BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN APARTMENT TESTS NEGATIVE FOR ANTHRAX

Tests on a Brooklyn apartment where a man worked on unprocessed hides obtained from the man diagnosed with anthrax last week have tested negative for the bacteria, city officials said yesterday. As a result, three people who had been started on antibiotics as a precaution – a man who had worked on hides in the apartment and his family – have been told that they can stop taking them. Four other people continue to take preventative antibiotics, though none of them have any symptoms of anthrax infection. The man obtained the hides from Vado Diomande, 44, who remained hospitalized in serious condition in Pennsylvania yesterday.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

QUINN BACKS CUOMO IN ATTORNEY GENERAL BID

The City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, is backing Andrew Cuomo in his bid for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general. Ms. Quinn announced her endorsement yesterday at City Hall, praising the former gubernatorial candidate and federal housing secretary for his work on housing issues and his support for women’s and gay rights.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SUNKEN BOATS FOUND AT HUDSON DREDGING SITE

FORT EDWARD – The wrecks of up to seven sunken boats have been found along a stretch of the Hudson River set to be dredged for PCBs. An archaeological firm hired by the General Electric to survey the river bottom and shoreline found the unexpected treasures.

– Associated Press

DEADLINE NEARING FOR TAX FRAUD AMNESTY

ALBANY – Time is running out for wealthier New Yorkers who have illegally hidden money in dubious tax shelters to come forward and avoid prosecution. New York’s Voluntary Compliance Initiative, which began in October as a way for the state to collect millions in taxes that would otherwise go uncollected, expires March 1. Those who come forward won’t face civil penalties or legal action, but will have to pay the back taxes plus interest.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE INVESTIGATE STABBING OF TEENAGER IN THE BRONX

Police are investigating the death of a 15-year-old who recently came to America from Ghana. The teenager, Edwin Hammonds, reportedly escorted an acquaintance to a Bronx bus stop around 7 p.m. Saturday, and was attacked on his way back to his apartment on Andrews Avenue. According to police, the teenager was stabbed three times, in the chest, abdomen, and left wrist. After the stabbing, he walked back to his building, where he collapsed, police said. Emergency responders brought him to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

– Special to the Sun

GROUP OFFERS REWARD FOR INFORMATION ON DEADLY FIRE

A police advocacy group offered a reward yesterday to anyone who provides information about a deadly fire in Brooklyn on Friday. The group, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, said it would give $1,000 to anyone with information about the Prospect Heights fire, in which two women and two children died. Investigators have reportedly linked Friday’s blaze on Pacific Street to at least two other suspicious fires on the same street.

– Special to the Sun

BOYCOTT SOUGHT OF BUSTA RHYMES’S MUSIC

The brother of a slain City Council member who runs a foundation committed to ending street violence yesterday called for a boycott yesterday of rapper Busta Rhymes’s music until the artist cooperates with a police investigation of his bodyguard’s shooting. Geoffrey Davis, who runs the James E. Davis Stop Violence Foundation in his brother’s name, urged radio station Hot 97 to put pressure on Busta Rhymes, born Trevor Smith, to work with police. The rapper has been silent about events surrounding the February 5 death of his bodyguard, Israel Ramirez, outside the Brooklyn recording studio where the rapper was filming a music video.

– Special to the Sun