Nation digest 08/13/02

Security eased on Golden Gate Bridge

SAN FRANCISCO -- Security measures were eased Monday on the Golden Gate Bridge, after a weekend of "super-heightened" alert allegedly stemming from a terrorist threat to crash a plane into the span.

Security was downgraded to the "heightened" state of alert, the same state of readiness the bridge has been operating under since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation District. National Guardsmen patrolled below the bridge and federal officials watched the skies.

The bridge was placed on a "super-heightened" state of alert Friday through Sunday after information was shared through an interagency coalition Friday, Currie said.

She would not elaborate on the details of the threat or specify the information's source.

ImClone founder pleads innocent to insider trading

NEW YORK -- ImClone Systems Inc. founder and former chief executive Samuel Waksal pleaded innocent to insider trading and other charges Monday.

The plea was entered in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where Waksal had been indicted on charges of inside trading and perjury. New charges of obstruction of justice and bank fraud were filed last week, requiring the new arraignment.

If convicted, he could face 30 years in prison on the bank fraud count alone.

Prosecutors had sought unsuccessfully to arrange a plea deal with Waksal. Such a deal would have required him to reveal, in exchange for leniency, whether he provided insider trading tips to relatives and friends, including decorating maven Martha Stewart.

Judge reverses conviction in death of Florida mom

TAMPA, Fla. -- A judge on Monday overturned the conviction of a man who drove through a stop sign and killed a woman who pushed her baby's carriage out of the way.

The judge said the crash did not reach the level of recklessness required for criminal conviction.

A jury last month convicted Richard Delrio, 19, of vehicular homicide in the death of Michele Calta on Nov. 28, 2000. Calta pushed away the baby carriage carrying 1-month-old Kaitlyn.

Instead of hitting the carriage head-on, the car sideswiped the carriage and knocked Calta, head first, into Delrio's windshield, killing her. Kaitlyn, now 20 months old, suffered only bruises in the accident.

Passenger critical after emergency landing

NEW YORK -- One person was in critical condition Monday after the emergency evacuation of a Spanish jetliner carrying 386 people that had to turn back to Kennedy Airport with an engine fire.

Pilots turned the Madrid-bound Iberia Air Lines plane around Sunday shortly after taking off from Kennedy.

An Iberia spokeswoman said Flight 6250 had reached an altitude of 1,000 feet when a cockpit warning light went on, and the crew discovered one of the four engines was on fire.

Investigators had not determined the cause of the fire on Monday.

Nine people were taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the evacuation, said a hospital spokesman. A 56-year-old man was in critical condition and a 82-year-old woman was in stable condition. The other seven were released.

EEOC says it wins 60 percent of lawsuits

WASHINGTON -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says it won 60 percent of its employment discrimination trials in the past five years.

That compares with a success rate of nearly 27 percent for private plaintiffs in workplace bias suits, according to the EEOC's litigation report being released today. The report covers 1997 through 2001.

Overall, about 91 percent of employment bias lawsuits were successfully resolved through settlement agreements, favorable court orders and decisions.

-- From wire reports