LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The city fathers of Little Rock, state capital of President Bill Clinton's native Arkansas, agreed on Tuesday to name a street after him -- but only two blocks of it. The Little Rock board of directors first decided two years ago to rename the entire 21-block length of Markham Street after Clinton as of January 1, 2000. But in recent days Clinton critics and some radio talk show hosts mounted a protest blitz against the change.

Many Markham Street retailers lamented the expense of changing their stationery and mailing addresses. A divided board of directors agreed a compromise on Tuesday, voting that only the two blocks of Markham Street nearest a planned Clinton presidential library will be renamed, not the entire 11 miles (16 km) of the busy east-west thoroughfare. The change is due to take effect when Clinton leaves office in January 2001, but the decision could come up for public debate again this fall.

"I'm not a supporter of President Clinton and never have been, but this isn't about him," said Brad Cazort, a Republican member of the board who drafted the compromise. "The people who've contacted me say they're interested in preserving the city's historical legacy," Cazort said. But he acknowledged that historians have not been able to identify who the original Markham was.

(Reuter)