Nation briefs

San Francisco

Fire damages building on Fisherman’s Wharf

A fire early Sunday destroyed the fourth floor and roof of a historic landmark on Fisherman’s Wharf, authorities said.

No injuries were reported.

The fire at Haslett Warehouse was contained by late Sunday morning, but about 90 firefighters remained at the scene. “We’re not calling it under control because we still have a lot of heat in the heavy timbers,” said Capt. Pete Howes.

Investigators had not determined the cause of the fire.

The building’s brick facade remained standing, but firefighters kept spectators away from the structure as a precaution in case of collapse, Howes said.

The building was built around 1907 and was undergoing renovations.

The warehouse is adjacent to The Cannery shopping center, which was closed Sunday. Some of the 30 shops and restaurants had smoke and fire damage.

Chicago

Toyota Camry tops list of most-stolen cars

Toyota Camry was the most stolen vehicle model for the fifth-straight year on an annual list that monitors trends in auto theft.

Overall, vehicle thefts fell 2.7 percent last year, according to Chicago-based CCC Information Services Inc., an insurance industry tracker of trends in theft and vehicle damage.

Not surprisingly, the most stolen cars were the perennial sales leaders. Nineteen of the 25 most-stolen cars on the list were Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords or Civics of different years. The year and model most stolen was the 1991 Camry.

CCC determines its list of most stolen vehicles by analyzing total losses submitted to it by more than 350 property and casualty insurers in North America.

The 1994 Chevrolet C1500 4×2 pickup was the highest-ranking vehicle on the list that was not made by Toyota or Honda.

Of the top 25 most stolen vehicles, five are sport utility vehicles or pickup trucks all from U.S. automakers.

Washington, D.C.

Tipper Gore decides not to run for Senate

Tipper Gore said Sunday that she has decided not to run for her husband’s old Senate seat from Tennessee this year.

“It would be such an honor to work for the people of Tennessee,” Gore said in a statement. “However, I have decided that it is not right for me, right now, to seek to represent them in the United States Senate.”

Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore, made the decision after spending the weekend discussing the Senate race with associates, spokesman Jano Cabrera said. She had cut short a trip to California to return Saturday to Tennessee to consider the race.

New York City

Nazi exhibit draws protests at opening

Protesters chanted “Don’t go in!” and “Shame on you!” as an exhibit on artists’ use of Nazi imagery including Lego and Prada death camps opened Sunday at the Jewish Museum.

“For a Jewish museum to trivialize the Holocaust is outrageous and unacceptable,” said Dr. Michael Schulder, a surgeon who joined about 100 protesters behind police barricades across from the museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The exhibit, titled “Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art,” also features a piece in which the artist has inserted a picture of himself with a Diet Coke can into a photo of concentration camp prisoners.

Other works include a strip of photos of costumed actors who have portrayed Nazis, such as Yul Brenner and Robert Duvall; a computerized image in which a bar code morphs into men in a concentration camp; and collages mixing pictures of nude women with those of Nazi officers.

After meeting with Holocaust survivors who had criticized the exhibit, museum officials decided to post a sign that reads, “Some Holocaust survivors have been disturbed by the works of art shown beyond this point. Visitors may choose to avoid the works by exiting the exhibition through the door to the left.”

North Carolina

Army won’t act on bisexual claim

In the past 19 months, Army Capt. David Donovan has made four resignation requests based, he says, on the fact that he’s a bisexual.

Army officials have not only refused him, but have questioned the credibility of the 17-year Army veteran.

“I’m just trying to do what I believe is right,” Donovan said from the hotel room where he lives outside Fort Bragg. “I’m amazed it’s required so much effort to do the right thing.”

Donovan, who is married, says he engaged in homosexual conduct in the past but has refused to provide specifics for fear the Army might charge him with a crime; homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under military law.

Donovan’s refusal to follow up his admission with details may be at the crux of his problem.

“Soldiers who make admission may be asked to provide supporting information if the credibility is in question,” said Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman. “And if there is, the request to separate from the military may be denied.”

Pennsylvania

Children face charges in home invasion

Police plan to file charges against at least seven children, ages 8 to 12, for allegedly invading the apartment of two young women, molesting them and stealing their food.

Paperwork will be filed today in Baldwin to schedule juvenile court hearings on charges including robbery, indecent assault, trespassing and conspiracy, said officials in the suburb of Pittsburgh.

The children remain in their parents’ custody.

The women, ages 18 and 21, said they opened their door Wednesday evening after hearing pebbles being thrown against their windows and a knock on the door.

Five boys surrounded the women, overpowering them and groping them, while two girls helped themselves to food in the refrigerator, police said.

The women yelled for help and their boyfriends chased the children away.