2A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 10, 2001 NATION/WORLD FBI studies Hoffa DNA, disappearance NEWS'V IN BRIEF f--r SACRAMENTO, Calif. Police launch manhunt for another killer 4 BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) -- Nearly three decades after Jimmy Hoffa vanished, a close friend of the former Teamsters boss said he understands the Hoffa family's grief, but not its belief that he holds some responsibility for Hoffa's disappearance. Charles "Chuckie" O'Brien said he has been inter- viewed by FBI agents over the years in the case, most recently last month during a five-day visit, The Palm Beach Post reported yesterday. "This disappearance has me hurting, too," said O'Brien, who lives in Boca Riton with his wife, Brenda. "I loved this man more than anything. My thought has always been that this could be solved, and I agree with Jimmy (Hoffa's son and current Teamsters president) that they deserve closure." FBI agents did not say why they interviewed O'Brien, but The Detroit News reported Friday that the bureau found a hair from Hof a in a car O'Brien was driving on July 30, 1975, the day of the disap- pearance. Hoffa's daughter, Barbara Ann Crancer, con- firmed the FBI has been conducting DNA tests on the vehicle. Hoffa's body was never found, and his disappear- ance has been the subject of widespread speculation. He is presumed dead after vanishing from a Detroit- area restaurant. "I have my theories about what happened," O'Brien said. "But the FBI has always pooh-poohed them." He would not elaborate. FBI agents have long believed the car - a 1975 Mercury Marquis Brougham - was instrumental in the disappearance. The car, owned by the son of reputed Mafia figure Anthony Giacalone, was used by O'Brien that day. O'Brien told investigators in 1975 he borrowed it to deliver a frozen salmon to the home of Robert Holmes, then president of Teamsters Local 337. But O'Brien has maintained Hoffa never was in the car, and he repeatedly has denied any role in Hoffa's disappearance. Thy delivery put O'Brien in the area near the Machus Red Fox restaurant, where Hoffa was sup- posed to meet with Giacalone and New Jersey Team- sters boss and underworld associate Anthony Provenzano. Neither man showed up. Both said no meeting had been scheduled. Investigators believe Hoffa, then 62, was picked up outside the restaurant and killed. rHoffa's family believes .only a close friend, such as O'Brien, could have persuaded Hoffa to get in the car. Hoffa's son, James P. Hoffa, said he has not talked to O'Brien in 26 years. O'Brien denied newspaper reports he disappeared for the five days after Hoffa vanished, saying he was preparing to move to a construction job within the Teamsters' Southern Conference. The only reason he was in Detroit on the day Hoffa dropped out of sight was to clear out his office, O'Brien said. O'Brien also denied accusations he had gam- bling and debt problems that estranged him from Hoffa and drew him close to people in organized crime. He was banned from the Teamsters in 1990 for having links to mob associations: Removal of woodlands conflicts with treaty For the second time in a month, this city's police force has launched a man- hunt for a suspect in a mass murder, warning those with links to the suspect that they, too, could be targets. Police believe former security guard Joseph Ferguson, 20, of Sacramento, shot and killed three unarmed ex-coworkers and a fourth man Saturday night, then handcuffed another guard and fled in her car. Ferguson remained at large yesterday and was believed to be heavily armed and possibly wearing a bulletproof vest, Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Daniel Hahn said. Police said Ferguson made a number of cell phone calls at the time of the ram- page, and were checking out an alleged claim by Ferguson that he shot a person in a gold van. The hunt for Ferguson comes three weeks after Nikolay Soltys allegedly slashed his pregnant wife's throat, then killed his aunt and uncle and their two 9-year-old grandchildren in the Sacramento area. Authorities say Soltys fled with his son, who was found dead in a cardboard box a day later. In Soltys' case, police had warned the Ukrainian community and Soltys' fam- ily that he could target them. Soltys' family was put under surveillance, and he was caught 10 days later in his mother's back yard. Polls favor Green, Ferrer in NY elections Mayoral hopefuls Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer were-in a statistical dead heat as the candidates campaigned during the last weekend before the Democrat- ic primary, according to a poll. The Daily News/New York I poll found that 27 percent of likely voters sup- ported Green, the city's public advocate, while 26 percent chose Ferrer, the Bronx borough president. The poll, published in yesterday's Daily News, had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. City Council Speaker Peter Vallone had 14 percent in the survey of 616 voters, and city Comptroller Alan Hevesi trailed with 13 percent. Twenty percent of respondents were not sure. In the Republican primary, the survey found a wipeout, with media magnate Michael Bloomberg beating former congressman Herman Badillo by a greater than 3-to-1 ratio. If no candidate gets 40 percent of the vote in tomorrow's Democratic primary, the top two finishers will have a runoff on Sept. 25. According to the poll, Green would beat Ferrer if a Democratic runoff were held. Green would get 42 per- cent, and Ferrer would get 39 percent, with 19 percent saying they were not sure. I I WASHINGTON (AP) - It hardly seems the stuff of geopolitical significance: In forested flatlands about 100 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska, con- tractors are taking down 135 acres of fire-scorched spruce and birch trees on a closed military post. When they are done, they also will improve a few roads near Fort Greely and dig wells. Next spring, given congressional approval, the Bush administration intends to dig some deep holes there; and then fill them with five interceptor missile silos. At some point during the work-pre- cisely when is open to debate - the United States will likely come into con- flict with the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. It is one of the fun- damental arms control treaties of the Cold War. The administration says it will either withdraw from the treaty to avoid violat- ing it, or it will reach a modified accord with Russia allowing the work to go for- ward. Even during the Clinton administra- tion, Fort Greely was a flashpoint for ABM treaty issues. Clinton considered using the fort as the home for 100 inter- ceptors that would serve as the nation's sole missile defense. The Bush administration has changed that. It is opting to test several missile defense technologies, including the ground-based interceptor program backed by the Clinton administration. To do so, the military envisions a missile range spanning most of the north Pacific Ocean. Sites at Fort Greely, Kodiak Island, and Shemya, Alaska, would augment the existing test range that runs between Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Ballistic target missiles would be launched from one part of the range, either from a ground-based site or from an airplane. New radars would track the missile as it arcs toward space, shedding boosters and possibly dropping decoys. Around 200 miles above the Earth, the targets would tip over and fall back toward the surface. One or several experimental missile defenses - ground-based or naval interceptors, air- borne lasers, or possibly orbital weapons - would try to shoot it down. The ABM treaty has provisions against testing many of those defenses. Even using certain ship radars, or several radars in tandem, to track missiles during flight tests could create problems with compli- ance, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz acknowledged in congressional testimony in July. The giant range is necessary to give the programs adequate testing, Lt. Col. Rick Lehner said, who is a spokesman for the Ballistic Missile Defense Orga- nization, the Pentagon agency running missile defense. He said there is only one trajectory for missiles flying between Kwajalien and California; with the multiple launch sites, there would be several., Building the range will cost $800 million, much of that for a new, high-resolution radar in Hawaii, Lehner said. Fort Greely would be an interceptor missile base. Crews there would prac- tice loading and unloading interceptor missiles from silos. Others would run an operations center and conduct launch drills, but no plans are in place for mis- siles to take off from Greely, Lehner said. Those five silos, however, would be operational, and nothing would prevent the missiles inside from being used in an emergency, officials said. Should the interceptor program go forward, Greely likely would be the site for the real thing. The 135 acres being cleared at Greely would pro- vide enough-space for 100 silos, Lehner said. Martha Cook BU11difg, an Hstoric Residence for women has a very few vacancies in double rooms. A beautiful building, with garden8, situated in the heart of Central Campu. for further information, please contact Marion &her, Director, The Martha Cook Building 906 couth University Telephone: 763-2084 he FULBRIGHT PROGRAM FOR STUDY & RESEARCH ABROAD The IIE Fulbright programs support study abroad in over 100 countries, providing grants for research, study and travel for selected countries, and various other opportunities such as teaching assistantships. The competition is open to U.S. students at all graduate levels, and to seniors who will have graduated by the time the award is to be used. Students need not have international experience to be considered. Recent graduates and graduating seniors are not at a disadvantage. Information sessions wilt be held in room 2609 of the International Institute on: Wednesday, Sept. 5, 3-5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, 5 - 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10, 5 - 7 p.m. Application materials are available at the International Institute (located in the School of Social Work Building). The U of M Fulbright Program Adviser is Kirsten Willis. Contact her at 763-9200 or um.iiefulbright@umich.edu Deadline for application: September 24, 2001 JERUSALEM Bomb attacks may hinder truce talks Palestinian militants launched a spate of attacks yesterday, including a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives as passengers were getting off a crowded train in a northern coastal town, killing four people, including himself, and wounding more than 30. The surge of violence, which also included retaliatory missile strikes by Israeli helicopters, threw into question possible truce talks aimed at ending more than 11 months of Mideast vio- lence. Overall, Palestinians staged two bomb attacks, one attempted bombing and a lethal drive-by shooting in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,. Israel's security forces said. Five peo- ple were killed - all believed to be Israelis - along with three Palestinian militants who died while carrying out the attacks. GENVAL, Belgium New force to include non-NATO nations European Union foreign ministers agreed to back a new multinational force to replace the current NATO dis- armament mission in Macedonia yes- terday, saying it is needed to prevent a resumption of fighting that could lead to another Balkan war. A German plan endorsed by the ministers at an informal session in Genval, Belgium calls for a force led by NATO but smaller and including non-NATO nations. NATO has so far res'isted staying in Macedonia past Sept:26, but since 11 EU members are also members of NATO, yesterday's decision could signal a change in the alliance's posi- tion. Some of the 15 EU ministers were adamant that any new force in Mace- donia must have a U.N. Security Council mandate. Britain opposed that idea, and others said there sim- ply isn't enough time to push a man- date through the United Nations. WASHINGTON I Study: American life 6 expectancy longer Small-town Americans tend to smoke more, lose more teeth as they age and die sooner than suburban and many big-city residents, a government snapshot of the country's bealth shows. Overall, Americans are healthier today than they were 25 years ago, and an annual report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention offers some reasons: longer life expectancy, better infant survival, fewer smokers, less hypertension and lower cholesterol levels. The news is not all good, say researchers. People who live in rural areas are not getting as much preven- tive care and medical treatment as other Americans. Long distances and the high rate of poverty among rural residents are two factors that make it tough to attract medical services. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 0 The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $100. Winter term (January through April) is $105, yearlong (September through April) is $180. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-0552; Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@umich.edu. 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