WASHINGTON

WHITE HOUSE TO ISSUE 125 FINDINGS IN ITS OWN KATRINA REPORT

A White House assessment of the sluggish federal reaction to Hurricane Katrina concludes the Pentagon should oversee future catastrophe responses but does not recommend that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff be fired, officials said yesterday.

The beleaguered Federal Emergency Management Agency would remain at the Homeland Security Department under a “lessons learned” White House review to be released today, according to one official.

Though some agencies, like the Coast Guard, successfully rescued tens of thousands of storm victims, “there are other areas where all levels of government fell short – the federal, the state and the local,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

President Bush, who ordered the report by White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, has accepted responsibility for the government’s halting response to the August 29 storm that killed 1,300 people and forced hundreds of thousands to abandon their homes.

The review offers solutions to only some of the government’s shortfalls, according to a senior administration official familiar with a draft of the 125 recommendations.

– Associated Press

FCC UPHOLDS INDECENCY SANCTIONS ON NETWORKS

Federal regulators will stick by their decision to slap CBS with a $550,000 fine for the Janet Jackson flash at the 2004 Super Bowl.

They also plan new sanctions against Fox, NBC, and CBS TV stations or affiliates for violating decency standards, according to people familiar with the matter.

The two sources, who declined to be identified ahead of a public announcement, said one of the decisions involves an appearance by Nicole Richie on the 2003 Billboard Music Awards on Fox. During the broadcast, she uttered the “F” word and the expletive for excrement.

It’s believed to be the first time that the Federal Communications Commission will address the use of the second expletive on the public airwaves. The FCC has previously penalized networks for allowing the “F” word to be broadcast.

The sources would not say which broadcasters would face monetary penalties from the commission. Nor would they outline other programs that would be targeted in the decisions.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

GORE TV CHANNEL CLAIMS MINNESOTA NETWORK DEMANDED CASH

Vice President Gore’s cable network for young people, Current TV, is accusing Minnesota Public Radio of demanding cash to avert a trademark lawsuit.

Current TV filed a formal response yesterday to the trademark infringement case the broadcaster brought last year in federal court in St. Paul. In the filing, lawyers for Mr. Gore’s network claim that the Minnesota broadcaster’s alternative music service switched from using “89.3 The Current” to simply “The Current” as part of an effort “to obtain a monetary payment from defendants to avoid this lawsuit.”

The filing also called the Minnesota outlet’s trademark “weak and diluted” by the scores of other businesses that use the word “current” in their names.

Asked about the alleged demand for money, a spokeswoman for Minnesota Public Radio, Jennifer Johnson, said, “We’ve been trying to resolve this issue.” She noted that her employer filed for the trademark in December 2004, five months before Mr. Gore’s venture disclosed its name and eight months before it went on the air.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTH

JUDGE ACQUITS INSTRUCTOR IN POOL DEATH OF MARINE RECRUIT

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. – A military judge yesterday found a Marine Corps swim instructor not guilty of negligent homicide in the drowning of a recruit last year.

Staff Sergeant Nadya Lopez had been accused of failing to recognize or ignoring signs that Jason Tharp, 19, was too tired or incapable of continuing before he drowned during training in a pool on Feb. 8, 2005.

But the judge, Major Mark Griffith, acquitted Sergeant Lopez in the nonjury court-martial just 40 minutes after defense attorneys rested without calling any witnesses.They contended prosecutors simply failed to prove their case.

“Sadly Marines do die in training,” Lieutenant Colonel Scott Jack told the judge in the defense’s closing arguments. He added that Sergeant Lopez “did nothing wrong. She was a professional water combat survival instructor.”

Tharp’s mother, Linda, cried as the verdict was read and told the judge, “I hope you see Jason every time you turn around and hear him screaming.”

If convicted, Sergeant Lopez could have faced a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and confinement for three years.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

RHODE ISLAND JURY FINDS FORMER MAKERS OF LEAD PAINT LIABLE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Three former makers of lead paint created a public nuisance that continues to poison Rhode Island children, a jury ruled yesterday in a verdict that could saddle the companies with millions of dollars in cleanup costs and embolden other states to sue, too.

Rhode Island – the first state to sue the paint industry over lead – argued that the substance has sickened tens of thousands of children, contaminated homes, and burdened landlords. The state asked the jury to force the former manufacturers of lead pigment or paint to deal with the mess, though it did not seek a specific dollar amount.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein will decide later what the companies must do to clean up the contamination. The judge will also hear arguments Monday on whether the companies should have to pay punitive damages over and above the cleanup costs.

He instructed the jury to return to court on Tuesday.

“Now that we have the resources to clean up the mess that the industry created, there’s no reason we can’t make lead poisoning history in Rhode Island,” the executive director of the Childhood Lead Action Project, Roberta Hazen Aaronson, said.

The sale of lead paint was banned in 1978 in the United States after studies showed it can cause brain damage and other serious health problems in children. But in Rhode Island and other states with older houses, many homes still have lead paint.

– Associated Press