US sues to control Longshoremen union
NEW YORK -- Federal authorities yesterday sued for control of the International Longshoremen's Association, seeking ''once and for all to end mob domination" of the labor union, said a US prosecutor, Roslynn Mauskopf. A court order sought by prosecutors in Brooklyn would install a trustee to oversee the New York-based union. The union represents 45,000 dockworkers and other employees at ports from Maine to Texas. It also would remove current leaders of the union and bar them, as well as suspected organized crime figures, from the waterfront. (AP)
ILLINOIS
Judge rejects new bid for slavery reparations
CHICAGO -- A federal judge yesterday dismissed for the second time a lawsuit demanding that nine defendant companies pay reparations to descendants of African-American slaves. US District Judge Charles Norgle said the 2002 suit seeking compensation from the defendants, including railroads and cigarette makers, lacked merit. In 2004, Norgle dismissed the suit but allowed the plaintiffs to refile with an amended complaint. They did, accusing the companies of violating consumer protection laws because their businesses were built on profits from slaves. (Reuters)
FLORIDA
Limbaugh records given to prosecutors
WEST PALM BEACH -- A judge gave some of Rush Limbaugh's medical records to prosecutors yesterday, allowing pursuance of an inquiry into whether the commentator illegally purchased painkillers. Circuit Court Judge Thomas Barkdull III returned other Limbaugh records to his lawyer, Roy Black, who had argued that some of the records contained privileged details about medical procedures and other issues unrelated to the criminal investigation. None of the contents were revealed. (AP) 