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Friends, and belivers. This night will go all too slow for me. A very dear friend of mine who, like me is a grad student, was hit by a vehicle this evening while commuting on her bicycle. Details are sketchy. Much talk of broken bones, surgery, and, thankfully of her waking up. Those of you who read this please lift up a prayer on her behalf. Her name is Yunae. I will be keeping vigil this night and be in reflection, prayer, and meditation. Yours in Christ, Starfire IV

Memphis Jury Finds Conspiracy Led to King Assassination By Sue Anne Pressley Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 9, 1999; Page A08 MEMPHIS, Dec. 8—After deliberating for barely three hours, a jury today decided that slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was the victim of an assassination conspiracy and did not die at the hands of a lone gunman. The verdict in Shelby County Circuit Court came in a wrongful-death lawsuit the King family filed last year against former Memphis cafe owner Loyd Jowers, who claimed in 1993 that he conspired with others to kill King at the ...

Emboldened Protesters Digging In On Vieques: Civilians Control Gate, Decry Clinton Decision By John Marino Special to The Washington Post Thursday, December 9, 1999; Page A03 VIEQUES, Puerto Rico—It was 8 p.m., time for a shift change at the U.S. Navy's Camp Garcia, so Emma Nieves grabbed a key from a makeshift table and ran with a fellow protester into the pouring rain to open the gate and allow security guards inside. The routine has been repeated every shift change since President Clinton decided on Friday to allow the Navy to train at the range for five more years--to get ...

It's a place of shelter, but not always a place of rest. At the Central Arizona Shelter Services emergency shelter in downtown Phoenix, the "clients" get little lounging time. Most are forced to bustle about with purpose all day. "This is a place for homeless people to sleep, but it's not a place for them to run away from life," CASS Director Mark Holleran said. "We provide shelter, but we insist that almost everyone who comes here spend time with a caseworker and establish a plan to get on their feet." And they must work. "Working is their ticket ...

It was worth a classic double take in the style of a '30s comedy: "Sid McCain," wrote Andrew Essex in the New Yorker for Dec. 6, "has the phone numbers for Pink Floyd and Puff Daddy." How's that again? Turns out it was not John Sidney McCain but Sid, "first-born daughter of the Republican presidential candidate from Arizona," who had the music stars' phone numbers, and that's because she is a senior publicity director at Capitol Records. The younger McCain's latest gig, Essex reported, "has been overseeing the winter press campaign for the rock band Megadeth. "If I ever ...

Print Edition Today's National Articles Inside "A" Section Front Page Articles On Our Site Top News/Breaking News Politics Section National Section Democrats Vulnerable On Trade WTO, China Issues Heighten Divisions By Thomas B. Edsall Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 9, 1999; Page A01 The outpouring of opposition to the World Trade Organization has severely shaken the free-trade wing of the Democratic Party, threatened grass-roots union support for Al Gore's presidential campaign and potentially undermined the party's hopes of retaking the House. The spectacular collapse of last week's WTO talks in Seattle could have a major impact on American ...

Boy's Father To Have Say (CBS) After days of bitter protest in the streets, Old Havana looked like its old self Wednesday as rumor hit the street: Cuba's smallest native son could be headed home. CBS News has learned Fidel Castro will allow the father of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez to meet privately with U.S. immigration officials as early as Thursday. "They have to return that boy to his family. It's as simple as that," said Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban national assembly. But as this week has proven, nothing is ever simple between Cuba and the United States, CBS ...

How does the hapless media pundit judge the winner of a presidential primary debate? Well, you start and end with who has the most money and who is up in polls currently. If the front runner in the polls and the money collection game does not drool on himslef in a debate he is proclaimed the winner. If this magic boy remembers his past, ghost written, speeches and is able to recite them whenever he is asked a question that might embaress him he is saluted for "dodging a bullet." No matter how unqualified, no matter how idiotic, now matter ...

Gunmakers Up in Arms Over HUD Plan to Sue Them Industry Points to Concessions Made on Safety, Blames U.S. for Poor Enforcement By Sharon Walsh Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 9, 1999; Page A02 The gun industry, already facing dozens of lawsuits filed by cities and public-interest groups, yesterday expressed frustration and bewilderment at the Clinton administration's plan to join those suits on behalf of the country's public housing authorities. Just a year ago, when New Orleans became the first city to ask for reparations for gun violence, the industry scoffed, dismissing the suit as the work of the ...

Yeltsin Arrives in China By CHARLES HUTZLER associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) -- Just three days after being discharged from the hospital, President Boris Yeltsin arrived in China Thursday to seek support for Russia's military campaign in Chechnya and help in countering U.S. global influence. A pale Yeltsin, arm-in-arm with his wife Naina, leaned heavily on the rails of the stairs while leaving his plane. After a few hours' rest, Yeltsin was to begin the first of several meetings with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Perhaps out of concern for Yeltsin's health, most of the meetings were to take place within ...

According to the latest Newsweek poll, Sen. John McCain is now in a statistical dead heat with Gov. George Bush in New Hampshire. McCain has courage and charisma - everything except an agenda. From the get-go, Bush decided he didn't need conservatives and ran blindly toward the middle of the road. His platform (if it can be dignified as such) is a puree of platitudes served on a bed of ambiguity. By contrast, there's nothing flaccid about McCain, who spent 5 years as a guest of the Hanoi Hilton. There's also nothing that offers hope to those longing for a ...

Tension Mounts Over Cuban Custody Battle: Cuban-Americans Say Boy Should Stay in U.S. By Geraldine Sealey ABCNEWS.com Dec. 8 — The rescue at sea of a 6-year-old Cuban boy has prompted an international custody battle between political enemies. Should Elian Gonzalez stay with his relatives in Miami, as his dead mother clearly wished, or return to communist Cuba at the request of his father? There is more at stake than the child’s future. For Fidel Castro, the fight for Elian is a symbol of Cuba’s national sovereignty. In recent days, Cubans have staged the biggest anti-American protests in Havana in ...

So your gonna sell us a President. None speak of Freedom. None speak of protecting the Constitution. None speak of protecting our borders. None speak of Liberty. None speak of our enemies. None speak of protecting our Jobs. None speak of protecting us. Forget the Drugs. All are afraid of the truth. All hide in the polls. All play the shell game. You got the money,I got the honey. All except Alan Keyes! What's it gonna take?

Campaign 2000 Ad Watch (CBS) The CBS New Political Unit is tracking the political commercials of the presidential hopefuls. Sean Richardson and Jane Ruvelson analyze the latest efforts of Democrat Bill Bradley and Republican John McCain. Living Room Health Care Candidate: Bill Bradley The Ad: The Bradley for President campaign is airing a new ad called Living Room Health Care in Iowa this week. The 30-second spot highlights Bradley's most ambitious policy proposal - on health care - in its most simple terms. This week, the campaign has purchased $113,876 of airtime to run this ad, along with two previous ...

Only intense objections from the Pentagon prevented the Clinton administration from advocating a permanent world criminal court when the president recently addressed the United Nations, according to the New York Times. No less a personage than U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan took the occasion to scold the permanent members of the Security Council for not averting earlier atrocities, and his pointed criticism of the failure to intervene specifically in Rwanda recalled that it was the U.S. which blocked action there five years ago. At the same time, he proclaimed that national borders can no longer hide injustice and that all ...

Pundits Feast On George W. By Eric Engberg (CBS) In this Reality Check, CBS News Correspondent Eric Engberg casts a critical eye on the pundit-friendly belief that George W. Bush is a wee bit slow on the uptake. You could have predicted months ago what the pundits would spew in their post-mortems of George W. Bush's initial debate performances -- easily. The bulk of the commentary would assess whether or not Bush countered the caricature that he is a lightweight, an empty suit. The pundits have not disappointed. George Stephanopoulos, ex-Clinton spin-meister, declared after the second debate that Bush "still ...

Ghanna, Ohio. Suburb of Columbus. December 8, 1999 Just announced on the late news: Gahanna Mayor, Jim McGregor, has authorized Principles and Vice-Principles of the city's school to carry firearms. McGregor sees the action as a deterrent to school shootings and has told his school administrators the final decision to carry firearms to school is theirs to make on an individual basis. More to come, I hope.

by Roberto Sanchez and Sally Macdonald Seattle Times staff reporters Former South African President Nelson Mandela and his wife, Graca Machel, arrived in Seattle this morning for a whirlwind three-day tour of the city, aimed at raising money for their charities, building bridges between Africa and Seattle's high-tech community and spending time with students and community groups. Mandela and Machel were greeted by the rousing cheers of about 800 schoolchildren, whom he encouraged to pay attention to their teachers, do their homework and stay away from drugs and alcohol. "If you do that you will be members of Congress. ...

President Tackles The Issues (CBS) President Clinton opened his last formal press conference of the year by announcing that Israel and Syria had agreed to a new round of peace negotiations. He cautioned that "success is not inevitable'' but that peace appeared to be "within our grasp." During an hour-long appearance at the Dean Acheson Auditorium at the State Department, Mr. Clinton said the talks, to start next week in Washington, will resume "at the point where they left off'' in 1996. He said he hopes they will lead to new negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. Mr. Clinton also addressed ...

Ex-Disney executive tried on US online sex charges Updated 8:13 PM ET December 8, 1999By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A female police detective testified Wednesday that she went to a rendezvous dressed to look like a schoolgirl to meet a Walt Disney Co. executive who thought he had arranged over the Internet to have sex with a 13-year-old. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Amber Braaten said she arrested Patrick Naughton, 34, on the pier in Santa Monica, an ocean side suburb of Los Angeles, after he identified himself and suggested that the two take separate paths to the ...