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 Tue, Apr 14 1992 Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 05:42:44 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update April 14, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CHICAGO HIT WITH FREAK FLOOD: Chicago's downtown financial district was hit by a freak Chicago River flood Monday. A break in the river's retaining wall let water cascade through an old freight tunnel system. The cause of the rupture was not immediately known. Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco said power will be out from 24 to 48 hours. Subways will be out Tuesday, but the city's elevated train is expected to run. REAGAN GETS RUSHED: Ronald Reagan was sprayed with glass Monday after a disgruntled man rushed a Las Vegas stage and smashed a statue the former president had just received. Reagan was not injured. Richard Paul Springer, 41, of Arcadia, Calif., was wrestled to the floor and dragged off the Las Vegas Hilton stage by Secret Service agents. Reagan, 81, brushed himself off and continued his speech. BUSH GOES AFTER UNIONS: Organized labor Monday lambasted President Bush for "obsequious pandering" to conservatives after he curbed political activities by unions. Bush ordered federal contractors to tell non-union employees they can't be forced to support union political activities. Bush also ordered Labor Secretary Lynn Martin to propose rules making unions account for spending workers' dues. OFFICALS MEET WITH MEDIATOR: Officials from Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers union got together with a federal mediator Monday in hopes of ending a five-month-old strike by about 12,600 workers. United Auto Worker and management officials would not comment on whether negotiations had gotten under way or each if side had just talked separately to the mediator. `DEATHGRIP' CAN DAMAGE TEETH: Using a clenched-fist "deathgrip" and a hard-bristle brush on teeth can damage enamel, gums and roots, the Academy of General Dentistry says. An estimated 20% of Americans hold brushes in what the academy calls the "deathgrip." People should use a soft-bristle brush, hold it between thumb and first-finger and go easy on the toothpaste, says Dr. Terry Dickinson of Houston. RUSSIAN REFORM CRISIS DEEPENS: Russian President Boris Yeltsin's Cabinet offered to resign Monday, failing to resolve a conflict with conservative lawmakers over the president's economic reforms. Conservative deputies, who form the majority in Congress, voted Saturday to strip Yeltsin of his special powers to appoint his own ministers. They also passed legislation requiring Yeltsin to name a new prime minister by July. ANGRY VOTERS NOT GOING TO POLLS: Voter anger, said to be running rampant among the electorate this year, isn't triggering stampedes to cast ballots in the 1992 presidential primaries. Democratic turnout is down 18.4% from 1988 while Republican participation is lower by 4.1%, according to a report by the Committee for the Study for the American Electorate released Monday. MAN ADMITS TO MURDERS: A 25-year-old prison parolee confessed Monday to killing four women in East Orange, N.J., in the past eight months. Jerome Dennis, arrested Sunday, was arraigned on four charges of murder Monday. He was charged with killing a fifth woman in neighboring Newark. Assistant prosecutor Norman Menz said at the arraignment Dennis confessed to stabbing or beating his victims. WASTE SITE GETS BOOST: Plans to store highly radioactive nuclear waste in a permanent facility in the Nevada desert got a significant boost Monday. A National Research Council panel report said even after an earthquake or volcano eruption, water tables would remain hundreds of feet below the proposed storage caverns on Yucca Mountain 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. LAWYERS SAY HELMSLEY FACES HARM: Self-styled hotel "queen" Leona Helmsley has a new argument to avoid a four-year prison sentence for cheating on her taxes. Her lawyers said the 71-year-old multimillionaire faces harm from inmates because she is a "widely reviled, vastly wealthy New York Jew." If she loses at Tuesday's federal appeals hearing, Helmsley is to begin a four-year sentence on Wednesday. OFFICER SAYS BLOWS NOT NEEDED: White Los Angeles police officers excessively beat black motorist Rodney King and passed up four opportunities to get him into handcuffs, Cmdr. Michael Bostic testified Monday. He said everything after the first burst of blows was excessive. Bostic said he couldn't say if actions before the first blows were "in policy" because the videotape quality was too poor. JURY SENT HOME FOR WEEK: Jurors beginning a third week of deliberations in the Edenton, N.C., Little Rascals Day Care Center child-molestation case were sent home Monday for a week after the judge told them he found his girlfriend dead in her home Sunday. Judge D. Marsh McLelland, 71, said the woman, Kathleen Johnson, 67, was found with an asthma device. Authorities have not determined her cause of death. CALIFORNIA TO VOTE ON SPLIT: Under the guidance of Assemblyman Stan Statham, 31 of California's 58 counties have agreed to place a non-binding question on the June ballot asking if the state should be split to create the 51st state. Statham hopes legislators will use results to put together a specific plan on how the state should be divided. NICE WEATHER IN THE EAST: Dry weather prevails from the Northeast through Florida Tuesday, with lots of sunshine in the East. In the Southeast, the Gulf Coast states will warm up to the 80s with the 70s expected in the Carolinas. To the West, clouds increase, resulting in a partly sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s and 60s for the Midwest. Widely scattered showers are slated for the upper Midwest. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Tuesday at 3269.90, after closing up 14.53 points Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 224.16, up 0.89. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 388.89, up 0.88. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 588.15, up 3.91. News Editor: Ed Kelleher. (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. 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