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Washington in brief
Compiled from Times wires Man arrested after bomb scareWASHINGTON -- A Virginia man was arrested outside the Agriculture Department on Wednesday after he parked a van in a busy intersection 1 mile from the White House and then claimed that the vehicle was filled with explosives. For two hours the center of the capital was closed off as a Washington police bomb squad examined the rental van. No explosives were found, said Sgt. Joseph Gentile, a spokesman for the Washington police. The 38-year-old man, whose name was not disclosed, was arrested and taken to George Washington University Hospital for observation. The federal attorney general's office did not file charges but was reviewing the case, Gentile said. Inquiry sought into Okla. City bomb testimonyA House committee has asked the Justice Department to investigate a police officer it alleges misled congressional investigators by claiming he saw a videotape of a Middle Eastern man leaving the truck used to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995. J.W. Reser, the officer, told investigators that he viewed the surveillance tape while working as a contract employee for the government, including Army and Navy intelligence, but officials from both services said they knew nothing about Reser or the tape, the committee said. EPA to issue new rules on reducing smogFive years after issuing a tough new regulation to cut smog around the nation, the Environmental Protection Agency agreed Wednesday on a way to finally put it in place, starting in April 2004. The EPA, in a proposed court settlement with environmental groups, said it would resume asking states and tribes to submit a list of counties that would not be able to meet the requirement for limiting ozone. Also Wednesday . . .FBI AGENTS HONORED: FBI agents Bill Fleming and Ben Herren were recognized as Federal Employees of the Year for spending six years reviewing evidence and tapes to secure the convictions of two men who bombed an Alabama church almost 40 years ago, killing four black girls. The parents of a victim presented the awards. 'UNDER GOD' AFFIRMED: President Bush signed into law a bill reaffirming -- with a slap at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and national motto. Bush signed the legislation without comment. It reinforces support for the words "under God" in the pledge, and for "In God we trust" as the national motto.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
