Week In Review A Look Back At The Top Stories From The Last Week
NATION
Talk show democracy
The selling of President Clinton’s Iraq strategy ran into the Mother of all Media Fiascoes on Wednesday when a noisy band of war protesters disrupted a globally televised town meeting.
Secretary of State Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and national security adviser Sandy Berger - seated for 90 minutes on a red-carpeted stage in the middle of Ohio State University’s basketball arena - were constantly interrupted by hecklers from the rafters.
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House GOP conference, was aghast.
“If the Clinton administration’s goal was to send a message to Saddam via CNN, this was an unmitigated disaster. This is a matter of global security and international peace, and they turned it into the Oprah Winfrey show.”
Well, more like Jerry Springer.
Forget Iraq
Two men were charged Thursday with possessing the deadly germ anthrax for use as a weapon. The FBI said one suspect bragged in Las Vegas he had enough to “wipe out the city.” However, laboratory tests now indicate that the substance is a safe farm derivative and not dangerous.
The men were arrested in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson late Wednesday as they were allegedly trying to arrange a lab test of the substance. An informant said one of the men told him he had “military grade anthrax,” according to an FBI affidavit.
Larry Wayne Harris, 46, of Lancaster, Ohio, and William Leavitt, 47, of Las Vegas and Logandale, Nev., were charged under a federal law that prohibits the production and possession of any biological agent for use as a weapon.
Harris, identified by the FBI as a member of the Aryan Nations, was previously given probation after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining bubonic plague bacteria through the mail in 1995. He is also author of a self-published book called “Bacteriological Warfare: A Major Threat to North America.”
Road worriers
The American Automobile Association announced an ad campaign Wednesday aimed at quelling the anger of aggressive drivers, who often provoke or commit violence on the road. According to the association, the number of accidents and deaths resulting from “road rage” is on the rise.
“If we can convince millions of calm, mature motorists not to get sucked into encounters with angry drivers, many lives can be saved and injuries reduced,” said David Willis who heads the AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety.
REGION
Needle city
Restaurants and other food servers in the region can’t seem to get their employees inoculated fast enough after a bakery worker at the U-City Rosauers store tested positive for hepatitis A last week.
Fearing they will be perceived by the public as immunologically challenged in an epidemic that has gripped the region most of the winter, Rosauers, Tidyman’s, Yoke’s Pac ‘N Save Foods and at least 95 other businesses in the Spokane area are offering their employees free vaccinations.
“One of the things you can’t do is lose the trust of your customers,” said Tidyman’s spokeswoman Patty Kilcup as window signs claiming “We are 100 percent hepatitis A immunized!” began appearing all over town.
SPORTS
Golden moment
It was too CBS to be true.
The United States won the inaugural Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey last week, and they did it by beating Canada.
“I guess the gap’s been closed,” Canadian coach Shannon Miller said. “There’s no question that there’s a feeling of emptiness, when you come this far and come so close to winning a gold medal.”
It was the second time the Americans had defeated their rivals in four days and gave the United States its first Olympic hockey gold medal since the men’s team pulled off the Miracle on Ice in 1980.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by news editor Kevin Graman from staff and wire reports.