THE NATION TODAY
FBI probes threat sent to Boston convention
August 9, 2004
Federal authorities are investigating threats to bomb the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month. Agents, who say the threats were mailed from upstate New York, have questioned a Los Angeles-area man who has Binghamton relatives, according to an FBI application for a search warrant. The man was questioned about mid-July threats of the detonation of biological and nuclear weapons at the Democratic convention, according to The Press and Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton. The newspaper did not name the suspect. The warrant application says that one letter referred to chemical weapons allegedly located in Washington state and Peabody, Mass. That letter was signed ''Patriot." (AP)
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Florida
Church bus plunges into canal, killing 3
BOCA RATON -- A church bus filled with teens was hit by a sport utility vehicle and ran off a highway, plunging into a canal and killing three people, police said yesterday. The bus, carrying about 25 people from First Baptist Church at Hillsboro in Coconut Creek, was submerged in about 16 feet of water, Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Roger Reyes said. A Ford Explorer had a blowout and hit the bus, running it off the road and into the canal at about 10 p.m., Reyes said. The victims ranged in age from 12 to 14. (AP)
Oregon
Investigation sought into abuse allegation
PORTLAND -- A senator sent the Pentagon a letter yesterday seeking an investigation into a report that US soldiers were ordered to abandon an effort to prevent Iraqi jailers from abusing prisoners. The request from Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld followed a report by The Oregonian that guardsmen saw dozens of Iraqi prisoners being abused on June 29, Iraq's first day as a sovereign nation after the US-led invasion last year. The newspaper reported yesterday that Oregon National Guardsmen attempted to stop Iraqi jailers from abusing the prisoners, but were ordered to return the prisoners to the jailers and leave. (AP)
Texas
Marine's remains set to leave Vietnam
SMITHVILLE -- The remains of a Marine who had been missing since the Vietnam War have been located. Second Lieutenant Donald John Matocha of Smithville was killed in a firefight in April 1968 on Dong Ma Mountain. In 1996, Nguyen Van Loc, a 58-year-old farmer who had been a squad leader of the 320th Division of the People's Army of Vietnam, said he'd found a dead American on the mountain in the spring of 1968 and helped bury him. Matocha's grave was found in March, and dental records established positive identification. A nephew is scheduled to escort Matocha's remains to Smithville on Sept. 16. (AP)
California
Several fires blacken acres, threaten homes
CASTAIC -- Firefighters battled to contain several wildfires yesterday that had blackened thousands of acres and forced scores of people to evacuate their homes. Nearly 700 firefighters converged on a blaze in the Angeles National Forest that had burned 1,200 acres near the Los Angeles suburb of Castaic and destroyed two outbuildings. The firefighters faced temperatures forecast to reach nearly 100 degrees. (AP) 
© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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