SOUTHWEST

LOS ALAMOS LAB WHISTLE-BLOWER BEATEN

SANTA FE, N.M. – A Los Alamos lab whistle-blower scheduled to testify before Congress about alleged financial irregularities was badly beaten outside a bar – an attack his wife and lawyer believe was designed to silence him. Police and the FBI said that they were investigating the circumstances of the incident, which, according to his wife, left Tommy Hook hospitalized yesterday with a broken jaw and other injuries.

The police deputy chief, Eric Johnson, said officers found Mr. Hook after responding to a reported assault at the Cheeks Night Club about 2 a.m. Sunday. He provided few other details. “We are working jointly with the FBI, trying to determine what may have happened and what the assault may have stemmed from,” Chief Johnson said. FBI spokesman, Bill Elwell, described the agency’s inquiry as preliminary. Mr. Hook’s wife, Susan, alleged the assailants told her husband during the attack: “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

Mr. Hook and another whistle-blower sued the University of California in March, alleging that after they uncovered management failures, university and lab managers tried to make their jobs miserable so they would quit.

Mr. Hook, a former internal auditor who now works at another job at the lab, had been scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee later this month. According to Mrs. Hook, her husband received a call late Saturday from someone wanting to meet with him at a bar. She said her husband told her the man never showed up, but that as he was leaving the parking lot, a group of men pulled him from his car and beat him.

– Associated Press

NORTHWEST

JUDGE UPHOLDS DEMOCRAT’S VICTORY IN WASHINGTON GOVERNOR’S RACE

WENATCHEE, Wash. -A judge yesterday upheld Democrat Christine Gregoire’s victory in the closest race for governor in American history, rejecting Republican claims that last fall’s election was stolen through errors and fraud.

The election – decided by an amazingly close 129 votes out of 2.9 million cast – included 1,678 illegally cast ballots, Judge John Bridges of Chelan County Superior Court found. But he said Republicans failed to prove that GOP candidate Dino Rossi would have won if those votes had been disregarded.

“Unless an election is clearly invalid, when the people have spoken, their verdict should not be disturbed by the courts,” Judge Bridges said. Nullifying the election, he said, would be “the ultimate act of judicial egotism and judicial activism.”

The judge threw out only a few illegally cast votes and raised Ms. Gregoire’s margin of victory to 133.

Ms. Gregoire, who has held office for five months under a cloud of uncertainty, said she burst into tears upon hearing the news.

“I think the cloud is over, and I think it’s time for Washington state to move on and to make sure we set this behind us,” she said in Olympia. “We don’t have to be the attention of the nation about an election that took place six months ago.” The Republicans were hoping the judge would nullify the election and then either declare Rossi the winner outright or open the way for a new election in the fall.

– Associated Press

WEST

JURORS IN MICHAEL JACKSON TRIAL COMPLETE FIRST DAY OF DELIBERATIONS

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation case ended their first full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict, but the bulk of action was outside the courtroom yesterday. The crowd of fans increased steadily, and the tension among the about 1,200 members of the press grew throughout the day. Amid the hoopla, Joe Jackson, the singer’s father, set off a minor fracas during an unscheduled appearance at the courthouse, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson condemned authorities for prosecuting the pop star.

Michael Jackson reportedly spent the day at his Neverland ranch, recuperating from back spasms that sent him to a local hospital for treatment over the weekend. At 9:50 a.m., the jury sent a question to Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville, who consulted the prosecution and defense, press pool coordinator Peter Shaplen said. No details about the question were released. Judge Melville’s practice is to handle such questions in chambers, Mr. Shaplen said.

Attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., who represents a group of press outlets including the Los Angeles Times, filed motions seeking a transcript of the closed proceedings. Last week, he also filed a motion seeking a transcript of a closed hearing apparently held on May 23, reportedly “related to potential juror misconduct.”

Mr. Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy in early 2003 at Neverland. He also is charged with giving the boy alcohol to aid in the molestation and with conspiring with aides to control the family so that they would participate in a favorable interview. If convicted on all charges, Mr. Jackson could be sentenced to more than 18 years in prison.

– Los Angeles Times