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By Keith Regan, Standard-Times staff writer
Lillian Osborn recently underwent major surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Even with Medicare picking up part of the tab, the 14-day hospital stay could have cost her and her husband most of their life savings.
"If it wasn't for my Medigap insurance, I would have had to sell my house," said Mrs. Osborn as her husband, Mel Fish, loaded bags of groceries into the couple's car yesterday morning outside Stop & Shop in New Bedford. "The hospital can be so expensive. You can't go without it."
As the race for the 3rd Congressional District comes down to the wire, Democrat Jim McGovern is still trying to portray a vote for Republican Peter Blute as a vote for Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Blute maintains he has been an independent voice in the 104th Congress.
"We have been a reform Congress," Mr. Blute said last week. "My independence has continued through two terms, one as a member of the minority party and one as the majority," he said.
The Wareham Middle School Multicultural Club is taking on a special cause: helping to rebuild churches in Tennessee.
With that goal in mind, the club is sponsoring a "Blues Tea" with music by West Side Soul from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 3 in the WMS cafeteria. Tickets are $5 and can be obtained by calling Sandra Bell at the middle school at 291-3550.
Maybe you spent Saturday at a football game, a band competition or a part-time job. Well, three Fairhaven High School students took a different track.
Nicole Guerra, Noel T. Henebury and Corey Jones represented their school at the "Decision '96 Convention," held at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
The purpose of the event was to give high school students a first-hand opportunity to learn about the issues, candidates and the process by which we elect our president.
Hmmm.
Just sitting here thinking whether there is any way to string out the election campaign another month.
That thought came with all the subtleness of a sledgehammer recently while pondering the flood of goodies flowing down to the New Bedford waterfront recently.
When you think back on it, this year there has been an almost nonstop string of early Christmas presents for waterfront-related causes which have left this writer wondering what else might come down the pike if campaigning can be extended.
WAREHAM -- The fall town meeting continues tonight, with voters facing 15 more decisions as the meeting enters its third session.
The meeting resumes at 7 in the auditorium of Wareham High School.
Voters will be asked to distribute about $50,000 in recreation funds and approve a tax break for Navionics Inc., which plans to expand its location in the Wareham Industrial Park.
DARTMOUTH -- Conflict is a normal part of every relationship, whether it occurs within a family or among relative strangers, thrown together at a shopping center or school.
For years, teachers and counselors have tried to spread that message. And as the high school Peer Mediation program begins its fourth year, those adults now have 33 student allies.
Under the direction of local coordinator Kim Hebert, 11 student mediators recently completed training and are ready to help their fellow students understand that disagreement does not have to lead to tragedy.
By Robert J. Barcellos, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- "Women and Violence and the Church" will be theme for this year's World Community Day service of Church Women United.
The service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Martin Episcopal Church, County and Rivet streets.
"This year's ecumenical candlelight service," said the Rev. Pamela J. Cole, Church Women United president, "is a time of prayer for victims of domestic violence. It is a time to reflect on actions Christians can take to make the world a safer place for women and children."
WASHINGTON – The Immigration and Naturalization Service will announce this week that it deported a record 67,000 illegal immigrants during the past year, a 34 percent increase over 1995, as part of a continuing government campaign to crack down on illegals.
In California, deportations of illegal immigrants jumped about 50 percent to 30,000 during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
The INS is expected to release its full year-end deportation report tomorrow.
By Jim Abrams, Associated Press writer
WASHINGTON -- Calling Bob Dole a hero, Jack Kemp scolded fellow Republicans yesterday for appearing to abandon Mr. Dole in his "moment of need" to focus on keeping control of Congress instead.
With Election Day looming and Mr. Dole still well behind President Clinton in the polls, Mr. Kemp also made another plea to Reform Party candidate Ross Perot, beseeching Mr. Perot to drop out and throw his support to Mr. Dole.
"Ross, I beg you. You should be supporting the one man who can bring about these reforms in America," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
DETROIT -- Facing a midnight deadline, General Motors and United Auto Workers negotiators tried to complete a new labor contract yesterday to avoid a possible strike against the world's biggest automaker.
Talks were believed to be hung up on the union's demand that GM follow the job-security pattern set by national contracts signed by Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp.
MOSCOW -- President Boris Yeltsin signed an order yesterday relieving his former chief bodyguard and constant companion, Lt. Gen. Alexander Korzhakov, of his military duties, Russian television reported.
The report cited Kremlin officials and described the tone of Mr. Yeltsin's order as "harsh." Mr. Yeltsin's spokesman did not return telephone calls yesterday, and there was no confirmation from any other source.
By John Diamond, Associated Press writer
WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Ross Perot stepped up their attacks on the Clinton administration yesterday for allowing a convicted felon -- and major Democratic Party donor -- to attend a White House function last year.
Some of the GOP charges bent the facts. And the Secret Service said a criminal record does not preclude entrance to a White House event.
But the case of Miami drug dealer Jorge Cabrera fits neatly into GOP-fueled questions about President Clinton's ethical standards and into charges that the president has been soft on drugs.
WASHINGTON -- Major East and West Coast newspapers endorsed President Clinton for re-election over the weekend while Republican Bob Dole was more popular in the Midwest and South.
The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Examiner, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Maine Sunday Telegram and The Sunday Standard-Times in New Bedford, as well as newspapers in Hartford, Conn.; Seattle, and Portland, Ore., endorsed President Clinton yesterday. He also won the backing of The Des Moines Register and the Honolulu Advertiser. In New Jersey, President Clinton won endorsements from The Asbury Park Press of Neptune, The Courier-News of Bridgewater and The Times of Trenton.
LONDON -- President Clinton and Bob Dole have more in common than wanting to be president. They are distant cousins.
But President Clinton has a snootier pedigree, according to genealogists, who say that gives him an election edge.
Both President Clinton and Mr. Dole can trace their ancestry to King Henry III and Presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison, according to Burke's Peerage, a publishing house that traces the lineage of royal and noble families.
By Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press writer
CYANGUGU, Rwanda -- Tutsi fighters advanced on the eastern Zairian city of Bukavu Sunday, trading mortar and small-arms fire with Zairian defenders in the most serious fighting in months in the heart of Africa.
The governor of South Kivu province made a radio address urging residents to remain in their homes in Bukavu, the provincial capital at the south end of Lake Kivu.
But the fighting sent thousands of panicking residents fleeing west and north as Zairian troops clashed with Tutsi fighters, known as Banyamulenge, positioned only three miles to the south.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The thud of bombs and staccato bursts of anti-aircraft fire over the capital yesterday disrupted the wailful sound of morning prayers.
Fighter jets belonging to northern warlord Rashid Dostum made bombing raids over Kabul. His soldiers also battled the Taliban Islamic army on a second front in western Afghanistan.
SERRA PELADA, Brazil -- For six years since the last boom went bust, thousands of prospectors hung on in this hardscrabble Amazon mining town dreaming of a return to the earlier era of wild riches.
Just when the dream seemed within reach, the government snatched it away. Officials said a big new gold strike will be exploited by the giant state-run mining company and not the prospectors.
BOSTON -- The state's Division of Insurance, whose policies affect the pocketbooks of most Massachusetts residents, is likely to come under hostile scrutiny this week in a series of oversight hearings on Beacon Hill.
The agency, which regulates insurance companies, has been criticized for the way it handled several major state insurance issues and for making favorable deals with the insurance industry with little or no public input.
BOSTON -- Stung by a column questioning the circumstances of his greatest war triumph, Sen. John F. Kerry gathered his commanders and crew from Vietnam yesterday to rebuff what several called an assault on his integrity.
Mr. Kerry, visibly angered, recounted how he chased down a Viet Cong soldier in February 1969 and killed him as he was just about to fire a rocket into Mr. Kerry's Swift boat. The action earned him the Silver Star, the country's third highest honor for bravery.
The critical column, however, quoted the boat's forward gunner as saying Sen. Kerry actually finished off the soldier after the gunner wounded him.
BOSTON -- An unprecedented debate series aimed at educating voters about this year's major U.S. Senate candidates concludes today with polls showing the race deadlocked and a sizable number of voters still undecided.
Gov. William F. Weld and Sen. John F. Kerry, who already have debated seven times and also participated in a joint youth forum, are scheduled to meet one last time where it all began -- under the hot klieg lights and before a packed house at Faneuil Hall.
The one-hour debate, starting at 7 p.m., should be different from the others. Moderator Ken Bode, host of PBS-TV's "Washington Week in Review," will question the candidates for the first half, before Mr. Kerry and Mr. Weld conclude by questioning each other.
BROCKTON -- A wild melee broke out early yesterday at a Brockton party when police officers were confronted by an angry mob.
Police went to the party in a private home to tell people to quiet down and the fighting began an hour later when they returned at 3 a.m., said police Sgt. Joseph Picchione.
"The crowd moved in on the officers as they attempted to arrest a disorderly man," he said.
Twenty-five officers from surrounding communities and the state police responded to the officers' call for assistance.
Cash-strapped towns and cities in Massachusetts are edging toward charging new fees to homebuyers so communities can meet increased demands for schools, services and land preservation.
Cities and towns across the state are considering "land banks," municipal fees for new homeowners of between 1 and 4 percent of their home price to pay for public causes. Land banks and similar impact fees are seen as ways of raising money without raising taxes on everyone.
TOKYO -- American companies have trouble breaking into Japan's markets, according to the stereotype, because of everything from unfair trade barriers to finicky consumers.
But just the opposite has happened with American mail order catalogs -- Japanese shoppers are buying everything from L.L. Bean sportswear to Saks Fifth Avenue women's fashions.
These retailers are succeeding while other American businesses are still struggling because the merchants found a market where Japanese companies weren't fulfilling customer needs. Japan's own mail-order catalogs had been considered too stodgy.
By Catalina Ortiz, Associated Press writer
CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Apple Computer Inc., eyeing a future in which people get and share information in many different ways, is introducing two new computers based on its once-scorned Newton MessagePad.
The company today is launching a high-powered, top-of-the-line Newton designed for people traveling on business and a rugged, notebook-style device intended for schools.
Apple says the new computers, available early next year, are only the first in its series of "information appliances," an emerging class of products smaller, cheaper and more specialized than a traditional personal computer.
WASHINGTON -- It's shaping into the great debate for the 21st century: Can the world produce enough to feed another few billion people?
Agronomists and other scientists say yes, and they want more money to research everything from milk cows that also pull plows to hybrid potatoes.
Population activists and some social scientists say no and they believe the only solution is to limit the mouths to feed.
"We need to hear the gospel according to women."
Do I hear an "amen" to that? An alleluia?
My own "amen" upon reading the above headline was Pentecostal in its exuberance, and struck with not a little wonder for its source. It leaped out to me from Page 19 of the November "U.S.Catholic" published by the Claretians of Chicago.
By Sau Chan, Associated Press writer
Brother Craig Driscoll nurtures his soul with meditation, prayer and writing. But when he contemplates the corporeal, Brother Craig sounds more like an Army drill sergeant than a Roman Catholic monk.
"This monk is telling you, 'You have to deprive yourself,' " said Brother Craig, who lifts weights and runs four miles a day. "I'm saying you've got to make your health a priority."
Brother Craig knows all about sacrifice. Before he began a strict diet and exercise regimen two years ago, he could barely squeeze into a pew. Now he has written a self-help diet book, "Love Yourself so ... Hate the Weight."
By Ula Ilnytzky, Associated Press writer
This is no storybook castle.
The nondescript brick building is wedged between a meat warehouse and an auto repair shop in Harlem, with elevated train tracks looming nearby. The old, rickety elevator opens into a shabby, blue and pink lobby.
But beyond the door lies the fantasyland of every little girl, and many a big girl, too: the Alexander Doll Company.
Three huge floors hum with activity as hundreds of workers lovingly paint faces, glue eyelashes, coif hair, sew minuscule sequins on elaborate costumes, cut patterns and cobble tiny boots and shoes.
By Ernest Sander
Associated Press writer
It's barely 6:30 a.m. on a gray muggy day on Manhattan's patrician Upper East Side and 3-year-old Benji is out of sorts.
It's clear the minute he exits his Tudor-style high-rise. He shows none of the joie de vivre you come to expect from golden retrievers. His head slumps, and he lunges at fellow dogs.
At the other end of the leash is Jim Buck, pioneer in a field known as urban dog handling, principal of Jim Buck's School for Dogs and all-around dog adviser to Manhattan's gentry.
It's always Halloween in the Internet.
From virtual vampires and real-life ghost stories to information on classic horror movies, the World Wide Web is overflowing with scary stuff. You just have to know where to look.
By Aaron Nathans, Associated Press writer
When this pack of bikers rolls through a New England village on a crisp autumn day, there's no mistaking them for the Hells Angels or the Outlaws.
But they do turn some heads, riding atop 1880s-era high-wheel bicycles, their gay Victorian costumes and gleaming machines accenting the bright fall foliage.
These are the Wheelmen, a national club of bike-history buffs with a penchant for showing off their spokes.
TAUNTON -- Academica wasn't about to let this one get away.
Before a crowd of 1,100 yesterday, the Fall River team avenged a LASA Cup loss with a 1-0 win over Dinamo da Brava of Pawtucket in the Super Cup.
Herman Melo, in his last game as Academica's coach, was happy with his team's performance.
NEW BEDFORD -- Needing something to pump his team up on offense, New Bedford coach Manny Matos made a key adjustment at halftime that ignited the Whalers last night in a 3-0 win over GNB Voc-Tech.
"We had a lot of scoring opportunities in the first half, but we didn't capitalize on any of them," said Matos. "In the second half, we moved Paul Macaroco to midfield and we did a good job getting the ball to the wings.
Compiled from wire reports
FOXBORO -- The Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills at their own game -- a very close one -- and made the AFC East race extremely tight.
Just when it seemed the Bills were headed for their fifth three-point victory of the season, the Patriots scored two touchdowns in the last 1:25 for a 28-25 win last night.
Curtis Martin got the go-ahead touchdown on a 10-yard run. Then, with Jim Kelly trying to lead his 24th successful fourth-quarter comeback, Willie McGinest returned the first interception of his career 46 yards for another touchdown with 41 seconds remaining.
By Paul Newberry, Associated Press writer
NEW YORK -- It's a scene that's become all too familiar for the Braves.
Once again, they were sitting in a somber clubhouse after losing the final game of the season. Once again, they were trying to figure out why they fell just a little short of a World Series championship. Once again, they had missed a chance to ensure their legacy as one of the best teams in baseball history.
By Ben Walker, Associated Press writer
NEW YORK -- The bullpen was exceptional, as expected. Jim Leyritz delivered a big home run, Andy Pettitte threw a marvelous game and Paul O'Neill made a nifty catch.
The New York Yankees had it all -- pitching, hitting and fielding in one of the finest weeks in their history.
By Bob Hanna, Standard-Times staff writer
The biggest adjustment for Gokmen Kilincarslan has been getting used to pastoral life in Westport.
"It's not like Istanbul," said Kilincarslan, a member of the Westport High School soccer team, who came to this country with his family from Turkey 15 months ago.
"It is very quiet, a lot of trees, farms, cows -- it's country."
Which is a big change for a kid who grew up in Istanbul with its population of some 25 million. Istanbul is more like Boston, complete with a subway system, except that Boston is "10 times smaller," according to Kilincarslan.
MIAMI -- Jerry Jones went into his grudge match against Jimmy Johnson with a big advantage: the Dallas Cowboys.
The Super Bowl champions beat the coach who built them yesterday. Troy Aikman threw for 363 yards, including 12 completions to Michael Irvin for 186 yards, and Dallas dominated Johnson's Miami Dolphins 29-10.
Compiled from wire reports
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Washington Redskins' winning streak still in doubt, tight end James Jenkins looked across the huddle and saw a hungry running back.
"Terry had this look, like 'Man, I can't get started.' I could see it on his face," Jenkins said. "I said, 'Let's spring this guy.'"
A few plays later, Jenkins helped spring Terry Allen down the right side for a 32-yard touchdown run to put the game away in yesterday's 31-16 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Poor Elijah decided to study the candidates' views on education. I found him, scissors in hand and up to his elbows in newsprint. "I'm having a problem," he told me, as he tossed aside another 1968 Chicago riots retrospective.
He'd unearth a promising headline, "So and So Speaks Out on Education," and start clipping as he read. Except halfway through the article he'd give up in mid-snip. "This guy isn't saying anything," he'd report.
Poor Elijah wasn't entirely shocked. He doesn't have much to contribute himself when it comes to General Motors negotiations or computer scoring at the Olympics. That's because he doesn't know an awful lot about these things.
Multiple choice: The reason that Gov. William Weld is dropping his mean-spirited attack ad campaign against Sen. John Kerry is: 1. The ad campaign was planned to end around this time anyway; 2. Everyone who could be exposed to the ads has by now been exposed to the ads; 3. Polls told Bill Weld it would be a good idea to stop the ads.
The answer is: All three. Political advertising has a short life cycle. The advertising shifts with the moment, sometimes within 24 hours of an event. It was a sure bet that the ads attacking Sen. Kerry for alleged breaches of ethics that Gov. Weld would laugh at if applied to him (as they once were) had run their course.
NBC, having already gainfully employed Tori Spelling and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen in previous TV movies, once again dips into "Beverly Hills, 90210"'s teeming talent pool, as Brian Austin Green stars in "Her Costly Affair" (9 p.m.).
Mr. Green plays graduate student Jeff Dante, who develops a fatal attraction for his Shakespeare-criticism professor, Diane Weston (Bonnie Bedelia, who seems tired, distracted and bored -- she must have just finished reading the script). He says his favorite Shakespearean work is "Othello," which must be true, since he is, in the words of the play, "egregiously an ass."
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