Saturday, January 26, 2008

Katrina Housing Aid to Be Used for Port

JACKSON, Miss. -- The federal government has approved Mississippi's plan to divert $600 million in hurricane housing funds to a port improvement project, angering critics who say tens of thousands of people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina still need help.

In a letter to Gov. Haley Barbour (R), Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said on Friday that he is concerned about using the housing money for the port project, but that congressional language associated with the use of block grant funds "allows me little discretion."

Mississippi plans to restore public infrastructure and publicly owned facilities at the State Port at Gulfport that were destroyed by Katrina, and to improve the port's operating capacity.

Katrina left the Gulf Coast in tatters in 2005, and many who fled the region have yet to return. Property, rental and insurance rates have soared since the storm. Barbour announced on Tuesday that the state would devote an additional $100 million toward affordable housing.

Mississippi received $5.4 billion in federal hurricane-recovery funding. The $600 million now going to the port was originally allocated for the state's housing assistance program, which provided money to families who lost property to Katrina's storm surge.

MIAMI -- A Venezuelan man admitted taking part in a scheme to cover up the source of $800,000 seized in a suitcase in Argentina that was allegedly sent by Venezuelans as a donation to Cristina Fernandez's presidential campaign.

Moises Maionica, 36, pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign government agent. He could be sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison for this and a related conspiracy count on April 4, but he is cooperating with prosecutors, prosecutors said in court.

Maionica admitted arranging calls between Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson and a senior official in Venezuela's intelligence agency, which the FBI said it recorded. He also acknowledged that he met with Antonini, who is cooperating with federal authorities, and others suspected of being Venezuelan agents.

Three other suspects in the case have pleaded not guilty.

Hurricane Center Deputy Head Is Named Chief

MIAMI -- Bill Read, interim deputy director at the National Hurricane Center since August, was appointed to head the facility. The center has been dogged by a year of turmoil; Read's predecessor was ousted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after he complained about an aging weather satellite and as dissension boiled among his staff members.

Circumcision Case Is Sent Back to Trial Court

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The wishes of a 12-year-old boy should be considered in a dispute between his divorced parents about whether he should be circumcised, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in sending the case back to trial court. The boy's father converted to Judaism in 2004 and wants the boy to be circumcised as part of the faith. The mother appealed to the high court, saying the operation could harm her son physically and psychologically.

Store Accuses Six Family Members of Shoplifting

LODI, Calif. -- A woman, her daughter and four of her grandchildren, ages 17, 14, 8 and 5, tried to steal $900 worth of merchandise from a Target store in this Northern California town, police Officer Misty Smith said. Police said the family was captured by surveillance video cutting open boxes and hiding MP3 players, digital cameras, DVDs, jewelry and sports equipment in purses, bags and a backpack.

-- From News Services