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By William Corey, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- Supporters of Muriel Sargent, the 70-year-old Bay Village cat owner, protested her pending eviction in front of New Bedford Housing Authority headquarters yesterday.
The small crowd carried signs which read "Evicted at 70. What's the crime? Cats," and marched into the lobby looking for Housing Authority Executive Director Joseph Finnerty, whose secretary said he was "not available."
NEW BEDFORD -- When Ernesto started working full time several years ago, he thought his family's financial problems were over.
But every Christmas and New Year's, for two weeks his family has to relive the "bad old days" when he had no money, he explains.
"It's a hard two weeks. I have no income," said the 38-year-old man, with the rough hands of someone accustomed to hard work.
By Rachel G. Thomas, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- With their school literally falling down around them, some Roosevelt Junior High School staff members are calling for a city inspection to see if the building is safe.
"I think this is one of the worst school buildings in the city," said Jean Duval, president of the New Bedford Educators Association, the teachers union. "It is decaying from the inside out. There isn't a window in the school that doesn't leak."
Those aren't the only problems, said staff at Roosevelt, located in a working-class section of the city's South End.
By Natalie White, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- Twelve-year-old Ashley Vargas had poise. He had presence. He had friends.
He also had AIDS.
Ashley died earlier this year.
Last night's New Bedford World AIDS Day 1997 celebration, "Children Living in a World with AIDS," was dedicated to the youngster, who contracted the deadly disease at birth, and to other children infected and affected by the disease. Similar celebrations and observances were held throughout the world yesterday to draw attention to AIDS.
More...
By William Corey, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD -- Outgoing Mayor Rosemary S. Tierney yesterday pledged her cooperation to Mayor-elect Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. in the transition from one administration to another.
Mr. Kalisz, who beat Mayor Tierney last month by earning nearly 60 percent of the vote, met with his former opponent to discuss sharing of information and access to department heads in the five weeks before he officially takes office.
People who worked with Rachel Holland remember her as a mentor, a source of strength, and a quietly persistent advocate for racial justice and higher education.
The former Bristol Community College professor died Sunday after a protracted bout with cancer.
"She was an exceptionally gifted teacher and counselor of people, and she definitely left a mark on the institution," said Eileen Farley, president of BCC.
NEW BEDFORD -- Cliftex Corp. will use Caribbean labor only for new business, its chairman said yesterday, as company officials made clear they want to keep its 660-person work force in the city and make the company grow.
"All our new business cannot be made in New Bedford," said Domenick A. Nicolaci, the chairman of the Cliftex board of directors. "This is new business to keep our old business."
By Joseph Schuman, Associated Press writer
PARIS -- AIDS activists around the world marched, prayed and wore red ribbons yesterday to mark the ninth World AIDS Day -- while AIDS victims in poor nations did what they did every day: Lived, struggled and died in obscurity.
Yesterday, at least, their lives were honored.
President Clinton observed World AIDS Day with an appeal to America's young people not to "let HIV keep you from reaching your dreams."
More...
DENVER -- Prosecutors neared the end of their case against Terry Nichols yesterday with an FBI chemist testifying that traces of explosive fertilizer found on a Ryder truck panel after the Oklahoma City bombing were caused by the blast -- not contamination.
Prosecutor Larry Mackey said the government planned to rest today after calling one more witness, a Marine recruiter who survived the bombing. Defense attorneys will begin their case immediately afterward.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq said yesterday it will reject any renewed oil-for-food program unless the United Nations ensures that the United States will not block humanitarian purchases allowed under the deal.
Iraq has "received commitments" from other countries that the program's procedures will be changed to help keep Washington in check, Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said. He did not elaborate.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two astronauts will go on a second spacewalk Wednesday to conduct crucial space station tests that had to be scrapped because of last week's satellite rescue.
NASA managers yesterday approved the five-hour spacewalk for the crew of space shuttle Columbia. It will be NASA's last spacewalk before construction begins next summer on the international space station.
WEST PADUCAH, Ky. -- A 14-year-old boy who warned last week that "something big's going to happen" inserted earplugs, drew a gun and shot eight students who just ended a prayer meeting in a high school lobby yesterday.
Two girls were killed and a third was in critical condition.
The boy, who had three spare clips of ammunition and four other guns, surrendered when Ben Strong -- a pastor's son and leader of the prayer circle -- grabbed the teen after he stopped shooting.
KYOTO, Japan -- After two years of preliminaries, the world's governments got down to the final critical round of negotiations yesterday on controlling energy use in the 21st century to protect the planet against global warming.
In what promises to be 10 days of hard bargaining, the United States opened the bidding with a surprise shift of position that cheered Japan, dismayed Europe and put environmentalists on a green alert.
OSLO, Norway -- Building a global movement against land mines, pushing through a treaty to ban the weapons and winning a Nobel Peace Prize -- all in six years -- was the easy part.
Now comes the laborious and expensive task of getting rid of the tens of millions of land mines buried around the globe.
By The Associated Press
BOSTON -- They're only in the sixth grade, but a class of 11-year-olds at Boston's Maurice J. Tobin School has been promised free tuition at Northeastern University.
To collect the prize, the students must graduate from high school and meet Northeastern's entrance requirements.
BOSTON -- The state yesterday paid off the final installment of the $1.4 billion in deficit-reduction bonds it floated when the "Massachusetts Miracle" went bust.
The occasion highlighted the improved local economy -- and renewed a debate about who is responsible for the turnaround.
BOSTON -- Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II firmly denied interest in a Cabinet post yesterday, but not before delivering a Cabinet-style denunciation of budget cuts made by the Republican majority in Congress.
The Democratic congressman, mentioned locally as a possible pick for secretary of Health and Human Services or secretary of the Department of Energy, said he had not been contacted by the Clinton administration about either post, nor did he have any interest in them.
BOSTON -- A Russian-born family that endured political persecution and debilitating illness has survived its toughest challenge yet: overcoming red tape that kept family members in separate countries for the last four years.
Liana Shakhverdova, 31, arrived in Boston Saturday and was reunited with her parents four years after flying to Moscow for what she thought would be a brief errand.
BOSTON -- A group of Massachusetts doctors, nurses and medical students planned to dump annual reports of for-profit hospitals into Boston Harbor today to protest cost-cutting in an imitation of the Boston Tea Party.
The 3,000-member Ad Hoc Committee to Defend Health Care is calling for an end to corporate takeovers in medicine and a return to "Samaritan traditions and community roots."
NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones average soared nearly 200 points yesterday to close above the 8000 mark for the first time since the selloff in October as investors welcomed signs of a cooling economy and an easing of financial strains in Asia.
The Dow rose 189.98 -- its fourth-largest point gain ever -- to 8013.11 in heavy trading, with banking and financial stocks leading the surge.
The volume at the New York Stock Exchange was 589.67 million shares.
WASHINGTON -- The online industry, hoping to keep government intervention at bay, promised yesterday to do more to help parents keep Internet smut away from their kids.
Building on pledges made to President Clinton in July, industry groups at a three-day meeting discussed how to educate parents about anti-smut screening and how to highlight Internet sites that are clean enough for kids.
NEW YORK -- Oil futures prices fell sharply yesterday on concerns that OPEC's decision to raise its production ceiling will create a glut on world markets. Gasoline and heating oil futures also dropped.
The contract for January crude oil fell 49 cents to settle at $18.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
FALL RIVER -- For 10 years the Fall River Office of Economic Development has tipped its hat to a top Fall River company by awarding it the business excellence award.
Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. said nominations for the prestigious award are usually accepted until Nov. 30 but this year he and FROED have extended the deadline to Dec. 12.
The contest seeks to honor businesses that make the city "an excellent place in which to work and live."
WASHINGTON -- Under fire from Capitol Hill and organized labor, the Federal Trade Commission decided yesterday that products bearing the "Made in USA" label must be produced almost entirely with U.S. labor and materials.
To meet the challenges of a global economy, the commission proposed in May that companies could use the label if a product had more than a small amount of foreign content and labor. Under that proposal, merchandise with as little as 75 percent U.S. parts would be eligible.
By Anne Saita, Standard-Times staff writer
WAREHAM -- The gals at the Forestview Nursing Home couldn't stop gabbing -- or gawking -- as they viewed glamorized versions of themselves, searching for that one picture proof that said it all.
Pauline Colwell consulted with several people before finally deciding on the Super Shot featuring her, in impeccable makeup, carefully curled blonde hair, wearing a white velvet, off-the-shoulder number with a matching boa.
Next to her, Lucy Gonsalves scrutinized her smiles with the same intensity she'd just shown her bingo cards before being pulled away for the proof preview. "I don't know," she mumbled, eyeing all the pictures and then pointing to one, "I think my smile looks a little artificial in this one."
By Teah Mazzoni, Standard-Times correspondent
WAREHAM -- Wareham Middle School students have something new to grab their attention on the way to lunch.
Instead of thinking what they will eat for lunch or what friends they will see in the cafeteria, the students are marking the progress of a mammoth mural in the making.
Just walking to the cafeteria is a project in itself these days. The upper ramp to the cafeteria is covered with drop cloths, scaffolding and ladders. The lower ramp is also covered, along with paints and brushes.
| Index |
By Eric Gongola, Standard-Times staff writer
Offense wins fans, but defense wins soccer games.
That seemed to be the message South Coast Conference coaches were sending when they unanimously voted Helder Porto the No. 1 player in the league for the second straight season.
As one local coach put it, "I was leaning torward Sean Kelley of Apponequet, but my own team captains convinced me to go with Helder. They told me, 'If you're looking for the best player, it's Porto."
A knock against Kelley? Not by a long shot.
By Ed Duckworth, New England Sports Service
FOXBORO -- Pete Carroll decided to give the New England Patriots a break from their normal practice schedule yesterday, but not for the reasons you might suspect.
"This not a gift to them in any way," the coach said after announcing that his players had been excused from their normal running and watching of tapes of Sunday's game at Foxboro Stadium.
By The Associated Press
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley scored two goals against his old team, leading the Hurricanes to a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Monday night.
Wesley's goal at 2:09 of the second period was his third this season and proved to be the game-winner against Boston, which traded him to the then-Hartford Whalers in 1994.
Maybe it's time to lower expectations.
Because I'm getting really sick of hearing the same drivel after every game.
You know what I'm talking about.
All those remarks by the Patriot players about how they have to stop making dumb mistakes. About how they know they're better than this. All those remarks about how they have all the talent in the world but are just not playing well right now. Blah, blah, blah.
By Chris Sheridan, Associated Press writer
For the most part, the NBA began December with a day of rest. Everybody deserved the breather.
From Scottie Pippen's trade demand to Isiah Thomas' career change to injuries sidelining Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon to A.C Green's consecutive games streak to the furor over sagging uniform shorts, the first month of the season brought all sorts of turbulence.
And now, December is starting a little wacky, too. The only game on the schedule Monday night was the tied-for-first-place New Jersey Nets vs. the tied-for-first-place Utah Jazz.
It's me again, the anti-drug addict. I'm writing, as always, in regards to drugs and drug abuse in the New Bedford area, something that we tend to ignore, and pretend doesn't exist in New Bedford. I previously worked as an instructor in the New Bedford Public schools. And what alarmed me the most is/was the number of administrators who pretend that drugs are not a problem in their schools. One administrator flat out told me, "Drugs are a problem in other schools in New Bedford, but it is not a problem in our school."
THE STORY SO FAR: Amanda's thievery has put all the Boulder animals in danger. Philip doesn't know what to do.
Philip was so alarmed by the police chief's words and what Judge Peebles had given the police permission to do --get rid of the park animals -- he stayed very close to the caboose for two days.
He did tell his mother about his trip to court. "Everybody's in trouble," he said. "And it's all Amanda's fault but I still don't know what to do about her. I'm really desperate," he admitted. "I almost wish I never knew about any of this stuff."
By The Associated Press
PARIS -- Stephane Grappelli, a French jazz violinist who helped shatter jazz's image as an exclusively American art form, died Monday. He was 89.
Grappelli was the last surviving member of the Hot Club Quintet -- the rage of European jazz fans in the 1930s when he teamed up with Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Having begun his musical career at 15, Grappelli tirelessly performed into the 1990s, recording more than 100 albums.
What do Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and comedian Ellen DeGeneres have in common? How about effervescent talk-show host Kathie Lee Gifford and the professionally reticent Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan? Find out when Barbara Walters presents "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 1997" (10 p.m., ABC). This annual roundup is always a little bit arbitrary and absurd, but it's a good chance to look back at the year's events and personalities. In addition to those mentioned above, this year's list includes cloning expert Dr. Ian Wilmut, singer Elton John and golfer Tiger Woods. There are also two dubious choices: Michael Flatley ("Lord of the Dance"), whose strenuous Celtic prancing has become the most parodied cultural phenomenon of 1997, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose appearance as Mr. Freeze in "Batman & Robin" left audiences mighty cold.
By John Horn, Assciated Press entertainment writer
Baby, it's cold inside.
If you duck into a movie theater to escape the winter chill, chances are it won't be any warmer once you take a seat: The season's films are filled with icebergs, snowstorms and frozen seas. In addition to popcorn and soda, concession stands might have to start selling mittens and scarves.
By Natalie White, Standard-Times staff writer
Roseann DeGrenier carefully explained the layering technique to emphasize the eyebrows. First, you pencil in the line of small hairs, following the natural arch. Then use a brush to create a feathery look, and again pencil in more hairs.
"A very natural look," she told the group of more than a dozen women who met last month in Wareham.
The cosmetologist advised them that bushy eyebrows are in this year, along with heightened cheek color and near-nude lip color.
In the last two years, more than 300,000 Americans have thrown away their glasses for good, thanks to the use of lasers in treating myopia. Many have gone from being legally blind without their glasses to having perfect vision -- improvements that result from a laser operation that lasts less than one minute and takes effect within weeks.
Waking up to a world in focus is a more costly convenience than many people recognize.
About 30 million Americans wear contact lenses, double the number in 1985. About 80 percent of users choose the comfort of soft lenses, and almost a quarter prefer the convenience of extended-wear lenses, which can stay in for a week at a time.
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