1e92 February 3rd, 1995 FEE TO CROSS INTO U.S. ON BUDGET TABLE: President Clinton will recommend that the United States charge a fee to enter the country across its land borders with Mexico and Canada, administration and congressional officials said Thursday. Pedestrians would pay $1.50 per person, and drivers would pay $3.00 per vehicle under a plan included in next fiscal year's budget, which Clinton will present to Congress on Monday. The fee, which would need congressional approval, is expected to raise $200 million in its first year and about $400 million in each of the following years, an administration official said. Clinton would use the new revenues for increased border enforcement, including new Border Patrol agents, as well as new inspectors and equipment to modernize the entry facilities. The possibility of such a proposal drew universal condemnation from Arizonans and Mexican leaders. SPEND $1.6 TRILLION IN '96, CLINTON SAYS: President Clinton will propose $1.6 trillion in spending in his 1996 budget, and he would more than offset the cost of a middle-class tax cut with savings in other areas of the budget. But he still falls far short of Republican demands for a balanced budget in 2002. Clinton's budget request, to be submitted to Congress on Monday, shows a deficit of $197.7 billion for the 1996 fiscal year, up slightly from the $192.5 billion that he projects for this year. Although his budget message boasts that his economic policies have sharply reduced the deficit from record levels, he says the deficit probably will stay new $190 billion through 2005. The budget is always a political document, and a theme of Clinton's 1996 budget is that he wants to "work with Congress," now controlled by Republicans. Indeed, he appears to be in a race with them as he tries to eliminate or consolidate programs, or transfer them to the states or to private industry. Parts of the Clinton budget echo House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "The American people remain deeply dissatisfied with how their government works," the budget says. "Many programs, perhaps even whole agencies, have outlived their usefulness." IN confidential gooley proofs of the budget, Clinton says he can "save $2 billion by ending more than 130 pro grams" and "provide better service to Americans by consolidating more than 20 other programs." PHOENIX TARGETS NEIGHBORHOOD BLIGHT: Enough slum and blight, the war cry went. Enough hip-high weeds, cars on blocks, junk furniture in front porches and other eyesores, an indignant Phoenix City Council decided. In the name of saving neighborhoods, the council has voted to toughen the city's nuisance laws and give inspectors more power to cite and prosecute violators. Phoenix officials acknowledge that the Property Maintenance Ordinance enacted in 1987 is irreparable broken, but they say improvements have been made and more are on the way. So why are so few people happy? It depends on the perspective. Some believe the city has gone too far - one City Hall watchdog likens it to "Gestapo tactics." But a greater number believe the city hasn't gone far enough. "I say, give a $20-a-pop bonus to anyone" who turns in an offender, one neighborhood activist said at Tuesday's council policy session. "We're talking more than just people with inoperable cars. We're talking about cars with the foods off and oil rolling down to the curb. People don't need to live like that." The most controversial part of the new policy is the citations. The council voted to give Neighborhood Maintenance and Zoning Enforcement inspectors the power to not only write up homes they've received complaints about, but also for nearby homes with serious violations. A random poll that the city conducted last year suggested any revision would be contentious: Residents surveyed were split about how much power inspectors should have. FEMALE-PILOTED SHUTTLE LIFTS OFF, WILL MEED WITH RUSSIAN ORBITER: The Discovery blasted off early today with a woman in the shuttle pilot's seat for the first time, bound for an unprecedented rendezvous with a Russian space station. This is the first of eight shuttle trips planned to the orbiting station through 1997. After that, NASA expects to build an international space station with Russia and other countries. The last time U.S. and Russian spacecraft met in orbit was in 1975, when the Apollo and Soyuz ships docked. This time, the Discovery will hover near the Mir station but won't actually dock with it. The mission is a dress rehearsal for June, when the Atlantis will link up with the Mir. The Discovery's pilot is Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot a U.S. spaceship. The discovery's other notable is former Mir resident Vladimir Titov. He will be the second Russian cosmonaut to fly on a U.S. space shuttle. AFTER 34 YEARS, THE RIGHT STUFF: They were poked and prodded everywhere, and X-rayed 75 times. They had ice water injected into their ears to test their balance. They were spun, dunked, entombed and advised to put off having children in case space duty called. Tested in secret, 13 female pilots passed grueling astronaut physical exams in the early 1960s, proving that women did indeed have as much of the right stuff as the Mercury men. But the study was abruptly canceled, and the notion of female astronauts was pooh-poohed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for years to come. None of the 13 became astronauts. Given their ages now, none ever will. But three decades later, their hopes and dreams are about to soar into orbit with the first woman to pilot a U.S. spacecraft. Most of the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees, who call themselves the FLATs, and dozens of other female pilots converged on Cape Canaveral to watch Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins lift off. Collins, not NASA, invited the 11 surviving FLATs to her launch aboard the shuttle Discovery, originally scheduled for Thursday but delayed until today because of an equipment problem. She also offered to carry mementos into space for them. "Finally!" said Jerri Truhill, 65, a retired pilot from Dallas. "It only took them 30 years, didn't it?" NEWS TIDBITS: *A state legislator has proposed that if the state if the state is forced to send its employees home from work early because of an air-pollution alert, they take off without pay. *Mesa Mayor Willie Wong's efforts to change the name of Spook Hill District Park has ignited a wave of protests from residents. *Three women, thinking he was a boyfriend, had sex with the "Fantasy Man." Now they want police to charge him with rape. *President Clinton will ask Congress for a 90-cent increase in the minimum wage - to $5.15 an hour - phased in during a two-year period. *After an unprecedented summit, Israel and its three Arab peace partners agree to resume Israeli-PLO negotiations next week. *Negligence and economic instability have left Russia an ecological nightmare of contaminated soil, impure drinking water and unsound nuclear power plants. *Some of the worst human-rights violations in the world last year were committed by two of the most volatile world powers: Russia and China. ALMANAC: On this day in 1995, The Arizona Republic Headline News came to an end. . 0