KEVORKIAN GETS GREEN LIGHT TO REPRESENT HIMSELF AT TRIAL
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- A judge Monday granted Dr. Jack Kevorkian's request to represent himself at his murder trial in the poisoning-death of a man with Lou Gehrig's disease.By his own tally, Kevorkian has been present at more than 130 deaths since 1990. Four times he has been tried on assisted suicide charges -- with three acquittals and one mistrial.
But in a trial that began Monday, involving a death that was videotaped and shown on "60 Minutes," the 70-year-old retired pathologist faces his first murder case. Kevorkian is also charged with illegally delivering a controlled substance.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Jessica Cooper ruled Monday that Kevorkian could represent himself. Defense lawyer David Gorosh will advise him. The lawyer has said he advised Kevorkian not to represent himself.
"Do you understand you could spend the rest of your life in prison?" the judge asked Kevorkian.
"There's not much of it left," he said.
ILLINOIS TOWN'S RESIDENTS HONOR TRAIN-CRASH VICTIMS
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (AP) -- As the investigation at the site of the deadly Amtrak train crash wraps up, residents of this small town gathered for a memorial service to celebrate the victims.
"In the friendly village of Bourbonnais, people that they may never have even met loved them, are praying for them and are bearing with them in our hearts their sorrow and their loss," said the Rev. Dan Boone of the College Church of the Nazarene.
The Sunday service also honored those who helped in the rescue effort, many of whom were in attendance. Mayor Grover Brooks noted that nearby communities helped deal with the crash and its aftermath.
Eleven people were killed and more than 100 injured last Monday when the Amtrak train crashed into a steel-laden truck. Ten passengers remained hospitalized Sunday, one in critical condition, hospital officials said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for a federal safety panel said three witness to the crash have given potentially conflicting statements about whether the truck was on the tracks before warning signals and crossing gates activated.
2 SNOWMOBILERS KILLED IN ALASKAN AVALANCHE
GIRDWOOD, Alaska (Reuters) -- Two snowmobilers died and an undetermined number of others were missing after an avalanche swept down a mountain slope Sunday at Turnagain Pass, about 60 miles south of Anchorage, officials said.
The Alaska state troopers confirmed the deaths of two people from the avalanche, which occurred at about 4 p.m. Alaska time (6 p.m. MST).
The names of the victims were being withheld pending notification of families, said trooper spokesman Greg Wilkenson.
The troopers, who responded with other rescuers to the avalanche, did not know how many other people might have been buried by the avalanche, Wilkenson said.
REVITALIZED L.A. AREAS COULD BEAR COMPANY NAMES
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mayor Richard Riordan has unveiled the newest spin on corporate sponsorship -- using company logos to rescue blighted neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
His plan is to solicit $250 million, in part from the private sector, by promising to name redevelopment projects after corporations. It's been done for big venues -- the new downtown sports arena is called the Staples Center -- but not on such a large scale for poorer areas.
Little, however, has been pledged for the project so far, which the mayor unveiled Wednesday.
A city councilman and some community leaders in Watts said they were not consulted and knew nothing about the plan until last week.
MCDOUGAL MAY PROVIDE SOME LONG-AWAITED ANSWERS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Whitewater figure Susan McDougal's refusal to answer federal grand jury questions about President Clinton and the first lady in private led to criminal charges against her.
This week, she may answer some of those questions in public at her trial.
McDougal's trial on charges of criminal contempt and obstruction of justice entered its third week Monday.
Her lawyer, Mark Geragos, said his client probably will testify this week, and he may ask her the same questions she refused to answer for a grand jury on Sept. 4, 1996, and April 23, 1998.
A former business partner of the Clintons, McDougal has said she refused to answer the questions because she believed Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr would twist her words around to suit his political agenda against the Clintons or would charge her with perjury if she didn't say what he wanted to hear.