ORLANDO -- Florida has launched an investigation into allegations that the house arrest program run by the Florida Department of Corrections is poorly managed and dangerous.

That action follows an Orlando Sentinel report two weeks ago saying at least 234 people have been killed and 538 sexually abused in the past two decades by criminals serving house arrest sentences.

Another 5,000 offenders have disappeared while on the program and have never been recaptured, the newspaper found.

"The first order of business is to keep this from happening again and to correct the situation that we now have," said Sen. Howard Futch, R-Indialantic, chairman of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.

Department officials, he said, "have a lot of questions to answer."

The probe is being conducted by the Florida Corrections Commission, a nine-member panel that provides corrections oversight for the governor and Legislature.

Restoring St. Johns River is topic of conference

JACKSONVILLE -- The St. Johns River's pollution problems are enormous.

Fish die beneath mats of algae and under mud washed down from construction sites. Chemicals from industries and sewage kill others. The hormones of some fish and alligators are so badly skewed they can't reproduce. Some turtles have been born sexless.

These concerns have brought 1,000 people to Jacksonville for two days to help develop an Everglades-style rescue plan that they hope will restore the river to its once-pristine state.

Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney, the conference's host, said Monday he wants the St. Johns cleaned up, but hopes it doesn't take decades.

"It took 55 years to develop a plan to save the Everglades and in that half century about half the Everglades was lost," he said.

The St. Johns begins in the Central Florida marshes of Indian River County and flows northward 310 miles before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Mayport, north of Jacksonville.

Delaney hopes the rescue plan will include setting riverfront land aside to help preserve the river's natural beauty.

Settlement ends couple's fight with Benlate maker

GAINESVILLE -- An Alachua County couple and the DuPont Co. have settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit involving the fungicide Benlate, but the terms are confidential.

The settlement was announced after a jury heard opening statements Friday, but before anyone testified.

Micanopy residents Jeffrey and Susan Wagner are "very pleased to have this thing resolved," said their lawyer, David King of Orlando. Both he and DuPont spokesman Clif Webb refused to discuss the terms.

The Wagners, owners of a plant nursery, sued over Benlate damage to their plants. In 1996 they settled with the company for about $3-million and signed a contract releasing it from additional claims. But later they reopened the matter, saying they were fraudulently persuaded to settle by their then-attorneys whom DuPont had secretly offered $6.4-million.

DuPont ordered a halt to Benlate production last April after 32 years. It has paid more than $1-billion in settlements and legal fees on Benlate damage claims.

Rilya Wilson's caregiver on trial in fraud case

MIAMI -- Jury selection began Monday in the vehicle fraud trial of one of Rilya Wilson's former caregivers.

Circuit Judge Daryl Trawick indicated he thought it would take days to pick a jury to hear the case against Geralyn Graham, but testimony will fill only a day or two.

No criminal charges have been filed in the disappearance of Rilya, but a host of fraud charges have been filed against Graham, roommate Pamela Graham and two of Geralyn's adult children.

In this case, Geralyn Graham is accused of posing as a longtime Tennessee friend to buy a sport-utility vehicle last year. Geralyn Graham and Pamela Graham face a separate trial on charges of illegally taking state aid before and after Rilya went missing.

The state Department of Children and Families last year realized Rilya had been missing from her Miami home for 15 months. She was 5 years old when she disappeared. She would be 6 now.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk