Toilet part arrives; shuttle set to launch

CAPE CANAVERAL - After being rushed in from Russia, a toilet pump was loaded into the space shuttle Discovery yesterday just in time for this weekend's liftoff to the international space station, where the lone commode is acting up. A NASA employee based in Moscow hand-carried the pump on a commercial flight that touched down Wednesday night. Within hours, the pump and related equipment were packed away aboard Discovery. Discovery is scheduled to blast off tomorrow on a 14-day mission. (AP)

NEW YORK - On the run for nearly four months, a reputed Mafia capo strolled up to the FBI's New York City office yesterday and surrendered on charges he ordered a decades-old gangland hit that took an innocent bystander's life. Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo, who authorities say was a onetime crony of notorious mob boss John Gotti, was ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty to racketeering, extortion, and murder charges. The charges were part of a sprawling federal case against the once-mighty Gambino organized crime family. (AP)

LAS VEGAS - A prominent political fund-raiser on trial in a corruption case in Chicago is wanted in Las Vegas on allegations that he rang up hundreds of thousands of dollars in casino debts. Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was awaiting a jury decision yesterday at his fraud trial in Chicago, is sought on a felony arrest warrant alleging he failed to repay 10 casino loans totaling $472,275 and dating to 2006 at Caesars Palace and Bally's, said Michael Sommermeyer, Clark County court spokesman. Rezko, of Wilmette, Ill., also is named in a lawsuit alleging he owes $331,000 plus interest to the Bellagio for loans he received in February 2006. (AP)

NEW YORK - A rare brain illness spread in freshwater lakes, rivers, and hot springs killed six people in Florida, Texas, and Arizona in 2007, the most in more than five years, according to a US report. The infection, almost always fatal, typically affects boys swimming during the months of July, August, and September, said the report released yesterday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, the infection has struck 121 people in 15 Southern states over the past 71 years, the CDC said. It is caused when Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba found in fresh warm water, goes up the nose to the brain, leading to fatal damage. (Bloomberg)

SOUTHAMPTON - Town board members who had drawn the line at hanging clothes outside to dry are cutting residents some slack: It's OK for them to use clotheslines now. The board has lifted a ban on clotheslines that had stood since 2002, when some homeowners complained the laundry on their neighbors' lawns was making the tony Hamptons town look shabby. (AP)