DAILY NZ

P A G E 1A C O L O R

P U B D A T E 07-19-02

O P E R A T O R TSTEWART D A T E //

TIME:

Army boss, skeptical senators lock horns on Enron / 6A

British Open
Buck Harvey profiles co-leader Duffy Waldorf
Sports/1D

JULY 19, 2002 METRO EDITION

FRIDAY

From Russia with sub

Harrison Ford heats up the Cold War in K-19
Weekender/3H

50
SERVING SOUTH TEXAS SINCE 1865

LA N C E L E AD S

Insurance boss frowns at Farmers policy lids

BY NATALIE GOTT
ASSOCIATED PRESS

PETER DEJONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lance Armstrong of Austin finishes the 11th stage of the Tour de France bike race. Armstrong re-took the leaders yellow jersey Thursday. See story on Page 1D.

AUSTIN Restrictions for new homeowners insurance policies by Farmers Insurance Co., the states second-largest homeowners insurer, appear to be unfair trade practices in violation of our laws, Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor said Thursday . The insurance department is issuing subpoenas for the companys entire set of underwriting guidelines, he said. A Farmers spokesman said the company disagrees with the commissioner. The company enacted the restrictions to protect its existing customers,

At first blush, their underwriting changes appear to be unfair trade practices in violation of our laws. We anticipate issuing additional subpoenas to other insurers as necessary.
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER JOSE MONTEMAYOR

spokesman Mark Toohey said. Farmers said this week it wont write new policies for houses that have had water-damage claims in the past three years. The company already had stopped writing policies on individuals whove filed claims in the past three years. The company also said it wont write new policies for houses older than 30 years that have the original

plumbing that isnt made of copper. Farmers, which insures about 750,000 homeowners in Texas, also said it wont write policies for houses more than 30 years old that havent had their plumbing renovated for more than 10 years. Other types of plumbing and roofing also are affected under the new policy . Farmers new policy restrictions ag-

gravate an already serious availability and affordability problem with homeowners insurance in Texas, Montemayor said in a statement. The insurance commission wasnt notified of the changes and as a result, the department is issuing subpoenas for the companys entire set of underwriting guidelines, Montemayor See FARMERS/10A

Security plan not entirely secure

GOP bill doesnt include Bushs call for spying neighbors, national drivers license standards.
D BY CURT ANDERSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

M EDINA DA M D I SP UT E C ON T I N UE S

Parting from Bushs plan

Prohibits

efforts such as Operation TIPS, the neighborhood terror watch program Rejects uniform national drivers license standards Divides Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies Delays indefinitely the Dec. 31 deadline for all checked airline bags to be screened for explosives

WASHINGTON President Bushs plan for uniform national drivers license standards would be killed and a year-end deadline for antiterrorism screening of airport baggage would be postponed indefinitely under legislation unveiled Thursday by House Republican leaders. The fine print of the 216-page bill to create a homeland security department, sponsored by House Majority Leader Dick Armey also would , scrap a Bush program known as the Terrorist Information and Prevention System, or TIPS. Critics have argued that TIPS would encourage Americans to spy on each other and would give some technology companies involved in national security immunity from lawsuits. The bill also rejected moving the troubled federal immigration service intact to a new domestic security agency . Overall, the bill would give President Bush much of the huge new Cabinet agency he requested to safeguard Americans from terrorism at home. But Armey R-Flower Mound, included some , surprising items in the House measure, some of which run directly counter to proposals Bush has made and were never recommended by any House committees. See PANEL/10A

GLORIA FERNIZ/STAFF

Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Water District employee Wayne Salzman stands at the base of Medina Dam as he waits for inspectors to arrive.

Engineer contradicts danger warning

But his company agrees to consider repairs urged by an expert for the state.
D BY W. GARDNER SELBY AND JERRY NEEDHAM
EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Israelis held in plot to arm Palestinians

Soldiers among those arrested, tied to theft of ammo from military .
D BY JOEL GREENBERG
NEW YORK TIMES

Deadly

bombings shelve key Mideast talks/9A

JERUSALEM Israelis buried more victims of a Palestinian attack Thursday as the nation grappled with police accusations that Jewish settlers had stolen army ammunition and sold it to Palestinians. Five settlers, four of them soldiers, and a reserve army officer were arrested this week, suspected of stealing and selling thousands of rounds of ammunition, the police said. The arrests have caused con-

cern in the army over rising weapons theft, and the case has stunned neighbors of some of the suspects in the West Bank settlement of Adora, near Hebron, where four people were killed in an attack by Palestinian gunmen less than three months ago. The six suspects have denied any wrongdoing. The revelations that settlers serving in the army may have helped arm Palestinian militants reverberated Thursday as funerals were held for those killed in the ambush of an Israeli bus Tuesday in the West Bank, and for an officer killed See SIX ARE/9A

AUSTIN If residents downstream of Medina Dam were hoping for a final say about the structures safety they may be , in for a wait. The debate about

the dams integrity isnt over. Dan Johnson, senior dam specialist for the company hired by the agency that oversees Medina Dam, toured the 90-year-old concrete structure Thursday and affirmed his companys April finding pronouncing it safe even if water

poured 16 feet over its 164-foothigh top. Later, he met with officials of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and his firm agreed to consider repairs urged by an engineer on behalf of the state. Two weeks ago today, water behind the dam in northeastern Medina County rose within 17 inches of the top. Water was roaring 10.5 feet over an adjoining spillway as state officials

urged evacuations. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff repeated the warning on television, a decision backed this week by a state dam safety official. On Thursday water a foot , deep still was flowing over the spillway as inspectors from URS Inc., the engineering firm hired by the Bexar-MedinaAtascosa Counties Water ConSee DISPUTE/10A

Councilman Garcia probed in overbilling

BY KARISA KING
AND

WILLIAM PACK

Rick

EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Casey: Who are David Garcias mystery angels?/3A

GARCIA

Bexar County prosecutors are investigating City Councilman David A. Garcia on allegations of tampering with government records, perjury and theft, officials said Thursday . And, in an apparently unrelated case, former City Councilman Raul Prado confirmed prosecutors have asked for his campaign records.
Business Classifieds Comics 1C 1F 6E Deaths Editorials Metro/State 4B 6B 1B

Garcia became the target of the inquiry about two weeks ago after officials at a local public agency raised questions about legal bills he submitted to the county First Assistant Dis, trict Attorney Michael Bernard said. It has to do with possibly overbilling the county , he said. They brought us records regarding bills that
1H 8E 1E Sports Stocks TV listings 1D 4C 5E

they asked us to look into. And were looking into them. Bernard wouldnt discuss any of the finer points of the investigation. But sources said the bills are connected to work Garcia performed as a court-appointed attorney for indigent clients whose bills are paid for by county taxpayers. Garcia, who faced questions last See COUNCILMANS/16A
137th year, No. 289, 178 pages. Entire contents copyright 2002, San Antonio Express-News. This newspaper is recyclable.

Todays Weather
Partly cloudy High 95, Low 75 Full weather report, Page 10D

From the San Antonio Express-News and KENS 5. Get personalized news and information.

INDEX

Movies Puzzles S.A. Life

DAILY NZ

P A G E 1A C O L O R

P U B D A T E 07-19-02

O P E R A T O R TSTEWART D A T E //

TIME: