WASHINGTON

PLAN TO DISMANTLE CIA GETS COOL RECEPTION A key Republican’s proposal to break up the CIA and rearrange the Pentagon’s spy agencies under a national intelligence director met immediate and broad resistance yesterday. A top Senate Democrat called it a “severe mistake” and the agency’s former director said it showed a “dangerous misunderstanding of the business of intelligence.”

Critics began aligning to fight the proposal that would represent the most significant overhaul of American intelligence operations since the CIA’s 1947 inception – and the most sweeping plan offered in the post-September 11 debate.

President Bush did not endorse the proposal by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, a Republican of Kansas. Instead, the president said only that he was interested in finding “the best way to fashion intelligence so the president and his Cabinet secretaries have got the ability to make good judgment calls.”

Mr. Bush has supported the need for a national intelligence director but has yet to detail the powers he wants the office to have.

Mr. Roberts surprised Republicans and Democrats alike when he announced on a Sunday morning talk show his proposal to remake the intelligence community by splitting the CIA into three separate agencies, pulling all or part of four defense intelligence agencies out of the Pentagon, and creating a new national intelligence director to oversee the National Intelligence Service he envisions.

Yesterday, a defensive Mr. Roberts said, “If this proposal seems radical to some…my response would be: What should we do?”

– Associated Press

UNIONS PROTEST NEW OVERTIME REGULATIONS Several hundred union members marched outside the Labor Department to protest new overtime pay regulations taking effect yesterday, with two senators pledging to roll them back when Congress returns from recess.

Protesters, many wearing union T-shirts, carried signs such as “President Bush: Hands off my overtime pay,” and chanted, “Come on all you billionaires, give us wages that are fair.”

“The fight is not over yet,” said Senator Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania, an opponent of the changes who is facing a tough re-election bid in November.

Employers have sought the changes for decades, complaining overtime regulations were ambiguous and out of date, and questioning why highly paid professionals should get overtime pay. Retailers, restaurants, insurance companies, and others were hit with multimillion dollar lawsuits by workers claiming they were cheated out of overtime pay. The Labor Department says the new rules provide clarity.

“Under the new rules, workers will know their overtime rights, employers will know their responsibilities and the department can more vigorously enforce these protections,” Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.

Labor unions say the new rules are intended to reduce employers’ costs by cutting the number of workers who are eligible for overtime pay.

“The middle class is getting a gut punch on overtime,” said Senator Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, who has fought unsuccessfully to block the rules.

– Associated Press

WEST

PETERSON’S EX-MISTRESS IS CROSS-EXAMINED REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Scott Peterson’s lawyers sought yesterday to portray his former mistress Amber Frey as a calculated seductress and liar who was more obsessed with him than he was with her. Under defense questioning, Ms. Frey insisted she taped and turned over to police all telephone calls she had with Mr. Peterson after being prompted to do so by authorities investigating the disappearance of Mr. Peterson’s pregnant wife, Laci. Last week, jurors heard 40 wiretapped calls between Ms. Frey and Mr. Peterson during which he was apologetic for lying to her about being married but evasive in his answers about his wife’s disappearance and the couple’s relationship. He continued to romance Ms. Frey even as police searched for his missing wife. But during cross-examination yesterday, defense attorney Mark Geragos prodded Ms. Frey about the taped calls, implying she did not fully cooperate with police. According to police reports, authorities were suspicious that Ms. Frey may not have been taping all of her calls with Mr. Peterson or may have neglected to turn over some tapes, Mr. Geragos noted. Ms. Frey maintained she cooperated fully. “I recorded all conversations,” she said. “Did you ever not turn over tapes?” Mr. Geragos asked. “I turned over every tape that I recorded,” Ms. Frey replied. “Did you ever make or receive calls from Scott Peterson that you didn’t immediately tell detectives about?” Mr. Geragos prodded. “No,” Ms. Frey said. It appeared Mr. Geragos was preparing to try to prove that Ms. Frey spoke to Mr. Peterson without alerting authorities. She acknowledged she was unaware that police had also wiretapped Mr. Peterson’s telephones.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

FOUR INDICTED IN DE ADLY HOME INVASION DELAND, Fla. – A grand jury yesterday indicted four men for the grisly slayings of six people during a home invasion, and the state prosecutor planned to seek the death penalty. Included in the 15-count indictment were newly released details of the massacre – including that one female victim was sexually assaulted with a bat and that each of the victims was stabbed and cut after they were dead. The bodies of the victims were found in a blood-spattered home August 6. The alleged ringleader, Troy Victorino, 27, and Robert Cannon, Michael Salas, and Jerone Hunter, all 18, were charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, abuse of a dead body with a weapon, and armed burglary. They also were charged with cruelty to animals for killing a dog in the house. State Attorney John Tanner said he will seek the death penalty for all the defendants and asked for prayers for the victims’ families. “They’ve been through a parent’s worst nightmare,” he said.

– Associated Press