Nation digest 11/09/02

Foundation for memorial files for bankruptcy

ROANOKE, Va. -- The National D-Day Memorial Foundation filed for bankruptcy to protect the $25 million monument from creditors while it contends with massive debt, foundation officials said Friday.

The memorial, which President Bush helped dedicate June 6, 2001, has trimmed a $7 million debt to about $4 million since acknowledging its financial troubles last year.

It sought to reorganize with bankruptcy protection when creditors continued to push for a regular payment agreement, said Peter Viemeister, chairman of the foundation's board of directors.

Foundation President William A. McIntosh said the memorial will stay open and visitors should not notice a change. More than 400,000 people have visited the memorial.

Railroad engineer spots vandalized train track

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A railroad engineer stopped a sightseeing train after noticing tampered-with tracks that could have sent the train and its 400 passengers off a bridge, officials said.

Nashville & Eastern Railroad engineer Brent Thompson was in the cabin of the fall-foliage excursion train when he spotted extra tie plates wedged against the rails, the company said.

Officials said the plates -- which are normally used to stabilize tracks -- could have plunged the train into the river below.

No one has been arrested in the Oct. 26 incident in rural Smith County, about 45 miles east of Nashville.

SEC chief accountant resigns amid probe

WASHINGTON -- The chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission resigned Friday amid investigations into his role in the selection of former CIA and FBI chief William Webster to head a new accounting oversight board.

The move by Robert Herdman came just three days after SEC chairman Harvey Pitt resigned.

Webster himself said this week he will step aside if he decides he can't be effective heading the board because of the controversy.

Webster has said he told Pitt that he headed the audit committee at a company now facing fraud accusations. Pitt did not tell his fellow SEC commissioners about Webster's watchdog role at U.S. Technologies before they voted two weeks ago to approve Webster in the new job.

Judge: Noelle Bush 'on track' in drug treatment

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A judge told Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter she was "on track" with drug treatment two weeks after being released from jail.

Noelle Bush, 25, made her first appearance before Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead on Friday since serving a 10-day sentence for violating the terms of her treatment program.

"Just hang in there and stay focused and do everything you can to help yourself, not anybody else," Whitehead said.

Bush, the president's niece, is required to appear before Whitehead every two weeks to report on her progress.

She was ordered to attend drug treatment after she was arrested in January for allegedly trying to use a fraudulent prescription to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. The charges could be dropped if she completes the treatment program.

Expert on stupidity arrested in police sting

LANTANA, Fla. -- A man who has written two books on stupidity was arrested for allegedly trying to arrange sex with a 15-year-old girl over the Internet. The girl turned out to be an undercover male detective.

James F. Welles, the 61-year-old author of "The Story of Stupidity" and "Understanding Stupidity," was taken into custody last week after arranging to meet the girl at a restaurant, investigators said.

He was charged with soliciting a minor over the Internet and was released on bail. He did not immediately return a call to his Pompano Beach home Friday.

According to police, Welles was aware of the possibility of a sting, saying in one message that he worried about "the state of Florida looming in the background."

-- From wire reports