The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 1

SKtiYEAH V) 357 Cotyr JO in Herat Price may vary on the Honda eouon 1 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 6 2001 I FINAL EDITION I laan km kmmmm 1 or mmmwM fnAgrtm A i i HEADLINES WEATHER SUN AND CLOUDS Chance of showers HIGH 92 LOW 80 Suspect in arson arrested aid offered to vendors BY NICOLE WHITE nwtnteheralUcom NASSAU Bahamian officials said Wednesday that they have arrested a man suspected of torching the widely known Straw Market this week and have pledged to offer financial assistance to the hundreds of vendors whose entire livelihoods smoldered in the devastating blaze Police would not release the name of the man who has not been formally charged But police arson investigator Denise Tynes said charges against the man are expected to be filed today Tynes said her team recovered several pieces of evidence including debris laced with so-called accelerants substances that make a fire spread faster to support witnesses who said the man had thrown some sort of firebomb into the busy tourist attraction on Tuesday The once-bustling green and yellow two-story market and adjoining buildings on busy Bay Street including the Tourism Ministry and about two dozen shops were reduced to soot-covered steel frames on Wednesday Police barricades lining several blocks kept onlookers at a safe distance Officials estimated damage at more than $50 million with the stalls of some 500 vendors destroyed None of them had insurance according to a tourism officiaL Many of those vendors crowded Russell Square outside the main government offices to demand some form of immediate relief from Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and his Cabinet I PLEASE SEE BAHAMAS 7A BAHAMIANS PREDICT FIRE WONT CURTAIL TOURISM 7A MlSNim i I 1 Ml turn 1) tmiite Vs i in4ci(fi( Ha i4iffcn in (i 'jHi i t)Hb V' BUSINESS HURRICANES The hurricane insurer of last resort is barred from increasing premiums 1C PEOPLE MUSCLE BOY The of the World Series season still attends games but rarely shows off his muscles 4A SPORTS SAMPRAS WINS It takes four tiebreakers for Pete Sampras to defeat Andre Agassi in the llS Open quarterfinals ID DISASTER ON BAY STREET: Firefighters hose down the remains of the Straw Market Wednesday It and surrounding buildings were destroyed in a fire Tuesday At right Yvonne McKenzie and her daughter Shavonne watch as the last of the flames are extinguished of our lives have been affected by this -PRIME MINISTER HUBERT INGRAHAM seen as main Peterson builds account for Charge tied to entry into Cuban waters BY SARA 0LK0N AND JAY WEAVER solkonheraldcom The US office Wednesday indicted Cuban exile activist Ramon Sadi Sanchez and two other men on conspiracy charges the first time anyone has been criminally charged by the federal government for illegally entering Cuban waters The trio allegedly ignored a Coast Guard warning to return to international waters during a flotilla protest on July 14 violating a 1996 presidential decree primarily aimed at deterring people from causing a confrontation with the Cuban government Sanchez is the leader of the Democracy Movement which several times has launched anti-Castro protests and memorial services at sea The indictment comes almost 13 months after he signed a consent decree acknowledging that the presidential proclamation prohibiting entry into Cuban waters is valid and He said he signed the agreement so the federal government would return his boat the Human Rights which had been seized by the Coast Guard after a December 1998 flotilla that allegedly infringed PLEASE SEE SANCHEZ 8A IRS: Man used names of inmates in tax scheme BY AMY DRISCOLL adnscollherald com Displaying the expertise of a skilled researcher Gregory Revson methodically set out to defraud the Internal Revenue Service federal prosecutors say by tapping into the unlikeliest of sources the Florida Department of Corrections website There he culled names and Social Security numbers from a broad cross-section of murderers thieves and rapists Then matching the last names to former occupants of vacant houses in Miami-Dade and Broward counties the Plantation man carefully typed fake 1040EZ and W2 wage forms On the forms he supplied correct federal identification numbers from 50 businesses numbers he obtained from the Division of Corporations website When he needed other information he turned to an online data bank and the state Department of Motor Vehicles website For the return addresses he listed 329 mostly vacant homes spread across both counties For two years in 1998 and 1999 he filed hundreds of false tax returns 614 in all that would have netted him more than $3 million in refunds And then he simply patrolled the empty mailboxes and waited for the checks to come rolling in But the federal government had other PLEASE SE IRS 22A PHOTOS BY JARED LAZARUSHERALD STAFF Florida run Democratic rival CANDACE BARBOTHERALD STAFF state colleges universities than actually exists The preliminary head count showed 577 more black Hispanic Asian and Native American students newly enrolled at the 11 campuses than in 2000 According to the figures members of minority groups now make up about 12000 of the nearly 33000 new PLEASE SEE ENROLLMENT 22A Former congressman BY PETER WALLSTEN pwallstenheraldcom As Janet Reno monopolizes the media glare in a maverick campaign for governor the man expected to be her chief Democratic primary rival is quietly building a bank account he hopes will help him defeat her Pete Peterson the former Panhandle congressman and US ambassador to Vietnam spent Tuesday and Wednesday in South Florida primarily to meet privately with potential donors and convince skeptics that he can overcome fame and loyal following recognition the Peterson said Wednesday morning after emerging from a 90-minute private meeting with Democratic donors and activists true Peterson said will come on Oct 10 when candidates have to disclose their finances for the July-September quarter and the numbers show she can raise the money' PLEASE SE PETERSON 2A GATHERING: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas talks to gubernatorial candidate Pete Peterson at lobbyist Mike Aventura home Minority freshman rolls rise at BY HOLLY STEPP hsteppheraldcom In the second year of the One Florida affirmative-action ban the number of new minority students entering state universities grew 5 percent over last year according to figures released Wednesday by LL Gov Frank Brogan But critics quickly accused Gov Jeb Despite the gain their share of enrollment is unchanged administration of "cooking the to present a rosier picture of minority representation at the 11 public.