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© St. Petersburg Times, published November 28, 2001
Anthrax did not kill Conn. man, officials say
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Authorities Tuesday conducted an autopsy on an 84-year-old man who lived near the town where a woman died of inhalation anthrax, but tests were negative for anthrax.
The case had sparked interest because of the possibility the man's mail had crossed with mail for 94-year-old Ottilie Lundgren of Oxford, who died Wednesday of inhalation anthrax.
The man died several weeks ago at his home in Seymour, which is near Oxford. His body wasn't discovered for a few days. Authorities weren't sure of the exact cause of his death, but he had a history of heart problems and diabetes, the governor said.
Rowland said the mail and mailbox of another family in the area was also tested but showed no signs of the bacteria.
New test results released Tuesday by state health officials showed no anthrax was found on nasal swabs taken from 51 postal employees or in a beauty shop in Oxford that Lundgren frequented.
Mail delivery to Congress, shut down after the anthrax scare hit Capitol Hill in mid-October, is expected to resume this week, officials said Tuesday.
Also, the offices of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., are to be fumigated this weekend to kill dangerous spores scattered there via an anthrax-laced letter.
But the Hart Senate Office Building, home to Daschle and 49 other senators, is still weeks away from reopening, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Capitol Police.
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations on Tuesday ordered a global freeze on assets held by every member of the former Taliban government in Afghanistan, vastly expanding the list of individuals and organizations whose holdings are blocked after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The new list names 152 Taliban officials, beginning with Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar, and ending with senior officials in government ministries from the education department to zoning.
It also includes accounts of Afghan-related businesses, including one held at a Citibank in New Delhi, India.
The list, which incorporates many of the names made public by the Bush administration as part of its antiterrorism campaign, was adopted by the Security Council committee enforcing binding U.N. resolutions requiring all nations to comply with the freeze order.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush is sticking by his decision to close the White House to public tours this holiday season, though the Secret Service has had a change of heart about allowing general access to the national Christmas tree-lighting nearby.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday that Bush is simply adhering to Secret Service recommendations for securing the presidential mansion against potential terrorism.
The Secret Service reversed an earlier decision to allow only ticket-holders onto the Ellipse, south of the White House, when Bush attends a Dec. 6 "Pageant of Peace" ceremony to light the national Christmas tree. The general public will now be admitted to the event, a tradition dating back to 1923.
First lady Laura Bush told ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday that she would conduct televised tours of the holiday decorations next week, and expressed hope that White House tours would eventually resume.
After next week's ceremony, the national Christmas tree, along with 56 smaller trees representing the states and territories, will remain open for public viewing through Dec. 31.
Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, will place the topmost ornament on the national tree today.
WASHINGTON -- For the first time since he assumed office, President Bush has tapped his father for a public role, as the United States' representative to a memorial service in Great Britain for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The elder Bush will attend a service at Westminster Abbey along with Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The service is to commemorate the estimated 80 British citizens who lost their lives in the attack on the World Trade Center towers in New York.