Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news,americast.usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Tue, Sep 8 1992 Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 04:30:16 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Sept. 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network POLL SHOWS CLINTON LEADS BY 9: President Bush and Bill Clinton traded promises of prosperity and comparisons to Harry Truman Monday, the traditional Labor Day campaign kickoff. With a new NBC poll showing Clinton leading 49% to 40%, the two candidates targeted key Midwest states Monday. Clinton spoke in Independence, Mo., Truman's hometown. Bush visited Wauskesha, Wis., and Hamtramack, Mich. BUSH, CLINTON TALK OF TRUMAN: Bill Clinton, in Truman's hometown of Independence, Mo., withstood a driving thunderstorm to say he's the rightful heir to the former president's legendary concern for the common man. George Bush - who voted for Truman's GOP foe in 1948, Thomas Dewey - used his Truman comparisons in Waukesha, Wis., to highlight lingering questions about Clinton's draft status during the Vietnam War. NAFTA BEING TESTED: A pact to create the world's largest and richest free trade zone faces its first congressional test Tuesday. The Senate Finance Committee will hear U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills talk about the North American Free Trade Agreement. The pact between the USA, Canada and Mexico would lower trade barriers and form a free trade zone. A final vote will not come until next fall. UNEMPLOYMENT MOVING UP: Unemployment statistics for this month could be even worse than the grim August numbers announced Friday, a key Bush aide conceded Sunday. White House Budget Director Richard Darman, on ABC's "Face the Nation," said the unemployment rate could rise because of jobs lost to Hurricane Andrew, a strike by General Motors workers at a key parts plant, and the end of a summer jobs program for students. ANDREW AID MONEY ARRIVING: Government aid money is beginning to arrive for the victims of Hurricane Andrew - nearly 3,000 families have gotten checks worth about $6.1 million - but many of the homeless say disaster officials aren't working fast enough. Officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency say the first checks were issued Aug. 31. But many may still wait two weeks or longer to get a check. COMMISSIONER VINCENT RESIGNS: Fay Vincent, saying "I'm doing what is best for baseball," gave up his battle with team owners to remain commissioner and abruptly resigned Monday, effective immediately. Vincent's resignation puts the 10-man executive council in charge of baseball, beginning Tuesday. In a letter to club owners, Vincent said he changed his mind to resign to avoid disservice to the game. CONGRESS RETURNS FOR 20 DAYS: Lawmakers return to Washington this week with little time and much work in the last gasps of the 102nd Congress. With about 20 work days remaining and the campaign season upon them, members of Congress have a swollen agenda on their hands before their planned Oct. 3 adjournment. At the top of the list is disaster relief from Hurricane Andrew, an urban aid package and cable TV regulation. CARNES DEBATE IN SENATE: Floor debate on Alabama lawyer Ed Carnes, 41, nominated by President Bush to a federal appeals court vacancy, is the first order of business as the Senate returns Tuesday. Opponents threaten a filibuster against Carnes. A crucial vote to cut off debate is likely Wednesday to determine whether his nomination is voted on or withdrawn. Carnes is trying for a 11th Circuit seat in Birmingham. PIGEON-SHOOT ATTRACTS FUROR: A traditional Labor Day pigeon shoot in Hegins, Pa., continued for the 59th year Monday despite interruptions by animal protection activists. The event annually attracts 12,000 spectators who pay $5 to watch an estimated 250 hunters shoot pigeons, released from cages one at a time. At least 112 of 1,500 activists were arrested, many for dashing out on to fields and opening boxes to free birds. PEOPLE MAY LIVE 400 YEARS: A report in October's Life magazine suggests the most amazing forecast yet in the study of aging: Life spans lasting centuries. Dr. Michal Jazwinski, of Louisiana State University Medical Center, says people alive now may still be alive in 400 years. Life latches on to the notion that 400- to 700-year life spans may be possible in a few decades. TEACHERS STILL ON STRIKE: Thousands of students in some of the USA's largest school districts will stay home Tuesday as the rest of the nation goes back to school. In Detroit, the nation's seventh-largest school district with 168,000 students, 10,500 teachers are fighting for an 8% raise. Other striking districts: Cherry Hill, N.J.; Warwick, R.I.; Philadelphia. CONDOMS MAY COMPLEMENT LIQUOR: Atlanta businesses that sell liquor - including restaurants, hotels, theaters and caterers - would also have to offer condoms for sale under a proposed ordinance the City Council considers Tuesday. Councilwoman Carolyn Long Banks, the sponsor, said she hopes it will discourage the spread of AIDS. Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn last month vetoed a similar measure. PLANE CRASHES, KILLS 12: A skydiving plane plowed into an Illinois farm field Monday shortly after takeoff, killing all 12 aboard. Witnesses said the twin-engine Beechcraft B-18 went down shortly after leaving the Hinckley Airport four miles away. Cause: Unknown. "There was one report of people hearing an explosion prior to the crash," said Fred Van Houten of the DeKalb County sheriff's office. TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT DIES: University of Pittsburgh medical center officials will reveal preliminary autopsy results Tuesday on a patient who survived 71 days with a liver transplanted from a baboon. The 35-year-old man, still unidentified, died Sunday from bleeding inside his skull. The man, who was being weaned off a respirator when he died, received the liver June 28 in the first animal-to-human liver transplant. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3281.93 Tuesday after closing down 10.27 Friday. Markets were closed for Labor Day Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 229.75, down 0.37. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 384.85, down 0.25. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 573.44, down 1.44. WET IN TENNESSEE AND OHIO VALLEY: Rain and storms arrive in the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and parts of the Northeast Tuesday as a weather front stalls over the region. The East Coast will be warm and humid. Cool, dry air with sun in the Midwest and northern Plains. Showers arrive in the upper Great Lakes. Cool with showers in the northern Rocky Mountains. Dry in central and southern Rockies. The Southwest will be hot and dry. News Editor: Kate Coughlin. (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