StoriesJuly 19, 2000

From wire service reports

Man accusing first lady has a checkered past

NEW YORK -- The man who is accusing Hillary Rodham Clinton of using an ethnic slur against him during an argument in 1974 has a colorful past.

Paul Fray can no longer practice law because someone paid him to alter a court document and he surrendered his law license to the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1980.

He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that led to seizures, addiction to prescription pain killers, erratic behavior and memory loss, according to court records.

He wrote a letter to Clinton begging her forgiveness for saying things about her without factual foundation." And he holds a divinity degree from a Baptist theological school.

On Tuesday, Fray said he'd like to meet with Clinton and resolve the controversy about his accusation, which has surfaced in a new book this week in the midst of her Senate campaign.

"This matter will go away," he told the Fox News Channel. "I don't want to adversely affect her race."

Fray did not return several calls from The Associated Press.

Fray's accusation about the slur has rocked her campaign and become fodder for Web sites, newspaper headlines and cable TV news shows.

Clinton unequivocally denied calling him a "Jew b------' during an emotional news conference Sunday in the garden of her Westchester home. The president phoned a New York Daily News managing editor and called the accusation "crap."

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who didn't have a lot of nice things to say about the first lady when he was running for Senate against her before dropping out of the race, spoke in her defense Tuesday.

"What she did say or didn't say 26 years ago, I can't imagine it has any relevance today," he said.

Trial ends for former Starr press aide

WASHINGTON -- Prosecutors accused Kenneth Starr's former spokesman Tuesday of leaking secret material, then building a house of cards from "many falsehoods and lies" to hide his role. As Charles Bakaly III's contempt trial ended, his lawyer pronounced his 1999 statements to a judge "true then" and "true now."

The nonjury trial ended with much closing-argument rhetoric but no immediate verdict, as U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson asked for written submissions by Aug. 11.

The former spokesman is charged with misleading Johnson in a February, 1999, court submission that denied leaking material to The New York Times. He could face up to six months in prison if convicted of contempt of court.

Bakaly, the only defense witness, admitted on the stand Tuesday that "as captain of the public affairs ship" in the office of ex-Independent Counsel Starr, "I took full responsibility" for a Jan. 31, 1999, Times story that the defendant once described as his "worst nightmare."

The story, during the height of President Clinton's impeachment trial, said Starr had concluded that a sitting president could be indicted.

Bakaly, who sometimes received 100 calls a day from reporters, admitted he provided some information for the article, and the government contended he disclosed nonpublic matters about discussions in Starr's office that involved a possible presidential indictment.

Georgia senator Paul Coverdell dies at 61

ATLANTA -- Sen. Paul Coverdell, a longtime Republican politician in Georgia who became a congressional workhorse and quickly ascended to a leadership post, died Tuesday of a stroke. He was 61.

Coverdell had surgery Monday to relieve pressure from a cerebral hemorrhage but died from swelling in the brain, Piedmont Hospital said. The senator, who had reported no serious health problems in the past, was hospitalized Saturday night after complaining of severe headaches.

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Coverdell, who served as Peace Corps director in the Bush administration, was first elected to

the Senate in 1992 by defeating

incumbent Democrat Wyche Fow-ler Jr.

He became the fourth-leading Republican in the Senate, serving as GOP Conference secretary and sitting on several committees, including agriculture, finance and foreign relations.

Coverdell's signature issue in the Senate for the past four years was education, specifically his proposal to expand higher education savings accounts to allow tax-free withdrawals for school expenses from kindergarten through high school.

West Nile virus found in mosquitoes, birds

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Insecticide spraying is planned in the New York City area this week after health officials found mosquitoes carrying the potentially deadly West Nile virus in the region for the first time this year.

State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello said the mosquitoes that tested positive were from Westchester and Suffolk counties, outside the city.

But two birds with the disease have been found in New York City for the first time this year, the state Health Department said Monday. Birds, like

humans, get the virus from mosquitoes. No human cases have been detected.

Last summer, in the first known appearance of the West Nile virus in the Western Hemisphere, the

disease killed seven people in the metropolitan area, prompting New York City to undertake a massive campaign of aerial and ground spraying.

In the most serious cases, West Nile can cause an infection resulting in encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. Elderly people or those with weakened

immune systems are most at risk.

High cholesterol puts young men at risk

CHICAGO -- If you think people in their 20s and 30s don't have to worry about their cholesterol, think again.

A study found that even men under 40 with high cholesterol run an increased risk of heart disease and premature death, underscoring the importance of early screening and preventive treatment.

High cholesterol in middle age is known to be a major risk factor for heart disease and heart attacks.

The new findings suggest that younger men with high cholesterol face a greater long-term risk than men diagnosed with the condition in middle age, in part because the longer high levels exist, the more damage they can cause.

The findings are contained in an analysis of studies on nearly 82,000 men ages 18 to 39 who were followed for up to 34 years. The results appear in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study was led by Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, emeritus professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Medical School.

The findings clearly support existing guidelines that recommend cholesterol tests at least every five years for adults starting at age 20, Dr. Scott M. Grundy of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said in an accompanying editorial.

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