Malibu mudslides kill 3, close road

Paul Leavitt; Jonathan T. Lovitt ; Gary Fields

02/21/1994

USA Today

FINAL

Page 03A

A predawn downpour in Malibu, Calif., Sunday triggered mudslides that

damaged 21 homes and caused three traffic deaths. Up to 2 inches of rain

deluged the area, sending mud and debris cascading onto Pacific Coast Highway.

A 6-mile stretch of the road will remain closed today. And geologists worry

built-up debris in canyons could threaten lower grounds. "If we get a good

soaking I'd hate to see what's going to come down here," said Los Angeles

County Fire Capt. Larry Collins. Elsewhere: Residents thawed out this weekend

with record highs stretching from North Carolina to Caribou, Maine. A week of

above-average temperatures in the Midwest brought melting and local flooding

but eased the spring flood threat. Still, forecasters said conditions there over the

next month - March typically brings heavy snow - could increase flood potential.

CIVIL RIGHTS SUMMIT: The NAACP said Saturday it will include

controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in an upcoming national

summit, despite concerns that he embraces racist and anti-Semitic views.

Saturday, on Black Entertainment Television, Farrakhan said there's a Jewish

media conspiracy to destroy him. "Why is it that we have so many stories about a

Jewish Holocaust," he asked, "but there is nothing that is said of the holocaust to

black people, which was 100 times worse." A poll of 504 blacks, conducted for

Time magazine and CNN and released Saturday, found 32% admire Farrakhan,

54% said he speaks the truth, 45% say he's "a good role model for black youth"

and 29% said he's "a bigot and a racist.

BUZZARDS: A flock of about 200 black vultures in Stafford County, Va., have

eaten ducks and attacked dogs, cats and horses, horrified residents say. The

species is more aggressive than the common red-headed turkey vultures. Virginia

agriculture official Bob Thomas says even toddlers might not be safe from the

birds. "When they're hungry, meat's meat."

CLINTON CHANGES COURSE: President Clinton, wearing a T-shirt with "In

the line of fire" emblazoned above cross hairs, changed his usual jogging route

Saturday, at one point going down a dead-end alley. It wasn't known if the

change was linked to the arrest last week of Ronald Gene Barbour, 39, of

Orlando, Fla., charged with threatening to kill Clinton during a jog. The T-shirt

refers to a recent Clint Eastwood film about a presidential assassination plot.

ALSO . . .

CHURCH POLL: Most Roman Catholic priests and nuns disagree with the

church's ban on married clergy and artificial birth control, but overwhelmingly

support opposition to abortion, euthanasia, sex between singles and homosexual

behavior, a Los Angeles Times poll Sunday found.

NATIONALIST DIES: Oscar Collazo, a militant advocate of Puerto Rican

independence jailed 29 years for the 1950 attack on President Truman's

temporary home in Washington, died Sunday of a stroke. He was 80.

BOAT CAPSIZES: The U.S. Coast Guard helped search for up to 40 Haitians

tossed into the Atlantic Ocean when their 23-foot boat bound for Florida

capsized off the Bahamas. At least five drowned: a woman and four children.

HOMOSEXUAL BIAS BAN: The $8.6 billion Los Angeles earthquake relief bill

signed by President Clinton last week includes a prohibition against

discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Homosexual-rights advocates

hailed the provision as a first. It was part of a a last-minute compromise in a ban

on quake aid to illegal immigrants.

HEALTH STUDY: The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., will

investigate to see if there is a link between high cancer rates among neighbors

and the hazardous waste it burned for decades, Newsweek reports.

Plunging into 50th anniversary

Oscar Mendoza and his war buddies took a big leap Saturday - from 3,000 feet.

The World War II paratroopers, some in their mid-80s, want to jump into

Normandy, France, again to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the June 6,

1944, invasion. Pentagon officials, cool to the idea, said the men must practice

before they'd even be considered. There were no injuries when 33 veterans of the

82nd and 101st Airborne landed in a muddy field near San Diego. "The war was

a big thing in my life," said Mendoza, 74, of San Gabriel, Calif. "The jump

means an awful lot."

Contributing: Cathy Chestnut, Steve Marshall and Jane Schmucker

PHOTO,b/w,Bob Riha Jr.,Gamma-Liaison; PHOTO,b/w,Robert A. Martin,The

Free Lance-Star; PHOTO,b/w,Dana Fisher,AP