News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 3

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY A U.S. military policeman, Martin John Begosh, became the first American Injured in NATO's Bosnia peace mission when his Humvee hit an anti-tank mine. Nort west pumclied again in brief Stv I' ,11 1 I Wf 1 GINGRICH Second storm paralyzes region SEATTLE (AP) The Northwest was pummeled by its second major storm in less than a week Sunday as 2 feet of snow and avalanches blocked major highways and police abandoned cruisers that couldn't cope with icy streets. Blizzard warnings were posted for northwestern Washington, where snow piled by bone-chilling 90 mph gusts prompted Whatcom County to declare a state of emergency and get the National Guard mobilized. "I can't imagine anybody worse off than us," said Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen.

Compounding the problems was heavy rain throughout much of the region, which created a glaze of ice and led to flood warnings for parts of Oregon and the rest of western Washington. Bus service was canceled in Seattle, where 7 to 10 inches of snow fell overnight on top of 6 to 12 already on the ground from Thursday's storm. Transit officials said 100 buses were stuck in snow or just frozen to the ground. Most taxicabs would carry only people with medical emergencies. Service was drastically curtailed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Several hundred passengers had to spend the night there because airline crews couldn't reach the airport on snow- and ice-covered streets, said Anita Risdon, a Port of Seattle spokeswoman. 4h j. The Associated Press Christal Larson, right, directs a van driver helping to push a car out of a snow bank on a Seattle street Sunday. The van failed to push the car out, but did break a tail light on the vehicle. Roofs collapsed, freeways were closed, cars were abandoned, boats sank and police spun their wheels as another snowstorm howled across the Pacific Northwest early Sunday.

In Oregon, ice caused a two-hour power outage at Portland International Airport's southern terminal during the morning, delaying flights for half the airport's passengers. Another power outage darkened the airport Thursday. High wind along the Oregon coast toppled dozens of trees, closing several highways. The wind hit 98 mph at the coastal town of Netarts. Whatcom County and neighboring parts of Canada's British Columbia were hardest hit.

Whatcom County got more than 2 feet of snow overnight, and the 90 mph gusts dropped the wind-chill factor past 50 degrees below zero. State Patrol officers were abandoning their cars in Whatcom County, and police in Everett 25 miles north of Seattle had to make their patrols in four-wheel-drive vehicles borrowed from the Public Works Department. "We've had to basically abandon our patrol cars," said police spokesman Elliott Woodall. "We put chains on them and they still can't maneuver on the side streets." A few miles north of the border, about 100 cars with an unknown number of people were snowbound at Abbotsford, British Columbia, police Sgt. George Lukefeld said.

One family took in 40 stranded motorists, he said. "Most people sort of stay home, stoke up the fire but there are those who feel they can brave the elements and just don't make it," Lukefeld said. All three main routes across the Cascade Range in Washington Interstate 90 over Sno-qualmie Pass, U.S. 2 over Stevens Pass and U.S. 12 over White Pass were closed by multiple avalanches.

Officials said there was little chance they could be reopened before today. One slider, buried a car up to the doors during the night, said Clarissa Ltindeen of the state Transportation Department. Both occupants were freed without injury. Guatemala accord ends 36-year war (t I j- J. i 1 4 mm 7 I I i Gingrich won't quit WASHINGTON (AP) In the face of mounting evidence the ethics storm swirling around Newt Gingrich may be eroding his support among Republicans; House Majority Whip Tom DeLay flatly predicted the Georgian will not step down from his post as House speaker.

DeLay's remarks on NBCs "Meet The Press" came after a week in which Republicans began voicing unease about the House ethics committee's probe of Gingrich. The speaker has admitted filing inaccurate statements to the panel regarding a college course he once taught at a small Georgia college. Gingrich and other Republican leaders are calling on the panel to make a decision on what penalty, if any, should be levied against the speaker on 01 before Jan. 7, when the House convenes to elect leaders for the 105th Congress. If the panel and the full House should take the unlikely step of voting for censure, Gingrich would be stripped of his speakership.

An official reprimand, the most lenient penalty available, would not require Gingrich to quit the leadership. Passengers survive crash TOMAHAWK, Wis. (AP) Several hours after an airplane disappeared from radart rescuers on snowmobiles finally reached the crash site deep in a heavily wooded area of northern Wisconsin. All 10 people on board survived Saturday's crash, as did a dog. The airplane had broken in half and was missing its tail and wings, and the site was covered with about 2 feet of snow and a freezing mist, Taskay said.

While waiting for rescuers, the passengers had started a fire near the plane, and were able to get extra clothing from their luggage. 'Bomb' found to be sex toy SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) A mysterious ticking from a suitcase prompted the evacuation of several dozen people Sunday from the city's train station. The noise turned out to be a vibrating sex toy. Police evacuated the building after Amtrak personnel reported a "ticking sound" coming from the piece of luggage in the storage area, Lt.

Robert Thibodeau said. The bag had been checked in advance. Employees tried to call the phone number listed on the baggage tag, but called police after discovering the number had been disconnected. Hostages allowed mail today LIMA, Peru (AP) For nearly two weeks, diplomats and other VIPs held hostage by leftist rebels have been cut off from the world, trapped in the Japanese ambassador's residence with rare chances to contact worried relatives or friends. Today, however, all 83 remaining hostages will receive their biggest gift of this holiday season: a letter from their loved ones.

In a move sure to lift the hostages' spirits, Red Cross officials said the guerrillas had agreed to let relatives send one letter to each captive. The hostages will be allowed to reply the same day, they said. "The emotional stress on the hostages and their families is tremendous," said Luis K. Watanabe, a Peruvian museum director released after five days in captivity. "Their only link has been mutual suffering and uncertainty." The Red Cross also plans to deliver fresh clothes, shoes, candles, insecticide, cigarettes and disinfectant so the hostages may clean the residence's bathrooms and floors.

On Sunday, rebels allowed the Red Cross to deliver 40 pounds of imported dog food for Japanese Ambassador Morihita Aoki's two German shepherds. Aoki also is a hostage and reportedly has not been allowed near his dogs. The gestures appear to show greater flexibility in the position of the roughly 20 Tupac Amaru rebels who initially seized some 500 hostages during a gala bash at the compound on Dec. 17. Until this weekend, the guerrillas had restricted communications with their captives and insisted with threats that the government give in to their key demand freeing some 300 fellow rebels from prison.

President Alberto Fujimori has said he will not free jailed guerrillas to end the crisis. But the release of 20 hostages Saturday, and the fact that the rebels have stopped demanding GUATEMALA CITY (AP) War-weary guerrilla and government leaders on Sunday signed an accord ending 36 years of civil conflict, vowing to tackle the poverty, repression and discrimination that sparked the fighting. The solemn ceremony, observed by some 1,200 foreign dignitaries and special guests inside the National Palace, Drought Central America's last and longest civil war to a close. Heads of state, including President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and presidents from all of Central America's nations, applauded as each of the four top rebel leaders and representatives of the government signed the agreement reached after six years of negotiations brokered by the United Nations. Rebel commanders Rolando Moran, Pablo Monsanto, Carlos Gonzalez and Jorge Rosal returned home to Guatemala from exile on Saturday from Mexico City where they and Guatemalan government officials had negotiated the peace accords.

Rebel leaders wearing dark suits shook hands and each hugged head government negotiator Gustavo Porras, with whom they had wrangled with over fine points for so many years in Mexico City hotels. In one of his last acts before his term ends New Year's day, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali signed the final peace agreement for the world body. "Three years of internal conflict has ended," said Porras. "The future we depend now depends on The task is huge.

Earlier, many remembered the tens of thousands who died determined that past horrors not be forgotten amid the celebrations surrounding the signing of a final peace accord. Some Guatemalans and others closely linked to events said all sides would have to struggle to guard against renewed hostilities. Teh thousand Indians poured into the capital's festive central square Sunday as a roving marimba band played.Peasant men in straw cowboy hats and children carried white flags of peace or blue flags that said "URNG," the initials for the rebel National Revolutionary Guatemalan Unity. "Today we offer homage to all the anonymous martyrs of the struggle," shouted a man with a megaphone. The Associated Press Police officers stand guard around the Japanese ambassador's residence In Lima, Peru, on Sunday.

Tupac Amaru leftist rebels are still holding 83 people hostage at the compound. the release of their comrades and stopped threatening to execute hostages is encouraging. "We think this is a sign that it is very probable that the problem will solve itself in the next few days," said Eloy Avila, the acting Bolivian ambassador while the regular envoy is captive. In their most recent communique, the rebels insisted only that the government improve the conditions of Peru's squalid prisons, where inmates reportedly catch and eat rats to avoid starving to death. fcJL.

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