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Daily Nebraskan
Friday, June 27, 1986
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By the Associated Press
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Ortega: U.S. close to military intervention
MANAGl'A, Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega said
President Reagan's $100 million aid package for anti
government guerrillas in Nicaragua is part of a "terrorist
and fascist policy" that eventually will lead to U.S. mil
itary intervention.
Foreign Minister Miquel D'Escoto said Thursday that
his government will respond by expanding its military
forces, even though it "will cost many more deaths."
The I'.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday
night in favor of giving $70 million in military aid and $30
million in non-lethal aid to the Contra guerrillas in the
next eight months. Little difficulty is expected in recon
ciling the bill with a Senate-approved version.
In a nationally televised news conference Wednesday
night, Ortega accused Reagan of "actingworse than Hitler
with his terrorist and fascist policy against Nicaragua,
imposing it on international opinion and that of the North
American people."
He said the aid package dealt a "very serious blow" to
the efforts of Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela to
negotiate a regional peace treaty. The Contras have had
little success in their 4-year-old effort to overthrow Orte
ga's left ist Sandinista government, which took power in a
coup in 197!). The guerrillas received covert CIA support
from 1981-1984, but the new package openly gives them
military aid for the first time.
B
omb
explodes
in Madrid
airport
MADRID, Spain A bomb exploded
Thursday in a suitcase at the El Al
Israel Airlines check-in counter in
Madrid's international airport, injuring
13 people, police said.
Seconds before the bomb exploded,
El Al security official Nir Ran saw
smoke coming out of the suitcase and
stopped the conveyor belt that was car
rying it to the cargo area, police said.
Then the bomb exploded, shattering
glass doors and windows. Ran's face
and hands were burned.
Police said the suitcase belonged to
the last passenger to check in for El
Al's Flight 396 to Tel Aviv. A police
spokesman said that passenger was
arrested and was being questioned, but
the spokesman refused to disclose the
passenger's name or nationality.
The explosion occurred at 3:30 p.m.
(9:30 a.m. EDT) as passengers were
boarding the plane at Barajas Airport.
Officials said bomb experts later
blew up a second suspicious suitcase
but found it did not contain explosive
material.
Airport director Domingo Perez said
the man who was arrested carried a
Spanish passport, but a police source
said the passport could be false. Perez
said the man had "aroused suspicions"
at the counter, prompting El Al secur
ity to watch his luggage.
Madrid's civil defense spokesman,
Rafael Noja, initially said at least two
people were arrested, but police and
Perez said his information was wrong.
Eight of the injured, including Ran, a
Spanish police officer and an El Al
passenger, were taken to a local hospi
tal. Hospital officials said two people
remained in the hospital while the oth
ers were treated and released.
The non-lethal aid portion represents a significant
increase over the $27 million approved by Congress last
year.
Reagan administration officials say the new aid is to
pressure the Sandinistas into holding peace talks with
Contra leaders.
But Ortega told the news conference that the House
vote brought the United States "to the brink of direct
intervention by its troops in Nicaragua," and reiterated
that his government never will talk to the Contras.
The aid can be expected to lead to a rapid escalation in
weaponry. The Sandinistas already spend 40 percent of
the national budget on defense.
D'Escoto, interviewed on NBC-TV's "Today" show from
the Hague, Netherlands, said Thursday that his govern
ment's "no. 1 priority. . . is going to continue to be the
defense of our soveriegnty and territorial integrity."
He said, "we will continue. . .to rely on our own people,
but there is no doubt that when it comes to military
equipment that we don't manufacture, we are open to all
peace-loving countries of the world to give us the help that
we need to defend our sovereignty and independence."
He refused to say whether this meant Nicaragua will
seek additional military aid from the Soviet Union.
The Sandinistas have about 100,000 soldiers, reserves
and militia. They are better trained and better armed than
the estimated 17,000 to 18,000 Contras.
AT&T strike ends
WASHINGTON - A 26-day strike
against American Telephone & Tele
graph Co. by 155,000 members of the
Communications Workers of America
ended Thursday, and long-distance
operators, installers and production
workers were told to return to work at
the beginning of the midnight shift.
Final accord on a new three-year
contract came at mid-afternoon when
the union and company came to terms
on scheduling, lengths of shift and
other work rules for the men and
women who sell, install and maintain
AT&T telephone equipment.
The terms of the basic national con
tract were agreed to June 17, but the
union was adamant that no one would
return to work until all of the unit
issues were resolved.
The agreement will be submitted to
the workers for a secret ratification
vote Aug. 4, but they will work in the
meantime.
Rozanne Weissman, CWA director of
public affairs, said "the total agree
ment. . . represents a major break
through in the telecommunications
industry because of a far-reaching and
innovative total employment security
package and other gains which met the
union's chief bargaining goal."
When the job security agreement
was reached a week ago, CWA Presi
dent Morton Bahr called it a "quantum
leap" toward a guarantee of a lifetime
job.
Under the plan, AT&T and CWA will
run a school to train workers for new
jobs when their skills can no longer be
used by AT&T in the fast-changing tel
ecommunications industry.
Workers will get an immediate 2
percent wage increase and 3 percent
raises in 1987 and 1988.
Bonnie hits Gulf Coast
PORT ARTHUR, Texas Hurricane
Bonnie struck the Gulf Coast before
dawn Thursday with fleeting fury, kil
ling two people with its 85 mph winds
and heavy rain that spun off tornadoes,
destroyed homes and knocked out power
to thousands.
The first hurricane of the season
weakened and died not long after it
came ashore near the Texas-Louisiana
border, and this city that bore the
brunt of the storm was bustling again
by midafternoon.
Bonnie, which formed in the Gulf on
Monday, was not a major hurricane but
still managed to terrify residents when
it hit land at 4:45 a.m. CDT.
"I sure enough thought we weren't
going to live through it," said Nancy
Morrell, who huddled in her Port Arthur
home with her 83-year-old sister because
they couldn't walk to a shelter. "It held
us in fear. We were two scared old
ladies."
About 12,000 people in the two
states boarded up their homes and fled
inland Wednesday, and another 8,000
oil rig workers had been ferried ashore.
One man was killed when his pickup
truck was caught in squall and went
out of control on a roadway in Vidor,
northwest of Port Arthur, and a par
tially paralyzed woman died after being
trapped inside her burning Port Arthur
home by flames fueled by gusts from
the hurricane, officials said.
At least a dozen people were injured.
The entire city of Port Arthur was
without power until about noon Thurs
day, said Police Sgt. Robert William
son. Although the city showed evidence
of the storm, with broken store win
dows, scattered tree limbs and debris
strewn streets, no major structural
damage was reported, he said.
Bonnie's victims were Raymond Briggs
of New Orleans, killed when his pickup
truck was caught in a squall about 8:30
a.m. and went out of control, and Myr
tle Williams, 56, who died in the trailer
fire.
In Brief
Bank funds missing
CENTUM CITY A former bank president charged with felony theft
allegedly stole $55,000 from the bank and has made restitution for about
$15,000, a prosecutor said Thursday.
About $40,000 allegedly stolen by Edward L Dubas from the State
Bank of Palmer is unaccounted for, Merrick County Attorney Steve Curry
said.
"It's assumed that figure will come down, possibly even before
(Dubas) appears in district court," Curry said.
Dubas, 34, will enter a plea at an arraignment Aug. 4. He was charged
Monday with stealing money from the bank, which fired him June 13.
The charge was filed following an investigation prompted by bank
employees who "brought it to the attention of the chairman of the board
that it appeared monies were being improperly deposited to Mr. Dubas'
account," Curry said. -
The investigation didn't take as long as expected because Dubas and
his attorney have cooperated with authorities and bank officials, Curry
said. vX. .
Dubas is free on his own recognizance.
Defense contract
WASHINGTON A Lincoln, Neb., company has been awarded a $7.7
million contract to provide antennas for Army field radios, Sens. Edward
Zorinsky and J. James Exon said Thursday.
Telex Hy-Gain will provide 44,256 VRC radio "antennas under the
contract.
Coach, academic records
part of Maryland investigation
BALTIMORE University of
Maryland regents plan to look into
basketball Coach Lefty Driesell's
actions following the death of All
American Len Bias and determine
the extent of drug abuse on campus,
a state official said Thursday.
Arthur A. Marshall Jr., the pro
secutor directing the investigation
of Bias' death, said Driesell held a
-team meeting at his home hours
after Bias died to advise his players
on how to respond to questions from
police and the news media.
The coach has said he had gather
ed the players to console them and
"we prayed together."
Allen Schwait, chairman of the
Board of Regents, said he called the
special meeting Monday "to deal
with the events of the last six days."
"There are obviously some insti
tutional concerns we're going to
have to come to terms with.
"I'm not saying we can't do things
better, but we're doing things. Maybe
we'll come out better off for this,
but it's an expensive price to pay to
get people to look at" the drug
abuse problem, Schwait said.
A state official who asked that
his name not be used said the
regents will look into Driesell's ac
tions as well as the academic records
of athletes.
It has been reported that five of
Maryland's 12 basketball players
flunked out of school last semester,
and one out of every 10 of the
school's athletes flunk out every
semester.
Bias, who died last Thursday of
what the state medical examiner
said was "cocaine intoxication,"
failed all five of his courses last
spring.
His death came after an all-night
celebration two days following his
selection by the Boston Celtics as
the second pick in the NBA draft.
A Baltimore radio station, WBAL,
reported that Bias bought eight
grams of cocaine in Washington the
morning of his death. The station,
quoting unnamed sources at the
University of Maryland, said Bias
paid $800 for the drug.
District of Columbia police spo
kesman Quintin Peterson said Thur
sday a gram of 90 percent to 97
percent pure cocaine would sell in
Washington for $315, making eight
grams worth $2,520. He said cocaine
confiscated from street sales in the
district averages 20 percent pure.
Prince George's County police
declined to comment on whether
they had evidence that Bias made
such a purchase.
There were earlier reports that
Bias' was seen the morning he died
in an area of northeast Washington
noted for its on-the-street drug sales.
A District of Columbia police
officer, who asked not to be identi
fied, said that Bias could not have
purchased cocaine of the purity
found in his body on the street.
"That would have to come from a
major dealer. A dealer would hold
something like that for himself and
his friends," he said.
A police investigation into the
death of Bias has "kind of ground to
a halt...," Col. Bruce Gentile of the
Prince George's County police said
Thursday.
He said police have interviewed
everyone known to be in the room
with Bias except a friend, Brian
Tribble, and two teammates, Terry
Long and David Gregg.
Alan Goldstein, lawyer for Long
and Gregg, said his clients would
testify before the grand jury under a
subpoena, but he would not say
whether they would talk voluntarily.
Tribble's lawyer, William Danill, said
he advised his client Wednesday to
respond only to a subpoena.
NstSaMcan
34 Nebraska Union
1400 R St.. Lincoln, NE 68588-0448
Editor Bob Asmussen.
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1986 DAILY NEBRASKAN
udget leaders seek approval for spending plan
WASHINGTON House and Senate
budget leaders raced Thursday to gain
final Congressional approval of a fiscal
1987 spending blueprint that would
sharply curtail President Reagan's mil
itary spending plans but soften that
cutback if Reagan found an acceptable
way to raise more money.
With Congress ready to leave for a
two-week Fourth of July recess, budget
writers struggled in late afternoon to
iron out final details of the $995 billion
spending plan, so a House-Senate con
ference committee could publicly rat
ify the pact and send it to the full
House and Senate for final approval.
The compromise was designed to
trim next year's deficit nearly $2 bil
lion below the $144 billion target of the
Gramm-Rudman balanced-budget law.
It would also bring Congress closer to
meeting future year targets, which get
gradually stricter with the goal of a
balanced budget by fiscal 1991.
Military spending would be limited
to $292.15 billion next year unless the
president and Congress agreed on a
way to raise money for a contingency
fund of "critical unmet needs." Reagan
requested $320 billion for the Pen
tagon, and even with that additional
money, the budget would cut that
request to $299 billion, lawmakers
said.
The contingency fund of about $4.8
billion was an indirect challenge to the
president to soften his oppositon to
new taxes. The Senate had approved a
$10.7 billion tax boost, but House
Democrats refused to go along, fearing
the political fallout.
As a result, the compromise would
allow the additional spending if Rea
gan proposed, and Congress approved,
new taxes, sales of government assets
beyond those already in the budget or
some other way of raising the revenue.
According to preliminary estimates,
the plan would:
Give military and civilian federal
employees a 3 percent pay raise.
Cover a cost-of-living increase for
Social Security, retired civil servants
and veterans, estimated at 2 percent.
Cut foreign aid programs 10 per
cent below current levels.
0 Freeze a wide range of domestic
programs, including the National Aero
natics and Space Administration, with
no money provided for replacing the
space shuttle Challenger, pending
further review by the administration
and Congress.
O Raise various user fees for fed
eral services, but reject proposed fees
for agricultural inspections and related
activities.
O Trim the federal highway pro
gram by VA percent and federal mass
transit assistance by about 10 percent.
