Bolstered by family ties , he showed some steel (PBP) 11-16-02 Page 1•
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
William T. Dwyer 11,
Miami Edison 10
IN SPORTS
MARLINS -ROCKIES TRADE
Johnson, Hampton
reportedly near deal
IN SPORTS
Saturday, November 16, 2002 Final Edition • Palm BeachPost.com
`I missed cheerleaders the most.'
MATT COUSINEAU, paralyzed Boca High football player who rejoined his team upon release from the hospital
Staff photos by BOB SHANLEY
Members of the Boca Raton High football team stuck a helmet on Matt Cousineau at halftime of their playoff game Friday and paraded him on the field.
Player's body broken, not his spirit
Matt Cousineau, who
broke his neck Sept. 8,
revels with teammates.
By LONA O'CONNOR
Palm Beach Past SYgff Writer
HOLLYWOOD — It was a
playoff game, but for one player
it was homecoming, the biggest
and best one of his life.
Matt Cousineau shooed his
mother away so he could roll his
own wheelchair out onto the
bumpy turf of the football field.
His Boca Raton High School
teammates yelped with delight
as they caught sight of him,
cheerleaders launched into an
impromptu cheer and Cous-
ineau, 18, was swept away in a
sea of crayon -yellow jerseys.
"I'll go in, I'll go in!" he joked
from the sideline. TWo grueling
months of recuperation were
forgotten. He was back with his
boys, chewing tobacco, swear-
ing like a truck driver and grin-
ning nonstop, jubilant.
Jackson Memorial nurse Earline Campbell kisses Cousineau on the cheek
while he's being discharged Friday after nearly two months in the hospital.
It was Cousineau's first time
back on a football field since a
Sept. 8 water accident broke his
neck and left him partially par-
alyzed.
"I missed cheerleaders the
most," he told one teammate. He
forced another one to stuff a
thaw of tobacco In his cheek,
since his own hands were not
IN L.A. CELL,
BOOKING FOR STARS
In Room 7021, now occupied by Robert Blake,
prisoners get beefsteak dinners and a view.
By CHARLIE LeDUFF
The New York Times
LOS ANGELES—There is no
question as to which is the most
exclusive penthouse apartment
in the City of Lights.
Among the amenities there
are soaps, conditioners, razors.
A continental breakfast is of-
fered; a picnic -style lunch and a
warm beefsteak dinner. The
pillows are feather, the compli-
mentary slippers are canvas,
the bed garments orange.
There is a library and plenty of
solitude. The suite occupies a
comer lot, the view is unique,
and the security is excellent
The bellhops dress in green and
Ceps W 2002
Film Pod
VN. 33 NL 10.5 •etleLa
Weather:
Showers,
storms likely
High 81,
low 62.
FORECAST ON
BACK PAGE
OF SPORTS
wear white gloves.
All this at the very reason-
able rate of $53.45 a night. Even
so, leave your wallet at the front
desk. Your money is no good
here; taxpayers pick up the tab.
Do not bother to call for
reservations for Room 7021, for
none are accepted. It is the do-
micile reserved wholly for men
whose reputations are drifting
from famous to infamous and
for a smaller circle of men
whose actions are said to be so
heinous even bad men despise
them.
Welcome to the LosAngeles
See CELL, 8A ►
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cooperating.
He has limited use of his
hands and has learned to move
his body weight with the
strength of his arms. His long-
term prognosis is unclear, since
the healing process usually
takes a year.
Doctors and physical thera-
pists praised his tenacity in
quickly mastering the wheel-
chair and dozens of other daily
tasks with only partial use of his
hands. His youth and athletic
ability are his best friends in the
ongoing process of recovery,
therapists said.
After nearly two months of
slogging through rehabilitation
therapy at Jackson Memorial
Medical Center in Miami,
Cousineau was discharged Fri-
day afternoon. His prescription
from Jackson neurologist Barth
Green: "Get back with your
friends."
And so, barely an hour after
arriving home in Delray Beach,
Cousineau, along with his pan
ents, 'Ibm and Lori, piled back
into the car and headed south to
Hollywood, where the Boca
Bobcats were in a playoff game
against McArthur High School.
At halftime of the game Bo-
ca eventually lost 27-22, his
teammates stuck a helmet on his
head and paraded him the
length of the field. A hero's re-
ward, though Cousineau, a sen -
See PLAYER, 15A ►
SUPER SOAPS WEEKEND
35 gorgeous stars!
Thousands of
screaming fans!
IN ACCENT
50 cents
kills 12
Gunmen in the mostly Palestinian
city target settlers returning from
prayer and soldiers guarding them.
HEBRON, West Bank — Palestinian gunman
ambushed Jewish settlers and soldiers here Fri-
day night, killing at least 12 Israelis and wound-
ing 15. The attack in the divided and notoriously
volatile West Bank city was likely to prompt a
stiff Israeli military reaction and perhaps a new
cycle of violence.
The attack occurred about 7 p.m., when
Jewish settlers near Hebron were walking from
Sabbath prayers in a heavily guarded corridor
through the predominantly Palestinian city.
Hebron, with about 130,000 Palestinians, also
is home to about 6,000 Jewish settlers, 450 of
whom live in its downtown area. The settlers
were reportedly walking along "worshipers'
lane" from the 'Ibmb of the Patriarchs, holy to
both Muslims and Jews as the location of the
tomb of Abraham.
They were headed from the nearly 900 -year-
old towering stone structure to the settlement of
Kiryat Arba, adjacent to the city.
The attack appeared to be a coordinated
ambush that brought gunfire and grenades on
the settlers and the soldiers escorting them.
See MIDEAST, 11A ►
States doing little
to upgrade security
after FBI warning
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JODI WILGOREN
The New Yon* 7irws
WASHINGTON — White House officials said
on Friday that they were taking extra precautions
to protect the nation's most critical facilities from
terrorist assault after an FBI warning that A]-
Qaeda may be planning "spectacular attacks"
with mass casualties in the United States.
"A lot is being done to bring additional pro-
tective measures, particularly to critical infra-
structure," said Condoleezza Rice, President
Bush's national security adviser, in a briefing
with reporters. White House officials said that by
44 critical infrastructure, Rice meant nuclear
plants, chemical plants, oil refineries, airports,
railroads and bridges, among other potential
targets.
Despite the alert, however, domestic security
chiefs from several states said on Friday that they
had done little more this week than pass the
warning on to local law enforctm"t agencies.
SO TERROR, 9A ►
POLITICAL PROFILE State Sen. -elect Jeff Atwater
Bolstered by family ties, `he showed soltlt�steel'
By GEORGE BENNETT
Palm Beach Past SWf Writer
NORTH PALM BEACH — New state Senator
and Republican rising star Jeff Atwater's politi-
cal blood comes from his mother.
Patricia Atwater is the granddaughter of
former Democratic Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte
Broward, the second cousin of
■ Atwater's former Democratic Gov. Cary
political Hardee and the daughter of New
pedigree, 10A Deal -era Democratic National
Committeewoman Enid Brow-
ard Hardee.
But her Old Florida Democratic heritage
goes only a little ways toward explaining her
Republican son.
When she talks tennis, one understands a bit
more.
At 76, Patricia Atwater still cuts an athletic
figure and looks capable of zipping a forehand
ground stroke past anyone who underestimates
her. She was a tennis pro until a few years ago
when her late husband became ill.
See ATWATER,10A ►
sf�
Malvo won't get
better treatment
For latest developments in
the sniper case, visit
Palm BeachPost.com
Jeff Atwater sits in front of family photos in the living roulu v+ 1 , <<„i:+ur S401
Beach house with sister, Patti Unruh (left), and mother, Patricia Hardee A
Iraq inspections
start accelerated
Viewing of alleged
weapons sites expected
to start Nov. 27. Story, 3A
County has first
West Nile victim
Officials believe a mao
49, caught the diseasr
from a mosquito. Local, 1C
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