National briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 30, 2000

Democrats campaign; GOP camp eases off

MACOMB, Mich. -- While the Republican side mostly rested on Sunday, Democrats Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman blanketed TV talk shows, rocked Detroit's black churches and motored through Michigan with a blunt homestretch message: "George Bush is not ready to be president of the United States."

Tipper Gore appealed to those who don't see her husband's personal appeal, telling Macomb County's swing voters the presidential election is not The Dating Game.

"You don't have to fall in love with Al Gore -- I already did that," she said before boarding a bus caravan with the vice president, running mate Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah.

At home in Austin, Texas, GOP Gov. George W. Bush interrupted his day off to address California Latino supporters by satellite. He predicted he'll beat Gore there because he is working to earn every vote while Gore, who will make a late dash to California on Tuesday, has taken its 54 electoral votes for granted.

Philadelphia schools talk to end teachers' strike

PHILADELPHIA -- School negotiators resumed talks with striking teachers Sunday, hoping to end a walkout before today, when more than 210,000 students could be left without classes to attend.

Thousands of teachers in the nation's seventh-largest school district went on strike at the end of the school day Friday. Negotiators met again Sunday afternoon to try to resolve their differences, particularly a dispute over how much time should be added to the school day without additional pay for teachers.

Russians roll out rocket for space station launch

BAIKONUR, Kazakstan -- The Russian rocket that will carry the first residents of the international space station emerged from its hangar Sunday and was hauled by rail to its launch pad.

The Soyuz rocket is American astronaut Bill Shepherd's ticket to the new space station. He's scheduled to depart on his four-month mission from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:53 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday, along with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev.

Fatal shooting of actor raises bias questions

LOS ANGELES -- The police shooting of a Halloween party guest who was brandishing a fake gun has left the troubled Los Angeles Police Department in an unwanted spotlight and the victim's friends blaming racial profiling.

Actor Anthony Dwain Lee, 39, died at the Hollywood Hills mansion after he was shot several times by an officer who fired at him through a glass door about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Police say Lee had pointed what looked like a gun at Officer Tarriel Hopper, and Hopper, who had been called to the mansion to respond to a noise complaint, fired in self-defense.

It wasn't clear if Lee knew that Hopper, who is also black, was a real police officer and not just another party guest. Some at the party said other guests were wearing Los Angeles police uniforms.

Lee was an actor who had appeared in supporting TV and film roles, including on the programs ER and NYPD Blue, and as the character Fred in the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy, Liar Liar.

2-year-old sought in Utah as hope for him fades

SALT LAKE CITY -- A toddler who disappeared Thursday after his father left him in a car while he went hunting remains missing as it becomes more unlikely that the boy will be found alive.

Searchers worry the 2-year-old didn't survive in rainy, freezing weather, and they also fear that cougars or bears might have gotten to him. Investigators were still looking into the possibility the boy had been abducted.

Paul Wayment left his son, Gage, asleep as he went hunting Thursday in mountains about 30 miles northeast of Salt Lake City. The boy, who was wearing blue pajamas and no shoes, was reported missing about 1 p.m. Thursday.

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