Curfew restores calm to Cincinnati streets for one night
CINCINNATI – Scores of people were arrested overnight for curfew violations, but peace was largely restored to the city's streets after three days of rioting over the shooting death of a black man. Officials said today that the curfew would extend at least one more night.

Report: After staff cuts, IRS letting hundreds of thousands of tax cheats slide
NEW YORK – The Internal Revenue Service has virtually given up trying to go after more than a million tax delinquents – a move that effectively wrote off more than $2.5 billion in taxes owed to the government last year alone, The New York Times reported today.

Meat plant recalls 14.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat products
CLINTON, Okla. – A meat plant is recalling 14.5 million pounds of meat and poultry products that may be contaminated, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Bar-S Foods Co. voluntarily recalled the meat, which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday. Recalled products include lunch meats, whole hams, sausages, hot dogs and corn dogs.

Kaiser Foundation settles discrimination lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO – The nation's largest not-for-profit health maintenance organization has settled a lawsuit accusing it of failing to provide disabled patients with accessible facilities and equipment. The suit, filed in July and settled Thursday, had charged that Kaiser Permanente does not offer accessible examination tables, toilets, scales and other medical devices in its California hospitals and clinics.

Woman settles hot pickle lawsuit against McDonald's
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A woman who claimed she was permanently scarred by a hot McDonald's hamburger pickle has settled her lawsuit against the restaurant chain. MAR Inc., which does business as McDonald's in Knoxville, admitted no wrongdoing in the agreement signed by a judge Thursday. Other details of the settlement are to remain confidential.

Hypersonic jet program gains speed
For more than four decades, scientists have been trying to develop a jet-powered aircraft that could zip across the sky at five times the speed of sound, a feat that has been harder to accomplish than sending a man to the moon.

Around the U.S.
•Georgia: Bomb-plot rumors lead police to armed teen
•Atlanta: U.S. gun deaths fall to lowest level since '66
•Ohio: Ex-Cancer Society official going to prison
•Virgiania: Last Vietnam POW on active duty to retire

Bush marks Jefferson's birthday
WASHINGTON – President Bush marked Thomas Jefferson's birthday at the White House on Thursday in a ceremony that included descendants of Sally Hemings, the slave with whom Jefferson is said to have fathered six children.

Kidnapped teen helps talk abductor into surrendering
ROLLINS, Mont. – A man accused of abducting a 17-year-old girl from a Nebraska mall last week surrendered at a lakeside cabin Thursday after the teenager calmly helped police end a 10-hour standoff.

Warming evidence offered
WASHINGTON – Researchers using computer models that show a temperature increase in the world's oceans say that they have found new evidence that global warming is caused by man-made gases.

Library group throws book at Bush over proposed cuts
WASHINGTON – A week ago, first lady and former school librarian Laura Bush kicked off a national campaign for America's libraries, calling them "community treasure chests, loaded with a wealth of information available to everyone, equally."

Guard may be called in
CINCINNATI – With police in riot gear out in the streets, the mayor declared a state of emergency and imposed a citywide curfew Thursday amid the worst outbreak of racial violence in Cincinnati since the 1960s.

Ailing physician awaits risky South Pole rescue
WASHINGTON – As winter darkness falls across Antarctica and temperatures plunge to 90 degrees below zero, the National Science Foundation is racing to arrange the rescue of an ailing doctor before it is too cold to safely land or take off from the world's most remote human outpost.

04/12/2001

Police search homes of 11 students to stop school bomb plot
POOLER, Ga. – Police searched a middle school for bombs today after arresting a 14-year-old student and seizing shotguns, Nazi posters and bomb recipes from his home. No bombs were found.

Cincinnati mayor declares emergency, curfew to stop riots
CINCINNATI — With police in riot gear out in the streets, the mayor declared a state of emergency and imposed a citywide curfew Thursday amid the worst outbreak of racial violence in Cincinnati since the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968.

Cincinnati mayor considering calling in Guard to quell violence
CINCINNATI – The mayor declared a state of emergency and announced a citywide curfew as riots over the police shooting of an unarmed black man stretched into a fourth day today.

Fugitive accused of abducting Nebraska girl surrenders
ROLLINS, Mont. – A man accused of abducting a Nebraska teenager from a mall parking lot nearly a week ago surrendered peacefully early today to authorities in Montana.

Set free with 'sorry'
Two dozen crew members from a Navy surveillance plane headed home Wednesday night after a U.S. statement of regret ended an 11-day standoff with China that strained relations between the countries.

Next crisis may be a weapons sale away
WASHINGTON – The United States and China have come through another security scrape without resorting to arms or diplomatic rupture. Analysts warn that more problems lie ahead, as both sides struggle with internal debates about whether their countries should be friends, foes or – to use President Bush's phrase – "strategic competitors."

Bush: Too harsh, too weak, just right?
WASHINGTON – President Bush faced down his first foreign policy crisis by putting a new twist on an old slogan: "Lead, follow, or get the heck out of the way."

War of words lets both claim victory
If love means never having to say you're sorry, diplomacy must mean saying "sorry" in a way that leaves the interpretation to both sides.

04/11/2001

Los Angeles mayor's race headed for runoff - between Democrats
LOS ANGELES – A former state lawmaker and the heir to a local political dynasty are headed for a runoff in a race that could give Los Angeles its first Hispanic mayor in more than a century.

Rioters, bystanders hurt
CINCINNATI – Police fired bean bags, rubber bullets and tear gas at people who broke windows and looted stores Tuesday during the second day of protests over the police shooting of an unarmed black man.

Injection an Alzheimer's first
Doctors in California have implanted genetically modified cells into the brain of a 60-year-old woman with an early stage of Alzheimer's disease in an effort to slow her mental decline, members of the research team announced Tuesday.

U.S. awaits reply to formal regrets
WASHINGTON – Administration officials said Tuesday that the United States had submitted a formal statement of regret to the Chinese government and was waiting for China's leaders to say whether they would accept it and release the crew of a U.S. spy plane.

Long standoff could hurt Bush, Jiang at home
WASHINGTON – President Bush says the longer the standoff with China lasts, the greater the damage to relations between Washington and Beijing. But that's not the only thing in danger, according to political analysts.

Germ's genetic code unlocked
OKLAHOMA CITY – Scientists have cracked the genetic code for the bacteria that cause strep throat, rheumatic fever and a flesh-eating disease, raising hopes of better treatments for such illnesses.

Prescription drug abuse on the rise
WASHINGTON – Four million Americans are abusing prescription drugs, including sleep-deprived people who become addicted to sedatives and family members who sell spare pills on the street, the government says.

Klansman's trial postponed
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A judge cited medical reasons Tuesday in indefinitely postponing the murder trial of an aging Ku Klux Klansman charged in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls.

Poll highlights divisions on Bush tax plan
WASHINGTON – President Bush has not persuaded a majority of Americans to support his tax cut plan after months of trying, says an Associated Press poll taken in the days leading up to this year's tax deadline.

Public split on aid to religious groups
WASHINGTON – A majority of Americans support the idea of religious groups getting government money to provide social services, according to a poll. But they are sharply divided on specifics of the proposal backed by the Bush administration.

04/10/2001

Judge refuses to dismiss murder charges in 1963 church bombing
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A judge refused to dismiss capital murder charges today against two former Ku Klux Klansmen in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls, but he agreed to sever the cases and delay the trial of one.

Snowstorm wreaks havoc in California; tornado kills Ohio man
Snow and thunderstorms battered parts of Southern California, causing a 100-car pileup, and another spring storm produced a tornado in Ohio with deadly lightning striking a crowded park. Monday's tornado in Ohio damaged at least two homes in the northeastern town of Lowellville and knocked down trees and utility lines.

Red River Valley residents battle rising water; more rain in forecast
WAHPETON, N.D. – Crews shored up earthen dikes today to protect cities and rural homes from the swollen Red River and its tributaries, and fought to break up ice jams that threatened bridges. The river seemed to stabilize at Wahpeton, even falling a couple of inches, but more rain was forecast this week.

Massachusetts gets first female governor
BOSTON – Republican Jane Swift became Massachusetts' first female governor today, replacing Paul Cellucci, who resigned to become U.S. ambassador to Canada. Swift, who until today was the lieutenant governor, is expecting twins in June and will be the nation's first governor to give birth in office. She also has a 2 1/2-year-old daughter.

Bush, Jordan's king to talk about Mideast, economics
WASHINGTON – Jordan's King Abdullah II, who has spent a week lobbying America's power elite for support, is meeting with President Bush to press his idea that the United States is essential to bringing peace to the Middle East.

U.S. diplomats hold fifth meeting with spy plane crew members
HAIKOU, China – U.S. diplomats met today with crew members of a downed U.S. spy plane, an American official said. No other details of the visit were immediately available.

Vietnam, U.S. mourn eight Vietnamese who died in MIA chopper crash
HANOI, Vietnam – Officials and relatives paid grief-stricken final farewells today to eight Vietnamese killed in the crash of a helicopter carrying a team searching for Americans still missing from the Vietnam War.

Bush says negotiations with China could take time
WASHINGTON – President Bush counseled patience today in the standoff with China, saying "diplomacy sometimes takes a little longer than people would like." He renewed the U.S. demand for the release of an American spy plane's crew.

Bay of Pigs group expels 2 members
MIAMI – To shouts of "Scoundrel!" and "Traitor!" veterans of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion expelled two members of Brigade 2506 for going to Cuba last month and meeting with the enemy for a conference on the failed mission. The pair were expelled "for treason to our principles, treason to all of our martyrs and treason to our country," said a Brigade 2506 statement issued Monday.

British pair loses twins
LONDON – A High Court judge ruled Monday that U.S.-born twins adopted over the Internet by a British couple must be returned to the United States. Justice Andrew Kirkwood said the 9-month-old infants, who have been at the center of a custody struggle, will be sent back to St. Louis, where they were born, and placed in the care of a Missouri court weighing separate claims from their estranged parents.

Rollover risk rises in fully loaded 15-passenger vans
WASHINGTON – The government warned Monday that 15-passenger vans – such as those used to shuttle college teams, church groups and airport passengers – have a dramatically higher risk of rollover when fully loaded. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said the vans should be operated only by experienced drivers.

Around the U.S.

Workers brace for flooding
FARGO, N.D. – The Red River was expected to crest at 10 feet above flood stage in communities south of here and workers were piling up sand bags and raising levees Monday to avoid a repeat of the devastating flood of four years ago.

Brighter forecast
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The guy who does the voice on the National Weather Service's Weather Radio is getting canned. Actually, he already is canned, and that's the problem. He just sounds too canned.

Stem cells isolated from fat
Fat, the great American obsession, might aid treatments for a variety of conditions, from cartilage implants in damaged knees to brain implants for Parkinson's disease and strokes, researchers report Tuesday.

Texas reaps big haul in Bush budget
WASHINGTON – President Bush's first budget, which tips the scales at upward of 6 pounds, sketches the new administration's national spending priorities with a broad brush. But a careful scan of the more than 1,500 pages issued Monday also spells the tale of billions of dollars in proposed spending that would benefit Texas.

Federal cuts designed to trim the 'fat'
WASHINGTON – Calling for a leaner federal government, President Bush sent Congress on Monday the fine print of his fiscal 2002 budget, spelling out cuts in a wide variety of federal programs.

Critics assail arrest number in Detroit murder investigations
DETROIT - Police in Detroit averaged three arrests for every murder case in 1998 - a ratio so high that critics accuse the department of making wholesale arrests of witnesses, not suspects, just to get them to talk.

04/09/2001

Mexican truck safety included in Bush's budget
WASHINGTON – President Bush's $1.96 trillion budget includes money to help Bush fulfill his pledge to allow Mexican trucks on American highways without compromising U.S. motorists' safety, according to the budget delivered Monday.

Government warns of rollover risk in 15-passenger vans
WASHINGTON – A type of van commonly used to get church groups to socials and college teams to the game got a government safety warning today, after research showed it was three times as likely to roll over when fully loaded.

President reorganizing White House AIDS office
WASHINGTON – President Bush will soon announce a reorganized White House AIDS office that will tie efforts to combat the disease into a key domestic policy team and two Cabinet agencies, an administration official said Sunday.

Families of Texan spy plane crew members wait for word
HOUSTON – The second week of the standoff between China and the United States over a spy plane and its 24 crew members brought neighbors of a Texas detainee closer together.

Bush releases $1.96 trillion budget with a multitude of spending curbs
WASHINGTON – President Bush sent Congress on Monday the full details of his $1.96 trillion budget, promising to restrain what he considers the excessive growth of government spending by trimming a multitude of government programs, from energy conservation to putting police on the streets.

Bush sees imminent damage to U.S.-Chinese relations
WASHINGTON – President Bush said Monday that "diplomacy takes time," but cautioned China that relations with the United States will suffer unless the 24 crew members of a U.S. spy plane are released soon.

Something less fowl
PRINCE WILLIAM, Va. – Orders are steadily increasing for a decidedly low-tech invention. It's a bird diaper called FlightSuit, designed to allow pet owners to uncage their birds without fear of damage from bird droppings.

Selling the drama
WOODLAND PARK, Colo. – Some residents of this town, which unwittingly played host to seven Texas prison escapees accused of killing an Irving police officer, are making a few bucks off the town's notoriety.

Budget dogfight begins today
WASHINGTON – With President Bush preparing to release the point-by-point details of how his $1.96 trillion budget would rein in government spending, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that Mr. Bush will not hesitate to veto spending bills he considers excessive.

Regulators struggle to craft privacy rules for research
WASHINGTON – When Rick Curtin tore into the large, thick envelope bearing his daughter's name on a fall day in 1998, he had no inkling he also was opening a Pandora's box that would shake the biomedical research community and prompt a federal inquiry into protecting the privacy of patients in scientific experiments.

Around the U.S.

FDA questions safety of Lyme disease vaccine
WASHINGTON – Vanessa Raffio was a horsewoman and a veterinarian's helper who loved hiking and riding in the woods – hobbies that seemed to place the suburban New Jersey teenager at high risk for getting Lyme disease. So two years ago, Ms. Raffio, then 17, asked her doctor for the recently approved vaccine against the tick-borne infection.

FAA studying dangers in airliner evacuations
Evacuations of commercial planes are occurring about every five days in the United States, prompting concerns that pilots may be making too hasty a decision to send passengers scampering off wings or down escape chutes where the risk of injury or even death is high.

The $17 million mayor's race
LOS ANGELES – The six leading candidates in the race to be mayor of the nation's second-largest city have broken spending records in hopes of winning Tuesday's election.

Towns preparing as river levels rise
National Guard soldiers helped pile sandbags Sunday as rivers fed by melting snow and rain rose quickly in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Depth of Seattle-area quake may have helped minimize damage
The Feb. 28 earthquake in Washington state demonstrated again to scientists just how the quake menace in the Northwest often differs from California.

04/08/2001

Clinton inaugurates polytechnic school in his wife's name in northern India
RAMPUR, India – Former President Clinton, on a weeklong trip to India, dedicated a girl's polytechnic school in his wife's name today at the end of a long, dusty road where screaming villagers lined up by the thousands to see him. To the beat of drums and the swish of red scarves, girls performed the Bhangra, a peasant dance, to celebrate the dedication of the Hillary Clinton Center for MultiMedia Technology.

Midwest storm starts flooding, knocks out power
Damaging wind gusts eased across the upper Midwest today in the aftermath of a storm that ripped down power lines and overturned tractor-trailer rigs, but flood preparations were underway as rivers started rising out of their banks.

Former Illinois Congressman Frank Annunzio dies
CHICAGO – Former Illinois Congressman Frank Annunzio, who represented Chicago in Washington for 28 years, died today. He was 86. Annunzio, who had Parkinson's disease, slipped into a coma about a week ago, a family spokesman said.

President's letter to pilot's wife a 'humanitarian' response
WASHINGTON – President Bush is sending a letter to the wife of the missing Chinese fighter pilot as a humanitarian gesture, Secretary of State Colin Powell said today. The wife, Ruan Guoqin, had written a letter to Bush that accused him and his administration of being "too cowardly'' to offer an apology for the collision a week ago between the Chinese jet and a U.S. spy plane.

New Columbine documents released
LITTLETON, Colo. – With the second anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre less than two weeks away, documents released under a judge's order show that deputies had proposed investigating one of the teen killers a year before the assault.

Administration says quick end to standoff needed
WASHINGTON – As the standoff over 24 detained Americans dragged into its second week, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell said today a quick resolution was critical to limit damage to U.S.-China relations.

Report: California utility gave out bonuses hours before bankruptcy filing
SAN FRANCISCO – As a reward for "staying the course,'' the parent company of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. awarded about 6,000 bonuses and raises to midlevel managers and other employees hours before the utility filed for bankruptcy, a newspaper reported.

Officials recover bodies of Vietnam helicopter crash victims
THANH TRACH, Vietnam – Officials recovered the bodies of seven Americans and nine Vietnamese a day after they were killed in a helicopter crash while searching for the remains of servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War. It took about half an hour today to carry the bodies down the mountain where the Russian-made MI-17 helicopter crashed in central Vietnam.

China's military pushes for investigation, end to spy flights
BEIJING – American diplomats pressed on today for daily access to a detained U.S. air crew, while China's top military newspaper said Beijing had the right to "thoroughly investigate'' the crew members. The Liberation Army Daily also demanded an end to spy flights near China's coast.

The fix isn't in at polls
McKINNEY – For many Americans, the Florida punch-card fiasco during the 2000 presidential election was an embarrassment for a nation that prides itself on its technological innovation.

Fingerprints sometimes fail to impress
For nearly a century, fingerprints have been superstars in American courtrooms. If an expert said a fingerprint at the crime scene matched yours, you had some explaining to do. Who could doubt a match?

Big Apple's legal representation fails indigent
NEW YORK – A murder defendant who can't afford a lawyer can expect to have one appointed for him. That much is the law. But in New York City, there is basic legal work an indigent defendant cannot expect.

Washington watch
• Democrats rip Bush on power crisis
• Lawmaker to remain in hospital
• Move may aid 15 million uninsured
• Powell calls for more office space
• Bill would protect nursing moms

Around the U.S.
• St. Louis: Court denies bid to delay TWA sale
• Nebraska: Wind, rain wreak havoc in Midwest
• Colorado: Columbine killer had been suspected
• Minneapolis: Spanish cited as sparking attack
• New York: Mom in abuse faces longer term

NASA launches Mars spacecraft
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft took off on a six-month, 286 million-mile journey to the Red Planet on Saturday, accompanied by prayers from scientists seeking redemption after back-to-back failures.

Mississippi's flag popular, poll shows
RAYMOND, Miss. – Two-thirds of Mississippians say they prefer the current state flag over a new design that removes the Confederate battle flag from the top corner, according to a poll about an issue voters will decide in a week.

Bush urges public push for tax cuts
WASHINGTON – One day after the Senate voted to trim his tax cut plan, President Bush said Saturday that many lawmakers "are still making their minds up" and that critical votes lie ahead.

45 Clinton regulations on wish-not list of GOP
WASHINGTON – House Republicans, working with the White House, have drawn up a list of 45 federal regulations they might try to overturn, including rules that imposed stricter energy standards for air conditioners; defined a child as a fetus that is viable after birth; and restricted snowmobile use in national parks.

Christopher Lee: Lawmakers plan to fight bankruptcy reform bill
WASHINGTON – Texas members of Congress are facing a familiar legislative problem, but with a new twist. For the third time in four years, Congress is moving a bankruptcy reform bill that would do away with Texas' unlimited homestead exemption. That's the 130-year-old provision in the state Constitution that says creditors can't take your home even if you can't pay your debts.

04/07/2001

Helicopter carrying MIA search team crashes in Vietnam, killing at least 16
HANOI, Vietnam – A helicopter carrying a team searching for Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War crashed into a mountain Saturday, killing at least 16 people, including seven Americans.

Letter could lead to end of surveillance plane dispute
WASHINGTON – U.S. and Chinese diplomats worked today to resolve the status of 24 detained Americans from a downed spy plane, while the Bush administration considered Beijing's renewed demand for an apology. The White House said Saturday that President Bush is "focused on continued diplomatic efforts" to gain the crew's release, a White House spokeswoman said.

Liftoff: Mars Odyssey en route to Red Planet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Mars Odyssey spacecraft rocketed away today on a 286 million-mile journey to the Red Planet and what NASA hopes will be a mission of redemption. It is the space agency's first launch to Mars since a pair of humiliating failures in 1999.<

Police tighten security at Black Springbreak 2001
BILOXI, Miss. – Police blocked roads and increased their patrols around Biloxi and Gulfport as students began arriving for an event known as Black Springbreak 2001. After complaints about loud and unruly crowds at last year's event and the police shooting of a 20-year-old man during a struggle over a gun, police officials contacted their counterparts in Daytona Beach, Fla., Galveston, Texas, and Atlanta for advice on spring break crowd control.

Bush shows his stuff at new ballpark
MILWAUKEE – Access to America's finest practice facilities didn't prepare President Bush for Miller Park: His first pitch was a major league bust.

Massachusetts mother-to-be is also governor-to-be
BOSTON – Jane Swift, the lieutenant governor whose child-care troubles have generated controversy, is poised to become governor as early as next week, just months before giving birth to twins.

Algerian tied to bin Laden convicted in terrorism case
LOS ANGELES – An Algerian man was convicted of terrorism Friday for bringing a car loaded with explosives into the United States in what authorities said was a global plan to bomb buildings at the time of millennium celebrations.

Senate deals blow to Bush's tax cuts
WASHINGTON – President Bush suffered a setback Friday in his push to cut taxes, a stumble analysts said is likely to have far-reaching effects on his ability to win approval of other major initiatives.

Around the U.S.
• Oregon: Ocean volcano erupts; no risk to ships, towns
• Michigan: Theft suspect dies in tussle with guards
• South Carolina: Confederate sub apparently sank quickly
• Hawaii: Teachers, professors continue strike
• Florida: Former Baptist leader divorcing his wife
• California: SeaWorld veterinarians inseminate killer whale

Judge: Mascot foes free to discourage recruits
PEORIA, Ill. – The University of Illinois cannot stop faculty and students from contacting athletic recruits to discourage them from attending the school because of its Indian mascot, a federal judge ruled.

Wanderer may lose freedom in Philly
PHILADELPHIA – A man wielding a small hammer struck the Liberty Bell at least four times Friday morning, leaving an imprint on the lip of the 249-year-old symbol of freedom.

Washington watch
• Czech Republic, Vatican ambassadors chosen
• Polygraphs ahead for Freeh, FBI deputies
• Senator pushes for Adams memorial