Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 1

SPORTS BCC BASKETBALL TEAMS FOCUSED ON, OFF COURT 1D Mm JAS Jy JUL Press JANUARY 29, 1999 FINAL EDITION 1999 THE BINGHAMTON PRESS BINGHAMTON, N.Y. www.pressconnects.com FIFTY CENTS Broome County says relax, stay awhile iay 2 i it. Dinner welcomes new residents community's failure to point out its strengths to new residents led them to quickly become disenchanted with the area. Representatives from the Binghamton Philharmonic, Southern Tier Bicycle Club, the Binghamton Mets, the Triple Cities Running Club and the Junior League, among others, were greeting new residents, giving pep talks and introducing people to aspects of the community they can't get from the inside of their office. "We expect people to leave SEE DINNER 6A they're more apt to remain at their jobs and, perhaps, adopt the region as their long-term home.

Poole was one of about 120 people at a welcoming dinner at the Holiday Inn-Arena on Thursday night, a session designed to acquaint newcomers with the array of activities in the region. The new initiative by the Broome County Chamber of Commerce tries to help companies in the region retain valued employees with one clear message: "Welcome." Lutovsky said the dinner grew out of a concern by companies in the region that the type of lifestyle she enjoys. For the single woman, the Binghamton region is not a bad place to get a start out of college. "The cost of living here is not that high," she said. Those kinds of comments please Richard Lutovsky, president of the Broome County Chamber of Commerce.

He wants young professionals, seasoned executives and those with technical skills to feel at home in the region. If they sense an inviting, friendly community, BY JEFF PLATSKY Business Editor As a 23-year-old Alabama transplant, Tonya Poole has created a fairly active social life in Binghamton. "You just have to get out and find things to do," said Poole, who has been employed at Lockheed Martin Federal Systems in Owego for 10 months. She has networked with alumni from her alma mater, Alabama and has gone out of her way to create the ''IIP DAVE KENNEDY staff photographer Melinda Mayne, director of corporate sales and community affairs for the Binghamton Mets, left, talks with Tonya Poole who moved to the area 1 0 months ago and works for Lockheed Martin Federal Systems in Owego. They chatted Thursday at a welcoming dinner for area newcomers.

The new fourth-grade reading test loxic-iire Try taking a rich look at the past When you visit the Hyde Park area, you can take a look at Frederick Vanderbilt's mansion, above, or at a place with a bit less glitz, the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. PAGE 1C 01 sites will WORLD be tested Hillcrest investigation leads to firefighter-training area AT ISSUE J) i Key point As part of an investigation of an unusual pattern of cancers among Hillcrest children, officials are looking into sites where firefighters burned used motor oil and other toxic liquids from the 1960s to the '80s. What's next: Environmental officials will begin testing soil 1 NATO issues 4 BETH KAPLAN staff photographer and writing test given to New York's fourth-graders. Most sections of the new test will be graded by teachers. Test facilitator Elaine Lillie assists a teacher' on Thursday at the Holiday Inn-Arena during a grading session for the new reading kosovo warning NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana speaks out 'Thursday abouT a "errticaf turning point" in the Kosovo crisis.

PAGE 2A MONEY Greenspan looks at Social Security BY TOM W1LBER Staff Writer Researchers seeking clues to a concentration of cancers in Hillcrest will investigate sites where firefighters burned thousands of gallons of toxic liquids near Chenango Valley High School from the 1960s to the 1980s. Firefighters burned the liquids, including used motor oil and industrial printing ink, during training exercises at the U.S. government supply depot off Hoyt Avenue, said Hillcrest Fire Chief Norman Montgomery, a participant in the exercises. "We've got to plead ignorance," Montgomery said about the burning. "We didn't know how bad it was back then." Used motor oil typically contains lead, chromium and other harmful chemicals, said Tom Pierce, a toxicologist with the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Exposure to chromium and lead can damage the vital organs and nervous system, and it can cause birth defects, according to the National Safety Council. Exposure to chromium or lead over longer Teachers tackle grading task TEST SCORES samples around the sites at the U.S. government supplies depot when the ground thaws. periods is also suspected to cause cancer. Ink can be made of many components, including oils and hydrocarbons.

Although it is generally not as dangerous as used motor oil, excessive exposure to ink can be harmful, especially if it is burned. Pierce said. The Department of Environmental Conservation will begin testing the soil at the sites when the ground thaws, said Thomas Suozzo, a DEC environmental engineer. If it finds pollution, the agency will determine whether it poses a threat. The Hillcrest Fire Depart-; ment would burn several 55- SEE INVESTIGATION 8A sized information, rather than simply answering multiple-choice questions.

While the old third-grade test was machine scored, groups of teachers in each region are grading most sections of the new test. The state plans to make each school's scores public. Because the new test is tougher, officials expect student scores to drop. The evidence of how seriously the state is taking the grading of the exam and security surrounding the scoring was signs posted outside the banquet room: "Certified people with name tags SEE TEST 8A to all of the state's 250,000 fourth-graders earlier this month. "It's nerve-racking because you're trying to decide scores and be fair," Haus said.

Haus was taking her job seriously for good reason. The new fourth-grade test New York's first new major test in a decade is a high-stakes one that state officials said is substantially more challenging than the old third- and fifth-grade reading and writing tests. For the first time, fourth-graders were required to read and listen to long passages, take notes and write compositions that synthe BY GEORGE BASLER Staff Writer Heather Haus wasn't in her classroom Thursday, but Haus, a Johnson City school teacher, knew she was in for an intense day. Instead of teaching her fourth-grade class at Lincoln Elementary School, Haus sat in a banquet room at the Holiday Inn-Arena grading tests. Some 60 teachers from Broome and Tioga county schools were in the banquet room with her.

They weren't grading just any test. They were scoring New York's heralded new test in reading and writing, given State officials plan to release scores of the statewide fourth-grade reading and writing test in April. Each section of the test is being graded on a four-point scale, with four being the highest score. A score of one will indicate that a student is not proficient in the skill. The results, to be reported by schools, will list the percentage of students with scores at each level.

The state will also give examples of what student work at each level looks like, said Education Commissioner Richard Mills. Other new state tests are coming in June. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan suggests that more taxes or less benefits would be the way to repair Social Security. i PAGE 1 0B TOMORROW LIVING How can you make sure a child's room grows up with him or her? WEATHER PARTLY SUNNY 25716 DETAILS 2B INDEX 4 sections 40 pages Lewinsky's testimony could be made public Four of a kind: Quadruplets born to Binghamton couple Business Classified Crossword Horoscope Landers 10B Movies 3C 7C Obituaries 6B 2C Opinion 10-11A 6C TV 2C. 5C World 2A of the "7 r.

PRESIDE time." Flanders slipped home from Syracuse long enough to develop three rolls of film and BY KIM BREEW Staff Writer A wedding band could slip easily over their tiny feet, and their heads are smaller than tennis balls. They'd almost fit in your hand. The sports car and catch some sleep Thursday, It was a long night after a very long six months. She passed the word on to friends and family who I LOTTERIES 'A N.Y. Daily: 8-7-4 N.Y.

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Cash 5: 8-10-14-21-34 TO SUBSCRIBE 798-1161 NY 1 -800-253-5343 PA 1-800-241-2120 had been praying for months: "Thpv'vp. ant a lima THE ROSTER: Ashley Louise 1 pound, 10.5 ounces Madison Alman 1 pound, 13.5 ounces Alexander James 1 pound, 15.5 ounces Ethan Stewart 1 pound, 11.5 ounces two-bedroom ranch will no longer do for Christin and Brian Wetzel of Binghamton, who, at 5:02 p.m. Wednesday, became the parents of quadruplets. The babies are the second known surviving set born to Binghamton-area par ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON Brushing aside Democratic objections, Senate Republicans on Thursday opened the door to public broadcast of Monica Lewinsky's videotaped testimony as they muscled through rules governing the balance of President Clinton's impeachment trial. In a rapid-fire series of roll calls, majority Republicans also crushed a Democratic call for an immediate vote on Clinton's fate and an alternative set of rules that would have barred any public viewing of the questioning that Lewinsky will undergo early next week.

By their votes, Republicans set Feb. 12 as a target date for a final vote on Clinton's guilt or innocence on the two articles of impeachment, which allege perjury and obstruction of justice. "That's our goal, and we have set in motion a process that will get us there," Majority Leader Trent Lott told reporters, although he conceded the target could slip. Lott said the first deposition would be Monday, with Lewinsky. White House aide Sidney Blumenthal would be B- road to go, but they got a fantastic start." Babies like the Wetzel quadruplets who receive INSIDE More on the impeachment trial.

PAGE 3A deposed on Tuesday, and presidential friend Vernon Jordan on Wednesday. All the sessions will be recorded on videotape, and Lott said, "Exactly what happens to that videotape is not clarified or limited." That's up to the Senate itself to decide, he said. On another key point, Republicans left room for a vote on "fact finding" that would state formally that Clinton had committed offenses, even if he wasn't to be removed from office. The Democratic scenario would have prevented Republicans from even submitting such a document for a vote. The White House accused the Republicans of "power politics." propei care at birth have an 85 1 percent chance of survival Wval.Flan- 66 percent pletely nor- 4 derssaid.

1 hey have a 1 chance of being com ONLINE mal. ents. The three boys and a girl were in critical condition Thursday night at Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital in Syracuse. The infants born after 26 weeks in the womb weigh in from 1 pound, 1 1 .5 ounces to 1 pound, 15.5 ounces. "It was a very long and very difficult pregnancy, but the babies are alive, and that's where you start, I guess," said Christin's mother, Roberta Flanders of Barker.

"We're excited and terrified at the same onneav "tit: rnessi Here are snapshots of Christin and Brian Wetzel of Binghamton and their "Christin and Brian desperately wanted a baby," she said. Christin's mantra was "I'll do anything to have these babies," and she did just that. She had been in permanent bed rest at her parent's home since August and went into the hospital after only 22.5 weeks. www.pressconnects.com Oiilllollci 2 quadruplets, clockwise from top right, Ethan Stewart, Madison Alman, Ashley Louise and Alexander James. The photos were taken by Christin's mother, Roberta Flanders of Barker.

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