Ohio coin dealer admits to illegal Bush donations
Toledo, Ohio – A coin dealer and prominent GOP fundraiser at the center of an Ohio political scandal pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges he illegally funneled donations to President Bush’s re-election campaign.
Tom Noe, once a powerful political figure who also raised money for Ohio Republicans, still is charged with embezzlement in an ill-fated $50 million coin investment that he managed for the state workers’ compensation fund.
The investment scandal has been a major embarrassment for Ohio’s ruling Republicans and given Democrats a better shot at winning state offices this year, including the governor’s office, which has been under GOP control since 1991.
Investigators have not been able to find out if Noe used money from the state coin fund for campaign contributions.
Noe was charged with exceeding federal campaign contribution limits, using others to make the contributions and causing the Bush campaign to submit a false campaign-finance statement.
He pleaded guilty to arranging a contribution scheme to raise $50,000 for Bush.
Federal prosecutors said in October that the case was the largest campaign money-laundering scheme prosecuted under the 2002 campaign finance reform law, which set limits on donations.
WASHINGTON
CBS loses appeal of fine for exposure
The government on Wednesday rejected a second appeal by CBS to lift the $550,000 fine imposed on its stations for the Janet Jackson breast exposure during the 2004 Super Bowl.
The singer briefly exposed one breast during the halftime show in what she later called a “wardrobe malfunction.”
The Federal Communications Commission rejected CBS’s claim that the show was not indecent and said the violation was “willful.”
The FCC noted that the fine is less than one-quarter of the $2.3 million that CBS charged for a single 30-second advertisement aired during its broadcast.
INDIANAPOLIS
Sex offenders sue city over new ordinance
Six sex offenders sued the city Wednesday to block a new ordinance that bars them from venturing within 1,000 feet of parks, pools and playgrounds when children are present.
The plaintiffs went to federal court to argue that the law is unconstitutionally vague, violates their rights to vote and attend church, and prevents them from freely traveling on roads that may pass within 1,000 feet of the affected sites.
The ordinance carries fines of up to $2,500.
The six, who include convicted child molesters and rapists, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
GARDEN GROVE, Calif.
Girl, 1, “left for dead” amid murdered family
A 1-year-old girl spent up to three days alone with the bloody bodies of her murdered family, her face kicked or beaten and lips cracked from dehydration, police said.
“She was left for dead,” Lt. Mike Handfield said Tuesday. “If she would have been here any longer, she could have perished from lack of food and water.” Police found the three bodies when they conducted a welfare check at the family’s home.All the victims were stabbed.
The girl, whose name was not immediately available, was treated at a hospital for dehydration and facial injuries and placed in protective custody.
The girl smiled at the officer who found her, Handfield said.
COLUMBIA, S.C.
Bills OK death penalty for child molesters
The South Carolina House on Wednesday passed a pair of bills that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for some repeat child molesters.
Support for the package picked up steam after a man was charged with kidnapping two girls and raping them in a dungeon behind his home earlier this year.
The related measures could send to death row offenders convicted twice of raping a child younger than 11.
BERLIN
Injured newswoman visited by family
A CBS News correspondent critically wounded by a car bomb in Iraq that killed two colleagues was heavily sedated and breathing through a ventilator Wednesday at a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
Still, Kimberly Dozier reacted to the arrival of her family and boyfriend, according to CBS and a hospital spokesman.
Dozier, an American, was flown to the hospital on Tuesday after sustaining critical injuries on Memorial Day when a car bomb exploded, killing two colleagues, a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator.
