June 15, 2002

Tiger Woods maintains second-round lead at US Open, with Padraig Harrington in second; photos (M)

Federal Judge Melinda F Harmon rules that jurors could find Arthur Andersen accounting firm guilty of criminal obstruction of justice even if they do not agree on which of firm's employees had intent to commit crime; denies defense attorneys' motion for mistrial; photo (M)

United States World Cup soccer team suffers humiliating 3-1 defeat to Polish team but still advances to second round after Portugal loses to South Korea; US will face Mexico, team it has defeated four of its last five meetings; photo (M)

Nation's Roman Catholic bishops, after anguished debate, decide to bar any priest who has ever sexually abused minor from ministerial duties; decision is centerpiece of binding national policy intended to deal with devastating sexual abuse crisis in church; it means that any priest known to have ever abused child, no matter how long ago, may no longer serve as pastor or chaplain in parish, school, hospital or nursing home, nor will he be allowed to dress in clerical garb or say Mass except in private; bishops retreat from previous stance that would have asked pope to reduce to layman's status every egregious and multiple offender; compromise will leave bishops free to decide about invoking defrocking measure case by case; bishops also commit themselves to alerting civil authorities to all accusations of sexual abuse of minor by member of clergy, including even situations that do not involve force or direct physical contact, but are still coercive; despite overwhelming vote to adopt new policy, number of prelates take to microphones to argue passionately against zero-tolerance approach, against broader definition of sexual abuse and against forwarding all accusations to civil authorities; whether Vatican supports bishops' new measures remains to be seen; photos (M)

Oystermen of Apalachicola Bay, Fla, worry that water demands from swelling populations will suck up so much of rivers that feed bay that nature of water will change, and so will oyster, making it less marketable; in Franklin County, with 11,000 people, 1 person in 10 holds oyster permit; oysters are plump and distinctive as long as fresh water from rivers upstream flush brackish bay, and beds will replenish themselves; oystermen are looking with alarm at developers who want to crowd banks with condominiums and houses that will spoil quality of water with leaching lawn fertilizer and oil-laced storm water from parking lots; photos (L)