European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 4, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday May 4, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 7 democrats pinning Hopes on amendments to boost a a a a a a. A a a. A. A a. A. A a. A a a a a a a. A a. A i a support for civil rights Bill . Washington a it a a Quot House democratic leaders faced with eroding support for a civil rights Hill Are planning to soften the measure in Hopes of reviving its prospects against another presidential veto. The leaders Are considering attaching three amendments to somewhat dilute the Job discrimination Bill when it reaches the House floor later this month sources familiar with their private discussions said Friday. The changes would include a monetary limit on punitive damages that could be awarded to victims of Job Bias and language designed to head off president Bush a argument that the Bill would Lead to the Itse of racial quotas in hiring a a Contention denied by sponsors but one that has Cut into the Broad congressional support for the Bill. Some supporters fear that without the changes the Bill might lose 20 or 30 votes from last years 273-154 majority. Such erosion would be a major setback since the aim of civil rights groups is to build on last years support which was 12 votes Short in the House of the two thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto. Bush a veto of the Bill last year was sustained in the Senate by a single vote and no override vote was taken in the House. A i think the climate has changed since last year a said rep. Henry Hyde r-ill., a leading opponent of the democratic Bill. A i think it will pass but not enough to override a  the Bill is aimed at reversing a series of 1989 supreme court decisions that made it More difficult for employees to sue for Job discrimination. Bush is pushing his own less sweeping Bill. _ _ the democrats Bill cleared major committee hurdles in March but no floor vote was set while leaders tried to gauge support and civil rights groups attempted to reach a bipartisan Compromise with business leaders. Those business leaders broke off talks two weeks ago with democrats blaming the White House for pressuring business not to Compromise. Leaders of the business round table a group of top corporate executives have refused to renew the talks despite the urgings of House speaker Thomas Foley Ana majority Leader Richard Gephardt. Quot democrats say Bush a opposition stands in the Way of any resumption. A i think there was pressure from the White House to terminate them which causes me concern because i can to believe that a a constructive attitude on the part of the White House a Foley d-wash., said. House leaders now plan to schedule floor action on the civil rights Bill around the Middle of May reflecting a decision to proceed without an agreement. Civil rights groups Hope business will resume talks when the Bill reaches the Senate. A among the amendments being readied is one that the business round table and the civil rights groups previously agreed to and which both sides say resolves the quotas Issue. It would set a Legal Standard for employers to use in defending personnel practices that Are unintentionally discriminatory but have a discriminatory result. Another would apply a monetary limit to the amount of punitive damages that employees could receive in cases of intentional discrimination. The limits previously resisted by rights groups was the final unresolved Issue with the business leaders. While differing versions remain under consideration the leading candidate would limit punitive damages to $150,000. One proposal would apply the limits Only to employers with fewer than 100 workers. A third amendment is being readied to head off a relatively new area of Republican attack on the civil rights Bill the adjustment of Job placement test results that boost scores for Blacks Ana hispanics. Until recently the labor department encouraged state employment agencies to make such adjustments called  Hyde a amendment to prohibit the practice failed on a party line vote in the House judiciary committee but republicans plan to try again in both the House and Senate. Sources familiar with democratic leadership a discussions said they were trying to draw up an amendment prohibiting discriminator effects of race forming while still permitting the practice in some  toll climbs to 8 in Louisiana Plant blast from wire reports Sterlington la. A authorities recovered four bodies thursday from the ruins of a fertilizer Plant that blew up the Day before bringing inc death toll in the disaster to eight. Shortly after discovering the bodies officials allowed the residents of Sterlington to return to their Homes a More than 24 hours after they had ordered a comp Fate evacuation of the town of i,500, the final four bodies were found about 6 . They like the other four people killed in the blast and fire wednesday were employees of the inc fertilizer inc. Plant said state police sgt. Hamilton Mixon officials ordered an end to the evacuation about 7 45 . After the state department of environmental Quality determined that the towns air was Safe. Authorities initially had feared that carcinogenic Asbestos used in the plants insulation could have posed a health Hazard Mixon  deny problem Washington a nearly one third of overweight americans dont think they Are too a heavy and men a far More so than women a refuse to acknowledge that flabby form filling the Mirror a National Survey shows. The annual Survey of various health promoting practices found that 64 percent of american adults Are overweight. Of those 31 percent by Lieve they Are a at about the right  at the same time 14 percent of americans Are underweight of whom 77 percent think they Are at about the right weight according to the Survey released thursday by Louis Harris and Asso dates for prevention magazine.40 hospitalized by fumes Oakland Park Fla. A toxic fumes swept through the main county Post office thursday night sending 40 workers to hospitals police said. Another 175 were evacuated. Five of the workers got seriously ill but All were recovering Well said Delbert Lytle a spokesman for inc Oakland Park police department. A a a a a a a. A a a a. A a a a a Man held in nasal Spray murder try by the los Angeles times Houston a the weapon was a bottle of nasal Spray laced with Poison. The Man charged with attempted murder hardly has the look of a killer. Or. John Linnert a sizable body is usually framed by sandals and baseball Caps and he prides himself on his Chili. He is also a research scientist who developed a breakthrough process in the world of cryobiology,5 the study _ of organisms at re Linner diced temperatures. And now Linner sits in the Montgomery county jail his request for release on Bond de Nied. He is charged with attempting to murder his colleague at the University of Texas cryobiology research Center by replacing his nasal Spray with a Carcinogen called Beta prop Lactone. For now there Are More questions than answers in the Case. If there is a Strong motive it is not yet Clear. What would this admittedly eccentric Bear of a Man stand to gain by putting Poison in a col. Leagues nasal Spray a a it a going to get weirder a Montgomery county District attorney Pete Speers said thursday. A we have reason to believe that it is not thoroughly out of  the Story began two weeks ago when or. W. Barry Van Winkle opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of afrin nasal Spray. But when he used it he experienced a burning sensation in his nose. Suspicious he took the Spray to the Harris county medical examiners office in hous ton for analysis. Too Logiste there found the Carcinogen in the Spray. Bob Morrison a spokesman for the Montgomery county sheriffs department said investigators discovered that Linner had purchased a Quantity of Beta Propios Lactone and immediately became the prime suspect because the Only other person in the fab was a Secretary. Based on that information Linner was arrested at his office Early tuesday morning. In a search of both Linnert a office and Home deputies found two unopened containers of chemicals but not the kind that was in the nasal Spray. Linnert a lawyer Robert c. Bennett said the evidence in the Case appears extremely thin at the moment. A the Man is a cell biologist he has Access to chemicals in the lab and was conducting scientific experiments a he said. A the presence of chemicals that might be dangerous in the hands of Lay persons is not unusual. A the system has gone awry Here a he said. A a Man who is not guilty of a crime has been accused of one. We have people Here who May Well have brought irresponsible charges against him causing Nim a great Deal of trauma. _ a a in be never seen a Case like this Quot he said. A a it a pretty bizarre. A one possible motive that has been mentioned is professional jealousy. The lab was going to be shut Down in August Van Winkle had applied for and received a Transfer to the University of Texas medical schools pathology department. Linner had not. A a a. But or. Re. Butcher the Dean of the school said Linner had not even applied for a  after being informed that the lab was being shut Down largely for Lack of scientific productivity and outside funding. Los Angeles a a teen Ager branded the nations most prolific Graffiti artist was Back in custody thursday suspected of scrawling his nickname in a courthouse elevator he Rode in after being released from jail. Police questioned Daniel Ramos 18, after his distinctive Moniker a sch aka was found in the elevator at a court building next to the menus Central jail. He was freed from the jail wednesday after serving five months for causing an estimated $500,000 in Graffiti damage from san Francisco to eos Angeles. Ramos was of his Way to visit his probation officer and was one of three people in the elevator said Nat Mora a county marshal. A the police Are questioning him now and they will determine if he a to be arrested a Mora said. A yellow Marker was found on one of the three people but officials did no to say if it was Ramos. Ramos had served five months of a one year jail sentence. A judge also ordered him to spend More than 1,500 hours cleaning up Graffiti including some of his own. Municipal court commissioner Robert Sandoval ordered Ramos to serve three years probation undergo two years of psychological counselling and pay restitution to be determined next year. Sandoval also ordered Ramos to stay away from Spray paint cans and wide tipped markers. He had scrawled a sch aka on thousands of buildings Concrete curbside and Railroad cars from los Angeles to san Francisco. His signature ranged from the thick looping letters in a pc Nakay to colourful murals. _ Ramos said he took the nickname a Tchaka Quot from a character on the old saturday morning television show a land of the