-. ing, but the other half is real,\ ...saidLv'Edward Terillo, electric r uWtty 'a'tiSlyst' for NafWest Securities Corp. . Utilities and state officials . agree tKe state needs to rewire its regulatory system. The path of power from turbine to televi- sion in New York is currently regulated minutely — from what utilities buy, to what they pay for it, to how much they sell it for. Niagara Mohawk's deregula- tion proposal is one of dozens state Public Service Commis- sion members are now sorting through. New York's other utilities have offered a similar plan. Niagara Mohawk says it needs to be freed from the state law that requires it to purchase power from small, independent _power producers at prices above market value. Niagara Mohawk also wants relief from state taxes, which are, above the national average. If New York doesn't make changes, the utility said tnere could be: Rate increases. The company is prepared to ask for an emergency rate increase in ex- cess of 5 percent \no later than early 1996\ if progress is not made toward regulatory changes, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On top of that, a 10 percent rate in- : AP Photo Niagara Mohawk's Albany Steam Plant in Glerimont, N.Y. The power company has asked for a dramatic restructuring. crease request for 1997 could be filed in February, according to those documents. Takeovers. Niagara Mohawk hopes to negotiate lower prices for power, purchased from in- dependent producers. If a set- tlement can't be reached, Niagara Mohawk said it will move to take over those plants by eminent domain. Such* a move would surely face court challenges. Bankruptcy. \Restructuring under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code cannot be ruled out,\ the company said in SEC filings. Niagara Mohawk spokesman Nicholas Lyman explains: \The last thing you want to do is go back to the traditional way of doing things. But if that's all you got, that's all you got.\ Industry analysts tend to agree that state regulations re- ally do threaten utilities. First Albany's Amy Sonne said it's a message from Niagara Mohawk that some- thing has to give — preferably not the utility. Terillo said..the law that requires the purchase of independent power at in- flated prices really is hurting utilities. Niagara Mohawk claims the cost for that independent power has zoomed from $200 million in 1990 to $1 billion this year. The utility has to buy that power at roughly twice the market rate, Lyman said. \Ironically this is one of the times the utilities have been right all along,\ Terillo said. But some advocates take issue with the tone of Niagara Mohawk's statements. Robert Ceisler of the Citizens Utility Board, a frequent critic of utilities, says Niagara Mohawk is.making it appear that if it doesn't get everything it wants, terrible tilings will happen. He questions whether that is true. \They are playing hardball, from our viewpoint,\ Ceisler said. \They are blackmailing customers into doing only what Niagara Mohawk says is in their best interest.\ Lyman said that's not the point at all — Niagara Mohawk is willing to negotiate in good faith. \Does every last item of every last component have to tak,e place? No, obviously -not,\ he said. in Sarajevo a definite end.\ \We want peace despite some painful compromises we had to accept,\ the Bosnian Serb news agency quoted him as saying Saturday night. The U.N. tribunal on war crimes rejected a request by Rus- sian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev for a \freeze\ on pro- ceedings against Karadzic, whom it has indicted twice. Such a freeze might have enabled Karadzic to attend the treaty signing in Paris without facing arrest. \No way, just no way. It's com- pletely impossible. That will not happen,\ - tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said in an in-. Continued Page 12 Pataki budget to include big welfare cuts By JOEL STASHENKO Associated Press Writer ALBANY (AP) - Calling the welfare system \counterfeit com- passion,\ Gov. George Pataki oh Sunday proposed reducing public assistance benefits in New York, limiting recipients' lifetime eligi- bility and increasing incentives for people to work while on welfare. The Republican governor said his proposals would save state taxpayers nearly $500 million a, year and return the welfare system to what it was initially intended to be, a safety net for people facing a temporary eco- nomic setback. \FDR called unfettered welfare a 'narcotic' that destroyed'' /the human spirit,\ Pataki said. \He was correct'then and he is more correct today.\ Pataki's plan will be included in the state budget he will pro- pose on Friday for the 1996-97, fiscal year beginning April\ V,' 1996. Most of his changes would need the approval of the state Legislature, and many of the proposals are contingent on the still-evolving welfare reform negotiations between President Clinton and Congress. . • Pataki said elements would be built into the plan to soften the blow to people incapable of sur- viving on the sparser public assistance landscape. They would include allowing recipients to keep up to $153 a month in outside income, and 50 percent of what they make above that up to the federal poverty level; providing additional food Continued Page 12 / tirijitihg; ffenefits: to reci- pients of Aid to Families with .Dependent Children to five'years over a lifetime. AFPC recipients must work after two years. * Eliminating the welfare program for childless, able-bodjed adults, called Home Relief. • Creating a $100 million Basic- ©are for the Needy category' ; .for those who have exhausted their benefits^ A-/ ' Sff||?fenefits for '•cijii!}iii|3|f^|:^'dHil<ir,en l they h a y ^iil*l-l^ : *O h-v public as.sisitniie'; - .. V. • v* Prohibiting teins under 18 'from fe'OeivinJj:.;.welfare if A .the^i'lre;,- avy^J from : hcsme #terif 0' ! tHw''t Jiree,; \fiibhths • and ; from : patents' under ;18 wh*a r -'|ir|. no,t--pOMLi'mg! a high .sthool diploma. • Allowing local social ser- vices officials to conduct drug testing on any adult welfare recipient or appli- ~\cant. • Cutting monthly benefits. The average* $577. check for a family of three should drop to $424 per month. • Making welfare checks based more on a flat grant sy-stem where only the county in which a recipient lives, their housing ar- rangements and their fam- ily sizes are the variables. Nobel winner urges world to abandon nuclear arms By DOUG MELLGREN Associated Press Writer WEATHER Today, windy and very cold; Snow showers likely. Highs only near TO. Chance of snow 60 percent. Tonight, more snow showers. Lows 5 to 15 below zero. INDEX iulfrjess 11 Classified 20-24 Gortiics, Landers..A 19 • Editorial ^ ..4 iSntesrtainment 18 . figures 6 • flilfe Record 7-9 ^potfe 14-17 Weiather 10 15 5A6EBRU5H A TYPE OF Dec. 11 13 shopping days to ^Lottery: 370. 'WinFour': 5511 \~*'5|'10: 8; 14, 17, 19, 21, 31, 38, 41, 43,45, 48, 49, 56, 61, 62, 66, 69, 72, 76, 78. Plattsburgh computer firms have high hopes for PC-case invention By SAUL G. FERRER 3taff Writer PLATTSBURGH - Forget Silicon Valley and its technologi- cal giants, the future of com- puters is here in Plattsburgh. At least, it will be. Members of the Mr. Computer computer dealership and Cbncato Computer Services are in the process of acquiring a patent for a new kind of computer case they claim may revolutionize PC hardware access. The device is a new hardware casing for a personal computer's central processing unit (cpu) cards — a system of circuit boards which are the basis for the machine's operation. This includes the mother- board, memory chips for RAM, and cards for various com- patibility functions for the com- puter. Working on normal cpu cas- ings involve sliding back the unit's casing, and searching through the various boards in the system to get to where you want to, said. Mr. Computer General Manager Jeffery Recor. The process can be time con- suming and tedious, he added. Recor and associate, Steve Concato, owner of Concato Com- puter Services, are co-developers of the modification. The new device will allow easi- er access via a swinging door, where the mother boards and complimentary components are mounted on the door itself. The modification will allow easier access to the cpu for faster upgrading and maintenance. The beauty of the idea is its ContinuMlPag«12 OSLO, Norway (AP) - The only way to rid the world of the threat of nuclear weapons and ensure human survival is to \abolish war altogether,\ British physicist Joseph Rotblat said Sunday as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. \Remember your duty to hu- manity,\ said the 87-year-old laureate. \I ask the nuclear powers to abandon the out-of- date thinking of the Cold War and take a fresh look.\ Rotblat shares the $1.1 million peace prize with his colleagues in the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, the anti-nuclear group he helped found after quitting a team of scientists working to develop the first atomic bomb. A heavy duty rests on scien- tists to spurn doomsday pro- grams and even expose plans for nuclear weaponry, he told the Nobel audience, which included Norway's royalty, top leaders and foreign diplomats. France's resumption of nuclear tests at the South Pacific Mururoa atoll this fall is evi- dence of a dangerous trend toward greater reliance on such weapons, he added. \If scientists heeded this call, there would be no new nuclear warheads, no French scientists at Mururoa, no new chemical and biological poisons. The arms race would be over,\ he said. In picking Rotblat and the London-based Pugwash, the Nobel peace committee was not only rebuking France and China for their continued nuclear tests, Photo Joseph Rotblat, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. but offering a grim reminder of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 50 years ago. The Nobel prizes are always presented Dec. 10, the anniver- sary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who created the awards in his 1895 will. The peace prize is awarded in Oslo, and the other five Nobel prizes in Stockholm, Sweden. Of the 11 award winners this year, seven are Americans, and one each is from Northern Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain. PL;
