Elko Daily Free Press from Elko, Nevada • 7

Friday, March 31, 2000 ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS, Elko, Nevada A7 Northern Japan volcano erupts -1 i T7 active volcanoes. In 1977, two people were killed and 200 homes destroyed in mudslides following Usu's last eruptions, which continued for several months into the following year. This is the seventh major eruption of Mount Usu in the past 300 years. Fifty people died when the volcano erupted In 1822, its worst known erup- tion, according to the meteorological agency. An eruption of the Mount Unzen in 1991 sent avalanches of hot rocks sweeping through the outskirts of the southern town of Shimabara, killing 43 people and leaving nearly 2300 homeless.

i i5t DATE, Japan (AP) After threatening mountainside villages for four days, Mount Usu erupted today, spewing a roiling mixture of rock, gas and ash over the snowy countryside. Many townspeople near the volcano rushed into the streets and onto rooftops to watch the eruption, which was clearly visible for several miles. There were no reports of injuries or damage, and Mount Usu's eruption appeared to be subsiding at least temporarily hours after it sent a huge column of ash and debris 1 i A IV- v. i i 4 1 1 J'l 1 V4 (AmocUIm) Ppm) Counter-demonstrators, left, argued with members of the Aryan Nations white-supremacist group in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in this July 3, 1999 file photo. Embarrassed by the sight of neo-Nazis parading through town at the height of tourist season, city leaders have decided they, too, ought to be using the First Amendment to their advantage.

They are hiring a "human rights coordinator" whose job will include publicizing all the good and decent things people are doing in the town. Trlnlin town (VI lie Karl rormt(i1irYn shooting into the sky early this afternoon. Officials, however, warned that the danger was far from over. "It is possible that widespread damage could result from this eruption," chief Cabinet spokesman Mikio Aoki said from the government's emergency headquarters in Tokyo. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was also there monitoring the situation.

Residents were calm, and most followed directions to stay at evacuation centers or at their homes. Coast guard ships and military helicopters also were mobilized to rescue thousands of residents near the volcano. About 51,000 people live in the coastal city of Date and several smaller towns near Usu, located 475 miles north of Tokyo on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Experts had predicted the eruption because of increased seismic activity that began earlier this week. The evacuation of more than 11,000 people began Wednesday.

Almost immediately after the eruption, volcanic ash began to rain down on nearby towns. Residents downwind were soon enveloped by the pungent smell of sulfur. The plume rose from the volcano amid generally clear skies. Within two hours, it had reached two miles into the sky, according to the nearby Muroran Observatory. The coast guard, military and police mobilized shortly after the eruption to evacuate the village of Abuta, said coast guard spokesman Hirotaka Mikubo.

Abuta, located between the volcano and the ocean, has a population of 13,000. Several hundred were evacuated by helicopter and truck, and the ships remained in Abuta port awaiting any others. The military was called in mainly because of concerns over the possibility of landslides or mudslides caused by melting snow. Before the eruption, snow 1-foot deep covered much of the volcano. More snow began to fall this evening.

The local weather observatory issued warnings against heavy rains, snow, and avalanches in an area that included Mount Usu. Mobile phone service was briefly cut off, but was quickly restored. Airline officials said some domestic flights to (MaMo'fcacKbsen suspended, were not delayed. The eruption was surprisingly quiet and was not preceded by any jolts. Most of the ash appeared to be wafting northeast over a nearby lake, and not over the more populous areas.

"We are worried that the wind direction will change," said Date Mayor Hidekichi Kikuya. "We have been spared so far, but that could change." Kikuya said that there were no injuries reported in Date. The eruption began early this afternoon with a rapidly expanding plume of white smoke rising from the northwest rim of the volcano's crater. The plume quickly turned darker as more ash and small debris became mixed in. Police blocked access to all roads within a radius of six miles from the volcano.

Japan is one of the world's most eruption-prone countries, with 86 with public relations promotion COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) coordinator was donated by the Carr Civic leaders fear that ira Civic leaders fear that (Aaodated fnm) marches by Mount Usu, spewing a roiling mixture of rock, gas and ash, was seen from Abuta today as the volcano erupted at 1:10 p.m. in Date, 475 miles north of Tokyo. The volcano on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido erupted after two decades of silence. Embarrassed by the sight of neo-Nazis parading through town at the height of tourist season, city leaders have decided they, too, can use the Japan's Mount Usu erupts Yutoku lake Toys' Naka kland iviuuiu usu vulval ikj in iiuiuiciii Japan erupted Friday, just hours after roads began cracking from growing fissures on the flanks of the snow-capped mountain. Abuta Roughly 51,000 people live near the mountain, but there were no Immediate reports i i nn' rtek, of Jflurfr TW, Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University.

Founder Greg Carr is an Idaho native. Richard Butler, leader of the Aryan Nations, ridiculed the notion of an Aryan-buster. "For white people to have to hire somebody like that because other people want to remain white is interesting," he said. The Idaho Panhandle is a region of beautiful lakes and forested mountains that draws thousands of tourists and retirees. The elegant Coeur d'Alene Resort on the city's lakefront has 18 floors of rooms to at rates of up to $2,500 a night.

In Kootenai County, tourism in 1999 accounted for 5,800 jobs paying $66 milhon in wage With the region's timber and mining "industries suffering, tourism is a major reason the population of the county leaped from 69,000 in 1990 to 98,000 in 1997. Many of the newcomers are moving into $500,000 homes springing up all over the area. At the same time, Idaho has gained a reputation as a hate-group stronghold. A recent report by the Northwest Coalition fflr Human Dignity identified 11 white supremacist groups in Idaho, 10 of them in the Panhandle. Among them is the Hitler-loving Aryan Nations, which moved to a ranch in the area in the 1970s and declared it was creating a white homeland.

1 the Aryan Nations in 1998 and 1999 are scaring away tourists and business opportunities. A 1998 parade attracted about 90 Aryan Nations supporters and 1,000 counter-demonstrators. Last summer, about 80 white supremacists and 200 opponents scuffled in a park. A week later, after winning a permit on First Amendment grounds with backing from the ACLU, a few Aryan Nations supporters marched down Sherman Avenue to the screams of thousands of protesters. Last year, resort owner Duane Hagadone donated thousands of dollars for legal advice in a fruitless attempt to draft a law that would ban the Aryans from marching while preserving First Amendment rights.

At the state level, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne has proposed spending up to $100,000 to change Idaho's image as a haven for racists. "The idea that this soil is now used as a verbal battleground for hatred and to display swastikas is not Idaho," he said at a rally in Coeur d'Alene last year. In Coeur d'Alene, some merchants were enthusiastic about the idea of countering bad publicity with good. "We have a really bad reputation," said Cathy Shortridge, owner of several stores in the Coeur d'Alene Resort Shopping Plaza.

"Everywhere we go, people mention, 'You live up there with the Aryan rS ML First Amendment to their advantage. They are hiring a human rights coordinator with public relations experience whose job will include publicizing all the good and decent things people are doing in Coeur d'Alene. It's the latest tactic in a battle that has seen locals first try to ignore the white supremacist group Aryan Nations, and then stage counter-demonstrations. The end result was national media coverage showing pictures of swastika-wearing extremists marching down the main "Good deeds and positive activities never garner as much attention as the remarks of a crazy who doesn't represent anybody," said Jonathan Coe of the Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Steve Judy will choose the coordinator, who will work with the news media, advertising agencies and religious groups to develop programs that promote respect for others.

The goal is to focus media attention on positive activities, rather than hate marches. Among other things, the coordinator will set up a Web site, organize public meetings and answer queries from the media about hate groups. Money for the full-time post of Nagawa Date' "Approximate area of evacuation HOKKAIDO 12 mile Uchlum Wan 12 km MotowanisM A Muroran Major fatal volcanic disasters in Japan Number of Date Volcano deaths (injuries) Mount Bandai Mount Adatara Izu-Torishima 461 (unknown) 72(10) 125 (unknown) Sakurajima Tokachidake July, 1888 July, 1900 Aug. 902 May, 1926 July. 1940 June, 1947 June, 1958 June, 1991 58(112) 144(200) Jii201 Miyakejima.

Reputed mob boss indicted Mount Asama Mount Aso Unzendake 11 (unknown) 12 (28) 43(10) AP Source Compiled from AP wire reports ,14 SHOES SHOES IVUUVLAJl 1 1 Conforti said; citing 24 mob members who have been imprisoned and at least 15 who were killed over the past two decades. In December, Merlino pleaded innocent to federal charges of racketeering and conspiracy in a $1.3 million theft ring. A 12-count indictment accused him and 13 others of engaging in drug trafficking and operating a scheme involving products stolen from city rail yards. Merlino was acquitted Oct. 21 of charges that he threatened to kill an organized crime investigator who arrested him in June at his house in Margate, NJ.

some of the defendants of operating a widespread mob protection racket that preyed on bookmakers, numbers operators, video poker machine operators and others involved in criminal activity in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. Robert S. Conforti, the FBI's special agent in charge in Philadelphia, said Merlino's organization did business "the old-fashioned mob way extortion, book-making, manufacture and distribution of heroin, theft and murder." Recently, however, it has not "proved to be a good line of work," i'- Jtoi 71 PHILADELPHIA (AP) Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, reputed boss of the Philadelphia mob, is accused of murder, racketeering and extortion in an indictment reached with help from his predecessor, authorities said Friday. The 37-count indictment accused Merlino of killing three men and trying to kill another. Ten other people named in the indictment are accused of various charges ranging from murder to conspiracy to illegal gambling.

Former boss Ralph Natale allegedly ceded control of the Philadelphia-South Jersey mob to Merlino in 1998. When Natale agreed to cooperate with authorities last summer, he became the highest-ranking American Mafia figure to flip sides. "I cannot overstate the significance of this case. Not only does it reach to the highest levels of organized crime, significant evidence comes from the highest levels of organized crime. That has never occurred before," U.S.

Attorney Michael Stiles said. That in my judgment represents a complete collapse of this criminal Merlino already is jailed on drug charges. Of the others, eight were arrested Friday, and two were arrested earlier and freed on bail The indictment links Merlino and others with the murders of William Veasey, Joseph Sodano and Anthony Turra along with the attempted murder of Joseph Ciancaglini Jr. The Philadelphia lnquirrr reported Thursday that Gaetano Tommy Horsehead" Scafidi had agreed to cooperate with authorities and help them build a case that linked Merlino and others to the 1933 attempted murder of Ciancaglini. The shooting started a war between the Merlino faction of the mob and an organization headed by then mob boss John SUnfa.

Ciarwaelini was a SUnfa undcrboss, authorities said. The indictment also accuses On 700 Pairs Off Selected Name Brand Shoes fTFJ ML Wheeler Power Mail-In Ballots are due by April 7. Less than two weeks remain for member-owners to cast their votes. Mt Wheeler Power must receive all ballots by 4.00 p.m. on April 7.

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