Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio Expected To Plead Guilty In Corruption Probe

WASHINGTON — Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican of Ohio, is expected to plead guilty as early as Friday to at least one criminal charge in an election-year congressional corruption investigation, Republican officials said last night. Mr. Ney, whose ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff have long been under scrutiny by prosecutors, has consistently denied all wrongdoing. He announced this summer that he would not seek re-election, a step that he took reluctantly and at the prodding of party leaders fearful of the loss of his seat. The Republican officials who described the legal developments said they did not know whether Mr. Ney intended to resign his seat in the House. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of pending legal proceedings. The Republican officials said they were not certain whether Mr. Ney intended to profess guilt to more than one charge or precisely what offense would be involved in any plea agreement. They said a prison sentence was not out of the question.Two officials said Mr. Ney would confess to having filed a false disclosure report with the House of Representatives in connection with a 2002 golfing trip to Scotland that Abramoff paid for. Any guilty plea would almost certainly renew public attention on a Republican-heavy corruption investigation that has unfolded slowly in the months leading to the midterm elections. Democrats have long vowed to make ethics an issue in the campaign. Mr. Ney would become the first member of Congress to plead guilty in the probe.A second lawmaker, Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat of Louisiana, is at the center of a separate investigation involving alleged bribery. He has not been charged and denies all wrongdoing.

— Associated Press

Woman Sues Authorities For Failing To Probe Her Disappearance

PITTSBURGH — A woman who ran off with a school security guard as an eighth-grader, living with him in secret for 10 years, filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing authorities of failing to prevent or properly investigate her disappearance. Tanya Nicole Kach also accuses the former guard of assaulting her and threatening to kill her and dump her body in a river. Ms. Kach, 24, came forward March 21 and told police she ran away and had been living in Thomas Hose’s house in a Pittsburgh suburb for 10 years. Ms. Kach told police that Mr. Hose, 48, kept her in a bedroom in the small, two-story home where he lived with his parents. The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, claims police and city officials involved in the case were incompetent. It also alleges school officials knew or should have known Ms. Kach and Mr. Hose were having an improper relationship before her disappearance and did nothing to stop it. “Now she has a completely stilted existence. She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s unable to function in the community,” Ms. Kach’s attorney, Lawrence Fisher, said. “We’re calling on those institutions that failed her 10 years ago to step up and do something to help her.”

— Associated Press

Third White Buffalo Born On Wisconsin Farm

A farm in Wisconsin is quickly becoming hallowed ground for American Indians with the birth of its third white buffalo, an animal considered sacred by many tribes for its potential to bring good fortune and peace. “We took one look at it, and I can’t repeat what I thought, but I thought, ‘Here we go again,'” owner Dave Heider said. Thousands of people stopped by Mr. Heider’s Janesville farm after the birth of the first white buffalo, a female named Miracle who died in 2004 at the age of 10. The second was born in 1996 but died after three days. Mr. Heider said he discovered the third white buffalo, a newborn male, after a storm in late August. Over the weekend, about 50 American Indians held a drum ceremony to honor the calf, which has yet to be named, he said. A medicine man in the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D., Floyd Looks-for-Buffalo Hand, said it was fate that the white buffaloes chose one farm, which will likely become a focal point for visitors, who make offerings such as tobacco and dream catchers in the hopes of earning good fortune and peace. “That’s destiny,” he said. “The message was only choose one person.” The white buffalo is particularly sacred to the Cheyenne, Sioux, and other nomadic tribes of the Northern Plains.

— Associated Press