Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service articles from February 1999

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service archives from February 1999

Mountain military bunker closes doors to tourists.
February 1, 1999... COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. _ Most of the public will no longer be allowed inside Cheyenne Mountain, the massive granite bunker that is home to NORAD and other military operations. Citing increased concerns about terrorism, commanders from U.S....

Restrictions slowly lifting on church activities in Cuba.
February 1, 1999... HAVANA _ Straight talk is in short supply in Cuba. That may be why handbills with candid commentary about daily life fly out of Roman Catholic parishes every Sunday. ``They go like hot cakes,'' said Enrique Lopez Oliva, a professor of the...

Mitch's heavy rains still swamp Nicaraguan town.
February 1, 1999... TIPITAPA, Nicaragua _ Ivania Zuniga let the oars slip, slowing the rowboat to a stop, and gazed around the watery plain that was once a neighborhood. ``Here's where my mother and I live,'' she said, a rueful look on her 15-year-old face....

Socially stratified Vail gets chance to show the world its stuff _ and warts.
February 1, 1999... VAIL _ Colorful, stylized banners and flags are flying. Grandstands to hold the beautiful and the wealthy line the bottom of the race courses. Winter grime has been cleaned from storefronts, and windows display the most appealing of baubles....

In town shattered by quake, a mother's tale of survival.
February 1, 1999... ARMENIA, Colombia _ Claudia Patricia Fernandez's trouble started Monday, when she went to earn a little extra money cleaning a neighbor's carpet. Since then, her apartment building collapsed, her 2-year-old son was unconscious for four...

Wolves leave captivity for home in the wild.
February 1, 1999... A young Mexican gray wolf cowered against the cement wall of its man-made den Friday morning _ its head down, tail in, as if it might make itself small enough to disappear. Two zoo staffers approached the wolf slowly, ready to shepherd it...

In impeachment, each side has its own standard of defensible deception.
February 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ There are lies and then there are lies. When it comes to impeaching a president, each end of the political spectrum has its own standard for what constitutes outrageous deception. For Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican...

Conservative champion Gary Bauer comes out of the shadows.
February 1, 1999... WASHINGTON _ Gary Bauer was a big hit at a recent national conference of conservative activists. The activists gave Bauer his first political victory. He won a GOP presidential straw poll with nearly 30 percent of the vote, beating out...

American firms rush to do business in Cuba.
February 1, 1999... MIAMI _ Ignoring cautions from Washington and Havana, American firms are rushing to explore the prospects for doing business in Cuba opened by the recent relaxation of U.S. sanctions against the island. ``Enthusiasm is off the charts in my...

Earthquake survivors count their blessings in Armenia, Colombia.
February 1, 1999... ARMENIA, Colombia _ The first three days, she was in shock. She'd been cleaning her house early Monday afternoon when the earth began to jerk violently back and forth. She ran out to save her 7-year-old son, who was at her sister's house...

Pope John Paul II made Missouri governor an offer he couldn't refuse.
February 1, 1999... It's not every day that a cold-blooded killer on Missouri's death row can count on a papal pardon. But then, Wednesday in St. Louis was no ordinary day. And John Paul II is no ordinary man. By the time the pope arrived in St. Louis last...

Clinton's trade move helps farmers.
February 1, 1999... The following editorial appeared in the Kansas City Star on Friday, 1-29: X X X International trade is one area where the Clinton administration's policy has generally been laudable. The White House pushed hard for approval of the...

Clinton's refusal to lead puts U.S. security at risk.
February 1, 1999... When our Founding Fathers decided that the president, a civilian, would be this nation's supreme military commander, they did so for good reason. But President Clinton does not seem to get it. Past presidents realized that their role as...

40 years later, Clear Lake, Iowa, remembers `the day the music died'.
February 1, 1999... CLEAR LAKE, Iowa _ The very top of a wooden fence post is sticking out of the snowdrift and Jeff Nicholas allows as how he should have thought to bring a shovel. ``We could try to dig it out with our hands,'' he says. No point. We...

Social worker sees nursing homes in new light.
February 1, 1999... Jo Ellen Chesla has worked for eight years as a social worker in nursing homes. She was inspired by her mother, who every day would come home with stories from the nursing homes where she worked as a nurse. ``I'd see how committed she...

Teen-pregnancy project offers glimmer of hope.
February 1, 1999... I think sometimes about the teen-age mothers I met while living in Sacramento. Their names escape me now, but I've never forgotten the reasons they gave for wanting to have babies: to prove to their boyfriends that they loved them, because...

Inventor forecasts a merging of mind and microchip.
February 1, 1999... Take note: Ray Kurzweil is making predictions for the 21st century. Virtual sex will be better than conventional sex. Computers will be so smart that when they tell us they are human, we'll believe them. The distinction between humans and...

Rohm & Haas to absorb Morton in $4.9 billion deal.
February 2, 1999... The Morton salt girl is moving to Philadelphia under the umbrella of Rohm & Haas Co. in a $4.9 billion takeover that will create the world's second-largest specialty chemical company. Rohm & Haas said Monday it will acquire Morton...

Mesa says it will take over CCAir.
February 2, 1999... Mesa Air Group said Monday it plans to take over CCAir this spring, five years after it originally proposed a merger. The two regional airlines said they have agreed on a deal for Phoenix-based Mesa to acquire Charlotte, N.C.-based CCAir,...

House prosecutors depose Lewinsky; President's lawyers do not ask questions.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ House Republican prosecutors questioned Monica Lewinsky for less than five hours Monday in a session likely to determine the course, if not the outcome, of President Clinton's Senate impeachment trial. Lewinsky offered no...

Judge rules Child Online Protection Act could hinder free speech.
February 2, 1999... PHILADELPHIA _ Ruling that the Child Online Protection Act could hinder constitutionally protected speech, a federal judge in Philadelphia Monday blocked the Internet law from taking effect Tuesday. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge...

AT&T to offer phone service over Time Warner's cable lines.
February 2, 1999... AT&T Corp.'s plan to provide local telephone service via the nation's cable network took a giant step with its announcement Monday that it had signed a 20-year exclusive telephone contract with the nation's largest cable company, Time Warner....

Music producer Estefan greets 11 Cubans who stepped off a boat on Miami Beach.
February 2, 1999... MIAMI BEACH _ Eleven Cubans who stepped off a boat on Miami Beach on Monday will remember their arrival like no other group of refugees will. They were greeted at the high tide line by the symbol of Cuban success himself _ Emilio Estefan....

Florida's nursing shortage accompanied by declining number of nursing students.
February 2, 1999... MIAMI _ For the second time this decade, Florida's hospitals can't find enough nurses. And this time, the shortage is accompanied by a declining number of students who are pursuing nursing degrees, both in Florida and nationwide. ...

Hospital alliance dies quietly; Competition overwhelms cooperation.
February 2, 1999... CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Four area hospitals have pulled the plug on another alliance. The alliance among Presbyterian Healthcare, Gaston Health Care, NorthEast Medical Center and Rowan Regional Medical Center died before it reached its second...

John Elway can retire on top _ or go for that third straight ring.
February 2, 1999... MIAMI _ This is just a guess, of course, but I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of John Elway. All last week his coach, Mike Shanahan, was saying he was 90 percent certain that Super Bowl XXXIII would be Elway's last hurrah with the...

Clinton's attorneys forgo questioning Lewinsky, issue apology instead.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ A lawyer for President Clinton apologized to Monica Lewinsky on his behalf Monday, expressing regret for all she has endured since their affair became public more than one year ago. The apology came at the end of a four-hour...

AT&T deal with Time Warner looks to the future of the Internet, not phone service.
February 2, 1999... To succeed in tomorrow's high-tech world of Internet access, wireless communications and high-speed data, a telephone business must start by providing the basics: being able to dial a number and talk to somebody, as Monday's deal between AT&T...

Rouge explosion kills 1, leaves 13 critical.
February 2, 1999... DETROIT _ The power plant explosion that convulsed the massive Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn on Monday left one person dead, three missing, at least 13 critically injured and ghastly memories seared into the minds of rattled survivors. ...

Clinton budget targets tax shelters.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ In a reprise of his past two budgets, President Clinton on Monday proposed financing new tax breaks for social programs by eliminating some corporate tax shelters and loopholes, a step previously rejected by Congress. The...

Bush cancels state contract to sell license photos to N.H. anti-fraud firm.
February 2, 1999... SANFORD, Fla. _ Your drivers license photograph is safe. After thousands of people complained, Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday cancelled a state contract to sell the photos to a tiny New Hampshire company that markets anti-fraud information. ...

Clinton sends to Congress a $1.77 trillion budget.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ President Clinton on Monday sent to Congress a $1.77 trillion budget that proposes taking advantage of a booming economy to accomplish everything from buying more missiles to reducing global warming. The second balanced budget...

Lewinsky said to add little; Clinton lawyers ask judge to investigate leaks.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ House prosecutors spent more than three hours Monday quizzing Monica Lewinsky about their obstruction-of-justice case against President Clinton. She added little to the record, attorneys and aides said. Mr. Clinton's lawyers...

Clinton's lawyers chose to forego questioning Lewinsky.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ In an unexpected twist, President Clinton's lawyers declined to ask Monica Lewinsky any questions during her deposition Monday, and instead read her a statement from Clinton apologizing for all she has had to endure. Clinton's...

American debuts its first 777 jetliner.
February 2, 1999... DALLAS/FORT WORTH AIRPORT _ American Airlines rolled out the first of its new Boeing 777 transoceanic jetliners Monday, an aircraft that features a high-tech, premium-class cabin with luxurious seating and the latest gadgets. American said...

Republicans seek to unite in opposition to Clinton budget, tax proposals.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ The great political and economic debate over the emerging federal surplus sharpened Monday as President Clinton sent the first federal budget of the new millennium to a Republican Congress with far different ideas. GOP budget...

Bad vote, bad offer tarnish Super show.
February 2, 1999... FORT WORTH, Texas _ The Monday-morning-after-Super-Bowl blues and views: Those ultra-provincial New York football writers and columnists who were fighting mad that anyone would dare question the right of Lawrence Taylor to be a...

Elway's decision will take some time.
February 2, 1999... MIAMI _ The first time is always special. But the Denver Broncos submit that it can be sweeter the second time around. That was certainly their take in the aftermath of Sunday's 34-19 blasting of the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl...

Nichols' attorney says judicial errors warrant reversing verdict.
February 2, 1999... DENVER _ Terry Nichols' chief lawyer urged a federal appeals court on Monday to overturn his Oklahoma City bombing conviction, arguing that such action is necessary to ensure a ``reliable, honorable and honest'' verdict. Appearing before...

Boomers' struggles to become the family elders come with a huge dose of uncertainty.
February 2, 1999... WICHITA, Kan. _ For Paul Meals, it means taking the initiative to keep family ties intact. For Judy George, it means trying to interest her children in their family tree. For Carolyn Earnest, it means becoming the keeper of the family...

Exhibit raises questions about how Jews view themselves _ or is it just offensive?
February 2, 1999... CHICAGO _ When Marc Alan Jacobs, a young artist and self-described secular Jew, moved to New York last year, he was comforted by the presence of so many Jews and so much Jewish culture. But he has turned some heads _ and may offend some...

Author shows how to budget family funds, fortify family ties.
February 2, 1999... Dave Ramsey could easily map out the family's monthly budget by himself. After all, the husband and father of three is the best-selling author of ``Financial Peace'' and ``The Financial Peace Planner.'' He also has spent the last decade...

Ensure the program that helps ensure our prosperity.
February 2, 1999... Save Social Security first! That was the most commanding challenge in President Clinton's State of the Union message. He laid down the gauntlet for action this year. The way Congress responds to this call will be more important to the...

Making poor places prosper is as simple as 'Plowing the Seas'.
February 2, 1999... Poor places aren't poor because people don't work. Poor places remain poor because people work on the wrong things. They spend extraordinary efforts on activities that simply reinforce their poverty. They have a bad case of the...

If it's too good to believe ...
February 2, 1999... For far too long, the words ``change'' and ``Social Security'' have meant political death to elected officials in Washington. Now that may be changing, but the real test will be can we debate proposals that deal honestly with the problem, or...

Cleaning woman inspires youths in shelters.
February 2, 1999... FORT WORTH, Texas _ Like a soldier ready for battle, Joy Krause carries the tools of her trade strapped to her back and across her torso. But instead of bullets, she's armed with a feather duster, plunger, toilet brush, fly swatter and spray...

Women's work; Getting females into traditionally male jobs a slow process.
February 2, 1999... MACON, Ga. _ For more than 10 years, Wendy Williams worked for Sears at the Macon Mall, doing her job well enough to become a supervisor. Then she did something most people thought was odd. She became a punch press operator, a production line...

Chronicling black history.
February 2, 1999... With Black History Month coming up, there's a plethora of new videos being released to tie in with the annual event. Here are some of the more interesting videos available this year: _``Our Friend, Martin'' (CBS/Fox, 1999; not rated; 1...

Science? Not in my courtroom! With judges like this one _ justice, indeed, is blind.
February 2, 1999... WASHINGTON _ Is America's judicial system starting to slide backward into the morass of a Dark Age, where rationality is banned and the junkiest of junk science warmly embraced? It's hard to conclude much else after a federal judge recently...

The Iraqi fly zones.
February 2, 1999... The following editorial appeared in the Orange County Register on Monday, 2-1: X X X As much as American policy makers wish the problem would go away, the situation in Iraq is once again taking centerstage, with U.S. forces expanding...

There's a reason why they're called classics.
February 2, 1999... I know I'm going to sound like a codger when I say this, but humor my entrance into middle age: They don't make movies like they used to. Period. That's not meant to be a blanket endorsement of all movies made before 1980s. There was...

Young mother's death in crash touches Colorado city.
February 2, 1999... COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. _ The moment of physical impact can be reduced to pure mathematics: clean, emotionless, quantifiable. One vehicle traveling at 94 mph struck another traveling at 15 mph, creating the same force generated by dropping a...

Women inching into construction, other skilled trades.
February 2, 1999... One line in TDIndustries' ad for sheet metal and plumbing trainees caught Evelyn Gray's eye. ``Women encouraged to apply,'' it read. Gray, bored stiff in a desk job that didn't pay enough, wasted no time. ``I don't mind getting dirty. I...

Actor's message of respect aimed to halt teen violence.
February 2, 1999... The dating world of a teen-ager isn't all parties and hanging out at the mall. One out of five teen-age girls experiences some form of dating violence, say U.S. Department of Justice statistics. It may be name-calling, mental abuse such as...

Fatherhood falling on hard times.
February 2, 1999... Is fatherhood dying in America? An effective, if discouraging, case can be made: _Last year 32 percent of U.S. children were born to never-married mothers, up from 18 percent in 1980. _Nearly half of all marriages today end in...

Paying the price for bad behavior is fair, effective.
February 2, 1999... Thirty or so years ago, experts began telling parents that high self-esteem would lead to better grades and better behavior, and prevent drug and alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, it just hasn't turned out that way. In fact, not only has...

Debate over the importance of fathers heats up.
February 2, 1999... Does daddy matter? Suddenly, social scientists are not so sure. After decades of easy assumptions about the father as irreplaceable role model and confidence builder if not always breadwinner, they are questioning his very need to be...

Lawmakers from both sides to support GOP campaign reform bill.
February 3, 1999... TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ In a rare show of bipartisanship, Senate Democrats said Tuesday that they will support a Republican campaign reform bill aimed at lessening the power of corporate ``soft money'' in Florida elections. The gesture...

Names in the news.
February 3, 1999... Less than two weeks into his marriage to Princess Caroline, Prince Ernst August of Hanover finds himself mired in controversy over his fam's alleged links to Germany's Nazi regime. Monday, the German newspaper Bild said Ernst's grandfather,...

Despite scandal, Salt Lake City considers itself a boom town.
February 3, 1999... SALT LAKE CITY _ Sure, the Olympics scandal is giving people here something to gripe about. Having your hometown skewered in public for allegedly greasing the palms of international Olympics officials isn't exactly pleasant. And it's...

Bush proposes spending millions to end ``a shameful situation''.
February 3, 1999... TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Saddled with an overburdened foster care system and a child abuse program that has failed to protect neglected kids, Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday proposed spending millions more to end what he called ``a shameful situation.''...

Some legislators, GOP, Democrats, fear Bush's proposed tax breaks too costly.
February 3, 1999... TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ In his pitch for a new, $46.8 billion state budget, Gov. Jeb Bush offers more for education, more for children's health care, more for the disabled _ and even more for taxpayers, $1.2 billion of relief. Bush says a year...

VERNON JORDAN GIVES DEPOSITION IN CLINTON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL.
February 3, 1999... Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service News Budget for Tuesday, February 2, 1999 KRT News Desk: 202-383-6080, news(AT)krtinfo.com News desk supervisor: Late News Editor Jim Goldschmidt, 202-383-6086, jgoldschmidt(AT)krtinfo.com ...

Residents may pay more taxes on their homes, property next year.
February 3, 1999... MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. _ Residents should start getting an idea this week whether they will be paying more in taxes on their homes and property next year than they're paying this year. Notices reflecting new assessed valuations were mailed from...

Many residents say that increased traffic has altered their lives considerably.
February 3, 1999... NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. _ The Rev. Johnnie Jones stared pensively through his storm door recently at the steady stream of cars whizzing past his home. The ceaseless traffic, he says, mirrors the direction in which his community is headed, and...

Shellfish is no longer the lifeblood of Little River Neck Road.
February 3, 1999... NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. _ Katherine Bellamy remembers when seafood was a coveted commodity on Little River Neck Road. Folks came from miles around to barter or buy fish and shellfish caught from nearby Cherry Grove Marsh by Little River...

Athletes left in cold when money is handed out.
February 3, 1999... In the two years leading up to the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, United States cross country skier Marcus Nash somehow survived on an average annual income of $3,000. Meanwhile, Nancy Rignaul had her own financial...

Government sues AMC over issue of seating for disabled moviegoers.
February 3, 1999... The U.S. Department of Justice is suing AMC Entertainment Inc., saying the company isn't providing moviegoers in wheelchairs access to stadium seating in most of its theaters. AMC spokeswoman Brenda Nolte said the lawsuit, filed Friday, was...

Race bigger part in murder than previously thought, prosecutor says.
February 3, 1999... JASPER, Texas _ The prosecutor in the murder case of James Byrd Jr., the black man who was dragged to death behind a pickup truck here last June, said yesterday that the facts of the murder indicate that it was ``more a racial case than we...

Mayor considers hiring military police unit to control crowds at bike festival.
February 3, 1999... MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. _ Plans are in the works to add the South Carolina National Guard to the list of officers helping to control crowds and traffic during the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bike Festival. Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride said...

The case for an alternative Shakespeare.
February 3, 1999... People tell me I must see ``Shakespeare in Love,'' and maybe I will; but I've resisted it, confident that if I watch a much-praised, well-scripted, well-photographed, well-acted movie, I still won't believe a word of it. That's because I'm...

Stories of candidates for sainthood inspire even least holy of us.
February 3, 1999... We all know that some of the Catholic saints _ and several of those being considered as candidates for sainthood _ would be considered strange by many these days. In the first place, we know that they had an uncanny ability to focus on...

Cursing trial shows a lack of humanity.
February 3, 1999... On the ladder of human development, the lowest rung is reserved for those who, finding themselves annoyed or offended, call upon the law. The law is for those whose lives are threatened. The law is for the weak when they are oppressed or...

Running program enables adults to mentor at-risk teens.
February 3, 1999... COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. _ In the beginning, a mile seemed like a marathon. But Lee Lanckriet didn't give up. Step by step, month by month, the 15-year-old's legs grew stronger, his lungs lasted a little longer, and he learned an important...

Don't be a beast behind the wheel.
February 3, 1999... ALEXANDRIA, Va. _ The other day _ the day before the Super Bowl _ a friend and I suddenly decided that what we needed for our Super Bowl supper were steaks and potatoes and ice cream. Let's go to the wholesale warehouse, we said. And so off we...

Double standards sully rights activism.
February 3, 1999... SAN JOSE, Calif. _ U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' ``Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' on Dec. 10 as ``a day for celebration, a day for remembrance, and a day for commitment.'' It...

`The Good Black: A True Story of Race in America,' by Paul M. Barrett; Dutton (296 pages, $23.95).
February 3, 1999... As I was standing at a restaurant counter waiting for my takeout order one lunch hour, a white patron asked me to take her order. Did she think because I was black I must be one of the help? I thought so. But who knows? And on a different day,...

Profile in cowardice from new Washington mayor.
February 3, 1999... Give former Washington Mayor Marion Barry credit. He took a quarter of a century to throw away a promising political career. His successor did it in only a month. Last week, Mayor Anthony Williams accepted the resignation of a trusted aide...

`Censure with teeth'?
February 3, 1999... The following editorial appeared in the Providence Journal on Sunday, 1-31: X X X The Senate last week voted to defeat a Democratic motion that would have put an immediate halt to the impeachment trial by dismissing the charges...

Repressive nations now crossing cyberborders.
February 3, 1999... Last week, an Internet service provider in Dublin, Ireland, was forced to shut down temporarily after a cyberattack on its computers. Topping the list of suspects is the government of Indonesia. The Internet company was hosting a ``virtual...

Mixed feeling about Black History Month.
February 3, 1999... Stroll into any big-city bookstore during the month of February and you'll likely have your hair blown back by the massive display of new publications relating to black history. Your VCRs won't be able to keep up with the month's deluge of...

Impeachment a lost cause.
February 3, 1999... WASHINGTON _ Why won't the Lost Platoon give up? Day after day, the 13 House Republicans see their dream of convicting Bill Clinton fading away. They're tattered, maligned guerrillas running out of time, support, ideas and hope....

Black folks should save outrage for times when it really matters.
February 3, 1999... English-major humor... One day back when I was in college, I approached a friend who was standing in a small group of people and asked him, ``So, is it true you like to masticate in public?'' The world stops. The poor guy teeters...

Track your family's history on the Net.
February 3, 1999... Genealogy _ studying your family history _ is a great use of a personal computer in three ways. First, a home computer can safely store everything you know about your family. Names, dates, other details, stories, even documents,...