MANHATTAN

PATAKI TRANSFERRED TO MANHATTAN HOSPITAL, UNDERGOES SURGERY

Governor Pataki underwent surgery to alleviate a blockage in his digestive system yesterday, five days after surgeons removed his appendix. The surgery was performed at a Manhattan hospital at 1:15 p.m. and lasted an hour, a Pataki spokesman, David Catalfamo, said. “Governor Pataki is recovering in his room and he is awake, alert, and resting comfortably,” Mr. Catalfamo said in a written statement. Mr. Pataki, 60, was transferred to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center at 9 a.m. from the Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Westchester County earlier yesterday. One of the reasons for the transfer was the possibility that the surgery might be required. The condition had existed for a few days, Mr. Catalfamo said. “This was one of the options all along,” he said. After Mr. Pataki arrived at New York-Presbyterian, Mr. Catalfamo said “the doctors decided it was better to go in and fix it now.”

– Associated Press

CITY MAKES WAY FOR PETER JENNINGS

The city renamed a section of West 66th Street “Peter Jennings Way” yesterday in memory of the award-winning anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” who died of lung cancer in August. During a ceremony to unveil the new sign on Columbus Avenue and 66th Street, near ABC’s studio, Jennings was remembered as a leader in journalism and as a regular sight on the Upper West Side, where he lived and worked. Mayor Bloomberg said, “The truth of the matter is that people have been talking about the Peter Jennings Way for years.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

MET MUSEUM AND ITALY SIGN DEAL ON RETURN OF ANTIQUITIES

ROME – New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Italy signed a deal yesterday under which the museum will return supposedly looted antiquities to Italy in exchange for long-term loans of other artifacts. The unprecedented deal – which archaeologists hope will prompt other museums to change their acquisition policies – was signed in Rome by Met chief Philippe de Montebello and top Italian officials at the Culture Ministry.

– Associated Press

CITY SENDING EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL TO PREGNANT WOMEN WITH DIABETES

The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is sending educational materials to thousands of women who have developed diabetes during their pregnancies. Starting next month the city will send information to 4,000 women to explain the risks of “gestational diabetes” and provide tips on how to lose weight and decrease their chances of developing full-blown diabetes. Mayor Bloomberg said the campaign was the first of its kind in the country. The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said gestational diabetes increased in the city by 50% between 1990 and 2004.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

ALBANY

FEDERAL PROSECUTOR SAYS WELD NOT RULED OUT IN PROBE

A federal prosecutor yesterday said her staff never assured Republican gubernatorial candidate William Weld that he isn’t a target in her investigation into a now-closed trade school in Kentucky. The statement from Marisa Ford of the Western Kentucky U.S. Attorney’s Office conflicts with statements by Mr. Weld. He has told reporters that his attorney was informed by investigators looking into Decker College that he isn’t a target.

– Associated Press

CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN ENDORSES FASO FOR GOVERNOR

The state Conservative Party chairman, Michael Long, has personally endorsed Republican John Faso for governor in a letter sent to party members. The endorsement of the full committee, expected in the spring, is considered important for Republicans because state GOP candidates haven’t won statewide races without the Conservative line in decades. The larger Independence Party hasn’t yet committed to a candidate, either. The minor parties provide a way for Democrats – who outnumber Republicans 5-3 – to vote Republican without casting a GOP ballot.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

MAID TO THE STARS SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR THEFT

A maid whose clients included Candice Bergen and Robert De Niro was sentenced yesterday to one to three years in prison by a judge who said the defendant was “cleaning out” her celebrity employers’ valuables while cleaning their homes. State Supreme Court Justice Renee White ignored the pleas of a weeping Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz to let her return immediately to Poland. Turyk-Wawrynowicz pleaded guilty two weeks ago to grand larceny, forgery, and identity theft.

– Associated Press

COURT RULES AGAINST ALLEGED VICTIMS OF CHURCH SEXUAL ABUSE

The state’s highest court ruled yesterday that the statute of limitations could be used as a defense by Roman Catholic dioceses in two key sexual abuse cases, dealing a setback to people hoping to reinstate cases that had been dismissed. In deciding two cases, the Court of Appeals said those who claimed they were sexually abused by priests in two New York State dioceses waited too long to take their cases to court and failed to show the dioceses prevented them from filing suit sooner. The court made no judgment on the merits of the alleged victims’ claims.

– Associated Press

POLICE TESTIFY ON HANDLING OF TERROR THREAT TO SUBWAYS

Police officials testified yesterday about their handling of a terrorist threat to the city’s subways this past October, and Captain Eric Adams faced charges for publicly criticizing the department’s response. Captain Adams, president of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, is accused of discussing police business without permission during an October 2005 appearance on WCBS-TV, in which he said the city waited at least three days to mobilize police forces after learning about a threat to the city’s subway system on October 3.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

FEWER DEER KILLED DURING 2005 HUNTING SEASON

New York’s hunters killed about 180,000 deer last fall, down 14% from a year earlier, while no new cases of chronic wasting disease were found, the state Department of Environmental Conservation reported yesterday. The 2005 take included 89,000 bucks, as well as 91,200 antler-less deer, about two-thirds of them adult females, according to the DEC. It was the third straight overall decline.

– Associated Press

PATIENT WITH LEGIONNAIRES’ THOUGHT TO BE FROM WATER SYSTEM DIES

ROCHESTER – A patient with hepatitis suspected of contracting Legionnaires’ disease at the city’s biggest hospital has died and two cancer patients have been diagnosed with the pneumonia-like illness almost a month apart. Caused by a bug that occurs naturally in water, Legionnaires’ can be especially serious when it shows up in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health centers where there are bigger numbers of elderly or sick people with weakened immune systems.

– Associated Press

FIREFIGHTER WHO SPOKE AFTER NEARLY A DECADE IN NEAR COMA DIES

BUFFALO – A brain-injured firefighter who suddenly spoke after nearly a decade in a stupor, giving hope to families of countless other patients, died yesterday. He was 44. Donald Herbert was injured in December 1995, when the roof of a burning home collapsed on him. Deprived of oxygen for several minutes, he ended up blind, was largely mute, and showed little awareness of his surroundings for years. But on April 30, 2005, he shocked his family with a 14-hour talking jag. Since then, he spoke only sporadically, his progress hampered by a fall out of bed that caused bleeding on his brain, his doctor said. Herbert was hospitalized over the weekend with pneumonia.

– Associated Press

AUTHORITIES REVIEWING CHARGES AGAINST MAN IN STABBINGS

OSWEGO – A 27-year-old man may not be criminally responsible in a triple stabbing that left a Buffalo State College fraternity member dead and two other frat members wounded, a prosecutor said yesterday. Christopher Motola was allowed to remain free on $10,000 bail yesterday after appearing before an Oswego city court judge, James Metcalf.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE SEARCHING FOR PAIR WANTED IN SIX ARMED ROBBERIES

Police in the Queens neighborhoods of Ozone Park and Richmond Hill are looking for a man and woman they believe robbed six stores this month. The couple – a 6-foot-1-inch black male in his 20s and a 5-foot-7-inch Hispanic woman – are suspects in a series of armed robbery cases, starting with a heist February 2 at a travel agency. The man allegedly entered the store wielding a silver handgun and announced, “This is a robbery!” before robbing $500 from the agency and fleeing in a silver car driven by the female suspect. The pair is also wanted for questioning in the robbing of a Citgo gas station later that day. Police want to question the pair for the robbery of a Radio Shack on February 3, a convenience store on February 5, a liquor store on February 6, and a different Radio Shack on February 9. In at least three of the robberies, the suspects wore masks, police said.

– Special to the Sun