July 25, 1998

Medical Care Bill Passes On a close vote along party lines, the House passed a Republican bill to expand the rights of patients, but the White House said President Clinton was likely to veto it. Page A11.

Russell Eugene Weston Jr, suspect in killings at Capitol, was made homeless in 1993 when Mississippi River surged past its levees and drowned his town of Valmeyer, Ill, under 20 feet of water; former neighbors say Weston drifted away rather than live in emergency settlement; in 1996, just before Government finished building new Valmeyer, Weston was questioned by law-enforcement authorities in Illinois and in Montana, where he had settled, about having made threatening statements directed at Government officials, including Pres Clinton; his statements reportedly included paranoid ramblings that were strong enough to attract attention of Secret Service, which questioned him and classified him as probably harmless but potentially dangerous man; photo (M)

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times tribute to Larry Doby, who is being inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame; holds Doby's neighbor, New York Yankees former star and manager Yogi Berra, should attend Old-Timers' Day, despite his anger at team owner George Steinbrenner; photo (M)/

Pres Clinton tells advisers he wants to avoid becoming first sitting President forced to face grand jurors in person, so he will not voluntarily appear before Federal grand jury investigating Monica S Lewinsky matter; prosecutors working for Kenneth W Starr, Whitewater independent counsel, have informed Clinton's personal lawyer, David E Kendall, that they are preparing to serve President with subpoena if he does not agree to cooperate; Kendall had reopened negotiations with Starr that would allow Clinton to cooperate with grand jury without having to force President to appear at Federal courthouse; Clinton would prefer to answer prosecutors' questions at White House, as he has done before on variety of Whitewater-related matters; Clinton lawyers say he could answer questions during videotaped deposition or by turning over sworn answers to written questions; Clinton's legal team is reportedly researching legal and constitutional questions arising if Starr does subpoena President (M)

Stock Prices Are Mixed, Capping Loss-Ridden Week Stocks seesawed yesterday to finish mixed, closing out the worst week for the market since January on investor concern that corporate profit growth is faltering. Gateway led a decline in computer stocks after reporting unexpectedly weak earnings, while Pepsico gained after saying it might spin off some bottling operations.