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 Fri, Jun 19 1992 Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 05:24:16 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update June 19-21, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MORE DADS RAISE FAMILIES: A single father raising his children was unusual just a decade ago. But new Census figures show that between 1985 and 1989 alone, the number of homes headed by single fathers increased from 1.3 million to 1.8 million. Dads head 21% of single-parent households. Experts say that judges' willingness to award custody to men is fueling the trend. So is moms' choosing careers over custody. CLAIMS OF TAPPING TO BE DROPPED: The United States reportedly has agreed to drop claims totaling $30 million against the Russians for bugging the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow, news reports said Thursday. Secretary of State James Baker and Russian Foreign Minister Andrie Kosyrev sign an accord on the U.S. and former Soviet embassies, said State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler. She provided no details. PROPOSITION 13 UPHELD: The Supreme Court Thursday upheld California's Proposition 13, saying it doesn't violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Court said the state could assess lower taxes on the property of long-term homeowners than on the property of newer homeowners. Cited: Long-term owners are already burdened with a purchase and do not have the option of not purchasing the home. ALLERGY CLUE DISCOVERED: Mothers who avoid allergy-triggering foods while pregnant or breastfeeding may cut in half their baby's chance of developing allergies in the first year, a new study says. Reducing contact with known triggers, such as dairy products, secondhand tobacco smoke and dust mites, "substantially lowers" allergy risk, say the authors of a British study out Friday in The Lancet. WEINBERGER FACES ARRAIGNMENT: Caspar Weinberger faces arraignment Friday on Iran-contra charges - with former president Ronald Reagan's role looming large over the federal proceedings. The indictment against the former Defense secretary places Reagan's actions "almost (at) the level of an unindicted co-conspirator," says Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein, a specialist on criminal practice. HINCKLEY NEAR UNGUARDED GATE: Television cameras have caught would-be Reagan assassin John Hinckley Jr. strolling near an unguarded gate at the hospital where he lives. But officials say there are no security problems at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. "It was not a breach of security," spokesman Walter Hill said. Hinckley has been held there since being found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982. PEROT SIGNATURES TOP 1 MILLION: Ross Perot's stealth campaign made its California fly-by Thursday as volunteers submitted petitions bearing more than 1.4 million signatures to put him on the ballot. "We're going to start a long, hard march," the unannounced independent presidential candidate said at a rally on the state Capitol steps. "It's brains and wits time in the United States of America." EUROPE COULD SEE FEWER TROOPS: Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has given the military approval to prepare for the possibility that fewer than 150,000 troops might be stationed in Europe in the future, Associated Press reports said Thursday. There are no plans for reduction right now. Existing plans call for the Army to maintain 92,000 troops in Europe as part of the military's base force, down from 325,000 in recent years. ABORTION RIGHTS BILL MOVES: Legislation that would guarantee abortion rights against state restrictions passed its first hurdle in Congress Thursday. A House Judiciary Committee panel passed the Freedom of Choice Act 5-to-3. Democrats favored it; Republicans didn't. A full committee vote is expected next week. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said, "We're legislating death here." NAVY WANTS TAILHOOK PROBE: The Navy Thursday asked the Pentagon's inspector general to probe the 1991 Tailhook incident, a convention of naval aviators where Navy investigators found at least 26 women were subjected to a male "gantlet" of sexual assault. Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett said he wants an independent inquiry because "the Navy's ability to investigate itself" in the case is "in question." DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3274.12 after closing down 13.64 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 220.61, down 0.84. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 377.49, down 2.25. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 549.17, down 4.07. MIDWEST TO FEEL LIKE FALL: In the Midwest this weekend temperatures will reach only into the 50s and 60s. Thunderstorms will hit the Northeast and mid-Atlantic Friday. Chilly air will blanket the mid-Mississippi Valley, while hot and humid weather hugs the Gulf coast and Texas. Showers and thundershowers will stretch across the northern and central Plains. The West will be warm and sunny. 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. 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