By Alan Bernstein, Political Writer Lee Brown, who moved to Houston three times during his restless career, will now move into the mayor's job. Brown, the former police chief, defeated businessman Rob Mosbacher in Saturday's runoff by a modest margin considering local mayoral races of the last 25 years. With a complete but unofficial count of the vote, Brown got about 52 percent, leaving Mosbacher with about 48 percent. After notching a series of "firsts" in his academic and law enforcement, Brown becomes the first ethnic minority elected mayor of Houston. Blacks, Hispanics and AsianAmericans make up more than 60 percent of the city's population. [continues 1057 words]
By Thaddeus Herrick SAN ANTONIO A federal grand jury is hearing evidence in the death of an 18yearold high school student who was shot by antidrug troops patrolling the U.S.Mexico border near the West Texas town of Redford last May. The grand jury, which is expected to reconvene in Pecos next week on the Redford matter in addition to other cases, is part of a civil rights investigation into the death of Esequiel Hernandez by the U.S. Department of Justice. [continues 361 words]
by Bill Lueders Kathleen Chippi believes she is the victim of theft. But she can't report it to the Milwaukee Police Department. That's who she's accusing of ripping her off. "Theft is theft," she says. "You can't have police officers walk in, disregard the law and steal a legal product." On Nov. 12, Milwaukee police intercepted a UPS package bound for Madison from Chippi's company, One Brown Mouse Heavenly Hemp Foods in Nederland, Colorado. The shipment included a 50lb. bag of sterilized hemp seeds, as well as hemp seed oil, hemp cookies, hotcake and pizza mix. [continues 710 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) President Clinton's AIDS advisers are set to issue a harsh report card Sunday accusing the administration of letting down its guard in the fight against AIDS. ``Progress in the federal response to AIDS has stalled in recent months, contributing to a sense of diminished priority for AIDS issues during the president's second term,'' said a draft of a progress report to be approved Sunday by the Presidential Council on HIV/AIDS. The report cites the administration's failure to expand Medicaid to get AIDS fighting drugs to people infected with the HIV virus and accuses Clinton of lacking ``the courage and political will'' to fund programs for drug addicts to exchange dirty syringes for clean ones. [continues 506 words]
By Tom Brown BOGOTA, Dec 6 (Reuters) Colombia faced a new round of drugrelated terror on Saturday after selfidentified members of a group called ``The Extraditables'' said they had kidnapped President Ernesto Samper's press secretary and a reporter. Police said they were unable to confirm the authenticity of the claims, made in a series of telephone calls to local radio and television news programs. The whereabouts of Samper's press aide, William Parra, and of Luis Eduardo Maldonado, a reporter with the RCN radio news network, have been unknown since they left the Casa de Narino presidential palace together late on Thursday. Authorities said the phone calls to local media outlets were the only leads they had in the case. [continues 447 words]
Twoyear 'Epidemic' Still On Rise, Experts Say Some Law Officials Wary Of Reported Usage By Teresa OwenCooper, The Gazette Methamphetamine use in El Paso County is three times higher than the Colorado average and continues to rise, local and state public health officials say. Methamphetamine is the third most popular drug in the county, with 15 percent of drug users in treatment programs saying they snort, smoke or inject the white powder. Statewide, 5 percent of drug users in treatment programs say methamphetamine is their drug of choice. [continues 622 words]
To the editor: The death of RCMP Const. Joseph Luc Francois Carriere is yet another sacrifice to the futility of drug prohibition. It's time to realize that the more we pursue the Puritan delusion of a "drug free" society the worse societal conditions will become. The loss of Joseph Carriere and a hundred more good men like him will not rectify the error of a braindead drug policy that causes a hundred times as much trouble as the drugs themselves. It's time to end drug prohibition! Redford Givens San Francisco Via the Internet [end]
