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 Wed, Jul 1 1992 Date: Wed, 1 Jul 92 05:20:57 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update July 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network HOUSE COMMITTEE OK'S CHOICE ACT: The first step in an attempt to counter the Supreme Court's ruling allowing restrictions on abortion began Tuesday with a House committee's approval of a law guaranteeing abortion. Wednesday, a Senate subcommittee takes up the Freedom of Choice Act. Floor votes are expected by August; a veto is likely. USA WARNS YUGOSLAVIA: The United States warned Yugoslavia Tuesday it's ready to dispatch combat aircraft and ships to protect relief efforts for besieged Sarajevo. The Pentagon acted to back up the U.S. threats, deploying six Navy ships with 2,200 Marines off the Yugoslav coast. The aircraft carrier Saratoga is visiting France, but reportedly could have dozens of war planes within range in 48 hours. CREWS STILL WORKING ON SPILL: Crews are working Wednesday to clean up a derailed tank car that plunged into a Wisconsin river, spilling about 21,000 gallons of a toxic benezene-based chemical that forced thousands from their homes in two states. At least 50,000 residents of Duluth, Minn., and Douglas County, Wis., returned home Tuesday night after a pre-dawn derailment involving 14 cars of a 57-car freight train. THERE MAY BE LIFE DOWN THERE: New studies on Earth indicate microscopic organisms that draw their energy solely from subterranean chemical processes thrive six to seven miles deep in the planet's crust. Similar bacteria may be living inside other solid planets because the interiors are likely the same, says researcher Thomas Gold. The studies are reviewed in Wednesday's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. STATES DECIDING HOW TO ACT: Officials in more than 20 states are scrambling to figure out if the Supreme Court ruling on Pennsylvania's abortion law means they should start enforcing similar restrictions in their states. The court upheld a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent and informed consent. On Tuesday, some state officials said they would enforce the laws, others said they wouldn't, others were unsure: SEVEN ARRESTED AT WHITE HOUSE: Seven women's rights leaders were arrested outside the White House Tuesday, protesting the Supreme Court's compromise ruling on abortion. National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland and six other women's rights leaders were arrested at the White House for protesting without a permit. Ireland called the protest against Bush and the court "civil disobedience." SHOW CLAIMS COVERUP OF INCIDENT: The Reagan administration covered up key aspects of a U.S. warship's shooting down of an Iranian airliner, killing 290 people, according to an ABC News-Ted Koppel program to be aired Wednesday night. On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes when it mistakenly shot down the airliner. The ABC News "Nightline-Newsweek" magazine quotes high Pentagon and State Department officials of the time. CALIF. PRINTS IOUS FOR WORKERS: Three states struggled to pass budgets before the new fiscal year starts Wednesday. California printed IOUs for the first time since the Great Depression. The vouchers would go first to workers and taxpayers owed refunds. In New Jersey, the GOP-led Legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Jim Florio's budget veto. In Florida, Gov. Lawton Chiles issued an executive order to keep government running. MOST VA HOSPITALS OFFER HELP: About 80% of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics offer special help and counseling for sexual abuse victims, a Senate committee was told Tuesday, but many female veterans avoid seeking help and the effects of their attacks worsen. "Most women veterans do not go to the VA because it is the same male-dominated, abusive system and environment which hurt us before," said Barbara Franco. REP. SAYS ESTIMATES FUDGED: House Middle East subcommittee chairman Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., suggested that the administration manipulated the release of reports about Iraq's nuclear threat. Before the war, the White House said it would take Iraq "at least five years" to build an atomic bomb, Hamilton said. But after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, he said, Bush warned that it could take "as little as six months." AGREEMENT REACHED ON LOANS: Congress and the White House reached agreement on a bill to provide more college loans for middle-class families. The Higher Education Act reauthorization bill, which President Bush had threatened to veto, would increase the amounts of federally guaranteed loans for college or trade schools, and allow families earning up to $42,000 a year to qualify for the loans. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3318.52 after closing down 1.34 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 224.33, down 0.11. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 379.28, up 2.18. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 563.60, up 4.80. MOST OF USA TO BE STORMY: Stormy weather will soak parts of the USA Wednesday. Northern portions of the Rockies and Great Plains will see rain and thunderstorms. Parts of Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota face severe weather. From the Mason-Dixon line to Florida, scattered thunderstorms are expected. Nearly half of Texas swelters in 100-degree. Seasonal weather will grace the western third of the USA. News Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes 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