HEALTH

STUDY: LOW-FAT DIET DOESN’T REDUCE CANCER, HEART RISKS

Eating less fat late in life failed to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease among older women, disappointing news for those who expected greater benefits from a healthy diet.

Even so, scientists say the results from the government study of 48,835 women don’t mean dieters should just throw up their hands and eat cake.

Researchers suggested that the women in the long-running study – with an average age of 62 – may have started their healthy eating too late. They also didn’t reduce fats as much as the diet demanded, and most remained overweight, a major risk factor for cancer and heart problems.

“These results do not suggest that people have carte blanche to eat fatty foods without health problems,” said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-author of the study and respected nutrition authority.

The eight-year study showed no difference in the rate of breast cancer, colon cancer, and heart disease among those who ate lower-fat diets and those who didn’t.

But the scientists declined to call the $415 million venture a failure, pointing to signs of less breast cancer in women who cut out the most fat, and in less heart disease in women who ate low amounts of the worst kinds of fats.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

BOEHNER RENTS APARTMENT IN D.C. OWNED BY

LOBBYIST Rep. John Boehner, a Republican of Ohio, who was elected House majority leader last week, is renting his Capitol Hill apartment from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have direct stakes in legislation Mr. Boehner has co-written and that he has overseen as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

The relationship between Mr. Boehner, John Milne, and Mr. Milne’s wife, Debra Anderson, underscores how intertwined senior lawmakers have become with the lobbyists paid to influence legislation. Mr. Boehner’s primary residence is in West Chester, Ohio, but for $1,600 a month, he rents a two-bedroom basement apartment near the House office buildings on Capitol Hill owned by Milne, Mr. Boehner spokesman Don Seymour said yesterday. Mr. Boehner’s monthly rent appears to be similar to other rentals of two-bedroom English basement apartments close to the House side of the Capitol in Southeast, based on a review of apartment listings.

– The Washington Post

SOUTHWEST

TEENAGER CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS FAMILY ON NEWSMAN’S RANCH

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. – Jurors yesterday convicted a 16-year-old in the deaths of his family on newsman Sam Donaldson’s ranch. Cody Posey was accused of killing his father, stepmother, and stepsister and hiding their bodies in a manure pile. The defense claimed the deaths were self-defense and that he had suffered years of physical and mental abuse. Posey also was convicted of four counts of evidence tampering. He hung his head and wept briefly as the verdicts were read, and defense attorney Gary Mitchell offered consolation by putting an arm on Posey’s shoulder.

The teen was arrested a few days after the bodies of his father and stepmother, Paul and Tryone Posey, and his stepsister, 13-year-old Mary Lee Schmid, were found on Donaldson’s Chavez Canyon Ranch in July 2004.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

TOUR MANAGER PLEADS GUILTY TO 100 DEATHS IN R.I. NIGHTCLUB FIRE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The former tour manager for the heavy metal rock group Great White pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter yesterday for setting off the pyrotechnics that caused one of the deadliest nightclub fires in American history.

Under a plea bargain, Daniel Biechele, 29, will serve no more than 10 years in prison. The February 20, 2003, blaze killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. Biechele set off a flashy pyrotechnics display during a concert at the West Warwick club called the Station. The sparks ignited flammable soundproofing foam inside the club, fueling a fast-moving fire that quickly enveloped the one-story wooden building and trapped concert-goers.

– Associated Press