Free Republic

Commerce Department Closed By Fire By Jennifer AndesAssociated Press WriterFriday, Oct. 1, 1999; 6:51 p.m. EDTWASHINGTON –– A fire Friday at the CommerceDepartment sent 48 people, including 16 firefighters and emergency medical technicians, to the hospital to be treatedfor possible exposure to PCBs. A transformer that used PCBs as a coolant caught fire about 6 a.m., filling sections of Commerce building with smoke and PCB levels above the acceptable 50 parts per million, said D.C. Fire Chief Don Edwards. Commerce Secretary William Daley said the sprawling building a block from the White House would remain closed through the weekend "while ...

Panama's President to Demand U.S.to Clean Firing RangesStory Filed: Saturday, September 11, 1999 4:05 PM ESTPANAMA CITY (Sept. 11) XINHUA - Panama President Mireya Moscoso will demand the United States to clean the firing ranges during the visit she will make on September 23 to the U.N. Assembly. The Panamanian president was quoted Saturday by local press as saying that her government expects to meet with U.S. authorities to discuss the areas contaminated with big quantities of undetonated explosives, left by the U.S. Army. Mireya Moscoso, who assumed the presidency of her country September 1, said she will sit to ...

PILOT ONLINE - NEWS     Made-up disaster drill ranks as real-life success BY STEVE STONE, The Virginian-Pilot  Copyright 1999, Landmark Communications Inc. VIRGINIA BEACH -- As a drill, it was a frightening concept. In reality, it would have been deadly.  A gathering of 120 municipal leaders from around the nation at the Pavilion convention center is targeted by a terrorist armed with deadly sarin gas.  In the beginning, however, only he knows what is happening.  With the sound of a horn at 10 a.m. Thursday, a building at Camp Pendleton became the Pavilion, 120 volunteers were transformed into ...

N.H. 5th-Graders Toss a few Softballs to Candidate BushBy Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, 09/08/99 BEDFORD, N.H. - There were no embarrassing questions for George W. Bush at his press conference yesterday, no pesky queries about whether or when he might have used cocaine.No, the fifth graders at Peter Woodbury Elementary School let the GOP presidential front-runner off easy - just as their teachers had hoped they would.Although he retains a commanding lead in opinion polls, the Texas governor has struggled some in recent weeks, fending off demands that he definitively answer questions about whether he ever used drugs. The candidate ...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 20, 1993 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION WITH THE PRESS The Rose Garden 1:36 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: On February the 28th, four federal agents were killed in the line of duty trying to enforce the law against the Branch Davidian compound, which had illegally stockpiled weaponry and ammunition, and placed innocent children at risk. Because the BATF operation had failed to meet its objective, a 51-day standoff ensued. The Federal Bureau of Investigation then made every reasonable effort to bring this perilous situation ...

Police: Some Immune to Pepper SprayFriday, August 13, 1999; 7:11 a.m. EDTCAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Police here are being taught that pepper spray is less effective against Mexican-Americans and other ethnic groups because of their long exposure to spicy foods.Cambridge officers are told that people who are exposed to hot peppers at an early age develop a tolerance to the spray. The Cambridge Police Department offers no supporting scientific data.``I think people will laugh when they hear this -- it's so ridiculous,'' said Manuel Macias, a lawyer who assists Central American refugees in Cambridge. ``But it's a laugh with irony ...

States Stick to Their GunsBy Steve Geissinger Associated Press Writer Thursday, August 12, 1999; 3:49 a.m. EDTSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Another violent shooting has become another bitter opportunity for gun-control advocates to call for stricter regulations -- though few states appear inclined to change.Political leaders in several states with strong histories of gun ownership say they are unlikely to toughen gun-control laws following the nation's third major shooting in two weeks.``Gun laws wouldn't have helped in Los Angeles,'' Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democrat, said Wednesday. ``Better enforcement would have helped.''A man walked into a Jewish community center in Los ...

Gunshot Injuries Cost $2.3B Per Year By Kate N. Grossman Associated Press Writer Tuesday, August 3, 1999; 10:08 p.m. EDT CHICAGO (AP) -- The cost of treating the nation's gunshot victims in a recent year was $2.3 billion -- with the government footing half the bill, a new study found. ``We have been concerned that a lot of folks don't see gun violence as their problem, they see it as someone else's problem,'' said one of the researchers, Philip J. Cook, director of the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. The study was published in Wednesday's Journal ...

July 27, 1999 Mass. makes it tougher for abusers to get guns By STEVE LEBLANC NEWS STATEHOUSE BUREAU BOSTON -- Domestic batterers will have a tougher time purchasing guns in other states under an agreement struck by Needham state Sen. Cheryl Jacques and the Public Safety Secretary Jane Perlov. Under the deal, the state will begin listing with the FBI the names of Massachusetts residents who have active restraining orders against them. Gun dealers are required to conduct national background checks before selling guns. People with restraining orders are prohibited from purchasing weapons. "By listing restraining orders on the FBI's ...

Tracing of guns used for crime gives hope of crackdown By Mitchell Zuckoff, Globe Staff, 07/27/99 MILWAUKEE - Marcus Hawkins armed himself with a .44-caliber handgun and went looking for money and trouble. First he broke into a north side apartment and abducted a woman and her 17-month-old son. He raped the woman, then drove off with the boy. But he soon ran out of gas, so he abandoned the crying toddler and tried to rob a gas station. A clerk finally stopped Hawkins by shooting him in the leg. Hawkins is now serving a 124-year prison term. Hawkins's 1996 ...

Murder 'Madness' Bedevils Jamaica By Serge F. Kovaleski Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, July 27, 1999; Page A13 KINGSTON, Jamaica –– Two armored vehicles rumble through the late-night darkness along a blighted Kingston street as soldiers cock their rifles and set out on foot patrols. A gaggle of stragglers quickly disperses into an alley. In a nearby neighborhood nicknamed Tel Aviv, troops clutching high-powered firearms stand on corners to enforce an overnight curfew Their silhouettes are barely visible because gunfire between gangs has blown out the street lamps. Not far away, three soldiers detain a passing car at gunpoint and ...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice President ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 26, 1999 VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES $57.4 MILLION IN INCENTIVE GRANTS TO 17 STATES, D.C., WITH .08 BAC LAWS Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore today announced incentive grants totaling $57.4 million for 17 states and the District of Columbia for legally lowering the threshold for drunk driving to .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). "Safety is our Administration's highest transportation priority, and these grants are an important step toward preventing alcohol-related traffic crashes," Vice President Gore said. "The people of these states and the District of ...

Crime Driving Jamaicans out of their HomesBy Richard Chacón, Globe Staff, 07/26/99 KINGSTON, Jamaica - Were it not for the nightly gunshots he hears from his front porch, the all-too-frequent stories of friends being attacked and robbed, and the gang members who are fighting for control of his neighborhood, Patrick Corliss would not think of leaving his boyhood home.But the 37-year-old resident of West Kingston has had enough. With violence seemingly out of control in his working-class area, Corliss packed a wooden cart two weeks ago with dirty clothes, some old family photos, and boxes of canned foods to move ...

Army testing a safer ammo for environment By Colin Nickerson, Globe Staff, 07/25/99 Human armies have been mowing each other down with lead bullets for 600 years - and the mayhem goes beyond the dead and maimed.After all, lead is harmful to the environment. It contaminates soil and water. It makes birds and fish sick.Now comes the US Army with a planet-friendly projectile for the next millennium - the ''green bullet.''The new ammunition, just starting to go into experimental production, rips flesh and bone as efficiently as old-fashioned rounds. But the slugs are made of a tungsten alloy, not lead, ...

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 'Practical' Gun Game Proposed for OlympicsBy STEVE BERRY, Times Staff Writer Firearm enthusiasts from around the world who organize run-and-gun competitions--once commonly known as "combat" shooting and often featuring human-shaped targets--are trying to persuade the International Olympic Committee to let them compete in the Olympic Games. The 60-nation International Practical Shooting Confederation has been trying to persuade the committee to accept the competition as a sport for the last two years, President Nick Alexakos of Canada said Tuesday. Though now referred to as "practical" shooting to avoid the negative connotations of the word combat, the international ...

Practical Gun Shooting Debated By Joseph White AP Sports Writer Thursday, July 22, 1999; 3:04 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Is it a sport worthy of Olympic status -- or a means of skirting gun control? Foes of the gun lobby took aim today at the sport of practical shooting. ``This is not a game. This is not paintball,'' said Philip Alpers, who researched the sport for the Violence Policy Center. ``There is a very serious political purpose behind this, and that is to legitimize the civilian ownership of lethal firearms which are normally kept only for battlefields and SWAT ...

State warns against Y2K food hoardingBy JOHN GREGG METROWEST DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER WESTBOROUGH -- The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency will mount a public relations campaign this fall to discourage food hoarding and panic over potential consequences of the Y2K computer glitch on New Year's Day.Part of the campaign will be designed to offset the possible impact of Hollywood movies set to be released near the start of next year, portraying dire, dramatic consequences from computer malfunctions on Jan. 1, 2000."We want the public to know there should be a general preparedness, but don't go overboard," said John Tommaney, deputy ...

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Proposed Collection; Comment Request ACTION: Notice and request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuingeffort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the generalpublic and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to commenton proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required bythe Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13 (44 U.S.C.3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearmswithin the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerningthe Certification of Secure Gun Storage or Safety Devices. DATES: Written comments should be received ...

Vice President Asks Communities to Help Reduce Gun Violence THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice PresidentFor Immediate Release July 16, 1999 VICE PRESIDENT GORE INVITES COMMUNITIES TO JOIN "SAFECITIES NETWORK" TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE Washington, DC - Vice President Al Gore today invited communities across the country to share successful strategies and to work together with federal law enforcement agencies to reduce gun violence. "Communities across the country are working to end gun violence," Vice President Gore said. "The SafeCities Network will link them, help them share what works with other communities, and support them with federal resources so ...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release +- July 15, 1999 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO S.A.F.E. COLORADO STUDENTS South Lawn12:25 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. I want to welcome the groups of young people from Colorado S.A.F.E. here to the White House, as well as those who brought them here from Colorado; the co-leaders, David Winkler and Ben Gelt. David will speak in a moment. And I want to say again how grateful I am that these young people have come. Secretary Summers and Attorney General Reno and I have just had a remarkable ...