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By Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 18, 2000
Homestead to be a base for FBI force
HOMESTEAD -- The FBI will use a building at Homestead Air Reserve Base to house a rapid-reaction force in case anti-American terrorism breaks out in Latin America or the Caribbean.
The bureau and the base recently agreed to allow agents to keep equipment at Homestead. South Florida is one of four strategic locations where the FBI is storing equipment, along with New York, Los Angeles and Washington.
Miami-based Special Agent Judy Orihuela wouldn't say what exactly the FBI would stash at the base, but noted that it would be "a lot of stuff." She said the bureau wanted "enough equipment and supplies to last a long time for long-range operations."
In another attack on Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., Ford Motor Co. officials released data Sunday that they say show Ford Explorers involved in fatal rollover crashes in recent years were about 10 times as likely to have been equipped with Firestone tires than Goodyear tires.
Ford produced the data, spokesman Jason Vines said, in response to Bridgestone/Firestone allegations at a congressional hearing last week citing figures for Ford rollover deaths.
The data Ford released Sunday show that Firestone tires on 1996 Explorers were cited as a contributing factor in a federal database in nearly 30 fatal accidents per million tires produced after three years on the road. The same model year Explorers equipped with Goodyear tires were involved in only about three fatal rollovers per million tires produced after three years. The Ford data did not include the actual number of fatalities during the period.
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. -- Army officials on Sunday recommended an honorable discharge for Reserve Lt. Steve May, an openly gay Arizona lawmaker who the Army said violated its "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy by acknowledging his sexuality during a legislative debate.
Officials wouldn't disclose why a panel of three Army colonels recommended an honorable discharge after the Army had pursued an other-than-honorable, general discharge. Honorable discharges are typical for soldiers forced to leave the military because of sexual orientation.
With new polls showing a precipitous loss of support across the upper Midwest, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush will head to that crucial electoral turf this week to tout policies that he insists will benefit middle-class and female voters who have defected to Democratic rival Al Gore.
Bush campaign aides on Sunday unveiled a 15-page booklet called "Blueprint for the Middle Class," which they said will be handed out at events in 12 cities over the next six days. The campaign describes the upcoming week as a "metaphor for life," with issues ranging from tax credits for children to education to health care for senior citizens.
Gore, meanwhile, will campaign in California this week, along with his running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman. The two are scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles tonight for a party fundraiser, and will move on to Fresno on Tuesday. GOP vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney will campaign in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday.
TRANSIT STRIKE: Nearly half a million people faced the start of the workweek without their usual bus or train service as striking public transit drivers in Los Angeles County walked picket lines for a second day. No new contract talks were scheduled Sunday.
COLORADO FIRE: Boulder residents packed irreplaceable mementos and prepared for the possibility of evacuation as firefighters fought a 700-acre blaze that threatened about 250 mountain homes on Sunday.
LESBIANS MARRY: A transsexual who was born a man exchanged marital vows with another woman in a ceremony Saturday in San Antonio, Texas, taking advantage of an appeals court ruling that defines gender only by chromosomes. Jessica Wicks and Robin Manhart Wicks obtained a marriage license this month from the county.
HOUSE FIRE KILLS SIX: Five young cousins spending the night together before a birthday party were killed in a late-night house fire in California, Mo., that also killed the father of two of them. The fire broke out in a one-story wood-frame home just before midnight Saturday, possibly sparked by faulty wiring, authorities said.