Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Strong storm has eye on Fla. Debby’s path Tuesday: • As a minor hurricane, Debby brought little apparent damage to the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wednesday: • Debby soaked the Dominican Republic with heavy rains and headed into the open sea after being down graded to a tropical storm. Today: • Debby will head into open waters, where it is expect ed to intensify to a hurricane with up to 105 MPH winds. Friday: • Forecasters predict the storm could hit South Florida head-on or skirt just to the south. ■ Debby is threatening South Florida and could make landfall there as early as Friday afternoon; residents are preparing for the worst by Eileen McNamara ' • Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Downgraded to a tropical storm, Debby soaked Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with heavy rains on Wednesday and headed for the open sea, where it was expected to be reborn as a hurricane that could reach south Florida before the weekend. The Bahamas sent soldiers to brace for Tropical Storm Debby, while Floridians stocked up on bottled water and emergency sup plies. Debby could be southeast of Miami with winds of 105 mph by Friday afternoon, said Krissy Williams, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Debby was downgraded to a tropical storm after losing some force as it skirted the mountainous Dominican Republic, but it was expected to become more powerful over open warm waters and pose a significant threat to the Bahamas — and especially South Florida. By 11 a.m. Wednesday, Debby was centered about 30 miles east northeast of Puerto Plata on the north coast of the Dominican Re - i-: public. It was moving west near 16 mph but was expected to resume its west-northwest track. It was no longer strong enough to be called a hurricane, with sus tained wind of 70 mph. The threshold for a hurricane is 75 mph. The Bahamas began sending soldiers to several southern islands on Tuesday and planned to send more to other islands Wednesday to prepare for the storm. In Florida, emergency officials urged southern residents to begin paying close attention to weather reports. “We’re like everybody else,” said Elizabeth Hirst, spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush. “In the wait-and-see mode.” South Floridians stuffed shopping carts with bottled water, canned food, milk, batteries and emergency supplies —just in case. “It’s good to be prepared because even if the hurricane doesn’t hit, we may still get blackouts,” said Clara Milanes, 64, who bought a battery-powered light and candles Tuesday at a Wal-Mart. Hurricane warnings were posted for the Turks and Caicos, the southeastern Bahamas and the north coast of the Dominican Re Hurricane- SEE PAGE AIO --1 . Richard Koci Knight Ridder Vice President At Gore, shown here with daughter Karenna Gore Schrff at the Democratic National Convention, avoided an investigation by Attorney General Janet Reno into his 1996 fund-raising activities. Reno decides against investigation of Gore by Michael J. Sniffen Associated Press * WASHINGTON — Attorney Gener al Janet Reno announced Wednesday she has decided not to appoint a special coun sel to investigate Vice President A1 Gore’s 1996 campaign fund-raising activities. Reno told a news conference that af ter reviewing a transcript of an April in terview that Gore had with federal in vestigators, she concluded that “fur ther investigation is not likely to result in a prosecutable case.” “I’ve concluded that there is no rea sonable possibility that further investigation would nroduce evi dence to warrant charges,” said Reno, re jecting for the third time the notion an outside counsel should investigate the vice president. The decision is good news for Gore’s presidential campaign. It comes less than a week after it was disclosed, on the day of Gore’s acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention, that Independent Counsel Robert Ray has im paneled a new grand jury to decide whether President Clinton should be in dieted alter he leaves tor otlice in con nection with his relationship with for mer White House intern Monica Lewin sky. Gore’s spokesman, Chris Lehane, said: “We are pleased with today’s Jus tice Department announcement. But our focus is going to remain where it has al ways been — which is on using our pros perity to help America’s families.” The attorney general’s decision, first reported in Wednes Hot/’c oHitinn TTio New York Times, al so was likely to re new criticism of her by Republicans in Congress. They bit terly criticized Reno’s two early decisions liui LU accrw ail uuumul mvcougaiwi tw into fund-raising telephone calls that Gore made from his office and into whether he lied to investigators when he said he thought the money he raised was to be used for general party-building rather than for the Clinton-Gore re-election effort. This time, Robert J. Conrad Jr., head of Reno’s campaign task force, uiged her, after he interviewed Gore in April, to name an outside counsel to determine Gore SEE PAGE AH [ Jet carrying 143 passengers crashes over Persian Gulf ■ More than 70 bodies were retrieved within the first few hours of the crash. by Adnan Malik Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain — A Gulf Air Airbus A320 on a flight from Cairo with 143 people on board crashed Wednesday night in the Persian Gulf as it tried to land in Bahrain, officials and state television said. Civil Defense Commander Brigadier Abdul-Rah man Bin Hashed A1 Khalifa told Bahrain television that 70 bodies had been retrieved within the first few hours of the crash. He said no survivors have been found. U.S. Navy helicopters and boats, including some from the 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, joined the night time search and rescue effort in the Gulf waters, ac cording to the Pentagon. Bahrain television said some aircraft .wreckage had been found at the site of the crash three or four miles off shore. There was no word on survivors. An air traffic controller at the Bahrain airport, reached by telephone, described watching the plane circle the runway iwice in an auempi 10 lanu, men on me mnu attempt plunge into the sea and explode into flames. The controller, who spoke on condition his name not be used, saw no flames or sign of trouble before the crash and could not immediately explain why the plane circled before landing. He said the plane's crew did not report anything out of the ordinary. He gave the time of the crash as 7:20 p.m. (12:20 EDT.) Two Bahraini men from the nearby neighborhood of Al-Fodha told The Associated Press that the plane flew over their heads at an unusually low altitude head-, ing to the runway, but took a sharp turn toward the sea. Only giving their first names — Riyadh, 24, and Sobeih, 27 — they said the plane returned minutes lat er flying at an even lower altitude but headed straight to the sea where it crashed. They said unusual noises came from the plane's en gines, but they saw no flames. The rescue effort was joined by two SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters from the USS George Washington carrier battle group, which happened to be in port in Bahrain, and one shore-based H-3 Sea King helicopter, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Navy also sent two small ships, an auxiliary ship and two destroyers to the scene to help. In the capital, Manama, helicopters and dozens of ambulances headed toward the airport. Weeping rela tives of passengers on Flight GF072 pleaded with po licemen who threw a security ring around the airport. No one was allowed to get through to the terminal building. A huge traffic jam swiftly built up the length of the five-mile road to the airport. Bahrain television said there were 143 people on board. Donna Winton, spokeswoman for the U.S. Em bassy in Bahrain, gave the same number and told CNN the rescue operation was being led by the Bahrain coast guard. Two helicopters hovered low over the site of the crash with their floodlights switched on. Bodies retrieved from the scene were being ferried in ambulances to the Salmaniya hospital, the country's laigest, according to doctors. Information Ministry officials had had no immedi ate word on the cause of the crash or confirmation of the number of people on board. Airbus A320 planes can seat up to 150 passengers, according to the manufac turer's Web site. In Cairo, only a handful of relatives of the passen gers were at the airport in search of information on the fate of their loved ones and friends. There were angry scenes when one relative tried to attack news cameramen and complained about the lack of information on the fate of the passengers. The Gulf Air office at the airport was closed. Gulf Air is owned by Bahrain, the Gulf states of Oman and Qatar, as well as Abu Dhabi, the laigest of seven sheikdoms making up the United Arab Emirates. Based in Bahrain, it flies to 53 international desti nations. In January, a Kenya Airways A-310 crashed into At lantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to Lagos, Nigeria. Ten people survived, and 169 died. NIH opens door to research on human embryo cells by D. Ian Hopper Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Clinton on Wednesday touted new federal guidelines allowing scientists to conduct federally funded research on fertilized human eggs, saying they offer “poten tially staggering benefits.” The guidelines for the research — vehement ly opposed by anti-abortion groups — set out the criteria the National Institute of Health will use to consider applications for federal grants to study em bryonic stem cells, according to an advocate of the research who was briefed on the standards and the schedule for issuing them. Experts believe the cells could be invaluable in treating many serious diseases, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. But some oppose the research on grounds that to get the cells, scientists must destroy human embryos — fertilized eggs. At an impromtu news conference, Clinton ac knowledged the controversy surrounding this new scientific initiative. But he said: “I think that if the public will look at, first of all, the potentially staggering benefits of this research, everything from birth defects to Parkin son’s, helping Americans and people around the world, is breathtaking. These guidelines are not put out without a rigorous scientific research.” Clinton also said it would deal only “with those embryos that are collected in in vitro fertilization.” “I think we cannot walk away from the po tential to save lives and improve lives,” he said, “to help people get up and walk... as long as we meet rigorous ethical standards, and I am convinced and (Health and Human Services) Secretary (Donna) Shalala is convinced that has been done.” The research involves what are called pluripo tent stem cells, the foundation cells that give rise to all of the other cells, tissues and oigans in the body. Scientists believe it may be possible to use these cells to grow new oigans to replace ailing hearts, treat brain disorders, to restore severed nerves in spinal injuries, and perhaps even cure diabetes by growing new insulin-producing cells. Under the guidelines, federal research may be conducted only on cells taken from frozen embryos from fertility clinics — already destined to be discarded. Also, federal funds could not be used to destroy the embryos to obtain the cells — pri vately funded researchers will have to pass them on to federally supported scientists. Opponents crit icize this separation as meaningless. They outlaw payments to embryo donors and i keep donors from specifying who should receive their embryo’s stem cells. These provisions aim to discourage a market for stem cells and block a woman from creating embryos just to provide treat ment for a sick relative. The advocate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday evening that the rules would more strenuously ensure that donors un derstand that their embryos will not survive the ex traction process and that the stem cells could be transplanted into patients. t J Experts believe the cells could be invaluable in treating many serious diseases, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. But some oppose the research on grounds that to get the cells, scientists must destroy human embryos — fertilized eggs. News Briefs Awards show ends when audience turns violent PASADENA, Calif. (AP) —An awards show honoring the best in rap music had to be cut short when a fight broke out in the audience and scores of people tried to rush the stage. When police tried to quell the disturbance Tuesday night at the Pasade na Civic Auditorium, several in the au dience turned on them and began pelt ing officers with bottles and compact discs. No one was arrested and no one was reported hurt. The second annual The Source Hip Hop Awards Show was being taped for broadcast on UPN next week, but net work officials said the fate of that broad cast is now in doubt. Last year’s awards show produced the highest ratings the network had ever drawn for a Friday night. That show also ranked No. 1 in New York and Miami and No. 1 among teen age viewers, the network said. Among those being honored at this year’s show were Dr. Die and Ice Cube, who received lifetime achievement awards. The show was sponsored by The Source magazine. Firestone plans to airlift tires ( from Japan NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Bndge stone/Firestone Inc. plans to airlift thou sands of tires to the United States from its plants in Japan to alleviate a nation wide shortage caused by a recall of 6.5 million tires. The first shipment of 5,000 tires was to leave Wednesday, and ' the company planned at least 10 ship ments more through Sunday. Earlier this month, Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone recalled P235/75R15 ATX and ATX H tires as well as 15-inch Wilderness AT tires made at a Decatur, 111., plant. The National Highway Traffic Safe ty Administration is investigating 62 deaths and more than 100 injuries pos sibly linked to the tires. Bush and Gore offer differing tax cuts WASHINGTON (AP) — On tax cut plans, the differences between Demo crat A1 Gore and Republican George W. Bush go way beyond size: Gore’s $500 billion tax plan is aimed at the middle class but has many strings at tached. Bush would cut $ 1.3 trillion in tax es for everybody, from the very wealth iest on down. In terms of raw cash, there is no doubt the wealthy would benefit might ily under Bush’s plan. About 60 per cent of the $ 1.3 trillion would go to tax payers earning $92,500 or more, with 12 percent going to those with incomes of $39,300 or less. Gore, on the other hand, is pushing a lengthy list of specific tax credits and deductions aimed at the roughly 80 per cent of taxpayers earning below $75,000 a year. Nancy Kerrigan’s father wins scratch-* off lotteiy BOSTON (AP) — Call it payback for money spent on skating lessons. Skater Nancy Kerrigan’s father has won $ 1 million on a $5 scratch-off lot tery ticket. Dan Kerrigan bought tire ticket Aug. 16 at Center Beverage package store in Stoneham, and was so disbelieving of his luck that he had store employees double-check it. Kerrigan is a welder who worked extra jobs to pay for his daughter’s skat- ; ing lessons. Nancy Kerrigan won a silver medal in the 1994 Olympics. ^