European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a stateside a the stars and stripes thursday november 22,1990health problems May be caused by electric blankets Rockville my. Apr a divided panel of experts has endorsed the food and drug administration s policy that recognizes a suspicion that electric blankets May cause cancer and miscarriages but stops Short of warning the Public of danger. Panel members told the Fra to continue working with Industry to make manufacturing changes to reduce the very Low frequency radiation emitted by electric blankets and to continue to Monitor scientific risk studies. Those studies Over the. Years have produced varying results but newer studies have been More troubling said f. Alan Anderson acting director of the Fra s office of science and technology in the Agency Scenter for devices and radiological health. The evidence he said shows Quot a suggested association Between exposure to Low Levels of electromagnetic radiation and the possibility of Adverse health outcomes a including cancer and miscarriages. Though the risk Hasni to been documented or quantified it is prudent to reduce electromagnetic emissions for electric blankets just As the Fra has also been trying to do with video display terminals the panel  held in thefts from  churches a a a f a custody for allegedly stealing crosses statues and items in a string of Church thefts that have of Long Beach Calif. Apr a husband and wife Are in. A other items in a string curved since april authorities said. Nancy Cox 47, was arrested at the couples apartment in nearby South Gate police sgt. Mike Woodward said. She was booked for investigation of burglary and held on $5,000 bail. Her husband Stephen Cox 37, was already in custody in los Angeles in connection with an unrelated restaurant burglary. That investigation led to the wife a arrest Woodward said. A we believe they Are connected to 30 to 100 of the Church burglaries Quot Woodward said. The thefts All took place in los Angeles county authorities said. At the couples apartment authorities discovered a 14-Inch statue of the Virgin Mary crosses radios and other items. A a we be already had people from three churches come and identify items that we recovered a Woodward  hauls Rowdy youths to lockup in Chicago Chicago apr police arrested so Many people at a party including 43 juveniles that they had to borrow a City bus to carry everyone to jail. The party was so big that it spilled out of a House belonging to 53-year-old Hazel Bell and into the Street police said. A it appears that the kids were being charged $2 a head to get into the party a said police it. Bernard Stahl. Neighbors said Bell often held Large parties. Police arrested 43 juveniles who were charged with curfew violations and 59 other people who were charged with disorderly conduct Stahl said. Bell was charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors. Insurance firms told to pay $14.3 million to sex gis san Diego up a a jury has awarded $14.3 million in damages in a class action lawsuit against two insurance companies that sold life insurance to military personnel in the 1960s and then cancelled the policies when the customers turned 60, attorneys said tuesday. The san Diego Superior court july decided monday on $11.7 million in compensatory damages and $2.6 million in punitive damages against nationwide insurance co. Of Columbus Ohio and armed forces Benefit and Aid association a non profit organization in san Diego that sold the policies promising $10,000 coverage for $9.90 a month. Patrick Coughlin an attorney for the 1,200 plaintiffs in the lawsuit said internal documents obtained from the non profit group showed the policies were actually cancelled on a routine basis when the policyholder turned 60. A they always intended to cancel and their internal documents were consistent with age 60,�?� Coughlin said. Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment but Coughlin said he expected the verdict to be appealed. Coughlin a co counsel Marian Mcguire said the a Baa policies were marketed As being in effect As Long As the policyholder was a member of the Groom however the master policy Between a Baa and nationwide contained a clause that allowed the condition to be changed without informing the policyholders. A somewhere hidden in the bylaws is something that says they can terminate you at age 60, but they never sent you the bylaws a Mcguire said. A they were Selling it As a whole life a a 8 Mcguire said a Baa agents were considered agent of nationwide in the lawsuit. 8 Nis the plaintiffs who reside in virtually every state in the nation were left in the position of finding life insurance at an average age of 63, the lawyers said. The lawsuit which stemmed from the termination of a Pittsburgh Many a policy accused the companies of fraud unfair insurance practices breach of contract and breach of covenant of Good Faith and fair dealing. It was filed in san Diego because Many of the policies were sold to sailors and marines assigned to Camp Pendleton and other bases in the san Diego area Durine the 1960s. 8 a they were taking advantage of the military Market people on their Way to Vietnam a Coughlin said. A no one Hurt in capital Cave in a construction workers stand at the site of an excavation Cave in in Washington d.c., about four blocks from the White House. No one was injured in the monday night collapse. It gobbled up 100 feet of sidewalk and construction equipment and forced the evacuation of nearby office buildings. Officials said that if the Cave in had spread it could have Cut electric lines supplying Power to surrounding buildings. The area around the half Block Square project was blocked off while Crews dumped dirt into the Hole to stabilize it. Postal dispute goes to arbitrator after talks fail 2l suss �5.-2 a a Quot a cd a Washington apr negotiators for . Postal service s 660,000 unionized workers failed to Settle wage and Job Security differences by the Midnight deadline tuesday sending the dispute into lengthy binding arbitration. No disruption in mail service was expected because Federal Law prohibits postal workers from striking. Marathon bargaining sessions Between the postal service and its four largest unions proved unsuccessful tuesday As disagreements Over pay increases and part time workers blocked signing of a new contract. A it was a charade. We waited untold hours by the Telephone for their phone Calls a said Vincent Sombrotto president of the 234,000-member National letter carriers Union in a Midnight news conference. Postmaster general Anthony m. Frank said in a statement that management had no Choice except arbitration because the unions wage demands threatened a to Price postal workers right out of their jobs and mail right out of our customers reach As All costs Are borne by postal customers. Union leadership has failed to recognize the economic realities facing our country and the postal sender today. Federal Law directs that a fact finding commission be established under the direction of the Federal mediation and conciliation sen ice to review the dispute. It will report Back to both sides within 45 Days. If management and labor still can to reach agreement an arbitration panel will Settle the dispute. This process could take More than three months. Both sides could agree to go Back to conventional bargaining to avoid the lengthy process. Before the contract expired at Midnight Union leaders charged that management refused to meet with them. A they re stonewalling us. With four hours to go they re in hiding Quot complained Moe Biller president of the 334,000-member american postal Quot a workers Union. But postal officials said that in the final hours Small bargaining teams had still been meeting with negotiators at the Washington hotel where representatives i ses bad been closeted for several Days searching for a Compromise on pay health care and work rules. A no one is doing the tango or tap danc my around responsibility a said a postal service statement attributed to assistant postmaster general Deborah Bowker. She described talks As a candid and amicable but  Sombrotto said the postal services latest offer was a not Only unacceptable but an insult a because it was an attempt to force11 3 Par Quot me lower paid work the postal service wanted the flexibility to hire More part time workers. Management labelled workers wage de-ssxff8 8 a a a Anta a land proposal that would Force the Price of Stamps up to 43 cents and Cost $50 billion Over the next three years. Bowker said the postal services Quot future viability was at stake in the negotiations. A this cannot be secured with wild demands for massive gains rooted in the past. Ali parties Are Well informed of the realities our postal service faces a Bowker said. A key stalemate was the Issue of wages. The postal service had offered Lump sum payments of $950 Over two years Ana pay incentives of up to $1,100 a year. The unions had demanded an s percent increase Over the first year and 7 percent m each of the next two  said management raised the Issue of an increase in stamp Price As a Way to win Public  we heard this nonsense in 1981. This is stale news that the postal service a handing you a Biller told workers describing the offer of Cash bonuses but no hourly wage increase As a a piece of garbage designed to Divide workers