Saturday, June 28, 2008

NRA Sues San Francisco Over Its Handgun Ban

SAN FRANCISCO -- The National Rifle Association sued the city of San Francisco on Friday to overturn its ban on handguns in public housing, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the nation's capital.

The legal action follows a similar lawsuit against the city of Chicago over its handgun ban, filed within hours of Thursday's court ruling.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) said the city will "vigorously fight the NRA" and defended the ban as good for public safety.

Body-Part Thief, Dealer Sentenced

NEW YORK -- The mastermind behind a multimillion-dollar scheme to loot hundreds of corpses and sell bone and tissue for transplants was sentenced to 18 to 54 years in prison after he apologized to the horrified families of the deceased. Michael Mastromarino, 44, a former oral surgeon who owned New Jersey-based Biomedical Tissue Services, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of enterprise corruption, body stealing and reckless endangerment. Authorities say about 10,000 people received parts supplied by BTS.

Pa. Senate Blocks Turnpike Lease

HARRISBURG, Pa.-- Pennsylvania's Senate has unanimously approved a measure prohibiting the state from leasing to private operators its only toll road, the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Senate's 49 to 0 vote sends the bill to the House. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D) has sought to lease the turnpike for more than a year to help the state pay for transportation improvement projects. Last month, he named Abertis Infraestructuras and Citigroup as the winners of the right to lease the 537-mile highway. They bid $12.8 billion for the right to lease the turnpike for 75 years.

S.D. Can Enforce Abortion Law

ST. LOUIS -- A federal appeals court ruled that South Dakota can begin enforcing a law requiring doctors to tell women seeking abortions that the procedure ends a human life. The 7 to 4 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit said that Planned Parenthood, which operates South Dakota's only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, has not provided enough evidence that it is likely to prevail at trial.

Bush, Cheney Transcripts Sought

A House panel subpoenaed Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey for transcripts of a prosecutor's interviews with President Bush and Vice President Cheney during the federal probe into the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity. The subpoena requests all documents from the office of former special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald relating to interviews conducted outside the presence of the grand jury investigating the leak. It also seeks Justice Department documents on a broad range of other matters, including a phone-jamming investigation in New Hampshire, the replacement of a U.S. attorney in Minnesota and the activities of the department's Civil Rights Division.

Law to Let N.J. Casinos Stay Open

ATLANTIC CITY -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) signed into law a bill that permits Atlantic City's 11 gaming halls to temporarily police themselves without state inspectors if the state fails to have a budget in place by July 1, as required by law. Two years ago, Atlantic City casinos lost about $55 million when they were shut down for three days during the Independence Day holiday period.

-- From News Services