European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 26, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Tic stats and r . Arizona River overflow threatens farms Homes will lion Ariz. A mood Aien Stream Dover an earthen dam thursday threatening one of America s richest vegetable growing regions As Well a hundreds of Homes along 90-mile reach of the Gila River. We re looking at a major disaster obviously said Herb Guenther manager of a drainage District along about one Quarter of the Gila. The River fed by record Winter Rains was expected to spread across thousands of acres of sparsely populated desert Farmland Over the next several Days. Bridges and pumping stations were also in peril. An estimated 3,500 people along the Gila from painted Rock dam near Gila Bend to the Colorado River above the City of Yuma in Arizona s Southwest Ern Corner were urged to evacuate. The City was be ii cd to be Safe. About 500 people had left their Homes by wednes Day afternoon said Bart Freeman a state emergency services spokesman in Yuma. Yuma county is the state s Matin vegetable growing area and makes Arizona the nation s no. 2 producer of lettuce cauliflower and Broccoli behind is expected to spoil $10 million Worth of win Ter lettuce Ana other crops said state agriculture department spokeswoman Suzanne Sorich. Painted Rock a 40-foot-High earthen dam built for flood control in 1960, was holding Back an 80-Square Milc shallow Reservoir fed by record Rains in january and february. The lower Gila which is normally dry both above and below the dam is in essence the spout in a statewide funnel that gradually filled to overflowing Ashe Rainwater worked its Way downstream. For several Days the army corps of engineers has King judge throws out trial dispute los anoles a the judge in the Rodney g. King beating Case cleared the Way for opening arguments thursday rejecting a defense request for a mistrial Over allegations that one of the two Blacks on the jury was biased. That dispute had threatened to abort the racially volatile trial wednesday. . District judge John g. Davics or 6-year California drought has ended officially Sacramento Calif. Up after the agonies of water rationing untold millions in crop losses and ugly Brown lawns gov. Pete Wil son has declared an official end to California s record six year dry spell. The drought is Over Wilson said wednesday at a Sacramento news conference. Thanks to god for ending the drought and thanks to the people of California for enduring Wilson said California reservoirs should be filled to 90 percent of Normal by april when warm weather begins to melt a thick Blanket of Snow dumped on the sierras by Winter storms. The drought was brought to a sudden end by storms that rained Down destruction As Well As water. California received above average precipitation in december january and february causing flooding in some parts of the state and dumping so much Snow in the mountains that roofs on Sierra Homes began to collapse. Been releasing water from Gates at the Bottom of the dam at 2vi times the highest rate previously on record. But on wednesday the Gates could t keep up and water flowed Over the spillway at the top of the dam. The flow was expected to reach 10 times the old re Cord by March 5. A Rcd the Anonymous jury of nine Whites e hispanic thursday morning. Two Blacks Ami on c to report have a witness ready he warned prosecutors. I will not tolerate any loss of time at the end of the the four defendants in the civil rights trial Are officers Laurence m. Powell and Theodore j. Uris no sgt. Laccy c. Koon and fired officer Timothy e. Wind. They allegedly clubbed and kicked the Black Motorist on March 3, 1991, in a beating videotaped by an onlooker. The Central Issue is whether the four Whites used excessive Force and whether they intended to punish King. They were acquitted of most stale As Sault charges last april by a jury with no Blacks in a verdict that triggered deadly riots in los Angeles. The four were later indicted of the Federal civil rights charges. Earlier wednesday Davies said there were insufficient grounds to remove a Black woman from the jury and he re fused to declare a mistrial. He ruled after questioning in a secret an excused prospective juror a White Man who had come Forward to say the Black woman was making racially biased comments about alleged defense at tempts to keep Blacks off the jury. The hearing about the Black juror brought Oul in the open racial tensions underlying the Case. No hero s Welcome frostbite victim Dee Dubin lakes a drink of water from a Glass she holds with bandaged fingers during a news conference at a Denver hos Pital wednesday Dubin a Denver resident who suffered frostbite Isone of five skiers who turned up Safe tuesday after four nights in the wilderness near Aspen Colo. The rescued skiers came under a storm of criticism from Mountain guides and others for venturing out despite blizzard warnings and for splitting up after they got lost. The skiers should receive two medals one for stupidity and one for being pre pared to survive the elements said Chris Lewis & Back country skier. The Cross country skiers had set out for the High country in Friday justas a snowstorm roared into the area. Lost in the storm the skiers slept for four night in below Zero cold burned furniture in a Ranger s cab into keep from freezing and melted Snow on a Camp stove for drinking water. Find May Aid fight against Lorenzo s Oil disease prom wort report new York Scien lieu have found a Gene Hai appears o cause the rare disease depicted in the movie Loren of i Oil a discovery thai May help in finding Gene would cause the disease when defective its chemical makeup suggests that it normally Tell cells How to make chemical shuttle that transports a key enzyme researchers is Surprise because scientists had suspected that the disease was caused by a defect in the enzyme itself the disease is called a or Ald. In its most severe form it strikes in childhood and progressively destroys nerve and muscle function leading to impaired vision and hearing loss of mental faculties and paralysis. This form of Ald generally leads to Tomalik state and death within few years. A Milder form can appear at Ages 15 to 30.no Standard treatment is known. The title Lorenzo s Oil refers to an experimental treatment that has shown Little evidence of stopping progression of the disease according to me March of dimes birth defects foundation. Gun a month Law passed Richmond a. The House of Delegate voted wednesday to accept a modified Senate version of gov. L. Douglas Wilder s proposal to limit handgun purchases to one a month. The Compromise engineered by Republican legislators and passed by a 57-39 House vote requires virginians to get a certificate from state or local police before they May buy More than one handgun a buyers also must provide proof of identity and address and must give a legitimate reason for wanting the weapons. Earlier wednesday the Senate had voted 33 6 forthe one handgun a month proposal but also with the provision that people with the certificates could buy More. Jobless Man wins millions Drain tree mass. An unemployed plumber from Cape cod showed up wednesday in a White stretch limousine to claim a $26.7 million Massachusetts lottery Jackpot the second largest prize in the game s Hegarty 38, of Dennis arrived at lottery Headquarters accompanied by his wife Donna 38,and his three children Ages 8,7 and 15 months. I m just flabbergasted said Hegarty who told reporters that his immediate plans were to buy a bigger House and help out his had been unemployed for a year and his wife had worked part time at a Dennis said she quit tuesday night. Hegarty purchased the Only winning ticket for the$26.7 million mass millions drawing. After taxes he will receive $893,811.49 a year for the next 20 years said lottery spokeswoman Deirdre coyly. . Insurance plan set Albany . A new Long term car insurance program Means new yorkers facing huge nursing Home Bills no longer will have to impoverish themselves or Transfer assets to relatives so they can qualify for wealth you be accumulated you do not have to give up gov. Mario Cuomo said i unveiling the program which will establish a new Type of policy through insurance companies. That a he Kuva new York will become the second state in the nation to have the Long term care insurance program once it takes effect in March. Connect Cuthas a similar plan. California and Indiana Are considering it. The program has the potential to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars in medicaid payments said Mildred Shapiro associate commissioner with the state department of social services. Beginning in March new yorkers will be Able Toby Long term care policies from the 10 insurance companies thus far authorized by the state insurance department to offer the contracts. Premiums will be based on the policyholder s age and options included in the policy. The annual Premium at a 40 will Range from $400 to $800,while at age 65 it will be about $1,800, Cuomo said. F it o dict i
