Nation briefs 05/12/03

Total lunar eclipse set for Thursday night

LOS ANGELES -- If the weather cooperates, a total lunar eclipse will be seen across North America late Thursday -- the first visible in the United States in three years -- and just before dawn Friday in western Europe and western and southern Africa.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the full moon, blocking the sunlight that otherwise reflects off the moon's surface. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view with the naked eye.

In North America, the moon will remain totally eclipsed for 53 minutes, and should turn substantially darker and reddish in color.

The total eclipse will start at 10:13 p.m. CDT.

A second lunar eclipse, on Nov. 8, will be visible from North and South America.

Eclipses once helped prove the Earth is round, because its shadow on the moon is curved.

Container explodes at San Francisco airport tarmac

SAN FRANCISCO -- A shipping container packed with electronic test equipment exploded inside an airliner's cargo hold Sunday while passengers were boarding, officials said.

A battery pack in the container of electronic gear may have been to blame for the small blast, said Mike McCarron, a spokesman for San Francisco International Airport.

United Flight No. 33 was preparing for takeoff on a flight to Kauai Island, Hawaii.

"As the baggage handler was moving bags around the cargo hold one of the packed shipping containers exploded, a minor explosion, and blew the hinges off" the container, McCarron said.

There were no injuries, McCarron said. He said the container was well padded and insulated and would likely not have caused any damage to the plane had it been airborne.

Passengers were evacuated and rescheduled for an alternate flight.

Officials to allow support animals on planes

WASHINGTON -- Airline passengers who rely on cats, monkeys or other animals for emotional support may be able to bring the animals into a plane's seating compartment under new federal guidelines.

Previously, cabin permission generally was given only for animals that helped people with physical disabilities, usually a blind person who needed a guide dog.

The airlines industry and advocates for the disabled asked the government to clarify and expand the definition of a "service animal," since more people now use other animals like cats or monkeys.

Transportation Department officials say these animals are used for a wider variety of functions, such as helping to pull wheelchairs or alerting a person with epilepsy that a seizure is imminent.

Other animals now can be taken aboard for emotional support. However, passengers who take advantage of this provision may be required to show proof from a doctor or psychologist.

Georgia high school maintains separate proms

WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. -- Students at a central Georgia high school held separate proms for whites and blacks this year, maintaining a dying practice in the rural South.

"It's always been like that," said Carla Rachels, 17, a Johnson County High School senior who helped organize Friday night's whites-only prom. "We don't see it as a big deal." Parents paid for the two proms.

Taylor County, another rural area, held an integrated prom last year, but added a separate whites-only prom this year.

After integration in the late 1960s, separate proms were common in the rural South, but Johnson and Taylor counties are among the last to cling to the practice.

Johnson County native and former professional football star Herschel Walker urged an end to segregated proms.

"Today I wish things would change a little bit," said Walker, who visited last week when the high school football field was named in his honor. "This world is changing so much. Coming after the war we just had, I think people can see we are country, we are together."-- From wire reports