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ADEN, Yemen (October 26, 2000 6:55 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Security was tightened Thursday around the hotel housing U.S. investigators gathering evidence from the attack on the USS Cole after a bomb threat was received, Yemeni officials said. The officials said the telephone threat from an unknown caller was received around midnight. Yemeni and U.S. security officials held an emergency meeting in the early hours of the morning and adopted new security precautions, including ringing the hotel with machine-gun mounted military vehicles and stopping civilian traffic from approaching any closer than about 500 yards. ....

Plane crashes on I-71 and 2 die Saturday, October 21, 2000 Ruth Sternberg and Matthew Marx Dispatch Staff Reporters James D. DeCamp / Dispatch DELAWARE, Ohio -- Two men were killed and two women were injured last night when a small plane attempting to make an emergency landing crashed onto I-71. The plane went down at 10:42 p.m. in the southbound lane, about a mile south of the Morrow County line, said Larry Fisher, director of emergency services for Delaware County. The single-engine Beechcraft, carrying four people, crashed just north of Kilbourne Road. Two cars on the interstate collided in ...

Campaign 2000 It'll be politicians galore around here on Saturday Thursday, October 5, 2000 Warning: low-flying politicians. The Port Columbus area will be abuzz with political activity Saturday. National Republican Chairman Jim Nicholson, Gov. Bob Taft and other GOP officials will attend a 9 a.m., $5-a-person pancake breakfast at Whitehall Community Park, 402 N. Hamilton Rd. The event kicks off a GOP "Super Saturday Blitz'' in which Nicholson, Taft and other officials will blanket the state for speeches, rallies, picnics and door-to-door campaigning. A short time later, President Clinton will arrive at Port Columbus to attend the Ohio Democratic Party ...

Four lawmakers say 'no sale' about refuge Wednesday, October 4, 2000 Michael Hawthorne Dispatch Environment Reporter Four Ohio members of Congress are trying to sidetrack the proposed wildlife refuge along the Little Darby Creek and replace it with conservation programs that don't involve selling land to the government. Responding to concerns from landowners and Madison County officials, the lawmakers are pressuring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend for 60 days the period during which the agency accepts public comments about its latest refuge study. The four Republican lawmakers -- Deborah Pryce of Perry Township, John A. Boehner of ...

No money now for Darby refuge Tuesday, September 26, 2000 Michael Hawthorne Dispatch Environment Reporter Faced with vocal opposition from local landowners, farm groups and lawmakers, Congress this week will scuttle a $1 million appropriation for the proposed Little Darby National Wildlife Refuge. A committee hashing out the U.S. Interior Department's annual budget is expected to release its report today -- without money that Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine tried to secure to begin purchasing land in Madison and Union counties, The Dispatch has learned. DeWine, the refuge's leading political patron, was outflanked this round by fellow Republicans in the House ...

Ohio regulators seek wetland, stream dredging limits Monday, September 25, 2000 Michael Hawthorne Dispatch Environment Reporter Big Darby Creek may be a national and state scenic river, but nothing prevents developers, miners or farmers from dipping a backhoe into its waters, dredging out the bottom and dumping the material on higher ground. State regulators and environmentalists discovered last year that they were powerless to stop such activities after a farmer outside Circleville widened the Darby and routed the creek away from his fields. Similar projects are moving forward nationwide, the result of a 3-year-old court decision that struck down regulations ...

People from across U.S. protest Darby refuge plan Sunday, September 3, 2000 Encarnacion Pyle Dispatch Staff Reporter Doral Chenoweth III / Dispatch Protesting the refuge plan are, from left, George Westley of Columbia, Mo.; Lee Koch of Kimball, Neb.; and Charles Fisher of London, Ohio. LONDON, Ohio -- Sheena Pennell is young, but says she knows enough about a proposed wildlife refuge along Little Darby Creek to believe it will bring a scourge that will infest farmland there. "I love my farm and don't want to see it become a mosquito-infested swamp,'' said Sheena, 13, who wore a black baseball ...

11 people killed in midair collision over New Jersey Thursday, August 10, 2000 Brendan Schurr Associated Press BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Two planes collided in midair yesterday morning, showering debris onto a southern New Jersey neighborhood and setting fire to a home where the bulk of one plane crashed through the roof. Eleven passengers on the planes were killed. The smell of jet fuel and smoke permeated the neighborhood nine hours later. Two occupants of the home most heavily damaged escaped unharmed after the crash. One plane had crashed through their garage roof, burning the house and charring the yard ...

Money can buy access to governors' meeting Tuesday, July 11, 2000 Alan Johnson Dispatch Statehouse Reporter STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- It is a classic tale of haves and have-nots at the 92nd National Governors' Association meeting. At the foot of the hill leading to the Penn Stater Conference Center, protesters in T-shirts were held at bay by an army of police officers. Up on the hill, corporate lobbyists in expensive suits and ties rubbed elbows with governors, sat in on plenary sessions and more intimate round-table discussions and attended back-patting social events. The price of admission is steep: corporate contributions ...

OK freepers, I have to admit this is a shameless vanity. But there is something really strange going on in my neck of the woods. And although it doesn't have a DIRECT bearing on my immediate family, it does have an effect. My reason for this, is to pick the brains of fellow freepers, to see if there is a logical explanation. I know most of you guys are truly up to speed on all the latest 'cop toys'. My uncle has a video cam installed to 'watch' the traffic to and from his front door. He has seen, what ...

Group serves as clearinghouse for national gun-safety efforts States United is working across the country to put pressure on the political system for change. Monday, June 19, 2000 ErinMarie McKinney Dispatch Staff Reporter People who have clamored for tougher gun laws often say their pleas are ignored by legislators. But a new organization offers them a stronger voice on national gun issues. States United To Prevent Gun Violence is made up of 34 organizations dedicated to preventing gun violence. Carolynne Jarvis, president of States United, said people across the country are ready for a unified front against gun violence. "Throughout ...

When the good Lord was creating Fathers he started with a tall frame, and a female angel nearby said, "What kind of Father is that? If you're going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put Fathers up so high? He won't be able to shoot a marble without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping." And God smiled and said, "Yes, but if I make him child-size, who would children have to look up to?" And when God made a Father's hands, they were ...

Attention Freepers! We have an ally in our corner, but he doesn't realize it yet!!

Gun-control rallies Mothers hit streets on Sunday Saturday, May 13, 2000 Kevin Kidder Dispatch Staff Reporter Coinciding with the Million Mom March in Washington, D.C., three local events involving mothers protesting violence are planned for Sunday. A rally and march affiliated with the national Million Mom March will begin at noon Sunday at Bicentennial Park on the riverfront Downtown. Organizers and others will gather at the park and then march to City Hall and back to the park. "Several cities around the nation are planning local rallies,'' organizer Miriam Linsey said. "It certainly seemed logical that Ohio's capital city should ...

Clinton brings right message at wrong time Friday, May 5, 2000 By Barbara Carmen When I heard the School Reform Tour was coming to Columbus, I called up the Value City Arena Web site to find out about tickets. Too late. All the seats at http://www.chits/ r/us.gov were sold. Officially, President Clinton visited Eastgate Elementary School yesterday as part of a two- day hop through the heartland to sell his school-reform plan directly to the American people. Congress has been dragging its votes on legislation that the president hopes to make his legacy. So for two days, he's worked the ...

In interest of fair politics, let's break up Ohio's GOP Monday, May 1, 2000 By Steve Stephens Dispatch Metro columnist Ever since Microsoft befouled America with cheap, universally compatible computer programs, the government has sought to debug the marketplace. According to the Justice Department, Microsoft is hurting consumers by selling products really cheap, which actually makes more sense than most of the stuff Janet Reno spouts. The Justice Department and 17 state attorneys general hope to divide Microsoft into several more-pliable pieces. One -- maybe Windows Inc. -- would produce and sell the company's popular operating system. Another -- let's ...

SELF CONTROL I recently did a photo shoot, which will be used in a magazine ad for the National Rifle Association. And when the issues hit the news stands, the same old anti gun pundits will come out of the woodwork, accusing me of being some redneck fascist, who wants to see children shooting each other, and innocent people gunned down in the streets by people, who they seem to think would be perfectly docile, were it not for guns. When is this insanity going to stop? When are these people going to learn that these people are just downright ...

Clinton to visit school in city Thursday, April 27, 2000 BY Roger K. Lowe Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief WASHINGTON -- President Clinton will visit a Columbus school next Thursday as part of a two-day push for education reform. Clinton plans to visit four states to promote his proposals for turning around low-performing schools, supporting charter schools, improving teacher quality and boosting spending for education. The specific public school that Clinton will visit had not been chosen as of late yesterday, said Eric Liu, the deputy domestic-policy adviser at the White House. Clinton will use his Columbus stop to highlight his ...

Cleveland Clinic FBI probing researcher who left for Japan Monday, April 17, 2000 Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) -- A Cleveland Clinic researcher who abruptly left the country for his native Japan last summer is the target of an FBI investigation of alleged economic espionage, The Plain Dealer reported. Just as the investigation began, Dr. Takashi Okamoto, 39, resigned from the research hospital for a job with a brain-research institute funded in part by the Japanese government. Okamoto had done promising work in Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, according to the newspaper, which said he left behind a lab in disarray, ...

A fight for his heritage Long hair at center of court case Monday, April 10, 2000 By Alan Johnson Dispatch Statehouse Reporter CORNING, Ohio -- Standing on a serene Perry County hilltop on an early-spring day, Wendell A. Humphrey felt a million miles removed from the Ohio Supreme Court fight unfolding in Columbus. Surrounded by the sacred symbols of his American Indian heritage, Humphrey let his hair down -- something he cannot do at the Hocking Correctional Facility near Nelsonville, where he is a corrections officer. His long, black hair -- to him a symbol of his culture and religion ...