Capital Watch -- Man Indicted For Payments To Congressman

The president of an Ohio construction company has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he and his firm paid $5,500 to a congressman for help in winning a contract to refurbish offices at the Pentagon.

The money allegedly was paid in 1989 and 1990 to Donald "Buz" Lukens, at the time a Republican congressman from Ohio. Lukens has not been charged in the case, but the payments were described in the indictment.

The businessman, Edward Krishack, 56, was arrested by the FBI yesterday at his home in Wickliffe, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. He was being held without bond. He issued a statement through his attorney denying any wrongdoing.

According to the 16-count indictment, which was unsealed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., Lukens was approached after Krishack's company lost a bid to continue work at the Pentagon. Until 1989, the company, Holk Development Inc., had a government contract that yielded $9.4 million over two years.

Lukens was a member of the House Government Operations Committee, which oversees contracting matters.

The indictment alleges that two unnamed Holk employees, following orders from Krishack and the company, wrote four personal checks to Lukens - in amounts of $2,000, $1,000, $1,500 and $1,000 - which were deposited or negotiated by Lukens at his account at the House Bank. The employees were reimbursed by the company, according to the indictment.

Holk did not win back the work, authorities said yesterday. At the time the company approached Lukens, the congressman had problems of his own.

Lukens, 63, resigned his seat in Ohio's 8th Congressional District in October 1990. He was convicted by a jury in Columbus, Ohio, in May 1989 of a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the unruliness of a minor. He spent nine days in jail for having sex in 1988 with a 16-year-old girl.

Krishack and his company were indicted for conspiracy, giving gratuities to a public official, submitting false claims for government work, obstructing justice and misapplying employee-pension funds. If convicted, Krishack could face up to 78 years in prison and a fine up to $4 million.

Clinton finds skepticism on health-care plan

The White House got what it wanted: a town-hall meeting with questions limited to health care. But even in such an accommodating forum, President Clinton encountered plenty of skepticism, underscoring the plan's vulnerability with the public and in Congress.

Clinton today was wrapping up a week-long pitch for the measure with yet another televised town-hall meeting and a rally.

Last night he explained and defended his complex health-insurance program for 90 minutes in a televised town-hall meeting in Kansas City, Kan.

"Please urge your members of Congress, not necessarily to agree with me on every detail, but to seize this moment to do something profoundly important for the American people," Clinton said at the session that was broadcast in four Midwestern states.

Pesticide rules for farm workers delayed

President Clinton has signed a bill postponing until next January government rules to protect the nation's agricultural workers from exposure to pesticides.

The Environmental Protection Agency had planned to implement the rules on April 21, but farm-state members of Congress and state-government officials succeeded in obtaining the nine-month delay.

The rules would require that farm laborers who handle pesticides wear protective clothing, be taught about the chemicals they are dealing with and be kept out of recently sprayed fields.

Charges considered in Clinton death threat

Federal prosecutors will decide today whether to file criminal charges against two youths who allegedly threatened to kill President Clinton during his visit to Topeka, Kan., yesterday.

Investigators said the youths, 16 and 17, were taken into custody Wednesday at the Burger Hut restaurant in Valley Center, Kan., after someone overheard them making the threats.

The youths, who were not identified, were nevertheless booked into the Youth Residence Hall by Secret Service agents. One was later released to his parents.

- Seattle Times news services