Etc...

A library marathon

When movers began transporting 600 tons of documents from temporary storage at a nearby car dealership into the new Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark., the job was expected to take a month. In fact, it was completed in a mere 17 days. The task of declassifying 80 million pages, however, is another matter. "For the textual records, it won't happen in my lifetime," says Emily Robison, the supervisory archivst. The library's grand opening is Nov. 18.

Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles Police Department knows that officers sometimes lose control, as occurred during the June 23 arrest of an alleged car thief who was whacked 11 times with a long metal flashlight by one officer at the end of a high speed chase. The incident prompted an investigation and all of the officers involved are on paid administrative leave, pending investigation results. The suspect, meanwhile, has filed a $25 million damage claim against the city. So what's Bratton and the LAPD to do? Well, he just announced one simple solution. Officers will soon carry smaller flashlights. And, oh, yes, they'll be rubberized.

HISPANIC magazine's latest list of best US cities for Latinos is heavily weighted toward Southwestern communities, which isn't surprising, since half the nation's nearly 40 million Hispanics live in either Texas or California. Using various statistical and information sources, including Forbes, Fortune, and other publications, HISPANIC graded cities on issues that matter most to Latinos: jobs, schools, living costs, safety, political power, and culture. The best cities for Hispanics:

1. Austin, Texas
2. Miami
3. San Diego
4. San Antonio
5. El Paso, Texas-Las Cruces, N.M.
6. Albuquerque, N.M.
7. Tucson, Ariz.
8. Los Angeles
9. Chicago
10. Las Vegas