October
30, 2000 -
Man tries to revive comic art form -
OLDSMAR, Fla. (AP) - Within a nondescript business park,
heroes reign and dying planets are saved as the forces of
good struggle continuously against the forces of evil. It
is a realm created by a young millionaire with a savvy
business sense and an undying love of comic books. Mark
Alessi is master of this universe known as CrossGeneration
Comics. In a comic-book scenario, the plot would go
something like this: Alessi is the fearless leader who
musters a band of bright and talented accomplices to
rescue a world they fear is threatened, and in the end
they would triumph. The real-world storyline, however, is
a bit more complex. Alessi's 42-year-old wife, Jill, died
suddenly of a heart ailment last month, leaving Alessi to
raise their 14-year-old daughter, Ashleigh, on his own
while forging ahead with a business that dozens of
employees have come to depend on after uprooting their
lives to move here. The past weeks have been personally
devastating, but Alessi is not retreating from his mission
to remake the way comic books are published.
October
27, 2000 -
Skinhead convicted of murder -
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - A 19-year-old man was convicted
Thursday of second-degree murder, attempted murder and
hate crimes for firing a single bullet through the home of
a biracial couple, killing a 6-year-old girl and wounding
her twin and half-sisters. Jessy Joe Roten could be
sentenced to life in prison for the April 1999 attack that
prosecutors said was prompted by racial hatred and a
falling out with fellow skinheads. Roten will be sentenced
Nov. 30. The jury was told Roten hated minorities and
fired through the outside wall of the girl's bedroom as
they slept in the St. Petersburg home of their father,
Terry Mance. The bullet killed Ashley Mance and wounded
her twin, Aleesha, and Jailene Jones, their half-sister.
The twins' parents are divorced. The father, who is black,
was living with a white woman at the time of the shooting.
October 26, 2000 - Telwares
named one of this year’s
fastest-growing companies by INC.
magazine - DESTIN, Florida –
Telwares Communications LLC, based in
Destin, Florida, has been named one of
the fastest-growing companies in the
country by Inc. magazine, which today
released its annual ranking of the Inc.
500, the comprehensive guide to
America’s fastest-growing private
companies...
October 26, 2000 - Catawba Indians get share of $50 mln - CATAWBA INDIAN RESERVATION, S.C. (AP) - After a seven-year wait, more than 2,000 Catawba Indians will get their share of a $50 million settlement of the tribe's land claims against the state and federal governments. Tribe members will receive $4,000 checks by Nov. 15, Chief Gilbert Blue said Wednesday. The distributions had been held up while the tribe determined who was eligible for payments. Individuals had to prove they or their parents' names were on the tribe's 1940 or 1963 rolls. Those who weren't on the rolls had to be confirmed through birth certificates. Then the Bureau of Indian Affairs had to ratify all 2,107 names. The Catawbas received the $50 million after arguing that 144,000 acres were illegally taken from them after an 1840 treaty.
October 26, 2000 - 'Friendlier' canker crews start work - MIAMI (AP) - Florida's citrus canker eradication crews were back at work cutting down trees Wednesday after two days of sensitivity training, but homeowners were not so sure the workers were being much friendlier. "I know they have a job to do, but they can't just walk into people's property and start destroying things just to cut down trees," said Maria Dennis of Miami. Crews are cutting down orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime and other citrus trees in people's yards to stamp out citrus canker, a bacterial infection that threatens central Florida's $8.5 billion citrus industry. The state has waged a five-year battle to remove all infected trees and those up to 1,900 feet away. So far, 830,000 trees have been cut down and ground up, and 100,000 more are to be destroyed in the next month. However, faced with complaints from angry homeowners, Agriculture Secretary Bob Crawford suspended eradication efforts on Monday and Tuesday so that 100 workers, including 50 forest rangers, could be brought in to help soothe people's feelings. The rangers are supposed to answer questions from residents and deal with their concerns.
October 26, 2000 - Ex-general 'didn't know' of slayings
- WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A former
Salvadoran general portrayed himself as
a protector of his people Wednesday in
an attempt to convince a jury he had
nothing to do with the 1980 slayings of
four American churchwomen. Former
Salvadoran Defense Minister Jose
Guillermo Garcia, 67, testified in
federal court that he tried to improve
El Salvador's armed forces by firing 56
officers and ordering the army to
respect human rights. Garcia, accused of
wrongful death by the churchwomen's
families, testified there was nothing he
could have done to stop the shooting
deaths of the three nuns and a
missionary by National Guard soldiers.
His attorneys showed a videotape of a
1982 broadcast in which he promises
Salvadorans to protect them from harm
during a general election marred by
violence.
October 26, 2000 - NRA spends almost $1 mln to help Bush
- WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Rifle
Association spent almost $1 million last
month on behalf of George W. Bush's
presidential campaign, an effort that is
cutting into Al Gore's support in key
states. The powerful lobby for gun
owners' rights spent $610,610 on radio
commercials and $336,216 on billboards
in support of the Texas governor in
several states, according new Federal
Election Commission reports.
Organization president Charlton Heston
has held get-out-the-vote rallies in
such battleground states as
Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. An
eight-state tour featuring Heston is
scheduled to begin Monday. The NRA's
Political Victory Fund also has endorsed
Bush. "On November 7, Americans
will be casting the most important votes
of their lifetimes - to save the Second
Amendment for future generations,"
the group said in announcing its
endorsement of the Republican on its Web
site.
