ROBBERY SUSPECT SAYS SOMEONE STOLE CASH FROM HEIST
Tuesday March 31 11:09 AM EST
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - One of the chief suspects in a $17 million
armored car robbery said he does not have millions of dollars still missing
from the heist -- because someone stole it, federal prosecutors said.
Steven Chambers, one of the alleged masterminds of last October's rob-
bery of a Loomis, Fargo & Co. warehouse in west Charlotte, said stacks of
bundled bills were taken from a "storage bin" where the cash was stashed,
prosecutors said.
Skeptical of his claims, prosecutors asked a federal judge to keep the 30-
year old Gastonia, North Carolina man's wife, Michele Chambers, 27, and
two other co-defendants in jail until about $2.6 million in missing money
surfaces.
"It could be in the ground," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Keesler said,
alluding to local lore that cash from the heist was likely buried around
Gastonia, a town about 20 miles west of Charlotte that is home to most of
the 17 suspects arrested in the case.
The loose-knit "Gastonia gang" -- made up chiefly of Chambers' relatives
and friends -- allegedly pulled off one of the largest armored car heists in
U.S. history.
But the FBI caught up with them after the Chambers began spending
lavishly in the weeks after the robbery. The couple moved out of their
mobile home into a $635,000 country club home, and bought luxury cars,
jewelry and a furniture business, according to court filings.
Prosecutors said Steven Chambers, a convicted felon and one-time FBI
informant, orchestrated the robbery with Loomis supervisor David Scott
Ghantt, 28, and Kelly Campbell, 28, a former Loomis employee.
Ghantt was caught on hidden security cameras loading more than a ton
of cash into a Loomis van, and later fled to Mexico where he was arrested
on March 1. About $3.3 million in small bills were found in the van, and
FBI agents have seized an estimated $11 million in cash and property
from the robbery suspects.
Steven Chambers was arrested March 2 and later ordered held without
bond on bank larceny and money laundering charges. But U.S. District
Court Judge Graham Mullen on Monday released Michele Chambers, his
27-year old wife, on a $250,000 secured bond. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Two other codefendants, Campbell and Eric Payne, 30, were also released
on bond following Monday's hearing.
_________________________________________________________
FECES HITS THE FAN
Thursday March 26 5:15 PM EST
COLOMBO (Reuters) -- A Sri Lankan charged with theft threw a
plastic bag filled with human feces at policemen but it hit a fan and
showered the entire court, court officials said.
They said the accused, Subhasinghe Premasiri, who had been
charged with stealing gas cookers and cylinders had taken the bag
out of his pocket and thrown it at policemen when he was asked to
step into the witness box Tuesday.
"The bag struck a fan, got entangled and the entire court was show-
ered with excreta," said an official at the court in Modera town, just
south of the capital Colombo.
The accused was remanded by the chief magistrate for insulting the
dignity of the court, which had to be cleaned before proceedings could
continue, the official said.
_________________________________________________________
GENERAL SAYS LYING IS NOT DISHONORABLE
Thursday March 26 11:55 AM EST
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Argentine "Dirty War" general turned
provincial governor asked an army honor tribunal to excuse him for
lying about a Swiss bank account because it was acceptable for
politicians to lie, a newspaper reported Thursday.
"I do not agree with the claim that the rigor governing military
behavior should be demanded without exception of politicians,"
retired Gen. Antonio Bussi wrote in a letter to the army honor
tribunal, quoted by Clarin.
The tribunal issued Bussi a "serious reprimand" earlier in March
for failing to declare an account he held in a Swiss bank in his
official asset declarations, and then trying to deny it existed.
The ruling brought Bussi -- who is governor of Tucuman province --
closer to impeachment by the provincial congress.
Bussi wrote he had not breached military codes of honor as he had
lied only in his capacity "as governor of the province and never
as a retired general," Clarin reported.
Army commander-in-chief Gen. Martin Balza declined to confirm
details of the confidential honor tribunal proceedings, but told
local radio Thursday that no official, including politicians, should
lie.
Swiss investigators revealed in January that Bussi and other partici-
pants in the 1976-1983 military dictatorship's "Dirty War" against
dissidents held secret bank accounts.
Human rights groups accused the burly former soldier of stashing
away money plundered during his time as military governor of the
poor, semi-tropical province of Tucuman during the junta's rule.
Provincial legislators voted for him to resign and began impeach-
ment proceedings when he refused.
A judge is also investigating how Bussi obtained the money.
Bussi initially attributed the report of the bank account to a slur
campaign against him, but he eventually broke down in tears at a
news conference and said he had forgotten to declare the account to
authorities.
Bussi said he had saved honestly earned money in Switzerland to
escape Argentina's hyperinflation in the 1980s. He was charged for
human rights abuses after democracy returned in 1983, but walked
free under a 1986 amnesty law. The voters in Tucuman, nostalgic for
the law and order he provided in the 1970s, elected him a national
deputy in 1993 and governor in 1995.
_________________________________________________________
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Nike and documentary maker
Michael Moore butted heads over "The Big One.''
Moore interviews the company's chairman, Phil Knight, in his
film about corporations using factories overseas.
The filmmaker said he refused to excise a line or two at Nike's
request. The company asked him to cut Knight's statement that
the minimum age for Asian footwear factory workers is 14,
Moore said.
Moore said Lee Weinstein, Nike's director of U.S. public
relations, also asked him to cut Knight's wisecrack that one of
those poor Indonesian factory workers would be Moore's
landlord one day.
Nike denied asking for those changes but said the company
asked Moore to add that Nike has voluntarily instituted a
minimum working age of 16 at its factories.
Nike spokesman Vada Manager said Moore refused, offered to
change the film only if Nike would build a factory or warehouse
in Flint, Mich., the downtrodden auto industry city Moore
profiled in "Roger & Me.''
_________________________________________________________
COKE DAY PRANK FIZZLES FOR
PEPSI-LOVING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
8.16 p.m. ET (117 GMT) March 25, 1998
By Dan Sewell, Associated Press
EVANS, Ga. (AP) - If your high school guidance counselor was
right and there is such a thing as "your permanent record,'' this
is going on Mike Cameron's: In 1998, he was suspended for
wearing a Pepsi shirt on Coke Day.
School officials say the shirt was an insult to visiting Coca-Cola
executives and ruined a school picture in which students spelled
out "Coke.''
Cameron says it was just a joke.
"In my eyes, I didn't do anything wrong,'' the 19-year-old senior
said Wednesday while serving his one-day suspension.
"I know it sounds bad - `Child suspended for wearing Pepsi
shirt on Coke Day,''' said Gloria Hamilton, principal of
Greenbrier High School in Evans, about 130 miles east of
Atlanta, the world headquarters of Coca-Cola.
"It really would have been acceptable if it had just been
in-house, but we had the regional president here and people
flew in from Atlanta to do us the honor of being resource
speakers. These students knew we had guests.''
Friday's Coke in Education Day was part of Greenbrier's effort
to win a $500 local contest run by the Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
of Augusta and a national contest with a $10,000 prize.
Cameron wore a blue-and-white-striped shirt with a small Pepsi
logo underneath another shirt. He waited until just before the
picture was taken to remove his outer shirt, Mrs. Hamilton said.
"It's not a Coke-Pepsi war issue,'' she said. "It has nothing to do
with that. It was a student deliberately being disruptive and
rude.''
The Coke executives did not even see Cameron's shirt and were
not offended by the prank, said company spokeswoman Diana
Garza.
"The kid did what a kid does,'' Ms. Garza said. "We have
people coming into the World of Coca-Cola here in Atlanta
wearing Pepsi shirts.''
Pepsi spokesman Brad Shaw said, "Without knowing all the
details, it sounds like Mike's obviously a trendsetter with
impeccable taste in clothes. We're going to make sure he's got
plenty of Pepsi shirts to wear in the future once we track him
down.''
After getting caught, Cameron was sent to the principal's office,
where he said Mrs. Hamilton "talked about how important that
day was to the school and that I might have cost the school 10
grand.''
The Coke contest offers $500 to the Columbia County school
that comes up with the most creative method of distributing
promotional discount cards to students.
In addition to the school picture, Greenbrier officials invited a
Coke marketing executive to address economics students, had
chemistry students analyze the sugar content of Coke and used
a Coca-Cola cake recipe in home economics.
"In the past, when kids have decided to ruin a school picture -
occasionally we have some who decide that's the time to do an
obscene gesture - they've been given six days of suspension,''
the principal said. "So it's not a new situation.''
Hazel Lanier, who was picking up her granddaughter at school
Wednesday, said she thought the punishment was too severe.
"We do teach independence in this country, don't we?'' she
asked. "The last thing we need is to teach conformity.''
_________________________________________________________
88-YEAR-OLD WOMAN CHARGED IN
BEATING DEATH OF 50-YEAR-OLD MAN
4.29 p.m. ET (2130 GMT) March 25, 1998
FRANKLIN, Va. (AP) - An 88-year-old widow has been charged
with beating to death a 50-year-old man who lived with her.
Virginia B. Davis was arraigned on murder charges Tuesday
and released on $20,000 bail. She was accused of killing John
E. Wimbrow by beating him in the head and chest with her fists
or a blunt object in March 1997.
"I'm shocked,'' the 100-pound great-grandmother said.
Her lawyer, Richard G. Brydges, said he was shocked, too.
And skeptical.
"She couldn't open a car door without help,'' Brydges said.
"She's just a typical little blue-haired lady.''
Police gave no motive for the slaying.
Ms. Davis was indicted after a yearlong investigation.
Brydges said that their relationship apparently began as a
romance but that eventually Ms. Davis became Wimbrow's
caretaker.
"He was an alcoholic, as I understand it, and a very serious
one,'' Brydges said. "He didn't work much.''
After being fingerprinted at police headquarters - "I've never
sat with an 88-year-old lady being fingerprinted before,'' Brydges
said - Ms. Davis kept asking the magistrate to repeat himself.
"She told him, `I think my batteries are down in my hearing
aid,''' Brydges said.
_________________________________________________________
MAN ALLEGEDLY STABS COOK OVER MAGIC SPELL
Wednesday March 25 11:32 AM EST
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (Reuters) - A factory worker Tuesday fatally
stabbed a man he thought put a black magic spell on him that was
causing bad luck, police said.
Juan Escobar, 42, stabbed Lidio Canales, 44, more than a dozen
times with a hunting knife, Suffolk County, New York police said.
The stabbing occurred in Brentwood, about 40 miles east of New
York City, shortly after midnight.
Escobar told police he thought Canales, a cook, had seduced his
wife with black magic and put a spell on him. He told police he had
been suffering a spate of bad luck.
Escobar was charged with second degree murder.
_________________________________________________________
CROWDS GATHER AS TAIWANESE SECT
AWAITS GOD'S TV APPEARANCE
6.48 p.m. ET (2348 GMT) March 24, 1998
By Ted Anthony, Associated Press
GARLAND, Texas (AP) - Onlookers, satellite trucks and legions
of reporters streamed Tuesday into a Dallas suburb where a
Taiwanese religious group awaited God's appearance on
television - an event they say presages his return to earth next
week.
Police erected barricades and cordoned off a 165-house area in
the tree-lined neighborhood, where nearly 140 members of
God's Salvation Church are living in various upscale houses.
The main house, their leader's, serves as their church.
Church leader Chen Heng-ming, known as "Teacher Chen,'' has
said God will appear on Channel 18 across the country at 12:01
a.m. Wednesday to mark the beginning of his return. In
Garland, Channel 18 offers religious-oriented programming; in
nearby Dallas, it is a home-shopping channel.
Though church members - most clad entirely in white, with
white hats - have spoken openly about their principles in the
past, on Tuesday they politely declined comment as they
entered the fenced-in backyard of Chen's house.
"I'm sorry. I can't,'' one said gently in Mandarin Chinese,
smiling as he waved off a reporter.
Implied in the media and police attention is the notion that
church members might take drastic or unexpected action if God
does not appear. Chen and his followers insist they have no
plans to harm themselves and say suicide would violate God's
principles.
"They've been model citizens,'' said Garland police Lt. Don
Martin. But, he said, "We would be remiss in our duties if we
didn't consider that option.''
Chen says God will appear at 10 a.m. on March 31, beginning
a new era for a human race he says has lost its way.
The city has mobilized more than 50 police officers and
emergency personnel to make sure events proceed with as little
turmoil as possible. Police issued press credentials for the
neighborhood Tuesday morning and set up what they called a
"media corral'' near the house.
The group's prophecies come almost exactly a year after the
Heaven's Gate sect committed mass suicide in Rancho Santa
Fe, Calif. Heaven's Gate members said they believed that, if they
"shed their containers,'' they would be picked up by a spaceship
hidden by a passing comet. Thirty-eight people died.
_________________________________________________________
GUINEA PIGS SET LOOSE IN CENTRAL PARK
Tuesday March 24 5:04 PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man released as many as 50 guinea pigs
in Central Park for still unknown reasons and 10 of them may have
perished in the snow or been killed by birds that prey on small
animals, officials said Tuesday.
Park rangers rescued 33 of the guinea pigs after park attendants
saw a man releasing between 40 and 50 from a cage Thursday night,
raising fears they could be carrying diseases that might be passed on
to people or other animals.
"We have been searching for three days but most likely because of
the snow, unfortunately the rest may have frozen to death," New
York City Department of Parks and Recreation spokesman Corey
Salsberg said.
Freezing rain and snow fell over the weekend in New York, with five
inches snow recorded in the park Sunday. The search for the guinea
pigs would continue however, the spokesman said.
He said the guinea pigs, small furry animals indigenous to South
America, could have been killed by hawks, ospreys, owls and other
birds of prey who eat rodents.
"In Central Park in New York City they are not suited to survive in
the environment," Salsberg said. "They are imported here all the
time as pets or for laboratory experiments so they are domesticated.
They haven't lived in the wild for about 100 years, even in South
America."
No one has been arrested for releasing the guinea pigs, considered
a crime under laws governing the control of animals in the public
park. A $1,000 reward has been posted for the capture and convic-
tion of the man.
Park officials believe it may have been the work of a pet shop
owner trying to get rid of the animals or an animal-rights activist
who took them from a laboratory.
Salsberg said the rescued guinea pigs had been checked for
diseases and appeared to be in good health. The City Center for
Animal Care and Control was looking for homes for them.
_________________________________________________________
HE PUT HIS GRIPES, BIG AND SMALL, IN WRITING
1.15 a.m. ET (616 GMT) March 20, 1998
By Mike Feinsilber, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Back from a trip to Canada, Richard
Nixon must have been having a bad day on April 17, 1972. He
sent a memo to H.R. Haldeman, chief of staff, full of irritation.
He did not like the music that was performed at a White House
dinner for the Organization of American States.
He did not like the way the press was always oohing and
aahing about Jackie Kennedy having cellist Pablo Casals to
perform at the White House "40 years after his prime,'' while
ignoring the entertainers he had brought in.
But most of all, he did not like the way he had been crammed
into the back seat of a car during his drive through Canadian
streets.
"I simply am not going to have the discomfort of having
somebody ride with me when I know that they are not really
necessary to the exercise,'' he wrote Haldeman.
The memo and others give evidence of Nixon's ire and his
attention to petty details. They were made public this week at
the National Archives, which has now opened about 4 million
pages of the 44 million that were seized when Nixon resigned in
1974.
Other presidents probably had similar gripes, but Nixon put his
in writing. He did not like face-to-face encounters, preferring to
communicate in writing. As a result, he generated a treasure for
historians, leaving behind on paper - and tape - his thoughts,
big and petty alike.
For example:
-''Those who boycotted the joint session of Congress should be
taken off the White House guest list, even if they had been our
friends in the past,'' he told Haldeman six weeks after his Jan.
22, 1970, State of the Union address.
-In a June 15, 1971, discussion on drug policy, he dismissed
"soft-headed psychiatrists'' like those at the government's
National Institute of Mental Health who favor marijuana. They
did, he said, "because they're probably all on the stuff
themselves.''
But the full flavor of Nixon's irritations is caught in that April
17, 1972, memo following the Canadian trip.
"The situation in Canada was intolerable,'' Nixon told
Haldeman.
"Taylor (a Secret Service agent) insisted on sitting on the jump
seat where he could have just as easily sat in the front seat
because there were only two in the front seat. The jump seats
were constructed in such a way that they bent completely back
on both Pat and me so that in her case she had to put her legs
over on the other side, and I, of course, was totally
uncomfortable all the way.''
In the same memo, Nixon asked for a report "on whether or not
any of the members of the press caught the favorable reaction to
the toast that I gave in Canada.''
As for White House entertainment, having the Marine Corps
chamber musicians perform at a dinner was "a disaster.'' Mrs.
Nixon wanted the Strolling Strings. They were not available,
but they should have been, he said.
On that subject, he continued, "Jackie Kennedy received bravos
for years because she brought Pablo Casals to the White House
to play his cello 40 years after his prime.
"When we look over the list of people that we have had at the
White House they make the (Lyndon) Johnson years appear
almost barbaric and the (John F.) Kennedy years very thin
indeed.''
Nixon added that he realized that White House lawyer Leonard
Garment and Nancy Hanks, chairman of the National
Endowment for the Arts, "don't approve of the kind of
entertainment we have because they would prefer some offbeat
modern ballet such as that utterly disgusting group we had from
New York for one of our dinners.''
_________________________________________________________
PROSECUTORS OPEN ZHIRINOVSKY 'HOOLIGANISM' CASE
Tuesday March 17 5:04 PM EST
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors announced Tuesday
they had opened a criminal investigation into ultra-nationalist leader
Vladimir Zhirinovsky for throwing water at parliamentary deputies
during a debate last week.
A spokeswoman said the Prosecutor General's office was invest-
igating "hooliganism" charges against Zhirinovsky, who has risen to
national prominence through his outlandish antics.
They were also considering charges under a law against insulting
government officials.
As a deputy of the State Duma lower house of parliament,
Zhirinovsky is immune from prosecution, although a majority vote
in the Duma could clear the way for court proceedings.
The latest temper tantrum happened last Wednesday when
Zhirinovsky caused an uproar in the chamber by swearing at
deputies and lobbing mineral water at them.
Friday, he issued a half-hearted apology.
"I was the main initiator and I say such a form of settlement of
differences is impermissible in this chamber," he said. Yet he
made clear he did not feel guilty, saying he "had his reasons."
The maverick nationalist has faced a number of legal scrapes
before despite his immunity.
In December a Russian court fined Zhirinovsky for defamation in
alleging that a television journalist had taken money from Chechen
rebels for favorable reporting. He was ordered to pay her $4,200,
although her station reported Sunday that she had not yet received
the money.
Zhirinovsky also got into a scuffle with another female television
reporter outside the Kremlin last May, but an investigation into the
matter was closed without charges filed.
_________________________________________________________
MAN ARRESTED FOR FAILING TO PAY UP
AFTER MARATHON EATING BINGE
1.10 p.m. ET (1810 GMT) March 17, 1998
TOKYO (AP) - Taking advantage of the customary Japanese
aversion to confrontation, an unemployed Japanese man with
no money spent three consecutive days and nights eating at a
24-hour restaurant, police said Tuesday.
Sakae Watanabe, 46, was arrested when he did not pay the bill,
said Masahiro Furiya, a police spokesman in Kofu, 70 miles
west of Tokyo.
Watanabe allegedly ordered 20 dishes worth a total of $125
during his stay in a Royal Host restaurant from early Friday
through Sunday morning. He was arrested after trying to sneak
out during an argument between other customers, the
spokesman said.
The restaurant's manager said that while the staff thought the
man's refusal to leave was "weird,'' they were unable to do
anything as long as he sat quietly at his table, the newspaper
Asahi reported.
The manager said Tuesday he had no further comment on the
incident.
_________________________________________________________
CENSORSHIP OR SENSITIVITY? DICTIONARY
PUBLISHER REVIEWS RACIAL SLUR
2.54 a.m. ET (754 GMT) March 17, 1998
By Trudy Tynan, Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Swamped with complaints and a
threatened boycott about the definition of "nigger'' in its
dictionaries, Merriam-Webster is reviewing how it defines
offensive words.
The 150-year-old publisher for the first time in its history has
assigned a task force to consider whether to change the practice
of listing definitions historically, with the oldest - and often the
most objectionable - uses coming first.
Still, there are no plans to remove words the publisher concedes
are offensive and derogatory - such as "queer,'' "redneck'' and
"white trash'' - from its adult dictionaries.
"That would be censorship,'' said Deborah Burns, marketing
director for the Springfield-based publisher. "As a reference tool,
the dictionary would not be a comprehensive tool if it did not
list the words used in our language.''
Merriam-Webster's most recent Collegiate Dictionary defines
"nigger'' first as: "a black person - usually taken to be
offensive.'' Other definitions refer to "a member of any
dark-skinned race,'' and "a member of a socially disadvantaged
class of persons.''
An accompanying paragraph on usage notes that "nigger'' is
"perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in
English'' and is "expressive of racial hatred and bigotry.''
Burns said that the company has fielded about 2,000 letters,
notes and phone calls about the word's definition since two
Michigan women launched a protest last fall.
One of the women, Kathryn Williams, curator of the Museum
of Afrikan American History in Flint, Mich., suggested that
Merriam-Webster omit the word from the dictionary.
And the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People threatened to lead a boycott against the publisher if the
word wasn't revised.
In response, a special review committee of senior editors, as
well as outside linguists and other language experts, began
reviewing offensive words this year for Merriam-Webster.
The publisher has also received a number of complaints recently
about its definitions of "honky,'' "cracker,'' and "kike,'' Burns
said Monday.
Other words being reviewed include: "Chink,'' "fairy,'' "gringo,''
"half-breed,'' "Kraut,'' "Paddies,'' "pig,'' "Polack,'' "queer,''
"redskin,'' "spic'' and "whitey.''
Any changes could be included in the 1999 update to its
Collegiate Dictionary, Burns said.
The style of listing definitions historically might be a problem,
she said, because some readers have "become so angry that they
haven't read beyond the first entry.'' Revising that policy,
however, would mean changing all entries in the dictionary to
conform.
By comparison, the American Heritage Dictionary flags the
word at the beginning of the entry, which may be why it has
received few complaints, said Joe Pickett, executive editor for
the dictionary published by Houghton Mifflin.
The American Heritage Dictionary's Collegiate edition defines
"nigger'' this way: "offensive slang. Used as a disparaging term
for a Black person.''
Merriam-Webster officials were surprised at the public reaction
to their listing, given that the dictionary entry emphatically
warns that the word "nigger'' is inflammatory and insulting.
After hearing of Merriam-Webster's task force, NAACP
President Kweisi Mfume said, "We are gratified that
Merriam-Webster finally got the message.''
But he said the NAACP will ask for company records on
buying, employment, promotion and the makeup of the board
of directors "to determine if a culture within the company has
made it difficult for them to recognize why this definition is
unacceptable to millions of Americans.''
Ms. Williams, the museum curator, approved of the publisher's
move, but said she would prefer that all racial and ethnic insults
be expunged from the dictionary.
"If the word is not there, you can't use it,'' she said.
Not that Merriam-Webster has buckled when its definitions
raise a fuss.
After Indiana University won the NCAA basketball
championship in 1987, Sen. Dan Quayle, R-Ind., took issue
with an entry in Merriam-Webster's unabridged dictionary that
defined "Hoosier'' as "an ignorant rustic.''
The future vice president protested to Merriam-Webster, even
introducing a Senate resolution asserting that the basketball
team had displayed the real meaning of the word: "someone
who is quick, smart, resourceful, skillful, a winner.''
Merriam-Webster did not change the entry.
_________________________________________________________
NAMES IN THE NEWS
1.10 a.m. ET (610 GMT) March 17, 1998
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Some of Branson's biggest
entertainers are scheduled to testify this week as a federal sexual
discrimination lawsuit against entertainer Tony Orlando goes to
trial.
The trial began in U.S. District Court on Monday with selection
of a jury and opening statements.
The lawsuit was brought by two former backup singers, Aleta
and Sonya Buckelew, who say Orlando berated them and made
sexual remarks to them. The singers are seeking unspecified
damages and pay.
Lawyers have indicated they may call 50 or more people as
witnesses, including entertainers Wayne Newton, Mel Tillis and
Moe Bandy.
Orlando declined to comment, but his spokesman, Rob Wilcox,
said, "Tony is looking forward to the truth being told this
week.''
AIKEN, S.C. (AP) - Soul singer James Brown must complete
a 90-day drug treatment program after illegally firing a rifle at
his home while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Brown, 64, who pleaded no contest Friday, has six months to
finish the program. Probation was not a workable option
because of Brown's touring schedule, Circuit Judge Frank
Eppes said.
The self-proclaimed "hardest-working man in show business''
paid a $1,100 fine. He also forfeited bond on a charge of
marijuana possession, which carries a $425 fine, attorney James
Huff said.
The charges stemmed from evidence deputies found at Brown's
home in January when they went to take him to the hospital
under a probate court order, including discharged shell casings
and two rifles.
Brown has denied he's addicted to drugs. He said his daughter
hospitalized him against his will after he became emotionally
upset from watching a television program about South
American children living in poverty.
_________________________________________________________
ACCUSED COOKIE THIEF SAYS COP'S SONG "DEGRADING"
Wednesday March 11 11:01 AM EST
OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - A man accused of stealing a cookie has
charged police with devising "the most degrading" punishment imag-
inable: forcing him to listen to a cop sing "Escape, The Pina Colada
Song."
Julian Aldarondo has filed a complaint with the Oakland Police Review
Board saying he endured "excessive force" when he was handcuffed
and forced to listen to an officer sing the Rupert Holmes hit.
"This is without a doubt the most degrading and humiliating experience
I have ever encountered and at this point I have no clue as to what is
going on and am in a complete state of shock," Aldarondo said in a
signed statement released Tuesday.
Aldarondo was accused of swiping a ginger pecan cookie from the
Critics Corner Cafe in Oakland before heading to a movie on June 13.
Police followed him into the theater, handcuffed him, and led him to
the manager's office. When Aldarondo told them he was a singer,
Officer Anthony Toribio launched into a chorus from the "Pina Colada
Song": "If you like pina coladas/And getting caught in the rain..."
Aldarondo said the officer sang two verses and then he and another
policeman at the scene started giggling.
"I took this entire incident to be very racist," Aldarondo, who identified
himself as Hispanic, said.
Toribio acknowledged in his statement that he did sing the song, but
only in an effort to see if Aldarondo might be able to tell him where to
obtain sheet music for it.
"This whole incident has no racial undertones," Toribio, who was born
in Spain, said in his statement.
"I am aware that officers have been criticized for being cold, insensitive
and uncaring. My intent was not to offend but was to interact on a more
human level."
A hearing on the incident has been set for Thursday night, according to
review board officials.
"Whether Mr. Aldarondo did nor did not steal the cookie is not at issue
before this Board. What is at issue is whether the police acted approp-
riately given the information they had at the time," the board said in a
statement.
Aldarondo, who maintains he paid for the cookie, was not arrested and
has rejected offers of mediation.
"The fact that someone could be handcuffed and humiliated in the man-
ner that I experienced is sheerly unbelievable," Aldarondo said in his
statement. "All over my favorite Gingerbread House Ginger Pecan
Cookie, $2.25 that I paid for. I just don't get it."
_________________________________________________________
BOMBING SUSPECT'S BROTHER CUTS OFF HAND
Wednesday March 11 11:02 AM EST
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - The brother of Alabama abortion
clinic bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph intentionally cut off
his left hand with a circular saw to send a message to government
agents searching for his brother, local and federal officials said
Tuesday.
The FBI has received a videotape Daniel Rudolph made while he
was amputating his hand at his North Charleston, South Carolina
home. The video includes an undisclosed message to federal agents
who have mounted a nationwide manhunt for his younger brother,
the officials said.
"Daniel Rudolph's decision to maim himself is regrettable and totally
unexpected given the nature of the contacts between the FBI and
himself," FBI Special Agent Charlie Sheppard said.
Authorities would not comment on speculation that the amputation
was connected to imagery in Bible verses.
"What it means, we don't know, and it really doesn't affect our case,"
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spokesman Brian Lett
said.
Rudolph amputated the hand on Sunday and drove himself to nearby
Summerville Medical Center. An ambulance crew was sent to retrieve
the hand, and Rudolph was transferred to Roper Hospital where it was
surgically reattached, officials said.
A hospital spokeswoman said he remained there overnight but asked
that no information on his condition be released.
Daniel Rudolph has been interviewed by the FBI as part of a manhunt
for his fugitive brother, but a bureau spokesman said he was not under
investigation in the fatal Jan. 29 attack on the New Woman All Women
Health Care Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama.
The FBI and ATF stepped up their search for Eric Robert Rudolph last
week, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading only to his
arrest and retracing leads in Murphy, North Carolina, his last known
address. The reward was initially offered for information leading to his
arrest and conviction.
_________________________________________________________
MAN TIRED OF WIFE'S COMPLAINING
BEATS STUDENTS, POLICE SAY
7.24 p.m. ET (024 GMT) March 6, 1998
By Connie Mabin, Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The husband of a middle school
teacher was sick of his wife's complaints about her class, so he
busted into her classroom and attacked three 14-year-old
students, police said.
Edward Hilts, 52, told students he was "tired of his wife taking
out her school- and student-related problems ... on him,'' police
said.
While inside the classroom Wednesday at DuPont Junior High
School in Belle where his wife, Kathryn Hilts, was substitute
teaching, Hilts slammed the heads of students Caleb Bays and
Justin Larch together and grabbed Gabriel Gonzalez around the
chest and shoulders, police said.
Bays suffered a split lip and a cut over his right eye.
Police said Hilts then placed a $20 bill on a table and
challenged a fourth student, 14-year-old Josh Pennington, to a
fight, saying the only way out of the room was through him or
the second-story window.
"He just started going crazy on everybody,'' Pennington told
WOWK-TV of Charleston-Huntington. "He started cussing at
them and choking them.
"Then he grabbed two other kids in head locks,'' Pennington
said.
The 6-foot 2-inch, 270-pound Hilts, who was charged Friday
with misdemeanor assault, battery and trespassing, denied the
allegations.
"Number one, there was no attack,'' Hilts said from his
Charleston home. "It's really unfortunate that all of this has
happened but there really is much more to the story than meets
the eye.''
_________________________________________________________
PATIENT KILLED WHEN SHE DRANK POISON
LEFT ON HOSPITAL NIGHTSTAND
8.24 p.m. ET (125 GMT) March 5, 1998
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A cancer patient hospitalized for routine
kidney dialysis died from drinking a glass of poison left on her
nightstand by an inexperienced medical resident, authorities
said.
Blanca Maldonado, 52, had undergone dialysis hours earlier at
Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center and the deadly
solution of formaldehyde and mercury was on the stand when
she was returned to her room Jan. 7.
The solution was to be used to preserve bone marrow in a
biopsy to determine whether her cancer had spread. A doctor
recently out of medical school left the biopsy tray on the
nightstand.
Investigators believe Maldonado drank it thinking it was water
or juice. She staggered to a nurse's station and was dead within
two hours.
The death was attributed to drinking the solution, Health
Services Director Mark Finucane said Wednesday. It wasn't
known how much of it Maldonado drank, but Assistant Health
Services Director Donald C. Thomas III said any amount
would have killed her.
No one has been disciplined. The death prompted a visit by
investigators from the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of
Health Care Organizations, which oversees quality control at
hospitals nationwide. The organization has not yet submitted a
report.
_________________________________________________________
DOCTORS REMOVE 84-POUND TUMOR
Thursday March 5 5:01 PM EST
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Doctors in eastern Hungary have removed
a 38 kg 84-pound tumor from a man's stomach, the Hungarian news
agency MTI reported Thursday.
Surgeons at the Gyula Kenezy Hospital in Debrecen carried out the
operation after the man's weight suddenly jumped from 80 to 120 kg
last year and he complained to his doctor of feeling unwell.
Initial tests showed the tumor was benign and the patient was
recovering well, MTI said.
_________________________________________________________
FORMER PUBLICIST SAID TO HARASS MARLA MAPLES
Thursday March 5 11:35 AM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former publicist for Marla Maples who
served prison time for stealing her shoes was arrested Wednesday
and charged with menacing and harassing Maples and her estranged
husband Donald Trump.
Chuck Jones was attending a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court
about the earlier burglary case when he was hit with the new charges.
According to them, Jones allegedly sent "derogatory and objectionable
faxes and nude photographs" of Trump and Maples to the couple,
Trump's mother, business associates and friends.
Ronald Perlman, president of Revlon, received a fax that showed
obscene, altered photos with Trump's head superimposed, purporting
to show Trump in a sexual act, prosecutors said.
Perlman was also sent articles about Trump and Maples with altered
headlines and magazine covers that were sexually explicit, they said.
Jones, who was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs for a later
arraignment, was charged with menacing, criminal contempt and
harassing Maples and Trump.
Maples, an actress, and the real estate developer separated last year.
In the earlier case, Jones confessed in 1994 to a love affair with
Maples' shoes. He told jurors he had an "affinity for shoes" and shoes
belonging to Maples "give me sexual feelings."
He was convicted on charges of stealing more than 30 pairs of her
shoes, boots and underwear from her closet and sentenced to 18
months to four-and-a-half years in prison.
After serving a year, his conviction was overturned, but prosecutors
reinstituted the burglary charge in 1996.
If convicted on the new charges, Jones faces an additional one year
in prison.
_________________________________________________________
MOTHER ARRESTED FOR FIRING AT SON IN SCHOOL
10.33 p.m. ET (333 GMT) March 4, 1998
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A mother has been accused of trying to
shoot her 15-year-old son in a school office Wednesday because
she was angry he was caught with marijuana.
Verline Stiffic, 36, was summoned to Brinkley Middle School
because her son, whose name was not released, was caught
with marijuana the day before and was being recommended for
expulsion, said police spokesman Robert Graham.
"She went into the school and started talking to her son,'' he
said. "Apparently, the conversation didn't go very well so she
pulled out a gun and shot at him.''
Nobody was injured and Stiffic was arrested as she left school.
She could face charges that include aggravated assault and
felony possession of a firearm on school property after firing a
single shot at the eighth-grader.
Assistant Superintendent Geraldine Bowie said the boy had a
history of trouble at school. The mother seemed calm when she
asked other students to leave the office when she confronted her
son, Bowie said.
"He started running and she was just venting her anger at him,''
Bowie said. "That (shooting) was the way she responded,
probably just to scare him.''
Bowie said social workers will determine if Stiffic is fit to
continue taking care of her son.
_________________________________________________________
SHADES OF WOODY: HOLDUP MAN WITH
BAD HANDWRITING STUMPS TELLER
10.16 a.m. ET (1517 GMT) March 3, 1998
PEARL RIVER, N.Y. (AP) - As if she was in a Woody Allen
movie, the bank teller squinted at a note handed her by a man
disguised with a plastic bag over his head.
She couldn't make out what it said and consulted with a
colleague, who also found it unreadable.
By the time they and other clerks finally figured out that "I've
got a gun'' was part of the message, the disguised man,
apparently unnerved, had left without saying a word or
showing a weapon.
The comedy played out Monday at the Marine Midland Bank
office in this community 15 miles north of New York City. The
teller hadn't immediately reacted to the plastic bag the man was
wearing because she thought he might have a skin problem or a
burn, police said.
Police investigators continued a hunt for the man today. And
because the handwriting is so bad, they're also still trying to
figure out what the entire note said.
"It's still open to conjecture,'' Detective Sgt. Terry Hutmacher
said. "It demands money and says he has a gun, but we have to
spend some more time with it today.''
In the 1968 movie "Take the Money and Run,'' the bungling
Allen character fails at bank robbery when a literal-minded teller
points out that his stickup note spells gun "gub.''
_________________________________________________________
BRETT'S FALL FROM 'GRACE'
PEOPLE Online Daily MONDAY, MARCH 2, 1998
Former producers of ABC's "Grace Under Fire" tell TV Guide
that star Brett Butler should have been reined in for her
volatile behavior long ago. Marc Flanagan says she would
bare her breasts and lift her skirt in front of people,
including 12-year-old actor Jon Paul Steuer, and had "daily
fits of temper." Kevin Abbot said, "She was heavily into
Vicodin," a painkiller, and former supervising producer
Holly Hester says, "Nobody reined her in, ever." "Grace" was
finally shut down after Butler hurled a can of soda at
executive producer Tom Straw this year and unleashed an
expletive-laced tirade against him in front of the studio
audience.