Business owners work to repair damage from quake

CALEXICO, Calif. (AP) - Business owners in Calexico are working to repair damage to their stores and trying to resume some sense of normalcy following one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in decades.
Businesses already were suffering from the hard economic times on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border when Sunday's deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake shattered storefronts, caved in roofs and caused Calexico's vital international port of entry for vehicles to shut down.
Calexico, the U.S. city hit hardest by the quake, has one of the highest unemployment rates in California, and business owners say even after they repair the damages to their stores, it could take months or longer for the economy to bounce back.
The port of entry was closed because of damage to a federal building and will not open until engineers finish inspecting it. No date was set for when the port will reopen to vehicle traffic, and for now drivers who want to enter the United States must go 10 miles out of their way to another border crossing.
Inspectors red-tagged nearly 80 percent of the city's historic downtown area Monday. Yellow police tape lined the streets of the city's downtown littered with broken glass and fallen plaster from the prewar buildings.
City Manager Victor Carrillo said the damage will easily total millions of dollars.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency Monday for Imperial County, which will free up state resources to aid the recovery effort.
"We're going to be hurting for a while," said Polo Loo, whose grocery store was littered with merchandise on the floor. "The economy was not great already and with this, it is going to be even worse."
Damage included three huge tanks that hold the water supply for the city of about 38,000 residents, as well as a 10 million-gallon water-clarifying tank, Carrillo said. Officials were pushing for federal money to come quickly before the desert city's temperatures soar above 110 degrees this summer, he added.
Two people were killed and at least 100 injured near the epicenter of the huge quake in Mexicali, just south of the border.
Dozens of aftershocks have rattled the region.

Hawaii man's China military secrets trial to begin

HONOLULU (AP) - Jury selection in the trial of a former B-2 stealth bomber engineer from Maui who is accused of selling military secrets to China is scheduled to begin in federal court Tuesday, with opening statements expected on Wednesday.
Noshir Gowadia has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts, including conspiracy, violating the arms export control act and money laundering. The indictment accuses Gowadia of helping China design a cruise missile with stealth capabilities.
The trial comes some 4½ years after Gowadia's arrest and more than three years after his trial was originally scheduled to be held. The 66-year-old Haiku resident has been in federal detention since his October 2005 arrest because a judge ruled he was a flight risk.
The trial is expected to last at least two months. Ashton Gowadia said his father is looking forward to defending himself.
"Dad is very confident that he will be found 100 percent innocent of any crimes," the younger Gowadia said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Larry M. Wortzel, commissioner of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said the trial will be closely watched by the intelligence community, the FBI, and military because it's one of a series of major cases involving Chinese spying on the U.S.
Prosecutors allege Gowadia helped design an exhaust nozzle for China that gives off less heat, making it difficult for infrared detectors to find the missile. They say Gowadia pocketed $110,000 over two years for his exhaust nozzle design.
The indictment alleges he made six trips to China from 2003 to 2005, conspiring to conceal some of his visits by getting border agents to leave immigration stamps off his passport.
He's also accused of attempting to sell classified stealth technology to the Swiss government and to businesses in Israel and Germany.
Gowadia moved to the U.S. from India in the 1960s for postgraduate work. In 1968 he joined defense contractor Northrop Corp., now Northrop Grumman Corp., where he designed elements of the B-2.
He became a U.S. citizen in the 1970s and retired from Northrop in 1986, two years before the B-2 made its public debut.

Obama gives condolences to families of dead miners

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has expressed "deepest condolences" to the families of the workers who perished in the West Virginia mine explosion.
Obama opened his talk at an Easter prayer breakfast by noting Monday's accident that killed 25 workers. He said that "at this moment, there are still people missing. Rescue teams are searching tirelessly and courageously to find them."
The president also told his audience that he has told Gov. Joe Manchin "the federal government stands ready to offer whatever assistance is requested." He asked those in the audience to pray for "those who have been lost in this tragic accident" and said he hopes their families can "find comfort in the hard days ahead."