The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 1

Russians A year of mourning without ns (Ql Anti-Castro group wants Cuban kids reunited with parents in U.S. Kmght Ridder MIAMI Hialeah, handyman Pablo Sanchez grasped two photo albums in his hands, both filled with pictures of his 5-year-old daughter, Isabel. One shows Isabel with pigtails on a toy pony. In another, Isabel is wearing a crocheted pink nat. Photographs, Sanchez said, are all he has of his child.

Isabel lives in Cuba with her mother. The Cuban government has not allowed them to come to the United States, he said, I have not seen my little girl in five years, Sanchez, 38, said, his voice trembling. Shes only a baby but shes so smart, she knows she wants to be with her father here in the United States. Sunday, Sanchez and a handful of people gathered at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, in what they called Mission Elian, to protest the separation of children and families in Cuba. Sanchez came from Cuba on a raft in 1995 and has been trying to reunite his family for three years.

Theyve said not until 2002, but who knows, he said, referring to the Cuban government. With poster boards reading Castro separates families with distance and death, and These are hostage children, the protesters said there are hundreds of children in Cuba who are not permitted to leave the island, despite their parents wishes. These children have their documents, they have their visas, but they are still not allowed to come here, Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a spokeswoman for the group said. Fidel says he cares for families, hes concerned with parental rights, but that is a lie. Rodriguez-Aguilera said the Mission Elian group is spearheading a campaign to document the number of separated families.

Continued FamillesA8 The Monday Special WORTH SAVING warning Declining early warning system also a threat to U.S. By Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder WASHINGTON Russias early warning system is so decayed that Moscow is unable to detect U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile launches for at least seven hours a day and no longer can spot missiles fired from American submarines at all, U.S. officials and experts say.

At most, only four of Russias 21 early warning satellites are still working, according to experts on Moscows space program. That gives Russian commanders no more than 17 hours and perhaps as little as 12 hours of daily coverage of the 550 nuclear-tipped ICBM silos in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming. Against submarines, they basically have no warning, said Theodore Postol, a Massachusetts INSIDE In Chechnya Rebels in the separatist republic of Chechnya struck back forcefully against Russian 'I positions Sunday. 4 Story, A4 4. a Institute of Technology professor who studies Russias early warning system.

But because the logic of nuclear deterrence requires both sides to launch their missiles before a surprise attack obliterates them, Russias semi-blindness is as dangerous to the United States as it is to Russia. The fear is that in the heat of a serious crisis, Russian military and civilian leaders could misread a nonthreatening rocket launch or ambiguous data as a nuclear first strike and launch a salvo at the United States and Western Europe. If Russias early warning system cannot reassure Russian leaders that false alarms are indeed benign events, the danger for both countries could be significant, said an August 1999 report by the Congressional Budget Office a research agency for I think the chances (of a nuclear mistake) are rising from what I felt was a very, very low level, warned former Ambassador James Goodby, who negotiated the U.S.-funded destruction of Russian nuclear weapons. The effects of a glitch would be cataclysmic. While acknowledging that Russias early warning system has deteriorated badly, Clinton administration officials say Russia retains considerable early warning capabilities and strong, centralized control of its nuclear forces.

In addition, the United Continued Early warningA7 Inside 117th Year, No. 214 Copyright 2000, The Spokesman-Review Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and the Inland Northwest Cloudy, light snow High 32. Low 25. Details, B8. Business A9 Classified C4 Crossword B4 County Lines A7 Editorials A10 Families B3 Letters All Looking Back B8 Movies B7 Obituaries B5.C5 For a complete index, see Todays paper on page A2 Regional news Sports Cl Television B6 Keith Hendrick, father of Wil Hendrick, a University of Idaho student who disappeared one year Kristy MacDonaldThe Spokesman Review ago, displays a photo of his son.

A year later, the pain lingers sixth-grade class at Ponderosa Elementary School. Parents, partner mourn while police hunt for clues in UI student's disappearance By Andrea VogtIStajf writer MOSCOW, Idaho A year ago today, Wil Hendriclc never cashed the $6,000 financial aid check made out to him. He never showed up to rehearse for a lead role in a school play. The popular University of Idaho drama student just vanished. everyone has denied knowing anything about the disappearance.

Soil samples from the cars undercarriage were analyzed by UI scientists and deemed consistent with a broad area of the Palouse, from the northern mountains to the banks of the Snake River. In May, Hendricks friends and family held an emotional memorial scripted like a play to celebrate the missing drama students life. The Faces of William had four acts and a supporting cast that included his parents, three sisters and partner of more than four years, Jerry Schutz. Hendrick and Schutz had been remodeling their kitchen and were planning a commitment ceremony together when Hendrick disappeared. In the year that has passed, theres been no activity on Hendricks Social Security card or credit cards, Schutz said.

Nothing to provide any clues to his well-being or whereabouts. Its still an open sore, he said. Not a day goes by that I dont think about him or miss him. Hendricks parents in Lewiston say they are planning to purchase a grave stone soon, for placement in the Continued HendrickA8 Penmanships fall from grace By Marny Lombard Staff writer My son is learning the graceful curls and curves of cursive handwriting, Compared with a first date or first drive, this is no rite of passage. But I remember learning to write cursive, I was in third grade, as is my son, ana I felt immensely dignified.

Now I confess to wondering even as I admire my sons carefully etched ps and ts, ns and os when will he use this handwriting? At the cusp of the millennium, we jot, we type, we carry cell phones. Were hurtling toward an amazing future and, if we glance over our shoulder, its only to note the enormities of the 1900s. Yet a century ago, hand-written letters wove lives Continued Worth savlngA8 1,. evidence that there was foul play. Investigators are keeping open every possibility from Hendricks disappearance being a well-orchestrated walkabout, to murder.

Police sent a smattering of items from Hendricks car to a crime lab candy wrappers, cigarette butts, pop cans and other things investigators say have no particular significance. At this point, its nothing that gives us a hint as to what happened, said Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson. A series of people of interest were identified and interviewed. But that list has not been expanded or reduced, Thompson said, and Hendrick, then 25, was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 10, intoxicated at a back-to-school party in Moscow.

His car was found later that morning parked cockeyed in a downtown lot, snow tires still in the trunk, keys in the center console. One year later, there are few new leads. Investigators are hoping that fingerprints recently back from the crime lab will lead to a break in the case. If they identify separate prints then we will try to identify friends and send those off for a process of elimination, said Moscow Police Capt. Don Lanpher.

We still dont have a body or any solid physical A.