Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994                   TAG: 9405030164
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN THE NATION

WASHINGTON - Government auditors said Monday that White House officials and outside advisers with personal or ``potential business interests'' in the matter prompted the firing of White House travel office employees last year.

In a study released Monday, the General Accounting Office criticized ``the appearance of inappropriate influence'' by President Clinton's close friend, Harry Thomason, and Darnell Martens, Thomason's partner in an aviation consulting firm.

``GAO believes that the White House should have, but did not, make efforts to insulate its management decisions from influence by individuals with a personal interest in Travel Office operations,'' the report said.

- The Washington Post

Million cases of skin cancer found yearly

WASHINGTON - More new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed every year than all other types of cancer combined, a new study finds.

Dr. Martin A. Weinstock of Brown University reports in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology this month that there are between 900,000 and 1.2 million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer a year in the United States.

- Associated Press

U.S. to close Grenada embassy

WASHINGTON - Ten years after U.S. military forces deposed the left-leaning government on Grenada, the United States plans to close its embassy there as a cost-cutting measure.

The State Department has given Congress until May 13 to offer opinions on the decision. But with few members raising objections, the embassy is expected to be shut down.

- Associated Press

Minivan brakes under investigation

WASHINGTON - The government's traffic safety agency is investigating reports of antilock brake systems failing in some Chrysler minivans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in its monthly defect investigation report, said Monday it had received 142 complaints, including five accidents and two injuries, involving excessively long stopping distances or failure of the brakes.

The models involved in the probe are the 1991-93 Grand Voyager, Caravan, Caravan C-V, Grand Caravan and Town and Country. About 165,000 of the minivans are on the road.

- Associated Press