CY M K
Day 14
America Recovers
Inside today
➤ Attack survivors struggle, 9A ➤ Pilots want guns, 10A ➤ Hollywood raises millions, 10A ➤ Boeing designs hijack-proof planes, 4D
Tuesday
Mostly cloudy, 77
September 25, 2001
Terrorist looked into crop dusters for possible attack Mohamed Atta, a suspected ringleader in the recent terror attacks in New York and Washington, made repeated visits to a cropdusting airfield in Florida, according to Willie Lee, the chief pilot and general manager of South Florida Crop Care in Belle Glade. Lee identified Atta to the FBI, telling agents the suspected hijacker came to the airfield as recently as the Saturday before the Sept. 11 attacks, asking questions about the capabilities of crop-dusters, including how many gallons of chemicals they could hold.
U.S. puts freeze on terrorists Weiser Bush places holds on network assets, urges others to do same By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Bush ordered a freeze Monday on the assets of 27 people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism, including Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, and urged other nations to do likewise. Foreign banks that don’t cooperate could have their own transactions blocked in the United States. ‘‘Money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations,’’ Bush said. ‘‘Today, we’re ask-
ing the world to stop payment.’’ The move was an effort to choke off financial support for bin Laden, whom the United States considers the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The list names 12 individuals, including bin Laden and an Egyptian militant suspected to be his top deputy; 11 organizations, including bin Laden’s al-Qaida network; three charities and one business. Missing from the list are Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, militant groups that are on the State Department’s roster of terrorists but that some Arab nations see
as legitimate fighters against Israel. Bush acknowledged that terrorists’ assets in the United States were small. But his order also gives the Treasury Department wider authority to go after transactions of foreign banks that refuse to cooperate in the campaign against terrorism. ‘‘It puts the financial world on notice,’’ Bush said in a Rose Garden appearance. ‘‘If you do business with terrorists, if you support or sponsor them, you will not do business with the United States of America.’’ Please see Freeze, 3A
C r o p - d u st e r b a n
Colombian rebels detail possible U.S. attack BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) — A Colombian guerrilla leader has spoken of a plan to attack U.S. interests in both Colombia and in the United States in a tape recording that Colombian security sources confirmed on Monday was the voice of the military commander of the Marxist FARC rebels. "To combat them wherever they may be, until we get to their own territory, to make them feel the pain which they have inflicted on other peoples," said the voice — which Reuters correspondents recognized as strongly resembling Briceno's.
Wall Street made strides toward recovery Monday Stocks surged higher Monday after Wall Street attempted to bounce back from one of its worst weeks ever after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But no one was banking on lasting gains. Business, 1D
Flag correction
Recipe correction The Recipe of the Day for Creamy Cucumber Salad that ran on 2C in Friday’s Idaho PressTribune included an incorrect ingredient. The correct recipe is printed today on 2C.
Headline correction A headline on 1A of Monday’s PressTribune should have read: “Rumsfeld: Brute force may not be the best way to get at bin Laden.”
▼ Idaho Lottery Pick 3: 2 6 0
▼ Deaths Ruth Carr Edith Foreman Beverly Heinbach Viola Hogan Charles Lundy
Wayne Paris Bernice Robinson James Scaggs
Obituaries and death notices, 5A, 6A
Opinion, 8A Puzzles, 6D TV listings, 2A Valley, 4A Weather, 2A
By Lane Bettencourt Idaho Press-Tribune NAMPA — Small airports like Nampa and Caldwell are getting increased attention from federal authorities trying to prevent another catastrophic terrorist attack like the one that killed thousands of Americans on the East Coast. Crop-dusting planes nationwide were grounded for a second day Monday while authorities worked to tighten security to prevent them from being used to spread toxic chemicals or deadly diseases. Local flight instructors have also been asked by federal agents about their recent trainees. Experts say a chemical or biological attack on a large U.S. city could kill tens of thousands of people. Gary Hubler of Valley Air Service in Caldwell said the shutdown did not have a
Lt. Cmdr. Ronald Vauk of Nampa honored in naval service By Nathaniel Hoffman Idaho Press-Tribune
Today’s news section was produced by Assistant Managing Editor David Woolsey, Valley Editor Sean Deter, and copy editors Sergio Brown and Julius Tigno Copyright © 2001 Printed on recycled newsprint
Vol. 22, No. 87, 28 pages
on the web: idahopress.com
Bioattack a possibility Reuters news service reports U.S. officials suspect that a group led by fugitive Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden has been contemplating attacks using biological and chemical weapons, such as sarin nerve gas, for years, according to the sources quoted by Jiji, a Japanese news agency. The United States has information that the group has already acquired small airplanes to spray bacteria causing smallpox or anthrax from the air, Jiji quoted the sources as saying.
great impact locally because this is a slow time of the year for crop spraying. “If it (the ban) had happened in the middle of the summer, it would have broke us,” Hubler said. The government’s grounding of thousands of crop-dusters across the country came after it was learned that one of the suspected hijackers in the attack on the
World Trade Center, Mohamad Atta, had shown interest in crop-dusters and that another person now in federal custody had downloaded information about the planes, Attorney General John Ashcroft said. Ashcroft told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the FBI had gathered information raising fears that the small farm planes could be used in a biological or chemical attack. But he said there was ‘‘no clear indication of the time or place of these attacks.’’ The FBI is believed to be investigating a group of Middle Eastern men — including Atta — who repeatedly visited a Florida fertilizer company before the Sept. 11 attacks. J.D.‘‘Will’’ Lee, general manager of South Florida Crop Care in Belle Glade, said Monday he told FBI agents that the men, in groups of two or three, visited nearly every weekend for six or eight weeks before the attacks. The visits included the weekend before the assaults. Please see Probe, 3A
CALDWELL — A former Canyon County deputy prosecutor was appointed to a 3rd District judgeship Monday by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. Veteran Washington County Magistrate Gregory Culet, based in Weiser since 1980, will move into the seat held by District Judge Gerald Weston, who will move to part-time senior status. Weston, who was appointed to the 3rd District Court in the late 1980s, is taking semiretirement and will continue to perform some judicial duties. In making the selection, Kempthorne noted Culet’s involvement in launching a family drug court in the judicial district. “Greg’s long and distinguished record as a magistrate judge, his work on launching a family drug court in Canyon County,his strong belief in the 10th Amendment, and state’s rights, and his extensive community involvement makes him an excellent choice to serve on the district court bench,” Kempthorne said in announcing the appointment. Canyon County Prosecutor Dave Young also spoke highly of Culet. “I think he’s a great choice,” Young said. “He’s got a lot of solid experience and has good decision-making abilities. Culet has served as chief criminal deputy prosecutor and as a deputy prosecutor for Canyon County. He also taught business law at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario on a parttime basis from 1985 to 1988. A native of San Antonio,Texas, he earned both is bachelor’s degree in political science and his law degree from the University of Idaho. Cutlet and his wife, Paula, have two grown children.He was selected for the judgeship over 3rd District magistrate judges Thomas Ryan of Homedale and Renae Hoff of Nampa. The district: Idaho’s 3rd Judicial District serves Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette and Washington counties.
Submariner vets remember fallen soldier
▼ Today’s edition Business, 1D Classifieds, 5D Comics, 3C Connections, 1C Legals, 4D Movies, 4C
Dick Selby/IPT
Cory Armstrong of Valley Air Service in Caldwell works a fuel system component Monday for the crop-dusting plane behind him. The company is one of the Canyon County businesses being affected by crop-dusting shutdowns and federal investigations in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Crop-dusters grounded; agents scour flight-training records
Culet will step into 3rd District seat Idaho Press-Tribune staff and The Associated Press
Probe affects Canyon businesses
Your Front Porch on 1C of Monday’s Idaho Press-Tribune gave the incorrect price for laminated flag posters being sold at the newspaper office. The posters are $4 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to the New York firefighters fund. The posters are available at the PressTribune, 1618 N. Midland Blvd., Nampa.
judge to replace Weston
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BOISE — Close to a dozen United States submarine veterans gathered at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 63 in Boise Monday night to remember Lt. Cmdr. Ronald James Vauk of Nampa. None of the soldiers knew Vauk personally. But to them, the young Naval Reservist who died at his post in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon was a fellow submariner. Mitchell Lint, commanding officer of the Boise Base of United States
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Submarine Veterans, called Vauk a shipmate, friend and defender of the flag during a memorial service heavy with images of war and peace at sea. The prayers asked for the Supreme Commander to protect Vauk, now on eternal patrol, from storms and to calm the seas. World War II veteran Jack Shindledecker of Boise attended the memorial because his son-in-law is Vauk's cousin. He said the news of Vauk's death was devastating not only because Vauk was a fellow naval officer, but because he was a human being. During the ceremony, Jack Gilmour tolled a bell for all subs that sunk during the month of September since the early 20th Century.
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"There ain't much we can do with subs now except fire missiles, and like Bush said, it doesn't make much sense to fire a $2 million dollar missile at a $10 tent," Gilmour said. Vauk, a 1982 Nampa High School graduate, served on the submarines USS Glenard P. Lipscomb and the USS Oklahoma City. He was a Naval Reserve officer on watchstand duty at the time of his death. Retired Lt. Cmdr. Fred Wagner wants to see positive action in response to the attacks, but not random action. "I have seen the devastation of war," he said. "For us to do anything on this, I want us to be sure."
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Dick Selby/IPT
John King of Boise prays for the family of Lt. Cmdr. Ronald James Vauk, the Nampa native who died at his post at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. During the memorial service, conducted Monday by the Boise Base of United States Submarine Veterans, Vauk was called a shipmate, friend and defender of the flag.
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