_
world beat
Fate unknown
for plane crew
WASHINGTON (AP) — An
Air Force transport plane with
21 aboard went down Tuesday
in the Caribbean Sea off Hon
duras’ coast, and would-be
rescuers battled fog and foul
weather, the Defense Depart
ment said.
The C-130A transport, bound
for the Honduran coastal town
of Trujillo from Howard Air
Base in Panama, went into the
I
water about 11 a.m. EST, accor
ding to Lt. Col. Gene Sands, a
Defense Department
spokesman.
Sands said “no hostile action
was indicated.” He said it was
unclear whether the plane,
which he said was on a routine
troop transport mission, crash
ed or ditched into the sea. He
said there was no word on the
fate of the estimated 21 military
personnel aboard.
“They’re in the water,”
Sands said.
“We can’t even get in for sea
rescue because of the weather,”
he said.
The plane was part of the
440th Tactical Airlift Wing, a
reserve unit regularly based at
Billy Mitchell Field in
Milwaukee, he said. The Pen
tagon would not have updated
information until Wednesday,
he said.
An Air Force source, who
spoke only on condition he not
be identified, described the
flight as “a normal rotation of
people.”
The United States has been
holding joint military exercises
with the Honduran Army. The
next major one, Big Pine III, is
scheduled to begin this spring.
A starting date for the
maneuvers has not been set.
The United States has main
tained a troop strength
rangfrom 1,000 to more than
5,000 in Honduras since the ex
ercises began, following the
1979 revolution that placed the
Sandinista government into
power.
WHEN YOU MOVE AROUND
AS OFTEN AS I DO,YOU CAN’T
AFFORD TO GET FILLED UP.
Ken Brett
Ex. Ex, Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex.
Ex. Ex-Baseball Player
i
Wyden urges
15-hour polling
WASHINGTON (AP) — U S.
Rep. Ron Wyden of Oregon in
troduced legislation Tuesy re
quiring establishment of
uniform poll closing hours for
presidential elections.
The bill, the Fair Voting
Rights Act, calls for a 15-hour
voting day running from 8 a.m.
to 11 p.m. in the East and from 5
a.m. to 8 p.m. on the West
Coast.
"The only way we are going
to get uniform poll closing
legislation through the Con
gress is to make it simple and
workable," Wyden said. "My
legislation requires East Coast
polls to stay open only three
hours later than they do current
ly and West Coast polls to open
only three hours earlier than at
present.”
Wyden, a Democrat from
Portland, said the need for such
legislation was demonstrated
last fall when the outcome of
the presidential election was
reported before West Coast polls
closed.
“With computers and
sophisticated polling techni
ques, national elections are be
ing called earlier and earlier,"
Wyden said.
Both President Ronald
Reagan and Democratic
challenger Walter Mondale
agreed not to make any election
night statements until polls
closed on the West Coast.
"But that didn’t stop the net
works from calling the election
by 5 p.m. Western time,”
Wyden said.
Last week, the House Elec
tions Task Force announced
that the three major networks
had agreed not to use exit polls
to project or characterize elec
tion results in a state until the
polls close in that state.
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Wednesday, January 23, 1B85