Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.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 Fri, Oct 16 1992 Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 04:43:26 EDT Message-ID: Lines: 295 DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Oct. 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CLINTON LEADS GOING INTO DEBATE: Presidential contenders meet in a Richmond, Va., debate Thursday at 9 p.m. ET as a USA TODAY:CNN:Gallup Poll suggests President Bush's support is stalled. The poll, conducted Sunday through Tuesday, doesn't measure fallout from the vice presidential debate. Bill Clinton's backed by 46% of voters; Bush by 34%; Ross Perot by 13%. Margin of error: Three percentage points. CLINTON'S FILES SOUGHT: Bill Clinton's passport files sparked a new political firestorm Wednesday as the State Department defended and the Democrats decried an international search for his records as "a witch-hunt." State Department spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged that Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Tamposi called U.S. embassies in London and Oslo asking them to look for Clinton files. DEMOCRATS STRIKE BACK AT BUSH: The search for Bill Clinton's passport files came in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from three news organizations. Democrats tried to one-up the White House by suggesting the administration release records more important than the files of an Oxford student. They demanded release of a personal note President Bush wrote to Saddam Hussein days before Iraq invaded Kuwait. REPORT SAYS PEROT TAXES LOW: Ross Perot pays a smaller share of his income in taxes than most Americans, says New York Newsday. The newspaper used computer data to predict Perot would pay even less under his proposed economic plan. The newspaper says Perot paid about $15.8 million in taxes in 1991 on estimated gross income of $230.4 million. That's 6.8%, far below the 11% average paid by all taxpayers. COURT ASKED TO BAN `GAG RULE': Abortion-rights activists Wednesday asked a Washington federal appeals court to overturn the Bush administration's restrictions on abortion counseling at federally funded family planning clinics. The Supreme Court last year upheld the "gag rule." At issue now: Whether a March modification is legal without a public hearing. HEARINGS RESUME ON POWS: Senate hearings resume Thursday on 2,265 missing Vietnam War servicemen. The focus: Reports of satellite photos - from 1973 through this year - of what could be distress signals from missing pilots. The hearings come after the committee was given a list last month of 67 men the Nixon administration asked Vietnam to account for in June 1973 - three months after Nixon declared all POWs home. KILLERS GETTING YOUNGER: A new pattern of more homicides being committed by younger teens has emerged from FBI and Census data. The homicide arrest rate for 17-year-olds jumped 121% between 1985 and 1991 - from 34.4 per 100,000 to 76.1 per 100,000. Rates among those 15-16 grew faster. COURT AVOIDS BATTLE WITH SENATE: Supreme Court justices seemed unwilling Wednesday to get into a battle over the Senate's impeachment power. The court was hearing the appeal of Walter Nixon Jr., a judge who was impeached in 1989. Nixon claims the Senate violated the Constitution by delegating his impeachment trial to a committee. Several justices indicated the court won't second-guess how the Senate carries out impeachments. BEIRUT BOMBER WAS IN CUSTODY: A Palestinian who bragged he was behind the 1983 bombing of a Marines barracks in Beirut was jailed on U.S. drug charges and then released last year, a Miami lawyer charged Wednesday. Samir Houchaimi, 57, made separate jailhouse confessions to two inmates in the mid-1980s that he planned the attack that killed 241 Marines and sailors, said Ellis Rubin, who represents the two felons. HERTZ CUTS DROP-OFF FEES: Hertz is getting rid of drop-off fees - charges of up to $1,000 for not returning a rental car to the city where the person picked it up. At the same time, the nation's largest car-rental company is raising its daily rates for one-way rentals, leading competitors to say dropping drop-off fees won't really save customers money. National Car Rental says Hertz copied its similar move. BLAZES RANSACK SEATTLE: This is the worst fire season in Seattle history. The culprit: Arsonists blazing a path across the region, torching more than 80 homes, churches and businesses since early August. Damage tops $7 million. A local and federal task force is investigating arsons in a 20-mile strip from north Seattle to Everett. Investigators think at least a third were set by one person or group of people. HAWAII HAS HEALTH CARE ANSWER: Hawaii was a laboratory for getting people health insurance coverage back in 1975. Hawaii solved a problem that has Mainland governments still stumped. Under a state law, every employer in the state has to provide insurance to every person who works more than 19 hours a week, and the employer pays at least half of the premiums. The unemployed are covered by a state-funded plan. 98% OF RESIDENTS ARE COVERED: Today, 98% of Hawaii's 1.2 million residents have health insurance and the lowest health-care costs in the country. It has the lowest death rate from breast cancer due to early detection, one of the lowest infant mortality rates and citizens far less likely to be hospitalized than residents of other states. It does struggle to cover mental health and drug abuse services, though. KING HIRES NEW LAWYER: Rodney King's new lawyer says he was hired for his experience as a courtroom battler, but he may never get that far. Orange County lawyer Milton Grimes replaces Steve Lerman, his lawyer of 19 months. King has demanded $83 million from Los Angeles. MARCUS WINS NOBEL FOR CHEMISTRY: Rudolph Marcus, 69, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday, while Frenchman Georges Charpak, 68, captured the prize for physics. Marcus, of the California Institute of Technology, won the $1.2 million chemistry prize for his work on the transfer of electrons between molecules. His theories include: how plants store energy from light; corrosion causes; and how fireflies luminate. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3195.48 Thursday after closing down 5.94 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.39, up 0.08. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 366.17, down 0.66. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 576.22, down 0.22. SNOW IN THE PLAINS AND ROCKIES: Winter weather will pass through the Northern Plains Thursday. Colder air will cover the central Plains with possible showers. Morning snow will fall in the northern Rockies. Coastal California will remain cloudy and cool. Clouds and rain will dampen the Great Lakes eastward into New England. Summer-like conditions continue to blanket the mid-Atlantic through the Southeast and Texas. News Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes violates federal law. 08:0010150000D1015 ADVE- DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Oct. 16-18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FEW SURPRISES IN DEBATE: President Bush and Bill Clinton differed on taxes, deficits, crime and health care Thursday in Richmond, Va., while Ross Perot offered easy-sounding solutions in an unusually tame faceoff. No candidate appeared to have gained an upper hand, but Perot promised to serve only one term and take none of the president's salary if elected. The final debate is Monday. PEROT IS LOOKING BETTER: Ross Perot's stature in the eyes of voters rose a bit this week -with 42% of voters ranking him favorably - despite the poor debate performance by running mate James Stockdale, the latest USA TODAY:CNN:Gallup tracking poll finds. That hasn't slowed down Bill Clinton, who widened his lead to 15 points over President Bush in the poll, completed before Thursday's debate. Margin of error: 3%. ABC POLL SHOWS SMALLER MARGIN: An ABC News poll finds a much smaller margin than the USA TODAY:CNN:Gallup poll, showing Clinton ahead by only 7 points. The Tuesday-Wednesday poll - with a 4% margin of error - shows Clinton at 44% to Clinton's 37%, with Perot at 11%. LETTERS MAY NOT BE POW LINK: Intelligence analysts are unable to explain whether the letters "USA" and "K" spotted on the ground in Laos in 1988 were signals from missing U.S. servicemen, a Senate panel was told Thursday. Satellite cameras picked up the man-made letters, 12 feet high and 6 feet wide, near the Northern Laos village of Sam Neua. HOUSE PANEL MAKES REQUEST AGAIN: The House Judiciary Committee, citing new evidence of wrongdoing, Thursday re-issued a request for an "Iraqgate" special prosecutor. And Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., insisting it's "impossible" for the Bush administration to fairly probe the matter, says he expects the Senate Judiciary Committee he chairs to make a similar demand Monday. TROOPS WILL STAY INTACT: The Pentagon is sticking to its plan for 150,000 U.S. troops in Europe by 1996 despite Congress' call for the force to be 100,000, Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said Thursday. While Congress sets the overall size of the military branches, Williams said the president decides where troops will be deployed. So no plans are now underway to meet the lower limit, he said. CHECKS RISE JUST SLIGHTLY: Social Security recipients are in for a lousy raise next year. Benefit checks will only increase 3%. That means 44 million people, including retirees, the disabled and widowed mothers, will see the skimpiest cost-of-living adjustment since benefits rose 1.3% in 1987. Beginning January, the average monthly check will rise by $19, to $653. Low inflation is behind the measly jump. ECONOMY IS SICKENING: One study out Friday says a bad economy in 30 selected cities is responsible for many of the nation's ills. That includes a 5.6% jump in fatal heart disease - 17,654 a year; 6.7% more murders - 730 a year. Another report blames the recession for 1,170 more suicides in the USA. University of Utah economist Mary Merva's study found a 1% rise in unemployment pushed violent crime up 3.4%. DRIVER CONVICTED AGAIN: A repeat drunken driver who killed the daughter of MADD founder Candy Lightner has been convicted again, in Wisconsin as a first offender. Clarence William Busch is a first offender under state law because his record has been clean for five years. His sentence: $583 and a 9-month license suspension. Prosecutor Richard Ginkowski asked officials to bar Busch from ever again getting a license. TERM LIMITS ON BALLOTS: The era of the professional politician may be coming to an end. A grass-roots movement to limit the terms of politicians appears on the verge of victory in a dozen states in November. Fifteen states have ballot measures to limit the number of terms state or federal elected officials can serve. Polls indicate term limits will pass by landslide margins in almost every state. CONGRESS GETS RAISE: When the new Congress arrives in January, fatter paychecks will be waiting. Beginning in January, salaries for representatives and senators will be $133,644, up 3.2% from this year's $129,500, said George Chapin, director of payroll in the House sergeant-at-arms' office. Federal judges and top officials will get the same cost-of-living increase. LIFE GOING ON AND ON: New research suggests young people could expect to live to be 100 with a little luck and healthy living habits, Friday's Science reports. Current life expectancy is 75. New theory: if people can live to be 85, they can expect to live 15 years longer. Keys to reaching 85: lucky genes, healthy living and using modern medical technology. 5 KILLED IN MURDER-SUICIDE: A 22-year dispute over child support ended Thursday when John Miller opened fire at a county social service office, killing four female workers then himself in Watkins Glen, N.Y. Authorities said Miller, 50, of North Ridgeville, Ohio, had numerous arrests dating to 1970 for failing to make court-ordered payments for a daughter, now 26. HIGH-SPEED TRAIN GETS FUNDS: The nation's first high-speed rail proposal - to link Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee and St. Louis - Thursday was awarded $2.8 million to study route and track upgrades. Federal Railroad Administrator Gil Carmichael predicted trains could be streaking between the cities at speeds of 150 mph by the year 2000. OZONE IS AT LOWEST EVER: The level of ozone measured over the South Pole Monday was the lowest ever recorded, scientists said. Ozone, measured in Dobson units, was 105. Previous record: 120 in 1987 and last year. Satellite measurements also found the area of ozone depletion was 8.9 million square miles, largest ever recorded. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3174.68 Friday after closing down 20.80 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.54, up 0.15. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 365.63, down 0.54. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 578.64, up 2.42. EASTERN USA TO BE CLEAR, COOL: Skies will clear and temperatures will plummet over much of the East this weekend after some unsettled weather Friday. Storms in western portions of the Southeast are expected to clear out Friday night. Wet weather will give way to sunshine and cold in the Midwest. Sunshine will be the rule over much of the West this weekend. Temperatures will fall in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. 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