The nation in brief

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2001

Victims will see execution of McVeigh on closed-circuit TV

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft plans to announce today that survivors and relatives of those killed in the Oklahoma City bombing will be allowed to view the execution of Timothy McVeigh through closed-circuit television, Bush administration officials said.

Ashcroft's decision, made after he met with victims of the blast this week, means that about 250 people who were injured or who lost relatives in Oklahoma City in 1995 will be permitted to witness the first federal execution in more than 37 years, officials said.

Ashcroft will discuss his decision at a news conference this morning. He wants to limit the broadcast's scope to the injection of lethal chemicals that will kill McVeigh and will try not to broadcast the prisoner's last words, sources said. Bush administration officials say they want to avoid giving McVeigh a chance to confront or taunt the Oklahoma spectators in his final minutes.

2 killed in shooting at senior apartment complex

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Police said a disgruntled longtime resident shot and killed two people at an apartment complex for the elderly and then exchanged shots with officers before fleeing.

As police searched for the gunman both inside and outside the 16-story Congregational Tower, dozens of terrified residents huddled in a recreation room under the protection of officers.

The gunman was described as a thin man in his 60s, wearing a ponytail. Neither the suspect nor the victims were immediately identified.

More than three hours after the search began, police stormed a room on an upper floor, using flash-bang grenades and tear gas. Later, a spokesman said only that a third person had been found dead but declined to say whether it was the gunman.

Soon after the shooting, residents, some in wheelchairs, were evacuated in a SWAT truck, guarded by police with guns drawn.

Police said the two victims Wednesday were shot at close range with what appears to have been a 9mm handgun. One victim was a man; a second was described as a woman in her 50s.

Los Angeles narrows mayor candidates to two

LOS ANGELES -- In a crowded Los Angeles mayoral primary election on Tuesday, Antonio Villaraigosa, a one-time high school dropout who went on to become speaker of the California Assembly, pieced together a multi-ethnic coalition to finish first, positioning himself for a June runoff that could make him the city's first Hispanic mayor since 1872.

Because no candidate received a majority of the vote, Villaraigosa, who won 30 percent in a field of six major contenders, will now face City Attorney James Hahn, the son of a beloved local politician whose strongest support is among black voters, and who won 25 percent of the vote.

Republican real estate broker Steve Soboroff, who was endorsed by outgoing Mayor Richard Riordan, finished third.

Elsewhere

DOCTOR MAY NEED RESCUE FROM SOUTH POLE: Federal officials are considering a risky evacuation of an American doctor who is spending the winter at a South Pole science station and has suffered a gall bladder attack.

Dr. Ronald S. Shemenski, 59, the physician at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, recently passed a gallstone and has pancreatitis, a potentially life-threatening condition, the National Science Foundation said Wednesday.

"Although he appears to be recovering and is undergoing a prophylactic course of antibiotic treatment, a relapse cannot be ruled out," according to an announcement by the independent government agency, which coordinates U.S. scientific research in Antarctica.

Officials said they were considering "a range of options," including a risky, midwinter rescue by a ski-equipped aircraft.

Temperatures at the South Pole Station are approaching the winter point when aircraft cannot operated in Antarctica.

CALM IN CINCINNATI: Religious leaders called for calm Wednesday among Cincinnati residents outraged at the police shooting of an unarmed black man but said blacks have legitimate fears that must be addressed.

Fifteen black men have died at the hands of police since 1995, including four since November. Canon Vicar Kwasi Thornell, an Episcopal clergyman at Christ Church Cathedral, said police must be brought under control.

Other clergy joined Thornell in calling for an end to violence that followed the death of Timothy Thomas, who was shot Saturday while fleeing a white police officer. Thomas, 19, was wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants.

Over-the-Rhine, the mostly black and poor neighborhood just north of downtown that had two nights of disturbances, was mostly peaceful Wednesday.

Groups of young men had roved through the area Tuesday night, setting fires, looting stores and beating motorists. Police arrested at least 66 people on charges including disorderly conduct, criminal rioting, obstruction, felony assault, theft and breaking and entering.

Officers remained posted in groups Wednesday on street corners between Over-the-Rhine and downtown. Workers boarded up smashed store windows and cleaned up fire and water damage in a store burned Tuesday night.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright