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The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

National Notes

Published 2001-10-17T00:00:00Z”/>

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Daschle letter contained anthrax

A letter opened Monday in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle tested positive for anthrax, prompting a criminal investigation of a bioterrorism scare that has now spread to Capitol Hill, the Associated Press reported.

Capitol Police Lt. Dan Nichols said the letter, which was opened by Daschle aides, contained a powdery substance. He said two preliminary field tests on the letter were positive for anthrax. The letter was then sent to an Army medical research facility at Fort Detrick, Md., for further tests.

“There was an exposure when the letter was opened,” Nichols said.

The letter to Daschle was postmarked Sept. 18 from Trenton, N.J., said postal inspector Tony Esposito. A letter containing anthrax mailed to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw was also postmarked Trenton.

In-flight prayer scares passengers

A Delta Air Lines flight was diverted to Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday after passengers mistook prayers being said by two Orthodox Jews on board as a threat, the airport manager told Reuters.

The flight from Atlanta to Newark, N.J. landed at Charlotte-Douglas Airport International Airport and passengers were taken off the flight while officials investigated a report of two “Middle Eastern men” creating a disturbance on board.

“Everybody is kind of on edge, and it just doesn’t take much to upset a lot of people,” Charlotte-Douglas International Airport operations manager Jerry Orr said.

On Saturday, a US Airways flight from North Carolina to Denver made an unscheduled landing in Indianapolis after an unidentified powder was discovered, but the powder was found to be non-toxic, an airline spokesman said.

What’s in a name

Thrash metal rock band Anthrax admitted its name is “not so cool” in light of the outbreak of the disease in the United States, but members said they do not want to change it, Reuters reported.

The band, whose multi-selling albums include “Spreading the Disease” and “The Threat is Real,” said that when it chose the name 20 years ago it sounded “cool, aggressive and nobody knew what it was.”

Now, it symbolizes fear, paranoia and death, band members said in a statement posted on their Web site.

“Before the tragedy of Sept. 11, the only scary thing about Anthrax was our bad hair in the 1980s and the Fistful of Metal album cover,” it said. “Suddenly our name is not so cool.”

The rockers said they will post links on their site on how fans could help Florida victims and protect themselves from the disease.

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