Detroit

‘Angels’ Night’ volunteers fight Halloween arson

Hundreds of volunteers have taken to the streets in an annual three-night campaign against Halloween arson.

The campaign began in 1994 following years of arson fires set on Devil’s Night, the eve of Halloween.

Oct. 30 was renamed Angels’ Night, and police and fire departments have worked with an army of volunteers to reduce arson.

Residents began patrolling their streets on Tuesday night. Other measures include keeping porch lights on and watching for minors breaking the special 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew.

The anti-arson campaign has succeeded in keeping fire reports to the level of a typical three-day period about 180 fires. The worst Devil’s Night on record was 1984, when 297 arson cases were reported.

Oklahoma City

Federal agencies set mock gas attack

Federal agencies plan to release harmless gases in Oklahoma City next summer to test how chemical and biological weapons would work in a terrorist attack.

“The goal of this program is in domestic terrorism preparedness,” said Jerry Allwine, a scientist with the Environmental Technology Division of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.”

The study test for July will use sulfur hexafluoride and perfluorocarbon tracer gases. Allwine said the gases are innocuous and are used to inflate athletic shoes and tennis balls. They have also been used to study atmospheric conditions since the 1960s.

New York City

Survey finds many parents rate child-rearing skills poor

Sixty-one percent of parents rate their generation as “fair” or “poor” at raising children, according to a study that shows parents are struggling in instilling values in their kids.

The findings are part of a nationwide survey of parents conducted by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan think tank. The survey found big gaps between parents’ efforts to teach good values to their children and their perceived success in doing so.

While 83 percent said it was “absolutely essential” to teach self-control and self-discipline, only 34 percent said they had succeeded in teaching those values.

The report also found that 53 percent of parents believe they are doing a worse job than their own parents did.

Washington, D.C.

Bush proposes plan on judges

President Bush’s election-season proposal to break the perennial logjam over federal judicial nominees was met Wednesday with accusations from Democrats that he was playing unseemly politics with the issue.

The president proposed that all parties federal judges, the president, and Senate leaders commit to what one White House official termed a “gentleperson’s agreement” to a firm timetable. Judges would give at least a year’s notice of retirement if possible, followed by the president sending a nomination to the Senate within 180 days. Once the Senate received a nomination, it would have a hearing within 90 days and an up-or-down floor vote within another 90 days.

Democrats are unlikely to accept that plan.