Nation digest 03/12/03

Military helicopter goes down; at least two survive

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- A Black Hawk helicopter carrying 13 people crashed Tuesday in a heavily wooded area of this sprawling Army post, military officials said. At least two people survived.

Maj. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, commander of the 10th Mountain Division, refused to take questions at a news briefing but indicated there were fatalities among those aboard the Black Hawk.

The helicopter, a widely used transport aircraft, crashed just north of Wheeler-Sack Airfield, Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said. He said there was no indication of problems beforehand.

ImClone founder agrees to fine, leadership ban

NEW YORK -- ImClone Systems founder Samuel Waksal has agreed to an $800,000 fine and a permanent ban on serving as head of any public company as part of a settlement over the ImClone insider trading scandal, government regulators said Tuesday.

The agreement is a partial settlement of civil charges filed against Waksal by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC said.

The SEC claims Waksal, 55, was tipped off before the government announced a disappointing decision on ImClone's cancer drug Erbitux, tried to sell 80,000 shares of the company and told his daughter to sell all of her ImClone stock.

Waksal has already pleaded guilty to securities fraud.

Pope accepts resignation of Connecticut bishop

NORWICH, Conn. -- The pope has accepted the resignation of Norwich Bishop Daniel Hart and named an auxiliary bishop from Maine as his successor.

Hart submitted his resignation in August after turning 75, the age at which Roman Catholic bishops are required by canon law to offer to step down. Hart said Tuesday it is not unusual for the pope to take months to decide.

Hart has been criticized for his handling of sexual abuse complaints in Norwich and in Boston, where he previously served as vice chancellor. He is named in several lawsuits stemming from the scandal.

Pope John Paul II selected Monsignor Michael Cote, 53, from Portland, Maine, to replace Hart.

Investigators in R.I. nightclub fire take doors

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state fire marshal's office has taken four doors from the rubble of the Feb. 20 nightclub fire that killed 99 people and injured more than 180.

According to search warrants filed by police, three of the doors are metal and one is wood.

Whether the exits may have contributed to the catastrophe is still under investigation. Fire and town officials also are trying to determine whether the club was above capacity the night of the blaze.

Officials and witnesses said many people were trampled as they tried to push their way to the front door when fire ripped through The Station in West Warwick.

Haitian worker blames murder on voodoo hex

ALBANY, Ga. -- A Haitian immigrant farm worker told a judge he killed one man and wounded two others because he believed they had placed a voodoo hex on him.

Reynold Calixte, 43, pleaded guilty but mentally ill last week to murder and aggravated assault and was sentenced to life in prison.

Calixte shot Stephen Dameus, cut his throat and stabbed him in the chest in a motel in 2001.

Defense attorney Willie Weaver said Calixte thought the only way to save his life was to kill Dameus.

-- From wire reports