Show Page 2 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday March 31 1999 HHIhti I dark disturbing case’ ‘A New Mexico town is swamped with rumors ELEPHANT BUTTE NM (AP) — woman accused torture case told her boyfriend in line rush John Branaugh told him four to A in a bizarre kidnap-sexuan acquaintance she joined the tortures for the adrenaal also said Cindy Lea Hcndy six people had been killed mutilated and dumped in Elephant Butte Lake 130 miles south of Albuquerque — and AP photo FBI Agents examine a stained piece of doth retrieved from a trailer in which a woman is believed to have been tortured in Elephant Butte NM Bottled water purity comes under scrutiny WASHINGTON (AP) — An environmental group petitioned the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to tighten its regulation of bottled water after tests showed a third of 103 brands exeecded industry or state purity standards The Natural Resources Defense Council an environmental advocacy group said most bottled water was found to be of good quality and that none of the test samples posed a health concern lor the general public “Most bottled water appears to be safe” the group said But the tests on nearly 1000 samples involving 103 brands of bottled water raise questions about industry-wid- e marketing claims that bottled water is more pure and healthier than tap water the group maintained It said 22 percent of the samples exceeded California's health-base- d 34 I that more bodies were buried in the desert There has been no indication from police that bodies have been found but authorities have not ruled out the possibility of homicides “This is a very dark very disturbing case for everyone involved” state Public Safety Secretary Dairen White said Tuesday The FBI said more than 100 investigators would follow leads across at least three states in a case White described as “so vile” that he billion gallons of bottled feared victims may not wish to come forward But he said: “We believe the nightmare is behind bars" David Parker Ray 59 and Hcndy 39 have been charged with 25 counts including kidnapping aggravated battery and conspiracy A woman from nearby Truth or Consequences who entered the couple’s house looking for cake mix told police she was bound to a table molested with a sexual device jolted with electrodes and forced to perform oral sex on Ray She said she persuaded her captors whom she apparently knew to release her Feb 21 along a highway Photos found at the house include a picture of an Albuquerque woman restrained and stretched with “torture instruments" investigators said She escaped from the lakeside trailer March 22 wearing only a padlocked metal collar hooked to a chain authorities said Branaugh said he initially didn't believe Ms Hendy because she made the remarks while drunk He said he told police after seej ing a television report about the case halfthe examined have dusty Investigators trailer acre lot around Ray's double-wid- e home for several days and the search for victims and witnesses now covers Arizona' I Texas and northern Mexico Bone fragments found in Ray's yard were not human police said They said they had no immediate plans to dig in Ray's yard or drag nearby Elephant Butte Lake Albert Costales Ray's attorney has said his client is innocent Elephant Butte is a sleepy town in the shadow of the Sierra Caballo mountains heavily tourism The influx of reliant on lake-bas- Branaugh said the couple kept torture along dirt roads “We feel violated” Mayor Bob Barnes said at a town meeting Tuesday night “Things have just crashed in on us" devices in a wood and glass case they called “the toy box” and that Ms Hcndy told him she participated for the “adrenaline rush” IF0ln)g)D THhll?©© water annually — about 127 gallons per person — and the numbers have been increasing nearly 10 percent a year according to the industry It’s sold as mineral water spring water or distilled water or just plain tap water that has gone through additional filtration ed national media and authorities has overwhelmed the 2500 residents in a community with one stoplight a few shops and trailers ®SM§!! “Just because water comes from a bottle doesn't mean it's any cleaner or safer than what comes from the tap” said Eric Olson an author of the NRDC report The International Bottled Water Association said the NRDC report acknowledges that most of the water tested was “of good quality" and contained no detectable bacteria or chemicals that posed a health concern “Bottle water is extremely safe There have been no confirmed reports of any illness or standard the country's disease linked to bottled water in most stringent for arsenic and the 37 years that the FDA has cancer-causin- g synthetic organic regulated the product” said compounds Levels of bacteria in Cindy Yablonski the associa17 percent of the samples exceedtion's vice president for research ed the voluntary industry guideKim Jeffery president of Perrilines er Group of North America the The FDA Although hdt com- ’country's biggest bottled water menting on specifics of the company said that NRDC cited NRIX’ report said “bottled water finding a bacteria HPC in many poses no significant public health of the samples HPC is found in risk and is therefore safe to conyogurt milk and cheese and “is sume" The agency regulates bot- totally natural" and not regulated said Jeffery tled water as a food product But the NRDC report’s authors Industry spokesmen also insisted the NRDC report itself shows said the FDA’s regulations are too most bottled water as safe weak and cover only about 30 to Americans drink an estimated 40 percent of bottled water sold I’tSTCt LAUDfcR-- i I Resume I I ' if t'J LWm KrimampLUiNi Journalists too have doubts about media WASHINGTON (AP) — Ask journalists about their profession and they will tell you bad news: Reporting has gotten sloppier facts too often are blurred by opinion and efforts to inform and entertain has led to a kind of “infotainment” The Pew Center for the People and the Press turned the tables on the media surveying 352 national and local journalists and news executives in print television radio and the Internet about the slate of American journalism In results released Tuesday a rising number of journalists agree with public opinion polls that say the media lack credibility They also say reporters drive controversies with their coverage of personal and ethical behaviors of public figures “The major reason for public disaffection with journalism is the decline in the quality of journalism and the public's lack of confidence in (he work that journalists do now that it's become so loaded with infotainment and celebrity information" said Bill Kovach a newspaperman who is curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists which (lie Pew survey The telephone survey was conducted between Nov 20 1998 undFeb II When asked to cite top problems fucing journalism half the national news professionals mentioned such things as sensationalism a lack of objectivity and inaccurate reporting About 40 percent cited too much emphasis on the bottom line competition and declining audience and readership The news media's loss of credibility with the public was cited by of the responabout one-thir- d dents But while it ranked third 30-ye- ar Project ties fcn© diversity to credibility WASHINGTON (AP) — The ethnic and cultural mix reflected on the pages of American newspapers is directly linked to the accuracy and credibility of those papers organizers of a national newsroom project said “Our news pages should be as diverse as the neighborhoods we serve" said David Yarnold managing editor of the San Jose Mercury News and a project organizer But editors acknowledge that fall short of that goal jpen The project is a joint effort by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press Managing Editors “We want to accurately sg) lUluiofaf ©rllitgn© irltll UHJOEK Gift 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those communities then we are presenting a fundamentally inaccurate report” the two groups said in a letter mailed this week to about newspaper editors 1300 daily — behind quality and standards and business pressures — concern about credibility has nearly doubled during the past decade “Roughly one in three mem- bers of the national and local media now say that a decline in public trust confidence and credibility is the most important prob- lem facing survey said It's all here Shv mi roms Mmu throuuh Saiuow 10 xu-- pm S XT Us OoMnowi mo 2CMI SFnomu: Smurhw 10 am-- 7 mi no Sr Gran Dohntdmc OKXRwnoclNSfti Utt 57fr66G8 xsmkkmUimmontkUS VU IN M UN MNMl a KWWBMlMm plan Mundw through SMWMf10xu-6PM)CUluM- journalism" the I I ! 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