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NEW BEDFORD -- Thirteen-year-old Maria Mendes couldn't help think about the time in the future when she envisions herself becoming an American citizen.
"I'm looking forward to the day," said Maria, a native of Cape Verde Islands who lives in the Dorchester section of Boston. As a member of the Urban Scholars program at UMass Boston, she assisted in the swearing-in program for about 500 new citizens at New Bedford High School last Friday.
"That's what I'm going to do when I'm 18," said Maria, who had more than one happy memory to take home about citizenship.
It may well have been the start of some lasting friendships.
Denise P. Wood, a teacher at the Congdon School in New Bedford, said it all began when Katelyn Clemmey, one of her pupils, asked if the class would like to be pen pals with fourth-graders in Japan.
Ms. Wood said she jumped at the chance and her 28 students corresponded with a class in Sakaiminato City. The connection was made when Katelyn's grandparents paid a two-week visit to Japan.
NEW BEDFORD -- Luis Gonzalez polished the shining chrome wheels on his fire-engine red Toyota Supra one last time before stepping back to size up the car show competition.
"That first-place trophy will look good on my passenger's seat going home," said Mr. Gonzalez with confident smile as pointed to the table where the top award towered above those set aside for the runners- up.
DARTMOUTH -- Once a week during the school year, about a dozen teens walk into the youth advocate's office in the basement of Town Hall.
It is a room of refuge. A room away from the drugs and alcohol abuse of their homes. A room of healing.
Together with Youth Advocate Kevin Lee, the youths under the auspices of Alateen learn how to cope with a substance-abusing parent or family member.
By Ric Oliveira, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- Saudades.
From the green and blue lakes of Sete Cidades to the top of Pico's mountain, Louis Teves dream of bringing the Azores to America has been transferred to film.
Mr. Teves, a videographer from New Bedford, has documented the beauties and histories of the Azorean Islands on video cassette in a series called "Acore's Ilhas de Saudade", ("Azores' Islands of Memories and Longing").
By John King, AP Political writer
CHICAGO – Democratic leaders warmed up for their national convention yesterday, preaching unity to friendly crowds even as they promised not to silence party speakers who disagree with President Clinton on welfare, abortion or any other issue.
President Clinton kept his convention-eve focus on Republicans, mocking challenger Bob Dole's "big old tax cut" as he began a whistlestop train trip from West Virginia to his nominating celebration. "Shall we keep going on the right track or should we turn around?" he asked.
CHICAGO -- New England Democrats say the nation's new welfare reform law is imperfect. But rather than faulting President Clinton for signing it they are counting on him to soften the impact on the poor.
"It's part of the bitter pill that a lot of us have to swallow in dealing with some new realities in American politics, that everything can't be black and white in terms of the values that you bring to decisions," Robert Murphy, 53, a teacher from Peabody, Mass., said.
By Ashok Sharma, Associated Press writer
CALCUTTA, India -- Mother Teresa remained in serious condition on a respirator yesterday as Christian and Hindu priests, Buddhist monks and Muslim clerics alike prayed for the world's champion of the poor.
The ailing nun's personal physician, Dr. A.K. Bardhan, said her fever had come down, but her heartbeat was still irregular.
Mother Teresa was admitted to the Woodlands Nursing Home on Tuesday with a 100-degree fever brought on by malaria. Doctors say the fever aggravated existing heart troubles and caused her heart to fail three times since Thursday.
By The Associated Press
KEMP, Texas -- A liquid butane pipeline broke and exploded near a subdivision in this northeast Texas town Saturday, killing two teen-agers who inadvertently triggered the blast with an ignition spark from their truck.
One home was destroyed in the 3:30 p.m. explosion and about 50 others were evacuated in the rural neighborhood while firefighters allowed the underground pipeline to burn.
Photo by The Associated Press
EAST MORICHES, N.Y. -- The arduous task of recovering TWA Flight 800's wreckage from the ocean floor neared completion yesterday in the two areas most likely to yield conclusive proof of what downed the Paris-bound jet.
Navy Rear Adm. Edward K. Kristensen said divers will have completed by midday today diving to every location identified by sonar in two debris fields closest to Kennedy International Airport. Pieces found in those areas are more likely to be near the catalyst of the plane's breakup and prove its cause.
By Alexandra Hardy, Associated Press writer
BEND, Ore. -- Some people cried uncontrollably and others hugged neighbors as they climbed into buses yesterday to be taken to see the charred remains of homes destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire.
"I've learned to take things in stride, but I'm hurting for my wife. She's not taking this very well," said Douglas Martinez. Before the buses left from a community meeting yesterday, someone handed him a copy of the local newspaper, with a picture of their home engulfed in flames.
PARIS -- Since July 22, the day Michelle Richter and her husband returned to France after the bodies of their two teen-age daughters were identified, silence about what caused the crash of TWA Flight 800 has filled their empty home.
"No one has called to tell us anything. We have heard nothing except from the press and French television, and it's often contradictory," said Michelle Richter. Noemie, 15, and Anne Lyse, 17, were her only children. The French families whose loved ones perished "are very isolated one from another. We don't even have a list of the French victims."
By Robin Estrin, Associated Press writer
BOSTON -- It may be one of the oddest cruises ever: some sun, some sea and a bit of tragic ocean liner history.
Passengers boarded the Royal Majesty cruise ship yesterday to sail to the site where the Titanic's maiden voyage ended 84 years ago and watch as research vessels try to raise part of the ill-fated ship's hull to the surface.
Many have criticized the trip as nothing more than grave-robbing. But for the passengers -- including a handful of Titanic survivors -- it's the experience of a lifetime.
Anne Carlisle, of Chestnut Hill, Pa., was born just a few months before the Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, and she grew up hearing all about the ship.
LITTLE COMPTON, R.I. -- A group of 34 young sailing students were plucked from rough waters off Sakonnet Point after a storm caused intense squalls that capsized 10 of their 11 small boats.
BOSTON -- Mary Williams returned from work March 25, 1994, to find a group of heavily armed uniformed men crowding the tiny apartment she shared with her husband, Accelyne, a retired minister.
"I said to an officer, 'What has happened?' And he asked me who I was," she said. "I told him I was Mary Williams, Rev. Williams' wife. He said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry. Your husband is dead."
Now, two years after her husband suffered a fatal heart attack during a police raid when a SWAT team mistook his apartment for a nearby drug den, Mary Williams has spoken publicly about the incident for the first time. She also is packing up and leaving Boston for Chicago, where a daughter lives.
IN THE WATERS OFF NANTUCKET -- Armed with a pistol, a notepad and a lobster measure, Keith Robinson boards a lobster boat and finds eight undersized lobsters.
The boat's 69-year-old captain says he was training a new helper who didn't know how to properly measure the lobster's back shell, which must be at least 3¼ inches long. He also can't produce his lobster permit or other documentation; he says he left it at his house.
Mr. Robinson throws the smallest lobsters overboard and writes a $100 ticket.
By Ed Mccullough, Associated Press writer
CARACAS, Venezuela -- In advertising campaigns here, Pepsi offers cola drinkers unmarked cups of its soft drink and Coca-Cola, and asks them to choose the best one. It's called the Pepsi Challenge. Pepsi wins.
In the real world, though, Pepsi has just lost big-time. Coke pulled off a huge business coup this month by signing up its archrival's sole bottler in Venezuela, pulling the rug out from under the longtime market leader.
But Pepsi is organizing a comeback that mirrors its marketing campaign, hoping that its 4-1 market share was based not on market access but on consumer preference for its sweeter taste.
By Jeff Wilson
Associated Press writer
In Hollywood and surrounding environs, celebrity homes are often like celebrity egos: big, bigger and biggest. And once a star owns a home, count on the resale value inflating as well.
Estates Bela Lugosi, Elvis Presley and Cher once called home are steeped in a mystique for some buyers who may be taking star worship to an extravagant extreme.
Now that I think about it, there was no way anyone could have provided fair warning of what was to await me in New York the other week.
This wasn't New York City, where anything can happen. This was in central New York state, out in corn country, the middle of nowhere.
Think back to your childhood, back to the books you liked to read.
Remember your favorites? Chances are, series like "Nancy Drew," "The Hardy Boys," "The Bobbsey Twins" and "Tom Swift" were among them.
These days, kids still like series, finding comfort and entertainment in familiar characters going through their predictable paces.
By Barry Wilner, Associated Press writer
Here's a scary thought for AFC fans hoping that 12-year Super Bowl drought might end next January: the Bills are the best team in the conference.
Yep. The Bills, who contributed so mightily to that losing streak with four straight super flops, are likely to be back for another try. Just as likely, it will be a final try with the present group.
That group includes three players -- Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas -- almost certainly headed to the Hall of Fame. It also includes veterans Andre Reed and Kent Hull, mainstays of the 1990-93 AFC champs.
By The Associated Press
FOXBORO -- Bill Parcells said goodbye to another old friend yesterday as the Patriots cut nine players from their roster and acquired two from the Packers to reach the maximum of 53 players for the regular season.
The Patriots waived running back Corey Croom, quarterback Jay Barker, defensive end Troy Barnett, center Mike Gisler, cornerback Vernon Lewis, linebacker Alcides Catanho, offensive tackle J.R. Conrad, and wide receiver Ray Lucas.
Thoughts while trying to iron out the wrinkles in the Red Sox' postseason roster:
Rushing Roulette: The more I watch the Patriots tear through a meaningless exhibition season, the more it becomes obvious that the fate of this 53-man team could hinge on the performance of one man ...
Willie McGinest.
The converted linebacker has been a force at end in New England's revamped 4-3 defense. He is bigger (by about 25 pounds) and stronger than ever, but will he show up every week for a full four quarters? He'd better.
By Paul Kenyon, New England Sports Service
BOSTON -- One way or another, the Red Sox are making sure their fans see an entertaining game just about every day.
The show almost got a little too exciting yesterday.
Boston played superbly as it built an 8-0 lead through six innings against Seattle. The pitching, hitting and defense all were top of the line.
But it's not this team's style to win easily. The bullpen, which remains a major source of concern, let the Mariners back in and the Sox had to hang on for an 8-5 triumph.
When it comes to moving real estate in Hollywood, sometimes there's a downside to a celebrity association, particular if it's a murder site.
It was tough selling the Beverly Hills mansion where Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their parents and Nicole Brown Simpson's condominium is still on the market.
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