News In Brief
The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that police can sometimes stop and question people because they ran at the sight of a uniformed officer. "Nervous, evasive behavior is a pertinent factor in determining reasonable suspicion" to justify a stop, Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote for the court. The case stemmed from a 1995 incident in which a Chicago man ran after spotting officers in an area known for drug trafficking. The court also ruled, unanimously, that Congress can bar states from selling personal information compiled on driver's licenses. The case involved South Carolina's challenge to the 1994 Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which was passed after a stalker obtained the victim's address from license records.
Attorney General Janet Reno upheld an Immigration and Naturalization Service decision that Elian Gonzalez should return to his father's custody in Cuba. In a written statement, she said any challenge to the ruling must come before a federal rather than state court. A Florida court ruling that granted temporary custody of the boy to his Miami relatives does not overrule the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service that Elian should be returned to his father in Cuba, she wrote. To accommodate any challenges to the decision, Reno said the INS would not insist on its original Friday deadline to return the boy to the communist island.
President Clinton was expected to propose a $21 billion expansion of tax credits for low-income families. The 10-year plan would increase by $500 the maximum credit for working families with three or more children, raise the earning ceilings for married couples, and reduce the rate at which credits are phased out for incomes that rise above the ceiling.
Defense officials said Clinton will ask Congress to increase spending on national missile defense by $2.2 billion. The funds would be used for increased testing, more spare parts, an expanded arsenal of interceptor rockets to be based in Alaska or North Dakota, and construction of a test-launch facility in the Pacific, the officials said.
Education Week's annual report on public schooling gave state efforts to improve classrooms a "C." The survey by the Bethesda, Md.-based publication found that while 39 states require prospective teachers to pass literacy and math tests, 36 of them allow some who fail to slip through. But the report also said per-pupil spending rose in 43 states between 1997 and 1998.
A letter by the Labor Department saying stock options must be figured into workers' overtime pay rates was criticized by some corporate executives. Washington-based LPA Inc., an association of human-resources executives, said the letter could discourage companies from offering stock options to lower-level employees. The Labor Department said the letter was tailored for one company.
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