"I had had my grandchildren to the zoo quite a bit and I noticed that it had deteriorated," says Nora Harris, who filed the suit three years ago. "That's what got me interested in it."

When she learned that the city planned to finance part of the library land acquisition using funds earmarked for the zoo and parks, Harris says she became interested in the case.

Harris lost in a lower court and appealed to the state supreme court, where she lost again--in part because no money had yet been transferred from the parks department to pay for the land purchases. Harris says the decision leaves room for her to re-file her suit once money is spent.

This is the second lawsuit Harris has filed since her retirement (the other unrelated suit challenged the assessment of a county tax) and she says she will not let up. But Harris insists her legal action is aimed against local officials for misusing government money and denies that her aim is to slow construction of the presidential library.

"I know the city tried to make it sound like I didn't like President Clinton," she says. "I hope [the library] is the best one in the country when it does get built."

National newspapers and major TV networks have reported the lawsuits over the presidential library as yet another legal battle--like the controversy over Clinton's last-minute pardons--surrounding the former president. And Pryor says that comes as little surprise.

"I don't see what the fuss is all about," he says. "I think they're going to find something to criticize Bill Clinton about anyhow and this is what it is now."

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