Sun | Nation & World
From Sun news services — Sep 15th, 2001
* OSPREY INVESTIGATON
Three Marine officers found derelict in their duties
NORFOLK, Va. - Two Marine officers received letters of reprimand but won't face a criminal conviction in connection with allegations that they ordered Osprey maintenance records to be doctored to exaggerate the troubled aircraft's readiness.
Marines officials said three officers were judged derelict in their duties, with two getting reprimand letters and a third not receiving punishment. Five others, including a two-star general, were cleared of charges in the closed administrative hearings, which began Sept. 7.
Col. James E. Schleining, the commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 26, was found in violation on a dereliction charge because he should have known of the false maintenance reports.
Lt. Col. Odin F. Leberman, a former commanding officer, and Capt. Christopher Ramsey, an assistant aviation maintenance officer, were found in violation of the dereliction charge because they knew of the false maintenance reports.
* CALIFORNIA
New congressional map could hurt Rep. Condit re-election chances
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California legislators approved a new congressional map that would likely hurt any re-election bid by Rep. Gary Condit because it adds 40 percent new voters to his district.
While the newly drawn 18th Congressional District approved Thursday has a strong Democratic edge, Condit, a conservative Democrat, will lose part of his base in Stanislaus County.
He also will pick up new voters who primarily know of Condit through news reports about missing Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy, with whom Condit has admitted having a close relationship.
The new legislative map was expected to be signed by Gov. Gray Davis. California will get a 53rd congressional seat starting in 2003 because of the population growth revealed by last year's census.
* PEACE PROCESS
Bush pushing for Mideast truce talks
JERUSALEM - The United States has told Israel it wants Mideast truce talks held soon as part of a U.S. effort to build a broad coalition against Islamic militants - one that would also include Arab countries, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Friday.
President Bush called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Friday to urge Israel to back the coalition, U.S. officials said. However, Sharon does not want Peres to meet with Yasser Arafat just now, Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin said.
Sharon believes the Palestinian leader has done nothing to rein in Islamic militants and that some of his security forces have participated in attacks on Israelis, Gissin said. Earlier this week, Sharon compared Arafat to Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi named a prime suspect in the terror attacks in the United States this week.
* MISSISSIPPI
Texas escaped convict captured
BEAUMONT, Texas - A convicted killer who escaped from a Texas prison earlier this week was captured Friday in Mississippi, authorities said.
"We got the guy," Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Fitzgerald said. "We have confirmed his identity through fingerprints."
Harold Laird, 26, was arrested about 7:30 a.m. by a constable in Forrest County, Miss., which includes Hattiesburg. He was in a pickup truck with Georgia plates that had been reported stolen from Slidell, La. The truck was parked outside an abandoned grocery store.
* JAPAN
Mad cow suspect animal turned into meat
TOKYO - A nationwide probe for mad cow disease following the discovery of what could be Asia's first case revealed that the suspect animal was not destroyed as previously announced, but processed into meat and bone meal, a government spokesman said Friday.
Agriculture Ministry spokesman Toshimichi Kado said the investigation revealed that a meal plant and a feed mill in two different Japanese states were in possession of tons of meal that included processed meat and bones from the suspect 5-year-old Holstein milk cow.
Earlier the government said the animal had been slaughtered and burned. Kado said a misunderstanding between ministry officials and local authorities had resulted in the erroneous announcement. He did not give details, but said no feed or other products containing the meat and bone meal had been sold to customers.
* RUBY RIDGE
Court vacates decision in FBI case
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court Friday vacated its June decision that said an FBI sharpshooter may be tried for manslaughter when he killed Vicki Weaver during the Ruby Ridge standoff.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 5 rejected federal claims that Lon Horiuchi was immune from prosecution because he was acting in his official capacity when he killed Randy Weaver's wife. Ruling 6-5, the circuit at the time said Horiuchi could be tried if he was found to have acted illegally in that official capacity.
Friday's decision has no bearing on the case because a federal judge already dismissed the charges at the request of Boundary County Prosecutor Brett Benson. After the court's June ruling, Benson declined to prosecute and U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge dismissed the case.
'Downer' claim disputed by processor of infected cow
MOSES LAKE (AP) -- The owners of a small slaughterhouse that killed a Washington state dairy cow later found to have mad cow disease went public Wednesday with their claims the cow was not a so-called "downer." The announcement came a day after ... [Read More...]
Infected cow could be from Canada
WASHINGTON -- Investigators tentatively traced the first U.S. cow with mad cow disease to Canada, which could help determine the scope of the outbreak and might even limit the economic damage to the American beef industry. In addition, a quarantined herd of 400 ... [Read More...]
MAD COW: Q&A
Q: Why is mad cow disease a concern? A: A human disease related to mad cow is known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It is incurable and was blamed for 143 deaths in Britain, which suffered a mad cow disease outbreak in the 1980s. Humans ... [Read More...]
State Briefs
Man who says he killed mad cow challenges USDA OLYMPIA -- Two months ago, David Louthan put a bolt through the brain of the first U.S. cow to test positive for mad cow disease, he says. Now the Moses Lake man says ... [Read More...]
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Condit admits affair with intern
* The California congressman says he had a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy, but police say he's not a suspect in her disappearance. WASHINGTON - Rep. Gary Condit for the first time told investigators he had a romantic relationship with Chandra Levy, a source ... [Read More...]