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

DATE: TUESDAY, December 13, 1994                   TAG: 9412130072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN THE NATION

UNION, S.C. - The woman accused of drowning her two sons by pushing her car into a lake with them strapped in their safety seats was indicted on murder charges Monday.

The case drew national attention when Susan Smith claimed the boys, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, were kidnapped by a carjacker. She made several tearful appeals on national television for their safe return before confessing that she had drowned them.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty has been put off until after the holidays out of courtesy to Smith's family.

Smith lawyer, David Bruck, said the 23-year-old woman remains tormented by her actions.

- Associated Press

Agreement reached with school district

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department and black residents reached agreement on discipline, personnel and academic policies Monday with an Alabama school district where a principal threatened to cancel a prom if an interracial couple attended.

The high school burned down in a suspicious fire last August.

The agreement was reached among the Randolph County school district, a group of county residents and the Justice Department's civil rights division.

The school district agreed to create a nondiscriminatory discipline policy and to set up a committee to enforce nondiscriminatory personnel guidelines. The district also agreed to ensure that minority students are not unfairly steered into less challenging programs or deterred from certain activities.

- Associated Press

Space center director to retire

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Former astronaut Robert Crippen, director of the Kennedy Space Center and pilot of the first space shuttle flight, is leaving NASA after 25 years.

Crippen, 57, said Monday he will pursue a career in industry but has no specific plans. His resignation is effective Jan. 21.

No successor was named.

- Associated Press