Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 6, 1995 TAG: 9501060111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WASHINGTON - People worldwide will be able to plug into the workings of Congress through the Internet in a new system House Speaker Newt Gingrich called ``a participatory dialogue on self-government.''
The new computer system, which provides a wide range of information about U.S. laws and lawmakers through the Library of Congress, is named ``Thomas'' in honor of Thomas Jefferson. It was unveiled at a news conference Thursday by Gingrich, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the new Committee on House Oversight.
By the end of the month, the Library of Congress will begin to make available to the system full texts of bills from the new Congress. Future materials to be offered include full texts of the Congressional Record and the Congressional Research Service's Bill Digest, a file containing summaries and chronologies of legislation.
- Associated Press
Asthma cases on rise since '82
ATLANTA - Asthma cases and deaths from the disease have soared at least 40 percent since 1982, and air pollution, airtight homes and windowless offices may play a role, government health officials said Thursday.
About 5 percent of the nation's population - or roughly 13 million people - suffer from asthma, an inflammation of the airways that results in wheezing and shortness of breath, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
From 1982 through 1992, the rate of asthma rose 42 percent, from 34.7 sufferers per 1,000 people to 49.4, the CDC said. From 1982 through 1991, the latest year for which data were available, the death rate for asthmatics rose 40 percent, from 13.4 per 1 million people to 18.8, or 3,154 deaths to 5,106.
|- Associated Press
Stamp honors Marilyn Monroe
NEW YORK - A new postage stamp graced by the glamour of Marilyn Monroe was unveiled Thursday, and the Postal Service said it would print 400 million of them.
``Today we salute a woman who shined as brightly as any in the history of Hollywood,'' Postmaster General Marvin Runyon said.
The 32-cent stamp, the first in a series honoring legends of Hollywood, combines Monroe's signature and a head-and-shoulders picture of her in a low-cut gown.
It will be released in Hollywood on June 1, what would have been Monroe's 69th birthday.
- Associated Press
by CNB