ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
Uncle Sam sues Chrysler to recall cars
WASHINGTON - The government asked a federal judge Tuesday to order Chrysler Corp. to recall 91,000 Cirrus and Dodge Stratus cars because one seat-belt anchor failed a safety test.
In an unprecedented civil action, the government is suing Chrysler for failing a test and for refusing to recall 1995 Chrysler Cirrus and Dodge Stratus sedans. An anchor that holds seat belts to the floor pulled out during a routine government test.
Chrysler contends its cars are safe and the test is flawed.
If Chrysler loses, it could face more than $2 million in civil penalties, and more than $3 million in the cost of a forced recall.
If the government loses, automakers might have an opening to attack other safety standards.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune
Colombian heroin doubles in U.S.
RESTON, Va. - Colombian drug traffickers are rushing to satisfy a growing U.S. appetite for heroin, federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The supply of heroin on U.S. streets has doubled over the last decade, and about 60 percent of the heroin seized by authorities comes from South America, mainly Colombia, said Thomas Constantine, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Traffickers are catering to a new generation of drug abusers who mistakenly think the drug is relatively harmless, Constantine said during a meeting of 250 state and local officials from the United States and others from Mexico, South America and Southeast Asia.
That's a dangerous misconception, especially since today's heroin is from 90 percent to 95 percent pure - more potent than the 5 percent to 7 percent sold in the 1960s and 1970s, he said.
- Associated Press
Elizabeth Taylor has benign brain tumor
LOS ANGELES - Elizabeth Taylor has a benign brain tumor and surgeons will remove it in two weeks, the day after an AIDS fund-raiser celebrating her 65th birthday, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The tumor will be surgically removed Feb. 17 at an undisclosed hospital, publicist Shirne Coburn said from her New York office. The diagnosis was confirmed Monday.
``She postponed the surgery until after the birthday celebration to raise as much money as possible for AIDS,'' Coburn said.
The Feb. 16 black-tie gala, ``Happy Birthday, Elizabeth - A Celebration of Life,'' will benefit the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which helps fund a variety of AIDS research and treatment organizations.
- Associated Press
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