News Digest
Clinton hits fund-raising circuit
NEW YORK (AP) — President
Clinton returned to the political
money circuit Tuesday night, assur
ing patrons of a $1.2 million dinner
that the kind of fund raising that got
Democrats in trouble last year “will
never happen again. You can rest as
sured.”
After delivering two speeches
about welfare reform, Clinton was the
star attraction at a fund-raiser in an
elegant Upper East Side home for the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee.
“This makes the White House look
like public housing,” he joked of the
plush surroundings.
The Senate committee and its
counterpart in the House say they will
not follow Clinton’s call for voluntary
curbs on large donations unless Re
publicans follow suit. The GOP, out
distancing Democrats by better than
a 2-to-l margin in fund raising, has
brushed off Clinton’s proposal.
Referring to the uproar over fund
raising irregularities, CLinton told the
120 guests at the dinner: “I appreci
ate the fact that you came here know
ing you might be targeted for the ex
ercise of your constitutional right to
stand up and support the people you
believe in.”
The president, who has acknowl
edged that mistakes were made, dis
tanced himself from the controversy,
laying the blame on the Democratic
National Committee and ignoring
criticism of his own entertainment of
donors at the White House.
“For reasons I cannot explain or
defend, our party did not check all the
contributions that were given. There
fore less than 2 percent of the total
have been returned, either because
they were not lawful or because they
raised questions even though they
were clearly lawful.”
The president said that more than
99.5 percent of the donors last year
went unquestioned. As for the remain
der, he said:
“But it was wrong not to check
those contributions, and if your party
had been doing its job, you wouldn’t
be hearing about all that today. That
is everybody’s responsibility from me
down, who didn’t know about it and
should have. But it will never happen
again. You can rest assured.”
r
A highway billboard on the
president’s motorcade route teased
him about White House coffee klatches
with donors: “Hey Mr. Clinton, cof
fee at Fairway is 65 cents. Coffee at
the White House is $200,000. And
ours is so much belter.”
The president’s appearance drew
quick criticism from a political reform
group.
“You are basically helping a group
that is opposed to your views,” said
Ken Cooper, executive director of the
Center for Responsive Politics. “It’s a
clear indication that he’s not sincere
or willing to put into practice what he
preaches.”
Aaron 9ncnLBEBQfDN
Ham slam flies in face of decency
NORFOLK, Va.—A city councilman was convicted and fined $250
Tuesday for smacking a store clerk in the head with a flying one-pound
package of sliced ham.
A judge found Paul Riddick guilty of assault and battery in the Nov.
16 incident.
Lynda Doss testified that Riddick came to the store where she works
to return ham that was spoiled. Doss said that when she put a package
of fresh ham on the counter, Riddick shouted, “Don’t throw that ham
at me!”
The councilman then threw the package, hitting her in the side of
the head, knocking off her glasses and bruising her nose, she said.
Riddick testified that the woman had “slung” the ham onto the
counter, snarled, “Tfcke your damn ham” and called him an “SOB.”
U
Hey Mr. Clinton, coffee at Fairway is 65
cents. Coffee at the White House is
$200,000. And ours is so much better.”
a highway billboard
Ford recalling some cars in Nebraska
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 138,000 cars in
Nebraska and five other northern states to fix a problem with the en
gine cooling fan, which can overheat and catch fire in severe winter
weather.
The recall affects owners of sane 1992-94 Ford Tempos and Mer
cury Topazes, 1992-95 Ford Tauruses and Mercury Sables and 1992
94 Lincoln Continentals in Alaska, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North
Dakota and South Dakota.
Ford said that in blowing, heavy snow, high winds and low tem
peratures, the engine cooling fan may stall. If either the defroster is
turned on or the fan maor is automatically activated, the cooling fan
may then overheat and damage the electrical wiring and other engine
parts after prolonged idle. In some cases, fire could result.
The automaker has received about 40 reports of smoke or fires caused
by the problem, Ford spokeswoman Karen Shaughnessy said.
Ford is notifying owners of the affected cars by letter and asking
them to take the vehicles to their dealer for modifications at no cost.
Joint NATO-Russia military brigade proposed
BRUSSELS, Belgium— Trying to ease concerns in Moscow, Sec
retary of State Madeleine Albright proposed Tuesday that NATO form
a joint military brigade with Russia for peacekeeping operations in
Europe.
Based on successful cooperation in implementing the Dayton peace
accords in Bosnia, Albright said Russian and NATO troops could also
train together under the concept she presented to allied foreign minis
ters in Brussels.
She will take the idea to Moscow on Thursday for meetings with
President Boris Yeltsin, Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov and other
Kremlin officials who take a skeptical and also anxious view of NATO’s
planned expansion to Russia’s western border by 1999.
Albright, who is also working with the allies on a charter linking
Russia to NATO, said in a speech, “We will be steadfast in offering
Russia our respect, our friendship and an appropriate partnership.”
“We cannot realize our shared vision of a united, secure and demo
cratic Europe without Russia,” she said.
I_-?_
UNL will have final say
on length of probation
PROBATION from page 1
regarding the cross-burning inci
dent.
This honesty and the
university's desire to assist the
chapter were factors in the
organization's decision to place the
fraternity on probation instead of
revoking its charter, Hester said.
Anderson said he thought the
chapter would continue to handle
the matter seriously.
. “If they didn’t take this matter
seriously, they’d lose their charter.”
Critics ask if airfare sale is fair
NEW YORK (AP) — The strike
that didn’t quite happen has led to the
fare sale that isn’t quite what it seems.
There are some good deals to be
found in the sale that American Air
lines announced Saturday to lure back
customers scared off by a threatened
pilots strike.
True bargains were available for
flights to Europe and the Caribbean,
but for flights within the mainland
United States, “This sale is an out
and-out joke,” Terry Trippler, editor
and publisher of the Airfare Report
newsletter, said Tuesday.
The round-trip walk-up fare from
New York to Los Angeles was $388
under the sale announced by Ameri
can. Last week, however, American
had a walk-up fare of $398 round-trip.
Trippler says the nation’s largest
domestic carrier is misleading the
public with claims of up to 50 percent
off.
“It’s a vehicle to generate phone
calls,” he said. “How many people
would pick up the phone if they said,
‘New York to Los Angeles, $10 off?”’
American Airlines spokesman Tim
Smith said the sale is genuine.
“Specials come and specials go,
and we make it very clear that it is a
discount off the regular 21-day fare,”
he said.
Sale or no, the phones are ringing
again at American Airlines after a
week of spooked travelers taking their
business elsewhere for fear of a strike.
A call to the airline’s toll-free num
ber Tuesday was met with a recording
that said agents were busy and to call
back later.
American took more than 2 mil
lion phone calls on Monday, about
seven times the normal volume, Smith
said. And of the people calling, the
number of customers who bought tick
ets doubled.
Susan Gonzalez stopped by an
American ticket office in Manhattan
hoping to get a cheap weekend fare to
St. Thomas — to no avail.
“They ran out of the lower air
fares,” she said. But she wasn’t dis
couraged. “I’ve been checking with
the other airlines and they’re competi
tive.”
«
This sale is an out-and-out joke ”
Terry Tripler
Airfare Report editor
Threat to ‘out’ gay legislators withdrawn
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The
head of the American Civil Liberties
Union in the Dakotas withdrew a
threat to expose gay lawmakers who
vote to ban homosexual marriages af
ter the national ACLU director refused
to back him.
Earlier Tuesday, Keith Elston, who
is gay, said he would “out” lawmak
ers he believes are gay if they sup
ported a ban on gay marriages.
“If they’re going to be hypocriti
cal, then they need to have that hy
pocrisy exposed,” he said.
Elston had said the national ACLU
was “behind me 100 percent.”
But after hearing about the threat
from a state senator, national ACLU
director Ira Glasser faxed a quick apol
ogy
“Mr. Elston understands his mis
take,” Glasser wrote to state Sen.
Wayne Stenehjem, who had com
plained to Glasser about Elston’s “un
professional behavior.”
Legislation under consideration in
North Dakota would deny recognition
of same-sex marriages performed in
other states and define marriage as a
union only between a man and a
woman.
Elston said he knows of a couple
of legislators who are homosexual. He
initially made the threat in a column
last week published in a Grand Forks
weekly arts and entertainment guide.
Last year, after voting against fed
eral recognition of same-sex mar
riages, Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., re
luctantly acknowledged he is gay. He
said a gay magazine was about to iden
tify him as homosexual.
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