News Digest
Committee
approves
Norton
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Gale Norton, whose nomina
tion by President Bush as interior secretary prompt
ed sharp protest from environmentalists, received
bipartisan endorsement Wednesday from a Senate
Committee.
Barring any new, serious revelations, Norton’s
confirmation fay die full Senate is all but assured.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee voted 18-2 to advance Norton’s nomina
tion with only two Democrats - Sens. Ron Wyden of
Oregon and Charles Schumer of New York - oppos
ing tec:
Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New
mcAitu, uic pauci s lauiaiig
Democrat, acknowledged
“montr cfill korknr rlnnKtc”
many still harbor doubts'
antly voted about Norton’s past criticism of
HO ... / hope the Endangered Species Act
, "* y and other environmental laws
Sn€ pKOVBS as well as her views on land
me wrong.” Stewardship.
Democrats on the panel said they concurred with
Bingaman’s assessment
“If I felt we were going to vote for another James
Watt, I wouldn’t vote for her in a million years. But
that is not the case,” said Sen. Byron Doigan, D-N.D.,
referring to the Reagan administration interior sec
retary who had gained die enmity of the environ
mental community.
Norton, 46, a former attorney general of
Colorado, formerly worked for Watt and shared
many of his views on property rights, criticism of
federal regulations and the shared use of federal
lands for both economic development and preser
vation.
Norton distanced herself from Watt during her
confirmation hearing and said at one point, “I mean
no disrespect to him, but I am my own person.”
She also said some of her past comments on
states’ rights, criticism of federal regulations and a
suggestion property owners have the “right to pol
lute” had be«n misinterpreted and distorted.
“Some of the things said about her are simply not
correct,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calit, adding
she too had been convinced by her testimony and
227 written responses to questions put by commit
tee members that Norton should be confirmed.
Wyden said Norton had “genuinely moved
away” from some of her past positions such as argu
ing that the Endangered Species Act was unconstitu
tional But he said he remained troubled about dam
age she might do to the environment as interior sec
retary.
“I reluctantly vote no.... I hope she proves me
wrong,” said Wyden.
Schumer said Norton did not have “a balanced
view” of conservation and development
President Bush’s selection of Norton attracted
bitter opposition from environmentalists.
Sea. Ron Wyden
D.-Ore.
But he said Norton’s two
days of testimony and her
assurance she would enforce
environmental laws swayed
him to support her nomina
tion. Most of the other
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Police nab last two convicts
■The final Texas escapees peacefully
surrendered at a hotel in Colorado
after a short standoff with authorities.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -
Ending one of the nation’s biggest man
hunts without bloodshed, the last two
escaped convicts from Texas left a hotel
bare-chested and in handcuffs
Wednesday after railing against the
Texas criminal justice system in a TV
interview.
Patrick Murphy Jr., 39, and Donald
Newbury, 38, gave up after each was
granted a five-minute telephone inter
view with KKTV
The surrender ended a frantic
search that began exactly six weeks ear
tier when the pair and five others broke
out of a Texas prison 800 miles away.
"They had their say by telephone
and then we had them back out of the
room, shirtless, hands in the air, no
weapons on them,” FBI agent Mark
Mershon said. Inside the room, authori
ties found 10 handguns, two shotguns
and ammunition.
Of the other inmates, four were
arrested peacefully Monday in nearby
Woodland Park and a fifth committed
suicide as authorities closed in. Police
said they had accounted for all 60 guns
they believed the convicts had obtained
since their Dec. 13 escape.
Texas authorities have said they
would seek the death penalty against
the men for the Christmas Eve slaying of
a Dallas-area policeman during a
holdup at a sporting goods store. His
loaded gun was recovered from the con
victs on Monday.
The last two convicts had checked in
at the Holiday Inn on Monday evening,
paying in cash and showing possibly
false identification, hotel officials said. A
suspicious employee called authorities.
Officers checking out the tip tele
phoned one room around 10 p.m.
Tuesday and Murphy answered
“You got us. I don’t know how you
guys did it, but you got us,” Deputy
Police Chief Luis Velez quoted Murphy
assaying.
Lt. Skip Arms added “I think the offi
cers were equally surprised when the
individual said you found us.”
After five hours of negotiations, the
inmates gave up at 3:45 a.m.
During the interviews with a KKTV
news anchorman, Newbury said the
breakout was a statement against the
Texas judicial system.
Courtesy of Ui.Coastguard/Newsmakers
TANKED: The disabled Ecuadorean tanker, Jessica, lists more than 45 degrees where it ran aground off the coast of San Cristobal on Tuesday near Ecuador.
The tanker, carrying diesel fuel, ran aground ian. 16 with some 170,000 gallons of fuel pouring into the water off the coast of the Galapagos Islands.
Supremacist
gunman gets
plea bargain
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - The white supremacist
accused of killing a mailman and wounding five
people at a Jewish community center pleaded guilty
to murder and hate crime charges Wednesday in a
deal that spares him the death penalty.
Under the plea bargain, Buford 0. Furrow, 39,
will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
He pleaded guilty to 16 federal charges stem
ming from the Aug. 10,1999, rampage across the
San Fernando Valley. The slaying of the mailman
was a federal offense because he was a government
employee.
Handcuffed and shackled, Furrow was thin and
clean-shaven — a far cry from the pudgy, musta
chioed man who was arrested last year. He
answered softly, “Guilty, your honor,” 16 times.
Furrow sprayed the North Valley Jewish
Community Center in the San Fernando Valley with
more than 70 bullets, wounding three boys, a teen
age girl and a woman. Hours later, he killed Filipino
American Joseph Deto, shooting him nine times as
the man was delivering mail.
runuw suiieuueieu in nas vegas me next aay.
Furrow, of Olympia, Wash., had a long history of
involvement with anti-Semitic groups operating in
the Pacific Northwest, among them the Aryan
Nations.
Authorities said he told them he shot up the
community center to send a “wake-up call to
America to kill Jews.”
Prosecutors said he shot Ileto because the man
appeared to him to be Hispanic or Asian.
Prosecutors had planned to seek the death
penalty. But U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said
prosecutors changed their mind after the defense
submitted extensive evidence of Furrow's previous
mental problems.
Mayorkas said the material showed Furrow
sought psychiatric help for 10 years before the
crime and complained of being plagued by homici
dal and suicidal thoughts. Furrow’s lawyers had
planned to make his mental condition an issue at
his trial.
In a statement, Furrow’s lawyers said: “The
crimes committed by our client... were tragic in
their consequence to many, many people....
Together with the government’s lawyers, we believe
this is the appropriate resolution to this case.”
Mayorkas said Furrow's attempt to spread a
message of hate had been thwarted. “The only
statement he made is he is a pathetic, cowardly
man. What he did was remind us that we are ail
one,” the U.S. attorney said.
Bush, Democrats
tackle tough issues
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - President
Bush met with Democratic con
gressional leaders for die first time
Wednesday, worrying anew that
the economy “is not as hopeful as
we'd like” and discussing the need
for a panel to look into election
procedures following his disputed
victory.
In his sixth meeting with
groups of lawmakers since taking
office Saturday, Bush sought
backing for his tax-cut plan and
declared reaching out to Congress
“a habit I intend to keep.” He met
separately with Sen. John McCain
of Arizona, his rival for the
Republican presidential nomina
tion, to discuss their differences
over campaign finance reform.
The No. 2 House Democrat,
Rep. David Bonior of Michigan,
emerged from the meeting of
Democratic and GOP congres
sional leaders saying Bush
“understood and appreciated”
the concerns Democrats raised
about election reform. The
American people feel deeply
about “this election problem that
we have, and how disenfran
chised they feel, how disconnect
ed they fed and how important it
is,” Bonior told reporters after the
meeting.
Even though elections are run
by the states; “The federal govern
ment has a stake in this, and the
whole country is interested in it,”
said House Minority Leader Dick
Gephardt, D-Mo.
In their session, Bush and
McCain discussed campaign
finance reforms the Arizona sena
tor plans to push through
Congress this year. During their
fiercely fought primary race, Bush
opposed key components of
McCain's plan, and now the White
House is concerned campaign
finance reform could overtake
Bush's agenda.
Despite promises of a cordial
meeting, their differences were
stark.
McCain wants to ban unregu
lated, unlimited “soft money”
donations from corporations,
unions and individuals that can
Hie federal
government has a
stake in this, and the
whole country is
interested in it.”
Dick Gephardt
House Minority Leader
not be used to directly aid candi
dates.
Bush supports a ban on dona
tions from corporations and
unions but not individuals, an
exception McCain calls a big loop
hole. Also, Bush wants a provision
letting union members designate
that their dues do not go to poli
tics. McCain does not want that in
his bill because including it would
cost him support from
Democrats.
Senior advisers said Bush did
not expect to bridge the gap with
McCain, but he wanted to show
the public he was Willing to listen
to the maverick senator. They said
the president hoped he could
eventually embrace a GOP alter
native from Sen. Chuck Hagel, R
Neb. or others.
Hagel has filed a measure that
would limit but not prohibit soft
money donations. It would also
raise the limits on hard money
limits from $1,000 per donor to a
candidate to $3,000.
Asked what he intended to tell
McCain, Bush said simply:
“Welcome.”
In advance of the meeting,
McCain's advisers said he would
tell Bush he would insist his bill be
put to a vote no later than March
and, if that did not happen, he
would try to attach it to the first
available piece of legislation. The
bill died last year in die face of stiff
Republican opposition, but
McCain picked up support in
November's congressional elec
tions.
Congressional sources, speak
ing on condition of anonymity,
said McCain, Lott and others were
near agreement to bring the bill to
the Senate floor in the run-up to
Congress’ Easter recess.
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■ Illinois
Changing flights will cost
travelers a bit more
CHICAGO —Want to change
that flight reservation? Get ready
to shell out more cash.
Airline watchdogs say major
carriers are likely to follow
Continental Airlines in raising
fees for flight changes on nonre
fundable, advance-fare tickets to
$100.
American Airlines followed
suit Wednesday; raising their pro
cessing fees for changing or can
celing many nonrefundable tick
ets to $90.
“They’re nickel-and-diming
us everywhere we go,” said Tom
Parsons, an airline watcher and
CEO ofBestfares.com.
The “change fees” most often
apply when a traveler buys a tick
et in advance and then wants to
change a date of travel or cancel
the trip and apply the money paid
for the ticket to future flights.
Experts say these fees usually
affect leisure travelers, since busi
ness travelers tend to book more
expensive refundable tickets -
often at the last minute.
Some airline experts say it’s
simply a way for airlines to gener
ate revenue without increasing
fares in the price-conscious
leisure market
“It’s an annoyance fee that
started at about $25 a few years
ago that has gone to $100,” said
Joe Brancatelli, a columnist for
Biztravel.com who tracks air trav
el. “Why? Because they can do it"
■ Washington, D.C
Study: Hispankfemales suffer
from high dropout rates
Hispanic girls have a higher
high school dropout rate than
girls in any other racial or ethnic
group and are thefeast likely to
earn a college degree, according
to the American Association of
University Women.
Schools must do more to rec
ognize cultural values that saddle
Hispanic girls with family respon
sibilities, such as caring for
younger siblings after school, that
take away from educational
endeavors, researchers said in a
report Wednesday.
“If we want Latinas to succeed
as other groups of girls have,
schools need to work with and not
against their families and com
munities and the strengths that
Latinas bring to the classroom,"
said Angela Ginorio, the study’s
author.
The report, citing Census
Bureau statistics, reported the
dropout rate for Latinas ages 16 to
24 is 30 percent, compared with
12.9 percent for blacks and 8.2
percent for whites.
■ New York
Ecstas
in Netherlands
The alleged mastermind of a
major Ecstasy smuggling ring that
used Hasidic Jews as couriers to
get past customs inspectors at
Kennedy Airport will be brought
to Brooklyn from the Netherlands
to face drug charges.
Sean Erez - accused in a fed
eral indictment of heading a ring
that flooded the East Coast with
more than 1 million pills - has
exhausted all extradition appeals
in the Netherlands, authorities
said Wednesday.
Erez, 30, and his girlfriend,
Diana Reicherter, 22, were arrest
ed in Amsterdam in 1999 and
“opposed extradition on the
grounds of their alleged psychi
atric condition," prosecutor
Linda Lacewell said in court
papers.
A spokesman for the Dutch
Ministry of Justice, Victor Holtus,
said Erez and Reicherter would be
sent to Brooklyn “very shortly.”
Corrections
■ Brent Stanfield is the chair
man of the Committee for Fees
Allocation. He was misidentified
in Wednesday’s Daily Nebraskan.
■ The Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska pre
sented its fees request for 2001
2002 on TUesday. ASUN's budget
will be voted on at CFA's Tuesday
meeting.
■ Barrymore’s Bar and Grill,
124 N. 13™ St.; was closed for
remodeling the first week of
January, but it is now open for
business. In a Jan. 18 article, the
Daily Nebraskan misstated the
length of time the bar was closed.
