In Brief: Jan. 24, 2000

DEADBEAT CLAMPDOWN This month some Virginia parents are receiving pink or blue booties, courtesy of the state. The boots, though, are the kind that clamp onto a tire and will be used to immobilize the cars of egregiously deadbeat dads or moms. A window sticker accompanies each boot: "This vehicle has been seized by the sheriff for unpaid child support." The pioneering state shame-on-you plan is an expansion of a Fairfax County program that has netted $347,000 from 70 parents in two years.

KEEPING IN TOUCH Even with growing numbers of families divided by divorce and living far from their relatives,...

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