PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Club where 100 died files for bankruptcy
The owners of a nightclub where 100 people died in a 2003 fire said Friday that they and their company have filed for bankruptcy.
Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, owners of The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., said they were “unable to satisfy all of our present creditors or our potential future creditors.”
The Chapter 7 filing, which could lead to debt being wiped out entirely, comes a week before the Derderians were to stand trial in Workers’ Compensation Court on charges they failed to make full payments to the families of four workers killed in the Feb. 20, 2003, fire.
The Derderians are awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges and have been sued in federal court by the survivors of the fire and relatives of the victims.
PLYMOUTH, N.H.
Gay bishop predicts Anglican division
The first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church predicted a division in the Anglican Communion two years after U.S. church leaders triggered global outrage by approving his election.
“This is at least as much about power and control as it is about theology and Scripture,” said New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson. “It’s about who’s going to be calling the shots and who’s going to be in and who’s going to be out.”
At stake is how 77 million Anglicans around the world, including 2.3 million members of America’s Episcopal Church, define their religion and their relationship to one another.
Robinson said he underestimated the opportunity his election gave conservatives to organize within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Cancer experts urge narrow use of Avastin
Cancer specialists warned Friday against wide use of one of the most promising and novel drugs, Avastin, after its maker stopped a study of it in ovarian cancer patients because many of them developed a serious bowel problem.
Genentech Inc. said five out of 44 patients given Avastin had developed gastrointestinal holes or tears. That side effect surfaced in tests of the drug that led to its approval in 2004 for colon cancer but at a much lower rate than seen in the new study.
“We’ve got to use this drug very cautiously” for anything other than what it’s licensed for – colon cancer, said Dr. Jordan Berlin, an expert in that disease at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn.
LOS ANGELES
Cause uncertain
in brief power outage
A brief power outage hit 40,000 utility customers in Los Angeles on Friday morning, and officials said it was unclear whether mechanical or human error was involved.
The outage did not appear related to one this month that affected 2 million people, said Ron Deaton, general manager of the city’s Department of Water and Power. Officials said the outage happened at 9:29 a.m. when four banks of transformers at an electrical substation went off-line. One bank of transformers had been shut down for maintenance.
“When we brought that back on, we’re uncertain for the reasons, but it relayed and triggered the other ones’ going off,” Deaton said.
CHINO, Calif.
Racial prison clash becomes 3-hour riot
A racial clash between inmates at a California prison erupted into a three-hour riot involving 200 inmates, critically injuring two, an official said Friday.
Black, white and Hispanic inmates squared off Thursday night in a reception center for prisoners who recently transferred to the California Institution for Men, said state Department of Corrections spokesman Todd Slosek.
“We believe preliminarily that the altercation stems over a dispute over respect,” said Slosek, adding the cause remained under investigation.
NEW YORK
Judge blocks move
of Fulton Fish Market
A judge put the relocation plans of the nation’s largest wholesale fish market on ice Friday after hearing claims that it could be vulnerable to Mafia infiltration when it moves to its new site.
State Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead extended a restraining order blocking fishmongers from taking over unloading duties at the Fulton Fish Market, which is moving to the Bronx after more than 180 years on the lower Manhattan waterfront.
