Nation -- News In Brief
PROBE: ICY WINGS, SLOW LIFTOFF SPEED CITED IN USAIR CRASH
WASHINGTON - Ice and snow on a USAir jet's wings, complicated by a slow takeoff, apparently caused the jet to plunge into the water off New York's La Guardia Airport in a crash that killed 27 people last year, federal investigators said today.
Investigators told a National Transportation Safety Board that the pilot may have tried to get Flight 405 off the ground too quickly, but the plane was unable to fly because of ice on its wings.
Twenty-seven of the 51 people aboard died. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered new de-icing rules after the accident.
According to investigators, the pilot apparently was unaware of the ice on the wings and thought the plane was traveling about 10 knots faster than it actually was when he tried to lift its nose.
However, it remained unclear whether the plane would have flown safely if it had been moving faster.
The NTSB report on the crash was to be released today.
EX-HUSBAND WANTS A SHARE OF LOTTO WINNINGS
PHILADELPHIA - Schoolteacher John Micofsky had just reached the end of a long and bitter divorce and thought the worst was over.
Then, while reading the newspaper last month, a story jumped out at him: His newly divorced ex-wife had just won a $10.2 million jackpot in the New Jersey Pick-6 Lotto.
Maryann Kulpa, 46, a receptionist, had claimed the jackpot one day after her divorce had become final on Jan. 20 and nine days before the ticket expired, said Micofsky's lawyer, Thomas Kline.
Micofsky, 50, filed a suit Friday - his lawyer called it a "Valentine's Day present" to his ex-wife - claiming that he is due at least part of the winnings.
The lawsuit charged that Kulpa, who reverted to her maiden name the day her divorce became final, "willfully, intentionally and fraudulently" failed to inform Micofsky of her winning `Pick-6 Lotto' lottery ticket.
Kulpa's winning ticket means she will get an initial installment worth $368,444 after taxes and $370,000 annually for each of the next 19 years.
SALANT, WHO LED CBS NEWS FOR TWO DECADES, DIES AT 78
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Richard Salant, who as president of CBS News in the 1960s and '70s oversaw the introduction of "60 Minutes" and the "CBS Morning News," died yesterday. He was 78.
A lawyer who had no professional journalism experience before taking over the news division, Salant was known as a staunch defender of First Amendment rights.
As president of CBS News from 1961 to 1964 and from 1966 to 1979, he directed coverage of the Vietnam War, the moon landings and the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert Kennedy.
During his tenure, CBS became the first network to expand its nightly newscast to 30 minutes.
Survivors include his wife, Frances, five children and nine grandchildren.
FDA APPROVAL TO BE SOUGHT FOR CHINESE ABORTION PILL
NEW YORK - An abortion-rights group said yesterday that it will seek FDA approval for a Chinese abortion pill that is equivalent to the controversial French pill RU-486 and whose manufacturers are willing to bring it to the United States.
The action is expected to bring about a new chapter in the bitter dispute over abortion rights.
The French pill is available in much of Europe, but the company, a unit of Hoechst AG of Germany, has never tried to gain U.S. approval, effectively keeping it out of the reach of American women.
The pill allows a pregnant woman to have a nonsurgical abortion.
But Abortion Rights Mobilization says it has a letter of agreement with the Beijing Union Medical College, which developed a pill, to test it in the United States as part of the approval process.
SEVEN CHILDREN TRAPPED IN DETROIT HOUSE DIE IN FIRE
DETROIT - A house fire killed seven children trapped inside by burglar bars on the windows today, officials said.
The children, four boys and three girls, were dead on arrival at Children's Hospital of Michigan, spokesman Dan Artman said. He said the siblings were 7 months to 9 years old.
The cause of the fire in the two-story wooden house was under investigation. The children had been trapped alone by burglar bars on the windows, fire Batallion Chief Harold Watkins said.
The parents arrived 20 minutes after the fire was reported, asking about their children.
FORMER NAVAJO TRIBAL LEADER SENTENCED TO 14 1/2 YEARS
PHOENIX - Peter MacDonald was sentenced yesterday to 14 1/2 years in prison by a federal judge who said the former Navajo chairman's "lust for power" led to the deaths of two people in a 1989 riot in Window Rock. Judge Robert Broomfield of U.S. District Court in Phoenix said MacDonald couldn't accept his removal from power as chairman and was part of a plot to take back the tribal government, leading to the riot.
MacDonald already is serving a seven-year term in tribal jail for tribal and federal convictions for bribery, conspiracy, fraud and extortion in unrelated cases. His 14 1/2-year sentence for conspiracy and burglary will be served concurrently. Broomfield also fined MacDonald $5,000.
SEARS: SOME DISHWASHERS BY KENMORE CAN CATCH FIRE
WASHINGTON - Owners of 400,000 Kenmore dishwashers should stop using them immediately because an electrical problem could cause them to catch fire, Sears, Roebuck and Co. says.
Sears said Monday that leaks caused timers on 30 machines to short and overheat. Four of them caught fire, causing smoke damage to the surrounding countertop and cabinets, Sears said.
Sears said it is sending letters to customers who purchased one of the Kenmore dishwashers between February 1990 and October 1992.
The numbers of the affected models are: 587.1400090; 587.1400190; 587.1400890; 587.1400990; 587.1440090; 587.1440590; 587.1469089; 587.1469589; 587.1510590; 587.1511590; 587.1530590; 587.1540590; 587.1541590; 587.1550590; 587.1574590; 587.1630590; 587.1640590; 587.1641590; 587.1650590; 587.1651590.
The dishwashers should be unplugged or their doors unlatched until they can be repaired, Sears said. Owners can arrange for free repairs by calling (800) 998-8470.