National briefs

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A white police officer was acquitted Wednesday of negligent homicide in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man that sparked the city's worst racial unrest in three decades.

Officer Stephen Roach had been charged with negligent homicide and obstructing official business after he shot Timothy Thomas, 19, in a dark alley early on April 7. He was acquitted on both counts.

Hamilton County Municipal Judge Ralph E. Winkler pronounced sentence after hearing the trial without a jury, at Roach's request. The officer did not testify.

Delta Air Lines announces

13,000 jobs cut, capacity

reduced by 15 percent

ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines announced Wednesday that it will cut up to 13,000 jobs, about 15 percent of its work force, because of the decline in air travel following the terrorist attacks.

The airline was the last of the industry's six major carriers to announce cuts because of the Sept. 11 attacks. Delta also said it was trimming capacity by 15 percent.

Explosion at plant that makes dynamite injures three; one worker missing

MOSCOW, Pa. (AP) -- An explosion ignited a series of fires at plant that makes dynamite Wednesday, and at least one worker was missing.

Three people were injured, one with critical burns, said Jerry Gaughan, emergency services director for Lackawanna County. The other two workers had minor burns. The three were taken to hospitals in Allentown and Scranton.

The first explosion happened at 7:35 a.m. at J & J Pyrotechnics Mfg., which makes dynamite and fireworks. The affected area is a black powder storage facility.

Asteroid photos show surface with dust 'ponds'

Associated Press

Photos taken by the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid show a landscape littered with boulders, small rocks and other debris that appear to have partly eroded and settled into mysterious "ponds" of thick dust, researchers say.

The photos taken by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft, called NEAR, add evidence to the theory that even the weak gravity of an asteroid can hold on to much of the flying debris created when struck by another object such as a meteorite or comet.

But the photos of the asteroid Eros also created a new puzzle for astronomers who wonder why much of that debris appears to have eroded -- without any wind or water in the airless void of space.

County ordinance prevents Miami drivers from using hand-held cell phones

MIAMI (AP) -- An ordinance approved Tuesday bans Miami residents from using hand-held cell phones while driving.

The ordinance, which passed with a 6-5 vote of the Miami-Dade County Commission, will be enacted in October 2002. It exempts people who need to report emergencies or who use hands-free devices.

"I don't want to have one more death on my conscience because someone used a cell telephone while driving," said Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, who sponsored the proposal.