ALBANY

COMMISSION APPROVES GOVERNOR’S PLAN TO EXPAND DNA DATABANK

A state commission yesterday approved Governor Pataki’s plan to expand the state’s DNA databank, a move expected to add to the system DNA samples from as many as 40,000 more criminals. Mr. Pataki last week ordered that additional DNA samples be collected from individuals as a condition of release from parole, probation, a plea bargain, or a temporary release program. The order came after a broader legislative proposal to widen the DNA database stalled in the state Assembly. Mr. Pataki’s plan, which does not expand the list of crimes eligible for DNA testing, was approved by a 9-3 commission vote, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, Jessica Scaperotti, said.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

COLLEGIATE SCHOOL HIRES NEW HEADMASTER

Collegiate School will have a new headmaster starting this summer, the president of the school’s board of trustees announced earlier this week. On July 1, Lee Levison, currently the Head of School at Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, will become the 28th headmaster of the 377-year-old school. Mr. Levison holds a bachelor’s degree from Amherst and a doctorate in education from Harvard. He led Kingswood-Oxford since 1992. In hiring Mr. Levison, Collegiate ends its two-year search for a headmaster to replace Kerry Brennan, who left to head Roxbury Latin School in Boston in December 2003. Since then, a former headmaster of Rye Country Day School in Westchester, Lee Pierson, has served as interim head.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

EPA TO TEST APARTMENTS FOR WORLD TRADE CENTER DUST

The federal Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday it will go forward with a plan to test some Lower Manhattan apartments for World Trade Center dust, despite criticism from residents and its own expert panel that the program does not go far enough.

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

TEACHER SUSPENDED AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF DUCT-TAPING STUDENTS

HOWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. – A second-grade teacher accused of duct-taping students to chairs has been suspended. Neither school officials nor authorities would release her name. The woman, a five-year employee of Land O’ Pines Elementary School, reportedly used tape to confine up to four students to their seats in one day, the schools superintendent, Enid Golden, said. It wasn’t clear what provoked the teacher, Ms. Golden said.

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

LAWSUIT FILED IN NYC ON BEHALF OF BATTERED IMMIGRANTS

Flaws in computer programming, training, and supervision at city and state welfare agencies deprive hundreds of legal immigrant women and children, who are victims of abuse, of food stamps and other benefits, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday. The Domestic Violence Project of the Legal Aid Society filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of 13 plaintiffs in Manhattan federal court and requested that Judge Jed Rakoff hear oral arguments, said spokeswoman Pat Bath.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

FIREFIGHTER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING WIFE

A New York City firefighter was arrested yesterday afternoon for allegedly assaulting his wife. Jarrett Murphy, 31, was charged with misdemeanor assault for an incident that occurred November 30 at his Johnson Avenue home, according to a police spokesman, who would not describe the incident. A firefighter for four years with no disciplinary record, Mr. Murphy is currently with Engine Company 205 in downtown Brooklyn, the Fire Department said. He will likely face a departmental disciplinary hearing that could result in a suspension of up to a month.

– Special to the Sun