LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic

January 28, 1999, Thursday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A19, NATION BRIEFS COLUMN

LENGTH: 639 words

HEADLINE: NATION

BYLINE: From News Services

BODY:

GOP predicts flurry of Senate action after trial

The Senate's Republican leadership on Wednesday predicted a rush of legislative activity after President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial ends, including a 4.8 percent across-the-board pay raise for the military freshly endorsed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We need to get a burst of activity to show that we are attending to the people's business," Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said in a breakfast speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lott, R-Miss., also predicted early Senate debate on education legislation and on several bills, including the Federal Aviation Administration, crime, bankruptcy reform and financial services reform.

Two octuplets are upgraded to serious condition

The two largest of the seven surviving octuplets were upgraded from critical to serious condition and moved out of intensive care Wednesday. Echerem and Jioke Louis, a girl and a boy, were moved from the neonatal intensive care unit at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston to a nursery designed for tiny infants strong enough to survive outside the ICU. The other four girls and one boy remained in critical but stable condition in the ICU. The eighth baby, Odera, died a week after birth.

Oklahoma panel rejects plea from death row inmate

The Oklahoma state Pardon and Parole Board unanimously rejected clemency Wednesday for a death row inmate scheduled to be executed next week for three slayings he committed as a 16-year-old. The board voted 5-0 against clemency for Sean Sellers, 29, who is to die Feb. 4 for the murders of his mother, stepfather and a convenience store clerk in Oklahoma City. "I cannot imagine what I could say today that would cause you to have mercy on me," he told the board members. "The only thing I know to do is try to show you my heart." Sellers was 16 when he killed store clerk Robert Bower, 32, on Sept. 8, 1985. Sellers had told a companion, "I want to see what it feels like to kill somebody." On March 5, 1986, Sellers killed his mother, Vonda Bellofatto, 32, and stepfather, Paul Bellofatto, 43, in their bedroom.

Amtrak plans high-speed rail network in Midwest

Amtrak will spend $ 25 million to begin work on a high-speed rail network linking Missouri, Illinois and other Midwestern states, Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said Wednesday in Madison. Amtrak was to make its announcement today in Chicago, said Thompson, chairman of the Amtrak board. Plans call for the rail service between the nine Midwestern states on 3,000 miles of track at 110 mph, he said. The other states are Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Capitol police arrested man with tickets to Clinton trial

A Maryland man with tickets to the Senate impeachment trial was arrested last week when he tried to bring a bag containing two explosives and an 18-inch knife into the Capitol, The Washington Post reported in today's editions. Walter Wilson Johnson, 36, of Capitol Heights, Md., was stopped by Capitol Police on Jan. 20 when they checked the bag on an X-ray machine. Johnson was jailed without bond on charges of carrying a dangerous weapon and illegal explosives. On Monday, a federal judge ordered him held pending a psychiatric evaluation. One law enforcement source said Capitol police found two M-60 explosive devices in Johnson's bag.

Quayle quits board to gear up for presidential run

Former Vice President Dan Quayle has resigned from the board of Central Newspapers Inc., saying it would be a conflict of interest to hold the post while running for president. CNI publishes The Arizona Republic, The Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis News and other newspapers. Quayle announced last week that he is forming a committee to begin campaigning for the GOP nomination.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo - Jury selection continues in dragging-death trial
John W. King (center) smiles at a reporter's question as he enters a sheriff's car Wednesday in Jasper, Texas. He is one of three men charged in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr.

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