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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2004)
( *1EL| 11 r AL|(i ^stinej H nd B; 'm :s the c hann e ^istr)- ‘ h estar, u 'S blend iiie, Svv ayzep ^'vinga j! and nad; ' ^edibife 1 Pfesenti lle d thr mo 1 Piece '*na Nij re willeap 'Plistic, )Ve t\'ofl«i “ tkvii WORLD THE BATTALION Monday, March 8, 2004 Weather caused harbor ferry to capsize; three still missing By Brian Witte THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BALTIMORE — The Navy reservists whose quick work saved 21 people aboard a water taxi that capsized described the horritic scene in which they made their rescue: survivors clinging to the overturned vessel in frigid, choppy water pounded by rain, telling them more were trapped below. One woman was killed in Saturday’s accident in Baltimore Harbor and three peo ple, including a child, were missing, but the reservists said Sunday they were relieved the loss of life wasn’t even greater. The sailors rushed to the scene after seeing the boat in trouble. After passengers clinging to the water taxi told them others were trapped underneath, the rescuers used a ramp on their troop landing ship to lift the water taxi partly out of the water. Petty Officer Jeffrey King said. “Brother, it was like the end of the “Titanic” movie once that thing lifted up,” King said. “I mean those bodies just floated up.” Lt. Cmdr. Art Eisenstein said he jumped into the water and grabbed a little girl who was unconscious and floating face-down. “Just to hear that she’s still with us is just amazing,” Eisenstein said. Water temperatures were in the low40s, and heavy rain was pour ing from black clouds as survivors NEWS IN BRIEF inal scent* of the ptft after Fan? i if the seen d his chan: als network#; e want to t<* said. :ome, "I im to reif vaiian-sB oulevardli xtFa it on ‘‘Belt of ‘ on w s th ays Bentf Insurgents fire rockets irie $inwhicfl onu.s. coalition area BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents fired at least seven rockets on the U.S. coalition head quarters in Baghdad Sunday night, hitting a hotel used by U.S. occu pation officials and wounding one American, the military said. It was the biggest attack on the Green Zone in weeks. A series of explosions echoed across central Baghdad from the strike, sirens blared, and smoke and flames were briefly visible in the Green Zone, the heavily guard ed area where the U.S.-led coali tion is based. Five rockets hit the Al-Rasheed hotel, where some civilian contrac tors are living and a coalition din ing hall is located. A U.S. civilian contractor was wounded, the mili tary said. Shots fired at rally to demand trial for ousted Haitian leader PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Gunshots erupted Sunday at a protest to demand that ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide be tried for corruption and fomenting violence. At least four demonstrators and a foreign jour nalist were killed. Witnesses blamed Aristide mili tants, but that could not immediate ly be confirmed. The shooting occurred as crowds gathered in front of the presidential National Palace. Witnesses said they saw Aristide supporters shooting at the crowd in front of the National Palace, and they complained that peacekeepers did nothing to prevent the violence. After the shooting, a truck with speakers bolted to its frame parad ed around the palace, blasting music. One man speaking over a truck loudspeaker shouted at the U.S. A/larines: “People are dying every day in this country. You have to do something about it.” Gay bishop takes over as head of diocese CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - With three mighty thumps on the church door Sunday, V. Gene Robinson knocked and was welcomed into St. Paul’s sanctuary, where he officially became the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop. Sunday's investiture ceremony does not carry the same weight as Robinson’s consecration, which rocked the Episcopal Church in November. But it gave a capacity crowd of more than 600 the chance to welcome the new leader of the Diocese of New Hampshire with whistles, shouts and a stand ing ovation. .ptoSW 1 ^ r^irie prairif i.05O! Search continues for missing rmm Baltimore | MARYLAND Divers searched the Baltimore harbor for three bodies after a water taxi capsized Saturday killing one. The pontoon boat flipped over during a storm with high winds MARYLAND Fells Point Inner Harbor Baltimore One dead, three missing after ferry capsized Northwest Harbor 1/4 mi 1/4 km Fort McHenry Patapsco River ',895, SOURCE: Associated Press AP were pulled out of the water. “It was pretty hateful,” Petty Officer Henry Zecher said. “I’m relieved that we were able to save as many lives as we were.” Two people, including an 8- year-old girl, were critically injured when the 36-foot pontoon boat overturned with 23 passen gers and two crew members. The ferry had just set off across the harbor from historic Fort McHenry on the way to the city’s Fells Point when it was caught by wind gusting to 50 mph. The boat, which was at full capacity, was equipped with life preservers but passengers are not required to wear them. “No one on the craft had time to get their life preservers on,” said police Maj. Fred Bealefeld. Twenty-two people were removed from the water but one woman died at a hospital. Seven remained hospitalized Sunday. The water temperature was in the low 40s. On Sunday, recovery crews used boats, helicopters, sonar and dogs trained to find sub merged bodies in the search for the three missing people. The missing were a man, a woman and a child, said Baltimore Fire Chief William Goodwin. He said the dogs indicated they may have detected some thing near the spot where the boat overturned, and sonar was used to scan the area. Investigators said they were looking at the weather and the condition and opera tion of the vessel as possible factors in the accident. NTSB Chairman Ellen Engleman-Conners said offi cials were interviewing sur vivors and witnesses, and were awaiting voluntary toxicology tests conducted Sunday on the captain and first mate. She said divers stopped their recovery efforts about 6 p.m. Sunday and would resume Monday morning. Engleman-Conners said the boat would be removed from the water so investigators could do complete hull and steering system inspections. She said an initial inspection found that the steering system appeared to be intact. Congressional races overshadow Texan presidential primary By Kelley Shannon THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — With the Democratic presidential nomi nee assured, the Texas primary drama turns to what many Lone Star State voters are infi nitely familiar with — new congressional districts. Candidates for Congress in Tuesday's primary are squaring off in Republican-drawn dis tricts that received federal court approval in January and could give the GOP an advantage in the state’s 32-mem ber congressional delegation. Republican legislators pushed through the new districts last year, despite two out- of-state boycotts by Democrats. Also before the voters are a race for Texas Railroad Commission and con tests for the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, State Board of Education and Texas Legislature. “As Texans and Americans, we should remember that democracy is dependent on a As Texans and Americans, we should remember that democracy is dependenton a single act—the act of voting. — Geoff Connor Texas Secretary of State single act — the act of voting. There are plenty of reasons to go to the polls on March 9th,” Texas Secretary of State Geoff Connor said. Ten candidates for the Democratic presidential nomi nation appear on the ballot, but John Kerry is the only major candidate still in the race. President Bush is the only Republican presidential candi date on the ballot. Early voting for the primary ran for two weeks and con cluded Friday. Connor said the rate of early vot ing varied across the state. He pre dicted a total of nearly 1.7 mil lion people, or 14 percent of the state’s 12.26 million regis tered voters, will cast ballots. In congres sional primary races, two incumbent Democrats are fighting to stay in office in districts that cover parts of the Texas-Mexico border. The winning Democrat faces either Republican Rebecca Armendariz Klein, former chair of the Texas Public Utility Commission, or minister Regner Capener. the spring bridal event march 26 & 27 CHRISTIAN BAUER& ( VERRAGJO ilitp David Gardner's Spring Bridal Event will introduce these spectacular new lines. Plus David Gardner Originals! ARONER'S cIavioI qarc) Jewelers ♦ Gemologists the ring source for hopeful couples come in,, get comfortable and make her dreams come true Visit fh<? stars at 522 University Drive E. (Between the Suit Club and Audio Video) Call 979-764-8786 for an appointment. NEED A TUTOR? Go To AGGIETUTOR.COM Where the real tutors are. 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