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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1994)
By The Associated Press Edited by Kristine Long NEWS DIGEST NelJraskan Friday, January 14,1994 Circus train derails in Florida LAKELAND, Fla. — A Ringling Bros, circus train derailed Thursday with a full load of performers, equip ment and animals, killing at least one person and injuring a dozen others, authorities said. Nineteen cars of the 59-car Ringling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey train derailed about 9:15 a.m., offi cials said. “There were 200 people on board, one person killed, one missing and 12 to 15 with minor injuries,” said Sonya Dodds, a spokeswoman for the Polk County Sheriffs Department. “We went into an emergency stop procedure,” said circus manager Dav id Cohen, who was inside the train. “It was very bumpy.” Standing near the wreckage, he said: “The show always goes on. I suspect we will be late, but the show always goes on.” He said there were about 25 chil dren on board, and none of them were injured. AP The accident was followed by a second one: A WESH television news helicopter covering the story crashed in a school’s ball field about a half mile from the wreck site, injuring a photographer and the pilot. No one on the ground was hurt. The train that derailed was travel ing across the state’s midsection from St. Petersburg to an engagement in Drlando. Cars that jumped the tracks carried staff, performers and equipment, said Rodney Huey, vice president of pub lic relations, from hisofifice in Vienna, Va. There were 50 elephants, lions,' bears and horses on board, none in the affected section of the train, he said. The cause of the derailment, which occurred in heavy fog near a point where tracks come together, was not immediately known. The circus has two units which travel the country by train making stops in cities along the way. The blue unit was involved in the accident. Among the headliners arc Romeo and Juliet, year-old Asian elephants too young to be performers but mak ing their public debut for circus fans. Besides clowns, performers include Chinese acrobats and gymnasts, high wire acts and a horse and bear act from the former Soviet Union, a three-ring dog act, and Graham Thomas Chipperfield from Great Britain who works with the animals. Clinton, Yeltsin push ahead on reform MOSCOW — President Clinton and Boris Yeltsin pledged Thursday to press ahead with reforms that will ‘make life better” for restive Rus sians. The two also were ready to stop aiming nuclear missiles at each oth er’s countries. In hours of Kremlin talk and over iinner at Yeltsin’s country dacha, the wo leaders agreed that Russia could not afford to backpedal on painful jconomic reforms despite mounting public dissatisfaction. The crowds loved Clinton in Mos :ow, surging to get close enough for a glimpse or even a handshake, cheer ng when he waved his fur hat in the :hilly air. Yeltsin predicted the three-day ummit would produce “profound,” practical” and “sweeping” results, ’ri vately, he assured Clinton “there is o turning back” from the drive for ree-market reforms, U.S. officials reported. During an impromptu side tour through downtown shops and kiosks, Clinton told Muscovites that he and Yeltsin were “talking about how we can work together to make life better for the working people of your coun try.” “The whole conversation was about how our work together can help change the lives of ordinary Russian people for the better,” he said. Clinton brought together influen tial Russians from a variety of fields and political backgrounds for an evening reception at the residence of the U.S. ambassador. Deliberately omitted from the guest list was ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, aleaderofYeltsin’sfoes. The Liberal Democratic Party’s strong showing in recent parliamentary elec tions was seen as a reflection of rising public dissatisfaction with Yeltsin’s reforms. Clinton warned, “The oldest of society’s demons plague us still, the hatreds of people for one anotherbased on their race, their religion, their eth nic group, even the piece of ground they happen to have been born on.” Clinton and Yeltsin turned their attention to foreign policy in an evening session at the Russian lead er’s country home outside Moscow. Administration officials said the two would sign an agreement Friday to stop targeting their nuclear missiles at each other. Some would be aimed at ocean waters; others would have no specific target. The agreement was to be an nounced when Clinton and Yeltsin were joined on Friday by Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk. All three leaders will sign an accord to remove all long-range nuclear missiles from Ukrainian territory. cm ±£J TALENT FOR SINGERS • DANCERS This could be the start of something big! Worlds of Fun is searching for the Midwest’s most talented singers and dancers to appear in our 1994 show program. Performing at Worlds of Fun is the perfect summer job for students. If you work the entire season (six days per week in the summer, and weekends in the spring and fall) you can earn over $7,000! "All the Worlds a Stage” at Worlds of Fun, from our lively 50’s-60’s rock revue, STAX OF WAX, to our spectacular new Country music show at the Tivoli Music Hall. Performing at Worlds of Fun is fun, and it can be that important First Step. More than 1.3 million Worlds of Fun visitors are waitinq to discover YOU!!! AUDITION INSTRUCTIONS: If you are a singer, please sing one verse and the chorus of two contrasting styles of song; one up tempo and one ballad. Sing any type music you enjoy; rock, country, show tunes, etc. (no rap.) Please limit your material to no more than three minutes in length. Dancers should prepare one song to sing and a jazz routine no longer than 2 minutes. Ypu must PfQyidc vour own accompaniment whether it be a pianist or a cassette tape. We will provide a cassette deck and a piano. ZDorldsofc&un • ** KANSAS CITY THE CLOSEST AUDITIONS: • LINCOLN, NEBRASKA Tuesday, February 1: The University of Nebraska In the Ballroom of the Nebraska Student Union 3:00 p.m. (Registration closes at 5:00 p.m.) • KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI Saturday, January 22: The Adam’s Mark Hotel 9103 East 39th Street (I-70 at the Truman Sports Complex) 10:00 a.m. (Registration closes at 1:00 p.m.) • KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI Saturday, January 29: The Adam’s Mark Hotel 9103 East 39th Street (I-70 at the Truman Sports Complex) 9:00 a.m. (Registration closes at 2:00 p.m.) For more information and a complete audition schedule, contact the Worlds of Fun Show Productions Department, at (816) 454-4545 Ext 1350. Two men arrested in skater’s attack PORTLAND, Ore. -— Arres warrants were issued in the attacl on Olympic figure skater Nanc; Kerrigan, authorities said Thurs day. ABC News reported that i second person confessed to the plot said to involve rival Tony: Harding’s ex-husband and body guard. The FBI arrested a man at Port land Airport on a flight from Phoe nix; Port of Portland spokesmar Doug Roberts refused to give any details about him. ABC identified the man as Derrick Smith of Phoe nix, and said he was involved in the alleged conspiracy to injure Kerrigan. The network also described a Portland man, Shane Stant, as the alleged hit man who carried out the attack on Kerrigan at the U.S. Fig ure Skating Championships in De troit on Jan. 6. The assailant escaped after breaking the glass out of a locked arena door. In Detroit, deputy police chief Benny Napoleon said “warrants have been issued,” but he did not specify the number of warrants or who had been named. Portland au thorities refused to confirm that warrants had been issued but said they expected to make arrests Thurs day on conspiracy charges. Earlier Thursday, Boston TV station WCVB reported that war rants were issued in Portland for Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly; bodyguard Shawn Eric Eckardt; Smith; and Stant. The station also reported Harding was named in the war rants, but authorities in Portland and Detroit denied that. Eckardt told authorities that Gillooly asked him to arrange the attack, The Oregonian newspaper reported Thursday, citing uniden tified law enforcement sources. Harding andGilloolywercdivorced Aug. 28, but later reconciled and have lived together since October. Afler Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee, she was forced to with draw from the figure skating cham pionships, raising doubts about her ability to compete in the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway Feb. 12-27. t The U.S. Figure Skating Ass( : ciation named Kerrigan to th r Olympic team anyway, along wit Harding, 23, who went on to wi i the championship. Kerrigan won , bronze medal at the 1992 Winte i Games in Albertville, France. The charge of conspiracy to com mit assault is a felony punishabl by up to 10 years in prison and $100,000 fine, Oregon official said. At the Detroit news conferenci Thursday, Napoleon said a womai from out-of-state called the polic< department Saturday and insistci on speaking with him. “She indicated to me that she heard a conversation regarding the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan’ several months ago, Napoleon said “She put it ofT as somebody talk ing. Once the assault occurred, she became frightened. She wanted tc make sure the people responsible were apprehended.” Napoleon said the woman iden tified about four people, and he passed the names along to the FBI. The woman said she listened to a tape of the conversation a few months ago. “I am not going to indicate who she implicated to me,” Napoleon said. He said Harding was not im plicated. The plot allegedly involved Eckardt, Gillooly, an Eckardt ac quaintance in Phoenix and a Port land man who hit Kerrigan for $ 100,000, The Oregonian newspa per reported. NBC News on Wednesday quot ed sources as saying that after the men met in Portland, the hit man went to Boston, where Kerrigan lives and trains. It was there the investigators believe he planned to attack Kerrigan, but bad weather somehow fouled the attempt, NBC said. Detroit police said Thursday they had recovered a collapsible metal baton, believed to be the weapon. A Detroit resident found it in a trash can behind the arena, police said. Harding, Gillooly and Eckardt have dodged reporters all week, avoiding their homes where report ers have camped out. Nation s blood supply lowest ever WASHINGTON—The RedCross says there is still a critical nationwide blood shortage even though more than 77,000 people have donated blood in the last four days. We are not out of the woods yet by any means,” RedCross President Eliz abeth Dole said Wednesday. “We ur gently need more blood." The Red Cross and blood banks on Friday declared the nation’s blood shortage the worst in Red Cross histo ry. The agency’s usual three-day sup ply of blood had dropped to one day’s worth, and several hospitals told the American Association of Blood Banks were postponing elective surger OfTicials blamed snowstorms in the East, the virulent Beijing flu that has sickened people in at least 1' states, and the holiday season. In response, 30,000 people donal ed blood to the Red Cross over th< weekend, 23,000 on Monday and ar additional 24,567 on Tuesday, the Red Cross said. The Red Cross general 1 y has 22,00( donations a day, but that number had dropped to about 14,000 a day lasl week. Despite renewed donations, the agency’s inventory still was just 39,734 units of blood, far below the normal level of 67,000. It will take at least 23,000 dona tions a day for the rest of the week to return the supply to normal levels, said Red Cross spokeswoman Marga ret McCarthy. Nebraskan 1 d"°r Night News Editors Jeff Robb Ad**"* Leftin DoDra Janaaan Jen Zalany Maliatr Dunn* |*fv*5mj!h Art Director Jomos Mobsling Rainbow Rowoll Qenoral Manager Den Shattll 1°* j0n9 Production Manager Katherine Pollck Mike Lewis Advertising Manage Jay Cruse braska 5“™^br^TftPS, the UNL Publications Board. No academic year weeW^dunngsum^ ^ ^ ^ phon?ng 472*1763^^ 1° 5ubmn*<*y ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by access to iha PuWiSSRitrc^ ,5 p m Mond«y **<HJflh Friday. The public also has Sub«np,^,“ ^o^^ll,: <Krn*,,0n' cort*c« Do^ 436'6287 Managing Editor Assoc, News Editors Editorial Page Editor „ Wire Editor Copy Desk Editor St Subscription COntBC‘ Dou« ***"• 436'8287 .Lincoln*ne 685M?§448*w!tJ3^!,0 ,h* Daily ^ed^askan, Nebraska Union 34.1400 R