Today Tuesday Wednesday
, o
M ik.
High: 44
Low: 33
Precip: 0%
High: 47
Low: 37
Precip: 30%
High: 48
Low: 34
Precip: 20%
IN BRIEF
NBC Sports executive
injured in jet crash
MONTROSE, Colo. — NBC Sports
Chairman and President Dick Ebersol
survived a charter plane crash that
killed at least two people Sunday, NBC
said on its Denver affiliate KUSA-TV.
Montrose County sheriff’s officials said
three survivors, including Ebersol,
were seriously injured when the jet
crashed through a fence and burst into
flames at Montrose Regional Airport,
which serves the Telluride Ski Area.
Al-Zarqawi's terrorist group
claims Mosul slaughter
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq’s most
feared terror group claimed responsi
bility Sunday for slaughtering mem
bers of the Iraqi security forces in Mo
sul, where dozens of bodies have
been found. The claim raises fears
the terror group has expanded to the
north after the loss of its purported
base in Fallujah. Meanwhile, insur
gents attacked U.S. and Iraqi targets
in Baghdad and in Sunni Arab areas.
Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham
Saleh, said sticking to the Jan. 30
election timetable would be a chal
lenge, but delaying it would bolster
the insurgents’ cause.
Solar company looks to
relocate to central Oregon
REDMOND — A company in the
solar-power industry appears ready to
locate its new manufacturing plant in
central Oregon, adding to the area’s
hope of becoming a home to a cluster
of renewable-energy businesses.
Asirus Solar International, a photo
voltaic panel maker, is looking at light
industrial space in the Bend, Redmond
and Prineville area. The company
would hire at least 35 people.
“Our move to central Oregon will
depend upon arranging a suitable fi
nancing package, a task whose time
line is difficult to predict,” Douglas Par
sons, the company’s president and
CEO wrote in an e-mail to The Bulletin
of Bend newspaper.
The company makes thin-film pho
tovoltaic solar modules that convert
sunshine into electricity. The modules
can be used to provide electricity for
homes and commercial businesses.
Asirus’ target market includes rela
tively large, grid-connected commer
cial and utility PV power plants in
Noith America and relatively small,
off-grid rural solar home systems in de
veloping countries.
The company has operations in Fall
brook, Calif, and Bangkok, Thailand.
Those involved in renewable energy
and economic development in central
Oregon said the addition of another so
lar company will help promote the
idea of central Oregon as an emerging
renewable energy industry cluster.
“It is fantastic,” said Scott Aycock,
program administrator with Central
Oregon Intergovernmental Council.
“It doesn’t make the cluster happen,
but it adds fuel to the fire and it is great
timing,” he said.
Aycock added that Asirus under
went a global search for a new location
before settling on central Oregon.
Roger Lee, executive director of Eco
nomic Development for Central Ore
gon, said his organization has been
working with the company.
“What we are doing at this point in
time, since the company is in the early
stages, is connect them with people
that can help them financially, and we
are letting them know about the real
estate market,” Lee said.
— The Associated Press
Chinese coal mine blast kills
at least 25 workers, traps 170
High carbon monoxide levels and lack of communication
with the trapped miners are preventing a quick rescue
BYAUDRAANG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — An explosion tore
through a coal mine in central China
on Sunday, killing at least 25 miners
and trapping 170 others in tunnels
and shafts below without communi
cations, the government said.
Some 123 workers managed to
escape the state-owned mine, the
Xinhua News Agency said, citing
the State Bureau of Production Safe
ty. Some 45 were hospitalized, five
with serious injuries, Xinhua said.
The blast rocked Chenjiashan coal
mine in Shaanxi province at 7:20
a.m., when 293 workers were under
ground, the official Xinhua News
Agency said. The explosion was cen
tered around coal pits five miles from
the mine entrance, it said.
Most of the miners who escaped
were working close to the entrance,
Xinhua said, and many suffered
from carbon monoxide poisoning.
High levels of carbon monoxide was
preventing rescuers from reaching
parts of the tunnels.
Witnesses said they saw “huge
amounts of thick smoke pouring
from the mine’s ventilation vents,”
hampering rescue efforts, according
to the Web site of the Communist
Party’s People’s Daily newspaper.
Staff at Chenjiashan said commu
nications with the trapped miners
were cut off, the site said.
On its evening newscast, state tel
evision showed ambulances rushing
to the scene as huge crowds of peo
pie gathered outside the mine’s
main gate.
President Hu Jintao urged res
cuers to employ “all effective meas
ures” to save the trapped workers,
China Central Television said.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who arrived
at the ASEAN summit in Laos on
Sunday, said he was “extremely up
set” over the accident.
He said the cause of the explosion
would be thoroughly investigated
and the government would contin
ue to push for safer working condi
tions in the mines.
According to Xinhua, Chenji
ashan is capable of producing 1.3
million tons of coal a year.
China’s mines are the world’s
most dangerous, with thousands of
deaths reported every year due to
explosions, fires, cave-ins and flood
ing often blamed on lax safety rules
and lack of required equipment.
The government has vowed to
improve conditions and frequently
orders mass shutdowns and safety
checks after a fatal mine accident.
But despite the crackdown, acci
dents still happen on a near daily ba
sis. Chinese officials have suggested
that a countrywide energy shortage
may be pressuring the mining indus
try to raise coal production.
The worst mining accident in four
years occurred last month, when an
explosion in central Henan province
left 148 people dead.
It was sparked after mine opera
tors failed to realize that extending
Blast traps at least
166 coal miners
An explosion tore through the
Chenjiashan coal mine in central
China, sending billowing smoke
from air vents. Some 127
workers managed to escape.
MONGOLIA
_ JT
Mine
explosion
Beijing
jA
N/KOR.
SHAANXI
S. KQR.
SOURCE: ESRI
the mine’s shaft would greatly in
crease its gas level.
Also Sunday, 16 officials in the
Hebei province were charged with
helping to cover up a coal mine ex
plosion June 3 that killed 14 miners
and injured 23 others, Xinhua said.
It said the mine owner “collabo
rated with some local officials” to
give a false death toll to investiga
tors from the central government.
The owner was worried that if the
real figure was revealed, authorities
would shut down his mine and he
would lose money, Xinhua said.
The officials’ misconduct includ
ed failing to search passages for
more trapped miners and secretly
cremating five bodies.
Holiday Gift Guide
on stands Monday, December 6.
[ AP POLL |
Most say Roe v. Wade should be upheld
Less than two-thirds of people polled said the next nominee for
Supreme Court justice should uphold the court’s 1973 decision
to allow abortions in the first three months of pregnancy.
The 1973 Supreme Court ruling called Roe v. Wade made
abortion in the first three months of pregnancy legal. Do you
think President Bush should nominate Supreme Court justices
who would uphold the decision or overturn it?
31%
Overturn
10%
Not sure
Do you think the Supreme Court is too powerful, not powerful
enough, or does it have about the right amount of power?
23%
Too powerful
10%
Not powerful
enough
5%
Not sure
Do you think the next nominee to join the Supreme Court
should or should not publicly state his or her position on
abortion before being approved by the Senate for the job?
As you may know, Supreme Court justices are appointed for
their lifetimes and do not have to retire at a certain age. Should
there be a mandatory retirement age for justices or not?
NOTE: Poll of 1,000 adults taken between Nov. 19-21, margin of error ±3.1
SOURCE: Ipsos-Public Affairs for AP
iddlefielD
i• Golf Course
Tee time
942-8730
No tee times
484-1927
STUDENT SPECIAL
GOLF 9 HOLES *8
SECOND 9 HOLES $4
Students Only. Must show ID. (Monday - Friday)
<0
0et Tue*^
^VOne Day Only
SALE
on November ^Oth, 2004
$30 Off
any iPod bundle*
Please bring in, or mention, this
ad to receive this deal.
....plus get a Pair ofKoss
headphones and a Macally
Car Charger, Free**!
(SKU #136445/136543)
MAC
ORE
Apple Specialist
www.eugenemacstore.com
61 West 8th Ave. Eugene • 541.343.1434
Open M-F 9-6, Sat 10-5 and Sundays 12-4
While supplies last. See store for details. ‘Any iPod purchased with AppleCare. "After Mail in Rebate.
Images pictured in ad may differ slightly from products in the store.