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STATE Draining tank at zoo poses challenge COLUMBIA (AP)-Jim Clark sank into the 18-inch-deep wa ter Monday and prodded under a concrete shelf with his hand. Dan Hagley did the same on the other side of the shelf. Neither had any luck coaxing a reluc tant triggerfish out of his hid ing spot in the 55,000-gallon tank at Riverbanks Zoo. It was like that all day as the largest tank in the Aquarium Reptile Complex was drained for the first time in 13 years. You might think it would be like catching fish in a barrel. Wrong. More like an Easter-egg hunt in a huge bathtub filled with great hiding places and the eggs are delicate fish that need to be captured without being touched. “It’s a pain,” said Scott Pfaff, curator of herpetology at Riverbanks. “Glad we don’t have to do it but once every 13 years.” The zoo drained the tank so the surface can be repainted, bet ter filtration can be hooked up and more colorful coral can be installed. Candidates each have $1 million left COLUMBIA (AP) - Democrat Gov. Jim Hodges and his Republican opponent Mark Sanford both have more than $1 million left as they enter the fi nal two weeks of the gubernato rial campaign. Sanford had a strong fund raising effort in the three-month period ending Sept. 30, raising $3 million. The former U.S. con gressman began the period with about $505,000 cash on hand. He spent about $2.5 million and en ters the final stretch of the cam paign with more than $1.7 mil lion. cash on hand. He also raised about $800,000 through Oct. 10. Hodges had $4.3 million cash on hand at the beginning of the period and raised an additional $1.2 million from July 10 through Oct. 10. The Democrat spent more than $4 million in the quar ter, leaving him with about $1.4 million. NATION Video-beating mom is arraigned in theft LAGRANGE, IND. (AP) - The woman accused of beating her daughter in an incident caught on security videotape and broadcast nationwide was ar raigned on charges of taking fab ric from a department store. Madelyne Toogood, 25, and her sister, Margaret Jean Daley, 31, appeared in LaGrange Circuit court in shackles Monday. Innocent pleas to the felony theft charges were entered on their behalf. They were later released on $3,500 bail each. Both refused to comment as they left court. Prosecutors allege that the sis ters took fabric from Yoder’s de partment store in Shipshewana, about 35 miles east of South Bend, on Aug. 21, telling a clerk they bought the material days earlier but forgot to take it home. In September, police in Mishawaka released a depart ment store surveillance video they said showed Toogood putting her 4-year-old daughter into a vehicle and repeatedly slap ping and shaking her. Bush says Saddam will not disarm WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush says he’ll try diplomacy “one more time,” but he does not think Saddam Hussein will dis arm — even if doing so would al low the Iraqi president to re main in power. “We don’t believe he’s going to change,” Bush said as skeptical allies debated his proposed U.N. resolution that would force Saddam to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction or face conse quences, possibly military' action. “However, if he were to meet all the conditions of the United Nations — the conditions that I’ve described very clearly in terms that everybody can under stand — that in itself would sig nal the regime has changed,” Bush said after a Monday meet ing with NATO Secretary General George Robertson. U.S. policy, approved by Congress and backed by the Clinton and Bush administra tions, demands “regime change” in Iraq — a phrase interpreted | to require the ouster of Saddam. WORLD North Korea fails to abandon weapons SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP) —North Korea agreed Wednesday to resolve interna tional concerns over its nucle ar weapons program through dialogue, but stopped short of meeting a U.S. demand to im mediately abandon its nuclear weapons program, according to South Korean media reports. “In order to guarantee peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the South and North will actively cooperate in resolv ing all the issues, including the nuclear issue, through dialogue,” said the agreement, which was announced early Wednesday and reported in pool accounts by South Korean journalists. But the eight-point agree ment did not contain a clear North Korean promise to give up its nuclear weapons program and honor its agreements with the United States, South Korea and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency. Washington Post sells stock to Times PARIS (AP) - The Washington Post signed a letter of intent to sell its 50 percent stake in the Paris-based International Herald Tribune to the current joint own er, The New York Times, the Tribune’s executive editor said Tuesday. “We consider the International Herald Tribune to be one of the premier newspapers in the world and we have been ex tremely proud to be a part of it since 1966,” said Ann McDaniel, vice president of human re sources, The Washington Post Company. “Today’s a very sad day for us. We had hoped to be a part of the IHT for many years to come, but under the terms of our part nership The New York Times left us little choice and we re luctantly agreed to sell,” she said. Ownership will be trans ferred by the end of the year or early next year, Herald Tribune executive editor David Ignatius said. Currently, both the Post and the Times own a 50 percent stake in the 115-year-old paper. Increase in collisions with deer could raise auto insurance rates BY ALEXIS STRATTON THE GAMECOCK Autumn months lead to more frequent deer collisions and higher insurance rates in the state and nation, reports say. The South Carolina Insurance News Service has re ported that every year, about 500,000 auto collisions with deer occur, resulting in about 100 deaths and 10,000 injuries na tionwide. In South Carolina last year, there were 3,735 collisions, resulting in six deaths and 451 injuries, according to the state Public Safety Department. “The vast majority of deer collisions occur in the fall, which coincides with the breeding season of deer,” said Charles Ruth, supervisor for the state Natural Resources Department’s statewide deer project. “It’s simply a matter of increased natural move ments that increase the chances of meeting them in the roadway.” Ruth said October, November and December will probably account for 50 per cent to 60 percent of deer colli sions this year. Over the years, the increas ing frequency of collisions with deer has impacted the insur ance industry and will likely af fect insured automobile owners. “It affects all of us in the form of higher rates and high er premiums,” said Allison Dean Wright, executive direc tor of the South Carolina Insurance News Service. “The more collisions of any kind af fect our insurance rates and increase our insurance rates.” Shealy McCoy, director of Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety at USC, said the in crease would “typically have a direct impact on the cost.” “If there is a statewide in crease, it would have a direct correlation with possible in creases in premiums due to the number of the statistics go ing up,” McCoy said. McCoy said that although USC’s commuters might have a higher chance of a deer collision because they generally drive more fre quently than students living on or close to campus, collisions also de pend on the deer population in an area. Collisions usually occur in ru ral areas in South Carolina, ac cording to Wright. As reported by the Public Safety Department, Charleston and Laurens counties had the most deer collisions in 2001, Charleston with 161 cases re ported and Laurens with 160. The increase in collisions can be caused by many sources. “It is difficult to tease out exact ly what the causative factors are,” Ruth said. “Of course, we have a high deer population. At the same time, the deer population has grown, the human population has grown. So has the number regis tered vehicles and number of ve hicles driven.” Rtlth said these are all chief causes of the problem. He also said that time of day is a fac tor. “Deer usually travel at dark hours — sunup or sundown. It’s the time of day when the animals naturally move. It’s also the com muting times for people.” When driving, there are a num ber of factors to consider when watching for deer. “Drive defensively,” Ruth said. Other suggestions for safety in elude slowing down if approach ing a deer, blasting the car horn, flashing the high beams and ulti mately hitting the deer if collision is imminent. While Ruth agrees that drivers should be careful, he also said South Carolina is not unique in this prob lem. “If you look at other states, we really don’t have that big a problem. Comparatively speaking, we’re kind of at the bottom of the list. We just don’t have the people like a lot of your other states do. ” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com [J LJ In honor of Carolinian Creed Week, Carolina Product ons and The Bisexual Gay Lesbian Alliance are proud to Present: . Wednesday, October 23,2002 8:00 pm Russell House Ballroom Free admission Handouts Special Guest appearances Question & Answer session “I will discourage bigotry, strive to learn from differences in people, ideas, and opinions...” . 777 7.30 BGLA WWW.SQ.SC.6QU/Cp Bisexual Gay Lesbian Alliance ft - -