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Nation in brief
Compiled from Times wires Ratings of nursing homes are criticizedA new nationwide quality-rating system for nursing homes just unveiled by federal officials was released prematurely and may confuse consumers more than help them, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. In a 40-page report issued on the same day the disputed rating system began appearing in full-page newspaper ads, the investigative arm of Congress said there were serious questions about the validity of the data used to rate the homes. The GAO had urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to delay the release of the survey data until ongoing studies were completed. The advice was declined and the data began appearing Wednesday in 71 newspapers across the country, said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman Rob Sweezy. Sweezy said his agency remained convinced that the data on 17,000 nursing homes will prove useful to consumers. He said that surveys in states where the program was started on a pilot basis showed high consumer satisfaction. Drifter, 32, charged in West Coast serial rapesLONG BEACH, Calif. -- A drifter was charged with 28 counts of rape and numerous other felonies Wednesday in attacks on women in Southern California and Washington over the past six years. Mark Wayne Rathbun, 32, faces a total of 64 felony charges. Authorities say DNA evidence links him to 13 assaults -- two in Seattle and the rest in the Long Beach area. Investigations were continuing in 18 similar attacks. Nearly all the victims had been home alone at the time. N.Y. mayor wants to tax nonresident commutersNEW YORK -- In its quest to cover a huge New York City budget deficit, the Bloomberg administration is proposing to tax suburban commuters. The complex plan, outlined by aides to Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday, would raise $1-billion to help reduce the city's budget gap, which is expected to grow to as much as $6-billion in the next fiscal year. The plan would have to be approved by the state Legislature. By broadening the pool of taxpayers to include about 800,000 nonresidents who work in the city, the proposal would immediately reduce the city's top income tax rate from 3.65 percent to 2.7 percent. After four years, the top rate would be lowered to 2.25 percent. University of California chief to resignSAN FRANCISCO -- University of California president Richard Atkinson announced Wednesday that he will step down next fall after shepherding the 170,000-student system through its first years without affirmative action and prompting changes in the nation's top college entrance exams. Atkinson, 73, told the Board of Regents that he is ready to start letting his grandchildren "see more of their grandfather." The resignation is effective in October 2003.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
