February 5, 2000 – CBS Radio Weekend Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
February 5, 2000 – news on this day spotlighted the events of this week in 2000.
Election 2000 was up and running, with primaries in New Hampshire bringing a stunning victory for John McCain and signaling an end to the campaign of Gary Bower. Many observers were waiting for a McCain victory because McCain became a media darling in the previous few months and because George W. Bush was the frontrunner for so long. So McCain adopted the stance of the Maverick and outsider and it persuaded many independents to show up and vote for him. It was a ploy that worked and the horserace was on with McCain getting 49% and Bush getting 18%. Campaign 2000 was heating up, and there were months left to go.
Alaska Airlines flight 261, flying from Puerto Vallarta to San Francisco went wildly out of control and plunged into the ocean off Point Mugu in Southern California, killing all 88 passengers. The crew of the MD83 were having trouble with the Horizontal Stabilizer, the adjustable tail wing that’s used to point up or down. The pilot struggled for more than a half hour, they arranged an emergency landing in Los Angeles, but suddenly lost all control and plunged into the Santa Barbara channel, shattering and killing all on board. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that entire families were wiped out. All had been returning to the Bay area from vacations in Puerto Vallarta.
Austria formed a new government that included followers of an Right Wing extremist. The Peace deal in Northern Ireland threatened to unravel. The CIA faced criticism over its handling of John Deutch, the former Director of the CIA, who stored super-secret material on his home computer.
Four White New York Police officers were going on trial over the shooting death of Amadou Diallo, the African immigrant who was shot some 41 times.
The Federal Reserve raised its interest rates, while Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was easily confirmed for another term.
And the St. Louis Rams won the Superbowl.
That’s a lot of what happened, this week ending on February 5, 2000 as reported by The CBS Weekend Roundup.
