AROUND THE NATION

-- COMPILED FROM ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

News briefs from around the nation.

Arson suspected in abortion clinic fire
CONCORD, N.H. -- Investigators believe a fire that did several thousands of dollars in damage to an abortion clinic was the work of an arsonist.
Authorities had no suspects in the blaze that broke out late Sunday at the Concord Feminist Health Center.
The center was closed at the time and no one was inside. The fire, which caused several thousand dollars in smoke damage, was contained within 15 minutes, officials said.
Police were stationed at the clinic Monday, which was closed for the Memorial Day holiday. It was uncertain when the clinic would reopen.
It was the second fire at the clinic, which also has been a site of frequent protests.

Stolen helicopter discovered in cornfield
NORWOOD, Mass. -- A helicopter stolen from Norwood Airport was found in a cornfield a few miles away, and state police have no suspects and no idea why the copter was taken.
The thief radioed the tower at the Norwood airport, about five miles southwest of Boston, on Sunday morning and requested permission to take off.
Unsuspecting controllers granted the request but soon lost contact with the helicopter, a $170,000 two-seat Robinson R22 chopper. It was owned by Red Wing Helicopters Inc. of Woburn and was leased by the Northern Lights flight school.
The helicopter was found in a field in Lancaster on Sunday night, covered with blankets and duct tape.
"Everyone is dumbfounded," said Jenny Bruce, president of the flight school.

Families seek honors for Cold War dead
WASHINGTON -- On Jan. 15, 1961, an Air Force radar station on a platform off the coast of New Jersey collapsed in a storm, killing all 28 people aboard. Casualties, their families believe, of the Cold War.
Now, almost 40 years later, relatives are seeking to commemorate those who were lost aboard the radar post, part of the NORAD early-warning system to protect against Soviet bombers or missiles.
"What we're looking for is a presidential citation similar to ones they've given out in the past for people who served their country," said Donald Slutzky of Germantown, Md., who worked as a civilian computer technician aboard the platform, leaving it two months before it collapsed.
Organizers also are planning a September memorial service for the 28 dead. But they haven't been able to locate about half of the families. They ask that relatives contact Donald Abbott, the son of a welder who died on the tower, at (800) 397-0648.

Woman tries to kill herself in church
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A 27-year-old woman went into her church, asked the pastor to pray for her and then shot herself in the head.
Sharon Denise Johnson was in critical condition Monday at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, the day after the shooting at the Love Center Ministries Church.
Before services began Sunday, Johnson knelt at the altar and asked the Rev. Bennett Dean to pray. He told her, "The Lord loves you," and the 10 to 15 members of the congregation on hand echoed those words.
Despite Dean's pleas of "don't leave," Johnson then stood up and walked to the back of the church. "Without hesitation, she came out with a gun and fired one shot at the base of her skull," Dean said.
No one else was injured.
Johnson, who has been a member of the church for seven years, works as a counselor for troubled children. She had played basketball at the University of Wisconsin.

LA police chief's granddaughter slain
LOS ANGELES -- The granddaughter of Police Chief Bernard C. Parks was shot to death as she drove away from a fast-food restaurant in the city's South Central area, police said Monday.
Lori Gonzalez, 20, was shot several times by a gunman who walked up and opened fire on the car in the driveway of a Popeye's chicken restaurant late Sunday, Lt. Horace Frank said.
No arrests had been made.
"We're really asking the public's help in bringing this individual to justice," Frank said.
The attacker apparently was aiming for Gonzalez's passenger, who escaped injury, Frank said.
"It was the male [passenger] ... who was the intended target," he said. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Parks and his family were "grieving in seclusion," according to a police statement.
The family was "devastated," Franks added.

This article was published on Tuesday, May 30, 2000

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