Tabloid employee with anthrax 'doing great'

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- A supermarket tabloid mailroom worker infected with inhaled anthrax is "doing great" and his stepdaughter said Saturday she's anxious for his release from the hospital.

Ernesto Blanco, 73, was responding to antibiotics at Cedars Medical Center in Miami and doctors say the anthrax toxins in his body were slowly being diminished, Maria Orth said. He has been hospitalized 19 days. The hospital has declined comment on Blanco's case, citing patient confidentiality.

Doctors haven't said when Blanco could be released, Orth said. Family members visit him daily in a private room, where he was moved Thursday.

Military explosives found in bus terminal locker

PHILADELPHIA -- Military-grade plastic explosives found packed into an unclaimed suitcase at a downtown bus terminal lacked a detonation device, allowing police to remove the material and begin searching for the person who left it there, police said.

Investigators said they would examine video surveillance tape from the depot in hopes of finding the person who rented the locker.

The bag was placed in a public locker at 2:43 a.m. Sept. 29, Timoney said. An employee at the terminal removed it Oct. 3 and put in a storage closet, and the bag wasn't opened until Friday, police said.

Doctor: 9-year-old shark attack victim improving

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The doctor who treated 9-year-old shark attack victim Jessie Arbogast said the boy is unlikely to regain the same cognitive abilities he had before the trauma.

Jessie, whose right arm was reattached after being bitten off by a bull shark July 6, is improving, said Dr. Tim Livingston, a pediatric neurologist at Sacred Heart Hospital. The boy's arm and mauled leg are mending, the doctor said, but Jessie has not spoken since the attack.

"My suspicion is that he's going to be left with some cognitive deficits," Livingston said Friday. "Whether it will be mild or profound we don't know, and it will take some time to tell."

Lawyers: NTSB report clears way for damages

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Attorneys for victims of a 1999 American Airlines jetliner crash at Little Rock say a federal report to be released Tuesday should clear the way for a punitive damages case against the airline.

The findings, to be issued at the NTSB's meeting in Washington, cannot be submitted into evidence, but will help lawyers explain incidents leading to the crash, said John Howie, a plaintiff's lawyer.

Flight 1420, with 145 people aboard, crashed while landing during a thunderstorm at the airport. Eleven people were killed, including the pilot; dozens were injured.

The airline has admitted responsibility for the crash, but disputes how much it should pay in damages.

--From wire reports