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Show It Volunteer plows walks while officials argue Utah County plans centennial party Page A3 Malone scores 47 San Francisco turning into streetcar heaven Page as Jazz beat Blazers Page D5 D1 Page B1 Wood Burning Conditions vD7 OK Burn Day l9&m!h CwwiAw 27, IMS : Cfjstra Utah' Hsmpufmt for 122 Ysars, Prove, Utah lest) pyilyt offlca g5irag wel!3 By AIDA CERKEZ Associated Press Writer ' I 8 ; SARAJEVO, Government and Serb forces were making good progress toward meeting the first deadline in the Bosnian peace agreement ;the fullback from the Sarajevo region, NATO officials said today. By- midnight exactly one ;week after NATO formally took over peacekeeping duties in Bosnia from the United Nations 'the two sides are to remove troops and weapons from 38 designated Jareas of the Sarajevo region, and ;rhark or remove mines, v French soldiers are being stationed along the front lines to keep !the two sides apart. y contested subIn. the urb of Dobrinja, a French armored personnel carrier patrolled the former, front line, accompanied by ifive'foot soldiers and a dog. The French had placed barbed wire along, sides of the street where the front line once was. They also searched the area for mines. Soldiers stopped and crouched ; down every 50 yards to watch and Bosnia-Herzegovi- ; - - . IIB Ji Top K PIETERMARITZBURG. SurSouth" Africa (AP) vivors wandered the banks of river today in a Waters from the K Umsin-dus- i River swept though shack settlements and villages Monday in the vicinity in of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natprovince in - al eastern South Africa. Today, survivors scoured the river banks for loved ones, or gathered to identify bodies at the morgue. Police divers pulled bodies from the water at Camps Drift, a popular canoeing and picnic spot, and from the mud on flooded school playing fields in downtown Pietermaritzburg. Police dogs helped in the search. V ; IT " J it"' "This mission would have been impossible three weeks ago," said one of the soldiers, who added that soldiers from both sides had left in the past three days. NATO spokesmen said things , ;were going well, but gave conflict,--' ing signals whether there would be 100 percent compliance by; the V : '. deadline. f : 'The compliance has been most satisfactory," said Capt. Frederic Solano, a French spokesman. "The midnight deadline should see most ... elements completed, although? there might well be a small over spill with a few tasks to be com' ' pleted tomorrow;" , But another NATO spokesman, Lt. Col. Mark Rayner, later told ' . f , i 1 . 4 n- . Police Superintendent Henry Budhram said the 11 V death toll stood at 124 today. The figure was slightly lower (1 - AP Photo , -- , ' More than 124 die in S. African river flood search of missing relatives, and police pulled bodies from the water and mud following floods that killed at least 124 people. once-hotl- . ents rain-swoll- en - listen. ! French NATO patrol rtiakes its way along the former front lines in the Sarajevo suburb of A reporters that "everything, should be completed by tonight." The midnight ideadline was the first in a series embedded into the peace agreement for Bosnia signed Dec' 14 in Paris. Dobrinja today as troops verify the Serb pull- out of Sarajevo. The former warring factions A separate series of deadlines is butlt into the agreement for placing Serb-hel- d districts of Sarajevo under Bosnian government con- trol, beginning Jan. 19 and con- eluding two months later. are supposed to have abandoned 38 front-lin- e positions in and around Sarajevo by midnight. Reluctant to watch their former enemies take control of the capital, the Serbs want more time to turn over the Sarajevo districts they hold. Today, the Bosnian army reported that fleeing Serbs had set fire to several hons rather than watch their homesifa under gov- ernment control, But Bosnian army officials cau- - than reports late Tuesday, apparently because of initial confusion as bodies were taken to a central morgue. "We're expecting a lot more bodies to be recovered today," Budhram said. Many of the victims had ; lived in shacks along the Umsindusi River in and around Pietermaritzburg, 240 miles southeast of Johannesburg. (See SERBS, Page A2) slowlf learn from the determination to stick with principles that has charTheir brief acterized our Republican colI WASHINGTON in the House," Gramm, holiday break over, 'congressional leagues who was campaigning for the GOP leaders and the Clinton administration are slowly reviving talks to presidential nomination in the Midwest, said in a statement. end a partial government shuttalks today will The lower-levbuddown and the nation's worst do little to alleviate the anxiety of crisis. get Congressional and White House federal workers, whose paychecks aides were meeting today without wi'.l be smaller this week; of their bosses, a gradual start for tourists, whose plans were changed negotiations that should involve with the closure of national parks and monuments; and of travelers top lawmakers and President Clinton on Friday. who. desperately need passports. Sen. Phil Gramm, Sensitive to criticism that talks called on his colleagues to "stand are moving too slowly, White their ground as the budget negotia-- , House press secretary Mike ' tions resume." McCurry said today, "It is an "Senators have something to urgent situation but the differences : ; 0 . By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer , el - s AP Photo American lawyer Michael J. Griffith of Southampton, N.Y., left, shows a letter from Navy Seaman Marcus Gill to journalists at the Nana District Court In Okinawa today. Gill, of Woodville, Texas, told a Japanese court today that two other Marines being held in connection with the rape were willing accomplices in the attack. , . that exist between the two sides are very deep, very fundamental. People who have not followed this ... think it's all theatrics, but it's not." He said the president was meeting briefly today with budget director Alice Rivlin, whose staff conis meeting with lower-levgressional aides later today. Clinton's chief of staff, Leon Panetta, is still vacationing in California and won't get involved in the talks before late Thursday. Rep. Bill Archer, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, also tried to turn up the pressure. He said Tuesel day, the Clinton administration may be violating the Constitution by juggling the books to permit Retailers try to offset weak season was he jailor says portrayed unfairly By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Staff Writer tried to shift Waycross, Ga. ' much of the blame for the Sept. ; ; A 4 attack to Gill. NAHA, Okinawa (AP) The two Marines depicted U.S. Navy , sailor accused of Gill as a violent, threatening schoolgirl 'raping a bully who intimidated them ; told a Japanese court today that ; .two U.S. Marines were willing into grabbing the girl off the street and shoving her into their I ; accomplices in the attack. car before she was driven rental ":";iUnaer questioning, Navy roadside and raped. a to remote Marcus Gill, 22, of XSeaman " Ledet and Harp have so ; ;Wpodville, Texas, painted with the : acknowledged helping the of a rape harrowing picture i abduction but deny raping the ; that the translator broke down ; girl. Gill today detailed the oth".and wept. The attack outraged Japan ers' role in the attack and said ;and has sparked debate over they were unfairly painting him as the instigator. i whether the southern island of ; Okinawa should be forced to "Everything is pinpointed host more than half of the on me they want to take as : 7,000 U.S. troops stationed in little blame as possible and put ! it all on me," Gill complained, ;thC country. - In I a earlier, ; day saying the three had planned testimony Pfc. Rodri-- . the rape together. ; the two Marines co! Harp, 21, of Griffin, Ga., (See JAPAN, Page A 2) and Pfc. Kendrick Ledct, 20, of : . - ; '. -- - : By BRAVEN SMILLIE Associated Press Writer With shelves and storerooms still brimming with merchandise, retailers set out to counter the worst Christmas shopping season in years by slashing prices, and experienced consumers were ready and waiting. Many shoppers waited until after Christmas to take advantage of markdowns from merchants desperate to unload their wares. "I came out expecting sales, and I waited to buy some things for that reason," Christina Slifko said Tues-- . day as she perused purses at Macy's in suburban Fairfax County, Va. Slifko said she helped her husband pick out a new suit and found the bargain-basemeprices on nt children's winter coats irresistible. "I regard those more as essen-'- , tial things, not presents," she said. "So since it's not going under the tree, why buy it beforehand?" Other shoppers had already turned their thoughts to next Christmas, snapping up decorations, wrapping paper and cards to . mothball for 1 months. In Pasadena, Calif., hundreds of bargain hunters descended on Christmas store, d Stats, a 1 year-roun- "I came out expecting sales, and I waited to buy some things for that son." rea- Christina Slifko, '. ..'.!. shopper disruptive snows in the heavily populated Northeast hurt merchants who depend on Christmas shopping for half their annual earnings. Although the final tally on season sales won't be known. until early January, the Johnson Redbook Service, an authoritative data industry provider, said sales rose only 3.9 percent in four weeks since Thanksgiving compared with the same period last year. When the 2.6 percent annual inflation rate is factored in, sales barely rose. In midtown Manhattan, every other shop had a huge iign in the window boasting of sales: 0 percent off at an "Opportunity Day" promotion by Macy's; up to 50 percent off at ail Ann Taylor 0 boutique; percent off at Benetton; 25 percent off at The Body Shop. Some shoppers, however, said the markdowns weren't enough to make them buy. "I don't see any difference," said Christmas e where everything was when the doors opened at 4 a.m. , Mary Durham bought a gold figurine of Jesus. "Isn't he beautiful? Jesus half off, but even half.off Jesus is wonderful," she said. The bonanza for shoppers was the result of the weakest season for many store owners ' since the 1990-9- 1 recession. A combination of a weakening Mary Ann Bacher as she left Lord & half-pric- 30-4- 30-5- economy, heavy consumer debt and Taylor. federal borrowing without congressional approval. When the Senate on Friday left for a holiday recess that in other years would have lasted through much of December, the chamber passed legislation to return 280,000 furloughed workers to their jobs by : ; declaring them essential. Leader Sponsored by Majority Bob the Dole, if measure, approved by the House and sigiied by President Clinton, would last through Feb. 1. However, workers would be paid only after money was approved for their salaries. The measure's fate was uncertain in the House, where GOP freshmen (See TALKS, Page A2) HUB Find it Arts Business Classified Ads Comics Crossword Legals Lifestyle Movies Obituaries Opinions , Sports State Television World D7 R5 CI D4 C6 CI- - DS D7! D2 .Alfl Bi: D3: D8 A5 Weather Tonight low clouds and fog with a few snow flurries. Lows Thursday low clouds and fog with a fen' snow flurries. See Page A12.; 15-2- 5. Air Quality Today is a : "green" wood burning day. The forecast calls for Increasing pollution levels. See Page A2. ; |