Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
November 16,
2000, THURSDAY, Midwest Edition
SECTION:
NEWS; IN BRIEF; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 515 words
BODY: Catholics urge justice reform
The
U.S. Roman Catholic bishops Wednesday called for sweeping
reforms in the nation's
criminal justice
system, rejecting the increasing use of mandatory sentences and the death
penalty and advocating an approach that includes compassion for crime victims
and rehabilitation for criminals. The bishops also approved statements during
their annual fall meeting denouncing mistreatment of immigrants and encouraging
Catholics to welcome them into their parishes.
Feds indict fugitive
Rudolph
Serial bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph was indicted
Wednesday, nearly three years after he vanished in the North Carolina mountains,
for deadly bombings beginning with the blast at the 1996 Olympics. The federal
indictments formalize charges filed previously against Rudolph for the death of
a policeman at an abortion clinic in Birmingham and for three Atlanta bombings,
including the explosion that killed a woman at Centennial Olympic Park. "Now
that he has been indicted, when Rudolph is arrested he will proceed immediately
to trial," U.S. Attorney Doug Jones said. Galapagos stations seized
Fishermen protesting limits on their lobster catches seized control
Wednesday of the Charles Darwin Foundation's research stations on the Galapagos
Islands. Fernando Espinoza, director of the foundation, said the fishermen had
seized offices, installations and volunteer stations on the islands of Isabela,
Santa Cruz and San Cristobal. He said the fishermen caused minor damage. No
injuries were reported.
South to get fire-ant eater
A tiny
Brazilian fly whose larvae literally eat the heads off of fire ants will be
unleashed across the South under a government program to control the vicious
ants that are a spreading menace to homeowners, farmers and wildlife. The
Agriculture Department, which claims the gnat-like phorid fly is of no danger to
anybody or anything other than fire ants, announced plans Wednesday to release
hundreds of thousands of them in the South and possibly in California, where the
ants have spread.
Boston targets mercury
The Boston City Council
voted to ban the sale of mercury thermometers Wednesday, joining a nationwide
push to remove them from America's medicine cabinets as a threat to lakes and
streams. The mercury often enters the environment after the thermometers are
incinerated or disposed of in landfills, health activists say. The resolution,
which passed unanimously, still needs approval from Mayor Thomas Menino, who has
not taken a position.
Women advancing, study says
Gains in
education and income and an increased presence in politics helped women boost
their economic and social status in recent years, especially in New England and
the West, a new study says. Yet even states rated highly in the new report must
progress in order for women to gain equality with men, said Heidi Hartmann,
president of the nonprofit Institute for Women's Policy Research. "Overall we
have found that American women are on a slow and uneven road to equality,"
Hartmann said in releasing the report Wednesday.
LOAD-DATE: November 17, 2000