Nation briefs 12/02/02

Report: NYC to submit smallpox proposals today

NEW YORK -- City health officials are expected to present the federal government today with a plan for responding to a smallpox outbreak, a published report said.

Guidelines for health officials and for hospitals with patients suspected of having smallpox are included in the report, as are instructions for how to investigate the origin of the outbreak, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The report will also lay out plans for isolating any infected people and dealing with laboratory specimens.

Health officials are considering one plan that would inoculate medical workers first. It has not been decided if the vaccine would be offered to the general public.

The federal government has set a Dec. 9 deadline for states and some large cities to submit a plan for dealing with a smallpox outbreak.

Bush hosts NASCAR's Stewart at White House

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, who likes to remind sports champions about their responsibilities as role models, was toasting NASCAR champion and stock car racing's reigning bad boy, Tony Stewart, at the White House today.

Bush thus adds a sport with a prized voter profile to the list of winners who get the White House treatment.

Last year's NASCAR champ, Jeff Gordon, made no White House appearance.

Stewart secured his title Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Sixth soldier charged in assault of teen girl

LeRAY, N.Y. -- A sixth soldier stationed at Fort Drum has been charged in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at a party.

Ricardo A. Miranda, 21, was charged Friday with third-degree sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child. He was released on $500 bail.

Police said the girl was raped Aug. 25 at the home of a soldier while under the influence of alcohol.

Miranda, whose rank was not available, was away on leave when five other men were charged last week. Military police met him at Hancock Airport in Syracuse and he was turned over to state police.

Also charged were Sgt. Kenneth C. Crull, 21; Pfc. Beau D. Hawkins, 24; Pfc. Eric A. O'Bryant, 23; Pfc. Robert J. Isaacs, 29; and Pvt. Scott R. McDonald, 22. They face combinations of charges including rape, sodomy and tampering with evidence.

A phone listing for Miranda could not be found Sunday, and a call to Fort Drum was not immediately returned.

Fort Drum is home to the Army's 10,000-member 10th Mountain Division, the military's most deployed unit over the past decade.

California citrus grove owners battle fruit flies

SAN DIEGO -- Grove owners battling an outbreak of the Mexican fruit fly are spraying pesticides on their crops as California officials debate whether to quarantine the area.

Millions of dollars in avocado, citrus and other fruit crops are at risk in Valley Center, an agricultural community 30 miles northeast of San Diego where the fruit fly's larvae was discovered in a grapefruit orchard last week.

Although county supervisors declared an emergency Nov. 21, state officials have yet to order a quarantine for the area, which contains an estimated 1,000 growers and $75 million worth of crops.

NYC mayor refusing to officiate at weddings

NEW YORK -- Breaking with tradition, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has declined to officiate at weddings in New York City, rejecting dozens of invitations since taking office, a published report said Sunday.

"It's one of the few ceremonial duties he hasn't embraced, (because) he knows he doesn't have time to do it for everyone who asks him," Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler told the Daily News. "And he doesn't want to offend people by picking and choosing."

Bloomberg's decision not to officiate at weddings separates him from his two most recent predecessors, David Dinkins and Rudolph Giuliani.

But former Mayor Ed Koch also refused the ceremonial function.

"It's like performing an operation, and you're not a doctor," Koch said.

--From wire reports