. . . or click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – June 16, 2000 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
News for this June 16th in 2000 had a lot to do with lax security and rising gas prices.
The two missing Hard drives from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the ones containing nuclear weapons secrets, turned up stuffed behind a Xerox machine at the labs. So what was initially thought to be a case of espionage turned into a case of cover-up. But that wasn’t sufficient explanation not to trigger a further investigation. Apparently polygraph tests given to Lab scientists turned up uniform deception over how long the discs had been missing. Department of Energy sources said the Hard drives had been missing since May 7th, but sources close to the investigation claimed they went missing weeks before.
And the tower of Timber for the traditional Aggie bonfire at Texas A&M, which collapsed the previous November, killing some 12 Texas A&M students, wasn’t going to happen again for at least another two years. University spokesman said the yearly event would be cancelled, and another bonfire wouldn’t take place until 2002, when safety measures were in place to make sure the tragedy which took place in 1999 wouldn’t happen again.
Wildfires were slowly getting contained, which had already burned 11,000 acres in the Colorado Rockies. Residents in areas just south of Denver, who had to flee their homes earlier in the week were being allowed to come back. The fires, as of June 16th were 25% contained, thanks to cooler weather and calm winds.
And gas prices were expected to hit an unprecedented $1.62 a gallon, with drivers in the upper Midwest paying upwards of $2.00 a gallon for unleaded. No end in sight, and the problem was expected to get worse with the coming July 4th holiday. Some members of Congress were planning on asking President Clinton to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
All that, and a lot more for this June 16th in 2000 as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.
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