Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Fri, May 15 1992 Date: Fri, 15 May 92 05:12:19 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update May 15-17, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ASTRONAUTS COME DOWN TO EARTH: Shuttle Endeavour's astronauts head home this weekend after a record-breaking mission that "brought the magic back to our space program," NASA chief Dan Goldin said after the crew's rescue of a communications satellite. The rescue took several tries and was accomplished on the last possible try. The satellite, saved from a useless orbit, is expected to be operational by mid-July. `GOD SQUAD' GRANTS EXEMPTION: The Cabinet-level "God squad" committee Thursday granted an exemption to the Endangered Species Act, voting to permit timber harvesting on 1,742 acres of Oregon forests. Use of the land is in question because it is considered ideal habitat for the threatened northern spotted owl. It was only the second time the panel has ruled that economic concerns outweigh those of animal protection. LAWMAKERS' RECORDS SUBPOENAED: A federal grand jury probing the House Post Office has subpoenaed more than six years of office records from three Democratic lawmakers. Issued last week, the subpoenas were revealed Thursday by House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash. They appear to widen the original probe of low-level employees accused of embezzlement and drug dealing and indicate a look at House members. IACOCCA MAY TEAM WITH PEROT: CEO Lee Iacocca said goodbye to Chrysler Thursday, but he may not be hanging up his spurs just yet. Iacocca hints he and Texan Ross Perot, the likely independent candidate for president, may be doing business together. He said Perot called asking him "to do something to help his campaign or his administration." Iaccoca says he would not accept the Vice Presidency. DRUG WAR TACTIC IDLE: A much-heralded tactic in the drug war that includes denying federal student loans to offenders is being largely ignored by the courts. Fewer than 1% of drug offenders were given sentences that included any denial of federal benefits, says a new General Accounting Office report. The Bush administration touted promotion of "accountability," says Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. POWELL STANDS ALONE: Los Angeles police officer Laurence Powell Friday enters Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg's courtroom in Los Angeles for a possible retrial on one count in the Rodney King beating case. Earlier, when he was on trial with three other officers, jurors deadlocked on one count of excessive force for Powell. Prosecutors will request a retrial. BUSH WORTH $3.6 MILLION: President Bush's personal assets in investments and real estate are valued at about $3.6 million, his financial disclosure report shows. Bush holds $1.3 million worth of investments in a blind trust established when he became vice president. The value of those investments - of which he is unaware - has climbed by 4% since last year, according to the records released Thursday. NEVER MIND, MR. MADISON: House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., said Thursday he has changed his mind and doesn't think Congress needs to endorse a constitutional amendment banning mid-term pay raises for lawmakers. That ends plans for House hearings into whether the amendment became defunct between 1789 when James Madison wrote it and last week when Michigan became the 38th and deciding state to ratify it. YAGER CASE GOES TO JURY: The fate of Faye Yager, founder of a secret national network that hides allegedly abused children, Friday goes to a jury in Marietta, Ga. Yager, 44, is charged with kidnapping, child cruelty and interference with custody in her handling of two Florida children in 1990. The jury saw tapes of Yager questioning children. YELLOWSTONE READY FOR FIRES: When the fires finally stopped burning in 1988, nearly 800,000 acres of Yellowstone National Park lay scorched to the earth. No one's predicting that level of destruction this year, but there is concern. The Wyoming park is drier now than before the 1988 fires. The park plans to have a fire-spotting helicopter and crew ready June 1. "Everyone is poised," says a spokeswoman. THE SOUTH TO BE HOT AND HUMID: The southern tier of the USA will be hot and humid this weekend, while storms zip across the northern tier. Scattered thunderstorms will hit the Southeast. Florida will be sunny, with a few late-day thunderstorms. Thunderstorms will again hammer parts of the southern Plains as temperatures soar near 90. A cooling trend will stretch across the northern Plains into the Pacific Northwest. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3368.88 after closing down 23.10 points Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 227.72, down 1.72. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 391.79, down 1.96. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 576.46, down 5.92. 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. 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