European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes . Thursday january 5,1995va hints at limit on compensation by the Washington Post Washington a the department of veterans affairs which last month promised to move swiftly to carry out a supreme court decision favouring a ctr ans injured by treatment in a hospitals now appears to want to limit the compensation it must pay. Unanimous ruling a Secretary Jesse Brown asked attorney general Janet on dec. 20, eight Days after the courts a Irney Reno to advise him if the a must compensate veterans who signed certain medical car consent forms. A footnote in the courts eight Page ruling said the government would not have to pay benefits for the a necessary consequences of treatment to which a Veteran had consented. In the opinion Justice David Souter used As an example a Veteran who agrees to the amputation of a gangrenous limb then seeks compensation for the loss of the limb but Thein the stars and stripes 10years ago Jan. 5,1985 a president Reagan kept his pledge to stand behind a trusted aide nominating White House Counselor Edwin Meese to be attorney general.20 years ago Jan. 5,1975 a the Ford administration has approved a $95 billion defense budget for next year Pentagon officials said. 30years ago Jan. 5,1965 a House republicans threw out rep. Charles Halleck of Indiana As their floor Leader replacing him with rep. Gerald Ford of Michigan. _40 years ago Jan. 5,1955�? democrats and republicans named their leaders for the democratic controlled Congress. Rep. Sam Rayburn of Texas was nominated As speaker of the House.50 years ago Jan. 5,1945 a forces from the . 1st army ended 17 Days of defensive warfare As tanks and troops drove on a six mile front into the Northern flank of the German salient in Belgium where they registered gains of As much As 31a Miles delayed dispatches revealed. World War ii so years ago today Jan. 5194 . Navy flotillas bombard two japanese Island groups a the boning South of Japan and the Kuril to the North. Japanese suicide pilots damage six a a . Warships in the invasion Fleet heading for Luzon the Philippines main Island. In Burma British troops take Shebo on the Irrawaddy front. British soldiers crush an uprising by greek communists after a month of fighting around Athens. Source 2194 Days of War w. H. Smith publishers inc. The world almanac of world War it Bison books corp., 1981 a vans proposed interpretation would cover situations far less absurd. A officials contend that the footnote Clouds the question of who among the 8,000 veterans with claims should be compensated. For decades the a has insisted it was obligated to pay benefits Only when veterans could prove a a Hospital or physician was careless negligent or otherwise at fault for an injury. But the supreme court ruled on dec. 12 that even when hospitals Are not at fault compensation is owed. As a result of the decision injury claims could mount to $1 billion during the next five years the a has said. Veterans criticized Brown for what they said was a new Effort to elude paying benefits. On tuesday he said in a statement a i stand by my prior statement that a is ready to move Forward with the supreme courts ruling we do not question that  but Lawrence Hancl an attorney for the paralysed veterans of America said a a they be taken the narrowest possible Reading of the  a Ronald Smith a lawyer for the disabled american veterans expressed fears that the a is attempting to draft new regulations that would limit the number of veterans who can qualify Tor compensation under the court decision. The new regulations will Lead to another protracted court fight Smith predicted. A very few claimants Are going to receive benefits under the vans interpretation of the ruling a said j. Michael Hannon a lawyer who represented korean War Veteran Fred p. Gardner in the court Case against the a. Back surgery in 1986 at a a Hospital in Texas left Gardner with a leg deformity. A officials said the veterans con Cerns Are misplaced a there is no intent to drag this out a said Mary Lou Keener the vans general counsel. A from a purely academic Point of View we want to be sure we do this right a she said citing the Long court fight Over the Issue. Keener a office drafted Browne a letter to Reno. At Issue Overall is a 1924 Law that requires compensation for injuries that occur a was the result of. Medical or surgical treatment at a a Hospital. The a had interpreted the Law which covers injuries that Are not service related to mean that benefits could be paid Only if the injury arose from negligent or otherwise faulty treatment by the a. But the supreme court ruled that the statute intended to give special help to the nations veterans Ana never mentioned Hospital fault. Immediately after the ruling Brown said the a would revise its rules and Quot move expeditiously to decide those claims and award  killers used spoons hands to dig their Way out of Florida prison Belle Glade Fla. A while inmates Sang and prayed at a prison Chapel Over the Christmas holidays six killers working 8 feet below tunnelled their Way to Freedom digging into the soft soil with spoons and their hands. The escape monday night was discovered when the six men triggered alarms As they made their Way under a razor wire Fence. Guards fired several shots As the escapees popped up from the ground and one of the six was captured just outside the state prison 70 Miles North of Miami. None was believed to have been hit by the gunfire. _ a a a a a dozens of officers using dogs and helicopters searched for the others who May have buried themselves in the muck in the surrounding sugar Cane Fields or submerged themselves in irrigation ditches with pieces of Cane for snorkels said John Townsend the prisons assistant superintendent. The breakout continued a trend of Florida prison escapes. In the 12-month period that ended june 30, 324 inmates broke out of the states prisons up from 227 the previous year. The latest fugitives All from Cuba were serving life sentences in Belle Glade correctional institution for first degree murder. The Tunnel ran about 60 feet from under the Chapel which is on stilts to the prisons outer Fence. It was 2�?T/2 feet wide and ran 8 feet Down under a Concrete slab along the Fence. In Belle Glade a town of 17,200 three Miles South of the Camp residents have seen other escapes by dangerous Crimi a guard Tower overlooks the razor wire fencing surrounding the Belle Glade prison in Florida. Dirt Mounds arc from efforts to put in new fencing. Nals Over the years. A i done to think you la find too Many pc pie worried. Its a pretty Well armed Community. They re Hunters. There Are downright mean Folk in this town a said a Man at the main Street Pawn shop who gave his name Only As Tony. At 6-2 and 325 pounds he said he carries a .44-caliber pistol keeps loaded shotguns around Ana locks his doors. Teachers in trailer like classrooms at the Grove elementary school locked the doors during classes. The classrooms Border Cane Fields. A a it a a scary situation. My children sleep in their rooms but last night they slept with me a said Edna Washington who has a 6-Ycar-Oid son and a 3-Ycar-old daughter. A last night i  go out the door. That show we do our exercise at night walking  Townsend said the captured inmate told authorities that Only one prisoner dug at a time. The dirt from the Tunnel was stacked in a 3-foot-High space beneath the Chapel. Bricks with vents conceal the space. The prisoners slipped through shrubbery surrounding the Church and through the vents to do their digging with spoons and their hands Townsend said. They kept an extra pair of clothes under the Church that they would Wear while digging. They changed Back into their Blue prison uniforms when they finished so they  raise suspicion by walking around in Muddy clothes. Boards used to Shore up the Tunnel probably came from three construction projects within the prison Townsend said. Authorities believe that the Tunnel had been planned for two months and that the digging had been going on for about three weeks. The captured prisoner 34-year-old Felix Carbonell said the other inmates had no outside help lined up and had agreed to split up after the break Townsend reported. The five fugitives Are Juan Fleitas 30 Florencio Alvarez 39 Hector Rivas 32 Jesus Martinez 47 and Armando Junco 62. Thieves swipe radioactive swimming Pool Tonawanda . A everybody out of the Pool a its radioactive. The state health department said tuesday that someone stole a radiation contaminated swimming Pool from an Industrial site in Tonawanda a Buffalo suburb. The 4-foot-deep, above ground Pool was used As a Reservoir for water tainted with the radioactive chemical americium said Lloyd Novick director of the state office of Public health. It had been dismantled and stored by Hind a Fence after the cleanup and was to be removed to a permanent dump site. Then someone took it Over the Christmas weekend. A if their idea was to set it up in their Back Yard that is a problem a said health department spokesman William Fagel. A you  Tell by looking at it tha its radioactive but it is. Its not glowing in the dark or  Novick said the radiation level in that Pool liner  and docs not pose a serious risk