Nation/World Briefly: Spring breakers warned against Mexico travel
Published 10:24 pm Monday, March 2, 2009
SAN DIEGO — The Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has taken the unusual step of urging college students to avoid parts of northern Mexico during spring break.
The bureau’s Los Angeles field division said Monday that it discourages travel to Tijuana and Rosarito Beach, noting that both cities just south of San Diego have witnessed a lot of drug-fueled violence. Rosarito has long been a mecca for Southern California students on spring break.
D.C.: Trade nominee is 4th Obama pick to owe back taxes
Another Obama administration nominee has tax troubles. This time, it’s Ron Kirk, the president’s choice to be U.S. trade representative, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to pay them, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday. The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk’s handling of speaking fees he donated to a scholarship fund that he set up at his alma mater, and for his deduction of the full cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team.
Obama settles on Sebelius
President Barack Obama said Monday that he would nominate Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services, tapping a Washington outsider for the senior health post in his Cabinet as he pushes an ambitious effort to overhaul the nation’s health-care system. Sebelius still must be confirmed by the Senate.
Florida: Casey Anthony trial set
Casey Anthony’s trial has been tentatively set for Oct. 12 on a first-degree murder charge in the death of her 2-year-old daughter. She is accused of killing her daughter, Caylee, whose remains were found in the woods in Orlando in December, six months after she disappeared. Casey Anthony said that Caylee was kidnapped by a baby-sitter and has pleaded not guilty.
California: Mayor quits over White House and watermelon e-mail
The mayor of a small Southern California city resigned Monday after being criticized for sending an e-mail showing watermelons in front of the White House. Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose forwarded an e-mail showing a watermelon patch on the White House lawn under the title: “No Easter egg hunt this year.” Grose says he wasn’t aware of the racial stereotype that blacks like watermelon. But he hasn’t explained why he thought the e-mail was funny.
Guinea-Bissau: President assassinated
President Joao Bernardo “Nino” Vieira, who ruled this small West African nation for nearly a quarter-century was assassinated Monday just hours after a bomb killed his longtime rival, armed forces chief Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie. A military spokesman denied the military had killed Vieira in retaliation for Waie’s assassination. The constitution calls for parliament chief Raimundo Pereira to succeed the president.
Australia: Dozens of whales rescued
A total of 54 whales and five bottlenose dolphins were refloated by rescuers from Naracoopa Beach on Tasmania state’s King Island on Monday, said Chris Arthur, a Parks and Wildlife Service official. Nearly 200 pilot whales and seven dolphins became stranded on the beach Sunday evening.
From Herald news services
