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 Wed, Sep 9 1992 Date: Wed, 9 Sep 92 04:29:47 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Sept. 9, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BUSH ASKS FOR $7.6B IN AID: President Bush's request Tuesday for $7.6 billion in federal funds to help the victims of Hurricane Andrew works out to about half cash and half loan guarantees. Bush conceded the cost of cleaning up and rebuilding from Andrew's wrath will add "unquestionably" to the $400 billion federal deficit. Bush urged Congress to "move promptly" to approve the request. AGRICULTURE, FISHING HURT MOST: On a tour of hurricane-ravaged Louisiana cities Tuesday, Marilyn Quayle saw some of the $1.5 billion in damages but also saw the rebuilding. The state's agriculture industry suffered at least $289 million in damage, the fishing industry $250 million. According to the Red Cross, 182 people are sill living in temporary shelters. A few thousand people are still without power. BUSH `RUSHES' FREE TRADE ZONE: Senate Democrats on Tuesday accused President Bush of exploiting a planned North American free trade zone as a campaign issue to gain his return to the White House. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., told chief trade negotiator Carla Hills he was sure the White House "rushed" the North American Free Trade Agreement Aug. 12 to coincide with the Republican National Convention. LAWMAKERS RETURN TO BUDGET: Less than a week after legislators approved California's long-awaited budget, lawmakers are heading back to the Capitol Wednesday for yet another go-round on education's share of state spending. At issue: Gov. Pete Wilson's line-item vetoes worth about $450 million to school districts throughout the state. Wilson deleted the money, citing technical problems in the education budget bill's wording. N.D. SENATOR BURDICK DIES: Democratic Sen. Quentin Burdick, 84, known as the "King of Pork," died Tuesday, leaving North Dakota without a powerful member of Congress to bring home the bacon. Burdick had been in the Senate since 1960 and had been in a Fargo, N.D., hospital since he had a heart attack last weekend. State law requires a special election by Dec. 7 to fill the last two years of Burdick's term. CLINTON MAKES DEFENSE GAFFE: Bill Clinton's pledge to spend $2 billion a year to help create new jobs was overshadowed Tuesday by renewed questions over his draft history. And in Portland, Conn., Clinton confused the Patriot missile, which shot down Scuds during the gulf war, with laser-guided bombs, which hit ground targets. The Bush campaign called Clinton's slip-up his "complete ignorance" of the defense system. CLINTON, GORE PUBLISH BOOK: Bill Clinton has put out a book, written by him and running-mate Al Gore, called "Putting People First: How We Can All Change America." It is filled with various proposals - some vague, some not - about what he would do as president. DETROIT SCHOOLS GOING TO COURT: Thousands of students will stay out of classrooms again Wednesday while their teachers continue to strike. If negotiations in Detroit fail to produce results Wednesday morning, school district officials plan to ask a judge to force 10,500 teachers back to work. Both sides are stuck on two issues: Wages and power. About 200,000 students in at least four states are out Wednesday. SEALE CHANGES PLEA TO GUILTY: In a surprise move Tuesday in federal court in Trenton, N.J., Arthur Seale changed his plea to "guilty" in the abduction of kidnapped Exxon executive Sidney Reso just days before the case was to go to trial. Seale is charged with extortion, conspiracy, mail fraud and interstate travel. Seale said he never meant to kill Reso, and wanted only to extort $18.5 million from the oil company. AGENT ORANGE EFFECTS DEBATED: Gary Taggart of Battle Creek, Mich., was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1985. The federal government has decided that only non-Hodgkins lymphoma is linked to Agent Orange. Wednesday, a National Academy of Sciences hearing begins to decide if Hodgkins - and birth defects from Vietnam - are related to Agent Orange and deserve support. STUDY LINKS VDTS, MISCARRIAGE: A Finnish study shows that pregnant women working at video display terminals that emit strong magnetic fields are three times more likely to have a miscarriage than those working at VDTs with low-level magnetic fields. About 50 million U.S. employees use VDTs. The study is the first to link high levels of VDT magnetic fields to miscarriages. TWA CUTS OUT EIGHT STOPS: Trans World Airlines will end flights to eight U.S. cities and four other cities worldwide. TWA flights to and from Austin, Texas; Palm Springs and Ontario, Calif.; Salt Lake City; Sioux City, Iowa; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Tucson, Ariz., will be canceled after Oct. 25. Trans World Express will continue to Sioux City and Syracuse. JULY CONSUMER DEBT FELL: Consumer debt is down for July, the government says, signaling a healthier balance sheet for many Americans but a sluggish recovery for the economy. The $1.12 billion decline is the 12th drop in 15 months, and economists say the 1.9% decrease lays the foundation for a healthier economy. But cautious consumers aren't ready to step up borrowing. Car loans were on the rise, up 2.4%. BABOON ORGANS STILL AN OPTION: A second baboon-to-human liver transplant may be performed as early as October - this time on a healthier patient with a better chance of survival, doctors at the University of Pittsburgh medical center said Tuesday. The world's first recipient of a baboon liver died Sunday of a brain hemorrhage, which doctors attribute to the patient's poor health prior to the transplant. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3260.59 Wednesday after closing down 21.34 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.37, down 1.37. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 383.36, down 1.49. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 571.17, down 2.27. LAGGING FRONT SPELLS STORMS: A cold front moves off the Northeast coast Wednesday. The mid-Atlantic states will remain humid with a chance of thunderstorms. Humidity will prevail in the Southeast, along with scattered afternoon thunderstorms. A cold front will bring wind and rain into the Midwest, while chilly weather moves into the Northern Plains. Sunshine will grace locations from the Rocky Mountains westward. 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