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 Wed, Apr 15 1992 Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 05:42:41 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update April 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PLAYBOY SOOTHES TAXPAYERS: Pay-TV channel "Playboy at Night" is offering tea and sympathy - well, non-alcoholic Bloody Marys and aspirin - to last-minute tax filers from 5 p.m. to midnight outside the main post office in Manhattan. Also available: Free instruction in Oriental massage from Playmates. In Laguna Niguel, Calif., the IRS is letting San Diego taxpayers dunk IRS employees for a tax-deductible $1.01. LIBYA SANCTIONS TAKE EFFECT: U.N. sanctions against Libya took effect early Wednesday after last-minute appeals to the Security Council and World Court were rejected. The Security Council meets Wednesday to form a committee to enforce the sanctions. The sanctions, imposed as of 12:01 EDT Wednesday, cut off commercial airline flights in and out of Libya and weapons exports to the African nation. DOW BREAKS 3300: The Dow broke the 3300 closing mark for the first time Tuesday as good earnings news from IBM, Ford and Alcoa pushed stocks up. The 36-point gain put the rally at a 125-point gain. Stocks started rallying Thursday after the Federal Reserve nudged a key interest rate lower. "Investors realize the Fed will do whatever it takes to get the recovery going," says David Shulman, Salomon Bros. MAYOR REACTS TO FLOODING: One day after a surging underground tide threw the city's famed Loop for a loop, the chaos and the cost of the Great Chicago Flood of 1992 are still being measured. Mayor Richard Daley wasted no time Tuesday in pinning blame, firing a city official who was slow to react to a memo urging repair of a tunnel that burst Monday. As of Tuesday night, no one knew for sure if the hole was plugged. UAW ENDS CATERPILLAR STRIKE: A federal mediator announced Tuesday evening that the United Auto Workers union has agreed to end its five-month-old strike against Caterpillar Inc. The heavy equipment maker agreed to end moves to hire replacement workers. Negotiations between the two sides to resolve contract disputes will continue. The strike began Nov. 4 and grew to involve about 12,600 workers. HELMSLEY LOSES APPEAL: Hotel queen Leona Helmsley will be headed to prison Wednesday after losing her last appeal Tuesday to get out of serving her four-year sentence on tax evasion charges. A federal appeals court rejected a defense plea to let Helmsley, 71, perform community service instead of serving time at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky. "I accept the judgment," Helmsley said. ALLIES WARN IRAQ: Allied diplomats Tuesday warned Iraq it risks military attack by the West over aircraft and missiles threatening Kurds in the north. Iraq was warned not to fly any aircraft in a protected Kurdish zone north of the 36th parallel. American, British and French diplomats outlined their demands to Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Abdul Amir Anbari. They warned any show of force would be answered in kind. RECORD NUMBER QUIT HOUSE: The number of House members calling it quits this year tied a post-World War II record Tuesday when Rep. Bill Lowery, R-Calif., became the 49th to announce his retirement. That brings to 56 the number of House and Senate members who are abandoning their seats amid an anti-incumbent mood. Thirty-six House members are retiring from public office; 13 are running for the Senate or for governor. GEPHARDT ADMITS MORE BAD CHECKS: House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., disclosed Tuesday that he wrote 28 bad checks over three years on his account at the House bank. Gephardt, who announced last year that he had three overdrafts between July 1989 and June 1990, said that he would pay $614.60 to the Treasury as penalties for his overdrafts. BILL BLAMES PORN: A bill pending in Congress would let victims of sexual assault sue for damages from publishers, producers, sellers, exhibitors and distributors of pornography if the victims can prove it was a substantial cause of the crime. Opponents think the Pornography Victims Compensation Act is misdirected, saying rape occurred long before the invention of the printing press and videotape. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3306.13, after closing up 36.23 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 227.31, up 3.15. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 392.14, up 3.25. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 594.81, up 6.66. STORMS IN NATION'S MIDSECTION: Unsettled weather activity in the nation's midsection Wednesday will bring gusty winds, rain and the possibility of hail. Cool weather with a chance of showers comes into the Midwest. The Northeast will be sunny and chilly. The Southeast will be in the 70s and 80s and sunny. Clouds and scattered showers keep the mid-Atlantic cool. Rain is likely in the region tonight and Thursday. News Editor: Beth Mann. (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