February 23, 1996
Web posted at: 12:45 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Recent train accidents have prompted the country's largest freight railroaders to add new safety features to their trains a year ahead of schedule.
All trains operating in mountainous terrain will be equipped with a new braking system -- one that allows braking action from the rear of the train -- by December 15, and all other trains by June 30, 1997.
Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene Molitoris made the announcement Thursday, and said that the new systems would "greatly reduce the likelihood of brake failure that could lead to a runaway train."
Braking problems are suspected in a freight train accident on February 1 in a mountainous area of southern California.
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- A Milwaukee medical lab, which pleaded no contest late last year to charges that it misread the pap smears of two women, has been fined $20,000 for reckless homicide.
Dolores Geary and Karin Smith died of cervical cancer after Chem-Bio Corp. reported their pap smears as normal.
Judge David Hansher ordered Chem-Bio to pay "$10,000 per life" -- the maximum allowed by law -- and urged lawmakers to increase the top penalty. Hansher gave Chem-Bio 60 days to decide whether to pay the $20,000 to the court or to a cancer organization in the names of the two women.
In court Thursday, Chem-Bio attorney Martin Kohler apologized to the families of the two women.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The semi-annual report of President Clinton's presidential legal expense trust -- established to help with mounting bills from the Paula Jones and Whitewater investigations -- shows that expenses still outdistance income.
More than 7,000 contributors donated just over $990,000 in the last six months of 1995, but the Clintons still owed over $1.1 million to attorneys.
The bills would be even higher, trustees for the fund said, if the Clintons' liability insurance were not paying costs of the president's defense against Jones' charges of sexual harassment.
"Presumably if there are additional Paula Jones legal expense, they would be covered by the policies," said Bernard Aidinoff, attorney for the defense fund.
Clinton has said that the Whitewater and Jones legal battles have left him technically broke.
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Prosecutor David Conn is expected to conclude his closing argument Friday in California's case against the Menendez brothers, accused of killing their parents in 1989.
On Thursday, Conn called the testimony of Erik Menendez "an absolute lie, saying that he played "dumb when it suits his purpose."
Attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez argued that the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez because they feared for their lives after years of abuse. Their first trial on murder charges -- with separate juries -- ended in mistrials in January 1994.
Friday's session will be Conn's fourth day presenting the closing argument; defense attorney Leslie Abramson is expected to begin her closing argument on Monday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration will hire 600 air traffic controllers over the next couple of years, and some of those hires will come from the ranks of controllers fired by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Reagan ordered the firing of 11,000 members of the Air Traffic Controllers Organization when the went on strike, and prohibited the FAA from rehiring them. But President Clinton lifted that ban in 1993.
The FAA has been given approval to hire 100 new controllers, and Clinton will request funding from Congress for an additional 500 for 1997.
Last year, the FAA hired about 40 controllers fired in 1981.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two New York City police officers have been dismissed for engaging in rowdy behavior at a Washington hotel last year while attending a police memorial.
Officers Wayne Hagmaier and James Morrow were among 942 New York police officers attending the annual Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Day last May.
Hagmaier was charged with public nudity and wrongfully discharging a fire extinguisher and failure to notify the police department of misconduct by another officer. Morrow was cited for public nudity, overindulgence of alcohol and being unfit for duty.
The ceremonies, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington May 14-15, were marred by lewd behavior.
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