Nation digest 03/15/03

Inflation up; confidence and manufacturing down

WASHINGTON -- Severe winter weather and jitters about war took a further toll on the U.S. economy, sending wholesale energy prices soaring and triggering declines in both manufacturing output and consumer confidence.

The government reported Friday that wholesale prices jumped by 1 percent in February, led by a 7.4 percent surge in energy costs. Output at the nation's manufacturing plants fell for the second month in three, although overall output at factories, mines and utilities managed a meager 0.1 percent gain.

Consumer confidence dipped in March to 75.0 from a February reading of 79.9, according to a preliminary report from the University of Michigan.

Cold War spy 'Falcon' released from prison

SAN FRANCISCO -- Christopher Boyce, whose Cold War spying was immortalized on film in "The Falcon and the Snowman," was released Friday after about 25 years in prison.

Boyce will be on parole until 2046, his original release date.

Boyce was 22 when his father, a former FBI agent, helped him land a summer job as a clerk at TRW Inc., where he had access to classified communications with CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.

He smuggled some of the documents home and sold them to the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, taking in about $77,000 before he and childhood friend Andrew Daulton Lee, his courier, were caught. Both were arrested, tried and convicted of espionage in 1977. Lee was paroled in 1998.

Flight attendant accused of spiking child's juice

DETROIT -- Authorities charged a former Northwest Airlines flight attendant with assault for allegedly putting a prescription depressant in 19-month-old girl's apple juice to stop her crying during an international flight.

Daniel Reed Cunningham, 33, also was charged Thursday with distributing a controlled substance on the Aug. 25 flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

He is expected to appear for his arraignment next week.

The girl suffered no serious injury.

Casino worker sentenced for stuffing cash in pants

DENVER -- A casino worker named Crapps, too fat to fit into his company-issued pocketless uniform, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the slot machines by stuffing the bills into his sweatpants.

Leonard Crapps, who is 5-foot-6 and 280 pounds, pleaded guilty last month to stealing the cash from the Gilpin Hotel Casino in Blackhawk.

He was put on 12 years of probation and ordered to repay nearly $200,000.

His co-workers were required to wear pocketless jumpsuits. Crapps was granted an exemption.

Robert Blake released to await murder trial

LOS ANGELES -- Actor Robert Blake posted $1.5 million bail and was released from jail Friday to await trial on charges of murdering his wife.

Blake, 69, was arrested in April and kept in custody without bail. Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash unexpectedly set bail Thursday at the end of a hearing in which the actor was ordered to stand trial for the killing of Bonny Lee Bakley.

The judge said Blake would have to stay at one residence, have electronic monitoring and surrender his passport.

A trial date remains undetermined.

-- From wire reports