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By John Doherty, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- On Monday, when Michael Caplan accepted a plea bargain with the district attorney to drop the drunken driving charge against him, he was able to walk away -- free and largely unscathed -- from the events of January 7.
And while the district attorney and his critics argue about the fairness of that deal, a picture of what happened that night has emerged: a harrowing car chase through the icy city streets after a night of drinking; bottles, baseball bats and threats hurled from car windows; a horrific crash that killed Mr. Caplan's friend, 33-year-old Timothy Kinder.
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"Drink! Drink! Drink!"
The chant, students say, is commonly heard at college parties across the country. Students race to see who can shotgun a beer the fastest. Drinking games like Kings, Quarters, and Up and Down the River take place on coffee tables, floors and couches.
A student passes out on the floor.
"Is she breathing?" asks one.
"Yeah," says another.
"Then let her sleep it off."
By Mary Jo Curtis, Standard-Times staff writer
Ray Mello's thinking about getting a part-time job.
After 18 years of growing cranberries on 65 acres of bogs in Rochester, Halifax and Cape Cod, he's worried his income won't cover his expenses this year.
Indeed, there's a bitter harvest for cranberry growers this season.
By Ric Oliveira, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- Lackluster races could result in a lackluster turnout Tuesday, when the city's voters select finalists in the races for mayor and City Council.
Election Commissioner Maria Tomasia is not expecting a very large turnout on Tuesday but she's hoping for the best.
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Hank Seaman
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: I don't like Pat Desmarais and his WBSM radio talk show.
I don't like his shock-jock tactics. I don't like his sophomoric and outrageous negativity.
For people.
For politicians.
And most of all, for New Bedford.
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Dick White
NEWS ITEM (AP) -- Actor-director Warren Beatty says he won't let "monied, honeyed voices of ridicule " stop him from considering a presidential bid. In a speech to Hollywood's liberal elite, he promised to champion the cause of American liberalism whether he runs or not. He criticized the Democratic Party for looking Republican, and questioned whether Democratic candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley are true to the party's tradition.
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It was a story no one wanted to hear: Early in the Korean War, villagers said, American soldiers machine-gunned hundreds of helpless civilians under a railroad bridge in the South Korean countryside.
When the families spoke out, seeking redress, they met only rejection and denial, from the U.S. military and their own government in Seoul. Now a dozen ex-GIs have spoken, too, and support their story with haunting memories from a "forgotten" war.
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's president yesterday called for a joint U.S.-South Korean probe into allegations that American forces gunned down several hundred refugees at the start of the Korean War.
"We must be aggressive in unveiling the truth," President Kim Dae-jung was quoted as telling a meeting of senior presidential aides. "Investigating together with the United States will be more efficient."
DILI, East Timor -- The scale of the slaughter in East Timor can be known only when international observers secure the rest of the devastated region, the head of the U.N. mission said yesterday.
But the number of victims found so far is nowhere near estimates of up to 10,000 dead made by international organizations and Timorese activists at the height of the militia attacks that followed an overwhelming vote for independence from Indonesia on Aug. 30.
WASHINGTON -- Tony Coelho, Vice President Al Gore's campaign manager, misused airline tickets, gave his niece a federal job and received a $300,000 personal loan that may be repaid by the government -- all while he directed the U.S. pavilion at a 1998 exposition in Portugal, State Department investigators report.
FRAMINGHAM -- Former anti-Vietnam War radical Katherine Ann Power, who spent 23 years underground, walked out of prison yesterday after serving time for taking part in an armed robbery in which a police officer was killed.
She stepped out of the prison's front door and into a waiting car without uttering a word about what she plans to do with her future. But with her legal debt paid, one thing was certain -- she would be able to live as a free woman under her own name for the first time in more than 29 years.
Editor's Note: The Nirvana Economy? is an occasional series that examines the impact of America's unprecedented economic boom at home and abroad.
By David Crary, Associated Press writer
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Like it or not, Andrea Cooper is doing her bit to fuel the economic boom. She is 3 months old and heading to a day-care program so her mother can replace welfare payments with a $6.75-an-hour hospital paycheck.
"It's going to be tough," says Tonya Cooper, single mother of Andrea and three older children. "I feel bad leaving her so young, but I truly believe God is not going to put my children in the way of any harm."
Many of us have aunts and uncles and mothers who suffer from something called Depression Mentality. A cruel poverty seared the souls of those who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s and affected their habits ever after, even those who later became wealthy.
For the rest of their lives, they save everything -- bits of string, rubber bands, plastic bags -- just in case they should run out. Their guiding principle is: Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without.
By Robert Lovinger, Standard-Times staff writer
The elderly couple actually began gently bopping to the soft rock tune wafting down from above.
They stood surrounded by sponge mops, salt shakers and stacks of mismatched dinner plates.
They looked for all the world to be at peace.
They were in Building 19.
It's the hottest drug on pharmacy shelves, capable of giving middle-aged patients some of their youth back. Doctors have written more than 10 million prescriptions for it since January alone, and it's become the nation's fastest-selling new prescription drug ever.
Viagra? No, Celebrex, an arthritis drug hailed for being gentler on the digestive tract than previous pain relievers.
Given that an estimated 43 million Americans now suffer from arthritis -- about one in every six people -- it shouldn't seem surprising that a safer pain medication would be so popular.
By Richard Pyle Associated Press writer
NEW YORK -- The faces staring out from the page are leathery, chiseled, emotionally opaque. The names -- Goes Ahead, White Man Runs Him, Yellow Robe, Iron Hawk -- resonate as war cries and gunfire once did across the treeless hills of eastern Montana.
These Indians were there when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and some 200 U.S. cavalry troopers met death at Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. They were the Crow and Arikara scouts who rode with Custer, and the Sioux and Cheyenne braves who destroyed him that hot Sunday afternoon.
BOSTON -- Sami Kapanen and Kent Manderville beat Boston backup Robbie Tallas 1:20 apart in the second period last night as the Carolina Hurricanes sent the Bruins to a rare opening night loss, 3-1.
Boston was 9-0-3 in its previous 12 openers, the longest unbeaten streak in the NHL. But the Bruins took the ice this time without Byron Dafoe, a Vezina Trophy finalist from last year who is holding out while haggling over a new contract.
Jonathan Comey
I've been wary of making predictions about these 1999 Patriots. WAfter all, that's why they came up with the word "unpredictable," right? I figured the Pats would be good this year, and they have, but they have been good in such a weird way that its impossible to figure them out. They haven't figured themselves out, for that matter, which is why all the player quotes from Foxboro this week have been so cautious.
The defense has been streaky, the offense has been up and down, and the special teams is a mixed bag to boot -- who knows what this team really has.
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BOSTON -- It's been one of those years.
The season had barely begun when the bullpen closer was lost to injury. Then, like toy soldiers falling into a heap with sore little tin arms, the starters began to disappear for weeks and months at a time.
Position players haven't gotten a pass, either. The starting catcher blew out his elbow. The star shortstop pulled a hamstring and then a groin, twice. The third baseman hurt his knee. Infielders and outfielders alike found themselves back in Pawtucket trying to recover from this ailment or that surgery.
By The Associated Press
BALTIMORE -- Pedro Martinez pitched a scoreless inning in his final tuneup before the playoffs, backing a fine performance on the mound by his brother Ramon, and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 8-0 last night.
Damon Buford hit his third career grand slam, and Mike Stanley and Lou Merloni hit two-run homers for the Red Sox, who have already secured a wild-card berth and now are focused on preparing for Wednesday's playoff opener against Cleveland or Texas.
Dan Pires
You've heard the expression, "Make hay while the sun shines." Well, the Patriots are obviously doing just that, especially as it relates to the New York Jets, the defending AFC East champs.
With the Patriots standing on the precipice of a 4-0 start, and the Jets, at 0-3 and struggling to get just one win, the Patriots, understandably, are sitting pretty with two divisional wins in hand.
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The EPA sure got our attention this week in Massachusetts, as motorists joined long lines at vehicle inspection stations in response to the cracking of the regulatory whip. Because of continued smog and ozone problems, Massachusetts (and Rhode Island) are being forced to switch to much stricter vehicle inspection systems or lose federal highway money.
This, as we have pointed out before, will likely put most of the burden on lower-income households with older cars, where auto maintenance might take a back seat to spending on, say, food, rent and clothes for the children. This edict to clean up the air will not be much of an issue among people for whom keeping up with payments on well-maintained, late-model cars is not a problem.
Steve Urbon
Original Thought is the Original Sin of politics these days, and the They Just Don't Get It crowd of Washington pundits and pack journalists hardly knows what to do about the sinners. If a politician says something original or unexpected, his words are quickly isolated, dropped in editorial formaldehyde, dissected and sent off to the lab for analysis, like some kind of alien specimen. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush made an almost-off-the-cuff remark last week, a remark that for Republicans in Congress was like pouring water on the Wicked Witch of the West. Asked about whether Congress should delay tax credits for low-income families to save money this year, Bush said, "I don't think they ought to balance their budget on the backs of the poor." Compassionate conservatism makes its shocking debut.
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ORMOND BEACH, Fla. The Pentagon is having trouble recruiting qualified soldiers, and thinks the solution is to declare war -- a bidding war -- against private industry. But if we're concerned about staffing in the military, we should shift our focus to the nation's crowded classrooms.
Schools, and how they suffer at the hands of excessive military spending, were the focus of a hearing last week by Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont. What deserved more attention at the session was the idea that the military itself would be a main beneficiary of a shift in priorities.
Certainly, underage drinking is nothing new at UMass Dartmouth, or any American college, for that matter.
But last month's well-publicized "Cabinfest" festivities in Dartmouth -- interrupted by police from several towns -- have focused new attention on the phenomenon.
Many of the school's students don't see what all the fuss is about. In their estimation, buses were provided to ensure safe transportation, there were no violent incidents and no one got hurt. So where's the problem?
By Joanna McQuillan Weeks, Assistant features editor
Many armchair travelers dream of journeying to see the pyramids at Giza, a goal beyond their reach.
Howard Carter's discovery in 1922 of the tomb of King Tutankhamen and its treasure trove holds endless fascination for others.
The raw power of the cataracts of the Nile, and the exotic wildlife along its fertile shores, divert lovers of nature.
By David Germain, Associated Press writer
LOS ANGELES -- "American Beauty" could borrow and expand on Joseph Conrad's pivotal line from his novel, "Heart of Darkness": To "the horror, the horror," append "the humor, the humor."
Humor and horror blend seamlessly in this suburban family train wreck of a movie, the first in the fall and holiday torrent of films filling out applications for next year's Academy Awards.
By Lori Tobias, Scripps Howard News Service
It seems every city has a show home for the new millennium. Palo Alto, Calif., has the new ranch house. Better Homes & Gardens has set up Blueprint 2000 in Chapel Hill, N.C. And now, thanks to Celebrity Custom Homes, Home Magazine, Scholz Design, Slifer Designs and The Great Indoors, Denver -- actually, nearby Littleton -- has the New Family House.
Unlike other mammoth show homes, where space primarily serves the purpose of underscoring opulence, the New Family House is all about practicality, Home editor Gale Steves says. What makes the home noteworthy is that it incorporates high-end -- but not necessarily extravagant -- materials without compromising its family-friendly atmosphere.
Harvest time. To most of us it conjures up images of Pilgrims celebrating the first Thanksgiving or of our childhood apple orchard exploits. But for those who farm full or part time, the harvest can hold deeper meaning ... be it a business barometer, a test of one's mettle, or a piece of one's heritage. Last night as I watched the film "The Crucible," based on Arthur Miller's play about the Salem witch trials, I picked up on the importance of the harvest as character John Proctor spoke to his wife Elizabeth over supper: "I think if the crop comes good I'll buy Joseph Ward's heifer. How would that please you?" Naturally, she'd be pleased. Like any woman of the '90s would be to get a new refrigerator with the milk door in it.
LEH, India -- High on the rocks above, Yousuf Zaheer and his two fellow river guides were mulling the narrow channel of the Zanskar River, plotting a route for their three rafts of tourists through the twisting corridor of roiling water.
Danger lurked under the surface.
Unexpectedly, in moments, one raft overturned and careened out of control toward the rapids downstream -- with four people hanging on.
The New Hampshire primary is still months away, but presidential hopefuls are already walking the streets and shaking hands with the Granite State's voters.
But how did New Hampshire become so important in presidential elections? What makes it a crucial stop for presidential candidates on the road to the White House?
The Museum of New Hampshire History in Concord will try to answer these questions with a timely new exhibition exploring the origin, purpose and impact of the quadrennial first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
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