European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 29, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday november 29, 1993 . The stars and stripes Page 7 puerto Rico sets record for number of slayings from wire reports san Juan puerto Rico the number of slayings in this . Commonwealth has increased for the third straight year with the deaths of two teen agers shot Down in front of a san Juan disco. The slayings saturday pushed the year s homicide death toll to 866 two More than the 1992 record total of 864, and 34 Days before the end of the year. The killing rate on this Island of 3.8 million people is higher than in All 50 american states. Juan Antonio Rivera Soto 17, and Ricky Nelson Colon Vicente 19, were gunned Down while using Apay phone outside the Metropolis discotheque police said. Puerto Rico has embarked on a wide reaching Effort to fight crime employing the National guard and Island police to take Over and occupy 28 housing projects. Gas leak kills 2 children Palmdale Calif. A Gas leak at a Home killed a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old baby saturday night and sent six other people to the Hospital. The parents of the children were in critical condition with Carbon monoxide poisoning a Hospital supervisor said. Two children a 6-year-old and an 11-year-old, and two other adults were in stable condition. The two dead children were found about 7 . After someone in the House called authorities about the leaked into the Home from the stove or a Wall Heater according to the los Angeles county fire department. Fireworks parolee maimed los Angeles a Man on parole for making illegal fireworks was injured saturday in an explosion at his House police said. The Man lost his left Eye and two fingers from each hand said Cedars Sinai medical Center spokeswoman Peggy Frank Shaff. He was in serious condition after surgery. Gary Stephen Weksler 43, was apparently working with chemicals when the explosion occurred police capt. John Mutz said. Authorities also had an alternate spelling of his last name As 250 people living nearby were evacuated As a precaution while the bomb squad checked for any remaining was on parole for a 1989 incident involving manufacture of fireworks Mutz said. Library Book thefts noted Chicago Book thieves and absent minded readers Cost America s libraries an estimated $50 million a year the american Library association said. Some libraries Are turning to collection agencies. We be had people who lost materials in High school and As adults go out to refinance their Homes and discover their credit report says they owe Money to the Schaumburg Public Library said Janeo Brien circulation director at the suburban Library. They re in Shock but we think it helps people realize the value of the materials she said. A Library card is just like a charge Library loses an estimated 2 percent of its 500,000 volumes annually. About 1 percent of checked out books nationwide Are never returned according to the Chicago based Library association. Hats off for . Police new York through fire flying bullets and fleeing felons City police officers always have had Tower their hats until now. Police commissioner Raymond Kelly issued an order last week relaxing a Rule that for some had symbolized the department s Devotion to discipline and form. The old order required officers to Wear their hats while on duty and allowed superiors to penalize them if they were caught bareheaded at a crime Long complained that it was absurd to worry about hats during life threatening situations. Under the new order police do not have to Vear the hats during dark Blue eight Point Cap must still be worn on foot patrol to enhance a look of authority. It also must be worn in situations that require maximum visibility or demand Quick identification such As in crowds or in traffic posts. Sex base to spread wings for troubled youngsters Iii. A hundreds of troubled Chil Dren unlikely to be adopted or returned to their families May find Homes on a former air Force base. The organization Hope for children is targeting youngsters under 8 who Are wards of the state and unlikely to be nurtured in conventional Homes. Many of them Are victims of abuse and have emotional or physical disabilities. With $1 million in state funding the nonprofit group plans to House about 50 children and 12 sets of parents on Chanute fab by Spring. By the end of 1994, it Hopes to care for 200 children in 80 Homes Agency director Penelope Soskin said. The parents will be paid to raise the youngsters. Some buildings will House up to 80 senior citizens who will pay Low rent in Exchange for helping the children parents or staff Soskin said it s not the first program for Young people at the2,500-acre base which has nearly 300 buildings As Well As a Golf course and Bowling Alley. A Boot Camp for High school dropouts opened sept. 19. Also clinic Are corp. Is studying plans to take Over the base Hospital and provide care for children with behavioural disorders. The Community of 20,000 in East Central Illinois has been searching for a major employer to offset the eco nomic loss from the base s closure. It had 12,000 work ers before it shut sept. 30., the defense department rejected a bid from follow ers of the transcendental meditation guru maharishi Mahvash Yogi who wanted to turn the entire base Injo a Campus of maharishi International University. San Francisco firefighters Battle a fire at apartment buildings in the historic Haight Ashbury District saturday. San Francisco fire guts 9 buildings san Francisco a about 100 people were left homeless by a fire that gutted nine victorian style apartment buildings saturday in the historic Haight Ashbury District. It took nearly 150 firefighters two hours to douse the flames near the Corner of Pierce and Haight streets said it. Bill Dreslin. One firefighter suffered minor in juries. No one else was Hurt. Officials estimated damage at roughly s3 million. Those buildings Are All wooden and pretty close to Gether. That helped it move fast Breslin said. The cause of the Blaze was under investigation. Scott Cannon 30, awoke around 5 30 . To see smoke billowing outside his window. He and his wife Chela escaped and watched Only briefly As the fire consumed their belongings including Cannon s diaries. I had to leave. I could t watch it anymore Scott Cannon said when he returned to the scene. All my writings were in there. I could imagine each word burning. The drama of it was too overwhelming said Cannon who works As a theater lighting and set designer. More than 90 people were displaced by the fire. Hours later a fire broke out at an apartment build ing just five blocks away. Officials reported no injuries and said there was no apparent link Between the fires. Blazes hit Northern Southern California Anaheim Calif. A a wind driven fire dam aged eight condominiums and destroyed a construction site saturday before winds dropped helping firefight ers control the Blaze. Another Blaze ignited by an illegal campfire in Ven Tura county spread Over 30 acres. It was controlled by evening. In Northern California a Forest fire burned across about 400 acres near fort Ross about 70 Miles North of san Francisco. Firefighters were Able to contain so per cent of the Blaze saturday night with the help of rain. The fire in Anaheim his destroyed 20 condominiums under construction at the Summit Renaissance development and damaged eight adjacent occupied con Dos. No residents were injured but about a dozen were displaced. Damage was estimated at More than s2 Mil lion. The fire erupted shortly before 9 . When a plumber soldering in the construction area ignited combustible material. Winds up to 20 Mph quickly spread the flames said fire division chief Steve Magliocco. Last month flames fanned by fierce Santa Ana winds damaged 29 Homes in the Anaheim Hills. That Blaze was part of the Region s siege of wildfires. On saturday Ventura county firefighters and air Craft attacked a fire burning in acres of Rocky terrain at Camarillo Springs Golf course said county fire spokeswoman Cathy Wilson. An illegal campfire started the Blaze around 8 ., Wilson said. A 15-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl were arrested for allegedly starting the campfire then release to their parents said sheriffs Deputy Jim Kenney. Meanwhile the los Angeles county fire depart ment cancelled a red Flag Alert that had been posted since thursday said capt. Steve Valenzuela. Under the Alert staffing was increased and extra equipment was deployed in areas prone to Brush fires. I
