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, Jul 2 1992 Date: Thu, 2 Jul 92 05:20:10 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update July 2-5, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CALIFORNIA SENDS OUT IOUS: California, running on no budget and an $11 billion deficit, began Wednesday to pay its bills with IOUs. "We're out of cash," says Controller Gray Davis. The Legislature missed a midnight Tuesday deadline for passing a new fiscal year budget. About 13,000 IOUs were mailed Wednesday to taxpayers due refunds and to vendors. IOUs will be mailed to 34,000 part-time employees starting Friday. BUSH APPEARS ON MORNING SHOW: President Bush relented Wednesday and followed his two opponents to the morning TV coffee klatch shows that are now a campaign staple. Appearing on "CBS This Morning," Bush took mostly gentle questions from tourists culled from White House tour lines for 90 minutes. Bush is probably available for more bookings: "This is a great format for him," says campaign manager Fred Malek. STUDY SAYS EPISIOTOMY NO GOOD: Many women giving birth get minor surgery that does no good, a study reported Wednesday in the Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials suggests. An episiotomy, a quick snip made to enlarge the vaginal opening, often has no benefits and can make recovery more difficult, say doctors who looked at 1,050 births. It is estimated the procedure is used in 70%-80% of North American births. NEW ABOTRTION BATTLE BEGUN: The stage was set for a new abortion rights battle Wednesday when U.S. Customs agents seized 12 barred abortion pills from a pregnant woman returning from England. The challenge to the FDA's "import alert" against RU-486 began with proponents telling U.S. officials when and where the woman would arrive. Identified only as "Leona," the woman pledged to sue to legalize RU-486. USA TO SUPPORT S. AFRICA TALKS: Secretary of State James Baker on Wednesday pledged to do "everything in the world we can to support the prospect of the talks resuming" on power sharing in South Africa. Baker disclosed that President Bush sent messages to both President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela "offering our support and assistance." Both responded positively, he said. CREWS WORK ON CHEMICAL SPILL: Cleanup crews emptied a ruptured Burlington Northern chemical tank car in Superior, Wis., Wednesday, a day after a derailment led to one of the nation's largest chemical spill evacuations. Cold weather and rising river water kept the Aromatic Concentrate from evaporating as quickly as hoped. Up to 15 families were kept from their homes in a 4-square-mile area around the Nemadji River. IRAN PRINTING FAKE BILLS: Iran, aided by Syria, is printing perhaps billions of dollars of high-quality counterfeit $100 bills, the congressional Task Force on Terrorism said. The aim: Destabilize the U.S. economy while easing Iran's deficit and buying influence around the world, said a report released Wednesday by two Florida congressman. So far, the fake bills are showing up in Europe, Asia and Africa. DIVORCE TRIAL TURNS UGLY: A lawyer turned himself in to a Dallas TV station Wednesday and confessed to gunning down a prosecutor and another lawyer in a Forth Worth courtroom earlier in the day. George Lott told WFAA-TV that he opened fire because he had been treated unfairly in a divorce trial and wrongly accused of molesting his son. Killed were prosecutor Chris Marshall, 41, and lawyer John Edwards, 32. HOUSE PANEL FINDS NO DEAL: A House investigative panel Wednesday found no evidence to support allegations President Bush negotiated for the release of Iranian hostages when he was running for vice president in 1980. The finding effectively dismisses charges by former Israeli arms dealer Ari Ben-Menashe and others that Bush attended an October 1980 negotiation meeting in Paris. 40 STATES TO HAVE CHECKPOINTS: Motorists in 40 states may encounter sobriety checkpoints over the Fourth of July weekend as authorities try to curb traffic fatalities on what is usually the deadliest holiday for alcohol-related crashes. States not using checkpoints: Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wyoming. SHUTTLE AT MID-POINT: Columbia's crew passed the midpoint of a record 13-day research mission, scheduled to end Wednesday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The crew worked on protein crystals that might help develop drugs to fight AIDS, cancer and other diseases. On Earth, NASA said chief astronaut Daniel Brandenstein, who commanded Endeavour's satellite-rescue mission in May, will leave the agency Oct. 1. QUAKE WATCH ON: Seismologists tried to calm southern Californians worried about the "Big One" that might follow Sunday's twin temblors that registered 7.4 and 6.5 on the Richter scale. Fears of a catastrophic quake sent residents scurrying for batteries, bottled water and other supplies. Officials emphasized they don't know when another big quake will occur. NORTHEAST TO HAVE WET 4TH: Most of the USA will celebrate the July 4th weekend outdoors as seasonable conditions prevail. But rain may dampen festivities across parts of the upper Midwest, Northeast and Applachians. Sunshine and comfortable conditions will grace the mid-Atlantic through Friday then yield to heat and humidity for the weekend. Sizzling heat will singe the desert Southwest over the weekend. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3354.10 after closing up 35.58 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.75, up 2.42. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 383.01, up 3.73. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 568.99, up 5.40. ADVISORY: Decisionlines will not be published Friday, July 3, in observance of Fourth of July. Decisionlines will resume publication on Monday, July 6. 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