Rosa Kelly's apartment was repainted after a fire tore through 17 floors of a Harlem housing project on November 4. But a fresh coat of paint will not erase her anger. Kelly says that city officials knew that the oil-based paint used in hundreds of project housing was dangerous but did nothing about it. Officials knew about the hazard of the paint for more than a year but it took the deaths of two people and injuries to dozens of others in similar fires to spark action. The old paint was federally tested and approved, but whether it is especially flammable has not yet been determined.
Sources say that the chemical tests have been inconclusive.
A ban on most abortions at U.S. military hospitals won approval from the House on Thursday as part of a defense spending bill. The bill next goes to the Senate, where it also is expected to win approval. However, the president may veto it because of other provisions it contains. The bill would ban abortions at all U.S. military hospitals except in cases of rape and incest or to save the life of the mother. Anti-abortion House Republicans had wanted the only exception to be saving the mother's life.