European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday april 21, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 7 families find Hope amid fire s ruins by Dara Tom the associated press Oakland Calif. A portable latrines outnumber residents. Swinging a for Sale signs creak in the Breeze. Spring grasses grow amid the charred foundations of houses once tucked into wooded canyons on Shady streets. Six months after the Oakland Hills fire reminders of the devastation Are everywhere but feelings of loss have been eclipsed by an array of emotions frustration doubt Hope and happiness. A a in a overjoyed in a getting a new House with All the improvements a said Walter Eiler 67, who also bought a neighbors lot. A Why not rebuild it a said Eiler a resident for 22 years. A Why should we move somewhere else where we done to know anybody a hundreds of families Are planning to rebuild in the Hills but normalcy seems a Long time coming evident in a homemade sign a sightseers please pull to the right. Let residents  the Urban wildfire on oct. 20, one of the nations deadliest and costliest killed 25 people destroyed 3,000 Homes and caused $1.5 billion in damage in one of san Francisco Bay a most Scenic neighbourhoods. City officials said that even with a special office to help families the Community restoration development Center rebuilding has been sluggish. Only 81 permits have been issued said Randy Lum head of the department of Public works who blames the Pace on insurance problems and homeowners trudging through the unfamiliar territory of rebuilding. A the whole process. Can be really overwhelming if you Haven to done it before a Lum said. A even for those experienced it can be  Only one family has returned to its rebuilt Home. Raul Cruz carried his wife Deena across the thresh old of their new Home a week ago when the couple and their 5-year-old daughter Connor moved in with their Only possessions a boxes a bicycle two finches and a suitcase. The House was empty except for a mattress and an armoire. Their first neighbors wont move in until May and City officials said it will be summer before 500 Homes Are under construction. A a we re ready to go. I think that a Why we re really frustrated a said Ingrid Cole looking across a Grassy slope where her Home once stood. Robert and Ingrid Cole who have rented an apartment since the fire Are waiting for a City permit to rebuild but said they will wait As Tong As it takes to return to the panoramic Hills with a View of the Golden Gate Bridge and san Francisco Bay. A a it a really wonderful up Here a Ingrid Cole said. A a it a a great feeling sitting on top of the  at least 56 lots Are for Sale Selling for As Low As $77,000 and As High As $235,000, said William Weiss Berg of Pacific Union residential brokerage. Kathy and Andy Ball sold their land and cancelled rebuilding plans because of the impending birth of their Secona child. A we really would be living for the next year and a half in a construction zone a Kathy Bell said adding that they did no to want to be isolated from other families for so Long. A for our immediate needs it just seemed like we ought to focus our energies on. Our family a she said. The couple and their 2-year-old daughter moved to the adjacent City of Piedmont. A City Survey found most residents will rebuild even though it May take two or three years said Mona Lombard of the City a permit Center. Of 2,100 surveys mailed almost All of the 900 returned so far reported they will rebuild she said. A portable latrine sits downhill from a nearly finished House in an Oakland Hills Section left Barren by  Antonio preparing citizens for killer bees by Kelley Shannon the associated press san Antonio the a killer bees Are coming. Get used to it. Sometime this summer or fall san Antonio will become the first major . City reached by the northward Advance of Africani Zed honeybees often referred to As killer bees. The bees have been painted As evil predators in disaster movies including the swarm but officials say Hollywood has been too hard on the aggressive insects. Experts Are trying to show residents they can coexist with the bees. A people Are just going to have to live with that insect. They re going to have to be More careful a said Elba Quintero head of the . Agriculture departments Africani Zed Bee project in Harlingen. In october Africani Zed bees turned up about 90 Miles South of san Antonio a City of 1 million. They Are expected to Start moving North again with the return of warm weather. Quintero said the bees could reach the City by summer and certainly will be in the area by fall. Officials trying to educate people about the bees said a big part of their Job is telling folks not to panic. The bees Are a not going to arrive in san Antonio in a Black Cloud a Quintero said. A probably Many of us will never come into Contact with  Africani Zed bees have been spreading through the americas since the 1950s, when african bees escaped from an Experiment in Brazil and began Breeding with More docile european bees. They look like Ordinary honeybees but tend to defend their hives More quickly and in greater numbers than european bees and can sting in sufficient numbers to kill. About 600 deaths have been attributed to the bees mostly in South America. Although no deaths have been reported in the United states a Man was stung More than 300 times in september near Mcallen a South Texas City in the Rio Grande Valley. The agriculture department downplayed the danger in a 1990 report saying mass stinging attacks Are uncommon and can be avoided with a Little common sense. Agriculture officials say the Best defense is knowing to move away calmly and quickly when surrounded by a Large number of bees. The agriculture department Texas a amp a University at College station and others Are working on Bee education projects in the City. A i think that san Antonio has More Public education going on than any other area a said Andy Vestal a Bexar county agriculture Extension agent with the Texas a amp a University system. Vestal a office has distributed information kits on the bees to about 400 schoolchildren. It is also training Volunteer a Bee masters a who work in their neighbourhoods and workplaces to inform others about the bees sometimes using slide presentations. Added emphasis is being placed on informing Young people and the elderly because Thuiy might not be Able to escape a Bee attack As quickly As others. People allergic to Bee stings Are urged to be extra careful. Experts note that the bees Arentt totally bad. After All they Are still honeybees providing the useful service of pollinating crops such As apples avocados eggplants peaches pears strawberries cucumbers and watermelons. The agriculture departments scientists have said they Hope the Africani Zed bees will become gentler As they move North and Breed with More european  rights activists confront foes in Buffalo Buffalo . Apr abortion rights activists shouted obscenities and chanted a operation Rescue go away a in a confrontation monday with the Leader of an anti abortion group aiming to shut Down abortion clinics in Buffalo. About 300 abortion rights demonstrators gathered before Dawn outside one of the City a clinics that operation Rescue has targeted in massive protests scheduled to last two to four weeks. When Keith Tucci Leader of the National anti abortion group showed up at the clinic he was surrounded by opponents who vilified him and chanted a operation Rescue go away a police led Tucci across the Street while a woman screamed at him a nazi nazi a no violence was reported but one Man was arrested at the clinic. Police said Robert Kaiser of Buffalo asked police to Clear a path through abortion rights protesters to a nearby Post office then rushed the crowd when police refused. Witnesses said the arrested Man was an anti abortion protester but police said they weren to sure if Kaiser was on one Side or another. Leaders on both sides of the abortion debate have said they would avoid violence during the protests but one women a group threatened to use any Means necessary to keep abortion clinics open. At one clinic monday morning about 100 abortion rights demonstrators practice drills to escort women seeking abortions into the clinics. About 25 others rallied outside a third clinic. Operation Rescue spokesman Jerry Reiter said antiabortion activists were involved in a 24-hour prayer Vigil and probably would not begin mass protests at clinics until today. A your Only objective is to save a life a Tucci said at a news conference monday morning. A if one life is saved our objective will be accomplished. We will return Home  operation Rescue said the protests Are patterned after last Summers siege outside clinics in Wichita kan., which resulted in 2,600 arrests. Organizers on both sides said they expect thousands of people to take part in the protests. Tucci said he expected As Many As 300 people from out of town to participate in protests today Ami he Wasny to sure How Many local residents would join in. The National women a rights organizing coalition a group that describes its members As militant feminists vowed sunday to do whatever is necessary to keep clinics open. A we Are Here to militarily defeat operation Rescue and show them they Are not Welcome in the streets of Buffalo a said Tania Kappner a spokeswoman for the group. The group claimed responsibility for a confrontation saturday in which a pastor opposed to abortion was rougher up As he prayed outside a clinic. No one was arrested. Operation Rescue said its demonstrations would be peaceful. On Friday the groups founder Randall Terry urged activists to refrain from violence. Members of Buffalo United for Choice and the pro Choice network the two largest abortion rights groups in Buffalo have said they oppose breaking the Taw or engaging in one on one confrontations with abortion opponents