News Briefs
April 11, 1996
Web posted at: 11:30 p.m. EDT
New Jersey to sue tobacco industry for illness costs.
TRENTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- The state of New Jersey has decided to become the latest state to sue the tobacco industry in an effort to recover taxpayer money spent to treat people with tobacco-related illnesses.
New Jersey's Gov. Christine Whitman and Attorney General Deborah Poritz announced Thursday they were hiring "special counsel" to handle the litigation on a contingency fee basis.
Five other states recently agreed to settle similar lawsuits with Liggett, the nation's fifth-largest cigarette maker.
- Cigarette maker settles with 5 states - March 15
Pedophile granted wish: castration
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) -- A recently paroled pedophile who warned of his uncontrollable urge to molest children and threatened to kill his next victims signed an agreement Wednesday to be castrated.
Larry Don McQuay, 32, agreed to the procedure backed by Justice for All, a criminal justice reform organization. The group agreed to pay for the castration and follow-up psychotherapy. The surgery may be done in a few weeks.
McQuay was transferred earlier in the week from a state prison to a halfway house. While in prison, McQuay requested to be castrated; prison officials denied his request.
Justice for All said they decided to help McQuay after he sent them a letter describing "what he feared he would do to children when he was released."
"Surgical castration is a good preventive measure," said the group's Sterling Donahue. "It reduces recidivism to 5.1 percent. However, the pituitary gland does continue to create testosterone and he will have to be followed with chemical castration."
Tsongas faces second transplant
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Former Sen. Paul Tsongas, D-Massachusetts, will receive a bone marrow transplant from his twin sister, Thaleia Schlesinger, to help fight a bone marrow disorder that makes him susceptible to infection.
Tsongas, 55, entered Dana Farber Cancer Institute Thursday for a preliminary work-up. He has been fighting non-Hodgkins lymphoma for 12.5 years.
His current disorder, myelodysplasia, stems from earlier treatment. Doctors said it is common in people who have recovered from lymphoma, or lymph cancer. Doctors say if left untreated, the disorder could lead to leukemia.
Tsongas was a dark horse when he won a Senate seat in 1978. He sought the presidency in 1992. Citing health problems, Tsongas didn't run for the Senate again in 1984.
'Subway vigilante' civil trial begins
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Opening statements in the $50 million civil lawsuit against Bernhard Goetz, a white gunman who shot four black teen-agers 11 years ago, begin Thursday.
Ronald Kuby, the attorney representing victim Darrell Cabey, who is paralyzed and brain-damaged from the incident, says he will portray Goetz as a racist who overreacted.
Kuby said he will play videotaped statements Goetz made when he surrendered to New Hampshire police nine days after the shootings.
Goetz says he fired in self-defense when approached by four menacing muggers who tried to shake him down for $5 on a New York subway in 1984. Goetz was acquitted of attempted murder in 1987, but spent 8.5 months in jail on a weapons conviction.
Hero cat to reunite with her kittens
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Scarlett, the cat who rescued her five kittens from an abandoned burning building in Brooklyn, continued her recovery and is being reunited with her litter Thursday.
Her wounds are healing, said Marilyn Detoro of the North Shore Animal Medical Center, where the cat is being treated. The feline is eating well and her eyesight is improving.
Doctors said the cat's scarring will not affect her vision, but they may perform a procedure in several weeks to loosen her eyelids. The kittens, who were slightly singed, are in a "foster home."
Scarlett and her kittens will be reunited at the medical center Thursday.
"We don't know what the reaction between the mother and the kittens will be", Detoro said. "We hope it will be heartwarming."
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