News Briefs

U.N. Secretary Gen. Kofi Annan speaks at William & Mary

U.N. Secretary Gen. Kofi Annan spoke at the College of William & Mary Saturday, marking the school’s 310th anniversary. He urged the United States to seek consensus before taking military action against Iraq, adding that the United Nations is successful when there is strong U.S. leadership. He also noted that the threat of war by the United States persuaded the Iraqi government to re-admit U.N. weapons inspectors. Annan’s recommendations came after President George W. Bush asked other Security Council members to back military action against Iraq if Saddam Hussein’s regime does not disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction.

Former mayor indicted on murder charges

Charles Gilmore, former mayor of Pocahontas, a town in Southwest Virginia, was arrested Thursday on capital murder charges. Gilmore,72, is accused of hiring someone to kill a male, his wife and her teenage son in 1989. Prosecutors believe the killings were drug-related because the mayor thought the male was cooperating in a drug probe, which led to Gilmore’s conviction as a drug kingpin. In 1990, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and he was released nine years later. Gilmore served as mayor from 1968 to 1972 and again from 1986 to 1987.

Dell computer company says farewell to floppy-disk drives

Austin, Texas-based Dell computer announced Thursday that it will stop making floppy-disk drives standard equipment on its higher end computer desktop personal computers. Dell, the No. 2 personal computer maker, said floppy-disk drives had been overtaken by technologies offering greater storage capacity. Depending on customer response, other Dell models may lose the drive by the end of the year, spokesman Lionel Menchaca said. The first 5.25-inch floppy drive was introduced by Shugart Associates in 1976 in order to be compatible with IBM mainframe computers.

Cheetahs obsessed with Calvin Klein perfume

Female cheetahs at the Bronx Zoo in New York enjoy rubbing against tree stumps sprayed with Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men perfume. Diana Reiss, senior research scientist at the Conservation Society and co-chairman of its Wildlife Enrichment Program, said the zoo likes to enrich the animals’ lives by offering them different scents. The cheetahs also respond to inexpensive perfumes, but not as much.

Edge of shuttle wing recovered

Recovery crews found a leading edge of one of the wings of the space shuttle Columbia. NASA officials said Friday that it was not yet clear which side of the shuttle the piece came from. Trouble with the left wing is thought to have played a crucial role in the loss of the shuttle and its crew. More than 1,000 searchers in east Texas looked for pieces of Columbia. An amnesty for the return of stolen debris from the shuttle has expired. Those who have not surrendered their find will face federal prosecution. In Nacogdoches County, 42 people turned in shuttle pieces by the deadline. In all, 117 pieces of material were recovered. EPA agents are spread over 23 counties along a 250-mile corridor. Each agent has a thermal imager and a device that detects chemical plumes. NASA has asked searchers to be on the lookout for a hydrazine tank, which is unaccounted for.

Bush’s plan for military kids

School administrators say President George W. Bush’s plan for military kids is particularly galling because he is asking some parents of the children to get ready for war with Iraq. The proposal would stop the government from compensating schools nationwide for teaching children of military personnel who are not living on bases. The government currently helps fund public-school districts that educate these children to make up for lost local taxes. Robert Edmonson, controller of the Copperas Cover, Texas school district, said the plan would cost the county’s schools $9.5 million, about 20 percent of its operating budget. A total of 1,300 school districts receive federal aid for military students. Bush is also proposing to eliminate payments for children of civilians working on government property and children living in federally owned low-income housing projects. Amy Call, a spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the school districts are receiving property taxes to pay for the education since the students are living off-base on private property.

Proposal gone wrong in Colorado

Derek Monnig, 33, and Debra Sweeney, 34, lost a diamond-and-platinum engagement ring on top of a mountain in Colorado. The pair hiked to the top of South Bowl Keystone Resort and Monnig proposed. When he pulled out the box carrying the ring, however, the piece of jewelry fell out of his hand and down 12,000 feet of mountain. A fellow hiker called the ski patrol and stayed to help the couple find the ring. For three hours, six ski patrollers aided in the search. The couple returned the following day with a metal detector, but the ring did not turn up. The ring was insured.