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Subject: AROUND THE NATION=Michigan Vote Declares Assisted Suicide a Felony<
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 04:45:04 EST
Message-ID: <46.1992Nov25.044505@AmeriCast.com>
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AROUND THE NATION=Michigan Vote Declares Assisted Suicide a Felo-
ny<

LANSING, Mich. - A day after Jack Kevorkian aided in a sixth sui-
cide, the Michigan House voted 72 to 29 yesterday to make
assisted-suicide a felony.

While declaring it a felony, the bill also establishes a citizens
commission that would have 15 months to study whether to permit
assisted-suicide or permanently make it a crime. The legislature
would have until Jan. 1, 1995, to act on the commission's recom-
mendations before the felony provision would expire.

The measure needs approval of the Senate, which twice has passed
bills to make assisted suicide a felony. But a parliamentary
maneuver temporarily stalled the bill in the House, making it un-
clear whether the measure will reach the Senate before its
scheduled adjournment Dec. 3.  Kevorkian's attorney, Michael
Schwartz, called the House action an act of "barbarism and unen-
lightenment" and said, "This was an obvious and unfortunate reac-
tion to the fact that Doctor Kevorkian helped a very ill woman."

New Chicago Airport Proposed<CHICAGO - Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar
(R) unveiled his plan for a new Chicago airport that would be lo-
cated 35 miles into suburbia but may not meet the needs of the
Midwest's transportation hub.

Before construction begins, if financing is found for the $1.8
billion project, Edgar said he would seek approval for another
runway at Chicago's O'Hare International to shorten delays at the
world's busiest airport.

A political controversy has brewed about a new airport site,
noise pollution and other problems at overcrowded O'Hare. The
Senate failed to approve last year a location that was closer to
the city and favored by Chicago Mayor Richard M.  Daley (D).

Edgar's choice is Peotone, a farming town that is 35 miles
southwest of the city but might have trouble attracting trav-
elers. He said he envisions a $400 million high-speed rail line
connecting the airport to downtown.

FDA Won't Act on Halcion<KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Food and Drug Ad-
ministration, after reviewing whether the Upjohn Co. failed to
report adverse reactions in people taking the sleeping pill Hal-
cion, said it will not take action against the company.

Halcion sales have plummeted since the drug was blamed for induc-
ing violence. Earlier this month, a Dallas jury ruled that it was
partly to blame for a personality change that lawyers said drove
a former assistant police chief to kill his best friend. Lawyers
said Halcion induced amnesia, psychosis and paranoia.

In May, an FDA panel said Halcion was safe but should carry
stronger warnings about potential side effects.  Reporter Admits
Phony Sources<LOS ANGELES - Tony Castro, a former newspaper re-
porter, has admitted using phony sources for celebrity stories
sold to tabloid newspapers.

A political reporter and columnist at the defunct Los Angeles
Herald-Examiner, Castro, 45, pleaded guilty Monday to eight
counts of mail fraud and one of underreporting 1990 taxes, au-
thorities said. His wife, Renee, 31, pleaded guilty to the tax
charge and to conspiracy to file false returns for 1989 and 1990,
they said.

The couple fraudulently sold items about celebrities to the
Globe, the National Enquirer and the Star tabloids for more than
$214,000 between 1987 and 1990, according to a 21-count indict-
ment. They used false identities, setting up mailboxes for pay-
ment, it said.<

Hopis, Navajos Settle Dispute<PHOENIX - The Navajo and Hopi tri-
bal councils have approved an agreement that could end a 110-year
land dispute between the neighboring tribes.

Approval sends the matter to the Interior and Justice depart-
ments, which must make recommendations on the issue. Their appro-
val would forward the matter to Congress, which is expected to
hold public hearings and vote on the matter early next year.

The pact, reached after about 15 months of court-ordered secret
negotiations, would give the Hopis about 408,000 acres of
federal, state and private land near Flagstaff, Ariz. In return,
the Hopis would allow 150 Navajo families to remain on Hopi land
for 75 years and would receive $15 million in federal compensa-
tion for loss of use of that land.<

Addenda<Former Miami Beach mayor Alex Daoud is to be tried again
April 5 on the 25 counts that jurors failed to decide in his
first extortion trial, along with six tax-evasion counts that had
been severed, a federal judge ruled.<The body of Thomas J. Mon-
fils, 35, was found in a giant pulp vat at a paper mill in Green
Bay, Wis., with a 40-pound weight around the neck, police said.
Investigators said he was alive when he entered the vat.<<02:33
11-25C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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