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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2000)
iday, January 21,2(XX) tequest WASHINGTON (AP) — The l «^*nsportation Department I'hurs- l )./m rejected requests h\ American lines and the city of Fort Worth to ay a ruling that allows start-up nd Airlines to operate out of [lias Love Field. Legend, which intends to begin bring service in late February, has ind itself battling its foes in the jrts, on Capitol Hill and with fed- * r , eral regulators for the right to fly out 'of Love Field. an earlier ruling, the Trans- /^yportation Department held that the ^ - Wrt-up could offer service at Love Field, rejecting opposition by Amcr- lean Airlines, Fort Worth and" Dallas- t Worth International Airport, icrican and Fort Worth asked ~ to postpone that ruling — a re- uost DOT denied Thursday. "American and Fort Worth have d to satisfy the standards re quired to obtain a stay of an agency ■Lmod." I)(i l said. I “In particular. American and Fort ■jrth have made no showing that the enforcement of our orders would injure them. In addition, granting a hHv would deny the public the ben efit of increased service at Love Field and frustrate Congress’ deci sion to authorize unrestricted ser- }j jp vice at Love Field if operated by smaller aircraft.” I ■ Legend’s chief executive. T. Allan fc , ^ McArtor. welcomed DOT’S action. I ''W “The Department of Transporta- lic tion has reminded the industry, and especially Fort Worth and American [ Aii lines, once again that this is a fed- v end-law controlled airport and there’s nothing they can do about it,” McArtor said in an interview. I The request for a stay, McArtor ■ - said, was “just a matter of trying to harass and interfere with Legend’s business plan and run us out of busi- ! ness, run us out of money.” — 1 i Pat Svacina, spokesperson for the I city of Fort Worth, said Thursday’s I ruling is what city officials expected oui of the DOT. ■ “It’s no surprise,” Svacina said. “This has been the DOT’s position “"since they got involved in this. The real decision is going to be in the courts, which will rule in the city of ir -'Fort Worth’s favor.” American Airlines did not return telephone calls from the Associated Press. B At issue is a decades-old federal P measure that limits llighls to and from Love Field. I Legend became the first airline to test a provision that lets carriers fly ■ywhere from Love Field in planes with 56 or fewer seats. STATE I UK BATTALION IVe 7 Two dead after gunman opens fire in sports bar SAN DIEGO, Texas (AP)—A South Texas man faces capital murder charges after two bar patrons were killed and three others were injured in a shooting in volving an assault- style weapon, po lice said yesterday. He has also been linked to a separate shooting that in jured a comity com missioner's wife. Brian Mark Kopatz is accused of firing shots Wednesday evening inside Mr. C’s Sports Bar in San Diego, about 50 miles west of Corpus Christi. Killed were Jesus Vallejo Sanchez, 48, and Ana Hinojosa, 45, both of San Diego, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported. Kopatz was arrested at his parents’ home in Kingsville atier negotiating with Kleberg County deputies, Kingsville po lice, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas Rangers. The 26-year-old was transferred from the Kleberg to Duval County jail Thurs day afternoon. San Diego police officer Andy DeLeon said the bar's patrons had no ticed a man watching another man and woman as thev talked at the bar. Soon after that, the man identified as the shooter left briefly. I le then returned to Mr. C’s with an as sault-style weapon and opened tire, killing the man and woman, DeLeon said. Witnesses inside the bar said the gun man fired until he emptied one ammu nition clip. The man then reloaded and began firing again. “A man walked in with an assault weapon at his side, he raised it and started shooting,” Lolo Trevino said, who was having a beer at the bar when the shots rang out among the dozen or so patrons. “I’ve never seen him before. I le did not say anything before he started shooting.” Trevino said he hid from the gunfire in a side room of the bar. 1 le was not hurt.In vestigators are still searching for a motive. “Right now, everything is still under investigation and everything is prelimi nary," Duval County Sheriff’s Depart ment investigator Bruno Valdez told the Alice Echo-News. Police were also checking for a link between the bar incident and the shoot ing of a county commissioner’s wife at her nearbv home. “A man walked in with an assault weapon at his side, raised it and start ed shooting” — Lolo Trevino Eye witness Jury finds 17-year-old guilty of father’s murder SAN ANTONIO (AP)—A widowed mother cried out in anguish Wednesday af ter a Bexar County jury convicted her teenage son ofkilling his father at the fam ily home more than a year ago. “Oh, dear God, no!" cried Madeline Vaughn after the verdict was read against Brian Vaughn, 17. “I can’t lose them both." For his own part, the defendant reacted to the verdict first with a faint look of surprise, then weeping as bailiffs handcuffed him for his trip to Bexar County Jail, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The trial’s sentencing phase is set to begin today. The teen could be sentenced to five to 99 years in prison for the mur der of Leslie Vaughn, but juries can rec ommend probation. The San Antonio criminal defense lawyer was found shot in the head Nov. 10, 1998, at the couple’s northwest Bexar County home. I lis son maintained his in nocence when he testified on his own be half Tuesday. From the start, prosecutors told jurors their case was circumstantial: They pro duced no gun, no bloody clothes, no damning DNA evidence. Instead, Brian Vaughn’s own words proved his guilt, assistant district attorney Jill Mata in her closing argument,said. “I le killed his father that night, and he w ill not take responsibility for it,” Mata told jurors. The teen testified Tuesday he heard a “pop" about 1:30 a.m. the morning his father’s body was found. Concerned, he gathered his younger brother from else where in the house to his own bedroom, then went to check on the father. He said he heard snor ing, so he went back to his room. Minutes later, he grew alarmed when he heard the snoring get louder and “wet,” so he once again moved his brother and re turned to his father’s door. I le got no answer when he called out through the locked door, he testified. Next, he called 911 from a kitchen phone, hustled his brother to a neighbor’s house, and returned home to await au- thorities and his mother, a nurse who was working a night shift. But prosecutors said Brian, then 16, shot his father and staged the killing to look like a break-in. They said he threw a rock through the glass balcony doors in the master bed room after the shooting, then took his brother to neighbors and called 911 only after returning to the Vaughn home. “Oh, dear God, no! I can't lose them both.” — Madeline Vaughn Mother made •ketint’ lin, Ai«f led uC mote iij ghetto ( s agent 1 Sundi eers nh wire movie.' , ^xWennium Saturday January 22, 2000 performing live G.Rollie White Coliseum Doors open at 8:00PM Show Starts at 9:00PM Sponsored Bv: SBSLC MSC Town Hall V-103 Jamz & m G.Rollie White Coliseum Tickets Available at: • MSC Box Office • Hip Hop Shack (352'/ S. Texas Ave) • Tip Top Records & Tapes (mlks Texas Ave Bryan) General Admission $15.50 Floor Seats $17.50 >nt tche!C. basis equisil' i cere# Our pf- rUHSC Odes; **Also Performing** Mista Madd with his hit single “Down South” DJ JUBILEE PRESSHA I lit single “Get it Ready” Hit single “Splackaveliie” CRuck’s Pizza PIZZA STROMBOLI HOAGIES Medium One Topping Pizza *3.50 * Order 3 for free delivery '693-B9ICM American Wholesale Mattress * Futons * Twin Beds ‘99!! + Frames ♦ Delivery * Finance X 1 Layaway + Student 1 Vaunt 693-2822 1663 S. Texas Ave. Culpepper Plaza next to Batkins The Battalion Classified Advertising • Easy • Affordable • Effective For information, call 345-0569 AGGHUND CREDITlfUNION a branch of Greater TEXAS Federal Credit Union 201 Southwest Pkwy. E & 501 University Dr. W STUDENT LOANS • \ ,A v r\v % ** % Would you like to... ...be cultured? ...explore the Performing Arts? ...show your love of the Arts to A&M? ...meet some of the most interesting people at A&M? ...see Romeo & Juliet, Spirit of the Dance, The Bar ber of Seville, and Annie? If you answered YES to My of these questions. Join MSC OPAS Applications can be picked up in the OPAS office on the second floor of the MSC in the Student Programs Office and during the Spring Open House at the OPAS table.