The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 3

ffw tomoN LOCALNATIONWORLD THE PANTAGRAPH, Friday, Jan. 1 9, 1 996 A5 Maintenance official knew crossing wasn't safe Illinois crossings in the wake of the accident, and identified 24 in which warning times needed to be increased in order to clear traffic i before a train arrived at the in- tersection. Robert Jones, IDOT's bureau, chief of operations, said the state reduced pedestrian crossing times at those intersections to get the additional time they needed. "It was, in short, a tradeoff," Jones conceded. that meeting that the system "seemed to be within the guidelines." Tests after the October accident indicated that the traffic light could turn green with as little as two seconds to spare before trains arrived.

The bus driver has told investigators the light didn't turn green before the train struck. Later Thursday, IDOT officials testified they inspected 184 other Grant helps Roanoke get on-line By Associated Press with Pantagraph reports CRYSTAL LAKE A railroad maintenance official testified Thursday that he had grave concerns about the signal system at a railroad crossing a month before an express train plowed into a school bus there, killing seven teen-agers. Robert Lane, addressing a panel of officials with the National Transportation Safety Board, said he became concerned on Sept 18, after the rear of a pickup truck was sheared by a train while waiting for the traffic light to turn green at the Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway intersection in Fox River Grove. "It seemed to us that the traffic lights seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to get a green signal for traffic to clear on Algonquin Road," said Lane, Union Pacific's manager of signal maintenance for that section of northern Illinois. Lane's testimony came on the second day of a three-day NTSB hearing into the Oct.

25, 1995 collision, in which a nonstop Metra commuter train smashed the rear end of a school bus, which was hanging over the tracks while the driver waited for the light to turn green. Seven students at Cary-Grove High School were killed and more than two dozen injured. Investigators have focused on several issues that may be linked to the accident, including a complex warning system that should have but may not have turned a traffic light green in time for the school bus to clear the tracks. Other factors being examined include: a substitute bus driver who was not familiar with the route; noise on the bus that may have prevented the driver from hearing the train; and the fact that there was too little space between the tracks and the stop line at the traffic light for a vehicle as long as a bus. There have been no school bus fatalities in The Pantagraph area since at least 1980, according to the most available information from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Lane testified at Thursday's hearing that he ordered co-workers to meet with the firm that maintained the Fox River Grove traffic light under a contract from the IDOT. Lane's employees told him after By CHERYL WOLFE Pantagraph correspondent ROANOKE Students at Roanoke-Benson High School will soon be on-line with the Internet, thanks to a $20,000 grant recently received by the school. The school was one of 60 high schools statewide chosen to receive an EnergyNet grant this year. Because of the complexity of allowing students access to the Internet through the school's computer lab, the school board Thursday adopted an "acceptable use policy," which spells out what is appropriate behavior for students when accessing the Internet "It is basically to protect the district from liability if students would access inappropriate information or send inappropriate correspondence, or anything like that," Principal Dan Bertrand said. Students will only be allowed to access the Internet for specific educational purposes in specific classes.

Bertrand said student use of computers and the Internet will be monitored closely. While the one-time grant will help get the school on-line this i year, Superintendent Lynn Curtis said, in the future, the district will be responsible for paying fees as- -sociated with Internet use. He es- timated the cost to be about $4,800 annually. Debt questions dog Duchess of York LONDON Facing possible bankruptcy and told that the queen won't bail her out anymore, the free-spending Duchess of York tried to put the bad news behind her Thursday by flying to Washington. First class, of course.

Prince Andrew's estranged wife, who is due in New York on Saturday for a charity bash, was initially said to have run up about $1.5 million in debts. But Thursday, The Sun newspaper quoted unidentified royal sources as saying her overdraft with bankers Coutts and Co. is three times higher. Her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, has refused to bail her out again. The palace noted that the queen had already paid the duchess' debts on several previous occasions.

The Daily Mail said these were six-figure payments, including one in April 1994 when Coutts ordered the duchess to find $760,000 in 14 days. Mitterand doctor seen as cashing in PARIS A book by Francois Mitterrand's physician claiming the late president knew he had cancer since 1981 and hid it from the public doesn't seem to shock Parisians. But the fact that his doctor is cashing in on the illness does. From cafes to subway cars Thursday, people debated the book by Dr. Claude Gubler, "Le Grand Secret." Its entire first-run sold out in one day Wednesday.

A court Thursday banned further sales, pending a lawsuit by Mitterrand's family. Mitterrand, who retired in May after completing two seven-year terms, died of cancer Jan. 8 at age 79. Mitterrand's family, medical groups and politicians from left to right even the Socialist president's former rivals have denounced Dr. Gubler's book as a violation of Mitterrand's privacy.

In France, doctors are forbidden from divulging a patient's medical condition without the patient's consent. Many Parisians interviewed Thursday, including those who disapproved of Mitterrand's lying, said they were sickened by what they considered Dr. Gubler's attempt to profit from the illness. Simitis picked to lead Greece ATHENS, Greece Greece's ruling party Thursday picked a low-key pragmatist who has often clashed with Andreas Papa-ndreou to succeed the longtime socialist leader as premier. Costas Simitis comes to power just months after he resigned as industry minister in his latest disagreement with Papandreou's populist economic policies.

He continued to hold his seat in parliament Papandreou, 76, resigned Monday with less than two years left in his term. He has been on life support since he was hospitalized Nov. 20. Papandreou has dominated the political scene since founding the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) in 1974 and becoming Greece's first socialist premier in 1981. MASSAGE THERAPIST Give the gift of relaxation! I General practice with emphasis on: 41 TRAFFIC t-C'j "CRIMINAL DEFENSE YWk DIVORCE FAMILY LAW 111 WiWW I Valentine gift certificates i (50 min.) $25 CI 1210 Fort Jesse Rd.

vWwbla Normal 452-7884 Aehiemn PUBLIC PUBLIC AUCTION AUCTION After Doing Business for 116 Years, we have made a difficult decision and closed our will offer all remaining It inventory at ABSOLUTE AUCTION. 1 i PlMteo AUCTION DAYS 15 I SATURDAY SUNDAY i otlmrint-MfloiTtoiTTts IX AM XPM Shuttle astronauts get some time off CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. With the hard work behind them, space shuttle Endeavour's astronauts were given a half day off Thursday. Japanese crewman Koichi Wakata and Dr. DanieJ Barry spent part of the day playing "go," a Japanese board game.

The shuttle is scheduled to return to Earth in a rare nighttime landing Saturday after a nine-day flight in which the astronauts made two spacewalks, scooped up a Japanese satellite and released and retrieved a NASA satellite. During the spacewalks, the crewmen tested tools and other equipment and thermal gear that will be used in building the international space station. Girl snatched from bike found slain ARLINGTON, Texas Less than a week after Amber Hag- erman was dragged screaming off her bicycle in the middle of the afternoon by a man in a pickup, her body was found floating face down in a creek, her throat cut. The gruesome discovery Thursday hit hard in the neighborhood where the 9-year-old Girl Scout was kidnapped Saturday. The body was found late Wednesday by a man walking his dog outside an apartment complex.

The area was about eight miles from the middle-class neighborhood where a witness saw a man drag Amber as she fought and screamed. U.S. ready to pay $1 million for remains WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. officials believe remains of as many as 3,500 U.S.

servicemen killed in the Korean War could be recovered in North Korea if that nation's communist government would allow it, the Pentagon said Thursday. James Wold, head of the Pentagon's office of POW-MIA affairs, said his estimate of 1,000 to 3,500 sets of remains was a "realistic figure for planning purposes" but not firm. Wold also told The Associated Press that the U.S. government is willing to pay North Korea more than $1 million for 162 sets of U.S. remains already returned in recent years.

The payment could help open a door to eventually accounting for a large number of 8,140 U.S. servicemen listed as missing in action from the 1950-53 Korean War. Not all the missing are recoverable. Many are believed to have been disintegrated in battlefield explosions, lost at sea or killed at unmarked sites. A former Korean War POW, a South Korean who escaped in 1994, said he heard northerners speak of mass graves holding untold numbers of American prisoners of war.

32 V. INSPECTION: FRIDAY, JAN. 1 9TH 1 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. -mt Ensenberger's West Side of Square Downtown Bloomington 829-1229 LICENSE 10051 TERMS OF AUCTION: Cash or Equivalent Check with Proper I.D.

Visa Master Card All Merchandise Sold on As Is Where Is Basis All Auctioned Items must be removed within 24 Hours after purchase! Notice: A 10 buyers Premium will be in effect for this Auction. Fire death defendant pleads guilty MURPHYSBORO Camellia Foulks has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with a house fire that killed eight children she was accused of leaving alone. Foulks, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the life or health of a child in Jackson County Circuit Court Wednesday. Police said Foulks was supposed to have been baby-sitting nine children Aug. 14, 1994, but instead left them alone at her house and went to a liquor store and a bar.

One or more of the children playing with matches or a lighter started a fire, authorities said. Foulks faces a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set Foulks was originally also charged with eight counts of in-' voluntary manslaughter. A judge dismissed those charges in November, saying they were not specific enough. From Pantagraph wire services 24-hour news information on CITYLINE Call 829-9000, enter 9030 i HS3 -4 BWm EAULYWRJE JLI.

Ucem AU01C44S9 AMERICA'S FOREMOST FUSNITUSE AUCTIONEmS KOKOMO, INDIANA yvf) 4SHSU.