Nation digest 10/17/01

Industrial production plunges in September

WASHINGTON -- Disruptions and lost business from the terror attacks helped to depress manufacturing activity in September for the 12th month in a row, the longest string of declines in industrial production since the country was reverting back to a peacetime economy at the end of World War II.

The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines plunged by 1 percent last month, on top of a 0.7 percent decline in August.

The last time industrial production fell for 12 straight months was from November 1944 through October 1945.

Six deputies on leave after shooting suspect

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Six sheriff's deputies have been placed on administrative leave after the shooting death of a man with a knife.

Thomas Patton, 56, was killed outside his home Saturday as he approached Ventura County deputies with a knife, authorities said. Deputies tried to subdue Patton with pepper spray and knock the knife from his hand before they fired as many as 11 bullets, authorities said.

The deputies were placed on leave Monday for at least three days. Patton's family said the deputies may have used excessive force.

School board removes pledge ban after hearing

MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison School Board voted to allow schools to offer the Pledge of Allegiance, reversing an earlier decision.

The board approved the change on a 6-1 vote Tuesday after hearing about eight hours of testimony from emotional residents about its decision last week to bar the Pledge of Allegiance in classrooms.

The 800-seat auditorium at Madison Memorial High School was overflowing late Monday into Tuesday with citizens wanting to express their opinion.

The district received more than 20,000 phone calls and e-mails over the matter -- most criticizing the decision.

EPA urges parents to smoke away from kids

WASHINGTON -- Government and health officials hope to clear the lungs of millions of children exposed to secondhand smoke each year by encouraging parents who smoke to light up outdoors.

The Environmental Protection Agency launched a public relations campaign Tuesday asking parents to sign pledges to voluntary refrain from exposing their children to the secondhand smoke given off by cigarettes, pipes and cigars, or exhaled from lungs.

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said children exposed to secondhand smoke are especially vulnerable to respiratory illnesses because they absorb greater concentrations of smoke than adults do.

Galileo spacecraft has close encounter with Io

PASADENA, Calif. -- The Galileo spacecraft made its closest pass yet over Jupiter's fiery moon Io, flying about 112 miles above the moon's surface, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.

The pass over the moon's south pole Monday night was closer than five previous passes over Io, the innermost of Jupiter's four major moons.

The route was designed so the spacecraft could make magnetic field measurements that might give scientists more clues about Io's molten interior. Galileo has orbited Jupiter since December 1995, far longer than planned.

Bill improves working conditions for shepherds

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Shepherds in California will soon be living in the 20th century.

A bill signed Sunday by Gov. Gray Davis will give them electricity, running water and access to telephones.

California has an estimated 325 workers -- primarily from Peru, Chile and Mongolia -- who tend 800,000 sheep. They were exempt from basic working-condition protections because they were part of a federal work program.

Earlier this year, a state commission boosted the pay of shepherds from $900 a month to $1,200 by next July.

-- From wire reports