Washington, D.C.: Violent crime drops against Hispanics

The rate of violent crime against Hispanics fell 56 percent in a seven-year period in the 1990s and is now similar to that against whites, the government reported Sunday.

The decrease for Hispanics coincided with a steep drop in violent crime against all U.S. residents, according to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In 1993, the violent crime rate for Hispanics was closer to that for blacks, who experienced 70 violent crimes per 1,000 people. But by 2000, it was closer to that for whites, who experienced 27 violent crimes per 1,000 people.

There were 28 violent crimes per 1,000 Hispanics older than 11 in 2000, compared with 63 in 1993, the report found. For other ethnic groups, the comparable 2000 figures were 34 per 1,000 for blacks and eight per 1,000 for Asians.

Louisiana: Pipeline rupture spills 90,000 gallons of oil

Strong wind hampered cleanup efforts Sunday as workers tried to contain a 90,000-gallon crude oil spill off the southeast Louisiana coast.

Four-foot waves made it difficult for boats called skimmers to collect the oil, BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said. By early Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard said about 6,720 gallons had been recovered.

Officials were still trying to determine what caused the BP pipeline to rupture Saturday about 35 miles south of New Orleans.

No damage to wildlife had been reported, but Beaudo said he expected there to be some shoreline impact.

Honolulu : Dog rescue fails

A $50,000 rescue operation to save a dog left alone aboard an abandoned Indonesian oil tanker off Hawaii ended with organizers saying the ship apparently sank.

“We are deeply saddened to report that Forgae, the 2-year-old dog left on board a crippled tanker after its human crew was rescued, has apparently been lost at sea,” Pamela Burns, president of the Hawaiian Humane Society, and Martha Armstrong, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a joint news release Sunday.

The two groups organized the air-and-sea operation after learning the dog remained aboard the Insiko 1907 when its captain and 10 crew members were rescued Tuesday by a luxury liner about 230 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Nearly three weeks earlier, a fire killed a crew member and left the ship without power or communications. The body was left behind.

The tanker captain, Chung Chin Po of Taiwan, wasn’t allowed to bring his dog with him on the luxury liner Norwegian Star, the Hawaiian Humane Society said.