Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Thu, Jun 18 1992 Date: Thu, 18 Jun 92 05:09:16 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update June 18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network HOUSE READY TO OK URBAN AID DEAL: The House Thursday is expected to approve a $1 billion urban aid package following a compromise between President Bush and Congress. The compromise allots $1 billion less than a package supported by the Senate, but $500 million more than President Bush wanted. Included in the bill is $495 million for emergency loans and grants to Los Angeles and to Chicago, part of which was flooded in April. WHITE HOUSE DOWNPLAYS POW REPORT: The White House Wednesday downplayed as "speculation" revelations that U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War may be held in Russia. Russian President Boris Yeltsin said that recently opened Soviet records show "how many people were (detained) on (Soviet) territory" and "who died, where they were buried." Yeltsin said "we have simply no information" about some people. TORNADOES CONTINUE IN MIDWEST: The Midwest endured a third day of tornadoes Wednesday after at least 141 hit eight states in 48 hours. The number of tornadoes since the first hit Arlington, S.D., Monday afternoon is the highest two-day total in at least a dozen years, the national Weather Service said. Storms have caused millions of dollars in damage, but no deaths and only 87 injuries. MICHIGAN WANTS ITS DRUG LAW: Michigan is trying to keep the nation's toughest drug law, despite a state Supreme Court ruling that it's unconstitutional to imprison drug offenders for life without parole. State prison officials said Wednesday they'll interpret Tuesday's court decision narrowly so that only 30 of 160 people serving life without parole under the law will be covered by the decision. EDWARDS TO SIGN CASINO BILL: Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards Thursday signs a bill that could place the world's largest casino on Canal Street next to the French Quarter. Edwards - known for high-stakes craps betting - pushed the bill through the Louisiana Legislature without a vote by city residents and after a bitter fight. He claims the casino "will provide jobs ... (and) help revitalize the city." L.A. TRUCKER HOSPITALIZED: Trucker Reginald Denny was hospitalized in serious condition Wednesday with a blood clot in his lung. The Los Angeles trucker's savage beating at the flashpoint of the city's riots became a symbol of the violence. His doctors said a blood clot previously treated in his leg traveled to his lung. Three alleged gang members have been charged in the attack on Denny. HOUSE BLOCKS COLLIDER PROJECT: The House Wednesday blocked further spending on the $8.3 billion proton-smashing project in Waxahachie, Texas, saying the research project is too expensive. The vote was 231 to 182 to shut down construction of the superconducting supercollider, allowing $34 million to phase it out. "We have to stop spending money we don't have on projects we don't need," said Rep. Dennis Eckart, D-Ohio. SALVADOR APPEALS TO USA FOR AID: A Salvadoran government team that included opposition and guerrilla leaders appealed to U.S. lawmakers Wednesday for help to rebuild their war-torn country. "The war is conclusively over," former guerrilla leader Joaquin Villalobos told the House Western Hemisphere panel. He added: "Now more than ever, we need your help." HELMS FEELS `PRETTY GOOD': Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., was released from a Raleigh hospital Wednesday, two weeks after quadruple bypass surgery. Helms, 70, who also had a heart valve replaced June 3, said: "Do you want to know the truth? I feel pretty good considering the shape I'm in." USA DOESN'T OWE PANAMA: The United States owes no damages to firms in Panama that were looted after the 1989 U.S. military invasion, said a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., Wednesday. The three-judge panel said Washington didn't violate a 1907 international treaty when U.S. troops failed to prevent the looting by mobs. SHOWERS, STORMS MOVE EASTWARD: A swath of showers and thunderstorms will hit the eastern Great Lakes and far northern New England Thursday. Along the Eastern seaboard, however, skies will stay clear. The Midwest will get a welcome return to drier, more stable air. Dry air is also expected in the Plains. Thunderstorms will roll through the Rocky Mountains, reaching parts of the Great Basin and northern California. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3287.76 after closing down 41.73 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 221.45, down 3.27. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 379.74, down 6.38. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 553.24, down 10.83. News Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM