Nation briefs 8/23/02

Revised list of WTC victims will be released

NEW YORK -- Less than three weeks before names of the World Trade Center victims are to be read aloud at the city's anniversary ceremony, officials aren't sure everyone on the list actually belongs among the dead and missing.

The medical examiner released the first overall victims' list Monday -- a list of 2,819 names given to City Hall officials planning the observance.

On Thursday, Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said the list was being revised and another would be released next week.

The current list includes people whose cases are still being investigated, she said. City officials had cautioned the list released Monday was not final.

The list released Monday includes those whose remains have been identified; those presumed dead whose families have obtained a court-issued death certificate; and about 90 people still classified as missing. The list does not differentiate among the groups.

Radio company dumps shock jocks

NEW YORK -- Opie and Anthony are over and out.

The New York-based shock jocks, criticized by Catholic groups for broadcasting a live account of a couple allegedly having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral, had their nationally-syndicated show canceled Thursday.

"Based on recent events, the Opie and Anthony Show has been canceled, and will be replaced by other programming beginning Friday," WNEW-FM said in a statement.

The station, owned by Infinity Broadcasting, offered no further comment. The pair had been pulled off the airwaves Monday, three days after the stunt was aired.

The cancellation was announced shortly after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell directed the agency's enforcement bureau to investigate the broadcast. The FCC had been flooded with hundreds of complaints about the show.

The Opie and Anthony show was nationally syndicated in 17 markets outside New York City.

It was the second firing in for Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia. The pair was canned in 1998 by a Massachusetts station after announcing on April Fool's Day that Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was killed in a car crash.

Separated twin girl undergoes third surgery

LOS ANGELES -- A Guatamalan girl surgically separated from her twin earlier this month underwent a third follow-up surgery Thursday to remove an accumulation of blood on her brain.

Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez was listed in serious condition after the operation. She underwent similar operations Aug. 6 and Aug. 16.

The latest operation removed blood from an area toward the back of her brain that had been too sensitive for surgery previously, said officials at Mattel Children's Hospital at University of California-Los Angeles.

Her sister, Maria de Jesus, remained in serious condition with stable vital signs Thursday. She continued to be active and fully awake.

"Our overall confidence in their long-term prospects for recovery has not changed," said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Mattel Children's Hospital.

The 1-year-old girls were born joined at the head and shared bone and blood vessels doctors separated in a 22-hour operation on Aug. 6.

Seven minor injuries in Amtrak derailment

HAYWARD, Calif. -- An Amtrak train bound for Seattle derailed after hitting an unknown object, slightly injuring seven people, a company spokeswoman said Thursday.

There were 287 passengers and 23 crew members aboard the Coast Starlight, which runs daily from Los Angeles to Seattle, when the accident occurred about 10:10 p.m. Wednesday, said Amtrak spokeswoman Veernae Graham.

The locomotive hit an unidentified object on the tracks, which are owned by Union Pacific and leased by Amtrak. Six cars went off the tracks, but all of them were standing upright, Graham said.

Four passengers were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released. Three others were taken to area hospitals for minor injuries, Graham said.

-- From wire reports