The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • 1

'x l' i'AV 1 1 1' A 1 I 4' -J tr -Ly- 1 m- 1 1 A 1 V5' 1 1 NinIrs try to spoil playoff hopes bi ry Z' A LOOK AT THE OSCAR CONTENDERS C9 Jv- 5l 4 Hi gha mheraldcom 4 SERVIN 6-WH AT CO 5 0 wb f' INSIDE GALE BISHOP 1922-2003 Mu- a- -iJ'H V-V Ps -'vV 4 Jt jr k- rtVj 17 4 y- i' i athlete thrilled fans from Whatcom County to the NBA -v yi-i- -1 Fircrests professional basketball team "We all toward Gale get in a bind and pull us out of it He was really something going to be missed" he attended Sumas-N ooksack High School and earned a scholarship to play basketball at Washington State College (now WSU) There Bishop led the Pacific Coast Conference in scoring in 1943 and was a second-team AH-American The next year he was an Amateur Athletic Union first- team All-American while playing for -Flrcrest Dairy and the Los Angeles Times named him the Outstanding Basketball Player in the World See BISHOP Page A4 Col 4 am from complications stemming firom an ipendectomy at St Joseph HospitaL Bishop was 81 "He was a real force a real character" said Bob Dorr a former team- Sumas growing up on his mate of on the Bellingham farm A 6-foot-3 195-pound forward Arrangements are pending at Gillies Funeral Home in Lynden vT Bishop was bom June 4 1922 in a Officials struggle to locate source of BSE i GALE BISHOP WAS A LEADER AND A FRIEND: BI SERVICES ARE PENDING: A5 KEEPING RETAILERS MOBBED AS CROWDS EXCHANGE GIFS SEEK BARGAINS IN STYLE Lifestyle Cl Mad cow scare twists stocks I Stocks for beef-based restaurants and meat processors have dropped in the wake of the first US case of mad cow disease Stock in the world's leading provider of tests for the disease has soared Percent change In stock price since Tuesday's close 09 Tyson Foods -47 McDonald's -4J Wendy's BY RICHARD A (XTEL JR AND DONALD MCNEIL JR NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON DC Federal authorities said Friday that it could take weeks or months to trace where a dairy cow in Washington state with the first ease of mad cow disease was bom and that inves- tigators might not succeed atalL Finding the birthplace and the so-called "birth of the diseased Holstein dairy cow which was slaughtered Dec 9 are crucial to determine whether other cattle may have also contracted mad cow dis-easeTFhe disease a degenerative brain ailment known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE is believed to take at least four years to incpbate Since the diseased cow was 414 years old tors say they believe it was likely infected by consum-- ing contaminated feed at a young age feed that could have also been ingested by other calves i 1 -16 SmiMetd Foods ConAgra Fodds 7 Bio-Rad Laboratories I 240 AP SOURCE: MoneylnaTaierata "If lucky we could know something within a matter of a day or said Dr Ron DeHaven the chief veterinarian of the US Department of Agriculture in a conference call with reporters on Friday But he See MAD COW Page A2 Col 4 First woman to head local group Local State A3 fc FORCED BULBS BRIGHTEN YOUR INTERIOR Home Garden C3 i weather' Periods of rain Highs near 40 lOWS Dstlilt: near 34 piba2 INDEX return to stores en masse BY EMILY WEINER THE BELLINGHAM HERALD From Wal-Mart to Fairhaven crowds of customers were hunting 'for postChristmas bargains Friday Taylor Melim 14 and Carly Pacheaco 13 arrived at Beilis Fair mall with bags of items to return presents they like or were the wrong size Melim made returns at six stores bid ran into a problem at Target and Bath Body Works where a license is required to return merchandise without receipts relatives you want to be mean and ask for a receipt" Melim said Luckily in lobby she ran into her mother who earlier had dropped the girls off at the malL Linda Melim 41 said she had nothing else to do so she decided to bring back a DVD she really want Her daughter showed off her favorite purchase of the day a black handbag with white straps and white polka dots "My perfect purse" she said Big day 7 7 Here and across the court-' try shoppers descended on mails Friday in search of bargains as stores cut prices even further in hopes of wringing more sales out pf what has been a so-so season By most estimates the holiday season nationwide will probably turn out only modestly better than a year ago The week after Christmas has become increasingly important A year ago the period accounted for 118 percent of holiday sales up' from 106 percent in 2001 Analysts believe that figure will be higher this year citing the increasing popularity of gift cards Stores hope that shoppers will be redeeming the ever- See SHOPPERS Page A4 Col 1 RECYCLING INCREASES AFTER THE HOLIDAYS: A4 ASSOCMTED PRESS PHOTO AMID THE DEVASTATION: An Iranian woman and her child grieve for other family -members who were were killed In Ziviiivr i I i ''t' I- I I ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO DAIRY QUARANTINED: Cows feed at the Sunny Dene Ranch on Friday in Mabton where the diseased cow was from handling of incident could affect 2004 ejection Mad cow scare tests toll estimated at 20000 BY ALI AKBAR DARE INI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 7 KERMAN Iran Entire blocks of buildings lay crushed and survivors lined up blanket-wrapped bodies in 1 the street after a devastating earth- quake leveled nearly three-quarters of the Iranian city of Bam on Friday The preliminary death toll rose to 20000 the Interior Ministry said Officials said an accurate count was impossible with many victims trapped under the rubble and early death toll estimates have fluctuated greatly An exact toll is not expected until much later because of the scope of the tragedy and the difficulty that Iranian rescue crews have had in get- ting to the area But the Interior Ministry later re- leased a statement saying the early es- timate was 20000 people It said 30000 savvy vative states is at the core of President electoral strength But some farm states like Iowa Missouri and Wisconsin are competitive swing states are going to have to move very said political analyst Floyd Ciruli of Colorado where beef cattle are a crucial part of the economy psychological and political See POLITICS Page A2 Col 1 BY WILL LESTER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DC The Bush handling of the mad cow case a delicate balance between- protecting the health of consumers and of the beef cattle industry is being closely watched in farm states crucial in a close presidential race -V The Farm 'Belt with its rural more conser- A Gannett Newspeper SOURCES: Associated Press: USGS AP i people were injured The statement was broadcast on state television "The disaster is far too huge for us to meet all of our President Mohammad Khatami said "However See QUAKE Page A4 Col 4 COST OF MAD COW SCARE IN THE BILLIONS: A6 ti i TX tP ft fSS fl a 2003 TUNDRAS FINANCING FOR 60 MONTHS1 $2 000 TT 1 il -MTl i fiTn LTT1 BTh ftgcaanfi fiiQftlt ggPCGEBaSn CUSTOMER CASH1 5RB -w T-T-in tm ar i1 -i-- i -k I.