RIVER CLOSED TO TRAFFIC

The U.S. Coast Guard will close portions of the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee rivers to boat traffic during President Clinton's campaign bus trip through the region.

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau will be closed from 4 to 6 p.m. today, said Nick Doszkewycz, chief petty officer of the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office at Paducah, Ky.

The timeframe coincides with when the presidential bus tour will cross the bridge into Illinois.

No river traffic will be allowed in a seven-mile zone from north to south of the Cape Girardeau bridge.

At Cairo, Ill., the Ohio River bridge will be closed to boat traffic from 6 to 8 p.m. The zone extends from one mile upstream to one mile downstream.

At Paducah, Ky., the Ohio and Tennessee rivers will be closed near the riverfront where Clinton is expected to speak at a 9 p.m. rally. The rally will include a fireworks display.

The Clinton caravan will spend the night in Paducah.

As a result, the rivers will be closed to traffic from 2 p.m. today to 10 a.m. Saturday, Doszkewycz said.

"There will be times when it is completely closed," he said. But at times one-way traffic will be allowed.

A 1 1/2-mile stretch of the Ohio River will be closed to traffic. Three-fourths of a mile of the Tennessee River will be closed during Clinton's visit to Paducah.