The nation in brief

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000

Shuttle still may be launched tonight

CAPE CANAVERAL -- NASA is holding out hope that the rain will stop and the sky will clear before tonight's planned launch of space shuttle Discovery.

Meteorologist John Weems put the odds of acceptable launch weather at 60 percent.

"It's just a matter of timing," Weems said Wednesday. "I've got faith."

Discovery is scheduled to blast off at 9:38 tonight on a crucial space station construction mission. It will be the 100th launch for the nearly 20-year-old space shuttle program.

Seven astronauts will attach steel framework and a docking port to the international space station. Four back-to-back spacewalks are planned.

Report on dead firefighters disputed

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Deputy Fire Chief Gerard Dio denied a government report Wednesday that two of the six firefighters killed in a December warehouse fire had rushed into the abandoned building without notifying their commanders.

The report issued Wednesday by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health also said bad radio communications hampered firefighters' efforts.

The Dec. 3 fire started when a homeless couple living in the warehouse knocked over a candle during a fight. Two firefighters searching the building for people inside became lost, and four more firefighters went in to find them. All six firefighters died in the blaze.

Kidnap suspect may have feigned pregnancy

RAVENNA, Ohio -- A woman suspected of stealing a baby boy who was slashed from his dead mother's womb had not been pregnant recently but may have convinced her husband she was because of her size, authorities said Wednesday.

Michelle Bica committed suicide Tuesday as police arrived to question her about the week-old disappearance of Theresa Andrews, who lived a few blocks away. Andrews' body was later found buried in the dirt floor of Bica's garage, and the 8-pound, 6-ounce baby boy was found alive inside her home. The infant was hospitalized in good condition.

Also Wednesday

L.A. TRANSIT STRIKE: Striking transit drivers rejected Gov. Gray Davis' request that they return to work without a contract for a cooling-off period, and county workers pressing contract demands staged more walkouts. Some 450,000 commuters were forced to seek alternate ways to get around Los Angeles County for a 19th day.

SEX OFFENDERS FREED: A court ruling that could free more than 100 Colorado rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders from prison has alarmed victims of sex crimes and sent law enforcement officers scrambling to undo the damage.

Nine inmates were turned loose before Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar halted the releases Saturday. Authorities are still looking for them. Corrections Department officials tried to calm dozens of victims fearful that their attackers were free to strike again.

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