European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes sunday january 12, 1992 flu related deaths reach epidemic Levels in . From wire reports Atlanta a deaths attributed to the flu reached epidemic Levels in late december and the first week of january in the United states the National centers for disease control reported Friday. It is the first flu epidemic in the United states since 1989, the cd said. Spokesman Larry Schonberger said the flu was linked to about 7 percent of deaths a mostly among the elderly and chronically ill a in 121 cities monitored in a two week period. That exceeded the projected 6.2 percent rate Schonberger said. An epidemic is declared when the death rate is appreciably higher than that projected. Projections Are based on the incidence of the disease in previous months and existing knowledge of a disease. In new York the flu season has descended on the Region like an unpredictable blizzard creating shortages of Hospital Beds and closing schools. Officials said it was too Early to say whether the City a flu outbreak was worse than in previous years. But at new Britain general Hospital in Connecticut Richard Fenaughty senior vice president said he could recall no other flu epidemic in recent years that has taken such a toll. And a new York state health department spokesman William Fagel said the flu outbreak which began before thanksgiving came earlier than it has in More than 10  cd says the flu epidemic made its foothold in new York in late november. It arrived in Connecticut about two weeks later and in new Jersey a week after that. It the Region has been Laid Low by the Beijing Strain of influenza a virus. The virus a with its High fever aches pains and extreme fatigue a is usually transmitted through the air by breathing sneezing or shaking hands. Fagel said 25 of the states 62 counties have reported outbreaks of flu. In new Jersey at least a dozen schools have been closed and More than 200 schools statewide have reported unusually High absenteeism said a health department spokeswoman. Unscheduled Stop one of the new commuter planes at the Johnstown Cambria county municipal Airport in Johnstown pa., was slightly damaged Friday when it stuck an awning outside the main terminal. Gusajr flight 3483 was taxi ing away from the main Gate in preparation for Takeoff to Pittsburgh when it apparently Slid on the Snow covered runway and stuck the awning. The Crew and 17 passengers were not injured. 4.5 tons of cocaine found in ship Miami apr Twenty eight South americans arrested after trying to scuttle a freighter loaded with at least 4.5 tons of cocaine were ordered held without Bond Friday. It was the second largest maritime seizure of cocaine in history and May surpass the record of just More than 5 tons once the vessel is searched completely said assistant . Attorney Phillip Dirosa he estimated the drugs value at $60 million wholesale. . Magistrate Ted Bandstra ordered All 28 held pending a Bond hearing wednesday on cocaine trafficking charges. All but one of the defendants said they were from Chile and said they would Contact their employer about getting attorneys. Carlos Zulaga 38, was appointed a Public defender after saying he was a penniless colombian stowaway on the vessel. The 495-foot freighter Harbour was stopped sunday about 50 Miles South of the . Naval base in Guantanamo Bay Cuba by a . Coast guard Cutter patrolling for haitian refugees. The harbours Captain yer co Huerto Rojas initially refused to allow the coast guard to Board according to an affidavit by Michael Chase a special agent with the . Drug enforcement administration. Within minutes smoke billowed from the freighter and the Crew began unloading Fife rafts Chase said. Rojas said the ship was flooding and they were abandoning ship. A coast guard Rescue team then managed to close several intake valves pump out the water and put out two Small fires the affidavit said. The team then found Bales of cocaine hidden inside cargo nets. Dump search fails to find lost Money Carson City Nev. A Security Pacific Bank workers dug through trash at the local dump All week looking for a bag of Cash and checks deposited there by mistake but gave up without any Success. Bank officials said Friday that less than $1,000 in Cash was in the bag of receipts picked up from Carson station hotel Casino by an armoured car dec. 14. The Casino said the bag contained $235,000, mostly in checks. Dump operators said several Bank employees and a Backhoe operator began digging Early last week finally Sto 10 piping thursday. They left a pile about 30 feet Long and feet High. Bank spokeswoman Lori Nichols in Las vegas declined to confirm the amount in checks saying Only that there were a a documents the Bank could reproduce. The mix up that led to the bag being thrown out remained unclear. The Bank trash was collected along with garbage from a nearby fast food restaurant within a Day or two of the Deposit  s harassing Calls to his victims backfire from wire reports Justice 111. A a Young burglar who telephoned a couple to taunt them about stealing their car stereo did no to realize his victims have a Call tracer service and police were Able to track Down the suspect. John Windhorst 18, was arrested and charged with stealing stereo equipment from Thomas and Tiffaney Sweeney. The suspect called the couple after the second time he burglarized their cars. The Sweeney so Telephone is equipped with a Call Back feature that enables them to return their most recent Call. Tiffaney Sweeney dialled a code and called Windhorst Back. The Call was answered by an answering machine that included Windhorst s phone number. She then called a directory service that supplies the address belonging to the Given phone number and turned the information Over to  the Bear Dies West Palm Beach Fla. A just three weeks after Mokie his mate of 20 years died of cancer Spanky the Bear passed on to that great Honey tree in the sky. Both Malayan Sun bears died of cancer related problems but officials at the Dreher Park zoo in West Palm Beach wondered whether the stress of Mokie a death exacerbated Spanky a cancer. Spanky who died wednesday was rescued from a Florida Roadside zoo in 1971. Not Long afterwards state wildlife officers took Mokie from a private owner who had been keeping her As a pet fattening her on marshmallows and  pipeline leaks Salisbury to. A the Missouri department of natural resources worked Friday to prevent a pipeline spill of an estimated 42,000 Gallons of crude Oil from reaching the Chariton River in North Central Missouri. The spill apparently was contained in a Creek that flows into the River officials said a was far As we know no Oil has reached the River a said William Palmer a Der spokesman. A your people Are putting in Underflow dams in the Creek and no material has escaped from the lowest downstream  the Chariton county sheriffs department received a Call just before Midnight thursday from the Salisbury office of Platte pipeline co., and pipeline employees said they suspected there was an Oil leak somewhere near Salisbury said sgt. Terry Moore a spokesman for the Missouri state Highway patrol. Early Friday an employee of the department of natural resources told the patrol he had located the Oil leak 1 i Miles Southeast of  was speeding Palatka Fla. A an Amtrak passenger train was travelling More than 40 Mph above the Speed limit when it derailed last month injuring 55 people the National transportation safety Board said Friday. The Silver meteor was travelling 72.1 Mph when it jumped the tracks on a 30 Mph curve North of downtown Palatka on dec. 17, said Alan Pollock an Nosb spokesman in Washington. But Pollock emphasized that investigators have not determined whether speeding caused the  Laird s wife Dies Washington Barbara masters gird wife of former defense Secretary Melvin r. Laird died thursday of cancer of the pancreas at her Home in Sylva n.c., Laird a office announced Friday. She was 69. She was associated with Many Volunteer Community projects. From 1964 through 1974, she was a Volunteer assistant to the american red Cross. She and Laird were married in 1945. They had three children