Here , at a glance , are developments today involving the crash of Pan American World Airways Flight 103 Wednesday night in Lockerbie , Scotland , that killed all 259 people aboard and more than 20 people on the ground :

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pan american world airways flight 103
crash
lockerbie

terrorist threats
widespread wreckage
radical palestinian faction
terrorist bombing
bomb threat
sabotage


Rumbling spring thunderstorms have announced the beginning of the unofficial tornado season that runs from April through June across Texas and other Tornado Alley states in the nation 's heartland . From 1951 through 1986 , there have been an average of 118 tornadoes in Texas per year , according to the state climatologist 's office in College Station . More than 60 percent of those occur between April and June , records show . In April and June an average of 18 to 19 tornadoes occur each month , but in May , when weather conditions are the most unstable , that average increases to about 36 . A few twisters were already recorded in early March in Texas but they did little or no damage . A tornado that touched down Tuesday in central Louisiana , near Bunkie , destroyed two brick homes . `` People should have plans of what they 'll do in tornadoes . If they wait until it gets there , it 's going to be too late , '' said Buddy McIntyre , a forecaster with the National Weather Service . Last May 22 , a killer storm flattened the small West Texas town of Saragosa , killing 30 people and injuring 162 . In mid-November , 11 people died in East Texas when a series of tornadoes trashed towns from Cherokee County to the Gulf Coast . `` A tornado is such a devastating kind of storm . No matter how much preparation you do there is some property damage and some loss of life . But there are some things you can do to protect yourself and property , '' said Laureen Chernow , a spokeswoman for the governor 's division of emergency management . One is to know the difference between the tornado watches and tornado warnings issued by the weather service . A watch means weather conditions are suitable for development of a tornado , and people should keep a careful lookout for potential funnel clouds . A tornado warning means one has already developed and has been spotted . Take cover immediately and do n't go outside , but if you are in a car or mobile home you will be safer taking cover in the nearest ditch or depression . At home , the best place to stay is a basement or underground storm shelter . If no such shelter is available , go inside a closet in the center of the house or bathroom or lie flat under a heavy table . McIntyre noted that most fatalities in a tornado are from flying debris , so `` we tell people to squat down , cover their heads and present a low profile . '' James R. McDonald , director of the Institute for Disaster Research at Texas Tech University , says many people mistakenly try to outrun tornadoes in their cars . During the 1979 Wichita Falls tornado that killed 53 , McDonald said , `` people jumped in their cars and drove down Main Street at 90 mph . '' Twenty-six people died while trying to outrun the twister . Another misconception is about opening windows . It was once believed that windows needed to be open to equalize air pressure between the storm and the inside of a house to prevent the house from exploding . McIntyre said there are enough natural openings in a house to equalize air pressure , and `` if that tornado wants to open your windows , it 'll do that for you . ''

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tornado season
spring thunderstorms
tornadoes
texas
property damage
tornado warning
tornado watches
disaster research


Two U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets crashed in the air today and exploded , an air force spokeswoman said . The accident occurred less than two hours after another F-16 crashed into the Black Forest . West German police said one pilot was killed in the in-flight crash . The Air Force spokeswoman , Capt. Gail Hayes , said the aircraft were on a training mission when they crashed near Bodenheim , about six miles south of Mainz . She said the aircraft , assigned to the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hahn Air Base , crashed at 1:30 p.m. `` There was one person aboard each aircraft . The condition of those on board is unknown , '' Ms. Hayes told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from U.S. Air Force European headquarters at Ramstein Air Base . West German police spokesman Hugo Lenxweiler told the AP in a telephone interview that one of the pilots was killed in the accident . `` The other pilot was able to eject safely , '' Lenxweiler said . Lenxweiler said he did not know if the pilot who ejected suffered any injuries . Identities of the pilots were not immediately released . He said the planes crashed within several hundred yards of a populated area but that no one on the ground was hurt . He said preliminary information indicated that one of the F-16s rammed the other from behind . Both planes exploded on impact , he said . The other crash occurred about 90 miles away . Air Force Spokesman 1st Lt. Al Sattler said the pilot in the Black Forest crash ejected safely before the crash and was taken to Ramstein Air Base to be examined . Police in Karlsruhe said the crash occurred at noon -LRB- 6 a.m. EDT -RRB- near the village of Marxzell-Burbach . Sattler said the aircraft was from the 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing , stationed at Spangdahlen Air Base . The aircraft was taking part in a NATO military tactical air exercise being conducted from the Canadian air force base in Baden-Soellingen , Sattler said . West German police and U.S. military personnel secured the area of the crashes , and teams of experts were sent to the accident sites to determine the cause of the crashes .

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crashes
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bodenheim
training mission
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in-flight crash
u.s. air force
f-16 fighter jets
f-16s


A recommended halt to the government 's `` let it burn '' forest fire policy probably would be over by the start of the Western fire season next spring , according to the co-chairman of a panel that suggested the moratorium . The panel , in recommendations Thursday to the secretaries of agriculture and interior , said there were environmental benefits to allowing fires in national parks and wilderness areas to burn . Experts say fire renews forests , giving new species a chance to grow , encouraging wildlife and recycling nutrients . But it also said that `` in some cases the social and economic effects '' of allowing a forest fire to burn `` may be unacceptable . '' The panel suggested a temporary halt to the `` let it burn '' policy , saying the Forest Service and the National Park Service needed more time to refine their fire management plans . `` My guess is that the moratorium would be finished by the beginning of the Western fire season , which is the middle of May , '' Charles Philpot , co-chairman of the review panel , told a news conference . The panel was assembled last September after the worst fire season ever in drought-primed Yellowstone National Park . Some 249 fires seared 706,278 acres within the park boundaries and 40 percent as much again in nearby national forests . Residents in the fire vicinity complained bitterly that the park , tourism and the very air they breathed were being ruined by the failure to control the fires . The review team was asked to look at policies throughout the national parks and wilderness areas , not just Yellowstone . However , it did not consider policies in other areas such as ordinary national forests , where the Forest Service tries to protect commercial timbering operations . The panel 's report will remain open for public comment for 60 days before any recommendations are adopted . The report said no fires in national parks and wilderness areas should be allowed to burn until government fire management plans are improved and strengthened . It said actual fire management plans often have not spelled out when natural fires would be allowed to burn and when they would be put out . The agencies involved should make sure that fire management plans conform to departmental policies , that employees understand the policies , that everybody is using a common vocabulary and that agencies have agreed beforehand what to do if fires threaten to move across administrative boundaries , the report said . `` No ... natural fires are to be allowed until fire management plans meet these standards , '' the report said . Plans should consider the effects of prolonged drought , fuel moisture content and the possibility that multiple fires will tie up fire-fighting resources , the report said . Another recommendation called for the responsible agency official to `` certify in writing daily that adequate resources are available to ensure '' that every natural fire will be kept within boundaries set by government authorities .

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forest fire policy
western fire season
national forests
fire management plans
natural fires
recommended halt
panel


A split , charred tree stump is a clue that lightning was to blame for a forest fire . Carbon particles indicate the exhaust of a passing truck was the culprit . And there are other ways to tell a fire was accidental . `` You eliminate all those causes , you 're down to arson , '' said Dale Smallwood , a criminal investigator for Missouri 's Mark Twain National Forest . He comes down to arson in most of his investigations _ and he and other forest officials believe the problem is often rooted in some regional traditions that are as hard to quell as flames . A psychologist 's study found economic and even aesthetic reasons why some people light woods aflame . Arsonists set 172 of the 296 Mark Twain fires that have broken out so far this year , burning more than 9,000 acres , Smallwood said . A total of 14,200 acres of the forest , which covers 1.5 million acres mostly in southern Missouri , were burned during a spring fire season made more volatile by drought . On average , Smallwood estimates , 70 percent of the forest fires each year in Missouri are deliberately set . `` It 's probably 90 percent higher than the national average , '' said Ron McDonald , Mark Twain 's fire control officer . He said Mark Twain consistently is among the five forest districts with the worst arson problem . `` It 's just been an Ozark tradition of incendiary -LRB- deliberately set -RRB- fires , '' McDonald said . The tradition seems to stretch across the southern United States , according to Smallwood . Fires in other areas are more likely to be caused by lightning or man 's carelessness . As one of the Forest Service 's 125 special law enforcement agents , Smallwood has spent most of the past 16 years investigating fires in the forests he loves . `` I consider myself an Ozark hillbilly , '' he said . The Forest Service is charged with protecting wildlands , and balancing recreational needs with commercial interests in timber and mineral resources . Smallwood 's job includes investigating marijuana growing in the forest , timber theft and theft of other federal property . His military-neat office at the Forest Service headquarters in Rolla is decorated with game bird feathers , a picture of Smokey Bear and a glass-doored bookcase lined with reports and text books . The Forest Service has called on psychologists , sociologists and archaeologists to determine why fires are set . `` Part of it is tradition , '' Smallwood said . `` In the springtime , people used to burn the woods to allow grass to grow . '' A policy of open grazing , with cattle free to feed on any unfenced land , was allowed in the Ozarks until the 1960s , longer than in other wooded areas , Smallwood said . Psychologist John P. Shea in the 1940s conducted one of the first Forest Service studies of arson . Subsistence farmers in the rural South who were interviewed by Shea and his researchers claimed fire helped control ticks , snakes and disease and controlled the encroachment of trees on land where they wanted to graze cattle . `` Their ways are those of frontiersmen living in an arrested frontier , '' Shea wrote . Aesthetics even played a part : Shea and other researchers found that people living in areas where arson was common enjoyed the smell of smoke in the spring air , and believed the woods looked better `` burned clean . '' The Forest Service has attempted to counter the lore that can lead to burning . Over the years , timber has been touted as a cash crop that is as worthy of protection as grassland . Smokey Bear and other programs encourage the view of the forests as a priceless national resource . But the tradition of using fire to manage the woods dies hard . `` There 's no cut-and-dried way to prevent it , '' McDonald said . `` We had one case -LRB- in 1984 -RRB- where two men went to Sunday school and after school they started a fire with their Sunday school literature , '' Smallwood said . `` They just happened to be driving through an area they thought needed to be burned out . '' Still , the arsonist does not always fit the profile of a simply misguided citizen . `` Part of the problem is people driving around drinking and shooting road signs , '' Smallwood said . `` When they get bored with that , they set fires . It 's malicious mischief . `` Sometimes you hear that someone is angry at the Forest Service because of some administrative action _ because we closed a road or disallowed something . And they do n't necessarily have to be mad at the Forest Service . They could be mad at government , period . '' Then , `` fire is used as retaliation . '' `` It 's so senseless , '' he said . `` It just costs a lot of money to put these fires out and it 's coming right out of our tax dollars . '' McDonald , who oversees about 125 Mark Twain employees trained as firefighters , said forest fires cost $ 25 to $ 30 an acre to suppress . In the rare case of a conviction , the arsonist is likely to be put on probation or ordered to pay the costs of fighting the fire and replacing timber that was destroyed , Smallwood said . Last year , a judge ordered two arsonists to work weekends for the Forest Service . `` An arson case in the forest is very hard to make , '' he said . `` When you go out in the middle of the forest to a blackened area to begin an investigation , it 's very difficult and frustrating . No. 1 , you usually do n't have any witnesses . '' He noted that in some cases , people who have evidence withhold it for fear of being burned out themselves . Beyond the cost in dollars of forest fires , there 's risk to those who fight them . `` We had an employee die of a heart attack fighting an arson fire , '' Smallwood said , referring to a 1976 blaze . `` We would have liked to have prosecuted someone in that case . And I would have also liked to have known if the prosecutor would have considered a manslaughter charge against the arsonist . ''

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O

forest fires
criminal investigator
investigations
passing truck
missouri
arsonist
arson problem


President Reagan warned Saturday that he will veto any welfare legislation Congress sends him that does not contain a work requirement . `` The best way to learn to work is to work , '' the president said in a Labor Day weekend radio address from his vacation ranch 20 miles north of here . Rep. Thomas J. Downey , D-N.Y. , in the Democrats ' response , said that quiring welfare recipients work may be necessary , but he said such requirements should be controlled by state and local welfare officials , not the federal government . Reagan mingled talk of welfare reform with celebration of his administration 's economic record , saying Friday 's unemployment figures showed that the jobless rate `` hovered just above the lowest it 's been in 14 years . '' The figures from the Labor Department showed unemployment of 5.6 percent , up from 5.4 percent in July and from the May figure of 5.3 per cent , which was a 14-year low . `` But there are still some Americans whom our expansion has passed by _ those caught in the welfare trap , '' he said . To deal with this , he said , his administration launched a program encouraging states to come up with their own plans to get people off the welfare rolls . `` Nearly half of the states have implemented or proposed widespread welfare reform plans that build upon some good old common sense _ that the best way to learn to work is to work , '' the president said . `` Now , Congress appears to be close to a decision about welfare reform and I have a message for them , '' he said . `` I will not accept any welfare reform bill unless it is geared to making people independent of welfare . '' A House-Senate conference committee currently has before it a Senate-passed bill that contains a work requirement and a House-approved measure that does not . `` Any bill not built around work is not true welfare reform , '' the president said . `` If Congress presents me with a bill that replaces work with welfare expansion and that places the dignity of self-sufficiency through work out of the reach of Americans on welfare , I will use my veto pen . '' Downey said that while more people than ever before are working , `` the fact is that the typical worker in America is no better off today than he or she was 10 years ago ; in fact things have gotten worse . '' The poorest 40 percent of American families , with incomes adjusted for inflation , are worse off today than they were 10 years ago ; the richest 5 percent are better off than they were a decade ago ; and 32.5 million Americans remain mired in poverty , he said . The House bill , with training and education programs as well as health and child-care benefits , would make welfare parents who work better off than those who do not , said Downey , acting chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on public assistance and unemployment compensation . `` Yes , requiring a welfare recipient to work may be necessary , but those requirements should be controlled by state and local officials who administer our welfare programs , not federal bureaucrats , '' Downey said .

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welfare reform
president reagan
welfare legislation
work requirement
welfare programs
unemployment
americans


A B-52 bomber crashed and burst into flames early today on a runway while practicing `` touch-and-go '' landings at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base , officials said . All eight crew members survived . The plane , normally equipped to carry nuclear bombs , crashed about 1:15 a.m. , said Lt. Naomi Siegal , a spokeswoman at the Strategic Air Command installation . No weapons were aboard , said Lt. Col. George Peck , a spokesman for SAC headquarters in Omaha , Neb. . The crew was practicing landings after a seven-hour training flight when it crashed during one of its touch-and-go approaches , Peck said . During such maneuvers , landing gears touch the ground but the plane does n't land . All three sections of the plane burned on impact , said Senior Airman Tim Sanders , a base spokesman . The crew members crawled or were helped out of the front section of the aircraft , he said . They were taken to Marquette General and base hospitals . Members of the crew suffered broken bones , but no one was burned , said Capt. Paul Bicking , another Sawyer spokesman . Senior Airman Tim Sanders , another base spokesman , said those aboard were Capt. Mark Hartney , 29 , an aircraft commander from Mulberry , Fla. ; 1st Lt. Michael S. Debruzzi , 26 , a pilot from New Brighton , Minn. ; Capt. Anthony D. Phillips , 28 , a radar navigator from Folkston , Ga. ; 1st Lt. James W. Herrmann , 30 , a navigator from Sharpsville , Pa. ; 1st Lt. Daniel McCarrick , 25 , an electronic warfare officer from Succasunna , N.J. ; Airman 1st Class , Joseph A. Vallie , 20 , a gunner from Stephenson , Mich. ; Maj. William R. Kroeger , 52 , an instructor pilot from Fountain Hills , Ariz. ; and 1st Lt. Gregory C. Smith , 26 , an upgrade pilot from Henning , Minn. . All were based at Sawyer . Ann Parent , a spokeswoman for Marquette General Hospital , said Hartney and Debruzzi were in fair condition , Phillips and Vallie were in stable condition , McCarrick was in satisfactory condition and Kroeger was in serious condition . Herrmann and Smith were listed in stable condition at the base hospital , said Technical Sgt. Anita Bailey . Hartney was the aircraft commander , but Debruzzi also was qualified to fly the plane , Bailey said . She did not know who was at the controls at the time of the crash . `` We are counting our blessings , '' Bailey said . `` You can put parts of a plane back together , but you can not put people back together . '' The accident was classified as the most serious kind , and all aircraft exercises at Sawyer were canceled even though runways other than the one where the crash occurred remained open , Bailey said . Peck said a board of officers will investigate the accident , adding weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash . Peck said it was not unusual for B-52 training missions to be out at that hour . `` Crews have to be trained to fly at any time of the day or night in any weather , '' he said . The eight-engine B-52 , which was deployed in the early 1950s , is the military 's biggest bomber , with a wingspan of 185 feet and a maximum takeoff weight of 488,000 pounds . The last B-52 was commissioned in 1962 . In other accidents involving B-52s , a bomber was damaged when a pilot aborted a takeoff and overshot a runway at Castle Air Force Base in central California on Feb. 11 . No one was injured . A B-52 bomber with radar problems crashed in Arizona'a Monument Valley in October 1984 , killing two crew members , after its wings clipped a mesa . The Air Force has had more trouble recently with the B-52 's successor , the B-1B bomber . Although smaller than the B-52 , the B-1B can fly at supersonic speeds and carry more bombs . Four B-1Bs have crashed in the four years the plane has been flying , including two nine days apart in November . One of the $ 280 million B-1Bs was destroyed after smashing onto a runway at Ellsworth Air Force Base , S.D. , during a training flight on Nov. 17 . On Nov. 8 , a B-1B crashed and burned in a field near Dyess Air Force Base , Texas . No one was killed in either crash and investigators have not disclosed what caused the accidents . Six crewmen died and 10 were injured Oct. 11 when an Air Force tanker en route from K.I. Sawyer crashed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base near Oscoda . The Air Force 's investigation of the crash is incomplete . Wurtsmith and Sawyer are Michigan 's two SAC bases .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O

crash
training flight
crew members
pilot


The Office of Fair Trading said Tuesday it was investigating a complaint alleging anti-competitive practices by a London-based diamond cartel controlled by South Africa 's giant De Beers diamond organization . The watchdog body said De Beers `` appeared to have '' a monopoly on diamond trading in London and it was interested in establishing whether there had been an abuse of the monopoly . Consolidated Gold Fields PLC , a British mining concern with no diamond interests , acknowledged that it filed the complaint as a defensive move against a stalled takeover bid by Luxembourg-based Minorco SA . Minorco is 60.1 percent owned by Anglo American Corp. of South Africa Ltd. and De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. , the gold and diamond mining interests controlled by the Oppenheimer family of South Africa . The British government is expected to rule in the next few weeks whether to allow Minorco to proceed with its 2.9 billion-pound -LRB- about $ 5.1 billion -RRB- bid for Consolidated Gold following an investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission . A Consolidated Gold spokesman , commenting on condition he was not identified , said the company wanted to point up the `` monopolistic tendencies '' of South Africa 's Anglo-American group of companies . De Beers ' Central Selling Organization , which controls 80 percent of world diamond trading , has been based in London for 60 years . As well as selling the stones mined by De Beers and other South African companies , the organization trades on behalf of diamond producers including Zaire , Australia , Botswana and the Soviet Union . The Office of Fair Trading said it would first have to establish whether it had jurisdiction over the Central Selling Organization because although it is based in London , De Beers is a South African company . There is no time limit on the office 's investigation . After it is completed , the Office of Fair Trading may decide to refer the complaint to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission . A spokesman for the Central Selling Organization said the Office of Fair Trading notified the organization about the inquiry but had n't yet requested any information . `` It 's still early '' in the investigation , said the spokesman , commenting on condition he was not identified . De Beers 's shares were unchanged Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange at $ 12 -LRB- U.S. -RRB- .

O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

de beers diamond organization
fair trading
south africa
world diamond trading
defensive move
central selling organization
investigation

anti-competitive practices
london-based diamond cartel
luxembourg-based minorco sa


An annual Agriculture Department survey confirmed Thursday that a deadening drought will curtail the fall corn harvest by a third or more , resulting in higher retail food prices for months and years to come . However , government officials said bountiful crops in recent years has built stockpiles so high the United States need not fear actual shortages on grocery shelves and can even continue exporting food . The report came hours after President Reagan signed a $ 3.9 billion relief bill that he acknowledged wo n't bring rain to crops already sweltering , but hopefully will help farmers survive to plant again next spring . The new surveys led USDA experts to predict the 1988 corn crop will total 4.48 billion bushels , down 37 percent from last year 's harvest and the smallest output since 1983 . Sharp reductions also were reported for soybeans , wheat and a number of other crops . Cotton , which thrived last month in the hot , humid weather , is expected to increase from last year . Overall , the department 's Agricultural Statistics Board put total U.S. crop production at 88 percent of the 1977 average , a scale used to compare output from year to year . That matched the low 1983 reading , when sharp cutbacks in government acreage programs , along with drought , reduced crop production sharply . The corn crop is expected to average 78.5 bushels per harvested acre , down from 119.4 bushel per acre last year , a record year-to-year decline of 34 percent . Corn is the largest and most important crop grown by American farmers and , as a feed ingredient , is essential to the production of meat , poultry and dairy products . Assistant Secretary Ewen M. Wilson , the department 's chief economist , said the drought may add 1 percent to the cost of food this year , 2 percent next year . `` Today 's reports confirm that the drought has had a major impact on this year 's crops , '' Wilson told reporters . `` But because of large pre-season stocks , total supplies are enough in most cases to assure and adequate food supply at home , satisfy foreign customers and meet our food-aid commitments . '' Sen. Patrick J. Leahy , D-Vt. , chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee , said in a statement , `` Today 's crop report confirms our fears about the impacts of this summer 's tragic drought . Fortunately , it appears we will have enough stocks to make it through this marketing year . '' The USDA 's grim news came hours after President Reagan on Thursday signed a $ 3.9 billion disaster relief bill aimed at helping drought-stricken farmers recover . `` This bill is n't as good as rain , '' Reagan said to the nation 's farmers . `` But it will tide you over until normal weather and your own skills permit you to return to your accustomed role . '' The new USDA crop estimates were based on field surveys as of Aug. 1 . In May and June , before drought had made its biggest impact , USDA projected the corn harvest _ based on trends and an assumption of normal weather _ at 7.3 billion bushels . But those projections were revised downward a month ago to 5.2 billion bushels , assuming farmers got normal weather the remainder of the season . The soybean harvest was estimated at 1.47 billion bushels , down 23 percent from 1.9 billion bushels produced last year . Prospects last spring called for about 1.88 billion bushels , and the July projection was 1.65 billion bushels . Production of all wheat was indicated at 1.82 billion bushels , down 13 percent from 2.1 billion produced in 1987 . In May and June , the USDA forecast this year 's output would be up slightly . The July projection was 1.84 billion bushels The wheat total included winter wheat planted last fall , which barely stayed ahead of the drought . Later plantings of durum and other spring wheat varieties were brutalized by heat and dryness . Winter wheat production was estimated at 1.55 billion bushels , down 1 percent from last year . But durum and the other spring varieties , which are produced in the hard-hit northern plains , showed sharp declines . Durum was estimated at 54.6 million bushels , down 41 percent from last year 's harvest , and other spring wheat was shown at 212 million bushels , down 53 percent from 1987 . Cotton production was estimated at 14.9 million bales , up 1 percent from last year . The crop was projected at 13.7 billion bales in July . Department officials said U.S. grain production this year is expected to total 192 million metric tons , 31 percent smaller than the 1987 output . The total grain supply for 1988-89 _ which includes inventories on hand at the beginning of the season _ is down 24 percent from last season . In addition to the reductions in corn and soybean yields , Wilson said production of some other spring-planted crops has suffered , including : oats , 206 million bushels , down 45 percent ; barley , 288 million bushels , also down 45 percent ; and sorghum , 561 million bushels , down 24 percent . Wilson said USDA experts `` continue to believe that the drought will add only one percentage point '' to consumer food prices this year . The department has forecast a food price increase this year of 3 percent to 5 percent . Before the heat and dry weather , USDA had expected a 1988 food price hike of 2 percent to 4 percent . Wilson said the drought could add 2 percent to the consumer price index for food next year . `` That 's on top of an additional estimated increase in food prices somewhere in the region of 4 percent , '' Wilson said . `` So this would bring it up to a total of 6 percent . '' He also said the United States is `` looking at an export situation that is not as good as it was a year ago . '' He said production abroad would have to take up the slack in world food supply caused by the drought . `` Our figures here today would indicate that food production in other countries has not been cut that much , '' he said . There remained a possibility that the United States would import some soybeans this year , Wilson said . He scoffed at any suggestion , however , that the United States may have lost its capacity to produce sizeable crop surpluses . He noted that 50 million farm acres are being kept out of production this year in addition to millions of additional acres in the long-term Conservation Reserve Program . Meanwhile , USDA weatherman Norton Strommen said rain in the midcontinent in recent days has not meant an end to the drought . `` The drought , as you can see , is still basically with us throughout the entire United States , '' Strommen said .

O B I I I O O O O B I O O O B I I O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

deadening drought
annual agriculture department survey
fall corn harvest
higher retail food prices
president reagan
sharp reductions
food production
food price increase
disaster relief bill


Ben Johnson knowingly took steroids and those close close to the runner also were aware of it , fellow Canadian Olympic sprinter Angella Issajenko was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday . Johnson _ stripped of his Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter final after he tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol _ also was taking steroids when he set a world sprint record last summer in Rome , the Toronto Star newspaper quoted Ms. Issajenko as saying . Ms. Issajenko , who also competed in the Olympics in Seoul , South Korea , was quoted as saying she also took the muscle-building drug . The Olympics , which began Sept. 17 , ended Oct. 2 . Later , her husband Tony said Ms. Issajenko denied saying she and Johnson took steroids . The Toronto Star said Sunday that it stood by its story . Ms. Issajenko previously accused a therapist of giving her and Johnson steroids without their knowledge but later retracted the statement . Ms. Issajenko in the interview claimed Dr. George Mario -LRB- Jamie -RRB- Astaphan provided steroids and monitored the program with the knowledge of Charlie Francis , coach of the Mazda Optimist Track Club , which she and Johnson belong to . `` I just do n't care any more , '' Ms. Issajenko was quoted as saying . `` I 'm fed up with all the bull . ... Ben takes steroids . I take steroids . Jamie -LRB- Astaphan -RRB- gives them to us and Charlie is n't a scientist but he knows what 's happening . '' Johnson , 26 , says he has never knowingly taken illegal drugs while Astaphan has said he has never administered stanozolol _ the banned steroid found in the runner 's urine sample after his world record 100-meter run at the Olympics . Francis , meanwhile , has said the test result `` defies all logic '' and could only be explained `` by deliberate manipulation of the testing process . '' Ms. Issajenko , 30 , was quoted as saying she had first-hand knowledge Johnson received steroids from Astaphan from 1984 to 1986 but `` Ben was going on his own to Jamie after that . '' She also said Astaphan was administering steroids to Johnson when he set a 9.83-second world record in the 100-metre sprint at the world championships in Rome . Johnson 's Seoul run lowered that mark to 9.79 seconds . Ms. Issajenko , the Canadian 100 - and 200-metre champion , said she has been threatened since she has come forward with her accusations against the Jamaican-born Johnson . After Johnson tested positive for steroids at the Olympics , Ms. Issajenko said therapist Waldemar Matuszewski had `` tampered '' with her and Johnson . Ms. Issajenko claimed the therapist had put anabolic steroids in the rubbing compound he used to massage their muscles . The story was called `` nonsense '' by Canadian Olympic track physician Dr. Robert Luba and Issajenko later retracted her charges against Matuszewski . The federal government has appointed Ontario Associate Chief Justice Charles Dubin to head a judicial inquiry into the Ben Johnson affair . Astaphan and Francis could not be immediately reached for comment .

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O

ben johnson
canadian olympic sprinter
angella issajenko
olympic gold medal
steroid stanozolol
illegal drugs


Authorities questioned the badly injured pilot of a crashed Boeing 737 Wednesday , but revealed no clues as to why the jet 's undamaged right engine was shut down well before the crash while the other engine burned . The Civil Aviation Authority , meanwhile , ordered increased inspections on 37 airplanes with CFM56 engines , the type on the Midland Airways jet that crashed Sunday . Investigators said much more work was needed to pinpoint the cause of the crash , which killed 44 people and injured 82 . The government also ordered immediate checks of engine monitoring systems on similar aircraft to verify that they correctly indicate right and left , prompting speculation that a malfunctioning alarm system could have misled the flight crew . Freddie Yetman , technical secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association , said this showed that investigators `` must have some suspicion of these circuits . '' In the United States , the Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of 300 Boeing 737s for possible cross-wiring of engine warning systems . U.S. media reported that the crew of the jet shut down the wrong engine , and Britain 's tabloid newspapers drew similar conclusions in banner headlines . `` Error on the Flight Deck , '' the Today newspaper said . `` Fatal Error '' said the Daily Star . `` Pilot Shut Off the Wrong Engine '' said the Sun . The Transport Department said that `` evidence obtained early in the investigation '' indicated both of the plane 's engines `` might have suffered a related failure '' and that possibility was still being examined . The statement from the department 's Air Accidents Investigation Branch also confirmed that the airplane 's left engine caught fire and the right engine was shut down , and that pilot Kevin Hunt had told ground control the fire was in the right engine . The reasons for shutting down the engine `` are not yet clear and are still under investigation , '' it said . The jet , en route from London to Belfast with 126 people aboard , plunged into an embankment a half-mile short of the runway at East Midlands Airport in central England as it was trying to make an emergency landing Sunday night . Hunt , whose back and legs were broken in the crash , was interviewed for 45 minutes at the intensive care unit of Leicester Royal Infirmary , said the hospital 's deputy general manager Carol Henshall . Mrs. Henshall said some of the `` wilder headlines '' had been kept from Hunt , but friends and colleagues had told him of the news reports . In the United States , NBC News quoted unidentified U.S. government sources as saying `` the plane 's flight recorders , which monitor engine performance and the pilots ' conversations , indicate the crew shut down the wrong engine . The trouble was in one _ they shut down the other . '' But the network said investigators had yet to detemine whether faulty instruments contributed to the crash . The Washington Post , quoting unidentified accident investigators , said the crew believed they were making a routine , one-engine emergency landing , and apparently thought they had solved the problem when they shut down an engine . Spokesmen for both the FAA and the National Transportation Board said they knew of no information reaching U.S. officials about the flight recorders ' contents . The airplane 's two `` black boxes , '' the cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder , are being examined at the government 's laboratory in Farnborough , outside London . According to court documents and federal officials in America , the FBI is investigating a General Electric Co. admission that test records may have been falsified at a factory which made parts for the CFM56 engine that failed here . The Seattle factory also made a check and flow valve for the F404 engine aboard the Navy 's FA-18 fighter , GE spokesman Richard Kennedy said Wednesday . A letter from a GE attorney last year said test records may have been falsified for the fighter plane valves . The timer valve made by GE for the CFM56 engine could not have caused the turbine to fail even if the valve malfunctioned , Kennedy said . The plane took off at 7:52 p.m. Sunday . Government sources , speaking on condition of anonymity , said Hunt reported at 8:06 p.m. that `` I have an engine on fire . '' Then , at 8:14 p.m. , the sources said he told traffic control : `` I am shutting down the starboard -LRB- right -RRB- engine . '' The plane crashed 12 minutes later at 8:26 p.m. . The Civil Aviation Authority said that on the advice of investigators , it was issuing new instructions for the inspection and monitoring of Boeing 737-300 , Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A320 airplanes , all of which use the CFM56 engine . The engines are made jointly by U.S.-based GE and a French company , SNECMA . Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Craig Martin said in Seattle of the FAA 's inspection order , `` We certainly believe it 's a prudent measure to go out and check to make sure there 's nothing wrong with the fleet . But certainly this precautionary measure does not imply there has been any cause identified -LRB- for the crash . -RRB- ''

O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O

boeing 737s
undamaged right engine
crash
injured pilot
engine monitoring systems
wrong engine
left engine


Thousands of peole prayed , cheered , danced , beat drums and observed other traditions today as a total eclipse of the sun darkened a wide area of Indonesia and the southern Philippines . The sun was blacked out by the shadow of the moon for up to four minutes along a 108-mile swath that moved from the Indian Ocean across Indonesia and the southern Philippine island of Mindanao . A partial eclipse was visible across a wide area of Asia as far west as India _ including Southeast Asia , China , Japan and New Guinea as well as parts of Australia and the Pacific islands . Scientists said the eclipse would end at sunset in the Gulf of Alaska . Clouds obscured the solar spectacular in Jakarta , Indonesia , Hong Kong and in the eastern Mindanao city of Davao , where thousands of tourists and scientists had gathered to observe the eclipse . But it was visible for about 3 minutes in this city about 650 miles southeast of Manila despite early scattered clouds . President Corazon Aquino flew in to witness the event . Richard Fisher of the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder , Colo. , said that despite scattered clouds , scientists were confident they had taken useful pictures of the eclipse . In Jakarta , Wilson Sinambela of the National Institute of Aeronautics said a total eclipse was observed in several parts of the country , including by about 1,000 tourists in the South Sumatra capital Palembang . He said thousands of Indonesians prayed and beat drums to herald the start of the eclipse , which began in southwestern Sumatra before heading on to the Philippines . In Kuala Lumpur , where a partial eclipse blocked out about 80 percent of the sun , some Malaysian Hindus visited temples to pray for protection against harm during the eclipse . In Kurukshetra , India , an estimated 1 million pilgrims dipped into the waters of the sacred Sannihit and Brahmsarover tanks after a public address system announced the start of the eclipse . Hymns were chanted and conch shells blown during the ceremony about 90 miles north of New Delhi . Clouds blocked the first moments of the eclipse in General Santos City . But the cloud cover broke , setting off wild cheering among the thousands who watched the phenomenon in a scorching tropical heat . Street lights switched on , and members of the Naragcas tribe , in the city for a festival , danced in the streets to the beat of drums . In Baguio City , 130 miles north of Manila , pregnant women of the local Ilocano community rinsed their hair during the eclipse with water dripped from burned rice straws in a traditional ritual . According to local superstition , babies conceived during or shortly before an eclipse will be deformed unless their mothers practice the ritual . Many other Filipinos marked the eclipse by going to church . The Philippines is Asia 's only predominately Christian country . `` This phenomenon is a clear reminder from God for mankind to repent its sins , '' said Theresa Teopengco , a government employee . Officials said about 20,000 tourists and scientists from around the world had come to the southern Philippines to watch the eclipse , the last one expected here for at least 50 years . Scientists said the area afforded the best opportunity to witness and study the eclipse because skies are usually clear this time of year . But in Davao City , 60 miles to the northeast , morning clouds sent hundreds scurrying to the airport for flights to General Santos . Church bells in Davao tolled while police and civilians set off firecrackers and fired weapons in the air to mark the eclipse . In Manila , thousands turned out under clear skies to see the partial eclipse that blocked about 75 percent of the sun 's surface at its height . Police said four people were injured when a passenger bus collided with a jeep during the eclipse . `` The drivers were probably looking skyward when the accident occurred , '' said policeman Ricardo Manansala . `` It 's impossible to gaze at the sky and drive a vehicle at the same time . '' Solar eclipses occur when the moon positions itself between the Earth and the sun . The Chinese first recorded a total solar eclipse in 2137 B.C. , regarding them as signs of a battle to death between the sun and the dragon .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O

total eclipse
sun
moon
partial eclipse
solar eclipses
tourists
wide area
witness


Millions of gallons of crude oil that spilled when a tanker ran aground spread across a wildlife-rich stretch of ocean Saturday , and Alaska 's chief environmental officer criticized cleanup efforts as too slow . The biggest oil spill in U.S. history created a slick about seven miles long and seven miles wide in Prince William Sound . The Coast Guard said only Reef Island and the western edge of Bligh Island had been touched by the slick . `` This situation , I think , was everyone 's secret nightmare about what could happen with oil traffic in the sound , '' said Dennis Kelso , commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation . Some 240,000 barrels _ about 10,080,000 gallons _ of crude oil from Alaska 's North Slope spilled early Friday when the 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez ran hard aground on Bligh Reef , about 25 miles outside Valdez , where it had taken on a total cargo of 1.2 million barrels . Initial reports indicated 270,000 barrels had spilled . `` What we have here is a major environmental catastrophe , '' said one oil spill expert , Richard Golob of Boston , publisher of Golob Oil Pollution Bulletin . Golob said cleanup equipment at the site was `` grossly inadequate '' but added that even under ideal circumstances cleanup efforts would not have significantly reduced the spill 's impact . `` It is an enclosed body of water , '' he said . `` The only way for this oil to ecape out to the sea is by traversing the entire length of Prince William Sound with all its islands , fjords and bays and channels . `` And during that transit , undoubtedly a large stretch of shoreline will be contaminated , '' he said . Divers Saturday said they had found six to eight holes in the vessel 's hull large enough to swim through , said Frank Iarossi , president of Exxon Shipping Co. . About 30 feet of the vessel is resting on a shelf on the reef . Efforts to begin pumping 200,000 gallons of oil off the Exxon Valdez onto another tanker , the Exxon Baton Rouge , were halted early Saturday when authorities noticed that oil appeared to leaking as the pumping operation proceeded . Eleven of 17 tanks that lie forward of the ship 's masthead were ruptured in the accident , causing concern over removal of the oil , said Coast Guard Lt. Ed Wieliczkiewicz . `` Whenever you start removing oil from a vessel this size it has to be done in a controlled manner , '' Wieliczkiewicz said . `` If it 's not ... you endanger the stability of the vessel . '' Wieliczkiewicz said a boom was placed around the Exxon Valdez and the Exxon Baton Rouge to help contain oil around the vessels . He also said four members of the Coast Guard 's Pacific Strike Team from San Francisco , specially trained to deal with pollution and oil spills , arrived Saturday and were helping to rig pumps and assemble equipment needed to transfer oil to the Baton Rouge . Kelso was highly critical of what he said was a slow response to the spill . `` The initial reponse was inadequate and unacceptable , '' he said before a news conference Saturday . Kelso said the efforts should have been under way in five hours , but took much longer . `` You miss the opportunity right at the beginning and you 've missed our best opportunity to do something . '' Kelso said Alaska has a plan for oil spills that calls for action within five hours of a spill . It took several hours longer , he said , and only two of seven skimmers available to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. were used at the outset . Alyeska spokesman Chuck O'Donnel said he was satisfied with his company 's actions . `` I think our people did an excellent job , '' he said . The spill 's effect on wildlife had not yet been assessed , but commercial fishermen who depend on the sound for a catch worth millions of dollars were outraged and said a key herring spawning area had been polluted . `` The whole food chain could be affected by the spill , '' said Alan Reichman , ocean ecology coordinator for the environmental group Greenpeace , in Seattle . `` There 's a high concentration of sea otter , waterfowl , sea birds and pink salmon in that area , '' said Steve Goldstein , a spokesman for the Interior Department in Washington . `` Some birds have already died , and we are doing our best to try to save the fish by containing the oil to the area where it presently is and by trying to skim it . '' Whales , porpoises and seals are also common in Prince William Sound . `` It 's kind of like sailing through a zoo , '' said Jim Lethcoe , who lives on a boat in the sound and operates a sailing business . An animal cleanup station was set up in a building at the community college in Valdez , but volunteers there said they had no animals to work on by midafternoon . The response to the spill also drew fire from the 12,000-member United Fishermen of Alaska . `` We feel that this should have been the easiest oil spill in the world to clean up , '' said Riki Ott , chairman of the organization 's habitat committee . She noted that the spill had occurred in a protected area close to the Valdez marine terminal and the water was calm . Ott said the spill had polluted Prince William Sound 's primary herring spawning area . Fishermen also take salmon and shellfish from the sound . Last year , they were paid about $ 85 million for their catches , she said . The Port of Valdez remained closed to tanker traffic . North Slope crude oil is shipped 800 miles through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay south to Valdez for shipment aboard tankers to refineries outside Alaska . The Coast Guard said the Exxon Valdez struck the reef when it maneuvered outside normal tanker traffic lanes to avoid icebergs . The vessel 's captain , Joseph Hazelwood , has worked for Exxon for 20 years , at least 10 as a ship 's master . It was unclear if a pilot was aboard the Exxon Valdez when it grounded . There was no decision Saturday on whether to use chemicals to disperse the oil , but a test of the dispersal method was being conducted Saturday afternoon , as was a test to determine whether at least some of the crude oil could be burned . Coast Guard Cmdr. Steven McCall said National Transportation Safety Board investigators are expected to arrive Sunday to take over the accident probe . He said one or more blood-alcohol tests were administered after the grounding , but he said he did n't know know how many people were tested or the results . McCall said the tests routinely are administered in marine accidents involving federal jurisdiction . The Coast Guard issued a statement late Saturday that McCall has subpoenaed the ship 's master and two crew members . The subpoenas require them to make themselves available to NTSB investigators arriving Sunday . The Coast Guard said the supoenas were routine . Previously , the largest U.S. tanker spill was the Dec. 15 , 1976 , grounding of the Argo Merchant tanker off the Nantucket shoals off Massachusetts , in which 7.6 million gallons of oil spilled , Golob said . Up to 10.7 million gallons of oil was lost on Nov. 1 , 1979 , when the tanker Burmah Agate collided with another ship in Galveston Bay , Texas . However , that oil burned as well as spilled . The largest tanker spill in history resulted from the July 19 , 1979 , collision off Tobago of the supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain , in which 300,000 tons _ more than 80 million gallons _ of oil was lost .

O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

oil spill
major environmental catastrophe
cleanup equipment
crude oil
cleanup efforts
alaska

u.s. tanker spill
987-foot tanker exxon valdez


A tornado blasted through this North Florida town before dawn today , destroying several homes and a college library , blowing off rooftops , flipping cars and leaving four people dead and 15 injured , officials said . The tornado touched down at 4:30 a.m. just west of Madison , about 50 miles east of Tallahassee , and cut a 12-mile swath of destruction , authorities said . `` There was this huge roar and then I heard a tree crack out there and thought we were all gone , '' said Marie Prince , a Madison County sheriff 's dispatcher . The tornado passed only four blocks from her office . Four people were killed north of town , said Sheriff Joe Peavy . Fifteen people were injured , but none of the injuries was critical , according to Madison County Memorial Hospital administrator Jeannie Baker . A house-to-house search found no more bodies , but a man and a baby had to be freed from separate homes where they were trapped , Peavy said . Two of the deaths occurred in mobile homes blown apart by the tornado , and four other houses were seriously damaged as well , said Madison County Civil Defense Director Bernard Wilson . `` It did n't leave any of it . Not even a dish . You 'd never know there was a trailer here , '' said Dorothy Butler , sister of one of the victims . Rescue units from adjoining counties were helping out , along with state law enforcement and forestry officials . State prisoners were also on their way to help with the cleanup , Peavy said . He had no estimate of the damage . The tornado was part of a storm system that struck across the Southeast with high winds , lightning and hail . Trees , roofs and mobile homes were damaged , and at least six other injuries were reported . Madison , a town of about 3,500 people , is the county seat of Madison County , a thinly populated tobacco growing area of piney woods , rolling hills and swamps on the border with Georgia . The twister 's destructive path started in front of a shopping center and then proceeded straight into North Florida Junior College , where it `` totaled the new library and took the roof off the auditorium , '' Peavy said . The twister blew away several homes , blew the roof off a nearby church , overturned cars and knocked down trees , Peavy said . As far as his office knew , all the damage was from one tornado , Peavy said . He said the tornado 's sweep through town lasted under 30 minutes . Electric company workers were restoring power throughout the area . Two tornadoes struck near the towns of Malone and Bascom , about 100 miles to the west of Madison , said Jackson County emergency management director John Mader . Three homes and a trailer were destroyed and five homes seriously damaged , he said , and two people were slightly injured . Many county roads were blocked by fallen trees , he said , and officials were surveying the area by helicopter . The tornadoes were spawned by a belt of thunderstorms being pushed by a cold front . Hail the size of golf balls and damaging winds hit Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama and Georgia . More than one inch of rain fell in one hour this morning in Waycross , Ga. , 70 miles northeast of here , and wind gusts of 40 mph were reported in Valdosta , according to the National Weather Service . Elsewhere in Georgia , trees and power lines were reported blown down , a barn was reported destroyed and a tin roof was blown off an old building . The winds destroyed up to nine mobile homes west of Bainbridge , Ga. , Monday night , injuring three people , one seriously . The sheriff 's office said the wind left the homes in shreds . Bainbridge is 25 miles northwest of Tallahassee . A 9-year-old girl from Cottonwood , Ala. , was injured by lightning as she stood near a stove at her home Monday night . The lightning accompanied a tornado that moved through southern Houston County about 60 miles northwest of Tallahasse . In the eastern Georgia 's Bulloch County , six mobile homes and one house were heavily damaged shortly after dawn today , but no injuries were reported , the weather service said . Tornado watches were still in effect across 14 southeastern Georgia and 15 northeastern Florida counties until at least five hours after the tornado hit . Madison County has been hit by seven tornadoes since 1959 with only one injury reported , according to the National Weather Service .

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The earthquake that killed 25,000 people in Armenia pushed last year 's earthquake-related death toll worldwide to the highest level since 1976 , when a Chinese earthquake killed at least 10 times as many , the U.S. Geological Survey reports . The estimated earthquake death toll in 1988 includes an additional 2,000 or more people who died in other earthquakes around the world , the Survey reported Monday . Although the annual average death toll for earthquakes is about 10,000 , in 1987 only 1,100 lives were lost . In addition to the deaths , some 13,000 people were injured and more than a half-million were left homeless in the Armenian earthquake , which had a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale . The death toll of 25,000 is the most recent reported by the Soviets . The exact toll in unknown . The main shock was followed within minutes by a second , measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale , which estimates the energy released by an earthquake . An earthquake of 5.0 can cause considerable damage , and the strength rises by 10 times for each whole number on the scale . Many of the deaths in Armenia were blamed on collapsing buildings , as the earthquake rattled concrete structures until they fell to the ground , according to subsequent analyses . Another recent earthquake in the Soviet Union , claiming about 1,000 lives , struck in Soviet central Asia . That one occurred in January , however , and so does not count in the 1988 toll . Last year 's second most deadly earthquake occurred Aug. 20 on the Nepal-India border , killing 1,000 . That earthquake , measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale , destroyed thousands of homes and injured many people . On Nov. 6 an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the scale claimed 730 lives and injured about 4,000 people on the border between Burma and China , the Geological Survey reported . And on the India-Burma border three deaths were reported in an Aug. 6 earthquake that caused landslides . The Survey said it recorded 61 significant earthquakes last year , 15 fewer than the year before . An earthquake is considered significant if it has a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale . Earthquakes of lesser magnitude are included if they cause casualties or considerable damage . Three significant earthquakes were recorded in the United States last year , including the strongest shock of the year . That earthquake , measured at 7.6 , occurred March 6 in the Gulf of Alaska and resulted in only minor damage . The only U.S. earthquake death last year occured when someone suffered a heart attack after an earthquake measuring 4.8 in Whittier , Calif. , in February . The other significant U.S. earthquake occurred Dec. 3 in Pasadena , Calif. . It was measured at 4.6 on the scale and caused some injuries and property damage . An earthquake centered in eastern Canada on Nov. 25 was felt widely across that country and in the northeastern United States as far south as Washington , the Survey reported . It had a magnitude of 5.7 . Earthquakes in the eastern part of North America tend to be felt over larger areas than earthquakes of similar strength in the West . Europe recorded three earthquake deaths last year when one rated at 3.0 killed a group of miners in Czechoslovakia on Sept. 2 . In addition an earthquake rated at 5.8 caused several injuries in Albania on Jan. 9 . Injuries were also reported from two offshore earthquakes , one in the Ionian Sea near Greece Oct. 16 and another near the Azores Islands Nov. 21 . In Africa , eight people working in a gold mine in South Africa died Jan. 5 in an earthquake rated at 5.2 . And Japan , usually very seismically active , recorded only one significant earthquake last year , the Survey reported . That earthquake measured 5.4 and resulted in 10 injuries and minor damage in the Tokyo area .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

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Further study of a newly isolated hormone found in the pancreases of diabetics may lead to new treatments for the most common form of the disease , a scientist says . `` We have a lot of evidence that this is likely to be , if not the final cause , at least a major part of the disease process , '' said New Zealand biochemist Garth Cooper . The research `` opens the door to the scientific study of the disease at a level that was n't possible before and potentially the mechanisms that we uncover may be very wide ranging , '' he said . Cooper , who has been working with scientists at Oxford University , described the hormone research this week at the 13th International Diabetes Federation Congress in Sydney , Australia . In his presentation , Cooper said the hormone , dubbed `` amylin , '' was normally undetectable but found in high levels in the pancreases of diabetics . Amylin appears to be responsible for the obesity , reduced insulin secretion and the reduced effectiveness of insulin observed in Type II diabetes , he said . Currently , obesity is considered a major contributor to the disease rather than a result of it . Insulin normally controls the level of blood sugar . In Type II diabetes , also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes , the body 's insulin is not effective and blood sugar levels rise too high . Complications can include kidney disease , blindness , and gangrene that requires amputations . Type II diabetes afflicts the majority of the nation 's estimated 11 million diabetics , according to the American Diabetes Association . It often can be controlled through diet and exercise . Cooper said researchers hope to develop substances that block amylin 's secretion or action , opening the possibility of treatment . He also said reseachers hope to develop a test to detect diabetes very early in its development . The new work is `` a very important finding '' if amylin truly blocks insulin and appears in abnormal amounts in diabetics , F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer , an authority on Type II diabetes , said Friday . Scientists already knew of another pancreatic hormone that blocks insulin , but it is not found in abnormal levels in diabetics , said Pi-Sunyer , director of the endocrinology , diabetes and nutrition division at St. Luke 's - Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York .

O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

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The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee says hearings are planned next year into how the U.S. Forest Service handled last summer 's stubborn wildfires that scorched the West , including one-third of Yellowstone National Park . `` The major problem is that in speaking to people from the area , you speak to two and you get three opinions , '' says Rep. Kika de la Garza , a Texas Democrat . `` The best thing to do is to sit down and have them all put it on the record and then sift through what happened and see if anything needs to be done . '' De la Garza said the hearings would focus on forest fire practices , and `` can a catastrophe of that nature be avoided or was it a catastrophe ? '' `` I was in Montana and I visited with some people and I have some concern over some of the practices of the Forest Service , '' de la Garza said in an interview last week . The hearings will focus on fire fighting policies , rehabilitation of charred areas and on scientific research being done on the summer fires , said a subcommittee staff member . De la Garza says the committee also plans dozens of hearings nationwide in preparation for the 1990 Farm Bill and will look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture 's response to this year 's drought-relief legislation . The committee will consider a uniform pesticide labeling law and legislation to protect ground water from agricultural pesticides and fertilizers , de la Garza said . De la Garza said he hopes the House Interior Committee , which has jurisdiction over the National Park Service , and the Agriculture subcommittee on forests , with jurisdiction over the U.S. Forest Service , will hold joint hearings on last summer 's wildfires , the worst in a century . The U.S. Forest Service said 5 million acres were charred in the raging blazes , including 706,000 acres in Yellowstone . The Forest and National Park Service spent a combined $ 300 million fighting the summer fires , the Forest Service said . The most severe were in and around Yellowstone and Alaska , although there were fires in the South , California and the Pacific Northwest . Drought conditions , high winds and a `` tremendous build-up '' of tinder , in Yellowstone in particular , helped make the 1988 fires the worst in a hundred years , officials said .

O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

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Three hours of steady rain Monday afternoon provided a much-needed edge for crews working to douse a blaze that seared 1,650 acres in Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming , and rainfall in neighboring Yellowstone National Park calmed three smaller fires there . Meanwhile , illegal fireworks were blamed for causing a blaze that raged across 2,200 acres near Yosemite National Park in California over the weekend , and firefighters brought a four-day fire in Michigan 's Hiawatha National Forest under control Monday after the blaze consumed more than 1,100 acres . About a quarter-inch of rain helped to keep the lightning-caused Shoshone fire 's growth to about 200 acres overnight , said fire information officer Dave Damron . But the nearly quarter-inch of rain that fell Monday held it to 1,650 acres , he said . The rain also allowed officials to cancel a 100-man patrol planned for Monday night . `` The forecast for the next two or three days is dry , with lower humidities and conditions more favorable to burning , '' said Damron . `` But this provides a real good reprieve and a chance to reinforce the lines and complete lines that we do n't have yet . '' Four 20-person firefighting crews from Colorado , Utah and South Dakota were expected to arrive at the fire by Monday night , putting the total number of firefighters at about 430 . Crews were attacking the fire from both the ground and the air , Damron said , as four helicopters and three air tankers dropped chemical retardant and water on the spreading flames . On the ground firefighters were aided by six engines and four bulldozers . Meanwhile at Yellowstone , park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said that because the three fires there all were in the backcountry , no firefighters were trying to douse the flames . Because of the fires , park officials Sunday had closed off some areas , but Vanderbilt said Monday the rain had allowed the reopening of the areas to hiking and camping . The cause of the fire near Stanislaus National Forest , near Yosemite , was a `` bottle rocket , '' said the forest 's spokeswoman , Mary Hale . Firefighters , aided by lower temperatures and higher humidity , reported the smoky blaze 90 percent contained Monday afternoon and hoped to have a line surrounding the fire early Tuesday morning , Hale said . The fire was the largest so far this year in the forest , which was the scene of huge wildfires last summer . At least 60 Forest Service firefighters brought the Hiawatha forest fire under control Monday , spokesman Dale Bluedorn said from the national forest 's headquarters in Escanaba , Mich. . `` We 're going to start releasing crews from this fire , '' Bluedorn said . `` We 'll continue to patrol the area to make sure we did n't miss any hot spots . '' Bluedorn said continued hot , dry weather means it could be weeks before the fire is extinguished . `` It may not be declared out until there 's a three-day rain , '' he said . The Fourth of July was no holiday for firefighters from national forests in Wisconsin , Minnesota , Idaho and other states who were shipped to Michigan 's central Upper Peninsula to battle the Hiawatha blaze , Bluedorn said . Forest Service officials , meanwhile , began assessing damage to the 920 acres of national forest and 210 acres of private woodlands burned after the fire broke out Friday afternoon , Bluedorn said . Investigators have ruled out lightning as the cause .

O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

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A coalition of members of Congress announced Wednesday that they plan to sue the Census Bureau in an effort to force the agency to delete illegal aliens from its count in 1990 . Some 40 members of the House joined the Federation for American Immigration Reform in announcing that the suit would be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh , spokesmen said at a news conference here . The group contends that including the estimated 2 million or more illegal aliens in the national head count , which is used to distribute seats in the House of Representatives , will cause unfair shifts of seats from one state to another . Census officials say they are required to count everyone by the U.S. Constitution , which does not mention citizenship but only instructs that the House apportionment be based on the `` whole number of persons '' residing in the various states . That approach was upheld by a federal court in a similar suit , brought by the same immigration reform group , before the 1980 Census . Nonetheless , Dan Stein of the immigration reform federation contended that illegal aliens should not be allowed to be part of determining the political structure of the United States . Rep. Tom Ridge , R-Pa. , said the Census Bureau should actually count everyone but that it should develop a method to determine how many people are illegally in the country , and them deduct that number from the figures used for reapportioning Congress . Rep. Jan Meyers , R-Kan. , suggested including a question on the Census form asking whether respondents are U.S. citizerns .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

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