The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 1

How to stGp smoking Palm Beach denies most of Trump's Mar-a-Lago requestsIB Valulet victims' families blast hearings; call for changes 3A WEATHER: Partly cloudy. High 82, low 63. 2A PANTHERS, HEAT WININ SPORTS G3L Thanksgiving, yJwl Florida style PZ.US: A holiday meal planning guide fj3 FOOD DINING, 1FN to their advice ACCENT, IE Hie Palm Beach Post THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1996 105 PAGES 50 CENTS Witer costs through 2010: $1 owners, and state and federal taxpayers. Palm Beach County residents could pay a significant share. Other uncertainties loom.

Water managers haven't decided which projects to pursue, so the actual price tag may not be set for months. They've yet to propose how to pay for the work, though they've tossed out some ideas that would require changes in state law. But they say this much is sure: Without more water, some communities especially in north swimming pools and toilets of 1.8 million new residents, while satisfying farmers and helping restore a natural balance to the Everglades. The money would pay for digging canals, drilling wells, widening and building reservoirs, pumping water underground and making other changes in the region's plumbing network. Who would pay? Some unknown combination of utility customers, consumers, farmers, businesses, South Florida property Changes are needed to supply residents and save the Everglades, water managers warn.

By ROBERT P. KING Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Slaking South Florida's growing thirst during the next 14 years is a $1 billion job, according to estimates water managers unveiled Wednesday. That's the cost of the latest vision for supplying the lawns, Dream Boat Dashed against The rocks Palm Beach County would face outright bans on lawn-watering and other draconian measures in coming decades. The steps outlined Wednesday would solve the problem, said John Mulliken, a planner for the South Florida Water Management District. He called them "the backbone of a plan" for meeting the region's water needs through the year 2010.

That backbone emerged from four years of meetings by a district-created panel of environmen Things To FINAL EDITION Boca's Buyers Tampa-based Allegany Health System, Radnor, Eastern Mercy Health System and West Palm Beach-based Intracoastal Health Systems have joined to buy Boca Raton Community Hospital. Here are their other holdings. C3 Allegany Eastern Mercy Intracoastal (Allegany owns half) Tampa: St. Joseph Hospital St. Petersburg: st.Wnonv's West Palm Beach Good Samarit Medical Centei St.

Mary's Boca Raton Meaica uenter R. Lauderdale: Holy Cross Hospital STAFF GRAPHIC Hospital sale set; lawsuits promised The choice of a not-for-profit alliance does little to appease Boca Raton community leaders. By PHIL GALEWITZ Palm Beach Post Staff Writer BOCA RATON Boca Raton Community Hospital trustees said Wednesday they would sell to a consortium of mostly Catholic-run companies for $190 million. The deal ends months of secret meetings and speculation about the future of the hospital, fondly known as the "Miracle on Meadows Road." "We listened to what the community had to say about wanting the hospital to retain non-profit status," said hospital President Randy Pierce. But the selection greeted by strong criticism from the community, threats of a lawsuit and continued oversight by the attorney general doesn't stop the firestorm.

"They don't have a right to sell the hospital," said founder John Weir. "It is owned by the citizens of Boca Raton." He promised Wednesday to sue to stop the sale. The impending sale of the 394-bed hospital has attracted national attention because it highlights the struggle of independent not-for- Please see HOSPITAL 12A U.S. kids lag in math and science Americans spend more time in class, raising questions about the way they are taught. By RENE SANCHEZ The Washington Post WASHINGTON American students' performance in math and science lags behind other nations even though they spend more class time on the subjects and usually are assigned more homework, according to the largest international study ever undertaken on the subject.

More than a half-million students from 41 countries participated in the study, which was led by the U.S. Department of Education. Its findings, released Wednesday, bluntly suggest there are core problems with the teaching style and the courses that many American schools rely on to instruct students in math and science. The report's conclusions are drawn from exams given to stu- Please see MATH 16A Hosbital A af 1 billion talists, business people, utility directors, farmers and others concerned about South Florida's water. The committee had a chance to pick apart the ideas Wednesday.

After some more meetings, Mulliken said, the draft of a plan will be ready by March. "We've looked at everything from cloud-seeding to building a reservoir," he said. Just over $300 million of the' Please see WATER8A Check control of the 77-acre area bordering' the Kravis Center. The shift is spurred by the city's strict timetables for delivering 25' acres to the county for a convention! center and the remaining land to a developer for a $375 million array of shops, apartments and office build-! ings to be called CityPlace. "The time is now," Mayor Nancy' Graham said.

"We're very serious. Everything we've said is going toi happen is going to happen." By the first part of next year, the' city expects to have a judge's permis-j sion to seize the land, requiring the' city to deposit the $6.68 million to! take title to the 18.86 acres it still! needs. The city already has spent $8.92" million to buy 34.75 acres. Abyt 23 Please see downtown in! r. GREG LOVETTStaff Photographer JJ Sf PALM BEACH A morning jogger passes the Mariner, which ran aground Oct.

rocks, leaving the craft's future uncertain. 'It's been said the 23 near Sloan's Curve. Recovery crews have been unable to free the 65-foot Mariner's owner, Art Kappele. The Mariner was originally owned by media mo- sailboat and last week's strong winds and waves tossed it onto the exposed gul Ted Turner, who sailed it in the 1974 America's Cup race. STORY, 4B 17,720 pools never got final inspection More than 17,000 pools built since 1980 haven't been cleared by inspectors who check: The barrier around the pool (fence, gate or screen enclosure).

The hand-railing leading into the pool. Depth markers when required. All electrical connections. The pump motor. Any metal within a certain distance of the Has your pool has been properly inspected? Residents in unincorporated Palm Beach County, Juno, Wellington and Gulfstream should call the Palm Beach County Building Department records division at 233-5 1 60.

If you live in an incorporated area, call your municipality's building department. SOURCE: Palm Beach County records, building officials Contractors must get a permit before installing a pool. When the work is completed, building inspectors check the work and order any necessary corrections. Once the corrections are made, another inspection is required. In these 17,720 cases, the pools either were never inspected or never received the final OK.

County officials last month began notifying dozens of pool contractors or homeowners that they have 30 days to get new permits and request final inspections, before possibly being turned over to the code enforcement board or Please see POOLS 16A some of the lagging cases. But there's a greater hazard: that an improper electrical hookup could electrocute a swimmer. "There is a very slight risk that something may not be bonded properly," building director Kurt Eismann said Wednesday. But he is not aware of any swimmers getting hurt because of problems that could have been detected by a final inspection. "I wouldn't go as far as to tell people they should stop swimming in a pool that's been finished for years if they haven't had any problems.

But they should find out if it had a final inspection," he said. Officials worry that an improper hookup could electrocute a swimmer. By ELISA CRAMER Palm Beach Post Staff Writer More than 17,000 swimming pools installed at homes in Juno Beach, Gulf-stream, Wellington and unincorporated Palm Beach County since 1980 never received an inspector's assurance that they are safe to use, records show. Screen enclosures have toppled under even light winds, and self-closing safety latches on gates did not work when county inspectors caught up on City shifts to 'quick take' on DowntownUptown buy Inside Mm .,7 290 HAITIANS FEARED DROWNED At least 290 Haitians who set out for Florida in a leaky sailboat are feared drowned. STORY, 2A ANN ABBY BUSINESS 2E HOROSCOPE ID LOTTERY 2E 2A 6B 9C 20 2C CLASSIFIEDS IF OBITUARIES EDITORIALS 14A SCORES FLA.

NEWS 7B STOCKS FOOD 1FN TV SPORTS MOVIES, TV LISTINGS IN ACCENT CROSSWORDS SECTIONS FOR HOME DELIVERY SERVICE 8204663 1-800-654-1231 Copyright 1996 Palm Beach Post Vol. 88 No. 201 7 sections 7 7 lUUUU i .1 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oil West Palm will offer $6.68 million and speed up its 5-month-old eminent domain lawsuit. By JOEL ENGELHARDT Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH After months of quiet negotiations, the city is finally revealing what it is willing to pay to complete its purchase of DowntownUptown and putting its faith in a jury to assure that the total bill doesn't crack a $20 million budget. In court papers officials say they will file Friday, the city will offer $6.68 million and speed up its 5-month-old eminent domain lawsuit, legal steps that fcreases the city's level of risk in exchange for prompt GINGRICH IS SPEAKER AGAIN Newt Gingrich (left) is greeted by Rep.

Howard Coble, on Capitol Hill Wednesday. House Republicans voted unanimously to keep him as speaker. STORY, 3A.