Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Fri, Apr 10 1992 Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 05:43:42 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update April 10-12, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network NORIEGA GUILTY ON EIGHT CHARGES: The historic racketeering trial of Gen. Manuel Noriega ended Thursday with his conviction on eight of 10 drug charges. President Bush said the verdict was "a major victory against the drug lords." The jury, deadlocked a day earlier, ended up rejecting a scrappy defense case after five days of deliberations. Noriega, 54, faces 120 years in prison at a July sentencing. TOP CARRIER SHAKES UP FARES: Fifteen years after creating the first supersaver fares, American Airlines said Thursday it is going back to basics. Trying to fix a system many fliers consider overpriced and over-complex, American is eliminating many discounts and establishing four fares. United, Continental and America West all announced fare changes Thursday in response to American's move. HOUSE STAMP CLERK CHARGED: A federal grand jury Thursday indicted a former worker in the House Post Office on drug charges, signaling an expansion of a probe into wrongdoing at the facility. The indictment charges that a stamp clerk - Wendell Magruder, who was previously indicted for embezzlement - sold crack cocaine and other drugs to fellow workers. Some helped cover up money shortages, the jury charged. ANNOUNCEMENT TRIGGERS FEW CALLS: Experts call it a positive sign that blood banks received few calls Thursday after Arthur Ashe announced he was infected with the AIDS virus in a 1983 blood transfusion. The risk of getting the virus "from tested blood is 1 in 225,000," says Red Cross spokeswoman Liz Hall. For information, call the local blood bank or the National AIDS hot line, 800-342-2437. FED PUSHES INTEREST RATES DOWN: The Federal Reserve pushed down interest rates Thursday because it is concerned that this year's economic recovery could fizzle just as last year's did, experts say. The federal funds rate - what banks charge each other for short-term loans and a guidepost for other short-term rates - fell to 3.75% from 4% when the Fed poured cash into the nation's banking system. HOUSE APPROVES REFORMS: House members Thursday approved reforms they hope will get them out of hot water with voters. On a 295-165 vote, mostly along party lines, the House approved a major overhaul of how congressional elections are financed. And on a 269-81 vote, members approved creation of a professional administrator to manage the non-legislative business of the House. BAKER PUSHES AID PACKAGE: Secretary of State James Baker went to Capitol Hill Thursday to sell President Bush's $24 billion allied Russian aid package. He ran into congressional accusations that the administration is not doing its part to sell a dubious U.S. public on the merits of the idea. Baker arrived late at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and read his 45-minute testimony, using most of the question time. BROWN ACCUSED OVER DRUG PARTIES: Democratic presidential candidate Jerry Brown, while governor of California, threw parties where marijuana and cocaine were used, ABC News reported Thursday, quoting unidentified sources. Brown denied it. "I never saw it," he told reporters in Pittsburgh. Unidentified police officers who worked at Brown's weekend home in the 1970s told ABC the gatherings were "coke parties." ANOTHER LAWMAKER QUITS: Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., quit Thursday, pushing to 53 the number of House and Senate members who are moving on in an election-year exodus from Capitol Hill. Weber's prospects for an easy re-election campaign fizzled when he revealed he has written 125 bad checks on the defunct House bank. He had been considered a rising conservative star in the House. TSONGAS WON'T TRY AGAIN: Paul Tsongas' decision not to lie in front of the Bill Clinton bulldozer leaves only Jerry Brown in Clinton's path to the Democratic presidential nomination. "I will not re-enter the race," Tsongas said Thursday in Boston. Tsongas called on supporters to cease their campaign efforts on his behalf, but did little else that would aid Clinton's cause. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3224.96, after closing up 43.61 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 221.10, up 3.18. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 385.94, up 5.04. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 586.75, up 13.07. WET WEATHER ACROSS MOST OF THE USA: Most spots across the USA will see some wet weather this weekend, except the Southwest, where conditions will be dry and mild. A storm located in the central Plains will move into the Great Lakes by Saturday. The Northeast will see rain. Southern California and the Southwest will be warm and sunny. Texas through the Southeast will be warm. Southeast will see isolated storms. News Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution 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