Nation Briefly
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, September 25, 2004
Flint Mayor Don Williamson said Friday he will allow newspapers in City Hall – a loosening of his ban on city employees reading anything at work that’s not related to their jobs. The announcement came after police detained a newspaper carrier for trying to deliver subscriptions to City Hall. Williamson issued an executive order in July that prohibits city workers from reading or having nonwork-related reading material on city property during work hours. The American Civil Liberties Union said it was looking into complaints about the order.
Virginia: Airline seeks pay cuts
US Airways Group Inc. has asked a bankruptcy judge in Arlington to impose temporary pay cuts on union workers to conserve cash flow during the slow fall travel season, the company said Saturday. The nation’s seventh largest airline is seeking 23 percent pay cuts from union workers including pilots and flight attendants, according to union leaders who received a copy of the request. The company did not release details of Friday’s filing. “We need to build cash, and we need to do it quickly,” a US Airways spokesman said.
California: Replica airliner crashes
A replica of an antique airliner crashed seconds after takeoff Saturday, just missing a Fullerton airport control tower and slamming into a parked car with two women inside. The 1986 Bushmaster broke apart on impact and erupted in flames, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. A man in the plane suffered severe burns. The women received minor injuries. The Bushmaster, a replica of an antique passenger plane containing three motors, was taking off as part of a post-maintenance test flight, he said.
Texas: Freight trains collide
Two freight trains collided south of San Antonio, derailing 27 cars and spilling magnesium chloride. The chemical is neither flammable nor toxic, officials said. The Burlington Northern Sante Fe and Union Pacific trains collided about 11 p.m. Friday, the third train derailment in the city this year. One railcar rammed into a lumberyard building without causing a fire. Another brought down power lines and transformers, causing electricity to go out in parts of the city. There were no reported injuries.
From Herald news services
