Washington – Democratic leaders said Wednesday they will let a $50 million grant program for sexual-abstinence education expire June 30.
The program, Title V, has not proved effective, said Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which controls the funding.
He cited a recent report to Congress that showed students in four abstinence-until-marriage programs were just as likely to have sex as those who were not in the abstinence programs.
Dingell credited Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., for her counsel on the need to do away with the grant program. Both said they would prefer the money be used for comprehensive sex ed programs that would include abstinence as part of the curriculum.
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WASHINGTON
Review asked in VA’s handout of bonuses
The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that it has asked an oversight agency to review the way the VA handed out $3.8 million in bonuses to senior officials last year.
The request was made to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management after watchdogs questioned the propriety of the awards. Some went to officials involved in crafting a budget that was $1.3 billion short and jeopardized veterans’ health care.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that 21 of 32 officials who were members of VA performance review boards overseeing bonuses received more than half a million dollars in payments themselves.
OMAHA
Bo Diddley in ICU after suffering stroke
Bo Diddley is in intensive care after suffering a stroke in Iowa, a publicist said Wednesday.
The 78-year-old singer-songwriter-guitarist was listed in guarded condition at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, said Susan Clary, a publicist for the musician.
Diddley was hospitalized Sunday after a concert in Council Bluffs in which he acted disoriented, she said. Tests indicated the stroke impaired his speech and speech recognition, she said.
LOS ANGELES
Hilton to be kept apart from other inmates
Paris Hilton will spend at least 23 days behind bars for violating the terms of her probation but will be separated from the general inmate population, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said Wednesday.
The final decision is significantly less than the 45-day sentence she got this month but more than other celebrities have served for similar misdeeds.
Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said Hilton will live in the “special-needs housing unit” reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates. The unit has 12 two-person cells.
Hilton pleaded no contest to driving under the influence after she was pulled over in Hollywood on Sept. 7 for speeding and making an illegal left turn.
Hilton had her license suspended but was pulled over three times during the period of her suspension. Hilton has said she will appeal the sentence.
LONDON
Brown’s path cleared to be prime minister
Gordon Brown’s only challenger for the leadership of the Labor Party pulled out of the race Wednesday, making the Treasury chief a lock to succeed Tony Blair as prime minister.
Member of Parliament John McDonnell, a former trade union official, said he did not have enough support to qualify for the contest.
Brown’s campaign manager, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, said his team was delighted that the party was uniting behind Brown. Officials for Brown, 56, said he would make a statement today after a formal announcement by the party.
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal
Abduction suspect’s home searched again
Forensics experts searched the home Wednesday of a suspect in the disappearance of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann.
Madeleine vanished May 3 after her parents left her and her brother and sister, both age 2, alone in their room while they went to a tapas bar inside the hotel complex. They were there on vacation.
The suspect, 33-year-old Briton Robert Murat, was questioned Monday after British journalists said he was poking around the crime scene and implying he was part of the investigation.
Police released him Tuesday for lack of evidence but said he continues to be a suspect. Police spent Wednesday – their third day – at Murat’s home, a villa just down the street from the hotel. They were also examining computers and cellphones taken from the villa, officials said.
