Government blinks; Elian
departure delayed
MIAMI (AP) — Elian Gonzalez’s
great-uncle defied the government
Thursday and the government
blinked, letting its deadline to col
lect the boy pass and agreeing to a
delay that averts a law-enforce
ment showdown for now.
In Little Havana, thousands
cheered wildly at the news.
Attorneys for Elian’s Miami rela
tives claimed victory after a federal
appeals court issued a stay block
ing anyone from taking the boy out
of the country. The Justice Depart
ment, though, said it had agreed to
a delay of “three or four days.”
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals told the government to
respond to the stay by 9:30 a.m.
Friday, giving great-uncle Lazaro
Gonzalez’s family another day
with Elian at the very least.
Lazaro “feels relief,” family
spokesman Armando Gutierrez
said, “at least until tomorrow
morning.”
Thursday’s court action capped
a fluid, electrifying day that began
minutes after Lazaro Gonzalez
dared the government to take
Elian by force. In less than 24
hours, the Miami relatives met
with Attorney General Janet
Reno, publicly announced their
defiance of her, allowed Elian to
speak on TV and ignored a 2 p.m.
deadline to deliver him to an air
port for return to his father.
Last body removed, aircraft’s
flight recorder found
MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — Inves
tigators hope a flight data recorder
recovered from a burned MV-22
Osprey will help unravel what
caused the crash and explosion
that killed 19 Marines.
The so-called black box was re
covered Wednesday. Investigators
from the Naval Safety Center
were to accompany the recorder
to manufacturer Smiths Indus
tries Aerospace in Grand Rapids,
Mich., where the raw data will be
analyzed.
“I think they’re optimistic that
because of the presence of an air
craft flight data recorder, we may
actually be further ahead than we
would be in a military accident,”
said Maj. Patrick Gibbons, a Ma
rine Corps spokesman in Wash
ington. “Most military aircraft do
not carry such a device.”
Agents break up Mexican
Jamaican drug ring
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mak
ing dozens of arrests, federal drug
agents on Thursday broke up a Ja
maican-led narcotics ring that
employed bribed FedEx drivers
in a scheme to distribute 121 tons
of Mexican marijuana to East
Coast markets.
The Drug Enforcement Admin
istration said FedEx’s top officials
fully cooperated with the 18
month investigation, which has
led to the arrests of 101 people
since it began.
The latest arrests began shortly
after midnight Thursday and that
by late afternoon there had been 45
arrests, 22 of them FedEx employ
ees, DEA agents said at a news
conference. Rod Benson, assistant
special agent of the DEA’s special
operations branch said he expect
ed an additional 10 or 15 arrests.
Agents said the arresting officers
also seized two tons of marijuana
in West Coast warehouses, one un
der control of the Mexican group
and another controlled by the Ja
maican traffickers. They also
seized 18 firearms and more than
$4 million in cash and assets.
Donnie R. Marshall, acting
DEA administrator, said that the
operation marks the first time that
marijuana smugglers have used a
single, private, overnight-express
delivery service as a distribution
network.
Series of bomb threats
leave workers concerned
HERMISTON (AP) — Bomb
threats have stopped construction
nine times in the past six weeks at
an Army depot where workers are
building an incinerator to destroy
millions of pounds of deadly chem
ical weapons stored at the base.
No bombs have been found.
The FBI and Army authorities
have declined to comment on the
investigation.
Some workers at the Umatilla
Chemical Depot said they are
mostly unfazed, worrying less
about a leak of nerve agents than
about the loss of pay.
“I’m sure that there are some
that are scared. And if they found
that guy, he’d be lucky to get off
that site,” electrician Joe Vande
car said. “But as far as feeling
threatened, no, no, not a bit.”
Since Feb. 28, nine threats have
been called in or been broadcast
over two-way radios used at the
site. Each time, construction has
been halted, with workers briefly
evacuated to a safe area or sent
home for the day.
Flag compromise passes
South Carolina Senate
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State
lawmakers have taken a key step
toward removing the Confederate
flag from the Statehouse dome, but
the NAACP said today that the
move won’t end a racially tinged
controversy that led to a punishing
tourism boycott and new scrutiny
of Southern heritage.
The state Senate approved a
compromise bill on Wednesday,
exactly 139 years after the Civil War
began when Confederate troops
fired on Fort Sumter, the federal in
stallation in Charleston harbor.
The vote was 36-7. All oppo
nents were Republicans.
“This is one more hurdle that
has been overcome,” said Demo
cratic Gov. Jim Hodges, who sup
ports flag removal.
The bill would remove the ban
ner from the dome and place a
similar battle flag behind an exist
ing monument honoring Confed
erate soldiers in front of the State
house.
The flag would fly from a pole
no taller than 20 feet — shorter
than the monument in front of it
— an element added to satisfy
black lawmakers and others who
did not want the flag in a promi
nent position to passers-by. Six
black lawmakers were among
those voting for it.
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