European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday october 6, 1991 the stars and stripes c Page 5vvelk s Hometown won t get $500,000 Grant Washington apr put the Cork Back in the Champagne. The government wont give Lawrence Welk s Hometown a half million dollars to draw tourists to Southern North Dakota. A this is a Small Victory but i Hope it sends a big message a said rep. Jim Slattery d-kan., who led the congressional attack on the Grant for Strasburg . A Given our nations fiscal situation i think these Are the kinds of projects we re going to have to say no  the Farmers Home administration announced Friday that it would not give Welkus Hometown the $500,000 it wanted to develop a tourist Industry. Congress approved the Grant last fall but then voted to kill it this year after it became a National Symbol of wayward government spending. The Grant would have helped build a German rus Sian museum in Strasburg and provided Loans for developing businesses around the Community five Miles from the band leaders boyhood Home. State Omha officials said they found a loophole and approved the Grant because All the Money would have been spent in Strasburg not on the Welk House which was restored with private Money. But the White House pressured Omha officials in Washington to turn Down the Grant and the Agency announced Friday that it would. Besides the congressional opposition the project was not economically viable said Rob Swiezy an Omha spokesman. A there was just no guarantee that it would bring in the Money that it proposed a he said. The Strasburg project ranked 11th out of 12 applications for Rural development Grants that the Agency was considering As its 1991 budget year ended monday Sweezy said. The Grant was typical of numerous pork barrel projects that members of Congress insert into appropriations Bills each year. But red faced lawmakers were besieged with complaints about the Welk project after the late rep. Silvio Conte r-mass., lampooned it during a bitter congressional struggle Over the Federal budget deficit. A what will they do for an encore earmark funds to renovate Guy Lombardos speedboat a Conte asked. T he National taxpayers Union said it was a hard to imagine a More inappropriate use of taxpayer  the projects sponsors complained that lawmakers made the project a Scapegoat. A a we be never received a fair hearing on it. None of the politicians want to confuse their statements with the truth a said Gary Satern the project Developer. Sen. Quentin Burdick d-., who chairs the Senate agricultural appropriations subcommittee wrote the Grant into the agriculture departments 1991 budget. He left Washington on Friday afternoon before a letter arrived from Omha notifying him of its decision an aide said. Wel Tennessee Ernie Ford listed in critical condition Reston a. Apr country Singer Tennessee Ernie Ford was hospitalized in suburban Washington suffering from what his son described As an advanced liver ailment. Ford 72, was listed saturday in critical but stable condition. Monica Chappell a spokeswoman for Cha Reston Hospital Center said Early saturday that Fords wife Beverly asked that no further information on his condition be released for now. Ford was hospitalized sept. 28 after falling ill at Dulles International Airport. He was in route Back to his Home in san Francisco following a state dinner at the White House his son said. A the is in very grave condition a said Bob a a Bucko Ford son of the Singer who made the million Selling record sixteen tons in 1955 and was Star of a nationally televised variety show in the 1950s and 1960s. A the is being attended to on a 24-hour basis by a team of physicians who Are try ing to compensate for a very advanced stage of liver disease and dysfunction a Buck Ford said. Known As a the of pc picker and a a old pm a Ford has recorded More than 80 albums Over half a Century. Hospital spokeswoman Lynda Buckley said Fords wife and other members of his family were by his Side. Buck Ford said that his father Felt it was a quite an Honor to be invited to a state dinner and has a known the Bushes for some  a the has had massive internal Haemorrhaging. It has ceased for the present but is closely  Ford has one other child Brion. Sixteen tons sold 20 million copies worldwide by Fords own reckoning after becoming a hit in 1955. It was a tribute to Blue Collar workers especially Coal miners with lines such As a i owe my soul to the company store and a another Day older and deeper in  new guidelines increase number of Lead poisoning cases Washington a new guidelines to be issued by the Bush administration will classify lower Levels of Lead in the blood As dangerous meaning 10 in the stars and stripes10 years ago oct. 6,1981 a government firing squads in Iran executed 129 leftist opponents of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini a Muslim fundamentalist regime in 24 hours officials and newspapers reported.20 years ago oct. 0 1971 a the . Government got the Legal machinery of the Taft Hartley Law rolling in an Effort to halt strikes by dockworkers in the East Gulf coast and West coast while labor Secretary James d. Hodgson tried to get work resumed in the nations Coal Fields after a walkout by an estimated 80,000 soft Coal miners.30 years ago oct. 6,1961 a in the Wake of an outbreak of shooting incidents involving West and East German police the United states called on the soviet Union to avoid shooting incidents on the East West Berlin Border Quot which could seriously jeopardize peace and Public order in berlin."40 years ago oct. 6,1951 the United nations 100,000-Man autumn offensive in West Korea was reported to have broken the communist Quot Winter line Quot forcing battered communist troops to give up fortified positions. Times More children will be considered at risk. Rep. Henry Waxman d-calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee said that lowering the danger level a Means that 3 million american children Are Lead  the guidelines also will Call for children to be screened for Lead poisoning but that such testing  be performed on a wide scale without an improved Finger prick test to detect Low Lead Levels they said. Louis Sullivan health and human services Secretary is to release the guidelines monday. By reducing the blood Lead Levels considered hazardous the number of Chil a Dren under 6 who Are at risk would increase to about 3 million. In toxic amounts in the blood of Young children Lead can cause learning disabilities lower is and behaviour problems. The biggest sources of Lead exposure Are paint chips and dust from Lead based paint in older Homes and water moving through Lead plumbing. The administrations guidelines will lower from 25 micrograms per Decilier to 10 micrograms per Decilier the amount of Lead in a Young child a blood that would be considered hazardous the sources said. Currently an estimated 200,000 children under age 6 have Lead Levels above 25 micrograms per Decilier said Don Ryan executive director of the Alliance to end childhood Lead poisoning. Company s English Only policy ruled illegal san Francisco a a Federal judge ruled that a meat processing plants a English Only Rule for production workers discriminates illegally on the basis of National origin. . District judge Robert Schnacke said Friday he would Issue an order forbidding continued enforcement of the Rule which has been in effect for the last year at spun Steak co. About half the South san Francisco company a workers speak Spanish. English is not a requirement for employment. A i think its a ground breaking decision a said Christopher to lawyer for workers Priscilla Garcia and Maricela Buitrago who challenged the policy. He said no other Federal judge in California has ruled on the Issue. A lawyer for the company did not return a Telephone Call on Friday. The 9th . Circuit court of appeals said a similar Rule for employees of a municipal court in Southern California was illegal. But the . Supreme court set the decision aside when the English Only requirement was abandoned leaving the Law unsettled. To said the key Issue in the Case was the company a claim that the policy would ease racial tensions that might arise when some employees spoke Spanish among themselves and others thought they were being talked about. Schnacke said Harmony could be promoted without forbidding other languages on the Job to said. A there Are theoretically cases where there could be a business justification a like jobs with regular customer Contact or a language related Job such As a disc jockey said to from the Legal Aid society of san Francisco a employment Law Center. A but an employer has to meet a pretty High Burden to show there a a Neutral business related reason for the  transportation workers to be tested Tor alcohol use by the new York times Washington a a House so Nat conference committee has agreed to require millions of transportation workers to take routine tests to detect the use of alcohol just As Many of them Are already tested for illegal drug use. The Effort represents the broadest program of tests for alcohol and drug use Ever required by a Federal statute. Tho conferees included the measure in a Bill setting spending for variety of transportation programs in the 1992 fiscal year. The conference committees decision late wednesday night makes passage of the measure virtually certain. All workers in safety related positions in the aviation shipping Railroad transit and trucking industries would be subject to the tests. The tests would be Given before hiring upon suspicion of intoxication after accidents and on a random basis As Well As in regularly scheduled medical examinations. For the first time mass transit workers would be added to the Rolls of those who face tests for use of illegal drugs and a Legal substance alcohol would be added to the list of intoxicants detected by the tests. Labor unions said they would consider suing to Block the new regulations on alcohol testing. It is expected to take Many months for the transportation department to devise the rules called for by the Bill