Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service articles from April 1999

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service archives from April 1999

Clinton's aura of confidence masks a reluctant warrior.
April 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ In the morning, President Clinton walks into the Oval Office and starts asking questions about the air campaign he ordered against Yugoslavia. He peppers generals and aides with queries about how effective the bombing is at...

Senate subcommittee approves law regulating body piercing.
April 1, 1999... COLUMBIA, S.C. _ A law regulating body piercing was approved by a Senate subcommittee Wednesday with no opposition. Body piercing, a practice that includes placing jewelry through the lips, tongue, in the navel or other body parts fell...

Committee passes bill that would no longer require some subjects in schools.
April 1, 1999... TALLAHASSEE _ Teaching Florida schoolchildren about the U.S. Constitution, the history of the Holocaust, Hispanic contributions to the United States and how to be kind to animals would no longer be required in public schools, under a bill that...

NATO continues to ratchet up campaign as flow of refugees increases.
April 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The race is on to save lives in Kosovo. Serb troops on Wednesday again ratcheted up their village-by-village campaign of sending ethnic Albanians out of the province of Kosovo, and the Clinton administration and NATO officials...

In New Zealand, biking and hiking in mountains are a way to enjoy nightlife.
April 1, 1999... ROTORUA, New Zealand _ SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH. It sounds like someone has goosed a very large and particularly bad-tempered cobra. In the dark. About two yards away. Noticing my quizzical look, Evan Freshwater says, ``Possums. A couple of...

New Zealand trout are something to tout.
April 1, 1999... TAUPO, New Zealand _ Even though we have more fly-fishing water in Michigan than 99 percent of the country, our average trout are 10-12 inches long. If we include the dinks we normally don't count, it's even smaller. Which is why it's so...

KLA withdraws from Pristina, pushed on brink of defeat by Serbian offensive.
April 1, 1999... KUKES, Albania _ The Kosovo Liberation Army is retreating into its strongholds and facing imminent defeat as its arms supply lines are crippled by heavy Serbian offensives launched following NATO air strikes in Yugoslavia, a senior KLA official...

Albanians forced into mass exodus from Pristina.
April 1, 1999... SKOPJE, Macedonia _ Emboldened by their success at emptying Kosovo's smaller cities, Serb forces are now trying for the province's biggest prize: the capital city of Pristina, with a population of 350,000. A three-mile-long column of...

Herring arrive; bass aren't far behind.
April 1, 1999... Trout fishermen aren't the only anglers eager for the spring fishing season to blossom. ``The first herring of the season have been spotted in Gilbert Stuart. There are bass _ small ones _ at the power plant in Providence. The coves are...

Yahoo to say it will buy Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in stock, sources say.
April 1, 1999... Internet high-flier Yahoo Inc. is expected to announce Thursday that it will purchase Dallas-based Broadcast.com Inc. in a stock transaction valued at about $5.7 billion. Under terms of the deal, Broadcast.com, a pioneer in sending audio...

Operators refuse to pay city's concert amphitheater tax bill for $300,000.
April 1, 1999... VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. _ The city's concert amphitheater faces a bill for up to $300,000 in back taxes that its operators are refusing to pay. Last October, following two separate audits of the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater, the...

Two Miami schools help raise money to help free slaves held in Sudan.
April 1, 1999... MIAMI _ Klenda Verine collected loose change. Daniel Cruz persuaded his mom to pitch in $5. Other kids sold Snickers bars. Together, they raised $700 _ enough to buy the freedom of at least two dozen slaves in the Sudan. The money...

Leash law bites back; continuing problems call for stray roundup.
April 1, 1999... URBANNA, Va. _ Every dog found roaming in town April 15-24 will be picked up and taken to the county pound. The 10-day roundup applies to dogs owned by Urbanna residents, as well as dogs that swim or jog into town from points beyond. ...

Buck Williams considering joining Michael Jordan as a partner.
April 1, 1999... NEW YORK _ Former Knick Buck Williams has expressed interest in joining Michael Jordan in his bid to purchase 50 percent of the Charlotte Hornets. ``That is something I've always wanted to do,'' Williams said on Wednesday. ``There are so...

Jim Harrick's decision is `almost a no-brainer'.
April 1, 1999... SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. _ There were a lot of reasons Jim Harrick decided to leave the University of Rhode Island and take the job as basketball coach at the University of Georgia. It offered the chance to be reunited with an old friend and...

Prosecutors charge four NYC police officers with intentional homicide.
April 1, 1999... NEW YORK _ After searing the city for two months, the Amadou Diallo killing exploded in a packed Bronx courtroom Wednesday as prosecutors charged four police officers with gunning down the unarmed immigrant in cold blood. In an extremely...

Three U.S. soldiers missing as NATO air attack, Serb campaign continue.
April 1, 1999... American troops in Macedonia searched with helicopters late Wednesday for three U.S. soldiers who had possibly been abducted by Serb troops. Their last radio communication was that ``they were being fired upon and surrounded,'' a Pentagon...

President to thank military personnel, families in visit to Navy base.
April 1, 1999... NORFOLK, Va. _ As U.S. involvement in the NATO bombardment of Serbian military forces in Yugoslavia escalates, President Clinton will visit troops and military families at Norfolk Naval Station on Thursday ``to express the nation's gratitude...

Farmers bailing out in face of grim financial outlook.
April 1, 1999... SUFFOLK, Va. _ Fed up with long hours, low prices and little profit at the end of the year, more and more farmers are selling out. In Virginia, the number of farms in the past 30 years has declined by 36.4 percent. And traditional farms...

Troops search in Macedonia at first light for missing soldiers.
April 1, 1999... American troops in Macedonia searched with helicopters at first light Thursday for three U.S. soldiers who had possibly been abducted by Serb troops or smugglers. They cried out in their last radio communication ``they were being fired upon and...

Legendary comic-book artist offers correspondence courses.
April 1, 1999... So, you want to draw comic books, do you? Well, now you can learn from a master _ without even leaving your home. In 1976, legendary comic-book artist Joe Kubert and his wife, Muriel, founded the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and...

Pockets and more pockets make pants the fashion pick.
April 1, 1999... They've been around almost since fashion graduated from the fig leaf, so who would have expected that in the summer of '99, the most pervasive fashion news would involve, of all things, pockets. We're talking many pockets in cargo pants,...

Hobby habits.
April 1, 1999... A national survey commissioned by the 4,000-member Hobby Industry Association in 1998 shows that nearly nine out of 10 households have at least one family member involved in crafts or hobbies. In fact, home crafters have pushed hobby product...

Child promotes organ donation after transplant.
April 1, 1999... KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. _ Samuel Falls was more interested in riding his red and yellow tricycle than talking about going to Washington. But the fact that the 5-year-old can reach the pedals is evidence of why he was chosen to go to the...

The media discover foreign policy.
April 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The interesting convergence of foreign-policy crises, both real (Kosovo) and potential (China), has had at least one beneficial effect: The media are finally focusing on national security instead of you-know-her-name. The...

The Social Security trust fund fraud.
April 1, 1999... The trustees of Social Security have just released a report that says the retirement program's ``trust fund'' will remain solvent until 2034, two years later than the bankruptcy date projected in last year's report. But the 2034 estimate is...

NRA helps supporters of Missouri proposition outspend opponents 3-to-1.
April 1, 1999... JEFFERSON CITY. Mo. _ Gun advocates, funded almost entirely by the National Rifle Association, have spent more than $2.1 million in support of Proposition B, outspending their opponents more than 3-to-1. The proposition, which goes to...

Breast-feeding is no crime.
April 1, 1999... Tabitha Walrond, a 19-year-old mother from Bronx, N.Y., is living one nightmare after another. Her newborn son, Tyler, was repeatedly denied medical care, and he died in her arms of malnutrition at seven weeks. Now she's being prosecuted...

Lawsuits off-target: Study shows lawful gun use by citizens deters crime and reduces police costs .
April 1, 1999... WILMINGTON, Del. _ The mayors of New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami-Dade County and Bridgeport, Conn., have filed lawsuits against gun manufacturers to recover costs related to firearm violence in their cities. Other cities seem likely...

Sibling rivalries not uncommon in sports.
April 1, 1999... PHILADELPHIA _ Sibling rivalries are much more fun than, say, twins who are emotionally joined at the hip. Imagine the conversation around the dinner table when Joe DiMaggio showed up, a World Series ring for every finger, while Dom...

Military warned to keep eye out for terrorism at home.
April 1, 1999... Members of the military in Colorado and across the nation have been warned to watch for terrorism at home as NATO continues bombing Yugoslavia. The warning comes after the FBI intercepted a letter last week that calls for attacks on...

Human rights' movement is the bombing's first victim.
April 1, 1999... BELGRADE, Yugoslavia _ NATO's air offensive has not simply ``degraded'' Yugoslavia's military installations. It has also taken its toll in human lives and is progressively destroying the economic infrastructure of our impoverished country. ...

Nation's feelings about the POWs will solidify quickly .
April 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The emotions of captivity are suddenly churning, experts say. Behind the hollow eyes and bruised faces of the three captured American soldiers are feelings of fear and humiliation. It's a sense of helplessness and...

Low-ranking soldiers take on added strategic importance in modern warfare.
April 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The dirty work of wars has always been largely left to lowly privates and sergeants. But now, when modern wars are undeclared, limited and broadcast live on CNN, the lowly private can actually shape their outcome. The bloody...

Kosovo turning Viet doves into hawks, vice versa.
April 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The Vietnam War era has turned upside down. The Balkan Air War is flipping doves into hawks, hawks into doves. Politicians, the president and the 2000 pack chasing his job, are juking and reversing. The Balkan crisis has...

Capture of soldiers likely to strengthen U.S. resolve.
April 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ Those pictures should spell trouble. They did in Somalia, when the body of an American soldier was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. And they did in Tehran, when Iranians held 52 Americans hostage in their own embassy. ...

Clinton warns Milosevic regarding captured soldiers, restates U.S. resolve.
April 2, 1999... President Clinton warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Thursday that the United States would hold him responsible for the safety of three American infantrymen captured in the Balkans. ``President Milosevic should make no...

Uncertainty surrounds circumstances under which soldiers were captured.
April 2, 1999... ALGUNJA, Macedonia _ The U.S. soldiers drove down a straight, quiet road lined with tall poplars and blossoming cherry trees before they turned off into the rocky hills that led to the Yugoslav border. It was about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when...

Inhaling household products a dangerous practice.
April 2, 1999... Remember the slogan, ``Children act fast, so do poisons.'' A newer trend is kids being poisoned by the willful sniffing or ``huffing'' of glue, paint, hairspray, air freshener and other common household products. This dangerous...

Don't trust ... vegetarians?
April 2, 1999... You might not guess it from looking at me, but I'm a member of a ``gang.'' I'm sure I don't fit any standard profiles. For starters, I'm a college graduate and a professional writer. I pay taxes and vote. I recycle, taking care to separate my...

No refuge from racism behind the wheel.
April 2, 1999... When I was growing up, my buddies and I would drive from our working-class barrio to cruise or hang out in Monterey Park. It was a lovely Los Angeles suburb, but its police force was a wee bit too protective. They had the habit of stopping us...

Good reasons for intervention in Kosovo.
April 2, 1999... Long caravans of tired, terrified, desperate Kosovars fleeing the savage onslaughts of Serbian soldiers and police provide heart-wrenching testimony of a human catastrophe of enormous proportions. It is evident that the Serbs are executing...

Some wonder if Hepatitis B vaccine could be cause of mysterious illness.
April 2, 1999... MIAMI _ Lindsay Kirschner used to be an active teen. She loved tennis and Rollerblading. Lately, though, she's been sidelined by a mysterious illness that leaves her so tired she can't make it through the day without a nap. She also has severe...

Here are the basics on hepatitis B and vaccination.
April 2, 1999... Here are the basics on hepatitis B and vaccination: Hepatitis B is a virus that attacks the liver and can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. It's spread through contact with infected blood, semen, vaginal secretions and saliva. Primary risk...

Personal responsibility snuffed out? Oregon jury awards $81 million to heirs of man who smoked 919,800 cigarettes.
April 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ According to the sworn testimony of his wife and friends, school janitor Jesse Williams started smoking Marlboros in 1955, and quickly moved up to three packs a day. In the movie and TV shows of that era, characters often...

Milosevic and the Big Lie.
April 2, 1999... Even as the endless flow of refugees pours out of Kosovo, Serbian officials are trying to propagate The Big Lie. ``Peaceful refugees'' can come home, says Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. This tragedy is all NATO's fault, he says....

They put human face to conflict, but impact is uncertain at home .
April 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The voice crackled over the radio from the Humvee: ``We're taking direct fire. We're trapped. They're all around us. We can't get out.'' Hours later videotape appeared on Serbian TV: Three young American GI's captured...

Robins refuelers have role in rescue of downed pilot in Yugoslavia.
April 2, 1999... ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. _ The commander of the 19th Air Refueling Group said Thursday that his troops participated in the rescue of the pilot of the downed F-117 stealth fighter jet in Yugoslavia. Col. David Lefforge, who commands the...

Elite fighter squadron welcomes female pilot.
April 2, 1999... EASTOVER, S.C. _ South Carolina Air National Guard commanders smiled proudly Thursday as their two new fighter pilots, decked out in green flight suits and distinctive ``Swamp Fox'' patches, talked about their love of flying. The news...

SERBS GATHER EVIDENCE AGAINST U.S. PRISONERS; FLOOD OF REFUGEES CONTINUES.
April 2, 1999... Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service News Budget for Friday, April 2, 1999 KRT News Desk: 202-383-6080, news(AT)krtinfo.com News desk supervisor: Nation & World Editor Sharon Buck, 202-383-6087, sbuck(AT)krtinfo.com KRT Photo...

Weekly roundup of Canadian news.
April 2, 1999... (Sunday 4-4 release) FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY (EDITORS: If you are interested in subscribing to this weekly roundup of Canadian news for Americans and Canadians living and traveling in the United States, please call Mike Duggan, director...

Despite world tensions, China's premier coming to Washington in effort to repair relations.
April 2, 1999... BEIJING _ When rumors surfaced here that Premier Zhu Rongji might cancel his nine-day trip to the United States next week, few people in the Chinese capital could blame him. The NATO attacks on Yugoslavia, which the official People's Daily...

CNN's coverage of the Kosovo conflict draws wrath from Serbs.
April 2, 1999... As weapons of war go, TV is close to nuclear. Bombs inflict terrible damage. But warlords, diplomats and heads of state negotiate, threaten and manipulate public opinion via the tube _ mostly on the network with the most international outlook,...

Despite strengths, Yankees face uncertainties, too.
April 2, 1999... TAMPA, Fla. _ Settling gingerly into a chair recently, David Cone tried to explain how the Yankees might not win it all again this year. He and fellow righthander Roger Clemens were old. They were thin on lefthanded relievers and real thin...

Coming this month: New from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Naughty by Nature.
April 2, 1999... April showers music fans with cool new CD sounds from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Naughty By Nature, Robert Cray Band and The Cranberries, rare blasts from the past by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, plus debuts by talented offspring Tal...

U.S. SENDING MORE AIR POWER TO YUGOSLAVIA, SAYS SOLDIERS CAN'T BE TRIED.
April 2, 1999... Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service News Budget for Friday, April 2, 1999 KRT News Desk: 202-383-6080, news(AT)krtinfo.com News desk supervisor: Nation & World Editor Sharon Buck, 202-383-6087, sbuck(AT)krtinfo.com KRT Photo...

Serbs release U.S. photographer after overnight detention.
April 2, 1999... The towering Serb police commander with the shaved head came back to the cell just before daybreak Friday. You will be tied to a bridge in Novi Sad tonight as a human shield, he told photographer Mark Milstein. It was the most terrifying...

Kosovo operation looks more and more like a years-long quagmire.
April 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ With each passing day in the war over Kosovo, the United States and its European allies sink deeper into a Balkans quagmire that could take years to resolve. Experts say the only foreseeable way now for a quick end is for NATO...

Names in the news.
April 2, 1999... George Jones says he doesn't remember anything about the car accident that nearly killed him last month. In his first public comments since crashing his sport utility vehicle into a bridge March 6, the 67-year-old country singer said initially...

Last remaining Shaker community still shuns the gaudy vulgarity of the modern world.
April 2, 1999... NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine _ Where two or three of the faithful are gathered, Jesus told his disciples, he would be with them. In that case, he is still with the Shakers. Here at the last remaining Shaker community, four women and three men...

Belgrade diary: The NATO bombs as seen from below.
April 3, 1999... BELGRADE, Yugoslavia _ Dusan Djordjevich, a doctoral student at Stanford University, is one of the few Americans remaining in Yugoslavia as the NATO attack continues. He is in Belgrade writing a dissertation on 1930s Yugoslav politics and...

Historical and political lessons not so easy to apply.
April 3, 1999... Americans might do well at this moment to reflect on _ and remember _ the oscillating uncertainty that gripped the nation when the NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia began. Respect for that uncertainty may be the most important thing we can...

High schoolers get reminder of Selective Service duty.
April 3, 1999... CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Military reserve and National Guard officers visited high schools in Charlotte this week to remind young men that they must register for potential service in the armed forces within 30 days of their 18th birthday. They...

Carriers likely to be diverted from Persian Gulf to Kosovo conflict.
April 3, 1999... NORFOLK, Va. _ The Pentagon is expected to announce this weekend that it will order the carrier Theodore Roosevelt into the Adriatic Sea to bolster air forces in NATO's continuing war with Yugoslavia. The good news for families in Hampton...

Judge lets 132-year sentence stand after polling jury.
April 3, 1999... NORFOLK, Va. _ In an era of mandatory minimum sentences, Circuit Judge Junius P. Fulton III was dismayed with a jury-recommended prison sentence for a 24-year-old man convicted of robbery and related charges. The jury recommended that the...

Surgeon general tells Black Family Summit to strive for healthier lives.
April 3, 1999... MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. _ David Satcher's desire to become a physician grew from a near-death experience when he was 2 and had whooping cough. ``By the time I was 6 years old I was telling everybody I was going to be a doctor,'' the Alabama...

Handyman may hold a key to the 1995 disappearance of Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
April 3, 1999... An Oakland County, Mich., handyman, who lived quietly with his girlfriend in a modest Novi apartment, may hold a key to the 1995 disappearance of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the proudly quarrelsome godmother of the American atheist movement. ...

50,000 sodden, hungry refugees trapped on the Kosovo border.
April 3, 1999... Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Add to News Budget for Friday, April 2, 1999 KRT News Desk: 202-383-6080, news(AT)krtinfo.com News desk supervisor: Nation & World Editor Sharon Buck, 202-383-6087, sbuck(AT)krtinfo.com KRT...

Nice weather sends people racing to their gardens.
April 3, 1999... COLUMBIA, S.C. _ Azalee Anderson doesn't mind it one bit when people mistaken her first name for azalea. Her West Columbia yard is filled with the colorful plant that blooms this time of year. So it seemed fitting that Anderson was one of...

Former Customs official now at company under investigation.
April 3, 1999... MIAMI _ The former second in command of the U.S. Customs Service in Miami is now security director at an airport shipping company under scrutiny in a major money laundering probe he once supervised. Federal law enforcement sources familiar...

Montenegro worries that it may be Milosevic's next target.
April 3, 1999... PODGORICA, Montenegro _ The tenuous relationship between Serbia and its smaller sister republic showed further signs of unraveling Friday, with top Montenegrin officials warning that Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic might try to overthrow...

50,000 sodden, hungry refugees trapped on the Kosovo border.
April 3, 1999... BLACE, Macedonia _ The sun had slipped behind the mountains, dropping temperatures into the 40s. A steady drizzle fell on 50,000 homeless souls who filled a grassy valley next to the railroad tracks leading in from Kosovo. Stuck here with...

Support grows for ground troops, but analysts warn of difficult battle.
April 3, 1999... Political support for sending U.S. and NATO ground troops into Kosovo built Friday in Washington despite warnings from military experts that such an invasion would run into formidable hurdles of logistics and terrain, and could turn Yugoslavia...

FBI agents dig on Texas ranchland; may be seeking bones of missing atheist.
April 3, 1999... FBI agents armed with a federal search warrant hauled digging equipment onto a ranch in a remote area of South Texas on Friday, apparently looking for the bodies of missing atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair and two relatives. Ranch...

N.J. authorities arrest a man, charge him with launching ``Melissa'' virus.
April 3, 1999... Using information provided by America Online, New Jersey authorities tracked down and arrested a Monmouth County man, and charged him with launching ``Melissa'' _ a computer virus that has infiltrated computers and clogged e-mail systems around...

A small mountain village disappears.
April 3, 1999... KRUMA, Albania _ Rokmane Feraj was eating a breakfast of bread and cheese when she heard the scuff of boots. Gunfire thundered in the yard. Waving a long knife and wearing a yellow bandanna, a Serb soldier burst into her house. More troops...

Serbs may be unable to resist NATO with the intensity of resistance to Nazis.
April 3, 1999... It was early June 1943, and the Germans were in the midst of a ferocious assault in northern Bosnia against the Yugoslav Partisans, the communist guerrillas whom Josip Broz Tito was leading in resistance to Hitler's Nazis. The Partisans,...

U.S. SENDING MORE AIR POWER TO YUGOSLAVIA, SAYS SOLDIERS CAN'T BE TRIED.
April 3, 1999... Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service News Budget for Friday, April 2, 1999 KRT News Desk: 202-383-6080, news(AT)krtinfo.com KRT Photo Service: 202-383-6099, photo(AT)krtinfo.com KRT Graphics Network: 202-383-6064,...

Each spring, town's time warp relents for a few months.
April 5, 1999... HUFFMAN, Ind. _ ``What time is it?'' In this tiny Indiana hamlet, the answer to that question depends on where you stand when you ask. Straddled across the Perry County-Spencer County border, Huffman is parked squarely on the dividing...

Allergists predict severe season for sneezes.
April 5, 1999... El Nino was supposed to raise the misery level of hay fever sufferers last year. It didn't happen. But what that notorious weather system failed to pull off in 1998, this year's mild winter and warm spring are accomplishing now: ...

Serb TV broadcasts find audience in Bosnia.
April 5, 1999... SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina _ As NATO bombs fell for the first time on downtown Belgrade on Saturday, Serbian state TV broadcast pictures of the bombed-out Yugoslav interior ministry, sidewalks strewn with rubble, building ablaze. ...

Albania ill-equipped to handle flood of refugees.
April 5, 1999... TIRANA, Albania _ Exhausted and working amid the smell of unwashed clothes, vomit and baby diapers, Fitor Mucha, a coordinator with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has given up counting the Kosovo Albanians streaming daily...

NATO seeks solution to refugee crisis as Macedonia closes border.
April 5, 1999... As allied forces bombed Yugoslavia for the 11th straight day, NATO intensified its efforts Saturday to provide humanitarian aid to what one official called a ``demographic earthquake'' of displaced people. With as many as 300,000 people...

Sharpton launches series of rallies against police brutality.
April 5, 1999... NEW YORK _ The Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday vowed to mount a nationwide campaign against police brutality. ``We are going to connect with people all over the country and raise the issue of police brutality everywhere,'' Sharpton said...