CITYWIDE

4 AT ARCHDIOCESE FOOD-PURCHASING WING ACCUSED OF TAKING $2M

The former chief executive of the food-purchasing wing of the Archdiocese of New York and three others were indicted yesterday, accused of pocketing $2 million from vendors to more than 1,000 churches, schools, and other institutions. The indictment accused the defendants of rigging purchasing to mark up the price of items ranging from lettuce to pancakes for schools by as much as 138% so they could pocket the money.

– Associated Press

EDUCATION DEPT. EMPLOYEE SEX MISCONDUCT COMPLAINTS RISE

The number of sexual misconduct complaints against Department of Education employees increased 21% in 2005 from the year before, according to a report issued yesterday by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, Richard Condon. Sexual allegations range from relationships with students and physical and verbal sexual harassment. Of the 525 complaints of sexual misconduct received last year, the office opened 213 cases and substantiated 92 of those reports. A spokesman for the Department of Education, David Cantor, said, “We commend Special Commissioner Condon for the continued value and thoroughness of his work. We take seriously the obligation to keep our schools, staff, and students safe and our resources secure, and we have been conscientious in referring issues to him.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BUSH SIGNS BILL TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR MORE THAN 3,500 NEW OFFICERS

The city will get federal funding for more than 3,500 new police officers as part of a bill President Bush signed into law yesterday. The provision negotiated by Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat representing Brooklyn and Queens, authorizes more than $4 billion over four years for the Community Oriented Policing Services program, or COPS. About $280 million will go to New York, allowing the city to hire an additional 3,640 police officers.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

L.I. WOMAN KILLED IN ROCK FALL ON MOUNT KILIMANJARO

A Long Island woman traveling with her family on a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro was killed when rocks and boulders tumbled into tents where tourists were sleeping, a friend of the deceased said yesterday. Two other American climbers were killed, and two were seriously injured. Among the dead was Mary Lou Sammis, 58, of Huntington.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

ILL MANHATTAN TEENAGER’S FAMILY SUES TO GET DOG BACK FOR HER

A Manhattan man has filed a $6 million lawsuit in an attempt to force the return of a small dog that he says was a gift to his cancer-stricken teenage daughter from a now imprisoned contractor and former friend. A lawyer, Martin Klein, says in papers filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court that the dog, a pure-bred Yorkshire terrier named Hershe, was given to his 15-year-old daughter, Michele Klein, by Ted Kohl on her 11th birthday. Court papers say Mr. Kohl was taking care of Hershe while the Klein family was on vacation in London. After Mr. Kohl was sentenced November 28, he gave the dog to a friend, Gayle Fisher Worth, who has kept the dog and refused to return it, Mr. Klein’s court papers say.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS IN SCHEME INVOLVING STOLEN BANKCARDS

Police are looking for three men suspected in a grand larceny scheme that involved stolen bankcard data and PINs, police said yesterday. According to police, the suspects modified ATM machines in two branches of Washington Mutual Bank – on Hyland Boulevard in Staten Island and on Canal Street in Manhattan – to steal personal financial information. Police said the alleged perpetrators placed their own skimming devices – the part of the machine in which cards are inserted – and keypads on the ATM consoles, and recorded bankcard information and PINs that way. Later, they removed the devices, downloaded the personal bank data, and created fake bankcards with the stolen information, police said. According to police, the suspects stole information from more than 52 people, and accessed their bank accounts using ATM machines all over the city. Police estimate more than $100,000 has been stolen since November 2005.

– Special to the Sun