Around the Nation

Military Public Relations Effort Faces Inquiry

The Pentagon's internal watchdog is investigating a government public relations effort that relied on retired military officers to defend the administration's Iraq war policies.

The Pentagon suspended the program last month after the New York Times reported that retired officers who acted as military analysts for major news outlets were given plum access to the Pentagon. The analysts, many of whom had undisclosed ties to military contractors, received regular briefings by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a sponsored trip to the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison.

A Defense spokesman, Lt. Col. Brian Maka, said yesterday the inspector general will look at whether special access to Pentagon leaders "may have given the contractors a competitive advantage."

The House last week passed an amendment to a defense authorization bill calling for reviews by both the inspector general's office and the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative arm.

The GAO said it is reviewing the program and whether it violated policies barring use of government money to spread propaganda in the United States.

4 Skyscrapers Sold for $4 Billion

NEW YORK -- Developer Harry Macklowe has agreed to sell the General Motors Building and three other Manhattan skyscrapers to Boston Properties Inc. for $3.95 billion in cash and debt, to pay off delinquent loans. Boston Properties agreed to pay $1.47 billion of cash, assume about $2.47 billion of fixed-rate debt and issue $10 million in units of limited partnership interest.

Immigration Sting Nets 905

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that its agents arrested more than 900 people in California on immigration violations during a three-week sting targeting people who ignored deportation orders. The agency said that 495 of the 905 people arrested were targeted in the operation; the other 410 were on the scene when agents arrived. ICE agents increasingly have tracked people who ignore deportation orders. When authorities visit a suspect's last known address and find other immigrants, they ask them to prove they are in the country legally.

Calif. Wildfire Displaces Hundreds

GILROY, Calif. -- Firefighters took advantage of cooler temperatures and calmer winds as they continued to fight a persistent wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has raged through acres of centuries-old redwoods, destroyed at least 17 homes and displaced hundreds of people. The fire was about 25 percent contained, officials said.

-- From News Services