Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 19:23:58 EST Message-ID: \SE A;TOP OF THE NEWS;NATION \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Oprah sets date to wed longtime beau HARTFORD, Conn. - TV talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has announced her engagement to longtime companion Stedman Graham. Miss Winfrey told Hartford's WFSB-TV that the idea of marriage scares her. "You don't want to wake up 10 years from now and say, 'My God, who is this I've married.' " Miss Winfrey is 38. She has dated Mr. Graham for six years. He is a businessman who has holdings in media and real estate. No wedding date has been set. S=NEW STORY Judge orders Navy to reinstate gay seaman LOS ANGELES - A federal judge yesterday ordered the Navy to immediately reinstate a sailor who was discharged after he said on national television that he was a homosexual. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter marks the first time that a known homosexual has been ordered returned to active duty under the U.S. military's current ban on homosexuals, according to the sailor's attorney, Harry Melkonian. The Navy was ordered to reinstate Keith Meinhold, 30, a specialist in anti-submarine warfare, while awaiting trial on his lawsuit against the Defense Department. No trial date was set. The Navy issued a statement saying it was "evaluating possible responses to the judge's order." S=NEW STORY Officers suspended in man's beating death DETROIT - Police officers beat a motorist to death with a flashlight, continuing to strike him even after he was handcuffed and paramedics had arrived, the police chief said yesterday. Seven officers who took part or watched, including a supervisor, were suspended without pay. In a case that bore some similarities to the beating of motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles 20 months ago, officers inflicted fatal head injuries on 35-year-old Malice Wayne Green after a traffic stop Thursday night, Chief Stanley Knox said. The police department is carrying out an internal investigation and will report to the Wayne County prosecutor's office, Chief Knox said. He would not say what charges would be sought. Mr. Green was black. Chief Knox said the seven officers included blacks and whites. He couldn't say whether race was a factor in the beating. S=NEW STORY Mitchell expects tax plan agreement Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said yesterday he expects Congress and President-elect Bill Clinton to agree early next year on a tax plan designed to stimulate the sluggish economy. Mr. Mitchell, a Maine Democrat, said he expected the package to include a capital-gains tax cut and an increase in taxes paid by the wealthy. But the Senate's top Democrat stopped short of saying he expects action on such a measure to be completed within the first 100 days of the Clinton administration. "I don't set any deadlines," Mr. Mitchell said in an interview taped for broadcast on John McLaughlin's "One on One." S=NEW STORY Pentagon OKs security for plutonium shipment The Pentagon has approved security measures for the shipment of 1.7 tons of radioactive plutonium from Europe to Japan, U.S. defense officials said yesterday. U.S. ships, planes and military intelligence will monitor the Japanese ship from the time it leaves France with its hazardous cargo until it docks in Japan, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Japanese freighter carrying the plutonium is to leave the French port of Cherbourg in the coming days, although the exact date and route are secret. The shipment, the largest ever of such radioactive material, has prompted intense opposition from environmental groups and countries along the ship's route concerned about a possible accident. Japanese and U.S. government officials have also worried about a possible terrorist attack. S=NEW STORY Subway motorman gets prison sentence NEW YORK - A former subway motorman was sentenced yesterday to up to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and said he wished he had been killed instead of the five passengers in the crash that occurred while he was drunk. "My heart bleeds deeply for the families involved," Robert Ray said before being sentenced to the maximum five to 15 years. "I wish it had been me." "I'm saddened by the whole thing," Ray said. "It wasn't intentional. It was an accident. I can't explain how it happened, but it happened." Evidence showed Ray's blood-alcohol level was up to three times the legal limit when he drove his express train into the Union Square station at 50 mph. The train jumped a switch that was supposed to have put the train onto the local track. S=NEW STORY Carter may consider special job from Clinton Former President Jimmy Carter said yesterday he would not accept a regular position in the Clinton administration if it were offered, but added that he would consider some kind of special assignment. Mr. Carter said in a taped interview on NBC-TV's "Today" show he might be interested in an assignment from the president-elect if he were "uniquely qualified" for the job. He said the new administration might be able to make use of his skills in settling disputes in such an ad hoc role. He expressed elation at the election of a Democrat to the White House and said he and the incoming president have been friends for 15 years, "not just political friends but close personal friends." Mr. Carter said Mr. Clinton's first task should be to "show to the American people as early as possible that there can be some teamwork, some harmony, some cooperation, some effective governance coming out of Washington." S=NEW STORY Ex-Gotti juror convicted of throwing 1987 case NEW YORK - A juror who voted to acquit Mafia boss John Gotti five years ago was convicted yesterday of agreeing to take a $60,000 bribe to throw the case. George Pape, 53, was one of the anonymous jurors who stunned the Brooklyn federal courthouse in March 1987 when they cleared the reputed Mafia godfather and six co-defendants of racketeering charges. But the government continued its attack on the reputed head of the Gambino crime family and convicted him in April in a federal murder-racketeering case. Gotti is now serving a life sentence with no chance of parole. Jurors deliberated less than two hours before convicting Pape of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces five years in prison on each count when he is sentenced Feb. 11. Pape, who plans to appeal, said afterward, "It's not over 'til it's over." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM