Washington, D.C.: Safety board repeats airline fuel proposal

Six years after TWA Flight 800 exploded off Long Island, it’s high time changes were ordered to reduce the chance of airplane fuel tanks blowing up, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

Board members, citing their most-wanted safety improvements, unanimously voted to renew their recommendation, which they have made every year since 1997, that nitrogen or another nonflammable gas be added to fuel tanks. in 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded shortly after taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Paris. All 230 aboard were killed.

The safety board has no power to force agencies to follow its recommendations, and a joint Federal Aviation Administration-airline industry task force objected to requiring nonflammable gases, considering the cost. The task force put the cost at $10 billion to $20 billion.

Detroit: Race-based admission for law school upheld

In a closely watched case that could ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court, a sharply divided federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the use of race in admissions at the University of Michigan law school.

“We find that the law school has a compelling state interest in achieving a diverse student body,” the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 5-4 decision, reversing a lower-court ruling.

The university had argued that diversity enhances the education of all its students. It said it considers race as one of a number of factors, including an applicant’s academic record and economic status.

The Michigan case could let the Supreme Court settle the dispute and revisit the landmark 1978 Bakke case, which banned racial quotas but allowed consideration of race in college admissions.

New York City: Acura Integra theft rate 8 times above average

The sporty Acura Integra is a hot car in more ways than one.

A study being released today by an insurance industry group says the sporty model’s rate of theft claims is eight times the average and the highest of any 1999 through 2001 model.

The Highway Loss Data Institute says the high rate results from the popularity among car customizers of Integras and parts such as engines and seats, which often are installed in less expensive but structurally similar Civics, also produced by Honda.

The rate of claims for Integras was 21.7 per 1,000 cars, compared to an average for all cars of 2.6 claims.

Others of the institute’s top 10 1999 through 2001 models in theft claim rates are, in order, the Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee, Honda Prelude, Mitsubishi Mirage two door, Chrysler 300M, Hyundai Tiburon, Dodge Intrepid, Mirage four-door and the Chrysler LHS.

New York: Seneca tribe, state approve casino compact

The Seneca Indian Nation approved a deal with the state Tuesday to build casinos in Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

The 14-year compact will send some slot-machine profits to the state, which has sought new revenue amid the economic fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks.

On the Senecas’ two reservations in western New York, tribal members accepted the gambling plan by a vote of 1,077-976. The deal still needs approval by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Seneca President Cyrus Schindler estimated the venture could mean between $2 billion and $3 billion for the tribe.

The state, which is anticipating $300 million, initially will receive 18 percent of slot machine profits and see its share grow to 25 percent. Local municipalities receive 6.25 percent of the state’s share.