WASHINGTON

PROSECUTOR SUBPOENAS DELAY’S PHONE RECORDS

AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas prosecutor subpoenaed telephone records for the home phone of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and the phone of his political campaign yesterday.

Also subpoenaed by the prosecutor, Ronnie Earle, were records for two numbers for Mr. DeLay’s daughter, Dani DeLay Ferro.

Mr. DeLay is facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy in a Texas campaign finance case.

The subpoenas list telephone numbers, but not whom they belong to. They ask for information about the calls, voice mail service at the numbers, and long distance calls made from or charged to the numbers. “The thing is no big deal,” De-Lay’s Austin attorney, Bill White, said.

Mr. Earle is seeking the records and information from September 1, 2001, to December 31, 2002, the time period when a political committee founded by Mr. DeLay, Texans for a Republican Majority, was raising money for the 2002 election cycle.

– Associated Press

KATRINA SPAWNS THOUSANDS OF FRAUD COMPLAINTS

Hurricane Katrina has spawned a second big flood that is surging well beyond the Gulf Coast: thousands of cases and complaints alleging fraud.

Seven weeks after the storm roared ashore, authorities around the country are amassing cases ranging from identity theft to scams by phony construction contractors to hotel price gouging.

In Louisiana, dozens of victims have applied for benefits from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, only to find their personal identification information has been stolen and already used. In Texas, authorities say people falsely claiming to be refugees collected hundreds of dollars in emergency aid – sometimes going back two or three times a day.

“There are some real oddball cases,” said Mississippi Assistant Attorney General Grant Hedgepeth, who heads the state’s consumer protection office. Mississippi investigators have received more than 1,000 complaints – about hotel and gas price gouging, phony insurance adjuster scams, and people posing as FEMA workers to collect victims’ personal information. – Associated Press

NORTHEAST

DOWNPOURS SOAK NORTHEAST

TRENTON, N.J. – A seventh straight day of rain across much of the soggy Northeast trapped motorists in their cars, delayed airline flights, and sent streams surging over their banks yesterday.

Flood warnings covered parts of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, and residents in some New Jersey communities were urged to evacuate their homes. Northern New Jersey received as much as 4 1/2 inches of rain in 48 hours, and forecasters said some areas of the state could get 2 inches more by Friday. A deluge over the weekend dumped about 5 inches across the state and as much as 10 in a few spots.

The rain was expected to continue through Saturday.

Across the Northeast, at least 10 people have died since last weekend because of the downpours, and four others were missing in New Hampshire.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

WOMAN CHARGED WITH ATTACKING PREGNANT NEIGHBOR

PITTSBURGH – A woman clubbed her pregnant neighbor over the head with a baseball bat, drove her to the woods, and cut her belly with a knife in an attempt to steal her baby, police said.

Police said Wednesday’s attack on Valerie Oskin was stopped before her baby was taken after a teenager on an all-terrain vehicle came across the women. Ms. Oskin, 30, later underwent an emergency Caesarean section at a hospital. State police yesterday said she was in critical condition and her baby in stable condition. She was believed to have been in her third trimester of pregnancy, authorities said. Peggy Jo Conner, 38, of Ford City, was arraigned yesterday on charges of attempted homicide and aggravated assault and was jailed without bail.

– Associated Press