Watercooler Stories

WATERGATE ANNIVERSARY REMEMBERED

It was 30 years ago this week that the saga that became Watergate began in an office building-apartment building complex near the banks of the Potomac River in the nation's capital. Before it was over reporters would gain international recognition, high-ranking government officials would be in jail and, for the first time in the nation's history, a president would resign his office.

All over the world, media are remembering the anniversary.

Many of the original participants, such as Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein -- whose names will always be associated with the events of three decades ago -- find themselves again in the media spotlight.

Meanwhile, MSNBC is reporting that one-time presidential aide John Dean -- the man who warned President Nixon that there was "a cancer on the presidency" -- is about to publish a book about the scandal called "Unmasking Deep Throat." In it Dean says there are just a "thimbleful" of people who could have been the conduit between the White House and members of the press, leaking much inside information.

Additionally, former Nixon aide Charles Colson -- who served prison time and later emerged to organize a ministry for inmates -- tells the news provider that the harsh lessons of Watergate, relating to ethics in government, are yet to be learned.

The Discovery Channel is airing a new special on Watergate. Its original six-hour documentary is a masterpiece of film-making and delivers the goods on Watergate as if it's a carefully crafted mystery novel. That presentation was narrated by NPR's Daniel Schorr, himself once on the so-called Nixon Enemies List.

FOREST FIREFIGHTERS DIE IN TANKER CRASH

The USDA's Forest Service confirms that an air tanker plane, being used to fight growing fires in California north of Yosemite National Park, has crashed in a fireball. The tanker was being used to fight fires near the California-Nevada border. It was reportedly a civilian plane, being leased by the Forest Service for use in the operations.

Meanwhile, the FAA is reporting that all three on board were killed. Sadly, in addition to the deaths, the fire created by the crash started another brushfire. There were reports on a Reno, Nev., TV station that the plane may have been on fire prior to crashing.

Firefighters were also called out in the Los Angeles area on Monday to fight a spate of small fires. One spread so quickly that it nearly got onto the decks of several homes in the Studio City area, near Universal Studios. Another quickly moving fire has repeatedly closed busy Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas -- the only direct route between the cities. That fire is in the El Cajon pass, south of Victorville, Calif.

SOLICITORS SCORE VICTORY IN COURT

The Supreme Court has ruled that, in most cases, door-to-door visits by politicians seeking votes and missionaries seeking souls is protected by the Constitution. In an 8-to-1 ruling, the highest court in the land ruled that the Constitution protects people who go door-to-door in political vote-getting or religious circumstances.

The court, according to its records, voted that city laws which might require permits be issued in advance of solicitations are not protected.

One justice dissented in the ruling, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Two others voted with the majority but did not "sign on" to the majority opinion's language -- Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

The case had come to Washington from the Ohio city of Stratton which had such a broad anti-soliciting ruling that some said that even Girl Scouts selling cookies would have to get a permit at city hall before knocking on doors.

DOG MAULING SENTENCES OVERTURNED

A judge in San Francisco, citing the lack of sufficient evidence, has tossed out that murder conviction against a woman whose dog mauled a neighbor to death in an internationally watched case. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the judge threw out Marjorie Knoller's murder conviction, changing it to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

He noted that the jury was wrong when it ruled that Knoller did know that her dog would kill. What the change means is that Knoller will now serve up to four years for involuntary manslaughter. The judge also sentenced her husband -- who was not present at the time but was a co-owner of the dog -- to four years in prison.

The judge did, though, address the dangers of assuming that "killer dogs" would not kill. He called the couple's dog a "time bomb."