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AP830325-0143

Workers Try To Unload Tanker; Environmentalists Call Spill a Disaster

Millions of gallons of crude oil that spilled when a tanker ran aground spread across a wildlife-rich stretch of ocean Saturday, and Alaska's chief environmental officer criticized cleanup efforts as too slow. The biggest oil spill in U.S. history created a slick about seven miles long and seven miles wide in Prince William Sound. The Coast Guard said only Reef Island and the western edge of Bligh Island had been touched by the slick. ``This situation, I think, was everyone's secret nightmare about what could happen with oil traffic in the sound,'' said Dennis Kelso, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Some 240,000 barrels _ about 10,080,000 gallons _ of crude oil from Alaska's North Slope spilled early Friday when the 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez ran hard aground on Bligh Reef, about 25 miles outside Valdez, where it had taken on a total cargo of 1.2 million barrels. Initial reports indicated 270,000 barrels had spilled. ``What we have here is a major environmental catastrophe,'' said one oil spill expert, Richard Golob of Boston, publisher of Golob Oil Pollution Bulletin. Golob said cleanup equipment at the site was ``grossly inadequate'' but added that even under ideal circumstances cleanup efforts would not have significantly reduced the spill's impact. ``It is an enclosed body of water,'' he said. ``The only way for this oil to ecape out to the sea is by traversing the entire length of Prince William Sound with all its islands, fjords and bays and channels. ``And during that transit, undoubtedly a large stretch of shoreline will be contaminated,'' he said. Divers Saturday said they had found six to eight holes in the vessel's hull large enough to swim through, said Frank Iarossi, president of Exxon Shipping Co. About 30 feet of the vessel is resting on a shelf on the reef. Efforts to begin pumping 200,000 gallons of oil off the Exxon Valdez onto another tanker, the Exxon Baton Rouge, were halted early Saturday when authorities noticed that oil appeared to leaking as the pumping operation proceeded. Eleven of 17 tanks that lie forward of the ship's masthead were ruptured in the accident, causing concern over removal of the oil, said Coast Guard Lt. Ed Wieliczkiewicz. ``Whenever you start removing oil from a vessel this size it has to be done in a controlled manner,'' Wieliczkiewicz said. ``If it's not ... you endanger the stability of the vessel.'' Wieliczkiewicz said a boom was placed around the Exxon Valdez and the Exxon Baton Rouge to help contain oil around the vessels. He also said four members of the Coast Guard's Pacific Strike Team from San Francisco, specially trained to deal with pollution and oil spills, arrived Saturday and were helping to rig pumps and assemble equipment needed to transfer oil to the Baton Rouge. Kelso was highly critical of what he said was a slow response to the spill. ``The initial reponse was inadequate and unacceptable,'' he said before a news conference Saturday. Kelso said the efforts should have been under way in five hours, but took much longer. ``You miss the opportunity right at the beginning and you've missed our best opportunity to do something.'' Kelso said Alaska has a plan for oil spills that calls for action within five hours of a spill. It took several hours longer, he said, and only two of seven skimmers available to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. were used at the outset. Alyeska spokesman Chuck O'Donnel said he was satisfied with his company's actions. ``I think our people did an excellent job,'' he said. The spill's effect on wildlife had not yet been assessed, but commercial fishermen who depend on the sound for a catch worth millions of dollars were outraged and said a key herring spawning area had been polluted. ``The whole food chain could be affected by the spill,'' said Alan Reichman, ocean ecology coordinator for the environmental group Greenpeace, in Seattle. ``There's a high concentration of sea otter, waterfowl, sea birds and pink salmon in that area,'' said Steve Goldstein, a spokesman for the Interior Department in Washington. ``Some birds have already died, and we are doing our best to try to save the fish by containing the oil to the area where it presently is and by trying to skim it.'' Whales, porpoises and seals are also common in Prince William Sound. ``It's kind of like sailing through a zoo,'' said Jim Lethcoe, who lives on a boat in the sound and operates a sailing business. An animal cleanup station was set up in a building at the community college in Valdez, but volunteers there said they had no animals to work on by midafternoon. The response to the spill also drew fire from the 12,000-member United Fishermen of Alaska. ``We feel that this should have been the easiest oil spill in the world to clean up,'' said Riki Ott, chairman of the organization's habitat committee. She noted that the spill had occurred in a protected area close to the Valdez marine terminal and the water was calm. Ott said the spill had polluted Prince William Sound's primary herring spawning area. Fishermen also take salmon and shellfish from the sound. Last year, they were paid about $85 million for their catches, she said. The Port of Valdez remained closed to tanker traffic. North Slope crude oil is shipped 800 miles through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay south to Valdez for shipment aboard tankers to refineries outside Alaska. The Coast Guard said the Exxon Valdez struck the reef when it maneuvered outside normal tanker traffic lanes to avoid icebergs. The vessel's captain, Joseph Hazelwood, has worked for Exxon for 20 years, at least 10 as a ship's master. It was unclear if a pilot was aboard the Exxon Valdez when it grounded. There was no decision Saturday on whether to use chemicals to disperse the oil, but a test of the dispersal method was being conducted Saturday afternoon, as was a test to determine whether at least some of the crude oil could be burned. Coast Guard Cmdr. Steven McCall said National Transportation Safety Board investigators are expected to arrive Sunday to take over the accident probe. He said one or more blood-alcohol tests were administered after the grounding, but he said he didn't know know how many people were tested or the results. McCall said the tests routinely are administered in marine accidents involving federal jurisdiction. The Coast Guard issued a statement late Saturday that McCall has subpoenaed the ship's master and two crew members. The subpoenas require them to make themselves available to NTSB investigators arriving Sunday. The Coast Guard said the supoenas were routine. Previously, the largest U.S. tanker spill was the Dec. 15, 1976, grounding of the Argo Merchant tanker off the Nantucket shoals off Massachusetts, in which 7.6 million gallons of oil spilled, Golob said. Up to 10.7 million gallons of oil was lost on Nov. 1, 1979, when the tanker Burmah Agate collided with another ship in Galveston Bay, Texas. However, that oil burned as well as spilled. The largest tanker spill in history resulted from the July 19, 1979, collision off Tobago of the supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain, in which 300,000 tons _ more than 80 million gallons _ of oil was lost.

alaska;cleanup equipment;cleanup efforts;crude oil;oil spill;987-foot tanker exxon valdez;u.s. tanker spill;major environmental catastrophe

AP880217-0175

Congressmen to Sue Census Over Count of Illegal Aliens

A coalition of members of Congress announced Wednesday that they plan to sue the Census Bureau in an effort to force the agency to delete illegal aliens from its count in 1990. Some 40 members of the House joined the Federation for American Immigration Reform in announcing that the suit would be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, spokesmen said at a news conference here. The group contends that including the estimated 2 million or more illegal aliens in the national head count, which is used to distribute seats in the House of Representatives, will cause unfair shifts of seats from one state to another. Census officials say they are required to count everyone by the U.S. Constitution, which does not mention citizenship but only instructs that the House apportionment be based on the ``whole number of persons'' residing in the various states. That approach was upheld by a federal court in a similar suit, brought by the same immigration reform group, before the 1980 Census. Nonetheless, Dan Stein of the immigration reform federation contended that illegal aliens should not be allowed to be part of determining the political structure of the United States. Rep. Tom Ridge, R-Pa., said the Census Bureau should actually count everyone but that it should develop a method to determine how many people are illegally in the country, and them deduct that number from the figures used for reapportioning Congress. Rep. Jan Meyers, R-Kan., suggested including a question on the Census form asking whether respondents are U.S. citizerns.

american immigration reform;1990 census;national head count;census bureau;house apportionment;illegal aliens

AP880318-0051

Thousands Mark Total Eclipse With Prayers, Dancing and Drum-Beating

Thousands of peole prayed, cheered, danced, beat drums and observed other traditions today as a total eclipse of the sun darkened a wide area of Indonesia and the southern Philippines. The sun was blacked out by the shadow of the moon for up to four minutes along a 108-mile swath that moved from the Indian Ocean across Indonesia and the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. A partial eclipse was visible across a wide area of Asia as far west as India _ including Southeast Asia, China, Japan and New Guinea as well as parts of Australia and the Pacific islands. Scientists said the eclipse would end at sunset in the Gulf of Alaska. Clouds obscured the solar spectacular in Jakarta, Indonesia, Hong Kong and in the eastern Mindanao city of Davao, where thousands of tourists and scientists had gathered to observe the eclipse. But it was visible for about 3 minutes in this city about 650 miles southeast of Manila despite early scattered clouds. President Corazon Aquino flew in to witness the event. Richard Fisher of the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colo., said that despite scattered clouds, scientists were confident they had taken useful pictures of the eclipse. In Jakarta, Wilson Sinambela of the National Institute of Aeronautics said a total eclipse was observed in several parts of the country, including by about 1,000 tourists in the South Sumatra capital Palembang. He said thousands of Indonesians prayed and beat drums to herald the start of the eclipse, which began in southwestern Sumatra before heading on to the Philippines. In Kuala Lumpur, where a partial eclipse blocked out about 80 percent of the sun, some Malaysian Hindus visited temples to pray for protection against harm during the eclipse. In Kurukshetra, India, an estimated 1 million pilgrims dipped into the waters of the sacred Sannihit and Brahmsarover tanks after a public address system announced the start of the eclipse. Hymns were chanted and conch shells blown during the ceremony about 90 miles north of New Delhi. Clouds blocked the first moments of the eclipse in General Santos City. But the cloud cover broke, setting off wild cheering among the thousands who watched the phenomenon in a scorching tropical heat. Street lights switched on, and members of the Naragcas tribe, in the city for a festival, danced in the streets to the beat of drums. In Baguio City, 130 miles north of Manila, pregnant women of the local Ilocano community rinsed their hair during the eclipse with water dripped from burned rice straws in a traditional ritual. According to local superstition, babies conceived during or shortly before an eclipse will be deformed unless their mothers practice the ritual. Many other Filipinos marked the eclipse by going to church. The Philippines is Asia's only predominately Christian country. ``This phenomenon is a clear reminder from God for mankind to repent its sins,'' said Theresa Teopengco, a government employee. Officials said about 20,000 tourists and scientists from around the world had come to the southern Philippines to watch the eclipse, the last one expected here for at least 50 years. Scientists said the area afforded the best opportunity to witness and study the eclipse because skies are usually clear this time of year. But in Davao City, 60 miles to the northeast, morning clouds sent hundreds scurrying to the airport for flights to General Santos. Church bells in Davao tolled while police and civilians set off firecrackers and fired weapons in the air to mark the eclipse. In Manila, thousands turned out under clear skies to see the partial eclipse that blocked about 75 percent of the sun's surface at its height. Police said four people were injured when a passenger bus collided with a jeep during the eclipse. ``The drivers were probably looking skyward when the accident occurred,'' said policeman Ricardo Manansala. ``It's impossible to gaze at the sky and drive a vehicle at the same time.'' Solar eclipses occur when the moon positions itself between the Earth and the sun. The Chinese first recorded a total solar eclipse in 2137 B.C., regarding them as signs of a battle to death between the sun and the dragon.

solar eclipses;sun;total eclipse;witness;partial eclipse;wide area;tourists;moon

AP880330-0119

Adjusting the Census: Little Difference

If the two sides trying to force changes in the 1990 census both get their way, the results would nearly balance one another, a population expert said Wednesday. The Census Bureau is under pressure to exclude illegal aliens from its national head count. Traditionally, it counts everyone living in the country. Groups which have filed suit to ignore the aliens contend large concentrations of them could result in in some states gaining seats in the House of Representatives at the expense of other states. Meanwhile, other groups want the final census totals to be increased to account for people who may be overlooked in the census _ most often blacks and Hispanics living in urban areas. At stake are the 435 seats in the House, which are distributed among the states on the basis of population. ``If both sides get their way, the only change would be a flip-flop of one seat from California to Georgia,'' said William O'Hare, director of policy studies for the independent Population Reference Bureau. O'Hare told a breakfast briefing for Northeast and Midwest members of Congress that he estimates their region will lose 14 House seats following the 1990 census. That would continue a trend evident over the last several decades, he noted. Using estimates of the number of illegal aliens and undercounted minorities, he said that deleting the one group and adding in the other would make little difference in the long run. The only change, he said, would be that California would gain five new seats instead of six, while Georgia would add two rather than just one. ``That's easy to understand, since there are so many undocumented aliens in California,'' he commented. O'Hare's study of potential changes in House seats _ based on 1990 projections with no adjustments _ calls for California to be the big gainer, adding six House seats, followed by Florida with a gain of four and Texas adding three. Expected to pick up one seat each are Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. On the other hand New York would lose three seats. States losing two apiece would be Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. Expected to lose one house seat are Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia and Montana.

1990 census;national head count;census bureau;house seats;illegal aliens

AP880331-0140

It's The Time of Year For Funnels

Rumbling spring thunderstorms have announced the beginning of the unofficial tornado season that runs from April through June across Texas and other Tornado Alley states in the nation's heartland. From 1951 through 1986, there have been an average of 118 tornadoes in Texas per year, according to the state climatologist's office in College Station. More than 60 percent of those occur between April and June, records show. In April and June an average of 18 to 19 tornadoes occur each month, but in May, when weather conditions are the most unstable, that average increases to about 36. A few twisters were already recorded in early March in Texas but they did little or no damage. A tornado that touched down Tuesday in central Louisiana, near Bunkie, destroyed two brick homes. ``People should have plans of what they'll do in tornadoes. If they wait until it gets there, it's going to be too late,'' said Buddy McIntyre, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. Last May 22, a killer storm flattened the small West Texas town of Saragosa, killing 30 people and injuring 162. In mid-November, 11 people died in East Texas when a series of tornadoes trashed towns from Cherokee County to the Gulf Coast. ``A tornado is such a devastating kind of storm. No matter how much preparation you do there is some property damage and some loss of life. But there are some things you can do to protect yourself and property,'' said Laureen Chernow, a spokeswoman for the governor's division of emergency management. One is to know the difference between the tornado watches and tornado warnings issued by the weather service. A watch means weather conditions are suitable for development of a tornado, and people should keep a careful lookout for potential funnel clouds. A tornado warning means one has already developed and has been spotted. Take cover immediately and don't go outside, but if you are in a car or mobile home you will be safer taking cover in the nearest ditch or depression. At home, the best place to stay is a basement or underground storm shelter. If no such shelter is available, go inside a closet in the center of the house or bathroom or lie flat under a heavy table. McIntyre noted that most fatalities in a tornado are from flying debris, so ``we tell people to squat down, cover their heads and present a low profile.'' James R. McDonald, director of the Institute for Disaster Research at Texas Tech University, says many people mistakenly try to outrun tornadoes in their cars. During the 1979 Wichita Falls tornado that killed 53, McDonald said, ``people jumped in their cars and drove down Main Street at 90 mph.'' Twenty-six people died while trying to outrun the twister. Another misconception is about opening windows. It was once believed that windows needed to be open to equalize air pressure between the storm and the inside of a house to prevent the house from exploding. McIntyre said there are enough natural openings in a house to equalize air pressure, and ``if that tornado wants to open your windows, it'll do that for you.''

disaster research;tornado warning;tornadoes;texas;tornado season;spring thunderstorms;property damage;tornado watches

AP880409-0015

Increase In Atlantic Hurricanes Predicted

A hurricane expert predicts a turbulent summer in the Atlantic Ocean with more and fiercer storms swirling the seas, but says it's impossible to know if any of the storms will threaten populated areas. William Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, said Friday he expects about six Atlantic hurricanes this year, the average for the last 40 years, but above average for the decade. The Atlantic has formed relatively few hurricanes in five of the last six hurricane seasons. Those years brought just two to five hurricanes each, except for the seven hurricanes spotted in 1985. The hurricane season officially begins June 1, and its most active period usually begins Aug. 1. Gray, who has used wind and air pressure patterns to make annual hurricane forecasts each year since 1984, will issue his first formal 1988 forecast in late May. He issued an early ``outlook'' Friday for the 10th annual National Hurricane Conference. ``It is also anticipated that the average hurricane which does form in 1988 will likely be more intense than have the average hurricanes of the last six years, except for the 1985 season,'' Gray said in a paper presented to the conference. But Gray said his models of air pressure, winds around the equator and winds for ``El Nino'' periods, when eastern Pacific waters are warmer than usual, do not allow for predictions of when or where a hurricane might form. Gray based his early outlook on the presence of light easterly winds at the equator and the approaching end of ``El Nino'' period. Gray predicted four hurricanes last season, and three actually occurred. His prediction of four in 1986 was on the money, and he originally predicted eight hurricanes before adjusting that figure to seven, the eventual correct number, in 1985. In 1984, when there were five hurricanes, Gray had predicted seven. Drought in West Africa is responsible for a drop in Atlantic hurricanes in the 1970s and 1980s, Gray said. He said the drought has robbed storm systems of moisture needed to start their escalation into hurricanes. That pattern eventually will change, he said, ``but it is impossible to say when this shift will occur.'' Forecasters and emergency management officials at the conference stressed that coastal populations have increased rapidly during the lull in hurricanes; a surge in storms, up to the levels of the 1950s and 1960s, could bring unprecedented damage, they said.

william gray;storms;atlantic hurricanes;atlantic ocean;hurricane seasons;turbulent summer;annual hurricane forecasts;hurricane expert

AP880419-0131

Four Die In North Florida Tornado

A tornado blasted through this North Florida town before dawn today, destroying several homes and a college library, blowing off rooftops, flipping cars and leaving four people dead and 15 injured, officials said. The tornado touched down at 4:30 a.m. just west of Madison, about 50 miles east of Tallahassee, and cut a 12-mile swath of destruction, authorities said. ``There was this huge roar and then I heard a tree crack out there and thought we were all gone,'' said Marie Prince, a Madison County sheriff's dispatcher. The tornado passed only four blocks from her office. Four people were killed north of town, said Sheriff Joe Peavy. Fifteen people were injured, but none of the injuries was critical, according to Madison County Memorial Hospital administrator Jeannie Baker. A house-to-house search found no more bodies, but a man and a baby had to be freed from separate homes where they were trapped, Peavy said. Two of the deaths occurred in mobile homes blown apart by the tornado, and four other houses were seriously damaged as well, said Madison County Civil Defense Director Bernard Wilson. ``It didn't leave any of it. Not even a dish. You'd never know there was a trailer here,'' said Dorothy Butler, sister of one of the victims. Rescue units from adjoining counties were helping out, along with state law enforcement and forestry officials. State prisoners were also on their way to help with the cleanup, Peavy said. He had no estimate of the damage. The tornado was part of a storm system that struck across the Southeast with high winds, lightning and hail. Trees, roofs and mobile homes were damaged, and at least six other injuries were reported. Madison, a town of about 3,500 people, is the county seat of Madison County, a thinly populated tobacco growing area of piney woods, rolling hills and swamps on the border with Georgia. The twister's destructive path started in front of a shopping center and then proceeded straight into North Florida Junior College, where it ``totaled the new library and took the roof off the auditorium,'' Peavy said. The twister blew away several homes, blew the roof off a nearby church, overturned cars and knocked down trees, Peavy said. As far as his office knew, all the damage was from one tornado, Peavy said. He said the tornado's sweep through town lasted under 30 minutes. Electric company workers were restoring power throughout the area. Two tornadoes struck near the towns of Malone and Bascom, about 100 miles to the west of Madison, said Jackson County emergency management director John Mader. Three homes and a trailer were destroyed and five homes seriously damaged, he said, and two people were slightly injured. Many county roads were blocked by fallen trees, he said, and officials were surveying the area by helicopter. The tornadoes were spawned by a belt of thunderstorms being pushed by a cold front. Hail the size of golf balls and damaging winds hit Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. More than one inch of rain fell in one hour this morning in Waycross, Ga., 70 miles northeast of here, and wind gusts of 40 mph were reported in Valdosta, according to the National Weather Service. Elsewhere in Georgia, trees and power lines were reported blown down, a barn was reported destroyed and a tin roof was blown off an old building. The winds destroyed up to nine mobile homes west of Bainbridge, Ga., Monday night, injuring three people, one seriously. The sheriff's office said the wind left the homes in shreds. Bainbridge is 25 miles northwest of Tallahassee. A 9-year-old girl from Cottonwood, Ala., was injured by lightning as she stood near a stove at her home Monday night. The lightning accompanied a tornado that moved through southern Houston County about 60 miles northwest of Tallahasse. In the eastern Georgia's Bulloch County, six mobile homes and one house were heavily damaged shortly after dawn today, but no injuries were reported, the weather service said. Tornado watches were still in effect across 14 southeastern Georgia and 15 northeastern Florida counties until at least five hours after the tornado hit. Madison County has been hit by seven tornadoes since 1959 with only one injury reported, according to the National Weather Service.

madison;tornado watches;tornado;deaths;thunderstorms;destruction

AP880510-0178

Arafat Says U.S. Threatening to Kill PLO Officials

Yasser Arafat on Tuesday accused the United States of threatening to kill PLO officials if Palestinian guerrillas attack American targets. The United States denied the accusation. The State Department said in Washington that it had received reports the PLO might target Americans because of alleged U.S. involvement in the assassination of Khalil Wazir, the PLO's second in command. Wazir was slain April 16 during a raid on his house near Tunis, Tunisia. Israeli officials who spoke on condition they not be identified said an Israeli squad carried out the assassination. There have been accusations by the PLO that the United States knew about and approved plans for slaying Wazir. Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization leader, claimed the threat to kill PLO officials was made in a U.S. government document the PLO obtained from an Arab government. He refused to identify the government. In Washington, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy denied Arafat's accusation that the United States threatened PLO officials. State Department spokesman Charles Redman said the United States has been in touch with a number of Middle Eastern countries about possible PLO attacks against American citizens and facilities. He added that Arafat's interpretation of those contacts was ``entirely without foundation.'' Arafat spoke at a news conference in his heavily guarded villa in Baghdad, where extra security guards have been deployed. He said security also was being augmented at PLO offices around the Arab world following the alleged threat. He produced a photocopy of the alleged document. It appeared to be part of a longer document with the word ``CONFIDENTIAL'' stamped at the bottom. The document, which was typewritten in English, referred to Wazir by his code name, Abu Jihad. It read: ``You may be aware of charges in several Middle Eastern and particulary Palestinian circles that the U.S. knew of and approved Abu Jihad's assassination. ``On April 18th (a) State Department spokesman said that the United States `condemns this act of political assassination,' `had no knowledge of' and `was not involved in any way in this assassination. ``It has come to our attention that the PLO leader Yasser Arafat may have personally approved a series of terrorist attacks against American citizens and facilities abroad, possibly in retaliation for last month's assassination of Abu Jihad. ``Any possible targeting of American personnel and facilities in retaliation for Abu Jihad's assassination would be totally reprehensible and unjustified. We would hold the PLO responsible for any such attacks.'' Arafat said the document ``reveals the U.S. administration is planning, in full cooperation with the Israelis, to conduct a crusade of terrorist attacks and then to blame the PLO for them. ``These attacks will then be used to justify the assassination of PLO leaders.'' He strongly denied that the PLO planned any such attacks.

khalil wazir;accusations;plo officials;possible plo attacks;israeli officials;political assassination;palestinian guerrillas;american targets;israeli squad;plo leader yasser arafat;united states;terrorist attacks

AP880517-0226

Single-Engine Airplane Crashes; Five Killed

A single-engine airplane crashed Tuesday into a ditch beside a dirt road on the outskirts of Albuquerque, killing all five people aboard, authorities said. Four adults and one child died in the crash, which witnesses said occurred about 5 p.m., when it was raining, Albuquerque police Sgt. R.C. Porter said. The airplane was attempting to land at nearby Coronado Airport, Porter said. It aborted its first attempt and was coming in for a second try when it crashed, he said. State police said the red-and-white Cessna P210, which seats six people, was from Salt Lake City. Identities of the victims were not immediately available. The bodies were taken to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque. Walter Ramazzini Jr., 17, of Albuquerque, said he was sitting about 100 yards from the airplane when it crashed. ``He was going east, making a left turn from the airport,'' Ramazzini said. ``A gust of wind hit him from right to left. ``He did three banks. The wind made him bank to the left 30 degrees or so. To correct for that, he banked right and he kept going and passed level flight as if to turn right,'' Ramazzini said. ``To correct again for that, he went again to the left ... and went nose-first into the ground,'' said Ramazzini, a student pilot. ``He hit the ground and cartwheeled over. ``All I saw was a puff of smoke,'' he said. The airplane ``wasn't very high _ maybe 100 feet,'' Ramazzini said. ``The weather was gusty and showery. It was sprinkling.'' He said he was among the first four people at the crash site. ``We went up there and there was nobody alive,'' Ramazzini said. ``You could smell fuel. We were looking for fire extinguishers.'' He said the witnesses thought the airplane might blow up, so they retreated. Firefighters arrived later and sprayed the crumpled airplane with water before rescue crews removed the bodies from the craft. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were en route to the crash site to conduct an investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration.

investigation;single-engine airplane;albuquerque;crash site;crumpled airplane;witnesses;victims;rescue crews

AP880520-0264

Reports Military Considered Crackdown in Slovenia

An official statement issued Friday confirmed that federal military commanders met in March and considered ways to quell dissent in Slovenia. The statement by Slovenia's Information Ministry followed reports published by the Slovenian youth magazine Mladina that there had been plans for a military takeover of the republic. Slovenia is considered the most liberal of Yugoslavia's six republics and two autonomous provinces. The ministry statement said the federal military council met on March 25 and concluded that ``dissident tendencies'' in Slovenia were part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to overthrow the country's Communist government. But it said there was no discussion at the meeting ``about a plan for action against special warfare in Slovenia.'' The term special warfare refers to subversive actions. The statement did not identify the foreign elements and said Slovenia police later challenged the claim that there was such a conspiracy. It said the police disputed the military council's conclusion at a later meeting between the republic's police authorities and Ljubljana's military command. The police said ``they had no available data which would justify such evaluations,'' according to the ministry statement. It reported the police also said there were no ``subversive forces behind'' articles carried in the Slovenian news media. Slovenia's Communist Party presidium also ``expressed disagreement with part of the military council's opinions,'' said the statement. Some army commanders have been increasingly critical of Slovenia's leadership, saying it should act firmly against political dissidents. And Slovenian Communists have frequently criticized the way the federal government is dealing with the country's economic and social problems. Mladina, the official publication of the Socialist Youth organization, wrote of possible military intervention in its current issue. It published a letter to Slovenia's Communist Party leader Milan Kucan from two student unions that said military action had been planned earlier this year, including the arrests of ``nonconformist journalists, writers and officials.'' The letter said military units would be used to crush demonstrations that were expected to be called to protest the arrests. It also said the army did not notify Slovenia's civilian leadership of the planned intervention. The plan was blocked by Kucan and Stane Dolanc, Slovenia's member in Yugoslavia's collective presidency, after they were told about it by Slovenian security organizations, the letter said. Svetozar Visnjic, commander of Ljubljana's military command, dismissed the reports of planned military action as ``nonsense and a fabrication.'' He made the comment in an interview with the Belgrade Politika Ekspres newspaper.

slovenia police;dissident tendencies;communist government;political dissidents;ministry statement;slovenian communists;yugoslavia;federal military commanders;foreign-backed conspiracy

AP880601-0040

New Study Finds More People In Hurricanes Danger Areas Than Expected

A study has found that the U.S. death toll from a major hurricane could be far worse than previously predicted, the head of the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday to mark the opening of the 1988 Atlantic storm season. Recently completed hurricane coastal flood models for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts show that many more people than earlier thought must be evacuated under certain conditions, said center director Bob Sheets. Forty-three million people live in about 175 coastal counties from Maine to Texas, and evacuating crowded urban areas and barrier islands is virtually impossible, Sheets said. There are not enough shelters to handle the added load and there are serious concerns how new glass-windowed high-rises would fare if lashed by hurricane-force winds during evacuations, he said. During a hurricane that struck Houston, ``glass was flying everywhere,'' said Sheets. He refused to make predictions about the 1988 hurricane season, saying no one has convinced forecasters they can reliably predict the number and severity of storms. The first tropical depression of the year has formed, and remained stationary Tuesday night just south of the western tip of Cuba, or about 200 miles southwest of Havana. The system contained winds of up to 30 mph and was not expected to strengthen. One of the two satellites used to keep track of hurricanes could fail this year, forecasters said. ``It's quite possible this year that we could lose GOES-West at anytime,'' hurricane specialist Bob Case said of the Geo-Stationary Earth-Orbiting Environmental Satellite, which records atmospheric conditions over the Pacific Ocean and part of the Western Hemisphere. If that satellite does stop working, GOES-East would have to be directed to move from its equatorial orbit over Brazil to a spot south of the Texas Gulf Coast, where it would provide a view of the Western Hemisphere with limited vision in the hurricane-spawning eastern Atlantic, he said. A previous GOES-East expired in 1984 and temporarily deprived meteorologists of Atlantic atmospheric photographs. A typical Atlantic hurricane season, from June 1 to Nov. 30, has 10 named tropical storms with rain and maximum sustained wind exceeding 39 mph, six of which become hurricanes with drenching rain and wind over 74 mph, Case said. In 1987 there were only three hurricanes and four tropical storms in the Atlantic. Hurricane Emily slammed into the Dominican Republic on Sept. 22, causing three deaths with wind gusts up to 110 mph. It recovered enough punch to belt Bermuda with 116 mph wind three days later. ``Emily was the fastest moving hurricane of any known in this century,'' Case said. Hurricane Arlene meandered through the Atlantic in mid-August with top wind of 75 mph. Hurricane Floyd hit Key West with 75 mph wind but fizzled out over the Everglades and Miami in mid-October. Here are the names to be given to Atlantic tropical storms that could grow into hurricanes this season: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gilbert, Helene, Isaac, Joan, Keith, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie and William.

atlantic storm season;hurricane-force winds;typical atlantic hurricane season;u.s. death toll;forecasters;goes-west;hurricanes;first tropical depression;hurricane coastal flood models;national hurricane center;coastal counties

AP880613-0161

Top Military Leader Of Shining Path Rebels Captured

Police captured the top military leader of the Shining Path, a Maoist rebel group whose eight-year guerrilla war has taken more than 10,000 lives in Peru, officials said Monday. Officials said the capture of Osman Morote, 43, considered the most radical leader of the movement, was the hardest blow to date for the rebels since they launched their guerrilla war in the Andean highlands in May 1980. ``Osman Morote is considered the No. 2 of the party and its military chief,'' the independent magazine Si said recently. ``For some Shining Path experts, Morote might even be, in practice, the true leader of the organization.'' Abimael Guzman, a former professor of philosophy, founded the Shining Path movement and is generally recognized as its leader. The Shining Path is seeking to overthrow Peru's elected government and install a peasant and worker state patterned after the ideas of Mao Tse-tung. Deputy Interior Minister Agustin Mantilla said Morote was arrested before dawn Sunday at a house in downtown Lima along with two women. Police sources said two other men also were arrested. Mantilla said Morote had fake identification papers but was identified by his fingerprints. Counterinsurgency sources said police raided the house after neighbors told them of suspicious behavior by the people living there. The sources said police discovered revolutionary propaganda, dynamite and a revolver. Col. Javier Palacios, a top official in the counterinsurgency police, presented Morote to the press Monday but did let him speak. Palacios said police had suspected Morote was in the house. He said Morote put up no resistance. The colonel said Morote arrived in Lima a week ago from the northern highlands to coordinate terrorists attacks in the capital. Palacios said the attacks were planned this week to mark the second anniversary of prison riots in which security forces killed more than 250 rebel inmates. There have been reports in recent months of a growing rivalry between Morote and Guzman, and Mantilla said he did not discount the possibility that Guzman betrayed Morote to get him out of the way. Morote, known within the rebel band as ``Comrade Remigio,'' is second in importance only to Guzman, who founded the Shining Path as a splinter group of the Peruvian Communist Party. The Shining Path devoted itself to 10 years of semi-clandestine political work with peasants in the impoverished Andean highlands before taking up arms. Guzman is the ideologist of the organization, but Morote is considered the military strategist of the guerrillas and the advocate of attacks against peasant communities in the highlands that have formed civil defense units on the orders of the military. Counterinsurgency sources said Morote's capture will create a power vacuum within the central committee of the Shining Path and spark tension until a replacement is found. Guzman, Morote and other Shining Path leaders went underground in the late 1970s before launching their guerrilla war, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives. Guzman has not been seen for years and rumors have circulated that he may have died. But most counterinsurgency experts believe that Guzman, described as brilliant by his former professors, is still alive. Guzman has become a mythical figure for Peruvians. Various rumors say that he is living abroad, that he moves about Peru disguised as a priest, that he works as a day laborer in Lima's crowded street markets. Since 1980, the movement has expanded from its base in the highland state of Ayacucho and now launches attacks throughout much of this impoverished nation. Damage to the economy from sabotage is estimated at $5 billion.

maoist rebel group;shining path movement;osman morote;peru;radical leader;counterinsurgency police;eight-year guerrilla war;top military leader;morote's capture

AP880623-0135

Lawmakers Debate Counting Illegal Aliens

Lawmakers clashed Thursday over the question of counting illegal aliens in the 1990 Census, debating whether following the letter of the Constitution results in a system that is unfair to citizens. The forum was a Census subcommittee hearing on bills which would require the Census Bureau to figure out whether people are in the country legally and, if not, to delete them from the counts used in reapportioning seats in the House of Representatives. ``This is a fairness issue,'' said Rep. Thomas J. Ridge, R-Pa., who contended that states with large numbers of illegal aliens benefit unfairly when their large population totals give then extra seats in the House. Because there is a 435-seat limit, when one state gains a House member another must lose one. Ridge cited the 1980 census, which estimated the number of illegal aliens at 2 million. The result, he said, was that Georgia and Indiana lost House seats to New York and California. Subcommittee Chairman Mervyn M. Dymally, D-Calif., however, said he is unsure whether the bills backed by Ridge and others are constitutional. The U.S. Constitution requires the Census Bureau to cound all the ``persons'' in the country every 10 years for purposes of reapportionment. It doesn't specify citizens. ``I am disturbed by the implication that undocumented residents of the United States are not `persons,''' Dymally said. Noting that at times in the past blacks and Indians have been excluded from participation in government, he commented: ``I do not want to return to a time when some human beings are considered less than equal in the eyes of the law.'' ``Every census since the Constitution was adopted has counted all residents of the states, including both legal and illegal aliens,'' added Rep. Don Edwards, D-Calif. ``It was never the intent of the framers to include only citizens for apportionment purposes.'' And Rep. Albert G. Bustamente, D-Texas, termed the worry over counting aliens ``hysterical,'' pointing out that the movement of Americans into western and southern states has had a much larger effect on representation than the presence of aliens. The Census Bureau also opposes the bills, contending that the effort to determine who is an illegal alien could delay and complicate the count and that people would be unlikely to tell the truth anyway. But Reps. Tom Petri, R-Wis. and William F. Goodling, R-Pa., asserted that counting illegal aliens violates citizens' basic right to equal representation by giving greater voice in Congress to states where the aliens live. And Rep. Tim Valentine, D-N.C., contended that counting aliens ``in effect, is granting representation in Congress to individuals who have entered this country by breaking the laws of the United States.''

lawmakers;census bureau;representatives;u.s. constitution;house seats;illegal aliens

AP880629-0159

U.S. F-16s Crash in Mid-Air; Another F-16 Crashes in Black Forest

Two U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets crashed in the air today and exploded, an air force spokeswoman said. The accident occurred less than two hours after another F-16 crashed into the Black Forest. West German police said one pilot was killed in the in-flight crash. The Air Force spokeswoman, Capt. Gail Hayes, said the aircraft were on a training mission when they crashed near Bodenheim, about six miles south of Mainz. She said the aircraft, assigned to the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hahn Air Base, crashed at 1:30 p.m. ``There was one person aboard each aircraft. The condition of those on board is unknown,'' Ms. Hayes told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from U.S. Air Force European headquarters at Ramstein Air Base. West German police spokesman Hugo Lenxweiler told the AP in a telephone interview that one of the pilots was killed in the accident. ``The other pilot was able to eject safely,'' Lenxweiler said. Lenxweiler said he did not know if the pilot who ejected suffered any injuries. Identities of the pilots were not immediately released. He said the planes crashed within several hundred yards of a populated area but that no one on the ground was hurt. He said preliminary information indicated that one of the F-16s rammed the other from behind. Both planes exploded on impact, he said. The other crash occurred about 90 miles away. Air Force Spokesman 1st Lt. Al Sattler said the pilot in the Black Forest crash ejected safely before the crash and was taken to Ramstein Air Base to be examined. Police in Karlsruhe said the crash occurred at noon (6 a.m. EDT) near the village of Marxzell-Burbach. Sattler said the aircraft was from the 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at Spangdahlen Air Base. The aircraft was taking part in a NATO military tactical air exercise being conducted from the Canadian air force base in Baden-Soellingen, Sattler said. West German police and U.S. military personnel secured the area of the crashes, and teams of experts were sent to the accident sites to determine the cause of the crashes.

training mission;aircraft;f-16 fighter jets;pilots;u.s. air force;crashes;f-16s;in-flight crash;bodenheim

AP880630-0295

When It Comes to Drought, USDA Says It's in Action

The Agriculture Department says it has been on top of the drought since March 1, monitoring the situation, setting up hotlines to handle worried callers and issuing enough statements to paper a thousand bird cages, easy. One of the latest informational gimmicks is a ``USDA Backgrounder'' listing the department's ``drought-related actions'' since the blotter-like furnaces began roaring across most of the nation. ``It was my idea, my memory isn't what it used to be,'' quipped Sally Michael, the department's deputy director of information. ``This helps me keep track of what we've done.'' Michael agreed during questioning by a reporter that the action list is lean on actual dollars going into the drought aid. Only two items had dollar amounts. One involved meat purchases for school cafeterias and the other a credit deal for the sale of meat to Mexico. The backgrounders will be updated every two weeks. The first lists 22 separate drought ``actions'' by USDA or its people, beginning more than four months ago. First item: ``March 1. Secretary of Agriculture Richard E. Lyng establishes USDA Drought Task Force under the chairmanship of Deputy Secretary Peter C. Myers. Members _ agency administrators and key USDA personnel _ will constantly monitor the potential drought situation.'' The blurb also gave the number of the USDA press release that formally announced the task force creation, but not its date. In reality, though the drought panel was set up by Lyng on March 1, the press release announcing the action was not issued until April 22. Department officials questioned at the time said they attached no significance to keeping the task force secret for seven weeks before announcing it. Excerpts from other USDA actions cited by the report: _May 31. Counties found to be suffering from drought will be allowed emergency haying and grazing of Acreage Conservation Reserve (ACR) and Conservation Use Acreage (CUA). At this time, haying and grazing do not apply to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage. _June 9. Standing hay on farms held in inventory (taken over) by the Farmers Home Administration can be sold at a reasonable cost to help feed livestock in drought counties where state offices of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service have authorized release of set-aside acres for haying and grazing. _June 14. Lyng briefs Senate and House Agriculture Committees on the drought and offers to cooperate with the Congressional Relief Task Force announced by Sen. Patrich Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Kika de la Garza, D-Texas. _June 15. The White House announces a new Interagency Drought Policy Committee made up of USDA, Interior, the Office of the Vice President and several other agencies. Departments of State and Transportation, and the Council of Economic Advisers were subsequently added. _June 16. Lyng announces that farmers in designated drought counties will be authorized to harvest hay from land in the Conservation Reserve Program. Haying will be allowed for 30 days if farmers give up part of their CRP payments. Livestock grazing of CRP land was not authorized. _June 20. The Interagency Drought Policy Committee meets for the first time. _June 20. USDA begins making daily audio tapes of weather updates available to news media. _June 21. Lyng announces haying will be allowed on CRP land if a county has been approved for emergency haying and grazing of ACR and CUA land due to drought. _June 22. Lyng meets with the Congressional Drought Relief Task Force, which issues a ``statement of general agreements'' calling on the secretary to implement various forms of disaster assistance. _June 23. Lyng and other USDA officials meet in Chicago with the National Governors' Association Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. _June 23. While in Chicago, Lyng announces a toll-free hotline to answer questions about federal services available in drought areas. _June 23. Returning to Washington, Lyng briefs the president and vice president on the drought and says that there is agreement among congressmen, senators, farm groups and governors that it is too early for emergency relief measures. _June 23. After the White House meeting, the Interagency Drought Policy Committee meets for the second time at USDA. _June 24. In its first day of operation, USDA's hotline logs more than 600 calls in 10 hours. Lyng orders another eight lines installed, raising total to 18 lines. Greatest number of calls the first day are from Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota. _June 27. USDA announces that special crop surveys in several states and other steps will be taken to update the department's July 12 crop report and supply-and-demand projections for fall harvets, including corn and soybeans. _June 27. An additional $50 million has been set aside to buy bulk ground beef for donation to schools lunch and other feeding programs, to help cattle producers hurt by drought. _June 27. Lyng authorizes additional emergency provisions in drought counties, including permission for selling hay to anyone, and the harvest of ACR, CUA and CRP land as green chop for immediate feeding to livestock or silage. _June 27. Intragency Drought Policy Committee meets for the third time. _June 28. Federal and state officials set up a national hay information network, or HayNet, to assist in locating forage supplies. _June 29. Department will hold news conference July 12 following release of crop report and supply-demand projections. _June 29. Mexico can buy $40 million worth of meat under an amended credit arrangement. The purchases are intended to help bolster livestock markets depressed by drought liquidation of herds.

drought panel;agriculture department;emergency relief measures;meat purchases;drought aid;congressional drought relief task force;conservation reserve program;action list;usda drought task force;drought-related actions

AP880705-0006

1,100-Acre Fire In Zion National Park

A lightning-sparked fire in Utah's Zion National Park spread out of control to 1,100 acres Tuesday, but rain helped firefighters hold the line on a 2,000-acre forest fire in Montana and two other major fires in Wyoming. Gusty winds spread a third Wyoming fire over 400 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and forced the evacuation of a campground and summer cabins on Freemont Lake, a half mile from the blaze. A fire that scorched 1,130 acres in and around the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan was linked to a vehicle exhaust pipe. Hundreds of small grass and brush fires were reported over the July 4 weekend, some caused by fireworks, in various parts of the country. ``The Fourth of July holiday really contributed to the problem,'' said Capt. Ray Wood, regional ranger for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation in the Hudson Valley. ``Fireworks were touching off fires all over the place. Last night it sounded like every fire alarm in the area was going off.'' In California, a fireworks-caused blaze that swept over 2,200 acres near Yosemite National Park was declared contained at dawn Tuesday. ``We have evidence confirming that it was a bottle rocket,'' said Mary Hale, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. By Monday, $384,000 had been spent to combat the fire, she said. Authorities will try to recover that money, said Pat Kaunert of the U.S. Forest Service. More than 670 firefighters from federal, state and local agencies cut trails in the rugged terrain by hand and used airplanes to drop fire retardant, officials said. Kentucky's Division of Forestry reported 85 fires burned 1,267 acres in the first four days of July, compared to an average of 18 fires and 165 acres for the whole month, spokesman Richard Green said. About 40 weekend timber fires were attributed to fireworks. But Dwight Barnett, a spokesman for the Tennessee Division of Forestry, said there were 26 wildland fires on the Fourth of July, which burned just 113 acres. ``We were very relieved to get through the weekend in such good shape,'' he said, citing partly the care taken by people playing with fireworks. In Utah, Chief Ranger Bob Andrew said the Zion blaze was ignited by lightning June 19. It was allowed to burn in a small area, but on Sunday wind to 60 mph spread the flames, and the fire nearly doubled in size from early Tuesday to midday. No injuries or property damage was reported. The Montana fire burned in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area in the south-central part of the state. Weekend rain helped keep it from spreading outside the wilderness boundary, said fire information Officer Jo Barnier in Billings. And a helicopter was dropping water on the fire Tuesday afternoon. The fire has been burning since at least June 19 in the Custer National Forest. Phil Jaquith, Beartooth District ranger for the forest, said Forest Service policy is to allow wilderness fires to burn unless they threaten trails or structures or are about to spread outside the wilderness boundary. A day after rain beat down the flames of a 1,650-acre fire in the Shoshone National Forest in northwest Wyoming, firefighters were able to reinforce fire lines around the blaze in the absence of strong winds. The lightning-sparked fire has been burning for almost two weeks. Rain Monday night also calmed three fires in Yellowstone National Park in the state's northwest corner. Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said the ``fan fire'' in the park's northwest corner had held at 1,800 acres, while two other fires in the southern section of the park continued to burn over about 90 acres. Because all three fires are in the backcountry no efforts were being made to douse the flames, she said. The evacuation in the Bridger-Teton forest was a precaution and the fire started to die down somewhat as temperatures dropped at nighttime, forest spokesman Fred Kingwill said. The blaze apparently was sparked by fireworks over the holiday weekend, Kingwill said. In Michigan, authorities concluded a hot exhaust pipe or exhaust particles triggered the Upper Peninsula fire, said Mary Mumford, spokeswoman for Hiawatha National Forest. The fire was declared under control Monday. Firefighters also battled two smaller fires that broke out on the Upper Peninsula Tuesday, burning 220 acres, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Bob Heyd said. In California, about 190 firefighters battled a wildfire that burned 350 acres of brush Tuesday across steep terrain in an area of Los Padres National Forest untouched by fire in 64 years, said Earl Clayton of the U.S. Forest Service. Rising humidity and cooler temperatures were checking the fire's spread, he said. There were no injuries in the fire, which was reported Tuesday afternoon.

lightning-sparked fire;zion national park;utah;forest fire;brush fires;firefighters;fire lines

AP880705-0018

Some Fires in National Forests Brought Under Control

Three hours of steady rain Monday afternoon provided a much-needed edge for crews working to douse a blaze that seared 1,650 acres in Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, and rainfall in neighboring Yellowstone National Park calmed three smaller fires there. Meanwhile, illegal fireworks were blamed for causing a blaze that raged across 2,200 acres near Yosemite National Park in California over the weekend, and firefighters brought a four-day fire in Michigan's Hiawatha National Forest under control Monday after the blaze consumed more than 1,100 acres. About a quarter-inch of rain helped to keep the lightning-caused Shoshone fire's growth to about 200 acres overnight, said fire information officer Dave Damron. But the nearly quarter-inch of rain that fell Monday held it to 1,650 acres, he said. The rain also allowed officials to cancel a 100-man patrol planned for Monday night. ``The forecast for the next two or three days is dry, with lower humidities and conditions more favorable to burning,'' said Damron. ``But this provides a real good reprieve and a chance to reinforce the lines and complete lines that we don't have yet.'' Four 20-person firefighting crews from Colorado, Utah and South Dakota were expected to arrive at the fire by Monday night, putting the total number of firefighters at about 430. Crews were attacking the fire from both the ground and the air, Damron said, as four helicopters and three air tankers dropped chemical retardant and water on the spreading flames. On the ground firefighters were aided by six engines and four bulldozers. Meanwhile at Yellowstone, park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said that because the three fires there all were in the backcountry, no firefighters were trying to douse the flames. Because of the fires, park officials Sunday had closed off some areas, but Vanderbilt said Monday the rain had allowed the reopening of the areas to hiking and camping. The cause of the fire near Stanislaus National Forest, near Yosemite, was a ``bottle rocket,'' said the forest's spokeswoman, Mary Hale. Firefighters, aided by lower temperatures and higher humidity, reported the smoky blaze 90 percent contained Monday afternoon and hoped to have a line surrounding the fire early Tuesday morning, Hale said. The fire was the largest so far this year in the forest, which was the scene of huge wildfires last summer. At least 60 Forest Service firefighters brought the Hiawatha forest fire under control Monday, spokesman Dale Bluedorn said from the national forest's headquarters in Escanaba, Mich. ``We're going to start releasing crews from this fire,'' Bluedorn said. ``We'll continue to patrol the area to make sure we didn't miss any hot spots.'' Bluedorn said continued hot, dry weather means it could be weeks before the fire is extinguished. ``It may not be declared out until there's a three-day rain,'' he said. The Fourth of July was no holiday for firefighters from national forests in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho and other states who were shipped to Michigan's central Upper Peninsula to battle the Hiawatha blaze, Bluedorn said. Forest Service officials, meanwhile, began assessing damage to the 920 acres of national forest and 210 acres of private woodlands burned after the fire broke out Friday afternoon, Bluedorn said. Investigators have ruled out lightning as the cause.

wildfires;steady rain;blaze;forest fire;illegal fireworks;firefighters;wyoming

AP880705-0109

Firefighters Try to Save More Than 5,000 Acres

Firefighters in California, Michigan, Montana, Wyoming and Utah battled holiday weekend fires which blackened more than 6,000 acres of forest and wilderness areas. Illegal fireworks were blamed for a blaze that swept over 2,200 rugged acres of Stanislaus National Forest in California, 10 miles west of Yosemite National Park. The fire, which began Saturday, was declared contained this morning, ``We have evidence confirming that it was a bottle rocket,'' said Mary Hale, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. The fire was the largest in the forest this year. Stanislaus was the scene of huge wildfires last summer. In southern Utah's scenic Zion National Park, firefighters tried today to contain a 600-acre fire that was ignited by lightning June 19 but had been allowed to burn in a small area. However, on Sunday, winds ranging from 30 mph to 60 mph fanned the flames out of control, Chief Ranger Bob Andrew said. Firefighters, assisted by water-carrying aircraft, expected to have the blaze contained by midday. No injuries or property damage were reported. A four-day fire in 1,100 acres of Hiawatha National Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was also said to be under control, although continued hot dry weather could mean weeks before the fire is extinguished. ``It's been real quiet out there,'' Sgt. Terry Leisening of the Delta County Sheriff's Department said today. ``I think they've got it just about out.'' U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dale Bluedorn agreed, but said they will continue to keep patrolling. ``It may not be declared out until there's a three-day rain,'' he said Monday. A small contingent of firefighters who hiked into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on Monday in south-central Montana contained portions of a 2,000-acre fire that has been burning there since June 19, forest officials said. Forest Service policy allows wilderness fires to burn unless they threaten trails or structures, or threaten to burn outside the wilderness boundary. The firefighters were called in to stop the flames as they neared the Stillwater River Trail inside the wilderness area. High winds Saturday tripled the fire's size. Phil Jaquith, Beartooth District ranger for the Custer National Forest, said the bulk of the fire on the east banks of the Stillwater River was not being suppressed. Cooler temperatures and calmer wind played a role in getting the blaze contained on the west riverbank, which is about two miles from the trail, Jaquith said. Three-quarters of an inch of rain on Monday helped slow a fire on 1,650 acres in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, and rain also damped fires in Yellowstone National Park. Fire information officer Dave Damron said water was also being pumped out of bogs in the Shoshone forest to help contain the fire. Firefighters concentrated on keeping the fire entering the Du Noir Special Management Area a few miles to the north, Damron said. Meanwhile, a fire which burned 8,700 acres in the Tonto National Forest north of Phoenix, Ariz., was reported extinguished on Monday.

fires;wildfires;blaze;national forest;firefighters;illegal fireworks

AP880714-0142

Drought Shifts East, Little Relief in Sight

The focus of the drought plaguing much of the nation has shifted eastward, but little relief is in sight for most areas, the National Weather Service reported Thursday. The new short-range forecast through next Monday calls for hot, dry weather to expand eastward from the Rockies through the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic states. Rapidly moving weather systems are expected to drag weak fronts along the U.S.-Canadian border, possibly triggering scattered showers in the extreme northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley. The heavy rain which has hit portions of Texas is expected to diminish. Long-term drought conditions now cover a large area of the Great Lakes region and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, the agency's Climate Analysis Center reported. In addition, drought conditions persist over large areas of the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. A 30-day weather forecast issued Wednesday held little hope for improvement. And a separate climate assessment added that many areas now experiencing extreme drought have less than a 4 percent chance of recovering from the drought within 3 months. At the beginning of July, 29 percent of the nation was undergoing severe or extreme drought, the agency said. On Tuesday, the Agriculture Department announced sharp reductions in the anticipated harvest of many crops because of the water shortage _ and those projections were based on the assumption of normal weather from here on, according to department officials. The new National Weather Service forecasts cast a dark cloud over that assumption. The drought region now extends well into West Virginia and includes nearly all of Ohio and Indiana and much of Kentucky and Tennessee, the weather service drought advisory said. On the other hand, western portions of the Mississippi Valley have received some relief due to recent rains. The drought has been accompanied by higher than normal temperatures over much of the nation, most notably over the western Great Lakes region. The national picture shows the current drought to be about equivalent to that of 1911, and still somewhat less severe than in several years in the 1930s or 1956. However, in the Midwest, the weather service reported that large areas have experienced the driest April-June period on record since 1895. Recent rains have resulted in local flooding in Texas, but nationally streamflows are below normal, and even in Texas are expected to fall back to below average levels. Flows in many major rivers remain low and continue to restrict navigation. Reservoir levels remain close to average in much of the nation, however, the weather service noted. In addition to Thursday's short-range forecast, the medium-range outlook through July 23 anticipates much of the nation will remain hotter than normal, particularly the Tennessee Valley, lower Midwest, central and northern Great Plains, northern Rockies and Great Basin. The only areas escaping heat in the forecast are the nation's northwestern and northeastern corners and the Louisiana-Texas-New Mexico area. Most of the hot area is expected to be drier than normal, although some significant rain could penetrate northwestward from Texas into New Mexico, Colorado and eastern Wyoming.

little relief;agriculture department;dry weather;western great lakes region;short-range forecast;national weather Service;drought region;long-term drought conditions;northern great plains;water shortage;extreme drought

AP880801-0195

Setting Fires `An Ozark Tradition' for Some, Investigator Says

A split, charred tree stump is a clue that lightning was to blame for a forest fire. Carbon particles indicate the exhaust of a passing truck was the culprit. And there are other ways to tell a fire was accidental. ``You eliminate all those causes, you're down to arson,'' said Dale Smallwood, a criminal investigator for Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest. He comes down to arson in most of his investigations _ and he and other forest officials believe the problem is often rooted in some regional traditions that are as hard to quell as flames. A psychologist's study found economic and even aesthetic reasons why some people light woods aflame. Arsonists set 172 of the 296 Mark Twain fires that have broken out so far this year, burning more than 9,000 acres, Smallwood said. A total of 14,200 acres of the forest, which covers 1.5 million acres mostly in southern Missouri, were burned during a spring fire season made more volatile by drought. On average, Smallwood estimates, 70 percent of the forest fires each year in Missouri are deliberately set. ``It's probably 90 percent higher than the national average,'' said Ron McDonald, Mark Twain's fire control officer. He said Mark Twain consistently is among the five forest districts with the worst arson problem. ``It's just been an Ozark tradition of incendiary (deliberately set) fires,'' McDonald said. The tradition seems to stretch across the southern United States, according to Smallwood. Fires in other areas are more likely to be caused by lightning or man's carelessness. As one of the Forest Service's 125 special law enforcement agents, Smallwood has spent most of the past 16 years investigating fires in the forests he loves. ``I consider myself an Ozark hillbilly,'' he said. The Forest Service is charged with protecting wildlands, and balancing recreational needs with commercial interests in timber and mineral resources. Smallwood's job includes investigating marijuana growing in the forest, timber theft and theft of other federal property. His military-neat office at the Forest Service headquarters in Rolla is decorated with game bird feathers, a picture of Smokey Bear and a glass-doored bookcase lined with reports and text books. The Forest Service has called on psychologists, sociologists and archaeologists to determine why fires are set. ``Part of it is tradition,'' Smallwood said. ``In the springtime, people used to burn the woods to allow grass to grow.'' A policy of open grazing, with cattle free to feed on any unfenced land, was allowed in the Ozarks until the 1960s, longer than in other wooded areas, Smallwood said. Psychologist John P. Shea in the 1940s conducted one of the first Forest Service studies of arson. Subsistence farmers in the rural South who were interviewed by Shea and his researchers claimed fire helped control ticks, snakes and disease and controlled the encroachment of trees on land where they wanted to graze cattle. ``Their ways are those of frontiersmen living in an arrested frontier,'' Shea wrote. Aesthetics even played a part: Shea and other researchers found that people living in areas where arson was common enjoyed the smell of smoke in the spring air, and believed the woods looked better ``burned clean.'' The Forest Service has attempted to counter the lore that can lead to burning. Over the years, timber has been touted as a cash crop that is as worthy of protection as grassland. Smokey Bear and other programs encourage the view of the forests as a priceless national resource. But the tradition of using fire to manage the woods dies hard. ``There's no cut-and-dried way to prevent it,'' McDonald said. ``We had one case (in 1984) where two men went to Sunday school and after school they started a fire with their Sunday school literature,'' Smallwood said. ``They just happened to be driving through an area they thought needed to be burned out.'' Still, the arsonist does not always fit the profile of a simply misguided citizen. ``Part of the problem is people driving around drinking and shooting road signs,'' Smallwood said. ``When they get bored with that, they set fires. It's malicious mischief. ``Sometimes you hear that someone is angry at the Forest Service because of some administrative action _ because we closed a road or disallowed something. And they don't necessarily have to be mad at the Forest Service. They could be mad at government, period.'' Then, ``fire is used as retaliation.'' ``It's so senseless,'' he said. ``It just costs a lot of money to put these fires out and it's coming right out of our tax dollars.'' McDonald, who oversees about 125 Mark Twain employees trained as firefighters, said forest fires cost $25 to $30 an acre to suppress. In the rare case of a conviction, the arsonist is likely to be put on probation or ordered to pay the costs of fighting the fire and replacing timber that was destroyed, Smallwood said. Last year, a judge ordered two arsonists to work weekends for the Forest Service. ``An arson case in the forest is very hard to make,'' he said. ``When you go out in the middle of the forest to a blackened area to begin an investigation, it's very difficult and frustrating. No. 1, you usually don't have any witnesses.'' He noted that in some cases, people who have evidence withhold it for fear of being burned out themselves. Beyond the cost in dollars of forest fires, there's risk to those who fight them. ``We had an employee die of a heart attack fighting an arson fire,'' Smallwood said, referring to a 1976 blaze. ``We would have liked to have prosecuted someone in that case. And I would have also liked to have known if the prosecutor would have considered a manslaughter charge against the arsonist.''

criminal investigator;forest fires;missouri;arson problem;passing truck;arsonist;investigations

AP880811-0299

Crop Production To Be Down Sharply From 1987; Food Prices Suffer

An annual Agriculture Department survey confirmed Thursday that a deadening drought will curtail the fall corn harvest by a third or more, resulting in higher retail food prices for months and years to come. However, government officials said bountiful crops in recent years has built stockpiles so high the United States need not fear actual shortages on grocery shelves and can even continue exporting food. The report came hours after President Reagan signed a $3.9 billion relief bill that he acknowledged won't bring rain to crops already sweltering, but hopefully will help farmers survive to plant again next spring. The new surveys led USDA experts to predict the 1988 corn crop will total 4.48 billion bushels, down 37 percent from last year's harvest and the smallest output since 1983. Sharp reductions also were reported for soybeans, wheat and a number of other crops. Cotton, which thrived last month in the hot, humid weather, is expected to increase from last year. Overall, the department's Agricultural Statistics Board put total U.S. crop production at 88 percent of the 1977 average, a scale used to compare output from year to year. That matched the low 1983 reading, when sharp cutbacks in government acreage programs, along with drought, reduced crop production sharply. The corn crop is expected to average 78.5 bushels per harvested acre, down from 119.4 bushel per acre last year, a record year-to-year decline of 34 percent. Corn is the largest and most important crop grown by American farmers and, as a feed ingredient, is essential to the production of meat, poultry and dairy products. Assistant Secretary Ewen M. Wilson, the department's chief economist, said the drought may add 1 percent to the cost of food this year, 2 percent next year. ``Today's reports confirm that the drought has had a major impact on this year's crops,'' Wilson told reporters. ``But because of large pre-season stocks, total supplies are enough in most cases to assure and adequate food supply at home, satisfy foreign customers and meet our food-aid commitments.'' Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement, ``Today's crop report confirms our fears about the impacts of this summer's tragic drought. Fortunately, it appears we will have enough stocks to make it through this marketing year.'' The USDA's grim news came hours after President Reagan on Thursday signed a $3.9 billion disaster relief bill aimed at helping drought-stricken farmers recover. ``This bill isn't as good as rain,'' Reagan said to the nation's farmers. ``But it will tide you over until normal weather and your own skills permit you to return to your accustomed role.'' The new USDA crop estimates were based on field surveys as of Aug. 1. In May and June, before drought had made its biggest impact, USDA projected the corn harvest _ based on trends and an assumption of normal weather _ at 7.3 billion bushels. But those projections were revised downward a month ago to 5.2 billion bushels, assuming farmers got normal weather the remainder of the season. The soybean harvest was estimated at 1.47 billion bushels, down 23 percent from 1.9 billion bushels produced last year. Prospects last spring called for about 1.88 billion bushels, and the July projection was 1.65 billion bushels. Production of all wheat was indicated at 1.82 billion bushels, down 13 percent from 2.1 billion produced in 1987. In May and June, the USDA forecast this year's output would be up slightly. The July projection was 1.84 billion bushels The wheat total included winter wheat planted last fall, which barely stayed ahead of the drought. Later plantings of durum and other spring wheat varieties were brutalized by heat and dryness. Winter wheat production was estimated at 1.55 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last year. But durum and the other spring varieties, which are produced in the hard-hit northern plains, showed sharp declines. Durum was estimated at 54.6 million bushels, down 41 percent from last year's harvest, and other spring wheat was shown at 212 million bushels, down 53 percent from 1987. Cotton production was estimated at 14.9 million bales, up 1 percent from last year. The crop was projected at 13.7 billion bales in July. Department officials said U.S. grain production this year is expected to total 192 million metric tons, 31 percent smaller than the 1987 output. The total grain supply for 1988-89 _ which includes inventories on hand at the beginning of the season _ is down 24 percent from last season. In addition to the reductions in corn and soybean yields, Wilson said production of some other spring-planted crops has suffered, including: oats, 206 million bushels, down 45 percent; barley, 288 million bushels, also down 45 percent; and sorghum, 561 million bushels, down 24 percent. Wilson said USDA experts ``continue to believe that the drought will add only one percentage point'' to consumer food prices this year. The department has forecast a food price increase this year of 3 percent to 5 percent. Before the heat and dry weather, USDA had expected a 1988 food price hike of 2 percent to 4 percent. Wilson said the drought could add 2 percent to the consumer price index for food next year. ``That's on top of an additional estimated increase in food prices somewhere in the region of 4 percent,'' Wilson said. ``So this would bring it up to a total of 6 percent.'' He also said the United States is ``looking at an export situation that is not as good as it was a year ago.'' He said production abroad would have to take up the slack in world food supply caused by the drought. ``Our figures here today would indicate that food production in other countries has not been cut that much,'' he said. There remained a possibility that the United States would import some soybeans this year, Wilson said. He scoffed at any suggestion, however, that the United States may have lost its capacity to produce sizeable crop surpluses. He noted that 50 million farm acres are being kept out of production this year in addition to millions of additional acres in the long-term Conservation Reserve Program. Meanwhile, USDA weatherman Norton Strommen said rain in the midcontinent in recent days has not meant an end to the drought. ``The drought, as you can see, is still basically with us throughout the entire United States,'' Strommen said.

total U.S. crop production;sharp reductions;deadening drought;food price increase;president reagan;disaster relief bill;food production;annual agriculture department survey;fall corn harvest;higher retail food prices

AP880816-0234

Anti-Maoists Threaten Prosecutor

A death squad opposed to the Shining Path guerrillas has threatened to kill a district attorney if he investigates charges that soldiers massacred dozens of peasants, his office said Tuesday. Police said members of Shining Path, a Maoist group, killed two policemen and wounded three in jungle raids. The Rodrigo Franco Command, which has vowed to kill a Shining Path member or sympathizer for every person slain by guerrillas, issued the threat against District Attorney Carlos Escobar on Monday, according to his office in Andean city of Ayacucho. Escobar is investigating charges that troops rounded up dozens of peasants, accused them of being Shining Path members and killed them. The alleged massacre occurred in May near Cayara, a farming village 40 miles south of Ayacucho. Officials said the rebel raids occurred Sunday, at a police post and telephone relay station near the jungle city of Pucallpa, 325 miles northeast of Lima. Shining Path guerrillas began fighting eight years ago. The government says more than 15,000 people have been killed and puts the property damage at $10 billion. The Rodrigo Franco group is named for an official of the government party killed the Shining Path killed last year. It became known in July when it claimed responsibility for killing the lawyer for Osman Morote. He is suspected of being the Shining Path second-in-command and is in jail on terrorism charges.

rodrigo franco command;osman morote;shining path guerrillas;police post;rebel raids;property damage;district attorney carlos escobar;death squad

AP880901-0052

Forest Fires At-A-Glance

Here is a brief look at forest fire developments in the Western states:

forest fire developments;firefighters;western states

AP880902-0062

U.S. Pilot Parachutes To Safety After Military Jet Crashes in Japan

A U.S. military jet crashed today in a remote, forested area in northern Japan, but the pilot bailed out safely and was taken by helicopter to an American military base, officials said. The pilot of the F-16C, Maj. Wyman E. Vanedoe, was listed in good condition soon after the crash, the U.S. Forces Japan Media Liaison Office in Tokyo said. Vanedoe's home town was not immediately available, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Isao Teranagare, spokesman of Iwate Prefecture (state) Police, said the pilot was taken by a Japanese rescue helicopter to the U.S. Air Base at Misawa in northern Japan. No one else was aboard the fighter, he said. The U.S. aircraft, belonging to the 14th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Misawa, was on a routine training flight with two other F-16s in partly cloudy skies when it crashed in a forested area in Iwate, police said. Iwate is about 290 miles north of Tokyo. The cause of the crash was under investigation. On March 22, 1987, another F-16 crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Misawa, 360 miles north of Tokyo. In that crash, the pilot also bailed out and was rescued by a helicopter. The F-16, a powerful air-to-surface fighter, has a combat range of about 575 miles, according to Jane's ``All The World's Aircraft.'' About 50 F-16s are stationed at Misawa. Misawa is located about 440 miles south of a Soviet military base near Yuzhno Sakhalinsk on the island of Sakhalin.

misawa;crash;northern japan;u.s. aircraft;f-16c;u.s. air base;pilot;military jet

AP880903-0092

Reagan Promises to Veto Welfare Reform Without Work Requirement

President Reagan warned Saturday that he will veto any welfare legislation Congress sends him that does not contain a work requirement. ``The best way to learn to work is to work,'' the president said in a Labor Day weekend radio address from his vacation ranch 20 miles north of here. Rep. Thomas J. Downey, D-N.Y., in the Democrats' response, said that quiring welfare recipients work may be necessary, but he said such requirements should be controlled by state and local welfare officials, not the federal government. Reagan mingled talk of welfare reform with celebration of his administration's economic record, saying Friday's unemployment figures showed that the jobless rate ``hovered just above the lowest it's been in 14 years.'' The figures from the Labor Department showed unemployment of 5.6 percent, up from 5.4 percent in July and from the May figure of 5.3 per cent, which was a 14-year low. ``But there are still some Americans whom our expansion has passed by _ those caught in the welfare trap,'' he said. To deal with this, he said, his administration launched a program encouraging states to come up with their own plans to get people off the welfare rolls. ``Nearly half of the states have implemented or proposed widespread welfare reform plans that build upon some good old common sense _ that the best way to learn to work is to work,'' the president said. ``Now, Congress appears to be close to a decision about welfare reform and I have a message for them,'' he said. ``I will not accept any welfare reform bill unless it is geared to making people independent of welfare.'' A House-Senate conference committee currently has before it a Senate-passed bill that contains a work requirement and a House-approved measure that does not. ``Any bill not built around work is not true welfare reform,'' the president said. ``If Congress presents me with a bill that replaces work with welfare expansion and that places the dignity of self-sufficiency through work out of the reach of Americans on welfare, I will use my veto pen.'' Downey said that while more people than ever before are working, ``the fact is that the typical worker in America is no better off today than he or she was 10 years ago; in fact things have gotten worse.'' The poorest 40 percent of American families, with incomes adjusted for inflation, are worse off today than they were 10 years ago; the richest 5 percent are better off than they were a decade ago; and 32.5 million Americans remain mired in poverty, he said. The House bill, with training and education programs as well as health and child-care benefits, would make welfare parents who work better off than those who do not, said Downey, acting chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on public assistance and unemployment compensation. ``Yes, requiring a welfare recipient to work may be necessary, but those requirements should be controlled by state and local officials who administer our welfare programs, not federal bureaucrats,'' Downey said.

americans;work requirement;welfare reform;president reagan;welfare programs;unemployment;welfare legislation

AP880913-0129

Two F-14 Jets Crash In Separate Accidents

Coast Guard and Navy aircraft and vessels today searched for a crewman missing from an F-14 jet fighter that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina while practicing combat maneuvers, killing his crewmate, officials said. Six people were injured in another F-14 crash Monday after two Navy aviators bailed out of their jet over an airfield in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, sending it smashing into a hangar. And a pilot in Utah escaped injury today in a third military training flight in two days. The crash off Hatteras, N.C., occurred Monday afternoon 22 miles east of Oregon Inlet, the Navy said. A fishing boat picked up a crewman, who was pronounced dead. The identity of the dead aviator and his missing crewmate were not released pending notification of relatives. Five people, including the two Navy fliers, remained hospitalized today following the crash Monday morning in El Cajon 15 miles east of San Diego. The $35 million jet crashed upside down into hangars at Gillespie Field and exploded. The blaze ignited by the crash destroyed a hangar and an attached extension, but spared a nearby restaurant. Authorities said the two crewman tried to guide the jet to the runway at Gillespie Field before bailing out. Capt. Gary Hughes, commanding officer of Naval Air Station Miramar, said he was grateful there weren't more injuries, ``particularly when you're this close to El Cajon. It's a very populated area.'' The jet passed within a mile of an elementary school. ``I thought they were just doing tricks. And then we saw the parachutes,'' said Washington Moscuso, a sixth-grader at Ballantyne Elementary School. In the Atlantic accident, Lt. Cmdr. Mike John, a spokesman for the Navy's Atlantic Fleet air force in Norfolk, Va., said the plane was engaged in mock dogfights with another F-14 and an A-4 jet in restricted military airspace off the North Carolina coast. ``It was flying a routine training mission,'' John said. The cause of the crash was not determined, officials said. The aircraft sank soon after impact, John said. The twin-engine supersonic fighter was attached to Fighter Squadron 143 at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va. In northern Utah today, an F-16A jet fighter crashed west of Hill Air Force Base after the pilot bailed out, a base spokeswoman said. The aircraft, assigned to Hill's 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, was on a routine training mission. Spokeswoman Silvia Le Mons-Liddle said the plane went down about 25 miles west of the base about 9:05 a.m. MDT. She said the crash site was in or near the Promontory Mountains, which are on a peninsula jutting into the Great Salt Lake, but she declined to be more specific.

navy aviators;navy aircraft;atlantic ocean;f-14 jet fighter;f-14 crash;injuries;pilot;atlantic accident

AP880913-0204

Hurricane Center Director Smooth in Rough Waters

Dealing with his first major hurricane as director of the National Hurricane Center, Bob Sheets wasn't skipping a beat Tuesday as a multitude of reporters fired questions at him. Sheets, who was acting director during the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season and was named director in March, spent most of the morning on the sixth floor of hurricane headquarters beside a large monitor showing the destructive Hurricane Gilbert sprawled across much of the western Caribbean. His schedule of interviews was timed to the minute. But Sheets, rosy-cheeked and good-natured, didn't so much as flinch in his seat. After all, he noted, ``I've flown into 200 hurricanes ... I really don't think this is difficult.'' The transition from former Director Neil Frank, widely known for his distinctive style and flattop haircut, to Sheets, his dark blond hair carefully coiffed and wearing a bright pink shirt with a gray wool-blend jacket, has been a smooth one. ``He knows his job very well and he's a calm personality,'' Vivian Jorge, the center's budget analyst, said of Sheets. On days with active tropical weather, Ms. Jorge steps in to coordinate media interviews. And interest in Gilbert has been high since it started packing hurricane-force winds over the weekend and by Tuesday afternoon became a Category 5 storm with winds of 160 mph and a central pressure of 26.66 inches. A Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength has winds in excess of 155 mph and pressure less than 27.17 inches and has the potential for causing catastrophic damage. ``This would be considered a `Great Hurricane,' '' said Sheets. ``It's certainly in the top 10 percent as far as intensity, size and destructive potential.'' Gilbert was being compared to the hurricane of 1935, which slammed into the Florida Keys and killed 600 people, and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256. Those are the only Category 5 storms which have made landfall this century. The last major hurricane to make landfall was Elena in 1985, along the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Panhandle. The major television networks, local stations and newspapers media were on hand to monitor the hurricane, which could reach the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday, said Sheets. From there, it's anybody's guess where it will go, he said. ``It's a brand new ball game as far as the continental United States is concerned,'' said Sheets. The center's 33-member crew, including seven hurricane forecasters and specialists, are keeping a close watch of the hurricane in a large, open room of blue monitors flickering with color and non-color graphics. And while Sheets might appear to be spend most of his day with tiny microphones snaking down his back for TV interviews and fielding questions, he also writes most of the hurricane advisories issued every three hours and makes hurricane forecasts. Dealing with a major hurricane isn't much different from dealing with smaller ones or tropical storms, Sheets said, adding that Gilbert has been particularly ``well-behaved.'' ``It does what we think it's going to do ... You feel a lot more confident about what you're doing than with weaker systems,'' he said.

bob sheets;western caribbean;destructive hurricane gilbert;national hurricane center;hurricane headquarters;atlantic hurricane season;catastrophic damage

AP880914-0027

Gilbert: Third Force 5 Hurricane This Century

With the winds of Hurricane Gilbert clocked at 175 miles per hour, U.S. weather officials called Gilbert the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. Mark Zimmer, a meterologist at the National Hurricane Center, reported an Air Force reconnaissance plane measured the barometric pressure at Gilbert's center at 26.13 inches at 5:52 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. Gilbert was barreling toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. ``That's the lowest pressure ever measured in the Western Hemisphere,'' Zimmer said. The previous record low pressure of 26.35 inches was set by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that struck the Florida Keys with winds above 150 mph, killing 408 people, he said. With tropical storm force winds extending 250 miles north and 200 miles south of the hurricane's center, Gilbert also was one of the largest. But because the circumference of a hurricane changes so often during its course, no records are kept on their overall size, said center meterologist Jesse Moore. Hurricane Debby, which barely crossed the 74 mph threshold to hurricane strength before striking Mexico last month, was probably about half that size, Moore said. Gilbert is one of only three Category 5 storms in the hemisphere since weather officials began keeping detailed records. The others were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille, which bulldozed the Mississippi Coast with 172 mph winds and a 28-foot wave in 1969, leaving $1.4 billion in damage and 256 dead. A 1900 hurricane is responsible for the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, however. That storm hit Galveston, Texas, Sept. 8 and killed more than 6,000 people. Category 5 storms have winds greater than 155 mph, barometric pressure of less than 27.17 inches and a storm surge higher than 18 feet. The storm surge _ a great dome of water that follows the eye of the hurricane across coastlines, bulldozing everything in its path _ accounts for nine out of 10 hurricane fatalities. Camille's storm surge was 25 feet high, but the hurricane center was forecasting a surge of only 8-12 feet for Gilbert, Zimmer said. The damage from these worst-case hurricanes is catastrophic _ shrubs and trees blown down, all street signs gone, roofs and windows blown away and shattered, and mobile homes destroyed. ``Moisture and heat are what drives the hurricane,'' Zimmer said. ``The engine itself is this tall chimney of warm, moist air in the center. If the atmospheric conditions in general allow this warm chimney to build to very high levels, 10-12 miles high, then you can have a severe hurricane.'' Category 4 storms cause extreme damage with winds from 131 to 155 mph, surge of 13-18 feet and pressure of 27.17 to 27.90. The weakest hurricanes, Category 1, cause minimal damage with winds of 74 to 95 mph, 4-5 foot surge and pressure at 28.94 or more.

hurricane gilbert;barometric pressure;western hemisphere;intense hurricane;storm surge;hurricane fatalities;tropical storm force winds;national hurricane center

AP880914-0079

Sheets Smooth in Rough Waters

As Hurricane Gilbert's record-breaking fury sends Caribbean islanders scrambling for cover, National Hurricane Center Director Bob Sheets remained calm at his helm. The barometric pressure at the storm's center plummeted to 26.13 inches at 5:58 p.m. EDT Tuesday night, making Gilbert the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere in terms of barometric pressure, but Sheets handled a mob of reporters with ease. ``I've flown into 200 hurricanes. ... I really don't think this is difficult,'' he said. With his schedule of interviews timed to the minute, Sheets spent most of Tuesday on the sixth floor of hurricane headquarters beside a large monitor showing the destructive Gilbert in full color sprawled across much of the western Caribbean. Rosy-cheeked and good-natured, Sheets was named acting director during the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season and became director in March. The transition from former director Neil Frank, widely known for his distinctive style and flat-top haircut, to Sheets, his dark blond hair carefully coiffed and wearing a bright pink shirt with a gray wool-blend jacket, has been smooth. ``He knows his job very well and he's a calm personality,'' Vivian Jorge, the center's budget analyst, said of Sheets. On days with especially active tropical weather, Ms. Jorge steps in to coordinate media interviews. Interest in Gilbert has been high since it started packing hurricane-force winds last weekend and by Tuesday night became a Category 5 storm with winds of 175 mph. A Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength has the potential for causing catastrophic damage with winds in excess of 155 mph and pressure below 27.17 inches. Gilbert has been compared to the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, which slammed into the Florida Keys and killed 408 people, and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256 _ the only other Category 5 storms to hit land this century. The last major hurricane to make landfall was Elena in 1985, along the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Panhandle. The major television networks, local stations and print media were on hand to monitor the hurricane. The center's 33-member crew, including seven hurricane forecasters and specialists, are keeping a close watch on the hurricane in a large, open roomful of blue monitors flickering with graphics. And while Sheets might appear to spend most of his day with tiny microphones snaking down his back and fielding media questions, he also writes most of the hurricane advisories issued every three hours and makes hurricane forecasts. Dealing with a major hurricane isn't much different from dealing with smaller ones or tropical storms, Sheets said, adding that Gilbert has been particularly ``well-behaved.'' ``It does what we think it's going to do,'' he said. ``You feel a lot more confident about what you're doing than with weaker systems.'' His previous experience with hurricanes has served him well in keeping off the pressure during these sometimes 18-hour days. ``I've done this for 25 years so at one stage you're prepared to do it or not. ... I don't feel a lot of pressure,'' said Sheets, while eating lunch. Sheets said he remains in touch with his predecessor, Frank, but didn't get any special advice from his friend on dealing with his high-visibility post at the hurricane center here. What's Frank, now a television forecaster for Texas station KHOU-TV, doing now? ``He's getting geared up in Houston,'' said Sheets with a smile.

hurricane gilbert;barometric pressure;hurricane-force winds;western hemisphere;intense hurricane;national hurricane center;destructive gilbert;category 5 hurricane;catastrophic damage

AP880926-0203

Third World Countries Urge Debt Relief

Third World countries led by Brazil, the world's most indebted developing nation, blamed the industrialized nations in part Monday for perpetuating their poverty. Foreign Minister Roberto de Abreau Sodre of Brazil told the opening session of the 42nd General Assembly that the Third World economic picture was dimming ``due to the lack of progress in international economic relations.'' ``It is ... sad to note that we, American, Asian, African brothers, still suffer from the same horrors and the same desolation which so badly affected our forebears,'' he said, adding, ``hunger ... is endemically spreading throughout the continents.'' A similar theme sounded Monday in West Berlin, where finance ministers of 22 developed or developing countries demanded ``more forceful action'' to help Third World countries repay $1.2 trillion in debts. Brazil, with $121 billion in foreign loans, has been among the strongest Third World lobbyists for debt restructuring and writeoffs. It signed a comprehensive rescheduling agrement last week with its Western creditors. It is critical of the U.S. view that strong economic performance in developed countries would trickle down to help the Third World. Foreign Affairs Secretary Obed Y. Asamoah of Ghana appealed to creditors to write off some debts and reschedule others. He urged nations to work together to raise commodity prices to strengthen African economies. ``In a market place where one group of operators is continually selling its wares cheaply and buying those of others dearly, protection needs be given to the weak and vulnerable operators,'' he said. Ghana had an estimated foreign debt last year of $2.8 billion. Officials of the seven key industrialized nations in the non-communist realm _ the United States, West Germany, Japan, Canada, France, Italy and Britain _ have approved a plan to aid the world's poorest nations, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. But Latin American countries also would like more help. Argentina's deputy foreign minister, Susana Ruiz Cerutti, called for a ``new strategy of global development,'' including debt forgiveness. Argentina has a $56 billion foreign debt. Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway said her country spends about 1.1 percent of its gross national product on loans and grants to developing countries, well above the average 0.34 percent by other developed countries. She urged other industrialized nations to increase financial aid, saying development and debt are related Third World crises. ``The industrialized countries of the North must now demonstrate that they see the poverty of the Third World as their common challenge,'' she said.

industrialized nations;debt restructuring;brazil;third world countries;42nd general assembly;international economic relations;foreign loans;foreign debt

AP880927-0089

Canadian Athlete Stripped Of Olympic Gold Medal For Steroid Use

Canadian Ben Johnson left the Olympics today ``in a complete state of shock,'' accused of cheating with drugs in the world's fastest 100-meter dash and stripped of his gold medal. The prize went to American Carl Lewis. Many athletes accepted the accusation that Johnson used a muscle-building but dangerous and illegal anabolic steroid called stanozolol as confirmation of what they said they know has been going on in track and field. ``Everybody uses drugs,'' said sprinter Horace Dove-Edwin of Sierra Leone. ``Give me a break ... they have everything. Human blood hormone, all kinds of drugs. Steroids is nothing anymore. It is just an itty-bitty drug. You can get it anywhere.'' Red-eyed and visibly distraught, Johnson's sister, Clare Rodney in suburban Toronto, refused to believe the accusation. ``If you could cut him into a million pieces and test him over again, my brother is not on drugs,'' she said. Two tests of Johnson's urine sample proved positive and his denials of drug use were rejected today. Neither a spiked sarsparilla in his track bag, as his coach suggested, nor a switched sample at the lab could have accounted for the levels of steroids found in the tests, officials said. In a middle-of-the-night meeting with Olympic and Canadian officials, family members, coach and manager, Johnson, 26, forfeited his most prized possession, the medal he'd had in his hands for only three days. The world's fastest human also was automatically suspended from international competition for two years and banned from Canada's national team for life. ``He appeared to be in a complete state of shock and not comprehending the situation,'' said Canada's chief of mission, Carol Anne Letheren. ``Ben was not able to discuss or articulate anything at that moment ... He was just not able to speak and it was a very difficult moment for all of us.'' A few hours later, he fled to the airport and boarded a plane to New York's Kennedy International Airport. Once there, he made his way through a crush of reporters without comment as some spectators applauded. He took a limousine to LaGuardia Airport for a flight to his Toronto home. ``This is a blow for the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement,'' said International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch. In Canada, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said the scandal was a ``personal tragedy for Ben and his family. It's also a moment of great sorrow for all Canadians.'' James Worrall, a Canadian member of the IOC, said Johnson ``has been killed'' as an athlete. He said the sprinter's once-favored status as a hero to many sports fans in Canada, his native Jamaica, and around the world now will be tarnished. Johnson's name will go down in Olympic history with other athletes who lost their gold medals, such as decathlete Jim Thorpe in 1912 because he played semi-pro baseball and swimmer Rick DeMont in 1972 because he took an asthma medicine. Lewis did not gloat over his rival's fall. ``I feel sorry for Ben and for the Canadian people,'' he said today. ``Ben is a great competitor and I hope he is able to straighten out his life and return to competition.'' He said he did not want ``to fuel this controversy'' by commenting further. After Saturday's race, though, Lewis had said he couldn't understand how Johnson could run as fast as he did after looking tired in qualifying heats. Lewis has previously alleged widespread drug use in track and field. Dr. Robert Dugal, a Canadian member of the IOC medical commission, called stanozolol ``one of the most dangerous anabolic steroids. It has the effect of leading to a number of disturbances of the liver, including cancer.''

gold medal;canadian ben johnson;100-meter dash;sprinter;olympics;drug use;illegal anabolic steroid;american carl lewis

AP880927-0117

Canadians Shamed By Johnson's Loss Of Medal

Canadians were shamed, angry and saddened Tuesday that national hero Ben Johnson was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for using drugs to enhance his performance. ``I feel terribly sad for him,'' said Fergus Kilmartin, 36, of Coquitlam, British Colombia. ``I don't believe he did it on purpose. He hasn't got the guile to do that.'' A disappointed nation awaited the return of the sprinter after a urine sample was found to contain traces of anabolic steroids. Canada's sole gold medal went to American Carl Lewis, who finished second in the 100-meter dash. ``It puts a dent in Canada,'' said Scott Shaw, a 10th grade student in Calgary, Alberta, said Tuesday. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who had thanked the Jamaican-born runner for the ``thrill of a lifetime'' after his record-breaking 9.79-second performance Saturday, called the drug scandal ``a moment of great sorrow for all Canadians.'' Sports Minister Jean Charest, who called the incident ``a national embarrassment,'' said Johnson will be banned from Canada's national team for life. Charest said his government accepted the validity of the tests and the suspension would be effective pending an appeal from Johnson. But Johnson's family was left confused and outraged by the turn of events. ``My brother is not guilty,'' a distaught Rodney told reporters in her yard in the Toronto suburb of Rexdale. ``If you could cut him into a million pieces and test him over again _ my brother is not on drugs.'' Outside the townhouse, police were called in to control the crowd and the traffic. Throughout Monday evening, local children attempted to raise a chorus of ``Ben! Ben! Ben!'' only to give up when the crowd would not respond. ``We've just seen the destruction of a role model,'' said former downhill skier Ken Read, of Calgary, now Canada's representative on the International Olympic Committee's athletics commission. It was the second shock to national sports fans in recent months. In August, fans were outraged when hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, another national hero, was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. Some Canadian athletes expressed sympathy for Johnson. Mike Sokowski, a teammate at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, said: ``Ben's a pretty simple guy. Ben does not do drugs. He did not knowingly do this.'' Canadian speedskater Gaetan Boucher judged the sprinter harshly, saying he has ``no respect'' for an athlete who takes drugs. Boucher won two gold medals at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Charest acknowledged that it was suggested to him several months ago that Johnson might be using steroids. ``From time to time people would come to me in a private way _ and this happened one or two times ... that maybe Ben Johnson is using steroids or other drugs,'' he said. He said the allegations came from no one officially connected with the Olympic team and that he had heard similar, unfounded allegations about other atheletes in the past. Johnson was last tested in Canada in February at a Montreal laboratory. Charest said he didn't press Johnson to have a drug test because he thought the sprinter was aware that medal winners at the Olympics would be tested for drugs immediately following competition. ``Everybody knew in advance that Mr. Johnson, if he wins a medal, was going to be tested,'' said Charest.

olympic gold medal;disappointed nation;american carl lewis;sprinter;ben johnson;canadians;drug scandal;anabolic steroids

AP880928-0054

Sprinter Returns To Canada

Ben Johnson spent his homecoming in seclusion, without the Olympic gold medal and the hero's welcome, as Canadians bemoaned the fate of the sprinter who failed the drug test. Returning to Canada on Tuesday, Johnson, 26, dodged reporters and the public, refusing to talk about the muscle-building and illegal steroid Stanzolol found in his system after he won the 100-meter dash as the world's fastest human. But on the flight from South Korea, he denied using the drugs even though Olympic officials said the results were indisputable. ``I got nothing to hide,'' Johnson told The Boston Globe during the flight to New York, where he then boarded another plane for Canada. ``I don't want to tell no names, but somebody's smiling today.'' ``It's not the only thing in life to win a gold medal,'' Johnson said. ``I still have my parents. My family still loves me.'' Stripped of the gold and banned for life from Canadian teams, Johnson cried in the back of a limousine that whisked him to his mother's home in suburban Toronto after the grueling trip from Seoul. ``There's no gold now, just disappointment,'' said Boyd Plaxton, 26, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, one of 200 people on hand when Johnson's plane landed. ``If he had come home with the gold in tact, there would have been a million people here,'' Plaxton said. Chaos spoiled a gilt-edged moment for a man who had run 100 meters in the fastest time ever, 9.79 seconds. Johnson, surrounded by a phalanx of security guards, ducked into a car and made a mad dash for the door when he arrived at the house. But he apparently forgot his key and had to return 20 minutes later with his shirt over his head. Johnson spent the 1 hour, 40 minute flight from New York in the plane's cockpit to avoid reporters. On the way to New York, however, he stayed in the passenger cabin, appearing calm throughout the flight, the Globe said. As passengers realized who he was, some sought autographs. A group of flight attendants swarmed around Johnson for a photo. ``First I was shocked, but after a while, I don't care,'' Johnson said when asked what he felt after he was informed he had failed the drug test. In Canada, a parade in his adopted hometown was canceled, and promoters backed out of deals or announced their ties with the sprinter would expire quietly. Sports Minister Jean Charest said Johnson had tested negative for drugs in August and had passed eight tests in two years. He called the stripping of the medal a ``national embarrassment.'' Johnson's family and close friends also denied he took steroids ``I know my son doesn't take drugs. I know he hasn't done it. I know it,'' said his father, Ben Johnson Sr., from Falmouth, Jamaica, in an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail. ``Ben loved mom too much to discredit her in any way,'' said his sister, Claire Rodney, of suburban Toronto. Johnson had dedicated his gold to his mother, Gloria, and the Canadian people. It was surrendered to Canadian Olympic officials before the family left South Korea on Monday. ``Right now he's just relieved to be resting at home. He wants to be with people who love him now, not the hypocrites who abandoned him,'' Ms. Rodney said outside her mother's house. ``He looks great. Being at home is the best medicine for him,'' said Ms. Rodney. ``My brother is not a druggie.'' His personal physician, Dr. George Astaphan, also said no steroids were dispensed. ``I never gave him any, and he never told me he took any,'' Astaphan said in an interview in a baggage claim area. Hundreds of Canadians rallied to the sprinter's side. Police escorted a woman to the door of Johnson's mother's home so she could deliver a card with more than 1,000 signatures from Canadians ``who sympathized with your personal devastation.'' In Toronto, a group of restaurant employees chipped in about $350 to charter a plane that circled the city with a banner proclaiming: ``We believe you, Ben.'' In Montreal, Johnson's fans said they were disappointed. ``The last flicker of hope just died,'' said Danny Planetta, who was watching TV at a bar when he heard Monday night that Johnson had tested positive for steroids. ``When he won, we won and we were raving about it ... The guy was a hero and now he is just a big disappointment.''

olympic gold medal;100-meter dash;sprinter;disappointment;ben johnson;homecoming;drug test;illegal steroid stanzolol;canadians

AP880928-0146

Loss Of Johnson's Gold Wounds Canadian Pride

The stripping of Ben Johnson's Olympic gold medal in a drug scandal has wounded Canadian pride and shamed a nation hungry for a hero to replace hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky. ``It's like Wayne Gretzky getting run over by a car,'' said Pat Reid, the Canadian high-jump coach. The spirit of a nation raced with Johnson when he won the gold medal in the 100 meters on Saturday with a world record time of 9.79 seconds. The euphoria was dashed when Johnson tested positive for stanzolol, a muscle-building steroid outlawed by Olympic officials. He was stripped of the medal Tuesday. Dr. George Astaphan, Johnson's personal physician, and Larry Heidebrecht, Johnson's agent, insisted the sprinter had not taken stanzolol. ``The only thing we can say is that it is a tragedy, a mistake or sabotage,'' Heidebrecht said. Johnson, a 26-year-old Jamaican transplant, waved the Canadian flag in triumph and dedicated his gold to his mother and all Canadian citizens. He returned home with a jacket over his head, hurdling a hedge to duck reporters after flying home from New York in the seclusion of a jet cockpit. It was unheroic conduct for the world's fastest human, who had been awarded the Order of Canada and a medal from Queen Elizabeth at the Commonwealth Games. Johnson's disgrace was heralded in Canadian headlines such as ``Fool's Gold,'' ``Black Day For Canada,'' ``Seconds Of Glory, Years Of Shame,'' ``From Fame To Shame,'' and ``Big Ben is Now Has-Ben.'' ``We're feeling low. Some of us don't want to accept what happened,'' said John Furedy, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, in assessing the mational psyche. ``We all share some of the responsibility in the sense that we put such tremendous pressure on these people,'' Furedy said. Trent Frayne, sports columnist for the Globe and Mail of Toronto, said Johnson's victory was the biggest event in Canada since a national team beat the Soviet Union in a seven-game hockey series in 1972. The drug scandal brought the same sickening feeling to the nation as did Gretzky's trade to the Los Angeles Kings. ``There was enormous exhilaration. Then 72 hours later, there was this roller coaster ride to the bottom,'' Frayne said. ``The Ben Johnson episode is a tragedy of shocking proportions.'' ``It's as if an entire country has gone into a period of national mourning on his behalf,'' wrote columnist John Robertson of the Toronto Star. Canadian youth took the news hard. ``We look up to the guy. I guess we don't look up to him anymore,'' said Craig Brown, 13, of Toronto. ``He's letting all his fans down. He let Canada down,'' said Donny Clarke, 12. Canada has always tried to escape the influence of the United States, where its dollar is worth 80 cents. Now it has forfeited its only gold medal of the Olympics. ``He has left Canadians hanging their heads in shame,'' wrote the Corner Brook Western Star. ``He tarnished the name and reputation of Canada and let its people down,'' said the Fredickton Gleaner. But columnist Gary Lautens of the Toronto Star said the nation should not cover its head in shame. ``What Johnson did was wrong. It's cheating. It's believing the end justifies the means, it's looking for an unfair edge,'' Lautens said. ``But it is also just a foot race. It's time somebody reminded us nobody tried to peddle arms for hostages, nobody shot down a civilian airliner, nobody booby-trapped a home.''

stripping;olympic gold medal;sprinter;ben johnson;stanzolol;drug scandal;canadians

AP881009-0072

Fellow Olympian Says She And Johnson Took Steroids

Ben Johnson knowingly took steroids and those close close to the runner also were aware of it, fellow Canadian Olympic sprinter Angella Issajenko was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday. Johnson _ stripped of his Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter final after he tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol _ also was taking steroids when he set a world sprint record last summer in Rome, the Toronto Star newspaper quoted Ms. Issajenko as saying. Ms. Issajenko, who also competed in the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, was quoted as saying she also took the muscle-building drug. The Olympics, which began Sept. 17, ended Oct. 2. Later, her husband Tony said Ms. Issajenko denied saying she and Johnson took steroids. The Toronto Star said Sunday that it stood by its story. Ms. Issajenko previously accused a therapist of giving her and Johnson steroids without their knowledge but later retracted the statement. Ms. Issajenko in the interview claimed Dr. George Mario (Jamie) Astaphan provided steroids and monitored the program with the knowledge of Charlie Francis, coach of the Mazda Optimist Track Club, which she and Johnson belong to. ``I just don't care any more,'' Ms. Issajenko was quoted as saying. ``I'm fed up with all the bull. ... Ben takes steroids. I take steroids. Jamie (Astaphan) gives them to us and Charlie isn't a scientist but he knows what's happening.'' Johnson, 26, says he has never knowingly taken illegal drugs while Astaphan has said he has never administered stanozolol _ the banned steroid found in the runner's urine sample after his world record 100-meter run at the Olympics. Francis, meanwhile, has said the test result ``defies all logic'' and could only be explained ``by deliberate manipulation of the testing process.'' Ms. Issajenko, 30, was quoted as saying she had first-hand knowledge Johnson received steroids from Astaphan from 1984 to 1986 but ``Ben was going on his own to Jamie after that.'' She also said Astaphan was administering steroids to Johnson when he set a 9.83-second world record in the 100-metre sprint at the world championships in Rome. Johnson's Seoul run lowered that mark to 9.79 seconds. Ms. Issajenko, the Canadian 100- and 200-metre champion, said she has been threatened since she has come forward with her accusations against the Jamaican-born Johnson. After Johnson tested positive for steroids at the Olympics, Ms. Issajenko said therapist Waldemar Matuszewski had ``tampered'' with her and Johnson. Ms. Issajenko claimed the therapist had put anabolic steroids in the rubbing compound he used to massage their muscles. The story was called ``nonsense'' by Canadian Olympic track physician Dr. Robert Luba and Issajenko later retracted her charges against Matuszewski. The federal government has appointed Ontario Associate Chief Justice Charles Dubin to head a judicial inquiry into the Ben Johnson affair. Astaphan and Francis could not be immediately reached for comment.

angella issajenko;steroid stanozolol;olympic gold medal;100-metre sprint;ben johnson;canadian olympic sprinter;illegal drugs

AP881017-0235

Gigantic Tunnel Project Inches Toward Joining England and France

A colossal tunneling machine is boring beneath the English Channel from the white cliffs of Dover, pursuing a dream born in Napoleon's time that is coming true at last. Another is digging from the French coast in what the tunnel builders call the largest civil engineering project now under way in the world. The 31-mile tunnel, 24 miles of it underwater, will cut the London-Paris journey from six hours to three, as fast as a scheduled airline. It will enable freight to travel on one train instead of being shifted to trucks for a cross-channel ferry trip subject to weather and shipping strikes. Tunneling speed at the Dover end is less than 15 feet an hour and the machine boring from the geologically more complex French end moves even slower, which is why the tunnel will not open until 1993. For continental Europeans, accustomed to long-distance rail travel, the tunnel is but a small spur on a vast network stretching to Moscow and beyond. For the British, the change wrought by what many call the ``chunnel'' will be enormous. Some wonder whether Britain will be ready for it. ``People still question whether the tunnel will be complete in May 1993 and that's ridiculous,'' says Kathy Watson, co-author of a book on the project. ``They're still arguing about whether it will introduce rabies into this country, or let in terrorists.'' ``They discuss it in terms of their being an island race, with a channel that has kept out invaders,'' she said in an interview. State-owned British Rail will not commit itself to building a high-speed link from London to the tunnel in time to make the three-hour journey a reality in 1993. It intends instead to improve existing tracks. Eurotunnel, the Anglo-French consortium that will own the tunnel, is urging British Rail to speed its plans. Critics say the tangle of commuter lines in southeast England, so obsolete that trains can be delayed by a sudden fall of autumn leaves, will delay tunnel traffic. The consortium forecasts 16.5 million passengers in 1993 but the railroad says that figure will not be reached before 1998. Arriving channel trains will terminate at Waterloo station in south London, at a large customs and immigration terminal. Critics say this will waste time and Britain should follow the continental practice of handling such matters on the train during the journey. British stations, bridges and tunnels are not built for the tall loads commonly carried across the channel. That means many loads will have to be repacked or transferred to trucks unless the facilities are rebuilt. The grandiose project has been on and off the drawing boards for more than 200 years. Napoleon wanted to bore a tunnel in 1802 but Britain's generals warned him off. Digging began in 1882 but was halted by British fears of French invasion through the tunnel. Britain's entry into the European Economic Community engendered a spirit of unity and the digging began again in 1974, but two years later a new British government shelved the project. With trade barriers among the 12 EEC countries set to fall in 1992, Colin Kirkland, technical director of Eurotunnel's on the British side, says the tunnel will be completed this time. He says the entire cost of 5.2 billion pound ($8.8 billion) project is privately financed and cancellation would cost the governments ``enormous penalties'' to shareholders. Also, the governments signed a tunnel treaty in February 1986 and both would have to agree to cancellation. ``There's no way that politicians will cancel this project,'' Kirkland said in an interview. ``It's quite difficult to get one government to agree. To get two is bloody nigh impossible.'' Money's power to move the tunnel forward was demonstrated in August, when drilling fell behind schedule. Eurotunnel ordered a management shakeup and threatened Trans-Manche Link, the consortium of 10 British and French engineering companies building the tunnel, with penalties of $25 million if the diggers did not pass the three-mile mark by Nov. 1. From a a rate of 380 feet a week, the pace quickly accelerated and recently achieved a week's record of 480 feet, Kirkland said. The timetable calls for 650 feet a week and Kirkland is confident of reaching it. The tunnel, 80-130 feet below the seabed, was 2 miles into the channel from this end Oct. 9, the most recent measurement available, and the French had progressed about 1,300 feet. Digging began last December. At its peak, the project will employ about 11,000 workers and 11 tunneling machines. Construction of the two one-way train tunnels begins in December. A smaller service tunnel running between them now is being dug. Tunneling machines simultaneously dig, remove rock and put up tunnel walls. With a laser beam to keep the driver on course, the 700-foot-long behemoth creeps along, pressing curved slabs of Scottish granite and pulverized ash into the newly exposed tunnel wall. In an emergency like flooding, the cylindrical head of the machine can expand to become a cork, blocking off the water and spraying concrete into the cavity to seal the leak. Once the all-clear is given, the two-story-high rotating blade with its tungsten teeth resumes chewing ahead. Because the machines are too large to be removed, when the digging is complete they will be rolled aside and walled in. The tunnels are to be completed in 1991, then the railroad tracks will be laid. Eurotunnel will run shuttle trains once every three minutes at peak times between terminals near Folkestone and Calais, and British Rail and the Frenh state railroad will operate trains from London and Paris. Cars and trucks will drive onto the shuttle trains and be able to stay in their vehicles or stroll about during the 35-minute tunnel passage.

french coast;freight;english channel;tunnel builders;tunnel traffic;cross-channel ferry trip;london-paris journey;31-mile tunnel;tunneling speed;channel trains;british fears

AP881018-0136

Hurricane Joan Continues Unusual Path Through Caribbean

Hurricane Joan's 80 mph winds churned across the open Caribbean today on an unusual southern path that has forecasters puzzling over its potential strength and possible landfall. There was a report that the storm left 50 people dead or missing in a town in Colombia the day before. ``Joan is one of a kind,'' said Jim Gross, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center. ``You just don't see many hurricanes that take this course and hug the coast.'' In Colombia, an official of the state of Bolivar in the northern part of the country said the storm triggered flooding in the town of Carmen de Bolivar, about 360 miles north of the capital of Bogota. Water roared down three gullies in the town as the storm passed Monday, Victor Leon Mendoza, a state government administrator, told the Colombian radio chain RCN. ``Preliminary reports from the mayor's office indicate that about 50 persons are dead or missing'' in the town, he said. At noon EDT today, Joan's center was near latitude 11.1 north and longitude 76.3 west, about 70 miles west of the Colombian coast and about 380 miles east of the island of San Andres off the coast of Nicaragua. The hurricane was moving west at 10 mph and was expected to continue that motion through today. Panama issued a hurricane watch for its north coast, and Colombia issued a hurricane watch for San Andres, which is part of Colombia even though it is located close to Nicaragua. Joan, the Atlantic season's fifth hurricane, is expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain along its path. As a tropical storm with 45 mph winds, Joan slowly built its strength as it skimmed Colombia's coast, baffling forecasters who had predicted it to weaken. It reached hurricane force Monday night and its center began to become better defined, a sign the system could intensify over open water into the western Caribbean, forecasters said. On its present path, it would be at least 48 hours before the main part of the hurricane reached Central America, Gross said late Monday. Gross said a strong high-pressure system over the northern Caribbean is keeping Joan on its course. Normally, prevailing winds and upper-level atmospheric conditions push tropical storms northward as they move from the Atlantic, said Gross. Also, he said hurricanes are often sapped of strength in the far southern Caribbean due to trade winds that push colder deep-ocean water to the surface, said Gross. Joan became the 10th named storm of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season when top winds passed 39 mph on Oct. 11. Hurricane strength is 74 mph. Gilbert, the most devastating hurricane in recent years, left more than 300 people dead and caused billions of dollars damage as it tore through Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula last month. The six-month hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

atlantic hurricane season;hurricane force;open caribbean;colombia;panama;tropical storms;hurricane watch;hurricane joan

AP881126-0007

Hormone Found in Diabetics May Play Role in Disease, Researcher Says

Further study of a newly isolated hormone found in the pancreases of diabetics may lead to new treatments for the most common form of the disease, a scientist says. ``We have a lot of evidence that this is likely to be, if not the final cause, at least a major part of the disease process,'' said New Zealand biochemist Garth Cooper. The research ``opens the door to the scientific study of the disease at a level that wasn't possible before and potentially the mechanisms that we uncover may be very wide ranging,'' he said. Cooper, who has been working with scientists at Oxford University, described the hormone research this week at the 13th International Diabetes Federation Congress in Sydney, Australia. In his presentation, Cooper said the hormone, dubbed ``amylin,'' was normally undetectable but found in high levels in the pancreases of diabetics. Amylin appears to be responsible for the obesity, reduced insulin secretion and the reduced effectiveness of insulin observed in Type II diabetes, he said. Currently, obesity is considered a major contributor to the disease rather than a result of it. Insulin normally controls the level of blood sugar. In Type II diabetes, also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes, the body's insulin is not effective and blood sugar levels rise too high. Complications can include kidney disease, blindness, and gangrene that requires amputations. Type II diabetes afflicts the majority of the nation's estimated 11 million diabetics, according to the American Diabetes Association. It often can be controlled through diet and exercise. Cooper said researchers hope to develop substances that block amylin's secretion or action, opening the possibility of treatment. He also said reseachers hope to develop a test to detect diabetes very early in its development. The new work is ``a very important finding'' if amylin truly blocks insulin and appears in abnormal amounts in diabetics, F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, an authority on Type II diabetes, said Friday. Scientists already knew of another pancreatic hormone that blocks insulin, but it is not found in abnormal levels in diabetics, said Pi-Sunyer, director of the endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition division at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.

obesity;blood sugar levels;diabetics;american diabetes association;disease process;pancreatic hormone;amylin;new treatments;insulin secretion;hormone research

AP881206-0114

B-52 Bomber Crashes In Michigan; Crew Survives

A B-52 bomber crashed and burst into flames early today on a runway while practicing ``touch-and-go'' landings at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, officials said. All eight crew members survived. The plane, normally equipped to carry nuclear bombs, crashed about 1:15 a.m., said Lt. Naomi Siegal, a spokeswoman at the Strategic Air Command installation. No weapons were aboard, said Lt. Col. George Peck, a spokesman for SAC headquarters in Omaha, Neb. The crew was practicing landings after a seven-hour training flight when it crashed during one of its touch-and-go approaches, Peck said. During such maneuvers, landing gears touch the ground but the plane doesn't land. All three sections of the plane burned on impact, said Senior Airman Tim Sanders, a base spokesman. The crew members crawled or were helped out of the front section of the aircraft, he said. They were taken to Marquette General and base hospitals. Members of the crew suffered broken bones, but no one was burned, said Capt. Paul Bicking, another Sawyer spokesman. Senior Airman Tim Sanders, another base spokesman, said those aboard were Capt. Mark Hartney, 29, an aircraft commander from Mulberry, Fla.; 1st Lt. Michael S. Debruzzi, 26, a pilot from New Brighton, Minn.; Capt. Anthony D. Phillips, 28, a radar navigator from Folkston, Ga.; 1st Lt. James W. Herrmann, 30, a navigator from Sharpsville, Pa.; 1st Lt. Daniel McCarrick, 25, an electronic warfare officer from Succasunna, N.J.; Airman 1st Class, Joseph A. Vallie, 20, a gunner from Stephenson, Mich.; Maj. William R. Kroeger, 52, an instructor pilot from Fountain Hills, Ariz.; and 1st Lt. Gregory C. Smith, 26, an upgrade pilot from Henning, Minn. All were based at Sawyer. Ann Parent, a spokeswoman for Marquette General Hospital, said Hartney and Debruzzi were in fair condition, Phillips and Vallie were in stable condition, McCarrick was in satisfactory condition and Kroeger was in serious condition. Herrmann and Smith were listed in stable condition at the base hospital, said Technical Sgt. Anita Bailey. Hartney was the aircraft commander, but Debruzzi also was qualified to fly the plane, Bailey said. She did not know who was at the controls at the time of the crash. ``We are counting our blessings,'' Bailey said. ``You can put parts of a plane back together, but you cannot put people back together.'' The accident was classified as the most serious kind, and all aircraft exercises at Sawyer were canceled even though runways other than the one where the crash occurred remained open, Bailey said. Peck said a board of officers will investigate the accident, adding weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash. Peck said it was not unusual for B-52 training missions to be out at that hour. ``Crews have to be trained to fly at any time of the day or night in any weather,'' he said. The eight-engine B-52, which was deployed in the early 1950s, is the military's biggest bomber, with a wingspan of 185 feet and a maximum takeoff weight of 488,000 pounds. The last B-52 was commissioned in 1962. In other accidents involving B-52s, a bomber was damaged when a pilot aborted a takeoff and overshot a runway at Castle Air Force Base in central California on Feb. 11. No one was injured. A B-52 bomber with radar problems crashed in Arizona'a Monument Valley in October 1984, killing two crew members, after its wings clipped a mesa. The Air Force has had more trouble recently with the B-52's successor, the B-1B bomber. Although smaller than the B-52, the B-1B can fly at supersonic speeds and carry more bombs. Four B-1Bs have crashed in the four years the plane has been flying, including two nine days apart in November. One of the $280 million B-1Bs was destroyed after smashing onto a runway at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., during a training flight on Nov. 17. On Nov. 8, a B-1B crashed and burned in a field near Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. No one was killed in either crash and investigators have not disclosed what caused the accidents. Six crewmen died and 10 were injured Oct. 11 when an Air Force tanker en route from K.I. Sawyer crashed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base near Oscoda. The Air Force's investigation of the crash is incomplete. Wurtsmith and Sawyer are Michigan's two SAC bases.

crash;b-52 bomber;training flight;crew members;pilot;k.i. sawyer air force base

AP881210-0115

Official: US Jet Crash Will Erode Support For Defense

A top West German military official said Saturday that the fiery crash of a U.S. Air Force jet that killed six people will further erode popular support for national defense programs. In the city of Remscheid, fire brigade leader Berthold Hoehler said the body of a construction worker was pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in the accident, raisng the death toll from the accident to six. Seven people hurt in Thursday's accident remained in critical condition, he said. Later Saturday, at least 4,000 people took part in a torchlight vigil and procession in downtown Remscheid to remember the victims and to demand an end to low-level flight training missions. A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II jet tore a swath of destruction through a working-class neighborhood in the central West German city of Remscheid. Rescue workers continued to comb the debris Saturday, as work crews tore down the remains of demolished houses. In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, the inspector general of West Germany's military said the crash was certain to have a serious impact on already sinking public support for defense issues. ``We are in a very difficult psychological situation,'' Dieter Wellershoff was quoted as saying. Wellershoff was referring to recent polls indicating dwindling public support for defense spending and increasing dissatisfaction over disruptive and often deadly military training maneuvers. ``I am alarmed that many West Germans have lost sight of the hard facts (of defense realities) in their hopes for continued peace,'' which hinge on West Germany's and NATO's security preparedness, he said. West Germany, a staunch NATO ally, borders East Germany and Czechoslovakia, thus putting it on the front lines of the East-West struggle. Wellershoff's comments were to appear in the newspaper's Sunday editions. The text of the interview was telexed in advance to other news media. West Germany's skies are crowded with hundreds of jets and helicopters each day. A series of deadly accidents has fueled growing calls for a halt to or drastic reductions in low-level training flights. Even before Thursday's fatal crash, 12 major accidents of military aircraft had killed 95 people this year alone. They included 70 people who died as a result of an air show crash at the U.S. base in Ramstein in August. Following the Remscheid crash, temporary suspensions of low-level training missions were ordered. The U.S. Air Force said in a statement Saturday that the pilot of the A-10 ``inadvertently flew into clouds'' while attempting to join in close formation with another aircraft. The Air Force statement, quoting Maj. Gen. Marcus A. Anderson, said the pilot ``then initiated a separation maneuver as is normal if two aircraft in formation lose visual contact.'' The statement said the lead aircraft climbed above the clouds, but that the second A-10 ``continued in a descent.'' ``We do not know why,'' Anderson said in the statement. West German military officials have speculated that the pilot may have become disoriented when he tried to climb out of the bad weather. Witnesses on the ground, however, have said they saw one of the jet's two engines on fire before it crashed.

military aircraft;remscheid;u.s. air force a-10 thunderbolt;low-level training flights;pilot;fatal crash;west german;deadly accidents;fiery crash

AP881211-0027

Agriculture Committee Plans Hearings on Handling of Forest Fires

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee says hearings are planned next year into how the U.S. Forest Service handled last summer's stubborn wildfires that scorched the West, including one-third of Yellowstone National Park. ``The major problem is that in speaking to people from the area, you speak to two and you get three opinions,'' says Rep. Kika de la Garza, a Texas Democrat. ``The best thing to do is to sit down and have them all put it on the record and then sift through what happened and see if anything needs to be done.'' De la Garza said the hearings would focus on forest fire practices, and ``can a catastrophe of that nature be avoided or was it a catastrophe?'' ``I was in Montana and I visited with some people and I have some concern over some of the practices of the Forest Service,'' de la Garza said in an interview last week. The hearings will focus on fire fighting policies, rehabilitation of charred areas and on scientific research being done on the summer fires, said a subcommittee staff member. De la Garza says the committee also plans dozens of hearings nationwide in preparation for the 1990 Farm Bill and will look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's response to this year's drought-relief legislation. The committee will consider a uniform pesticide labeling law and legislation to protect ground water from agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, de la Garza said. De la Garza said he hopes the House Interior Committee, which has jurisdiction over the National Park Service, and the Agriculture subcommittee on forests, with jurisdiction over the U.S. Forest Service, will hold joint hearings on last summer's wildfires, the worst in a century. The U.S. Forest Service said 5 million acres were charred in the raging blazes, including 706,000 acres in Yellowstone. The Forest and National Park Service spent a combined $300 million fighting the summer fires, the Forest Service said. The most severe were in and around Yellowstone and Alaska, although there were fires in the South, California and the Pacific Northwest. Drought conditions, high winds and a ``tremendous build-up'' of tinder, in Yellowstone in particular, helped make the 1988 fires the worst in a hundred years, officials said.

yellowstone national park;joint hearings;stubborn wildfires;fire fighting policies;house agriculture committee;forest fire practices;summer fires;u.s. forest service

AP881216-0017

Proposed Moratorium On `Let It Burn' Policy Likely To End By May

A recommended halt to the government's ``let it burn'' forest fire policy probably would be over by the start of the Western fire season next spring, according to the co-chairman of a panel that suggested the moratorium. The panel, in recommendations Thursday to the secretaries of agriculture and interior, said there were environmental benefits to allowing fires in national parks and wilderness areas to burn. Experts say fire renews forests, giving new species a chance to grow, encouraging wildlife and recycling nutrients. But it also said that ``in some cases the social and economic effects'' of allowing a forest fire to burn ``may be unacceptable.'' The panel suggested a temporary halt to the ``let it burn'' policy, saying the Forest Service and the National Park Service needed more time to refine their fire management plans. ``My guess is that the moratorium would be finished by the beginning of the Western fire season, which is the middle of May,'' Charles Philpot, co-chairman of the review panel, told a news conference. The panel was assembled last September after the worst fire season ever in drought-primed Yellowstone National Park. Some 249 fires seared 706,278 acres within the park boundaries and 40 percent as much again in nearby national forests. Residents in the fire vicinity complained bitterly that the park, tourism and the very air they breathed were being ruined by the failure to control the fires. The review team was asked to look at policies throughout the national parks and wilderness areas, not just Yellowstone. However, it did not consider policies in other areas such as ordinary national forests, where the Forest Service tries to protect commercial timbering operations. The panel's report will remain open for public comment for 60 days before any recommendations are adopted. The report said no fires in national parks and wilderness areas should be allowed to burn until government fire management plans are improved and strengthened. It said actual fire management plans often have not spelled out when natural fires would be allowed to burn and when they would be put out. The agencies involved should make sure that fire management plans conform to departmental policies, that employees understand the policies, that everybody is using a common vocabulary and that agencies have agreed beforehand what to do if fires threaten to move across administrative boundaries, the report said. ``No ... natural fires are to be allowed until fire management plans meet these standards,'' the report said. Plans should consider the effects of prolonged drought, fuel moisture content and the possibility that multiple fires will tie up fire-fighting resources, the report said. Another recommendation called for the responsible agency official to ``certify in writing daily that adequate resources are available to ensure'' that every natural fire will be kept within boundaries set by government authorities.

forest fire policy;panel;natural fires;fire management plans;national forests;recommended halt;western fire season

AP881222-0089

Summary of Crash Developments

Here, at a glance, are developments today involving the crash of Pan American World Airways Flight 103 Wednesday night in Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed all 259 people aboard and more than 20 people on the ground:

pan american world airways flight 103;crash;radical palestinian faction;terrorist threats;widespread wreckage;lockerbie;bomb threat;sabotage;terrorist bombing

AP881222-0119

Unusual Ocean Temperatures May Have Played Part in 1988 Drought

Some of this year's drought in the Midwest may have been caused by ocean temperature abnormalities near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, according to a new computer study reported Thursday. Such droughts could be anticipated if the temperature abnormalities turn out to be predictable, one of the authors said in the report appearing in Friday's issue of Science magazine. The authors are Kevin E. Trenberth and Grant W. Branstator of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and Phillip A. Arkin of the Climate Analysis Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Camp Springs, Md. They noted that when asked what caused the drought that hit much of North America in 1988, meteorologists often reply ``the jet stream was displaced northward of its usual position so that storms, which tend to track along the path of the jet stream, were similarly displaced northward.'' ``Such an answer is, however, just a brief description of the weather patterns associated with the drought but does not get at the cause. A more satisfying response would address why the jet stream was displaced northward,'' the team wrote. Their proposed answer focuses on the development in April, May and June of drought in the Midwest, where several states recorded less rain than at any time since 1895. By July the weather pattern they studied was breaking up, and continuing dryness in the study area and elsewhere probably had other causes, Arkin said. But during the April-June period there were alternating high and low pressure centers across much of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere: A high-pressure center north of Hawaii, a low in the Gulf of Alaska, a high in central Canada extending down into the northern Great Plains states and a low on the East Coast. In this period, Pacific Ocean temperatures ranged up to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit below normal in a narrow band extending about 4,000 miles along the equator westward from the coast of South America, with the coolest spot midway along the band. At the same time, a bit to the north of this band, surface temperatures ranged up to 0.9 degrees above normal. When this temperature pattern was fed into the computer, the pattern of stationary alternating high and low pressure systems was reproduced. The below-normal equatorial temperature by itself did not give such a result. ``We haven't proved anything; all we've done is shown that it's a possibility,'' Arkin said. The global atmosphere is so complicated that repeated running of a more detailed computer model would be needed to show that these abnormal temperatures are likely to be associated with drought, he said. If the model holds up, the work will be the first demonstration of tropical sea surface temperatures affecting weather outside the tropics in the summer, Arkin said. The authors took note of computer models predicting increased frequency of drought with the buildup of the ``greenhouse effect'' global warming caused by accumulation of gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. ``The greenhouse effect may tilt the balance such that conditions for droughts and heat waves are more likely, but it cannot be blamed for an individual drought,'' they said.

new computer study;atmospheric research;midwest;weather patterns;temperature abnormalities;droughts;ocean temperature abnormalities;pacific ocean temperatures

AP881222-0126

U.S. A10 Attack Jet Crashes in England

A U.S. Air Force A-10 attack jet crashed and burned in Britain this morning while on a routine training flight. The Pentagon said the pilot might have ejected safely. It was the second crash of a Thunderbolt jet in Europe in two weeks. Another A-10 crashed Dec. 8 in Tracy, Ariz. Dan Howard, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, originally identified the plane as an A-10 aircraft from the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England. The Air Force later corrected that statement, saying the A-10 was assigned to the 10th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Alconbury. Howard said the plane ``crashed at 9:53 a.m. EST about four miles south of St. Ives, or about 25 miles north of Cambridge.'' ``The pilot ejected and his chute was sighted but we don't know his status,'' Howard said. The aircraft was carrying ``dummy bombs and practice 33mm ammunition,'' the spokesman said. He said he had no information about damage on the ground. The A-10, a twin-engine jet designed to support troops by killing enemy tanks and other ground targets, is an older model plane designed to be highly maneuverable at low speeds and low altitude and to carry a lot of bombs and ammunition. The Thunderbolt II is also one of the safest planes, statistically, in the Air Force inventory. Nonetheless, today's crash comes just two weeks to the day after another A-10 slammed into the West German city of Remscheid, killing five and injuring dozens. That crash prompted the United States and its NATO allies to agree to suspend all A-10 flights over West Germany until Jan. 2. The suspension was ordered as German political parties and public interest groups increased their demands for an end to low-level flight training in Germany. On the same day as the crash in Remscheid, an A-10 crashed near the heart of the Tohono O'Odham Indian Reservation, about 80 miles west of Tuscon, but the pilot ejected safely. Howard refused today to discuss the possible cause of the crash in England, saying the Pentagon was still awaiting initial reports from the scene and confirmation that the pilot survived. The Thunderbolt first flew in 1975 and became operational with the Air Force in 1977. The plane is no longer in production, but the Air Force has more than 700 of them in its inventory. Statistically, the A-10 over time has been the safest fighter or attack plane currently in the inventory. The aircraft has chalked up a major accident rate of less than 4 Class A mishaps per 100,000 flying hours over its lifetime _ which now consists of more than 1.75 million flight hours. A Class A mishap is one in which there is either a fatality or damage exceeding $500,000 to an aircraft. The Air Force describes the A-10 as ``a simple, effective and survivable twin-engine jet aircraft that can be used against all ground targets ... The aircraft has excellent maneuverability at low air speeds and altitude and highly accurate weapons delivery.''

u.s. air force a-10 attack jet;suspension;a-10 aircraft;britain;pilot;routine training flight;second crash

AP881227-0185

Shining Path Guerrillas Becoming an Urban Force

Shining Path guerrillas, who started their bloody uprising in the mountains eight years ago, are moving into the shantytowns that encircle the capital like a noose. Abimael Guzman, founder of the rebel movement, has said of the slums and their people: ``The immense masses of the shantytowns are like belts of steel that lock in the enemy and hold back his reactionary forces.'' His Maoist rebels, once secretive fanatics, are becoming a political force that seeks public support in Huaycan and the other makeshift communities where two-thirds of Lima's 7 million people scrape along. About 10,000 people live in Huaycan. Their huts built of straw mats line the bone-dry slopes of the Andean foothills 15 miles east of downtown Lima. Most residents are poor migrants from the violent highlands where the rebel movement was born. They make ideal recruits for the Shining Path _ Sendero Luminoso in Spanish. Shining Path's move into a more public role, and through most of Peru from its Andean base in Ayacucho province, has coincided with economic collapse and annual inflation of nearly 2,000 percent. In the cities, the guerrillas combine conventional politics with terror. In the countryside, they make ever-bolder attacks on the military. Rebel columns strike along the spine of the Andes from the Ecuadorean frontier in the north to Bolivia in the south. The guerrillas also work with drug traffickers in Peru's eastern jungle, source of the raw material for much of the world's cocaine, and buy sophisticated weapons with the profits. More than 12,000 people have been killed in the civil war, most of them Andean peasants slain by rebels or security forces, and official figures put damage to the shattered economy at $10 billion. The guerrillas are believed to have only about 5,000 armed combatants, so they do not appear close to seizing power, but there is increasing pessimism about the prospects of controlling them. ``Most evaluations of Sendero Luminoso's eight-year expansion under the democratic system ... have become increasingly grim,'' the Andean Report, a respected economic journal, said recently. One reason the movement grows is its appeal to Peru's Indians, subjected for centuries to scorn and discrimination by the white ruling elite. ``Political violence in Peru is not the result of poverty alone but of humiliation, oppression, hate between classes, racism,'' Sen. Enrique Bernales, chairman of a committee on violence, said when it released a report in September. The most striking development of the last 18 months has been the Shining Path's move into public view in this grimy capital on South America's Pacific coast. Rebels organize support groups in the slums, infiltrate labor unions, organize marches, spread their message of revolution with the aid of a sympathetic daily newspaper and agitate among university students. Analysts and experts on counterinsurgency say Shining Path appears bent on dominating the radical left of legal politics. Officials have become alarmed by the broadening of tactics to include infiltration of legitimate organizations, including unions of government workers. They say this clouds distinctions between the legal and illegal left, making it move difficult to combat the rebel movement. ``Sendero is seeking semi-legal status as a way of winning militants and sympathizers, while at the same time generating a confusing situation in which the security forces indiscrimately repress members of the legal left along with leftist insurgents,'' a ranking police official said privately. Guzman, a Marxist philosophy professor, founded Sendero Luminoso in 1970 in Ayacucho, an Andean state capital 230 miles southeast of Lima where he had built a following at the University of Huamanga. Followers call Guzman, 54, ``the fourth sword of Marxism'' after Marx, Lenin and Mao. His movement, a splinter group of the Communist Party, gathered strength in Indian communities of the southern Andes for 10 years before launching its guerrilla war. According to counterinsurgency experts, the guerrillas switched their emphasis to the cities because migration of Indian peasants to urban centers accelerated after the highlands became a battlefield. Guzman's guerrillas have followed tens of thousands of peasants from the Andes into Lima's shantytowns and see the slums as a new stronghold. In July, the pro-Shining Path newspaper El Diario published a 48-page report on the guerrilla movement. It quoted Guzman as saying in his first interview since going underground in 1980: ``We had to follow the road from the countryside to the city. We must prepare for the insurrection that is coming, which means the taking of the cities.'' He said conditions were ripe for the next stage in the struggle for power: inciting a coup against President Alan Garcia by provoking economic chaos and increasing attacks on the army. The final stage, he said, would be a popular uprising against a repressive military regime. Shining Path has infiltrated 167 unions and neighborhood associations in the Lima slums this year, says a confidential Interior Ministry report obtained by The Associated Press. Guerrillas threaten and sometimes kill community leaders, establish ``people's schools'' and set up ``street theaters'' for propaganda, it said. Cardinal Juan Landazuri of the Roman Catholic Church said: ``Priests tell me that young people in the shantytowns are going over to Sendero. I have been in a shantytown where there is a Shining Path group, and the police are doing nothing about it.'' Huaycan is one of the slums where Shining Path works hardest because it is just off the Central Highway, a strategic route through the capital's main industrial zone to the mountains. The industrial zone contains 850 of the country's most important factories. Red-painted slogans hailing the ``People's War'' and ``President Gonzalo,'' the rebel name for Guzman, cover the concrete-block clinic, other buildings with solid walls and even large rocks. Residents were suspicious and uncommunicative when an Associated Press reporter visited, except for three 10-year-old boys at the entrance who laughed and waved red flags with the Shining Path's hammer-and-sickle emblem. The Central Highway passes through what looks like a military zone. Most factories are behind high walls topped with barbed wire and towers from which guards with automatic rifles keep watch. Guerrillas killed three plant managers in 1988 who were involved in labor disputes. Union leaders also are uneasy. ``I doubt if you'll find any union leader ... who will declare he is a Senderista, but I'll bet you'll find many who are afraid to say anything against Sendero,'' an American labor adviser said on condition of anonymity. The highway ties Lima to the agricultural lands of the central Andes and Peru's most important mines, where unions threatened by the Shining Path have conducted a strike since late October that costs millions of dollars a day in export earnings. End Adv for Sun Jan 8

public support;shining path guerrillas;central highway;rebel movement;shantytowns;huaycan;political violence;political force

AP890111-0217

Pilot Questioned, More Inspections For Engines

Authorities questioned the badly injured pilot of a crashed Boeing 737 Wednesday, but revealed no clues as to why the jet's undamaged right engine was shut down well before the crash while the other engine burned. The Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, ordered increased inspections on 37 airplanes with CFM56 engines, the type on the Midland Airways jet that crashed Sunday. Investigators said much more work was needed to pinpoint the cause of the crash, which killed 44 people and injured 82. The government also ordered immediate checks of engine monitoring systems on similar aircraft to verify that they correctly indicate right and left, prompting speculation that a malfunctioning alarm system could have misled the flight crew. Freddie Yetman, technical secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association, said this showed that investigators ``must have some suspicion of these circuits.'' In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of 300 Boeing 737s for possible cross-wiring of engine warning systems. U.S. media reported that the crew of the jet shut down the wrong engine, and Britain's tabloid newspapers drew similar conclusions in banner headlines. ``Error on the Flight Deck,'' the Today newspaper said. ``Fatal Error'' said the Daily Star. ``Pilot Shut Off the Wrong Engine'' said the Sun. The Transport Department said that ``evidence obtained early in the investigation'' indicated both of the plane's engines ``might have suffered a related failure'' and that possibility was still being examined. The statement from the department's Air Accidents Investigation Branch also confirmed that the airplane's left engine caught fire and the right engine was shut down, and that pilot Kevin Hunt had told ground control the fire was in the right engine. The reasons for shutting down the engine ``are not yet clear and are still under investigation,'' it said. The jet, en route from London to Belfast with 126 people aboard, plunged into an embankment a half-mile short of the runway at East Midlands Airport in central England as it was trying to make an emergency landing Sunday night. Hunt, whose back and legs were broken in the crash, was interviewed for 45 minutes at the intensive care unit of Leicester Royal Infirmary, said the hospital's deputy general manager Carol Henshall. Mrs. Henshall said some of the ``wilder headlines'' had been kept from Hunt, but friends and colleagues had told him of the news reports. In the United States, NBC News quoted unidentified U.S. government sources as saying ``the plane's flight recorders, which monitor engine performance and the pilots' conversations, indicate the crew shut down the wrong engine. The trouble was in one _ they shut down the other.'' But the network said investigators had yet to detemine whether faulty instruments contributed to the crash. The Washington Post, quoting unidentified accident investigators, said the crew believed they were making a routine, one-engine emergency landing, and apparently thought they had solved the problem when they shut down an engine. Spokesmen for both the FAA and the National Transportation Board said they knew of no information reaching U.S. officials about the flight recorders' contents. The airplane's two ``black boxes,'' the cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder, are being examined at the government's laboratory in Farnborough, outside London. According to court documents and federal officials in America, the FBI is investigating a General Electric Co. admission that test records may have been falsified at a factory which made parts for the CFM56 engine that failed here. The Seattle factory also made a check and flow valve for the F404 engine aboard the Navy's FA-18 fighter, GE spokesman Richard Kennedy said Wednesday. A letter from a GE attorney last year said test records may have been falsified for the fighter plane valves. The timer valve made by GE for the CFM56 engine could not have caused the turbine to fail even if the valve malfunctioned, Kennedy said. The plane took off at 7:52 p.m. Sunday. Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hunt reported at 8:06 p.m. that ``I have an engine on fire.'' Then, at 8:14 p.m., the sources said he told traffic control: ``I am shutting down the starboard (right) engine.'' The plane crashed 12 minutes later at 8:26 p.m. The Civil Aviation Authority said that on the advice of investigators, it was issuing new instructions for the inspection and monitoring of Boeing 737-300, Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A320 airplanes, all of which use the CFM56 engine. The engines are made jointly by U.S.-based GE and a French company, SNECMA. Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Craig Martin said in Seattle of the FAA's inspection order, ``We certainly believe it's a prudent measure to go out and check to make sure there's nothing wrong with the fleet. But certainly this precautionary measure does not imply there has been any cause identified (for the crash.)''

injured pilot;crash;boeing 737s;left engine;wrong engine;one-engine emergency landing;engine monitoring systems;undamaged right engine

AP890111-0227

As Snow Blankets Charred Yellowstone, Residents Hope for Better '89

The new year ushers in a new wildfire season, an unwelcome thought to the residents of this small Montana tourist town on the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park. For two months last summer the citizens of Cooke City and its tiny suburb, Silver Gate, were showcased on the nightly TV news and splashed across the front pages of the nation's newspapers as forest fires threatened to burn them out. Pinched between the Storm Creek and Clover-Mist blazes, an estimated 150 seasonal residents and dozens of tourists were evacuated twice while hundreds of firefighters faced down walls of flame which threatened annihilation. Eventually, millions of dollars, thousands of man hours, and an early autumn snowfall saved the towns. No structures were lost within the towns' boundaries, but seven residences and five outbuildings were destroyed in the area. One wag even changed the sign leading into town by adding a single letter, rechristening it ``Cooked City.'' Their economically critical summer tourist season a bust and the hunting season crippled, the folks of Silver Gate and Cooke City straggled home in mid-September to pick up the pieces. ``The first thing most people around here did was go on vacation,'' said Patti Smith, owner with her husband, Bob, of the Bearclaw Service and Cabins, a gas station and small motel. ``The fire really took a toll on a lot of folks. ``Business was way down this fall because we didn't have the hunters, but we got a lot of curious weekenders from Cody and Billings who wanted to see how bad it was.'' The Smiths, who own the only photocopy machine for 30 miles in every direction, found their small gas station and convenience store a mecca during the fires. The U.S. Forest Service, which coordinated some of its firefighting efforts from Cooke City, set up shop near the photocopy machine, and everybody who had information or was seeking some crammed into the Smiths' log cabin office. ``It was crazy for a while,'' said Mrs. Smith, 33. ``We got sent out twice. The first time I grabbed all the photo albums but forgot our wedding pictures. The second time the sirens went off and we had to leave, my parents had just arrived from North Platte, Neb., so we all went to Red Lodge (Mont.), got nice motel rooms, and crashed.'' Winter now cloaks Cooke City and Silver Gate, and only about 70 year-round residents remain to weather the below-zero months. The only grocery store is on its winter schedule, open just Friday through Monday, and many curio shops are shut up tight, but the Bearclaw cabins and most of the other motels are open for winter sports enthusiasts. Although postmistress Vicky Menuey keeps the office open five days a week, mail only arrives to ZIP code 59020 from the outside world on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Nearly four feet of snow has piled up against the Smiths' cabins and ``that's just the way I like it,'' exulted Mrs. Smith. ``No smoke, no flames, and plenty of tourists.'' It's snowmobiling season now, and clubs from as far away as Canada and Illinois are booked into Cooke City's motels to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and 80 miles of trails in the area. The state pays Bob Smith, 34, to groom the trails. Because of the heavy day use, Smith works mostly at night in subzero temperatures. His wife keeps track of him by walkie-talkie. Patti Smith relishes the winter months because she gets caught up on chores, chats with her neighbors and watches videos. The hottest tape in Cooke City this winter is ``Three Men and a Baby,'' for which there's a waiting list. This winter, Mrs. Smith also has a new project. ``I'm going to do my scrapbooks,'' she said, hauling out from underneath a counter a huge cardboard box overflowing with newspaper clippings and official fire bulletins, among them a firefighters' newsletter, ``The Griz Gazette,'' purporting to have spotted Elvis Presley on the fire line. ``I've got the whole story right here in this box,'' said the amateur historian. ``Of course, a lot of it is wrong.'' Like nearly everybody else in Cooke City and Silver Gate, Mrs. Smith says she never wants to go through another summer like the last one. Nationwide, it was the second worst wildfire season since the government started keeping records. Although the 5.9 million acres burned in 1988 did not match the 28 million acres destroyed in 1926, the $583.8 million spent to fight 75,000 fires set a record. Because of the unprecedented fire season which burned nearly 1.5 million acres in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, including 705,000 acres within the national park, Mrs. Smith and her friends and neighbors worry about what's happening underneath the blanket of snow this winter. ``Are there still smoldering embers out there deep in the roots of the trees?'' wondered Mrs. Smith. ``Could the fires survive the winter and pick up and come at us again?'' Park officials and fire experts have asked themselves the same questions. Rod Norum, a fire behavior analyst with the National Park Service, said he would not be surprised if pockets of fire are found in the greater Yellowstone area come spring. ``It's not the sort of thing to be concerned about, it would only be a matter of curiosity and interest because the fires are still under suppression orders and they would be mopped up and put out immediately, I'm sure,'' said Norum, who is based at the Boise Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. In his 18 years of studying wildfires, Norum has come across several incidents where wildfires buried themselves in the roots of trees and grasses and smoldered all winter only to pop up through the snow in the spring. When the snow melts in May, the Yellowstone country will provide an answer to a question troubling lots of people whose lives were changed by the wildfires of '88.

forest fires;new wildfire season;yellowstone national park;yellowstone ecosystem;firefighting efforts;unprecedented fire season;u.s. forest service

AP890117-0132

Review Board Sought To Investigate Police In Long Beach

The City Council today asked county prosecutors to investigate the conduct of a white policeman who was secretly filmed while he pushed an off-duty black policeman through a plate-glass window. ``We're certainly not happy to have an incident like this occurring, but we need all the information,'' said Councilman Thomas J. Clark of the council's request for an investigation. Curt Livesay, an assisant Los Angeles County district attorney and head of the office's Special Investigations Division, will lead the probe, said district attorney spokesman Andy Reynolds. The black Hawthorne policeman, Sgt. Don Jackson, said he set up the self-styled ``sting'' in Long Beach to expose alleged police racism in the Los Angeles area. An NBC-TV news camera crew arranged to follow Jackson during the sting Saturday night. The incident was broadcast on NBC's national news Monday night. ``We've never been able to come forth before with enough evidence (of alleged police racism). Now, it is brought to your living room in living color,'' said Frank Berry, president of the Long Beach chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The police chief in Long Beach declined to comment pending an investigation. City officials promised a thorough inquiry. ``We will pursue it aggressively,'' said Long Beach City Manager James Hanklad. ``If there is evidence of brutality, we will act accordingly.'' Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell said on NBC's ``Today'' show this morning that he was disturbed by the videotape. ``I ... do not support racism or police brutality, nor do the vast majority of the citizens of Long Beach, and we're a caring, thinking community and it disturbed us very much to see the tape,'' he said. Long Beach, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, has about 450,000 people, including a sizeable black population. Jackson and a companion were driving through a high-crime area of the city when their car was pulled over and Jackson got out. The NBC-TV videotape shows a white officer attempting to search Jackson. The officer unleashed a stream of profanity and roughed up Jackson after he demanded to know why he was being searched. The incident renewed calls for a citizen board to review the Police Department. The idea first was debated last year amid allegations of police brutality. But Jackson's boss said the black officer was looking for trouble. ``I submit that if Mr. Jackson had stayed in the vehicle, as did the driver, this incident would not have occurred,'' Hawthorne Police Chief Kenneth R. Stonebraker said at a news conference Monday. Since the incident apparently was timed by Jackson to coincide with the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the confrontation should be considered ``nothing short of timed sensationalism at the risk of serious injury to all of the parties involved,'' Stonebraker said. ``As a police chief,'' he added, ``I do not for one minute condone the unlawful use of force or police brutality.'' The 30-year-old Jackson, who has been on a stress-related disability leave from his Hawthorne job for 22 months, contends the incident is typical of a pattern of racism by white officers in the Los Angeles area. Jackson alleges racist slurs and actions forced him from the Hawthorne department. He has a disability lawsuit pending, has filed racism complaints against the department and conducted a similar personal sting operation against Los Angeles police. Jackson was riding as a passenger with Jeffrey Hill, a 30-year-old off-duty state corrections officer, when they were pulled over allegedly for straddling lanes, which they denied. Jackson got out after the car stopped and police approached. During an argument, Long Beach Officer Mark Dickey ordered Jackson to face a building and put his hands behind his head. Jackson complied, and moments later was pushed through a plate-glass store window. ``I'm all right. OK, no problem,'' said Jackson on the videotape. Police booked Jackson for investigation of interfering with police and challenging a police officer. Hill was issued a traffic citation. ``The officer simply used violence,'' Jackson said Monday. ``I already cooperated and told him he could search me,'' Jackson said. ``I had already had my hands up and was turned to the window and he slammed my face in it.'' Jackson received support at a Monday night ceremony in Los Angeles commemorating King's birthday. ``I'm deeply concerned since it strikes me as a period when police violence and excessive force is rampant,'' said Mark Ridley-Thomas, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Los Angeles chapter. ``I'm more so offended since the Hawthorne Police Department, which has no jurisdiction, is making judgment.'' Jackson said he chose Long Beach police because of complaints to the Police Misconduct Lawyer's Referral Service of Los Angeles. David Lynn of the referral service said 50 misconduct complaints were filed with his group against the Long Beach police. Of those, 27 were filed by minorities, and 24 of those involved confrontations with white officers.

police racism;serious injury;los angeles area;racism complaints;white policeman;black policeman;police brutality;long beach police

AP890131-0280

Office of Fair Trading To Investigate Complaint Against De Beers

The Office of Fair Trading said Tuesday it was investigating a complaint alleging anti-competitive practices by a London-based diamond cartel controlled by South Africa's giant De Beers diamond organization. The watchdog body said De Beers ``appeared to have'' a monopoly on diamond trading in London and it was interested in establishing whether there had been an abuse of the monopoly. Consolidated Gold Fields PLC, a British mining concern with no diamond interests, acknowledged that it filed the complaint as a defensive move against a stalled takeover bid by Luxembourg-based Minorco SA. Minorco is 60.1 percent owned by Anglo American Corp. of South Africa Ltd. and De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., the gold and diamond mining interests controlled by the Oppenheimer family of South Africa. The British government is expected to rule in the next few weeks whether to allow Minorco to proceed with its 2.9 billion-pound (about $5.1 billion) bid for Consolidated Gold following an investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. A Consolidated Gold spokesman, commenting on condition he was not identified, said the company wanted to point up the ``monopolistic tendencies'' of South Africa's Anglo-American group of companies. De Beers' Central Selling Organization, which controls 80 percent of world diamond trading, has been based in London for 60 years. As well as selling the stones mined by De Beers and other South African companies, the organization trades on behalf of diamond producers including Zaire, Australia, Botswana and the Soviet Union. The Office of Fair Trading said it would first have to establish whether it had jurisdiction over the Central Selling Organization because although it is based in London, De Beers is a South African company. There is no time limit on the office's investigation. After it is completed, the Office of Fair Trading may decide to refer the complaint to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. A spokesman for the Central Selling Organization said the Office of Fair Trading notified the organization about the inquiry but hadn't yet requested any information. ``It's still early'' in the investigation, said the spokesman, commenting on condition he was not identified. De Beers's shares were unchanged Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange at $12 (U.S.).

de beers diamond organization;investigation;world diamond trading;defensive move;luxembourg-based minorco sa;london-based diamond cartel;fair trading;anti-competitive practices;central selling organization;south africa

AP890227-0016

Tornado Deaths Below Average in '88

One of nature's most vicious spectacles, the tornado, is poised to renew its annual assault on America, as changeable spring weather breeds the storms that spawn twisters. Last year was one of fewer than normal tornado deaths, but even so, more than 700 of the violent funnel clouds struck the nation. In 1988 the nation recorded 32 tornado deaths, down from the 59 killed a year earlier and well below the long-term average of 99 fatalities annually, the National Weather Service reported on Sunday. But while that's good news, it isn't an indication that the danger has lessened. ``There is no way of knowing what this tornado season will bring, but the way to survive is through preparedness,'' said Ed Ferguson, deputy director of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City. Meteorologists have attributed the decline in tornado deaths in recent years to increased public awareness of the storms, which are most common in May and June but can occur in any month of the year. Unusually warm and wet weather last November helped trigger a record number of tornadoes for that month, at 121 across the country. The average for November is only 23 tornadoes, and the record had been 81, set in 1973. Last year also recorded the largest tornado outbreak in 14 years. That took place on Mother's Day when 57 twisters tore through parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. That outbreak didn't cause any deaths, although 10 injuries were reported. Arkansas and Tennessee recorded the most fatalities last year with six deaths apiece, followed by Florida with five. Four people were killed in North Carolina and two each in Mississippi and Nebraska. States with a single fatality apiece were Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. The transition from winter to spring, spurring unsettled weather and frequent thunderstorms, helps create tornadoes, violently twisting winds that reach down from thunderclouds. After a low point in the winter they begin to increase sharply in March and peak in May with a national average of 166 twisters in that month, according to records kept at the National Climatic Data Center. June ranks second, averaging 150 tornadoes, followed by April with 109 in a typical year. Other months averaging more than a twister-a-day somewhere in the nation are July, 82; August, 57; March, 50 and September, 38. Hot weather stirring the air helps form thunderstorms and their tornadoes, with 60 percent of all twisters occurring between noon and sunset, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Tornadoes are least likely during the early morning just before sunrise. The typical tornado is only about 50 yards wide and travels about two miles on the ground _ 87 percent of the time heading toward the northeast, NCAR researchers report. But while an individual twister can cover only a small area, they often come in groups and in the affected area destruction can be total. The familiar funnel cloud is the most common sign of a tornado although adjacent winds can also cause severe damage. When twisters are in an area, common sense and knowing a few simple rules can save lives, the National Weather Service says. If tornadoes threaten, turn on radio or television to keep current on the danger, the agency says. The weather service even has its own radio network which can provide continual updates. If a twister is reported, safety rules include: _At home, seek shelter immediately in a basement or interior hallway. Stay away from windows and outside walls. _At school, move to hallways and lie flat on the floor with head covered. _In a mobile home or trailer, leave immediately. Head for a secure shelter or lie flat on the ground. Be wary of areas with poor drainage, however, because of the possibility of flooding from the thunderstorm. _At work or in public buildings, head for interior hallways on the lowest floor, or designated shelter areas. _In an automobile, leave immediately. Do not try to outrun a tornado.

storms;tornado deaths;fatality;tornado outbreak;tornadoes;tornado season;public awareness

AP890228-0019

Death Toll Triples Average in 1988 Earthquakes

The earthquake that killed 25,000 people in Armenia pushed last year's earthquake-related death toll worldwide to the highest level since 1976, when a Chinese earthquake killed at least 10 times as many, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. The estimated earthquake death toll in 1988 includes an additional 2,000 or more people who died in other earthquakes around the world, the Survey reported Monday. Although the annual average death toll for earthquakes is about 10,000, in 1987 only 1,100 lives were lost. In addition to the deaths, some 13,000 people were injured and more than a half-million were left homeless in the Armenian earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale. The death toll of 25,000 is the most recent reported by the Soviets. The exact toll in unknown. The main shock was followed within minutes by a second, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, which estimates the energy released by an earthquake. An earthquake of 5.0 can cause considerable damage, and the strength rises by 10 times for each whole number on the scale. Many of the deaths in Armenia were blamed on collapsing buildings, as the earthquake rattled concrete structures until they fell to the ground, according to subsequent analyses. Another recent earthquake in the Soviet Union, claiming about 1,000 lives, struck in Soviet central Asia. That one occurred in January, however, and so does not count in the 1988 toll. Last year's second most deadly earthquake occurred Aug. 20 on the Nepal-India border, killing 1,000. That earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, destroyed thousands of homes and injured many people. On Nov. 6 an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the scale claimed 730 lives and injured about 4,000 people on the border between Burma and China, the Geological Survey reported. And on the India-Burma border three deaths were reported in an Aug. 6 earthquake that caused landslides. The Survey said it recorded 61 significant earthquakes last year, 15 fewer than the year before. An earthquake is considered significant if it has a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. Earthquakes of lesser magnitude are included if they cause casualties or considerable damage. Three significant earthquakes were recorded in the United States last year, including the strongest shock of the year. That earthquake, measured at 7.6, occurred March 6 in the Gulf of Alaska and resulted in only minor damage. The only U.S. earthquake death last year occured when someone suffered a heart attack after an earthquake measuring 4.8 in Whittier, Calif., in February. The other significant U.S. earthquake occurred Dec. 3 in Pasadena, Calif. It was measured at 4.6 on the scale and caused some injuries and property damage. An earthquake centered in eastern Canada on Nov. 25 was felt widely across that country and in the northeastern United States as far south as Washington, the Survey reported. It had a magnitude of 5.7. Earthquakes in the eastern part of North America tend to be felt over larger areas than earthquakes of similar strength in the West. Europe recorded three earthquake deaths last year when one rated at 3.0 killed a group of miners in Czechoslovakia on Sept. 2. In addition an earthquake rated at 5.8 caused several injuries in Albania on Jan. 9. Injuries were also reported from two offshore earthquakes, one in the Ionian Sea near Greece Oct. 16 and another near the Azores Islands Nov. 21. In Africa, eight people working in a gold mine in South Africa died Jan. 5 in an earthquake rated at 5.2. And Japan, usually very seismically active, recorded only one significant earthquake last year, the Survey reported. That earthquake measured 5.4 and resulted in 10 injuries and minor damage in the Tokyo area.

armenian earthquake;deadly earthquake;earthquake death toll;offshore earthquakes;u.s. geological survey;property damage;earthquake deaths;chinese earthquake

AP890302-0063

Study Recommends TB Treatment for AIDS-Infected Addicts

Drug abusers who are infected with the AIDS virus and tuberculosis bacteria should be treated with medicine to prevent full-blown TB, says a study published today. Doctors have noticed a growing prevalence of tuberculosis in recent years among people at high risk of AIDS, especially drug addicts. In the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the TB usually resulted from activation of lingering tuberculosis infections, not new exposures to the bacteria, in people who also are infected with the AIDS virus. The doctors warned that besides being at risk of getting tuberculosis themselves, AIDS-infected addicts who carry the TB bacteria also may pass the germs to people they live with, to health care workers and other people. ``The aggressive identification and treatment of HIV-infected intravenous drug users with latent tuberculous infection is therefore of both clinical and public health importance,'' wrote Dr. Peter A. Selwyn of Montefiore Medical Center in New York. People may carry either the AIDS virus or tuberculosis bacteria for many years without getting sick. While most people with the AIDS virus eventually go on to get acquired immune deficiency syndrome, people who carry the tuberculosis bacteria ordinarily have only about a 10 percent life-long risk of getting TB. HIV _ the AIDS viurus _ weakens the body's defenses against disease. The study suggests that it lowers resistance to the tuberculosis bacteria, putting people at much higher risk of TB. The study was conducted on 520 drug users who were in a methadone program. When the study began, 42 percent already were infected with HIV. Twenty-three percent of those with HIV also carried TB bacteria as did 20 percent of those who were free of the AIDS virus. During almost two years of followup, active tuberculosis developed in eight of the AIDS-infected people, but in none of those who did not have HIV. Seven of the eight TB cases occurred in people who were already infected with tuberculosis bacteria before the study began. The doctors noted that 13 people who carried HIV and TB bacteria were treated with the drug isoniazid, and none of them went on to get active tuberculosis. However, seven of 36 people with both infections who did not take the medicine got TB. The doctors said that the drug is now administered along with daily methadone doses at the clinic where the study was conducted.

medicine;tuberculosis bacteria;tuberculosis infections;aids virus;drug abusers;drug addicts

AP890307-0150

Crowds Drawn By Wonder of Partial Solar Eclipse

Solar telescopes yielded views of flare-producing sunspots and silhouetted mountains on the moon Tuesday as crowds gathered to watch a partial solar eclipse visible across western North America. ``There was a childlike delight with the wonder of nature,'' said Ed Krupp, director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, where 600 children and at least 400 other people watched the moon block out 37 percent of the sun's surface at 10:50 a.m. PST. ``It was certainly a lively crowd,'' he said. ``There was a festival atmosphere.'' ``It's kind of neat,'' said map maker Jan Mayne, who was among dozens of people watching the eclipse through two types of solar telescopes at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. As the moon passed between the Earth and sun to cause the partial eclipse, those watching through Caltech's telescopes could see mountains on the edge of the moon silhouetted against the sun. Also visible were gas jets on the sun's surface and a giant group of sunspots that on Monday produced the most intense solar flare _ a burst of heat and radiation _ since 1984. ``There was a stunning view of that large sunspot group,'' Krupp said. The eclipse was visible to at least some extent west of a diagonal line stretching roughly from Mazatlan, Mexico, northeast to Dallas and Chicago. Views were best farther west and north. But because the eclipse was partial most people didn't notice the slight dimming of sunlight. ``You can't tell the difference between a partial eclipse and a second-stage smog alert,'' joked one observer at Caltech. Several people viewed the eclipse through welder's helmets in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, where the moon obscured 80 percent of the sun at 9:13 a.m. AST. In San Francisco, the moon eclipsed 46 percent of the sun at 9:52 a.m., but the event wasn't visible because of clouds that were so thick they delayed arriving flights at the airport. A slight dimming was noticed in Seattle, where partly cloudy skies allowed a glimpse of the 56 percent eclipse at 10:10 a.m. PST. The percentage of the sun blocked out and time of maximum eclipse at other locations included 52 percent at 11:28 a.m. MST in Edmonton, Alberta; 46 percent at 11:09 a.m. MST in Boise, Idaho; 36 percent at 11:10 a.m. MST in Salt Lake City; 35 percent at 9:58 a.m. PST in Las Vegas; 25 percent at 11:17 a.m. MST in Denver; 15 percent at 12:42 p.m. CST in Minneapolis, and a measly 3 percent at 12:44 p.m. CST in Milwaukee. Fearful that people would suffer eye damage during the eclipse, scientists warned against staring at the sun directly or through inadequate filters, including smoked glass and photographic film or filters. Alan MacRobert, spokesman for Sky & Telescope magazine, said there were 245 known eye injuries in the United States after an eclipse in 1970, but warnings about the danger reduced the number to three during a 1984 partial eclipse. From any single spot on Earth, a partial eclipse occurs every several years, said Ken Libbrecht, as assistant professor of astrophysics at Caltech. Total solar eclipses are visible from any single location roughly once every four centuries, though they are visible about every two years from somewhere on Earth, he said. The next total eclipse will happen July 11, 1991, sweeping across Hawaii, the Pacific Ocean, lower Baja California in Mexico, the west coast of Central America and finally Colombia and Brazil, MacRobert said.

solar eclipses;partial solar;north america;eye damage;stunning view;eye injuries;solar telescopes

AP890313-0198

Researchers Looking At Hispanics To Find Diabetes Cause

Inside a small motor home, Joanne Pierluissi raised her sleeve as nurse Mary Perez inserted a needle into the vein above her forearm, drawing blood into a tube for a diabetes test. As her daughters watched, Pierluissi, 24, said it was for them, as much as for herself, that she agreed to be tested for the deadly killer of Hispanics. ``I was concerned because they said an aunt of mine had it and I just wanted to come for the checkup. All of our family is going to go through the program to make sure that if we have it that we'll do something about it.'' Twelve million Americans have some form of diabetes, but it is most prevalent among minorities, especially Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics. Hispanics are three times as likely to develop diabetes as the general population, and 40 percent of the 700,000 victims in Texas are Mexican-American. More than 150,000 Americans die from diabetes each year; another 150,000 deaths are diabetes-related, according to the American Diabetes Association. No one really knows what sparks it, but researchers believe Hispanics could hold the key. San Antonio, the nation's ninth largest city, with a population that is 50 percent Hispanic, is becoming the base for diabetes studies. Researchers take a customized mobile home to neighborhoods to randomly check Hispanics and Anglos for the disease, which deprives the body of insulin and can lead to complications affecting the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves. San Antonio's Hispanic makeup led Dr. Ralph DeFronzo to abandon his prestigious position as a Yale University diabetes researcher and persuade his four-member team to relocate to the University of Texas Health Science Center. An epidemiologist at the center, Dr. Michael Stern, has devoted 10 years to studying Hispanic diabetes and led the grassroots study of Type II diabetes. Type II, the most common form, develops mostly in obese adults over 40 who also may have a family history of the disease. In obese diabetics, the body has too much insulin because it is burning more fats than sugars. Type I diabetes usually develops among adolescents and requires that they have daily injections of insulin. Stern said family studies of diabetic patients are brining him closer to finding the gene that triggers the disease. A genetic marker might identify people who are susceptible, which could lead to a screening test, he said. ``Then you could go out and zero in on the genetic susceptibles and you can be more intense on your recommendations to them and you could also study that group.'' Stern believes if people exercised more and ate less of the fat-saturated foods common to the diets of low-income Hispanics, fewer would get the disease. ``We use the term double jeopardy for Mexican-Americans,'' he said. ``We don't know why, when they get diabetes, they have a more severe form of the disease _ whether it's a biological difference or is it that they are not getting as good medical care. ``But the interesting thing is that upper-income Mexican-Americans do not have the same risk as low-income Mexican-Americans. It may be that the gene is there, but for some reason it may not be expressed in the upper-income Mexican-Americans. ``Also, Mexican-Americans tend to have more body fat in their upper torso and we can see that as related to diabetes.'' Between 1979 and 1988, Stern and his staff studied more than 5,000 people and found that 387 of 2,905 Hispanics had the disease, or 13.3 percent, compared to only 87 of 1,780 Anglos, or 4.8 percent. Researchers believe that poor Hispanics' diets of cheap, processed foods, lack of exercise and infrequent medical attention _ either due to poverty or a cultural bias against doctors _ increases their risk of acquiring diabetes. The study is in its follow-up stage, to see if diagnosed diabetes patients have changed their lifestyle and have sought medical care. Teresa Castro, 54, whose diabetic husband died at age 37, went through the screening eight years ago. She was told that because of her weight, 254 pounds, she had hypertension and was at risk of diabetes. Doctors put her on a strict, low-fat diet and she lost 26 pounds. ``I went to the screening because they called and said it was free. That's why I went to it, because being poor I couldn't afford to go to the doctor for this type of checkup,'' she said. ``My mother has diabetes and they tell me I might have diabetes, too, but I don't know too much about it. ``I feel OK, but they tell me that one year you can be OK and the next year, it can be totally different.'' DeFronzo, who in 1988 was chosen the top diabetes investigator by Canadian and Japanese diabetes associations, says his unit at the Health Science Center will try to use many of Stern's patients for research. That will include work for Lipha Chemicals, which makes an anti-diabetic drug called metaforim that improves the body's ability to respond to insulin. ``The problem with Type II diabetics is not that they don't make enough insulin; they don't respond to the insulin,'' DeFronzo said. ``What we'd like to do is make them more responsive and this drug will do that.'' The drug is widely used in Europe, Canada and Mexico and should be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in several years for U.S. use, he said. Educating elementary-school-age children about healthy diets would help reduce the number of diabetes cases, DeFronzo said. ``If you have a 65-year-old mother who weighs 220 pounds and you tell her to go out and jog five miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she is going to laugh at you. ``So you have to design an exercise program that is compatible with the patient's lifestyle and it is something they can do.''

minorities;diabetes test;obese diabetics;diabetes studies;insulin;anti-diabetic drug;hispanics;american diabetes association;diabetic patients;hispanic diabetes;type II diabetes

AP890314-0237

Researchers Looking At Hispanics To Find Diabetes Cause

Inside a small motor home, Joanne Pierluissi raised her sleeve as nurse Mary Perez inserted a needle into the vein above her forearm, drawing blood into a tube for a diabetes test. As her daughters watched, Pierluissi, 24, said it was for them, as much as for herself, that she agreed to be tested for the deadly killer of Hispanics. Twelve million Americans have some form of diabetes, but it most prevalent among minorities, especially Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics. Hispanics are three times as likely to develop diabetes as the general population, and 40 percent of the 700,000 victims in Texas are Mexican-American. More than 150,000 Americans die from diabetes each year; another 150,000 deaths are diabetes-related, according to the American Diabetes Association. No one really knows what sparks it, but researchers believe Hispanics could hold the key. San Antonio, the nation's ninth largest city, with a population that is 50 percent Hispanic, is becoming the base for diabetes studies. San Antonio's Hispanic makeup led Dr. Ralph DeFronzo to abandon his prestigious position as a Yale University diabetes researcher and persuade his four-member team to relocate to the University of Texas Health Science Center. Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Stern has devoted 10 years to studying Hispanic diabetes and led the grassroots study of the most common form, which develops mostly in obese adults over 40 who may have a family history of the disease. Stern said family studies of diabetic patients are brining him closer to finding the gene that triggers the disease, and to a screening test. Researchers believe that poor Hispanics' diets of cheap, processed foods, lack of exercise and infrequent medical attention _ either due to poverty or a cultural bias against doctors _ increases their risk of acquiring diabetes. Educating elementary-school-age children about healthy diets would help reduce the number of diabetes cases, DeFronzo said. ``If you have a 65-year-old mother who weighs 220 pounds and you tell her to go out and jog five miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she is going to laugh at you.''

minorities;diabetes test;diabetes studies;healthy diets;american diabetes association;diabetic patients;hispanic diabetes

AP890316-0018

Oldest Known Record of Total Eclipse Is Younger Than Thought, Study Says

Scientists missed by 150 years in dating the oldest known reliable record of a total solar eclipse, a clay tablet that also reflects fear among the ancient observers, researchers said today. Scientists had concluded about 20 years ago that the eclipse, recorded on a clay tablet found in Syria, occurred on May 3, 1375 B.C. But in today's issue of the British journal Nature, two Dutch scientists report their analysis shows the eclipse really happened about 150 years later, on March 5, 1223 B.C. The tablet was found in 1948 in the ruins of Ugarit, an ancient city near Syria's Mediterranean coast. One side appears to tell of a solar eclipse, and the reverse side reads, ``Two livers were examined: danger.'' ``Apparently the anxiety caused by the eclipse of the Sun and the sudden appearance of Mars had to be resolved by an explanation through liver divination,'' wrote the researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University. They concluded that the earlier text analysis of the tablet misidentified the time of year in which the eclipse occurred. The new study indicated the eclipse really happened in late February or early March. In addition, the text apparently indicates that Mars was visible at the time of the eclipse, the Dutch researchers said. They compared those criteria and the likely age range for the tablet to a list of possible total solar eclipses visible from Ugarit. Only the event in 1223 B.C. fills the bill, the researchers said. In an accompanying editorial, Christopher B.F. Walker of the British Museum in London cautioned that their conclusion ``can best be regarded as a plausible hypothesis.'' The translation of the tablet's text is not certain, and the study assumes that citizens of Ugarit followed an Egyptian-style calendar, for which no supporting evidence is available, he said. Even if the tablet is 150 years younger than previously believed, it would remain the oldest known reliable record of a total solar eclipse, Edwin Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview. The next-oldest record was made in China in the Eighth Century B.C., said Krupp, a researcher in ancient astronomy.

solar eclipses;clay tablet;dutch scientists;syria;reliable record;ancient observers

AP890322-0010

City Image Tarnished By Allegations Of Police Racism

Allegations of police racism and brutality have shaken this city that for decades has prided itself on a progressive attitude toward civil rights and a reputation for racial harmony. The deaths of two blacks at a drug raid that went awry, followed 10 days later by a scuffle between police and blacks at a downtown hotel, touched off an outcry by minority leaders for an outside review of the department. ``It's like a watch spring. You can only wind the watch so tightly before it's going to snap. I think we're approaching that breaking point,'' said Van Hayden, 25, a student who says police beat him at the hotel. The city's police chief, John Laux, says there is no reason to assume the department would be immune to a problem that is present in all segments of society. ``The whole society to different degrees has problems of racism,'' he said. In a letter to police supervisors in mid-February, Laux said: ``Let me make one thing perfectly clear _ any act of bias will be dealt with directly and severely. There will be no tolerance for that type of inexcusable behavior.'' Since former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, then a 35-year-old mayor running for the U.S. Senate, electrified the 1948 Democratic National Convention with his historic speech in support of civil rights, Minneapolis has been viewed as a liberal, progressive city. Some, including Hayden, say that image now blocks progress. ``I think this city has to wake up. Everyone always says, `I can't believe this is happening in Minnesota, in Minneapolis, the home of progressiveness.' That is real tricky,'' Hayden said. ``If we get preoccupied with the image of the city, we're not going to be able to thoroughly address the problems we're facing.'' ``The liberal image is a false picture,'' said Chris Nisan, a University of Minnesota student who has been involved in recent protests. In a series of rallies in recent weeks, protesters demanded that officers involved in the drug raid be suspended, charges against those arrested at the hotel be dropped, and that a citizen police review board be established. City Council voted last week to study the problem. ``There are bad apples in every bunch and the Minneapolis Police Department is no exception,'' said Councilwoman Sayles Belton. ``I don't think they (the good officers) are pleased with the few that are giving them the bad rap _ the spoilers.'' Lloyd Smalley, 71, and Lillian Weiss, 65, were killed Jan. 25 in a fire that started after police hurled a stun grenade into their apartment, where others also lived, during a drug raid. No one conducting the raid knew the elderly people were living there, said Laux. A grand jury decided not to bring charges against any officers, but an FBI investigation is continuing. In the hotel scuffle, police said they responsed to a call of a loud party. Partygoers alleged that officers used the term ``nigger,'' and beat some of those arrested. Laux said his officers have denied using racial names and said protesters lied about the number of people receiving medical attention following the arrests. Gleason Glover, president of the Minneapolis Urban League, which works for interracial cooperation, said police racism has been a problem since he took over the league position 21 years ago. ``The matter of police misconduct and brutality has been going on for at least the 21 years I've been here, but I think the deaths pushed the issue beyond the point of tolerance that usually is the case in matters of police misconduct,'' Glover said. ``There is deep resentment in both the black community and among police officers with regard to how they feel they are perceived by each other ... I do not see a quick fix solution to it,'' Glover said. Allegations of police misconduct currently are reviewed by a panel appointed by the mayor. The panel can only make recommendations. Laux opposes establisment of a citizen panel to look into police actions. ``The key point is that any time the head of the police department cannot hire, fire or impose discipline, you are no longer in charge,'' he said. Laux said the 750-member department, which includes 62 minority members and 68 white women, will begin cultural awareness training for all officers, probably this fall. ``We need to get more education about ourselves and about everyone else. Our goal is to find out who can offer that to us and in what form,'' said Laux. ``But it must be thoughtful and be done by the right people.''

police racism;racial harmony;brutality;drug raid;civil rights;police misconduct

AP890325-0029

Chemicals Fail To Break Up Largest Spill In U.S. History

The calm waters of Prince William Sound have stymied efforts to disperse the largest oil spill in U.S. history, which spewed from a ship that ran aground trying to avoid chunks of ice, officials said. The spill of some 270,000 barrels _ or 11.3 million gallons _ occurred early Friday when the 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez went hard aground on Bligh Reef, about 25 miles outside Valdez, the northermost ice-free port in the United States. Coast Guard spokesman Ed Wieliczkiewicz said the use of chemicals to disperse and sink the heavy North Slope crude oil failed because the agents depend in part on rough seas to break up the oil. He said Exxon officials plan to pump the oil remaining aboard the Exxon Valdez onto the Exxon Baton Rouge, another tanker. Early Friday the Exxon Valdez was losing 20,000 gallons of oil per hour, but the flow slowed to a trickle later. An oil slick snaked about five miles from the ship as wind and tide pushed the crude oil into the sound and away from shore. ``This is the largest oil spill in U.S. history and it unfortunately took place in an enclosed water body with numerous islands, channels, bays and fiords,'' said Richard Golob, publisher of the Golob Oil Pollution Bulletin. Gov. Steve Cowper said the ship was ``impaled on the reef.'' He said the vessel steered from its course to avoid chunks of ice and did not return to its normal traffic lane. Dan Lawn, an engineer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the captain could not steer the Exxon Valdez back on course in time to avoid a collision. Lawn likened the ship's situation to ``trying to park a Cadillac in a Volkswagen spot.'' Divers were to check the ship's hull and their findings were to be used in making plans for the removal of crude oil still aboard the vessel. ``A spill of this size in such a complex environment promises to be a cleanup nightmare,'' said Golob, a Cambridge, Mass.-based consultant whose firm has studied oil spills and environmental disasters for 15 years. In Washington, Interior Department spokesman Steve Goldstein said efforts had begun to evacuate waterfowl, sea otters and other wildlife from the danger area. The Exxon Valdez had loaded 1.2 million barrels of oil at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. marine terminal at Valdez and was en route to Long Beach, Calif., when it crunched onto the reef. The ship marks the second aniversary of its maiden voyage today. The terminal was closed early Friday to tanker traffic as officials tried to deal with the mammoth spill. The flow in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline also was reduced to 800,000 barrels daily from 1.2 million barrels. Alyeska spokesman Tom Brennan said that, at the reduced rate, the marine terminal's capacity would allow nine days of operation before the line would have to be shut down. Valdez, a town of about 3,000 year-round residents that grows to more than 4,000 with a summer influx of fishing industry workers and travelers, is a picturesque community about 125 miles east of Anchorage. It relies on the fishing, oil and tourism industries. The sound is considered a playground for kayakers, sport fishermen and tourists. Jason Wells, executive director of the Valdez Fisheries Development Association, said he believed the oil slick would cause little damage unless wind pushes it back toward Valdez. The fishing industry is between seasons. Wells said the black cod fishery is scheduled to begin April 1, but the region's major herring fishery is not expected to get under way until mid-April. But the spill likely will draw increasing fire from environmentalists sensitive about the trans-Alaska pipeline and efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. ``It's of concern for two reasons: one is the size of the spill and that this is such a sensitive, very productive area,'' said Lisa Speer, senior staff scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York. Valdez City Manager Doug Griffin said the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline which carries oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and the marine terminal have an enviable environmental record. But he added: ``Living in Valdez, we've always worried that sometime something like this could happen.'' Previously, the largest U.S. tanker spill was the Dec. 15, 1976, grounding of the Argo Merchant tanker off the Nantucket shoals off Massachusetts, in which 7.6 million gallons of oil spilled, Golob said. The largest tanker spill in history was in the July 19, 1979, collision off Tobago of the supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain, in which 300,000 tons _ more than 80 million gallons _ of oil was lost.

bligh reef;oil slick;oil spills;crude oil;environmental disasters;environmental conservation;987-foot tanker exxon valdez;u.s. tanker spill

AP890326-0081

Captain Should Have Been Piloting Tanker, Exxon Reveals; Disaster Declared

The tanker that caused the nation's biggest oil spill was being illegally piloted by its third mate when the vessel ran aground on a reef, Exxon Shipping Co. said Sunday. Alaska's governor, meanwhile, declared once-pristine Prince William Sound a disaster area as the toll on the waterway's abundant wildlife began to mount. The Coast Guard said the slick and patches of oil separated from it were spread over an area of about 100 square miles. Exxon Shipping spokesman Brian Dunphy told The Associated Press that the captain of the tanker Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, was not on the bridge at the time of the accident and that third mate Gregory Cousins was in command. ``It's Exxon's policy that in the waters that the ship was located in, the captain should have been on the bridge,'' Dunphy said. ``There's a problem there in that he was not there. It's our policy he should have been there.'' An Exxon spokeswoman, Sharon Curran-Wescott, said she believed Cousin's actions violated federal regulations. ``He didn't have a proper pilot's license for that. He wasn't authorized by the company, nor was it legal,'' she said. Dunphy said he did not know why Hazelwood was not on the bridge. ``I am unaware of any explanation he has made at this time. ... There is a full investigation that will occur on the incident,'' Dunphy said, adding that the captain is consulting with an attorney. As clean-up efforts continued Sunday, fishermen fearing lost income sought compensation Sunday. Exxon Shipping Co. held a meeting Sunday between fishermen and a company claims officer. ``We're not ready to absorb any loss,'' said Riki Ott, spokeswoman for United Fishermen of Alaska. ``We expect full compensation.'' Ten supertankers remained anchored 33 miles from Valdez, unable to move toward shore because the harbor remains closed. The Coast Guard said it ordered the closure to prevent pollution from being carried to Valdez on vessels passing through the oil. Department of Interior spokeswoman Pamela Bergmann said a wildlife specialist sailed in the sound Saturday and observed 75 ducks and two otters coated with oil. They could not be captured for cleaning, she said. Gov. Steve Cowper declared Prince William Sound a disaster area, freeing state resources for cleanup and paving the way for a federal disaster declaration. ``This oil spill may well be the greatest disaster to hit Alaska since the Good Friday earthquake 25 years ago,'' Cowper said in a news release. ``It requires the most thorough response we can muster and this disaster declaration is an important part of that response. We'll be requesting President Bush to make a similar declaration.'' The 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez, carrying 1.2 million barrels of North Slope crude oil loaded at Valdez, ran onto a reef 25 miles from the port early Friday after swinging out of a traffic lane to avoid ice. Valdez is at the southern end of the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline. Estimates put the spill at 240,000 barrels of oil, or about 10.1 million gallons, making it the biggest U.S. spill on record. The only larger oil-related accident in U.S. waters was the spilling and burning of up to 10.7 million gallons of oil when two ships collided in Galveston Bay in 1979. More than four miles of floating boom had been placed in an effort to contain the oil, the Coast Guard said Sunday. An additional 3,000 feet was to be deployed at Galena Bay at the request of fishermen. Skimming boats worked to remove the oil. The Coast Guard estimated the area affected by the spill at 100 square miles. However, Exxon insisted that the area was only 10 to 12 square miles, and Coast Guard officials said they were at a loss to explain the difference in estimates. The transfer of oil remaining aboard the Exxon Valdez to the Exxon Baton Rouge resumed late Saturday. The Coast Guard said about 84,000 gallons of oil an hour was being transferred; at that rate, the unloading could take seven days. By late Sunday, Exxon officials said a total of 37,500 barrels of oil had been transferred in the first two days of the operation, leaving more than 900,000 barrels on the ship. Tests were under way to determine if dispersal chemicals should be used despite the potential for environmental damage. The agents need wave action to help break up the thick crude oil. Weather had been calm since the accident, but the National Weather Service said the wind was expected to increase to 25 mph and stir up a 5- to 6-foot chop on the sound. However, the wind and waves may make it more difficult to skim oil off the water, said Coast Guard Lt. Ed Wieliczkiewicz. An experiment to assess the possibility of burning off the oil was completed early Sunday and the Coast Guard said Exxon officials were ``cautiously optimistic.'' Environmentalists, the governor and other top state officials have accused Exxon and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. of responding too slowly to the spill. Alyeska operates the terminal at Valdez that loads tankers with North Slope crude. Both companies said they were satisfied with the handling of the problem. ``We're proceeding cautiously,'' said Exxon spokesman Tom Cirigliano. ``We want to make sure we don't make any mistakes in cleaning up the spill.'' Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank Iarossi said Exxon has reviewed information gathered by divers and determined there are five holes in the vessel's hull on the starboard side. The largest is 20-by-6 feet. All six tanks along the port side remain intact. Four are oil tanks; two are ballast tanks. Investigation of the accident was turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday. The ship's captain and two bridge crew members, including Cousins, were relieved of duty Saturday and subpoenaed by the NTSB. Iarossi said relieving the three was intended to allow them rest and was not a disciplinary measure. Hazelwood was in his cabin at the time of the accident, Iarossi said. The third member of the bridge crew was identified as helmsman Robert Kagan. The three were administered routine tests for drug and alcohol abuse, but the results were not immediately available, officials said. The spill came at a time when Prince William Sound fishermen were preparing for the herring season, which is followed by harvests of shellfish and salmon. Many are concerned they will get only minimal harvests because of the oil damage, and then will face the longer-term problem of bad publicity. ``This could ruin our reputation in Asian markets for years to come,'' said Jim Brown, a netter. The herring catch, which usually takes place in April, primarily is for the harvest of roe, a delicacy that brings up to $25 per pound in Japan. ``It's possible they could avoid the oil,'' Brown said. ``Fish are not stupid. But they can't avoid the chemicals.'' Rick Steiner of the University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program said the beaches on which the herring spawn could be polluted. Fishermen said they have had two good years back to back, and some were spurred by that success to go into debt for new equipment this year. Ott said fishing is an economic mainstay in Cordova, more so than in Valdez, which also draws tourists and has the oil terminal. ``Half of Cordova is operating on credit,'' Ott said.

federal regulations;captain;u.s. spill;environmental damage;oil spill;987-foot tanker exxon valdez;clean-up efforts;full investigation;proper pilot;joseph hazelwood

AP890403-0123

With BC-EXP--Tornado Season-Radar

Here are some tornado facts from the National Weather Service, Insurance Information Institute and news accounts: _Tornadoes can occur in any month, but are more frequent from April through June and between 3 and 6 p.m. _Most tornadoes track southwest to northeast, but their paths can spiral erratically. _The portion of a thunderstorm adjacent to large hail is where tornadoes are most likely to occur. _There were 32 tornado-related deaths reported in 1988, down from 59 in 1987 and well below the average of 99 a year. _Less than 2 percent of all tornadoes are classified as violent, with wind speeds of more than 200 mph and a path averaging 26 miles. The longest tornado on record went 219 miles across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in March 1925. _Tornadoes travel at an average 30 mph, but can stand still or go 70 mph. _The largest single outbreak of twisters on record was in April 1974, when 148 storms killed 300 people in 13 states over two days. _When a tornado threatens, seek shelter in the basement or central parts of the house, office or school building, away from windows.

thunderstorm;tornado facts;tornadoes;tornado-related deaths

AP890404-0260

Exxon Set To Salvage Tanker; Captain May Surrender; Cleanup Drags On

Exxon crews Tuesday finished pumping the remaining crude oil out of the tanker Exxon Valdez in preparation for refloating and removing the source of the nation's worst-ever oil spill. The fugitive captain of the Exxon Valdez sent signals he was ready to surrender to face criminal charges of operating the vessel while drunk. Meanwhile, Exxon said placing an oil-catching boom around the ship immediately after the grounding could have touched off a giant explosion of gases from the oil, although that was not the reason it took 11 hours to set the first containment line. ``The worst thing we could have done early on was try to boom the vessel. We would have lost the vessel,'' said Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank Iarossi. A boom wasn't placed around the vessel for 11 hours because it wasn't available in Valdez, Exxon officials have said. Iarossi also said Exxon has changed its policy because of the spill and now requires crews to be aboard ship, where drinking is prohibited, four hours before sailing. Authorities charged the captain had been drinking before the Valdez sailed. Thick oil has floated over more than 1,640 square miles and soiled 800 miles of beach. Thousands of animals are known dead, including 30 sea otters. Early Tuesday, Exxon said it had finished transferring about 42 million gallons of crude to three other ships. Another 42 million gallons of oily waste water remained aboard the Valdez, which spilled more than 10 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound when it struck a reef March 24. The company said crews would attempt to pump air into the hold and refloat the vessel off a reef at high tide Wednesday afternoon. If freed, the still-leaking ship, which has eight holes some 20 feet long in its hull, will be towed to a remote and already fouled cove for repairs. Exxon then planned to take the ship to a port in the Far East, or to a Portland, Ore., dry dock. Port officials there said they weren't sure if they'd allow that, even though the $12 million repair bill would provide about 200 jobs. ``We're not willing to trade in the environment for jobs,'' Portland port spokesman Darrel Buttice said Monday. Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt said Tuesday there are ``a lot of questions that need to be answered'' before the Valdez is allowed in. Canadian authorities also asked Exxon for assurances there will be no damage to the British Columbia coast if the tanker is towed to Oregon, and the mayor of Valdez said the ship was not welcome back in the port where it took on the load of crude. In Washington, Environmental Protection Administrator William Reilly said the spill could put the brakes on petroleum exploration there and in other areas. ``We will take apart the environmental planning for every aspect of oil development in Alaska and in other sensitive areas where the environment potentially could be threatened,'' he told a House appropriations subcommittee. The family of the fired Exxon Valdez captain, Joseph Hazelwood, said the skipper wants to surrender but is awaiting advice from his attorney, according to Lt. Thomas Fazio, commander of the New York State Police on Long Island. But after Long Island law enforcement authorities waited a second day for Hazelwood to turn himself in, the Suffolk County district attorney's office announced there would be no surrender that day. Hazelwood, 42, is accused operating the ship while under the influence of alcohol, reckless endangerment and negligent discharge of oil. Bail was previously set in Valdez at $50,000. Of about three dozen oil-soaked otters rescued following the spill, about one-third have died, Alaska Department of Fish and Game spokesman Jon Lyman said. ``Dozens of otters are dying before rescuers can get to them,'' he said. Six otters were flown to Sea World in San Diego on Monday for rehabilitation. Fishermen counting on the sound's $12 million annual herring industry were told Monday by the state that it will not allow a season this year. Sablefish and shrimp fisheries in Prince William waters also have been closed. An effort at Sawmill Bay, 11 miles west of Valdez, to keep oil away from a hatchery where 2 million salmon are waiting to be released to the sea appeared to be failing. Tendrils of oil had floated past a boom streched across the bay, said officials. The spill has shifted public opinion in Alaska about the energy industry, which has been lobbying for new exploration. U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, a champion of oil exploration in Alaska, asked that plans for drilling in Bristol Bay, the state's richest fishing grounds, be set aside until the industry can demonstrate that it can respond effectively to spills. ``The Exxon Valdez accident has taught us that simply having a plan is not sufficient,'' the Alaska Republican said. At the first Valdez City Council meeting since the spill, two council members and Mayor John Devens expressed concern that anger and frustration over the spill was surfacing as harrassment of pipeline company workers and their children. Meanwhile, a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in California against Exxon Corp., charging that the spill has led to gas prices of 10 to 15 cents more a gallon for California drivers.

tanker exxon valdez;annual herring industry;worst-ever oil spill;crude oil;criminal charges;oil-catching boom;joseph hazelwood;exxon crews

AP890501-0176

Exxon Submits Strategy on Alaska Cleanup Plan

Exxon officials Monday released a revised plan for cleansing 364 miles of Alaskan coastline fouled by the nation's largest oil spill, but said their proposal requires a suspension of local environmental laws. The plan makes no provisions for continuing the cleanup beyond mid-September, and notes that 191 miles of lightly oiled coastline may not be cleaned mechanically at all, but be allowed to be washed naturally by the environment. ``It is expected that this will be the case for all lightly oiled Gulf of Alaska sites,'' said the two-part, 60-page report. ``We are going to have to take a hard look at that,'' responded Bill Lamoreaux, the ranking state environmental official monitoring the cleanup. Since March 24, when an Exxon tanker struck a reef outside Valdez and poured more than 10 million gallons of North Slope crude into Prince William Sound, Exxon has financed cleanup crews fighting the spreading sludge. Signs of the spill have been sighted about 500 miles southwest of Valdez. The oil company's strategy, which was submitted to state and federal authorities only hours before a deadline expired, divides Alaska's oil-tainted shores into four categories _ from the most heavily polluted to those that are ``only lightly oiled.'' It covers polluted areas within Prince William Sound, as well as those outside the immediate spill zone, and calls for nearly 3,400 workers to participate in the cleanup. The worst areas _ three miles of sludge-covered beaches on several small islands _ would be targeted immediately, with the others scheduled for gradual cleansing through Sept. 15. Exxon's plan calls for the recovered waste to be strained for usable oil that can be refined, and said the oil-laced wastewater could be treated at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.'s disposal plant in Valdez. The gunk and sludge that resists treatment or salvage will be burned or buried, according to the Exxon study. Both methods likely will require exemptions from local environmental laws. Coast Guard Adm. Paul A. Yost Jr., the ranking federal official tracking the cleanup, told reporters in Sacramento, Calif. that he would decide whether to approve the proposal within a week. Before the plan was released, Yost said he wanted much more detail than Exxon's original cleanup plan, which included nothing on polluted areas outside the sound. Yost is scheduled to arrive in Valdez on Tuesday to review the latest plan. Meanwhile, tar and sludge from the Valdez spill fouled the beaches of Alaska's wild Katmai National Park, drenching hundreds of sea otters and birds and threatening the huge brown bears prowling the refuge. The damage stretches along 260 miles of rocky, rugged coastline southwestward from Cape Douglas some 500 miles from Valdez, park superintendent Ray Bane said Monday. ``The oil has made landfall in large quantities in Katmai Bay and Hallo Bay. There is a heavy impact. We have seen several hundred sea otters swimming in oil. The oil has had an impact on virtually the entire coastline of the park,'' Bane said. The 4 million-acre park also is a haven for brown bears, a coastal cousin of the grizzly. ``A number of bears have been seen walking in the vicinity of the beaches. We have one verified sighting of a bear walking through the oil,'' Bane said. Bane said an aerial survey showed an amorphous oil patch 10 miles wide and more than 20 miles long in the Shelikof Strait, which is located along the migration route used by whales. Exxon is feeling the effects of the spill far beyond Alaska waters. Several groups throughout the country have called for a boycott Tuesday of Exxon products. In Anchorage, a group called the Boycott Exxon Alliance has scheduled a rally in front of Exxon's Alaska headquarters. The attorneys general of Idaho, Oregon and Washington state scheduled a news conference Tuesday to call for a federal investigation into the sharp rise in the price of gasoline since the spill. The oil industry blames the spill and crude oil prices that have risen $7 a barrel since January for higher prices at the gas pumps. Exxon also received sharp criticism from the federal government, which accused the company of ``foot-dragging'' in the construction of a second facility in Seward to aid in the cleanup of sea otters fouled by the oil. The animals depend on their thick fur for insulation against the cold water but the oil ruins the insulation effect. Exxon says the center will open Wednesday.

crude oil prices;oil-tainted shores;polluted areas;alaskan coastline;cleanup plan;valdez spill;oil spill;exxon officials;exxon tanker;oiled coastline

AP890502-0205

Eds: INSERTS 1 graf after 5th graf, ``We are...' to UPDATE with protest in Anchorage; picks up 6th graf, `J. Edward...;' SUBS 16th graf, `Oil from...,' with 4 grafs to UPDATE with oil spreading, sightings of thousands of dead birds, eagle covered in oil; picks up 17th graf, `The tanker...'

Coast Guard Commandant Paul A. Yost on Tuesday attacked Exxon's plan to clean up the Alaskan oil spill. Consumers, politicians and environmentalists expressed their anger in a one-day ``Boycott Exxon'' campaign. Yost, the top federal official tracking the environmental disaster, said Exxon's plan was poorly drafted and lacking in specifics. But he stopped short of rejecting it, saying he wanted to meet with Exxon and state officials. In Washington, consumer activist Ralph Nader said Exxon ``should not be allowed to forget'' the spill and that a boycott would send the oil giant a message. He and others blasted Exxon for failing to be prepared for the spill and not rapidly responding to the accident that fouled hundreds of miles of Alaska's coast. They also questioned subsequent increases in gas prices. ``We are beginning the war of words and actions against any oil company that doesn't understand its responsibility to protect the environment,'' Massachusetts state Sen. Carol Amick told a boycott rally in Boston. In Anchorage, about 400 chanting and sign-waving protesters rallied in front of Exxon's Alaskan headquarters to urge a consumer boycott. J. Edward Surette Jr., executive director of the Bay State Gasoline Retailers Association in Billerica, Mass., said it was too early to assess the boycott's impact. Exxon spokeswoman Sarah Johnson said 10,000 credit cards out of 7 million have been cut up and returned to the company since the spill. The oil company's cleanup strategy must gain Yost's approval before being put into effect. Yost said he would make a decision on the proposal within a week. ``The plan is very thin,'' he told a news briefing. ``There's not a lot of backup or substantiation. It was quite light, very thin. There must have been a lot of figures there that I haven't seen. ``We are going to be done this summer,'' Yost said. ``Some beaches are going to be sparkling, some beaches are going to be far from sparkling.'' Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner, who is to make his second trip to Alaska on Wednesday as overall coordinator for the cleanup, said he expected the size of the operation to double or triple by the end of the month. In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, Skinner called the spill ``the most significant environmental disaster this nation has ever faced.'' However, he said the cleanup, to be paid for by the oil industry, could add $100 million to $500 million to Alaska's economy, which he said is more than the effect of the fishing industry. Exxon released a statement that called the boycott unjust. Exxon President William D. Stevens said the company was ``turning heaven and Earth to set things right.'' Exxon's 60-page, two-part revised strategy to cleanse some 364 miles of Alaska's coastline of the oil spilled March 24 by the tanker Exxon Valdez was released Monday. The tanker struck a reef 25 miles from Valdez, spilling more than 10 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. About 300 miles from the spill site, an observer saw thousands of dead birds in a wide tidal basin in the Hallo Bay area. ``We saw 2,000 to 3,000 dead birds. ... You can't really tell what they are. They're one big blob of oil,'' said Ray Bane, superintendent of Katmai National Park, about 275 miles southwest of Valdez. ``We found large oil debris washing and slopping up on our shores. ... It was very bad,'' Bane said. ``We saw eagles carrying oil-covered birds. We saw one eagle so coated in oil that it couldn't fly.'' State and federal officials said the focus of the cleanup is moving southwest, following the drifting oil along the Alaska Peninsula through the Shelikof Strait east of Kodiak Island. Oil has tainted the coast at least as far as Chignik, 525 miles southwest of Valdez. The tanker is undergoing preliminary repairs in the sound, and is to be moved next month to Portland, Ore., home of the only drydock on the West Coast capable of handling the 987-foot ship. In its proposal, Exxon said it wants to burn or bury the sludge recovered in the cleanup, which may require exemptions from Alaska environmental law. But Bill Lamoreaux, the ranking state environmental officer at the spill, said the laws would not be relaxed. ``The general feeling is that we would expect that they would comply with the environmental laws,'' Lamoreaux said. Exxon's plan also notes that 191 miles of coastline it describes as ``lightly oiled'' may be left untouched to be cleansed naturally by wind and water. Lamoreaux said, ``When we talk about `light oiling,' it doesn't mean it won't have a devastating effect on wildlife.'' U.S. Sens. James Exon and Bob Kerrey, both Nebraska Democrats, called on U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh to investigate potential price gouging by the oil industry. They noted that gas prices in Nebraska rose 20 percent from the first of March until mid-April. State attorneys general in Washington, Oregon and Idaho echoed the call. Since the Exxon Valdez accident, gas prices have increased an average 10 percent nationally, while the Northwest saw surges as high as 25 percent in less than a month, said Marla Rae, executive assistant to Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer. At a news conference in Houston, Exxon President Stevens said it showed ``shocking naivete'' to blame the price hikes on his company. ``As you know,'' he told reporters, ``the market for petroleum products is set by thousands of markets, thousands of independent dealers across the nation.''

exxon's plan;tanker exxon valdez;alaskan oil spill;oil industry;fishing industry;boycott exxon;significant environmental disaster;gas prices;cleanup strategy;oil company;exxon valdez accident

AP890511-0126

Feds Urge Steps to Curb Rising TB Rate Behind Bars

The tuberculosis rate in U.S. prisons may be more than three times higher than on the outside, federal health officials said Thursday, urging testing, isolation and other measures to curb TB behind bars. Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control cited a survey in 29 states, where prisons reported 31 tuberculosis cases per 100,000 inmates in 1984-85, compared with eight cases per 100,000 reported among non-incarcerated adults in those states during the same period. ``In some large correctional systems, the incidence of TB has increased dramatically,'' the CDC said, noting that in New York state there were 106 TB cases per 100,000 inmates in 1986 _ seven times more than the average of 15 cases reported in 1976-78. In New Jersey, inmates had a TB rate of 110 per 100,000 in 1987, 11 times higher than the general New Jersey population. In California, the rate was nearly six times higher _ 80 per 100,000. Tuberculosis, a contagious, bacterial lung disease, occurs in about 22,000 new cases each year in the United States; most can be cured with drug treatment. As many as 7 percent of Americans have latent TB infections, and about 10 percent of them will someday develop a case of tuberculosis itself. ``Persons at highest risk ... are close contacts,'' the CDC said, noting that TB can pose particular problems in prisons, where there is often overcrowding and ``where the environment is often conducive to airborne transmission of infection among inmates, staff and visitors.'' The CDC's Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Tuberculosis is recommending TB testing for most new prison inmates and staff members _ with the possible exception of inmates just transferring through for less than a week. The CDC committee also recommends new tests at least once a year, rapid chest X-rays for TB-infected people showing symptoms, and isolation _ off the prison property, if necessary _ for those with suspected or confirmed symptomatic TB cases. The spread of AIDS-virus infections may play a part in the spread of TB in prisons, the CDC said. AIDS weakens the immune system, making patients susceptible to infections other people might ward off, including tuberculosis. AIDS tests should be offered to all inmates with known TB infections, the CDC report said.

tuberculosis cases;tuberculosis rate;u.s. prisons;airborne transmission;cdc;aids-virus infections

AP890529-0030

Hurricane Forecasters Worry About Protecting Growing Coastal Populations

Forecasters preparing for Thursday's opening of the Atlantic hurricane season wish they could predict the arrival of new technological help they say may be crucial to ever-growing coastal populations. The Air Force has agreed to fly hurricane reconnaissance flights for two more years, but has made it clear it plans to phase out the missions. And only one satellite is available for tracking hurricanes. ``We just have nothing right now to lean on,'' says Ken McKinnon, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Tom Lewis of North Palm Beach, Fla., who has introduced a bill in Congress to keep hurricane hunters flying at least another five years. ``We've got one satellite and they're telling us it'll do the job. If it blinks, how do you track weather?'' The Air Force doesn't want to be involved. ``We have in the last few years examined our need for manned weather reconnaissance and feel there's no real compelling military reason,'' said spokesman Lt. Col. Darrell Hayes. ``We're not disputing that the hurricane center and the weather service need the data. We're just saying there may be more appropriate agencies to provide the information,'' he said, adding that the service had approached the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about taking over the flights. Besides the flights, forecasters depend on radar and satellite data. The single working weather satellite wasn't intended to be alone. A second satellite failed, and a replacement for the failed craft was blown up in a mishap on the launch pad, forcing forecasters to make do. There are new satellites on the horizon, says Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center. But they've been due for a long time and aren't expected before late 1990. ``It is a major concern for us,'' Sheets said. Forecasters also are worried about a shift in the pattern of hurricane activity in recent years. Since 1985, Sheets said, there seem to be more hurricanes and they're more likely to hit the United States. ``We may be in an upswing,'' he said, ``possibly back to the pattern of the '40s, '50s and '60s when we had a tremendous number of landfall hurricanes.'' Max Mayfield, hurricane specialist at the National Weather Service in Miami, said experts don't known enough yet about hurricanes to tell if this is just a peak in activity, or a return to the 50s and 60s. ``Now we can see past the Antilles out into the Atlantic, and over toward Hawaii on the west,'' said forecaster Hal Gerrish. ``We'd like to be able to see all the way to Africa,'' which is where Atlantic hurricanes develop, he said. The need for improved tracking systems is important because more and more people are moving to coastal locations likely to be affected by storms. ``I spoke to about 5,000 people on the west coast of Florida,'' Sheets said. ``Ninety-plus percent of them were from the Midwest or Northeast and had just come to Florida. They really have very little concept of what a hurricane is.'' During the average Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches from June through the end of November, six tropical storms will grow into hurricanes, with heavy rains and winds of 74 mph. Donna, in 1960, struck the Florida Keys at Marathon, then raked across Naples and Fort Myers before weakening inland. Last season, 505 people died in Atlantic hurricanes, including Gilbert and Joan. Gilbert killed more than 300 people and did heavy damage in Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic as it blasted across the the western Caribbean and part of the Gulf of Mexico _ including the Florida Keys, the Florida Straits and Cuba. Joan hovered off the coast of Central America for days before howling in with top winds of 135 mph. The storm caused mudslides, floods and other damage in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama.

forecasters;hurricane activity;hurricane reconnaissance flights;hurricane hunters;coastal populations;air force;weather satellite;atlantic hurricane season

AP890704-0043

Suspected Rebels Kill Police Chief

Suspected communist rebels today killed the police chief of the Philippines' major financial center in an escalation of street violence sweeping the capital area, police said. Col. Herminio Taylo, 54, police chief of Makati, had just finished jogging and was buying fruit in a public market when two assassins opened fire with .45-caliber pistols, police said. He died an hour later in a hospital. Police Sgt. Lydio Zeta quoted witnesses as saying the gunmen shouted ``We are NPAs,'' referring to the rebel New People's Army, and warned bystanders not to interfere. They fled in a commandeered passenger jeep after taking Taylo's pistol, Zeta said. Makati, a twin city of Manila with a population of about 440,000, is the country's major banking and financial center and is also the home of numerous foreign embassies. Taylo was the 10th soldier or policeman slain in the Manila area in the last two weeks. The military says communist rebels have killed up to 65 soldiers and police in the capital region since January. The New People's Army also claimed responsibility for the April 21 assassination of U.S. Army Col. James ``Nick'' Rowe, who was slain on his way to work at the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group headquarters in suburban Quezon City. Taylo was slain one day after Brig. Gen. Alexander Aguirre, Capital Region commander, announced formation of a special task force to track down rebel assassins in the capital. President Corazon Aquino deplored the latest killing but said public officials must learn to live with the threat of assassination. She said the government had provided bodyguards to Cabinet members who have requested them or who have received death threats. ``It is really very unfortunate and I do sympathize with the family of Col. Taylo,'' said Mrs. Aquino, whose husband Benigno was slain in a political assassination in 1983. ``And I hope that this, perhaps, could be a reminder to all our people in the military and police that they should take necessary precautions to ward off these assasination attempts.'' National Security Adviser Rafael Ileto said the killing of Taylo showed that every soldier and policeman was a potential target of assassination. ``This is war and somebody is bound to get hurt in the process,'' Ileto said. ``I'm sure all the major unit commanders are doing their best not only to protect their men but to counter such acts.'' Despite the escalating violence, Mrs. Aquino said she still plans to go ahead with a visit to Western Europe this month. Mrs. Aquino leaves Saturday for an official visit to West Germany. She will also visit France and Belgium before departing Brussels for home on July 15.

col. herminio taylo;rebel assassins;gunmen;communist rebels;philippines;street violence;political assassination;police chief;rebel new people's army;assasination attempts;makati

AP890708-0135

Forests, Brush, Grass Burn In The Hot, Dry West

Thousands more acres of brush and timber went up in smoke Saturday in seven states in the West, threatening homes in some places, and firefighters contended with wind and high temperatures. ``As the day heats up, you'll get these reburns going out and the trees dry out and they'll torch,'' said Forest Service spokesman Ed Christian in Wyoming. ``We hope Mother Nature cooperates with us,'' said Mary Plumb of the federal Bureau of Land Management in Utah. Record highs included 97 at Cheyenne, Wyo., and 100 at Denver, while Casper, Wyo., tied its record of 100. That was Denver's fifth consecutive day at 100 degrees or higher. Fire crews were at work in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Washington. Elsewhere, four big fires burned in interior Alaska, one having charred an estimated 24,000 acres. A fire in Georgia's Okefenoke swamp that burned 500 acres of habitat for an endangered species of woodpecker was reported contained Saturday. The Boise Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, which coordinates federal firefighting efforts, listed 7,000 to 7,500 people on the fire lines, along with 42 air tankers, 14 guide planes and 10 helicopters, spokesman Arnold Hartigan said Saturday. So far this fire season, the agency has had 31,000 fires reported, which have burned 1,117,000 acres. In the same period last year, it had 54,000 fires but 765,000 acres burned. The fact that there are more acres burned this year, but fewer fires, ``means this year's fires are in very rugged, inaccessible terrain, which makes them hard to fight,'' said Hartigan. ``Also, some of them are in areas where there have not been any fires for years, and that means there is excellent fuel available.'' The largest fire in the Lower 48 states was the week-old Diamond Peak fire in Utah, which had burned 12,200 acres of forest and brush in an area 20 miles west of the Utah-Colorado border, just north of Interstate 70. It was 80 percent contained, but after a week of temperatures around 100 degrees, the National Weather Service predicted possible dry lightning storms and gusting wind. Elsewhere in Utah, the Uinta Canyon fire had burned 3,850 acres 20 miles north of Roosevelt in the Ashley National Forest. Forest Service spokeswoman Cece Stewart said three helicopters scattered incendiary bombs made of chemically treated plastic balls on an unburned 200-acre area between fire lines and the main fire in an effort to stop the fire's advance. High wind also was expected in northern California, where a 2,500-acre fire near Janesville on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada destroyed two mobile homes. U.S. 395 between Milford and Janesville was closed. ``The wind was pretty brisk. It just blew the fire and pushed it out,'' said Forest Service spokesman Dave Reider. Relentless winds first pushed the fire north, then south, prompting Sheriff Ron Jarrel to order the evacuation of a sparsely populated area about a mile south of the fire line, Reider said. It was unknown how many people were affected. Spokesman Larry Lathrop said a helicopter battling the fire crashed Saturday about four miles southeast of Janesville. Lathrop said the pilot walked away from the crash, but the helicopter was destroyed. The chopper apparently was making a water drop when it crashed. In the Sierra foothills near Oroville, north of Sacramento, a 750-acre fire was contained Saturday after burning four homes, six outbuildings and six vehicles, and forcing about 150 residents to flee briefly Friday night, according to the California Department of Forestry. Firefighters gained the upper hand on a trio of forest fires in Colorado's drought-stricken mountains Saturday, but a new blaze of an estimated 3,000 acres in grass and timber on the eastern plains had crews scrambling to protect a subdivision in Elbert County. Residents of nine homes in the subdivision about 25 miles northeast of Kiowa were evacuated Friday night, but later were allowed to return home. In the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming, a fire had grown to 3,420 acres, burning an additional 1,000 acres in 24 hours, according to forest officials. Forest spokesman Ed Christian said the fire was about 50 percent contained by Saturday night and that with some cooperation from the weather, crews should be able to complete their containment line by Monday. Officials in Arizona gave priority to the Marijilda fire, which had blackened 2,500 acres of forest on the north side of Mount Graham near Safford, and the Chiva fire east of Tucson, which had burned 8,300 acres in the Rincon Mountains, according to BLM spokesman Wendell Peacock. Arizona's largest fire until Saturday, in the Peloncillo Mountains south of Duncan, along the Arizona-New Mexico border, had charred 8,000 acres but was 80 percent contained. Firefighters spent an eighth day Saturday battling the lightning-caused, 8,139-acre Divide fire 50 miles northeast of Silver City in the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico, U.S. Forest Service officials said. Firefighters in north-central Washington encircled a 4,500-acre range fire early Saturday.

forest fires;fire crews;fire season;federal firefighting efforts;firefighters;fire lines

AP890714-0129

Trout Rescued From Ash-Tainted Creek; Fires Fought in Six States

Rain and higher humidity helped firefighters whip blazes in six Western states, and a New Mexico fire that polluted a creek with ash forced biologists to rescue hundreds of endangered fish in long-handled nets. Officials said 566 Gila trout were fished out of Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico, put in containers on mules and horses, loaded onto trucks and brought to the Mescalero Fish Hatchery. The trout will stay there until the creek rises and becomes ash-free. ``They were in good shape,'' said Toby Martinez, a U.S. Forest Service range and wildlife staff officer for the Gila National Forest. Officials hoped at least 90 percent would survive. Much of the creek was contaminated by ash from the lightning-caused Divide fire, which started June 30 and burned about 10,000 acres 150 miles southwest of Albuquerque, said Forest Service spokeswoman Andrea Garcia. The fire was contained Monday and should be controlled within four days, Ms. Garcia said. Martinez said rescuers used electric shockers to stun the fish, then netted them. When a fish is stunned, it comes to the surface. Gila trout once were widespread throughout mountain streams in the Gila River Basin of southwestern New Mexico, but the habitat was ruined because of wood cutting, overgrazing and irrigation. The trout was placed on the federal endangered species list in 1967. Lightning sparked three small fires Thursday and today, but firefighters were extinguishing them today, said Willie Zapata, U.S. Forest Service dispatcher in Gila. In California, 1,500 firefighters aided by light wind and higher humidity Thursday had circled 70 percent of an arson fire that has charred more than 3,000 acres of scenic California coastline near Big Sur. Firefighters said they were unable to make progress overnight. They hoped to have the 6-day-old fire contained by late today, but authorities were concerned that higher temperatures could hamper their efforts. A brush fire accidentally started by Marine Corps tracer fire continued burning out of control today after charring at least 3,000 acres at Camp Pendleton, a base spokesman said. Firefighters on Thursday said they had contained the 2,000-acre Livermore Fire west of Fort Collins, Colo., in Roosevelt National Forest, the last of three major fires in Colorado to be encircled by firefighters. Seven 20-person crews fighting the fire were to be reduced to three crews, officials said. Earlier, firefighters contained the Black Tiger fire which covered 2,000 acres in Boulder Canyon and destroyed dozens of homes, and halted a 2,600-acre fire in Mesa Verde National Monument in southwestern Colorado. Arizona firefighters mopped up hot spots in several small fires, and only one blaze in the state was not fully contained. The stubborn Horton Fire, burning beneath the Mogollon Rim, had grown to 300 acres, but officials expected to have it contained by late Saturday. In northwest Nebraska, members of a volunteer fire department and a few National Guardsmen stood by the smoldering remains of a blaze that charred 48,000 acres of the Pine Ridge. The fire, which raged for four days and destroyed 14 unoccupied structures, was contained Wednesday and officials predicted it would be controlled soon. Forest officials in Nebraska shifted their attention Thursday from firefighting to seeding grass and planting trees. The blaze blackened acres of ponderosa pine trees, many of them 60 to 80 years old, said U.S. Forest Service Fire Staff Officer Jim Carson. Carson hoped for rain. ``My experience is that we'd see green grass again if we get enough moisture, say a half-inch of rain,'' he said. Rains helped firefighters in western Wyoming forests. The storms dampened a fire in Bridger-Teton National Forest that had burned nearly 3,500 acres. ``It's been real quiet,'' said Dick Heninger, a ranger in the forest's Pinedale office. ``It looks better all the time, the way these clouds are coming in.'' Heninger said four crews will probably be released from the fire today, leaving two to continue mop-up work. But one official with the Wyoming Interagency Fire Coordination Center warned the break in the fire season will probably be short-lived. ``As soon as it gets hot and dry again, we will be right back in it,'' said center spokesman Greg Warner. ``For now, anyway, we are getting some relief.''

western states;fires;fire season;new mexico fire;blazes;forest;firefighters;arson fire

AP890719-0225

Who's A Person?

Simply put, the question was who should be counted as a person and who, if anybody, should not. But there's nothing simple about it. The Senate voted one answer and, in effect, invited the Supreme Court to decide whether it was right or wrong. That happened because in the arithmetic of congressional reapportionment, every question becomes complex, contentious and politically charged. The point at issue in Senate debate on a new immigration bill was whether illegal aliens should be counted in the process that will reallocate House seats among states after the 1990 census. There could be enough of them to shift seats away from at least five states to Sun Belt states with large numbers of illegal residents. Nobody is certain because counting illegal aliens is a hard thing to do, given the fact that they don't want to be spotted by the government. Then again, the Census Bureau maintains that not including them, and still coming up with an accurate 1990 population count, would be even more difficult. ``A census of only legal residents cannot be done as accurately as a census of all residents,'' according to Census Bureau testimony to Congress. After the 1980 census, the government estimated that there were 2.57 million people in the United States illegally. There were other guesses, some of them far higher. The government made no attempt to count them out in the redistricting process; indeed, the two previous administrations decided that the Constitution required that the census cover illegal aliens along with citizens. There is not likely to be any change in that prior to the 1990 census next spring. The Senate has passed an immigration bill including an amendment that would cut illegal aliens from the redistricting numbers, but it is not likely to clear Congress before the next year's national head count. Sen. Richard Shelby, D-Ala., proposed, and won, the immigration bill amendment that is supposed to exclude illegal aliens from the redistricting process. It would give Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher the assignment of adjusting the census figures so that illegal aliens don't count for purposes of redistributing House seats. It does not come with instructions, so the department would have to figure out how. Shelby's amendment says only that the secretary is to ``make such adjustments in total population figures as may be necessary, using such methods and procedures as the secretary determines feasible and appropriate'' to keep illegal aliens from being counted in congressional reapportionment. That task would be perilous politically, since it would involve taking House seats away from some states and giving them to others, all on the basis of estimates. With 435 seats in the House, every representative gained by a state is a representative lost by another. Opponents of the Shelby amendment, led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said it was unconstitutional, as well as unworkable. ``The framers of the Constitution intended to count all persons,'' Kennedy said. The Constitution itself says the apportionment of the House is to be determined on the basis of ``the whole number of free persons,'' excluding Indians and counting every five slaves as three persons. That was amended after the Civil War to say that the apportionment of House seats will be based on ``the whole number of persons in each state.'' Neither the original article nor the amendment mentions citizenship in connection with apportionment, although the term ``citizens'' is used in some other provisions. Opponents of the amendment said that showed the authors of both documents wanted everybody counted for purposes of apportionment. But Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., said the people who wrote the documents had no concept of illegal aliens because there weren't any in their time. That came later, with immigration restrictions that began in 1875. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, the Republican leader, said the question should be put squarely to the Supreme Court. He said it is unfair to count illegal aliens in reapportionment. ``It just does not make any sense,'' Dole said. ``It does violate the constitutional principle of one man, one vote.'' But opponents of the Shelby measure said apportionment doesn't involve who votes and who doesn't. Women couldn't vote when the Constitution and the 14th Amendment were adopted, but they always were counted. Children can't vote, but they count, too. The amendment was adopted after the Senate voted 58 to 41 against a move to reject it, and 56 to 43 against scuttling it as unconstitutional. Shelby said that is sure to put the matter into the hands of the courts for a final judgment. ``Somebody is going to challenge it ...'' he said. ``Then, for the first time, we will let the Supreme Court of the United States decide something that we need an answer to ...''

1990 census;national head count;census bureau;illegal residents;house seats;illegal aliens;congressional reapportionment

AP890722-0081

Maine Judge Finds Felon Retains Gun Rights Under State Constitution

A 1987 state constitutional amendment broadening the right to bear arms means that even convicted felons may own guns, a judge ruled. Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Stephen L. Perkins on Friday dismissed a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon against Edward Brown of Cumberland. Prosecutors had argued that the amendment's backers did not intend to allow felons to own guns, but the judge said nothing in the amendment indicated such an intent. ``If Maine legislators and citizens wanted to restrict or qualify the right to keep and bear arms, they could have enacted a constitutional provision that contained the desired restrictions,'' Perkins wrote. ``Maine's right to keep and bear arms amendment is the most broad and least restrictive of any of the 43 similar state amendments,'' he wrote. Attorney General James E. Tierney said Saturday that the case would be appealed, adding, ``With all due respect to Justice Perkins, we think he is wrong.'' The Maine constitution used to guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms ``for the common defense.'' In 1986, the Maine Supreme Court upheld a gun violation by focusing on the ``common defense'' phrase. In response, the Legislature enacted a constitutional amendment deleting that language, and voters approved it in November 1987. The amendment declared, ``Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms,and this right shall never be questioned.'' Brown had been accused of criminal threatening in 1988, as well as with illegal possession of a gun. He previously had been convicted under the state's habitual offender law for operating a motor vehicle after his driver's license had been revoked. Perkins denied a motion to dismiss the criminal threatening charge, but threw out the gun possession charge, saying ``there is simply no rational connection'' between Brown's previous conviction and his ownership of a firearm.

maine constitution;right;guns;gun possession charge;felons;restrictions;constitutional amendment;arms;firearm;criminal threatening

AP890801-0025

Western Fires No Threat _ Yet _ To Last Year's Record

This week's flare-up of Western wildfires can't hold a candle to the damage wrought by last year's record-breaking fire season, but officials say a dry August could change everything. Fire has charred more than 1.3 million acres of forest and range land since January in the contiguous United States, compared to 2.1 million acres by this time last year, fire officials said Monday. ``Right now, the fire season is just starting to gear up,'' said Sandi Sacher, spokeswoman at the federal government's wildfire command post in Boise, Idaho. Nearly 10,000 firefighters in five Western states are battling hundreds of blazes, most of them sparked last week by lightning. Fire is a natural part of Western forest and range land. But some years are worse than others. Last year's combination of heat and drought across a wide swath of the West produced a hellish summer of smoke and flame. One of the hardest-hit areas was Yellowstone National Park, where fire blackened about 1 million acres, nearly half the park's territory. By year's end, 6 million acres had burned in the West and Alaska, making 1988 the worst fire season in 30 years, and, in terms of firefighting resources committed, the most expensive in U.S. history, Sacher said. The widespread drought of 1988 has been replaced by spotty rain and local areas of dry weather, Sacher said. Fire danger is high this week in parts of Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, the National Weather Service said Monday. Forecasters just now are trying to get a handle on what kind of weaer August will bring, Sacher said. ``It's arly to speculate,'' she said. ``Last year therein at all. This year, it seems to be fluctuating. You'll get a dry period, then a front will come through and it will rain. ``They're keeping a very close eye on the weatt, dry weather with lightning strikes, that could be serious.''

dry weather;contiguous united states;fire danger;record-breaking fire season;blazes;western wildfires;firefighters

AP890802-0064

Military Personnel Overseas Will be Counted in 1990 Census

A major issue hanging over the 1990 Census is resolved with the decision to include military personnel stationed overseas, but Congress is arguing over whether to keep counting illegal aliens. The House blocked an effort Tuesday to require aliens to be excluded from the census numbers used in House reapportionment every decade. But the question still may be raised in committee and in the Senate. The national head count will be taken April 1, 1990. Census figures are used to redistribute the 435 House seats among the states every 10 years and to distribute federal aid to local governments. The reapportionment issue has riveted the attention of House members from states where slow growth threatens to result in losses of House seats. Most of these states are in the North, where growth has lagged behind that of the South and West. Undocumented aliens are largely concentrated in the South, West and industrial states like New York, and other states fear a loss of power to those areas if the aliens are counted. While aliens have been counted in the past, military personnel stationed overseas have not. The Commerce Department settled that problem by announcing it will work with the Defense Department on ways to count the 1.2 million to 1.6 million military and civilian defense workers who live overseas. The problem has been in deciding which states may count these people as residents. That has yet to be decided, but possibilities include counting the state where the person owns a home or the last state where he or she lived for at least six months. The battle over illegal aliens, meanwhile, was taken up both in committee and on the House floor. Rep. Tom Ridge, R-Pa., unsuccessfully sought to attach a ban on counting aliens to an appropriations measure providing $5.8 million to run the State, Justice and Commerce departments next year, including $800 million to take the census. The bill was approved 258-165 and sent to the Senate. Opponents noted the Constitution requires House seats to be apportioned based on all the ``persons'' residing in a state. ``Every census since the Constitution was created has counted all residents of the states, both citizens and non-citizens,'' observed Rep. Don Edwards, D-Calif. ``Congress is empowered to identify those to be counted'' in the census, responded Ridge. The Census Bureau's $4 billion budget for the census is large enough to identify and separate out the illegal aliens, he said. Rep. Mervyn Dymally, D-Calif., charged the debate is really over population shifts that will lead to more House seats for southern and western states. ``Pennsylvania, I don't care what they do, unless they go down to the Southwest and bring the people back, they're going to lose a seat,'' said Dymally. Rep. Tim Valentine, D-N.C., said, however, that counting illegal aliens ``is not fair. It may be constitutional, but it's just not right.'' Census officials generally have opposed any attempt to delete illegal aliens, contending they cannot determine who is in the country legally. Asking people about their status likely would result in people lying or refusing to participate in the count, officials say, resulting in a potential undercount of residents in many areas.

1990 census;national head count;census numbers;house reapportionment;census bureau;house seats;illegal aliens

AP890803-0008

Hurricane Dean, With 80 mph Winds, Rumbles Through Eastern Caribbean

Officials warned residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and nearby islands to bolt down everything loose and stock up on food and water Wednesday as Hurricane Dean rumbled through the eastern Caribbean. Dean was upgraded from a tropical storm to the second hurricane of the Atlantic season Wednesday, and by nightfall the National Weather Center in Puerto Rico reported the hurricane's winds had strengthened to 80 mph. Hurricane warnings were posted for the Leeward Islands from Antigua to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, said forecasters at the National Hurricane Center near Miami. At midnight EDT, forecasters reported the center of the hurricane was at latitude 18.5 north and longitude 61.3 west, moving westerly at 15 mph. Its latest position was 310 miles east of Puerto Rico, 65 miles northeast of Barbuda and about 240 miles east of St. Thomas. The storm was moving over warm tropical waters at 15 mph, down slightly from the 20 mph it had sustained much of the day. But forecasters said some strengthening was possible in the next 24 hours. An advisory issued by the National Weather Service in San Juan for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico advised residents to ``secure loose objects or move them indoors,'' board or tape windows and stock up on emergency supplies such as drinking water, food that needs no refrigeration and batteries. ``This is a dangerous storm and should not be taken lightly, even though it is a minimal hurricane,'' it said. ``Don't take chances. It could lead to injuries or even death.'' In San Juan, a city of 1.1 million people, shoppers formed long lines in supermarkets, workers boarded up windows of the governor's mansion and stores in the tourist district of Old San Juan. A hurricane advisory said aircraft reports indicated Dean's center was moving westward after making a temporary jog northwest. ``This increases the threat to the northern Leeward islands,'' it said. Forecasters said the storm was expected to first hit land in Barbuda, the easternmost Leeward Island and move northwest toward the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the next 24 to 36 hours. Government radio in the twin island state of Antigua and Barbuda said Dean was expected to hit Barbuda on Wednesday night, and warned residents to bar windows, latch down loose objects and stock up on water. Barbuda is a flat, 62-square-mile coral island with a population of 1,200 and little industry or tourism. A hurricane warning for Guadeloupe was dropped, as was a hurricane watch for Dominica and Martinique. In Coral Gables, Fla., hurricane specialist Jim Gross called Dean a small hurricane, with hurricane-force winds confined to within 25 miles of its center. Rainfall of 4 to 8 inches and tides 2 to 4 feet above normal were said to be possible in the storm's path. Authorities broadcast similar warnings in several nearby islands. Dean grew from the fifth tropical depression of the season Monday morning into a named storm by Monday night. Three other storms have formed since the season began June 1. Tropical Storm Allison, caused widespread flooding in Texas and Louisiana in June. Barry churned up the open Atlantic last month before dissipating. Chantal became a hurricane Monday and was downgraded to a tropical depression Tuesday night after hitting land in Texas.

u.s. virgin islands;hurricane-force winds;forecasters;second hurricane;hurricane advisory;emergency supplies;eastern caribbean;hurricane warnings;hurricane dean;hurricane watch;puerto rico;atlantic season

AP890805-0126

Fire Headquarters Runs At High Pitch During Idaho Blazes

Lightning has set the West ablaze this summer, and electricity is again surging through the nation's wildfire command post. ``The whole place is running at the max, full out,'' Reed Jarvis of the Boise Interagency Fire Center said last week. But this year is different because the center's strategists and quartermasters who direct the nation's wildfire battles can see some of the worst blazes from their windows. As nearly half the acreage afire burns within 150 miles, specialists in the logistics center marshal resources from around the nation. On Saturday, there were about 220,000 acres ablaze in four states, with 102,000 of them in Idaho and the rest in Oregon, California and Utah. ``Tell me when the airplane's got to leave and I'll have the team on it,'' coordinator Lynn Findley says into the phone cradled on his shoulder. He hangs up, makes another call and arranges for a procurement expert to fly from Atlanta to LaGrande, Ore. Another staff member fields a caller searching for a fire officer called ``Joe Blow.'' ``Can you believe it?'' she says over her shoulder. ``He spells his name B-L-O-U-G-H.'' Others juggle as many as three of the constantly ringing phones, scanning computer terminals for personnel, airplanes, red chemical retardant and gear. ``We drop slimy red mud on burning trees from antique airplanes,'' declares the slogan on one T-shirt. In one leg of the L-shaped logistics room, the intelligence division keeps track of fires around the country. The other finds the crews and equipment to attack the flames. A big chalkboard plots the fires as they eat up mile after mile of fuel. Magnets resembling aircraft dot a map of the country, giving the location and type of equipment available. ``Obviously, firefighting on the line is stressful,'' said Fire Center spokesman Arnold Hartigan. ``But the support people are dealing with human life facing fire, which is inherently dangerous.'' Hundreds of fires burned fitfully in the Idaho backcountry for days after the last ``lightning bust.'' One storm laid down 2,000 strikes an hour with little rain. Then winds reaching 80 mph and temperatures pushing triple digits whipped those spots into major conflagrations. Three-inch-thick burning branches blew up to two miles ahead of the main fires. Flames swept over thousands of acres in several hours' time, creating a smoky miasma around Idaho's capital city. The buzz at the wildfire nerve center intensified dramatically. ``Fortunately we don't work at this level all year,'' Hartigan said. ``It would be unbearable if we had to do this 365 days a year.'' The complex has taken on a military look. National Guard troops in camouflage fatigues march toward trucks for transportation to the fire lines. Smoke jumpers sit in the shade of a building waiting for their next leap into 100-foot-tall ponderosa pines, laden with chainsaws or water pumps. ``We are definitely an assault organization,'' Hartigan said. ``It's patterned after military operations because they work. We're the supply lines for the troops.'' In the logistics center, specialists spin Lazy Susans with pink and blue requisition forms as each plea from the fire line is answered. The requests are for airplanes, helicopters, axes and shovels, portable marine pumps, hoses, fresh fruit, disposable sleeping bags, soft drinks and, most important, manpower. World War II Navy bombers _ PB-4Y2s and Neptunes _ are lined up on the flight deck, spattered with red retardant. They fill up again and again with thousands of gallons of ``slurry,'' a fertilizer-based substance that stops fires cold. Then the craft roar aloft toward the smoky mountains to the north. After five dry summers, backcountry timber has a moisture content only slightly higher than kiln-dried lumber, and strategists have settled in for a long campaign. It will take fall rains and winter snow to douse many of the nation's fires. Until then, the lights will be on at the Fire Center, and the pace will be frenetic. ``It's like Wall Street, it's like an operating room,'' Jarvis says. ``Everybody knows it's stressful, but they're not snapping at each other. The key is cooperation.''

firefighting;wildfire battles;worst blazes;wildfire command post;boise interagency fire center;fire lines

AP890907-0221

Peruvian Rebels Bring `Revolutionary Justice' to Cocaine Jungle

The Maoist Shining Path guerrillas who dominate Peru's Upper Huallaga River Valley have brought their own law and order to a cocaine-corrupted, violence-ridden region. With a system they call ``revolutionary justice,'' they have banned drug abuse, prostitution, homosexuality and thievery from the villages they control. ``Two years ago you could not travel the roads without being held up, but the `companeros' put an end to that,'' said cab driver David Nicolas, referring to the guerrillas by the Spanish term for comrades. ``They killed a few bandits and the rest got the message.'' Much of the appeal of the rebels is rooted in their reputation for almost puritanical honesty. Shopkeepers say the guerrillas never fail to pay for the food and supplies they acquire in the villages. The same shopkeepers complain bitterly about the local police who take what they want without ever offering to pay. In a rare conversation with reporters, a Shining Path political officer, who spoke only on condition he not be identified, gave an example of the kind of law the guerrillas have laid down: ``Do not steal so much as a needle or thread and return what you borrow.'' In a nation where economic chaos reigns and few laws are respected, the Shining Path is setting down clear rules and making them stick. ``In a sense they enforce a hyper-Christian morality _ except they kill you if you break the rules,'' said the Rev. Paul Feeley, a Canadian Roman Catholic priest working in Aucayacu, 255 miles northeast of Lima. In late July four young homosexual men who rendezvoused at a bridge a few miles outside Tingo Maria, 35 miles south of here, were set upon and killed by the rebels. Their bodies were dumped into the river. A few months earlier the rebels executed eight youths near Tingo Maria for smoking cigarettes laced with semi-refined cocaine. ``People have had to discipline themselves,'' said Raul Aranda, an agronomist in Tingo Maria, explaining the effects of ``revolutionary justice.'' ``In rural areas a man must be faithful to his wife and is permitted to go drinking only once a week. Violators are warned only once.'' Villagers say they are told, ``The revolution has a thousand eyes and a thousand ears.'' Peru's elected officials have painted the Shining Path insurgents as lunatic killers. In the bleak Andean highlands, where the rebels launched their insurgency in May, 1980, they have slain thousands of peasants in attacks on villages they viewed as traitors to the rebel cause. But here in the jungle-cloaked Upper Huallaga Valley, the world's largest source of coca leaf, the Shining Path _ ``Sendero Luminoso'' in Spanish _ enjoys the support of tens of thousands of farmers because the rebels protect them against a U.S.-funded coca eradication program. Although they prohibit drug consumption, the guerrillas defend coca production as an important source of income for the peasants. Their only condition is that the semi-refined coca paste be sent out of Peru. The rebels charge coca farmers a ``tax'' of 10 to 15 percent on the earnings from the sale of their crops to drug traffickers, who process the leaf into paste and sell it to Colombian cocaine dealers. The Colombians arrive in small planes at dozens of clandestine airstrips throughout the 150-mile-long valley. People in the Upper Huallaga appear to accept Shining Path's social order. They say they feel protected from the violence of drug gangs, corrupt local officials and ``abusive'' police. ``Why do you think people have joined the Shining Path? For the coca and for revenge,'' said Carlos Ferrer, a taxi driver who travels the road between Tingo Maria and Aucayacu. ``When the government began trying to wipe out coca, police came and mistreated people. They robbed peasants; they raped their women.'' That view of the police as corrupt and abusive of their power is widely held in the valley. Even top government officials in Lima say there is much truth to the complaints. ``A cop in the Huallaga Valley expects to be bribed,'' said a senior Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``He figures it's a right coming to him. He gets off the plane from Lima with his hand out for a payoff.'' Official corruption is a problem throughout Peru, but in the Huallaga Valley it seems rampant. A half dozen peasants complained in separate interviews that to obtain a farm loan from the local Banco Agrario they have to kick back 25 percent of the loan to bank officials. ``What I've heard is that if you want to be named a teacher in the valley,'' said Feeley, ``it's three months salary as payment. And if you're a woman, also the bed.'' The Shining Path has been quick to kill local officials they deemed to be corrupt, according to residents of the valley. ``If the Shining Path has the image of an organization that's fighting corruption in a very corrupt place, that's going to win them some points,'' Feeley said. A lawyer in Tingo Maria said his caseload had dropped off dramatically because peasants no longer come into town to seek justice. ``Formal justice here is ineffective, corrupt and time consuming,'' he said. ``The Shining Path's justice is quick, free and very effective.''

peru;revolutionary justice;rebels;maoist shining path guerrillas;puritanical honesty;corrupt local officials;coca production

AP890922-0167

Forecasting Aided By Supercomputers, But Still An Uncertain Science

Supercomputers, satellites and the expertise of several hurricane forecasters predicted the destructive path Hurricane Hugo would follow, giving people plenty of time to flee the South Carolina coast. But hurricane tracking remains an uncertain science. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center used computer models to track Hugo's path into Charleston, S.C. ``All the world's knowledge about meteorological conditions and forecasting changes in those conditions is embodied in those models,'' said Thomas Pyke, head of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's satellite service. Pinpointing the exact point of Hugo's landfall was difficult, but forecasters said Friday that the landfall was predicted in time for evacuation. ``Overall, I think the tracking models gave us a very good idea where Hugo would be so officials in South Carolina could act in a timely manner,'' said research meteorologist Colin McAdie. The real forecasting problem with Hugo was predicting the intensity of the storm, which was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane just hours before it slammed into Charleston. ``It is very difficult to predict changes in intensity because we don't have very reliable computer models for that,'' McAdie said. ``We really need to improve on our forecasting ability of strength.'' The hurricane specialists were surprised by the last-minute increase in wind speed, which was reported to them by Air Force reconnaissance. Hurricane specialist Gil Clark, who has tracked hurricanes for 35 years, said that a couple of decades ago, the only forecasting tools were reports from aircraft or ships. ``We had no radar or satellites then, so needless to say our forecasts were less accurate,'' Clark said. In the late 1960s, the weather service began using satellites to obtain a global weather picture. Information from the satellite is used to improve the accuracy of the large-scale models that television viewers see every night. Using the information from the satellite, supercomputers at the National Meteorological Center in Suitland, Md., send information to the hurricane center where a tracking model constantly changes to account for current weather conditions and the position of the hurricane. To determine the track of the storm, the forecasters analyze supercomputer predictions, satellite data, the history of similar storms and the current path of the hurricane. Then they make an educated guess about the landfall. Meteorology professor Kerry A. Emmanuel of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology criticizes the current forecasting system. ``Congress and the American people are suffering from the collective delusion that our data problems have been solved by satellites and that just isn't true,'' Emmanuel said. Satellites can give a ``pretty picture,'' he said, but not enough information about the wind and temperatures that affect a hurricane's path. ``Most of the information actually used to predict hurricanes comes from flying airplanes into the hurricane, and they do a very good job,'' Emmanuel said. Forecasters say the accuracy of satellite pictures is improving every year so long-range forecasting should become more precise. ``We have to remember that those models used are only guidance products,'' Pyke said, ``and that it's ultimately the job of the forecaster to predict the storm's path.''

destructive path;hurricane forecasters;real forecasting problem;south carolina coast;forecasting ability;satellite pictures;supercomputer predictions;satellite data;landfall;hurricane hugo

AP890930-0100

Police Brutality, Racism Charges Hit Chicago

Two days of racially charged hearings on police brutality and a report detailing widespread segregation in the nation's third-largest city show the new mayor must still heal some old wounds. Richard M. Daley was elected mayor April 4 amid fears by black activists that he would bring back the machine politics of his late father, Richard J. Daley, who was mayor for more than 20 years before his death in 1976. The younger Daley emphasized empowerment of minorities in his spring campaign, and after defeating black challengers in the primary and general election, he named minorities to 11 of his 21 Cabinet positions. But now Daley finds himself on the defensive. Some black politicians say the mayor is indirectly sanctioning racism by not doing enough to stop it. The racial issue resurfaced last week in two days of special hearings called by a City Council committee to look into allegations of police brutality against blacks. ``There's been no demonstrable change on the part of white leadership in this city to end racism,'' said Bob Starks, associate professor of inner city studies at Northeastern Illinois University. ``It's the same stuff, and it's seemingly getting worse.'' But Daley maintains that what's getting worse is ``irresponsible political rhetoric'' from black politicians who are looking ahead to the 1991 mayoral election. Daley is filling the remaining two years of the term of the late Harold Washington, the city's first black mayor who was just a few months into his second term when he died in November 1987. Daley has denounced the alleged police brutality. ``I will not ever tolerate police brutality, bias or bigotry in the city of Chicago,'' Daley said. ``Everyone should join together ... to help alleviate this problem.'' Also last week, a human relations task force made up of business and civic leaders released a report saying racism in Chicago was fueled by ``a shocking lack of contact'' between the city's ethnic groups. The report, based on a 15-month investigation of the city's race relations, concluded that racial divisions ``threaten to make Chicago an increasingly unpleasant place to live and are antithetical to the city's economic growth and prosperity.'' At the City Council hearings Thursday and Friday, blacks who alleged they were the victims of police brutality accused officers _ most of them white _ of unprovoked beatings, false arrests, intimidation and insulting them with racial slurs. Among them was a 55-year-old grandmother, Callie Bryant, who testified that she and her daughter were beaten up in 1987 by seven white police officers who gave her ``the sign of the Ku Klux Klan.'' Two teen-age boys testified that in August they were picked up by white officers, roughed up, and then dropped off in a white neighborhood where they were attacked by white youths. The poice department's record was defended by Police Superintendent LeRoy Martin, a black appointee of Washington. ``I'm the head of this police department, and if this police department is bad, it's because I'm bad as superintendent,'' Martin said. ``When this police department is attacked, I must defend it. When it's wrong, I must correct it.''

blacks;chicago;police brutality;race relations;new mayor;racial issue;racism

AP891006-0029

Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis Meet Again _ At Capitol

Ben Johnson, the world-class sprinter knocked off track and field's pedestal after testing positive for steroids, says it's wrong for athletes to use the muscle-building substance. ``I got caught in Seoul. I lost my gold medal,'' the Canadian told reporters as legislation to classify anabolic steroids as a controlled substance was introduced Thursday. ``I'm here to tell the people of this country it's wrong to cheat, not to take it, it's bad for your health.'' Watching Johnson was his chief nemesis: Carl Lewis, the man who was awarded the Olympic gold medals Johnson lost. ``I think it's great,'' Lewis said of the legislation. ``They're making a move and it's very positive. I'm happy to see it.'' However, the flamboyant, pony-tailed Lewis told reporters: ``I don't understand why Ben Johnson's here.'' Lewis said he attended the news conference because he was working on his autobiography and one of the chapters deals with steroids. He said he didn't intend to upstage Johnson. Reps. Mel Levine, D-Calif., Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., invited Johnson to attend as they presented the legislation that would make anabolic steroids a controlled substance, similar to the designation given cocaine and heroin. The lawmakers emphasized the increasing abuse of steroids by college, high school and even junior high school athletes who believe the substance will enhance their performance. ``America is about to have an adolescent time-bomb explode in its hands,'' Levine said. ``But if we act quickly enough to restrict steroid distribution, and to increase the penalties for illicit distribution, we can prevent this plague from spreading.'' Levine referred to the abuse of steroids as ``the silent side of the drug disease in this country.'' He applauded Johnson's courage for attending the news conference. Johnson later stepped up to the microphones and in a quiet voice with a slight stutter told other athletes not to make the same mistake he did, urging them ``to come forward, to come clean.'' Lewis dismissed reporters' questions that he had used steroids, indicating he would be willing to run against Johnson ``if he comes back and he's clean.'' While Lewis held the spotlight, Johnson slipped away to adjoining congressional offices. ``He's not here to compete with Carl Lewis. I hope he will someday,'' said Ed Futerman, Johnson's lawyer.

gold medal;seoul;ben johnson;controlled substance;world-class sprinter;canadian;anabolic steroids

AP891017-0204

Area Where Earthquake Hit Seen as Highly Probable in 1988 Report

The major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday occurred in a region seismologists targeted as having the highest probability of a strong quake in Northern California. A 1988 report by the U.S. Geological Survey placed the probability of an earthquake of 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale at 30 percent by the year 2018 in the Southern Santa Cruz mountains. The high probability is based on several factors, including length of time since the last major earthquake struck the area in 1906, said Clarence Allen, professor of Geology and Geophysics at the California Institue of Technology in Pasadena. ``This is not to say we predicted the earthquake. It just has to do with the probability of an earthquake in this area,'' Allen said. He noted that the 1988 report, titled ``Probabilities of Large Earthquakes Occurring in California on the San Andreas Fault,'' presented information that was already widely known among scientists. Allen said this information should have alerted officials to take preventive steps. Frank Baldwin of U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Center said the quake's magnitude was 6.9 on the Richter scale. It was centered in the Santa Cruz, Calif., area, 75 miles south of San Francico. The Richter scale is a measure of ground motion as recorded on seismographs. A reading of 6 can cause severe damage. A quake of 7 magnitude, a ``major'' earthquake, is capable of widespread heavy damage. Initial reports indicated widespread damage from Tuesday's quake, especially affecting highways and old masonry buildings. ``It's not like an earthquake of this size in this area is a calamitous event. It's something we should therefore be ready for,'' Allen said. The damage in the Bay area occurred to the same kind of structures heavily damaged in the 1987 Whittier quake in the Los Angeles area, which registered a 5.9 Richter reading, Allen said. ``I think we'll learn a lot from an engineering point of view from this earthquake,'' he said. ``What will be important is to see how the modern structures behaved.'' Allen said many of the same kinds of older structures that appeared to have been damaged in San Francisco also exist in the Los Angeles region. In addition, some of the roadways and overpasses in the area have roughly the same kind of construction as the Bay Bridge. In some areas of Southern California, there is a higher probability of a major quake occurring. The highest, the USGS says, is in the central California town of Parkfield, where there is a 90 percent probability of a magnitude 6 earthquake by the year 2018.

earthquake center;large earthquakes;northern california;san francico bay area;richter scale;widespread heavy damage;strong quake;major earthquake;high probability

AP891028-0022

Earthquake Measuring 7.2 Hits Solomon Islands

A major earthquake registering 7.2 on the Richter scale shook the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific today, the U.S. Geological Survey says. The preliminary reading of 7.2 is slightly stronger than the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay area Oct. 17. The earthquake struck the islands at 8:05 a.m. today, or 5:05 p.m. EDT Friday, said USGS spokesman Don Finley. It was the largest earthquake in the Solomons since a 7.4 quake on Nov. 5, 1978. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage. Major earthquakes in the Solomons usually don't cause much damage or many casualties because the area is sparsely populated and not extensively developed. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said no Pacific-wide tsunami _ popularly called a tidal wave _ was generated by the quake, but some areas might see small changes in sea levels. Saturday's earthquake was the strongest in the world in five months, Finley said. An 8.3 quake hit the Macquarie Islands south of Australia on May 23. The survey's earthquake monitors in Golden, Colo., said early seismograph readings placed the epicenter of Saturday's earthquake about 200 miles southeast of Honiaria, which is on Guadacanal Island and is the capital of the Solomons. That places the earthquake just east of San Cristobal, the easternmost island in the Solomons chain and about 1,300 miles northeast of Brisbane, Australia. The Richter scale is a measure of ground motion as recorded on seismographs. Every increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude. Thus a reading of 7.5 reflects an earthquake 10 times stronger than one of 6.5. An earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale can cause slight damage in the local area, 4 moderate damage, 5 considerable damage, 6 severe damage. A 7 reading is a ``major'' earthquake, capable of widespread heavy damage; 8 is a ``great'' quake, capable of tremendous damage.

epicenter;richter scale;major earthquakes;largest earthquake;solomon islands;widespread heavy damage;earthquake monitors

AP891116-0115

Twister Rips Through Alabama City, Killing 17

Rescuers crawled through collapsed homes and shops today looking for more victims of a tornado that carved a 3-mile stretch of destruction, killing 17 people, injuring 463 and leaving 1,000 homeless. ``It's like taking six to 10 city blocks and putting them in a blender and putting it on liquefy,'' said rescue worker Bob Caraway, whose specialty is cave rescues. He was among those called out to help dig through rubble for survivors or the bodies of the dead. The tornado was one of a series that touched down Wednesday in an arc spanning at least seven states from the Deep South to the Midwest. The other tornadoes caused at least 19 injuries and far-flung property damage. In Huntsville, teams with cranes and floodlights searched for the injured or dead, hampered by wind-whipped rain and temperatures that plummeted overnight from 73 degrees into the 30s. Gov. Guy Hunt sent 50 National Guardsmen to help and said he would view damage Friday. His spokesman, Terry Abbott, said aerial surveys indicate the twister hopped along a 25-mile path, much of it straight through Huntsville. By this afternoon, severe thunderstorms were crossing the Northeast. The National Weather Service put out a tornado watch for parts of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, all of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. In Pennsylvania, the weather service said it received unconfirmed reports of a tornado that turned over a car and knocked down trees and power lines near Gettysburg. Elsewhere: _In Georgia, 19 people were injured, four critically, and at least 200 people were evacuated after a tornado strus.C., and a tornado toppled trees, downed power lines and damaged 20 houses near Greenwood, S.C. No injuries were reported in either state. _Tornadoes caused minor property damage in Mississippi, Kentucky and Indiana. _In West Virginia, high winds believed to be tornadoes swept Jefferson County early today, overturning trailers, blowing roofs off homes and downing power lines, authorities said. Four people were injured, two seriously. _Heavy thunderstorms destroyed at least a dozen homes in Alorton, Ill., killing one person and injuring 20 others, five seriously, authorities said. The tornado struck Huntsville with virtually no warning Wednesday afternoon as the city's streets grew busy with the approach of rush hour. In a matter of seconds, cars were hurled through the air and crushed, and apartments and stores looked as if they had been bombed. ``It was fast,'' said Lucy Lee Rusk, whose apartment was battered by debris. ``It was like one big pop and that's when everything went.'' The National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch earlier in the day, but did not issue a more urgent tornado warning until 4:39 p.m. CST, when the tornado was spotted at the municipal golf course. By then, it was already tearing up the city. A watch means a tornado is considered possible, while a warning means a tornado is believed to exist. Huntsville Police Maj. Robert Moder said this morning that 463 people were injured by the twister, which plowed through a school and rural areas as well as a shopping mall and adjacent apartments. Police Chief Richard Ottman initially put the number of dead at 19, but his clerk, Kitty Whitworth, later said the death toll was lowered to 17 after police confirmed the count of bodies. She said police had no firm reports of people missing. No children in the school were killed, but about 30 youngsters were in a kindergarten class at the building, and five were reported injured. Most of the dead were in apartments, stores or cars. Mayor Steve Hettinger estimated the number of homeless at 1,000 and said officials were preparing a request for federal disaster assistance. A worker at a building owned by the Madison County Jaycees said 42 people were staying there early today, and described the mood of the survivors as ``shock, mostly, and disbelief.'' ``They're thankful to be alive and they're thankful their families are alive,'' he said, adding that the shelter had received calls from around the country from worried relatives. The tornado was Alabama's deadliest since a 1975 twister killed 22 people in Birmingham, said Danny Cooper, state emergency management director in Montgomery. Along a highway near a destroyed apartment complex, cars were flipped and smashed into telephone poles and crushed by trees. The roadway was strewn with used bandages and medical gloves left by emergency workers treating the injured. Humana Hospital administrator David Miller said doctors had difficulty reaching the hospital because of blocked roads. Those in the tornado's path spoke with awe of its fury. ``It came in with a huge roar, an enormous amount of water, and it just started shaking and tearing at everything it could get hold of,'' said real estate broker Ike Carroll, who was in his car. Heavy overhead power lines ``started snapping just like a circus performer would snap his whip,'' Carroll said. ``All of these heavy arcing, flashing lines that were just popping and snapping over the top of us. ... It was as if you were looking into an arc-welder, they were so bright.'' Kenneth Lenhard had undergone an operation at the Crestwood Hospital on Wednesday and returned to his room about an hour before a window in the next room blew out as the tornado passed. ``There wasn't anything I could do, so I covered my head,'' Lenhard said. ``I thought, `What the heck, I'm already half dead.' '' The downtown Jones Valley Elementary School, the Waterford Square and adjacent Queensbury apartment complexes were reduced to rubble. Kindergarteners were the only pupils left at the school by the time the twister hit. The city is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army's Redstone Arsenal, but no serious damage was reported from the space agency or weapons testing center. At least two other tornadoes were reported in Alabama, injuring at least three people in addition to the Huntsville total. Near Palmetto, Ga., resident Jeff Bryant said his home at the Sweetbriar Mobile Home Park near Interstate 85 began to vibrate when the twister approached. ``Then we heard a large, loud, swirling and humming noise,'' he recalled. ``It didn't sound like a train like everybody says it does. I lived near a train track. It did not sound like a train. It sounded more like a jet aircraft at very close range.'' Thomas Farr was driving on Interstate 85 when the tornado hit. ``It was picking up cars and tossing them like toys off the interstate,'' he said. ``I saw one 18-wheeler flip over. The car in front of us was flipped about 100 yards, and the guy was thrown out of his passenger window and landed 50 feet from his car.

severe thunderstorms;rescue;disaster;tornado watch;tornadoes;huntsville;property damage;victims;federal disaster assistance;destruction

AP891116-0191

With AM-Southern Tornadoes, Bjt

Here is a state-by-state look at the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that have killed at least 27 people, injured more than 500 and left hundreds homeless since Wednesday:

severe thunderstorms;damage;death;tornadoes;destruction

AP891201-0100

Slovenia Claims Serbia Wants to Expel Slovenia from Yugoslavia

The government of the northern republic of Slovenia said Friday that Serbia, in the south and east, is attempting to ``oust us from Yugoslavia.'' The statement from the Slovenian presidency followed Serbia's decision Tuesday to ban all political and economic contacts with Slovenia. Liberal, prosperous Slovenia and the hard-line communist leadership of Serbia have been feuding for years. But the Serbian action Tuesday was the gravest threat to the unity of the Yugoslav federation since the death of the nation's post-World War II leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980. Earlier Friday 13 people were arrested when police dispersed a crowd of about 100 gathered for a pro-Serbian rally in Ljubljana that had been prohibited by Slovenian authorities. Slovenia issued an order Tuesday banning the rally and Serbia reacted by severing relations with Slovenia. In its statement, Slovenia's collective presidency called Serbia's action ``a flagrant violation of all constitutional, legal and civilized norms.'' ``We shall never permit anyone to drive us away or oust us from Yugoslavia,'' it said. ``Yugoslavia is our country. We have the right to be citizens of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia and also to be different. Those who do not acknowledge this separate themselves from the federal state.'' It denounced the Serbian communist leadership, saying, ``We do not accept a comprehensive control of a single truth, of political uniformity, authoritarianism and intolerance, of ideologic monolithism.'' Serbia is the largest of Yugoslavia's six republics. Aleksandar Prlja, Serbia's secretary for foreign affairs, told The Associated Press that Slovenia's ``banning of the peaceful rally was deeply humiliating for the Serbian people. ``This is irreconcilable with joint existence in a federal state.'' Slovenian officials said the rally had been organized by Serbian politicians trying to oust the Slovenian leadership. Economic decline has brought increased friction between the republics with their different ethnic populations, and the Slovenian Serbian conflict also involves liberal vs. conservative communist leaders. Slovenia advocates regional autonomy and has legalized opposition groups that will contest the region's first multi-party balloting in elections next spring. Serbia insists on a centralized federtion with the Communist Party the only official party. The Serbian news media on Friday accused Slovenia of ``fascist-like'' behavior and called for the resignation of Yugoslav President Janez Drnovsek, a Slovene. Delo, Ljubljana's major newspeper, said Friday's rally was ``an integral part of a plan to alter by force the Yugoslav federation. It was yet another attempt to bring Slovenia to its knees.'' It called Serbia's imposition of an economic boycott a ``declaration of war'' and said Slovenia would respond by ``opening itself to the world, introducing greater democracy and by holding free elections.''

hard-line communist leadership;serbian action;yugoslav federation;slovenian serbian conflict;regional autonomy;pro-serbian rally;slovenian presidency;economic contacts;economic boycott

AP891210-0079

An AP Study: Cashing In on the Drought

America's 1988 drought captured attention everywhere, but especially in Washington where politicians pushed through the largest disaster relief measure in U.S. history. The Associated Press went back to track where the $3.9 billion went and found the money spread far beyond the drought.

drought;associated press;drought relief program;disaster relief measure;america;drought relief bill

AP891213-0004

An AP Study: Cashing In on the Drought

The drought of 1988 hit hardest in the upper Midwest _ perhaps nowhere harder than in North Dakota. More disaster relief aid went there than to any other state. The third story in a four-part series, ``Cashing In on the Drought,'' examines how the $3.9 billion disaster aid program helped farmers most in need.

drought;upper midwest;disaster relief aid;north dakota;four-part series;disaster aid program;farmers

AP900215-0031

Study: Blacks More Susceptible than Whites to Tuberculosis

Black Americans suffer six times more tuberculosis than whites do, and one important reason appears to be a genetic susceptibility to the disease, according to a study today. The research found that when living conditions are identical, black people are twice as likely as whites to get infected with the TB bacteria. The relatively high rate of TB among blacks has traditionally been blamed on crowded housing and other conditions of poverty. While social factors undoubtedly play a central role, the study suggests that innate susceptibility also contributes. ``We found that there is a systemic difference between whites and blacks,'' said Dr. William W. Stead. ``Whites seem to be more able to fend off the organism without it's ever being able to establish an infection.'' Stead, a tuberculosis specialist at the Arkansas Department of Health, discovered the racial difference while analyzing health statistics from nursing homes and prisons. ``It's a very intriguing finding,'' commented Dr. George Comstock of Johns Hopkins University. ``I never quite believe anything until somebody replicates it. But I don't know of any real holes in this one.'' At the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. George Curlin called the findings ``plausible and provocative.'' However, he added: ``I'm scared to death that people are going to say this explains it all and forget everything else. Of the total six times difference, what proportion is attributable to biology and what to social factors? I would say that biology is relatively minor.'' Stead's study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was based largely on a review of 25,398 elderly people who were free of TB infection when they were admitted to Arkansas nursing homes. When they were retested at least two months later, 14 percent of blacks and 7 percent of whites showed evidence of new infections. Prison data from Arkansas and Minnesota also found that black inmates were twice as likely as white prisoners to catch the bacteria while incarcerated. Another soon-to-be published study reports the discovery of a racial difference in the way blood cells respond to the TB bacteria, which could help explain why blacks seem to be more prone to tuberculosis. About 22,000 cases of tuberculosis are reported annually in the United States, resulting in 1,700 deaths. In the population at large, tuberculosis is about six times as common among blacks as whites. An estimated 10 million Americans are believed to be infected with the bacteria but not sick. The disease, which attacks the lungs, has long been associated with poor, crowded living conditions. Stead's study found that blacks got infected more readily than whites, regardless of the race of the person who initially brought the infection into the nursing home. In homes where the initial source of the disease was white, 17 percent of blacks and 12 percent of whites caught the infection. When the primary source was black, 12 percent of blacks and 8 percent of whites contracted the bacteria. This phase of the study also suggests, however, that infected whites are more potent spreaders of the infection than are blacks. Stead speculated that whites have evolved better defenses against TB, because the bacteria has long been common in Europe and parts of Africa north of the Sahara, but is traditionally rare in sub-Saharan Africa. By contrast, blacks are genetically more resistant than whites to malaria, which is common in Africa. In the other study, Dr. Alfred Crowle of Webb-Waring Lung Institute at the University of Colorado found differences in the resistance of germ-eating blood cells called macrophages. In blacks, these cells are more likely to harbor TB infections. ``This helps explain why black people are more susceptible to tuberculosis than are white people,'' said Crowle. At the turn of the century, TB was the nation's leading cause of death. The number of cases fell steadily in recent decades until 1984. Experts believe the decline has leveled off in part because of the emergence of the AIDS virus, which weaken the body's resistance to TB bacteria. Others possible factors include homelessness and immigration of people from areas where the disease is still common.

infectious diseases;tb bacteria;black americans;tuberculosis;racial difference;whites

AP900217-0078

Researchers Declare Success in Putting AIDS in Remission

Drugs are now available that can put AIDS patients into remission, and recent advances have made clear that a vaccine to protect against AIDS infection is possible, a panel of AIDS experts said Saturday. At the same time, however, the AIDS epidemic is being followed by a suddenly resurgent epidemic of tuberculosis, the scientists said. ``We have now made demonstrable first steps in inducing remission,'' said William Haseltine of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. ``I think there is evidence that a substantial number of people who would have died are now alive,'' Haseltine said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He cautioned against a premature conclusion that the AIDS epidemic may be coming to an end. A number of treatments for AIDS and AIDS-related infections are available, he said, but many of them are not available to the poor or to developing countries. ``It looks like most of these will be expensive, hard to deliver and require monitoring,'' Haseltine said. ``Unless we develop a vaccine, the future of this epidemic worldwide will be extremely grim,'' he said. A year ago, the prospects for an AIDS vaccine looked doubtful, said James Mullins of Stanford University. But that has changed. ``There has been a transition in the effort to find a vaccine,'' Mullins said. Vaccines to protect animals against AIDS-related viruses have shown some success, he said, encouraging researchers to believe that similar vaccines can be found for humans. ``There's new hope and interest that a vaccine is possible,'' said John McGowan of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. Sten Vermund, also of the Allergy Institute, noted that an epidemic of tuberculosis is emerging in AIDS patients in the inner cities. In New York City, for example, tuberculosis declined between 1960 and 1977, but is now increasing and has reached the 1960 level again. ``We anticipate in our major cities losing two decades of progress in our tuberculosis control efforts,'' said Vermund. And unlike the AIDS virus, which cannot be transmitted through casual contact, tuberculosis is easily transmitted through the air. ``I think we should worry about tuberculosis and the risk to the general population,'' Vermund said. Many of the cases of tuberculosis are occurring when individuals who were exposed to tuberculosis early in life contract AIDS. They lose the ability to continue suppressing the tuberculosis bacteria, which normally would have remained dormant, and tuberculosis appears. ``It's likely to be yet another health problem imposed on the inner cities, where the health problems are already legion,'' Vermund said. There is no strong evidence yet that tuberculosis is spreading to a significant number of poeple who do not have AIDS, but that is likely, Vermund said. He said the rise in tuberculosis began before the AIDS epidemic, probably because of the rise in the homeless population during the 1970s. Homeless people are at elevated risk of tuberculosis, Vermund said.

drugs;tuberculosis bacteria;remission;aids infection;aids epidemic;aids vaccine

AP900306-0105

Senate Confirms Thomas as Federal Judge

The Senate today confirmed conservative civil rights official Clarence Thomas as a federal appeals judge, brushing aside complaints about his record from some liberal and senior citizens groups. The Senate had planned to take a roll call on the nomination but changed course at the last minute and confirmed Thomas on a voice vote. Thomas, 41, will be a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. As chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the last eight years, he has been one of the most visible black officials in the Reagan and Bush administrations. Thomas, a critic of quotas and affirmative action to fight hiring discrimination, has been highly praised by conservatives. But liberals have criticized his record. It became clear Monday night that Thomas' critics had failed to muster enough support to defeat his nomination. ``I am prepared to concede that Mr. Thomas is going to be confirmed,'' said Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, a leading critic. The only other opponent to materialize in the debate was Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, who complained that the statute of limitations on 15,000 age-discrimination cases before the EEOC ran out without any action being taken while Thomas was in charge. ``Those cases might as well have been sent to Beijing,'' Pryor said. ``They might as well have been sent to Bulgaria. They might as well have been sent to Romania. ... It's too much to overlook.'' Pryor said, however, that Thomas was virtually guaranteed to win confirmation and added that he wished the nominee well in his new post. Danforth, Thomas' chief Senate supporter and former employer, said he could vouch for the nominee's abilities as a lawyer. ``I hired him twice,'' Danforth said. ``People say, 'Don't you ever make a mistake?' Well, yeah, but not twice.'' Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., dismissed complaints that Thomas had failed to cooperate with the Aging Committee several years ago when former Sen. John Melcher, D-Mont., was chairman. Simpson said the panel's investigation of the employment commission was flawed to begin with. ``They wasted a lot of time trying to nail Clarence Thomas,'' he said. Thomas was born in poverty in rural Georgia, worked his way through college and is a graduate of Yale Law School. Before becoming chairman of the commission, he worked under Danforth in the Missouri attorney general's office and in the Senate as well for the Monsanto Corp. Civil rights forces have been divided over the nomination. The Alliance for Justice, a liberal court-watcher group based in Washington, and several senior citizens groups have been critical. But the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not take a stand on the issue.

nomination;black officials;columbia;clarence thomas;u.s. circuit court;federal appeals judge;senate

AP900313-0191

One Year Later, Nation's Worst Oil Spill Is Hidden But Not Gone

From a helicopter, the wave-washed beach looks as if the worst oil spill in U.S. history had never touched it. Silvery sticks of driftwood poke through a deep blanket of snow, and smooth gray pebbles roll in the surf under the gaze of a bald eagle perched in a shoreside spruce. But the view doesn't impress Joe Bridgman of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Dashing out as the chopper lands, he digs into the cobble beach and quickly finds what he knew he would. ``Oil,'' he says. ``Smell it?'' The pungent odor of petroleum wafts through the air as the hole turns black with crude oil, an oozing remnant of the 10.8 million gallons spilled into Prince William Sound last March 24 by the tanker Exxon Valdez. Bridgman scoops up a shovelful of gravel, lugs it to the water's edge and dumps it in. A rainbow sheen of oil spreads across the water. ``Hundreds of gallons of oil are locked up under this beach,'' he says. ``And this isn't isolated. There are hundreds of beaches all over the sound that are still oiled, and the oil is slowly bleeding out. ``The beaches can look beautiful at the surface, but you can dig down, in this case just a few inches below the surface, and find lots of oil. Now, is that a threat or isn't it?'' A year after the wreck of the Exxon Valdez, the question clings like the oil under this Perry Island beach. Certainly, the worst is over; thousands of dead birds no longer wash up on shorelines as they did last summer. But assessing the continuing damage wrought by the nation's most extensive _ and expensive _ oil spill has just begun. As a growing slick of lawyers haggles over who is to blame, Exxon Corp. and government agencies debate how to clean up what's left and scientists track wildlife populations' first steps on the long road to recovery. Any hope of a quick solution faded last summer as oil from the Exxon Valdez spread across 1,100 miles of Alaska's wild southern coast. A cleanup army of 12,000 workers polished rocks by hand, blasted beaches with hot water and sprayed fertilizer to promote the growth of oil-eating microbes. But when Exxon suspended its $2 billion cleanup in mid-September, it had recovered only 5 percent to 9 percent of the oil spilled, state officials estimate. About 20 percent to 40 percent is believed to have evaporated. That leaves 50 percent to 75 percent of the oil in the water, on the ocean bottom or on beaches. Some was soaked up by unwilling sponges: the seabirds, eagles and sea otters whose carcasses now lie frozen in five vans in an Anchorage storage yard, awaiting their day as physical evidence in court. Workers found more than 1,000 dead otters, a sizable chunk of the spill area's total population of 15,000 to 22,000. Many of Prince William Sound's 3,000 bald eagles also suffered; at least 151 died, most poisoned by scavenging the oily remains of some of the 34,400 dead seabirds recovered. Those numbers alone make the Valdez spill the most lethal ever, but scientists say the actual death count is much higher, estimating that up to 90 percent of the seabirds caught in oil sank from sight or drifted out to sea. Exxon notes the spill did not wipe out any species and says surviving animals and birds will rebuild populations. But that may take up to 70 years for some hard-hit seabird colonies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers say. ``We never claimed that the spill put any animal on the endangered species list, but that's missing the point,'' said Fish and Wildlife spokesman Bruce Batten. ``It's still the greatest human-caused wildlife disaster that this agency knows about.'' Oily carcasses were an obvious measure of the spill's impact, but victims also included less visible members of the ecosystem, such as young salmon and tiny intertidal creatures. Assessment studies for these populations are not finished, and even preliminary findings are hard to come by _ researchers have been told by lawyers to save their findings for court, where it seems nearly everyone involved in the spill is headed. Capt. Joseph Hazelwood, skipper of the Exxon Valdez, is on trial this month in Anchorage on charges including criminal mischief and drunken driving of his vessel, and a federal grand jury recently issued criminal indictments against Exxon, starting a case that could take years to finish. Exxon already faces more than 150 civil lawsuits. Fishermen sued because of lost seasons. Tour-boat operators sued because fewer people wanted to cruise an oiled sound. The state sued, claiming the company was negligent in responding to the spill, only to be countersued by Exxon, which claimed state officials hindered the use of chemical dispersants that could have broken up large quantities of oil early on. Information about the spill is filtered through this litigious atmosphere, making much of it suspect. Exxon distributes before-and-after pictures of cleaned beaches; Bridgman and other state officials, accusing Exxon of ``myth-making,'' eagerly make room for journalists on flights to oiled beaches. State officials cite an October survey that showed 117 miles of shoreline remained moderately or heavily oiled, with oil more than two feet deep in some spots. They say observers flying over the sound still report 15 to 20 oil sheens bleeding off beaches daily. Exxon officials, meanwhile, say their winter monitoring of 64 sites shows wind and waves have scoured away, on average, more than half the surface oil left in September, and up to 80 percent of the buried oil. ``From a layman's point of view, what's left out there is really insignificant,'' said Exxon scientist Andy Teal.

human-caused wildlife disaster;tanker exxon valdez;crude oil;oil spill;environmental conservation;criminal indictments;wildlife populations;capt. joseph hazelwood;civil lawsuits

AP900316-0028

Nation's Tuberculosis Rate Still Falling _ But Very Slowly, Due to AIDS

A steady decline in tuberculosis has all but stopped amid the continuing threat of TB for the AIDS-infected, federal health researchers say. In 1988, the last year for which complete statistics are available, 22,436 U.S. tuberculosis cases were reported, down 0.4 percent from 1987, the national Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday. That slight drop compares with an average annual decrease of 6.7 percent from 1981 to 1984. One reason for the slowing of progress in wiping out TB is ``the increasing occurrence of TB in persons infected with ... HIV,'' the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, the CDC said. AIDS leaves the body susceptible to a number of serious illnesses, including TB, and studies have found that about 4 percent of AIDS patients also are listed as TB patients. If the 6.7 percent average annual decline had kept up through the late 1980s, an estimated 14,768 fewer TB cases would have been expected during 1985-1988, the CDC said in its weekly report. Tuberculosis was down 8.7 percent among whites in 1988, as compared with 1985, but up 9.1 percent among blacks and 17.6 percent among Hispanics _ two groups with proportionately higher rates of AIDS cases. In 1988, 7,720 new tuberculosis cases were reported in whites, compared with 8,280 in blacks and 3,637 in Hispanics. The TB rate among blacks was 28.3 per 100,000, compared with 18.3 for Hispanics and 4.1 for whites. Another 2,371 TB cases were reported among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, for a rate of 36.3 per 100,000. The CDC estimates that 10 million Americans are infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, an infection of the lungs. The vast majority will never become ill. But the number of new cases is only part of the toll from tuberculosis, the CDC said. In 1987, more than 115,000 Americans were under TB treatment: 20,000 new patients plus 95,000 people labeled high-risk and on preventive therapy. Tuberculosis, which is curable in most cases with drug treatment, killed 1,755 Americans in 1987.

steady decline;disease control;complete statistics;tuberculosis cases;aids cases

AP900322-0192

Diamond Business Loses Some Sparkle

A stone's throw from the smelly Smithfield meat market is an office building complex with no sign or anything to attract the attention of Londoners hurrying by. Mounted cameras, jumpy guards and heavy doors keep out the uninvited. The gold-colored interior is hushed and luxuriously decorated. This is the Central Selling Organization, London-based marketing arm of the De Beers diamond empire, controlled by the wealthy Oppenheimer family of South Africa. Its experts sort mounds of rough diamonds constituting 80 percent of the world's annual production. But scratch the surface of this secretive world, and the diamond business loses some sparkle. Sales have declined sharply, and the 56-year-old cartel is facing pressure to give producers better terms and allow them to sell more of their own gems. Although its prosperity and control of the world diamond industry looks unchallengeable, the pressures could loosen its grip and crimp its profits. ``This year is going to be a critical one for De Beers,'' says Diamond Intelligence Briefs, a trade publication. De Beers' South African interests face an uncertain future, largely because of a newly energized political will by the black majority in that country, an important diamond producer. The African National Congress has pledged to nationalize South Africa's major sources of wealth if it takes power. Apparently attempting to limit risk, De Beers recently announced it would split South African and foreign interests into two publicly held companies, one based in Switzerland. After growth spurts of 19 percent in 1987 and 35 percent in 1988, rough diamond sales fell 2 percent to $4.09 billion last year because of slowing economies, high interest rates and the organization's two double-digit price increases in 1988 and 1989. The decline was sharpest in the second half of the year, when sales fell 24 percent from the first six months. ``There was a very definite, noticeable slack in demand,'' said analyst Peter Miller of Yorkton Securities Inc. in London. The decline has limited De Beers' scope for raising prices. This past week, De Beers announced it was increasing prices 5.5 percent, compared to a 15.5 percent increase a year earlier. The organization must this year renegotiate five-year contracts with Botswana, the second biggest diamond producer in terms of value, and Argyle Diamonds of Western Australia, the biggest producer in terms of quantity. The government of newly independent Namibia, meanwhile, is expected to demand a one-fifth stake in Consolidated Diamond Mines, De Beers' Namibian subsidiary. The organization sells most of the Soviet Union's West-bound diamonds, but the Soviets, the biggest value producer, have been acting more independently and squeezing the cartel's margins, the experts say. Jack Lunzer, managing director of IDC Ltd., an independent diamond distributor in London, said De Beers undoubtedly will continue to control the major part of world production, but its marketing arm's profits will fall. The effect hasn't been felt yet; De Beers' profit rose 37 percent to $1.1 billion in 1989. Few diamond-producing countries dare sell their output outside the organization, and some bold enough to leave have returned because of the difficulty in peddling diamonds alone. Zaire returned in 1983 after a two-year split. Angola, which broke in 1985, has been negotiating its re-entry. ``We are as strongly in control of the diamond market as we have been for many years,'' said Tim Capon, the cartel's director. The organization buys rough diamonds from De Beers' own mines, which represent 30 percent of world production, and from producers in Tanzania, South Africa, Zaire, Botswana, Namibia, Australia and the Soviet Union. It reveals few details about security. It was robbed once, in the early 1980s, when some diamonds were snatched as couriers carried them from one building to another. De Beers picks its 160 or so buying customers from thousands of hopefuls. Ten times a year, at sales called ``sights,'' the clients are offered a selection of diamonds chosen by the organization and placed in a simple cardboard box. The buyer basically can take it or leave it. The gems then go to cutters in the world's major diamond-cutting centers: Bombay, India; Tel Aviv, Israel; Antwerp, Belgium; and New York. Of all diamonds mined, only 15 percent will end up in jewelry, but these represent 80 percent of the value of the world's diamond production. The rest are put to industrial use. The organization is fighting the lackluster sales trend by trying to create new demand. Last year, it spent $160 million on advertising and promotion, trying, for example, to boost purchases of men's diamond jewelry. De Beers's achievement over the decades has been to mass-market what was once an aristocratic luxury without greatly diminishing its value. Today, diamonds remain ``the gem of gems,'' although millions of people own them. De Beers insists it seeks long-term stability and prosperity for the industry, saying price fluctuations would undermine confidence in the value of diamonds. So far, it has succeeded. While other commodities markets have suffered repeated convulsions, rough diamond prices haven't fallen since the organization started announcing price changes in 1964. Even its fiercest competitors laud De Beers for putting up considerable amounts of money and assuming the risks to develop mines and support the market. During the early 1980s, when high interest rates caused the worst diamond slump since the 1930s, the organization prevented the market's collapse by doubling its diamond stockpile to nearly $2 billion worth. But producers criticize the organization's secretiveness and what they call its arbitrary valuation system. Some want more of the industry's millions of jobs relocated in their own countries. Said Lunzer: ``It's not unnatural for people in the producing countries to say, `Are we getting a proper share of the value of our national resource?''' After reviewing a complaint filed by the British mining company Consolidated Gold Fields PLC alleging anti-competitive practices, Britain's Office of Fair Trading decided in August against formally investigating whether the organization abuses its monopoly. Gold Fields acknowledged the complaint was a defensive maneuver against a hostile, and ultimately unsuccessful, takeover bid from Oppenheimer-controlled Minorco SA last year. Formally known as De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., and based in Kimberley, South Africa, the company was formed in 1888 by the British industrial colonialist Cecil Rhodes. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, a diamond merchant, became chairman of De Beers in 1929 and five years later formed Diamond Trading Co., the precursor of today's cartel. Oppenheimer, who linked the diamond business with his extensive Anglo American Corp. gold-mining interests, is credited with steering De Beers through the Depression. He died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son, Harry Oppenheimer, who has made the company more internationally minded and therefore less vulnerable. Now 81, Oppenheimer still serves on De Beers' board of directors, of which he previously was chairman. His 44-year-old son and heir apparent, Nicholas, is deputy to Chairman Julian Ogilvie Thompson.

south african interests;diamond producer;de beers diamond empire;diamond business;world diamond industry;rough diamond sales;central selling organization

AP900322-0200

Government Boosts Spending to Combat Cattle Plague

``Mad cow disease'' has killed 10,000 cattle, restricted the export market for Britain's cattle industry and raised fears about the safety of eating beef. The government insists the disease poses only a remote risk to human health, but scientists still aren't certain what causes the disease or how it is transmitted. ``I think everyone agrees that the risks are low,'' says Martin Raff, a neurobiologist at University College, London. ``But they certainly are not zero. I have not changed my eating habits, but I certainly do wonder.'' Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was diagnosed only in 1986. The symptoms are very much like scrapie, a sheep disease which has been in Britain since the 1700s. The incurable disease eats holes in the brains of its victims; in late stages a sick animal may act skittish or stagger drunkenly. The suspicion is that the disease was transmitted through cattle feed, which used to contain sheep by-products as a protein supplement. The government banned the use of sheep offal in cattle feed in June 1988, and later banned the use of cattle brain, spleen, thymus, intestines and spinal cord in food for humans. Sheep offal is still used in pig and poultry feed. Earlier this month, the government announced it would pay farmers 100 percent of market value or average market price, whichever is less, for each animal diagnosed with BSE. ``I think it is a recognition _ not just of pressure from farmers _ but that the public would feel more confident that no BSE-infected animal would ever be likely to go anywhere near the food chain if there was 100 percent compensation,'' said Sir Simon Gourlay, president of the National Farmers Union. The disease struck one of his own cows, Gourlay said. ``In the course of 24 hours, the animal went from being ostensibly quite normal to very vicious and totally disoriented.'' As of Feb. 9, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said that 9,998 cattle have been destroyed after being diagnosed with BSE. The government has paid $6.1 million in compensation, and is budgeting $16 million for 1990. Ireland's Department of Agriculture and Food said about 20 cases have been confirmed there, all of them near the border with the British province of Northern Ireland. Because of the disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service banned imports of cattle, embryos and bull semen from Great Britain in July, said Margaret Webb, a USDA spokeswoman in Washington. Similar embargoes have been imposed by Australia, Finland, Israel, Sweden, West Germany and New Zealand, according to the agriculture ministry, and the European Community has proposed a ban on exports of British cattle older than 6 months. David Maclean, a junior agriculture minister, has complained of ``BSE hysteria'' in the media and has insisted that the risk of the disease passing to humans is ``remote.'' The government has committed $19 million to finding the cause of the disease. A commission chaired by Professor Sir Richard Southwood of Oxford University reported last year that the cause of BSE ``is quite unlike any bacteria or known viruses.'' The report said the disease was impossible to detect in apparently healthy animals because it did not prompt the immune system to produce antibodies. The Southwood report said it was ``most unlikely'' that the disease was a threat to humans. But the report added: ``If our assessments of these likelihoods are incorrect, the implications would be extremely serious.'' There is a human variant of spongiform encephalopathy, known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. About two dozen cases were reported in Britain last year. Another form, known as kuru, had been found cannibals in New Guinea. According to a report in the British Medical Journal, the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is no higher in Britain than it is in countries free of scrapie. ``It is urgent that the same reassurance can be given about the lack of effect of BSE on human health,'' a consultative committee reported to the agriculture ministry. The committee's report, released early this year, said it is only a ``shrewd guess'' that BSE was transmitted through sheep offal in cattle feed.

mad cow disease;exports;british cattle;immune system;sheep disease;scrapie;bse;government

AP900323-0036

Exxon-Valdez Chronology

Here is a chronology of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, its cleanup and related developments:

cleanup;exxon valdez oil spill;developments;chronology

AP900416-0188

AGENCIES AND RADIO OUT

John Hatch, founder of the non-profit Foundation for International Community Assistance, promotes village banking to encourage private enterprise in the Third World. What he foresees is a body blow to world poverty through bootstrap economics.

john hatch;private enterprise;village banking;third world;poverty vaccination;world poverty

AP900419-0121

Elizabeth Taylor, Hospitalized With Pneumonia, in Stable Condition

Actress Elizabeth Taylor, hospitalized with pneumonia, was listed as stable Thursday at St. John's Hospital and Health Center, her publicist said. ``She's stable. She's OK. We have nothing else,'' said Lisa Del Favaro, a Taylor spokeswoman with Chen Sam and Associates public relations in New York City. Inquiries to the hospital were referred to Chen Sam. Miss Taylor, 58, hospitalized with a sinus infection April 9 at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, was transferred to St. John's on Monday because of a persistent fever and pneumonia. ``She is currently being treated intravenously with antibiotics and will remain hospitalized,'' Dr. Patricia Murray, an infectious disease specialist treating Miss Taylor, said in a statement Tuesday. Miss Taylor said in the statement: ``I have been advised by my physician to remain hospitalized and I expect to make a full recovery.'' The actress had a nearly fatal bout of pneumonia in 1961, the year she won an Oscar for ``Butterfield 8.'' Doctors performed a tracheotomy _ inserting an air tube in her windpipe at the neck _ to help her breathe. Miss Taylor's health problems started with a fall from a horse when she was 13 and filming the movie ``National Velvet.'' She has had back problems ever since. In 1983, she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and pain killers prescribed for a wide range of health problems. Miss Taylor has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage.

actress elizabeth taylor;st. john's hospital;health problems;sinus infection;pneumonia;miss taylor

AP900424-0035

Elizabeth Taylor in Intensive Care Unit

A seriously ill Elizabeth Taylor battled pneumonia at her hospital, her breathing assisted by a ventilator, doctors say. Hospital officials described her condition late Monday as stabilizing after a lung biopsy to determine the cause of the pneumonia. Analysis of the tissue sample was expected to take until Thursday, said her spokeswoman, Chen Sam. The 58-year-old actress, who won best-actress Oscars for ``Butterfield 8'' and ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,'' has been hospitalized more than two weeks. She was in the intensive care unit at St. John's Hospital and Health Center. ``She is seriously ill,'' her doctors said in a statement. ``After surgery, her breathing is now being assisted by a ventilator. Her condition is presently stabilizing and her physicians are pleased with her progress.'' Another spokewoman for the actress, Lisa Del Favaro, said Miss Taylor's family was at her bedside. She did not identify the family members. Miss Taylor entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital on April 9 with a persistent fever and sinus infection, doctors said. Her condition worsened and she was transferred April 16 to St. John's and moved into intensive care on Friday. ``It is serious, but they are really pleased with her progress. She's not well. She's not on her deathbed or anything,'' Ms. Sam said late Monday. While it is unusual to put a pneumonia patient on a ventilator, it does not mean that person is near death, said Dr. John G. Mohler, a University of Southern California lung disease expert who emphasized he had no direct knowledge of Miss Taylor's condition. Doctors may put a patient on a ventilator simply to restore oxygen in the blood to proper levels if pneumonia-related breathing difficulties have reduced those levels, Mohler said. ``It may be that because she is such a prominent person, they are taking a conservative course,'' he added. Miss Taylor has been plagued with health problems for years, particularly back troubles from filming of ``National Velvet' in 1945, when she fell off a horse. In 1983 she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers. Miss Taylor has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic. During a nearly fatal bout with pneumonia in 1961, Miss Taylor underwent a tracheotomy, an incision into her windpipe to help her breathe. She appeared at the 1961 Academy Awards with a bandage over her scar as she accepted the ``Butterfield 8'' Oscar.

st. john's hospital;lung biopsy;elizabeth taylor;health problems;sinus infection;pneumonia;58-year-old actress;miss taylor

AP900426-0054

Doctors Say Liz Taylor Nearly Died Over the Weekend

Elizabeth Taylor has rallied from a near-fatal bout with pneumonia _ and even joked about coming out in her ``balcony attire'' to wave to reporters _ but is ``not out of the woods,'' doctors say. ``I believe her life was in jeopardy over the weekend and I believe that has now passed,'' Dr. Bernard Weintraub, a lung specialist treating Miss Taylor at St. Johns Hospital and Health Center, said Wednesday. The 58-year-old actress was taken off the ventilator that had aided her breathing for several days and was smiling again and ``very happy the tube was out,'' said Dr. Patricia Murray, an infectious disease specialist. ``She said she'd come out and wave to you but she's not in her balcony attire,'' the doctor said. About 80 reporters and camera crew members, along with some 100 St. Johns employees, jammed the hospital courtyard to hear the latest reports on Miss Taylor. Miss Taylor has had back troubles since she fell off a horse during filming in 1945 of ``National Velvet.'' She had to undergo a tracheotomy during a bout with pneumonia in 1961 that nearly killed her. In 1983 she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers, and her weight has been up and down over the years. In response to persistent rumors about AIDS and other illnesses, Weintraub said there was ``no suggestion of either cancer or infections commonly seen in AIDS.'' The actress had issued a statement earlier denying she has AIDS. Weintraub said the actress, hospitalized since April 9, remained in intensive care. ``She is in serious condition. She is not out of the woods,'' he said. With her were her four children from three marriages, Maria Burton-Carson, Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding. The hospital released a statement on Miss Taylor's behalf thanking fans and friends for their cards and letters.

elizabeth taylor;near-fatal bout;pneumonia;58-year-old actress;st. johns hospital;miss taylor

AP900428-0005

Colombia To Proceed With Presidential Elections Despite Candidate's Slaying

With a third presidential candidate assassinated, Colombia's government refused Friday to put off next month's election and vowed to keep up the fight against drug traffickers. A telefaxed communique, purportedly from the Medellin drug cartel, denied responsibility Friday for the assassination of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro, who died in a hail of bullets Thursday aboard a Colombian jetliner carrying 97 people. But on Thursday, within hours of Pizarro's assassination, a man had called the national radio network station Caracol and related in detail how the cartel had allegedly ordered the former guerrilla's killing. The authenticity of neither claim could be verified. That is not the first time there have been contradictory communiques, verbal and faxed, claiming and and then denying responsibility for assassinations and terrorist acts. Friday's telefax accused police of instigating violence in order to force the government to continue its crackdown on traffickers, and accused the police of putting out false communiques purported to be from the cartel. The August assassination of another candidate, Sen. Luis Carlos Galan of the governing Liberal Party, prompted the government to launch a U.S.-backed crackdown on Colombia's cocaine cartels. Since then, drug traffickers have killed more than 230 people, including judges, politicians, policemen, soldiers, newspaper employees and two other presidential candidates. Leaders of the leftist Patriotic Union Party, whose candidate was slain last month, urged the government to cancel the May 27 vote. But Interior Minister Horacio Serpa told reporters Friday that the elections will not be postponed or canceled. In a televised speech late Thursday, Serpa said the government will fight terrorists ``without rest.'' On Friday, thousands of men, women and children filed past Pizarro's coffin, displayed in an open patio in the Congress building. Supporters of Pizarro's M-19 movement burned buses and threw rocks at police in clashes in several cities. Hundreds of leftist guerrillas belonging to the M-19 rebel group laid down their arms last month and formed a political party with Pizarro as its presidential candidate. Government officials had said Pizarro could have helped mediate peace agreements with other leftist insurgents. Governing party candidate Cesar Gaviria, the presidential front-runner, suspended campaign activities following the Pizarro killing. In a radio interview, he condemned the killing as another act by ``powerful organizations'' trying to impose an ``empire of evil and crime.'' The other candidates are Alvaro Gomez Hurtado and Rodrigo Lloreda, both of the Conservative Party. Gomez, suggesting that Barco does not have the confidence of Colombia's military, urged the president Friday to name a three-man council to run Colombia's security forces. He said such a move would help ensure peace in the last month of the presidential campaign. Barco, through a spokesman, rejected the proposal. The Patriotic Union's presidential candidate, Bernardo Jaramillo, was fatally wounded March 22 at the Bogota airport by an assassin with a machine gun. Pizarro's killer, 25-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez, was sitting two rows behind Pizarro on the flight and apparently retrieved the machine gun from an airplane bathroom before returning to his seat, Capt. Fabio Munevar told Caracol. Minutes later, he stood up, pulled the weapon from his black leather jacket, leaned forward and fired at Pizarro's head from about a foot away, Munevar said. Pizarro's bodyguards immediately killed the assassin. The plane, en route to the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla, returned immediately to Bogota. Pizarro died about an hour later at a hospital. The Bogota morgue said he was struck by 13 bullets. Two men with machine guns were arrested at Barranquilla airport, a police spokesman there said. They apparently were part of an assassination squad with orders to kill Pizarro if he survived the flight, police said. In another development, church officials in Medellin said they had foiled a plan to kill Colombia's Roman Catholic prelate, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo. The city's Catholic church said it discovered the plan to kill Lopez Trujillo after intercepting messages on a radio frequency used by the men plotting the crime. Three men disguised as police agents entered Lopez Trujillo's offices on Wednesday and Thursday asking for the prelate, but he was not in, said the church statement late Thursday. Lopez is archbishop of Medellin, the country's second-largest city, and chairman of Colombia's Bishops Conference.

assassinations;election;drug traffickers;presidential candidate carlos pizarro;colombia;pizarro's assassination;medellin drug cartel;terrorist acts;cocaine cartels

AP900428-0108

Instability Worse Than Ever After Candidate's Murder

Less than a month before elections, the assassination of a third presidential candidate has pushed Colombia to the brink of political chaos. After the shooting of candidate Carlos Pizarro in a jetliner Thursday, the country's largest newspaper implored the government to ``do something, for the love of God.'' Addressing President Virgilio Barco, the El Tiempo editorial said: ``In your hands, and only in your hands, is the power to avoid the country's dissolution.'' ``The gravest aspect of Colombia's bloodletting is that the government has no idea how to even slow it,'' said a member of a regional human rights committee based in Medellin, the cocaine capital. He declined to be identified because he was afraid someone might be angered by his statements and kill him. Four of his predecessors have been assassinated. In recent interviews, Pizarro, the candidate for the leftist April 19 Movement, or M-19, admitted he was afraid. But he said his desire to lead Colombia was greater than his fear of assassins' bullets. A gunman on a suicide mission shot Pizarro aboard a Colombian jetliner after it took off from Bogota's airport. Pizarro's bodyguards shot and killed the assassin. Two other presidential candidates had already been assassinated during the campaign for May 27 elections. Sen. Luis Carlos Galan of the ruling Liberal Party was gunned down last August at a political rally in Bogota, and Bernardo Jaramillo of the leftist Patriotic Union Party was killed last month at the Bogota airport. Authorities blamed the assassinations on drug traffickers. The media, citing security sources, reported that traffickers were the main suspects in Pizarro's killing as well. But the Medellin cartel denied involvement, and no government official has yet said who was responsible for Pizarro's assassination. On Saturday Antonio Navarro, a longtime guerrilla leader of the April 19 Movement, announced he would take Pizarro's place as candidate for president. Traffickers have carried out a terrorist campaign that has killed nearly 300 Colombians in the past nine months in an effort to halt the government's campaign to capture and extradite drug barons to the United States. Bombings by the Medellin cartel have caused millions of dollars in property damage, led to the militarization of Medellin and other cities and shattered the nerves of citizens. Pizarro's death appears to have pushed the country to its limit. For the first time, leading politicians suggested the government itself might be compromised by the killing. Several politicians and analysts said an armed assassin could not have been aboard a jetliner without the complicity of government and airport security personnel. Former president Alfonso Lopez said the assassinations of three candidates indicated that Colombia's armed forces must be reorganized. Lopez, of the Liberal Party, was president from 1974 to 1978. Official investigations have shown that certain members of the armed forces are allied with drug traffickers and the country's right-wing death squads. One of the country's presidential candidates, Alvaro Gomez, said Friday that Barco should name a three-man council to run Colombia's security forces to avoid a military coup. He suggested that Barco had lost control over the armed forces. Gomez made the proposal in a written statement given to the press. ``Never has there been such a great and pathetic image of anarchy,'' said Gomez, a presidential candidate of the Conservative Party. Barco, of the Liberal Party, rejected Gomez's suggestion of a triumvirate, saying the armed forces would be reorganized only if necessary. Continuing to focus on a military solution to Colombia's problems, Barco said late Friday he would double the size of a 3,000-man anti-terrorist police unit. The unit achieved its greatest success against drug traffickers when it killed a Medellin cartel leader, Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, in a gunfight last December. Both Barco and his party's presidential candidate, Cesar Gaviria, have linked Colombia's salvation to constitutional reform. Through such reforms they hope to reform the corrupted Congress, strengthen the judicial system and provide more political representation for minority parties. According to recent polls, Gaviria is heavily favored to win the presidential elections.

assassinations;colombia;suicide mission;drug traffickers;presidential elections;gunman;political chaos;drug barons;candidate carlos pizarro;terrorist campaign