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Nation in brief

Wal-Mart settles over child labor charges

By wire services
Published February 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will pay $135,540 to settle federal charges that it broke child labor laws, the Labor Department said Saturday.

The 24 violations, which occurred at stores in Arkansas, Connecticut and New Hampshire, had to do with teenage workers who used hazardous equipment such as a chain saw, paper balers and forklifts.

Wal-Mart denied the allegations but agreed to pay the penalty. A spokeswoman for the Bentonville, Ark., company said Wal-Mart was preparing a statement Saturday.

Child labor laws prohibit anyone younger than 18 from operating hazardous equipment.

The company also agreed to comply with any provisions it violated - in this case, child labor laws - in the future, said Victoria Lipnic, assistant secretary for the department's Employment Standards Administration.

The Navy relieved a submarine captain of his command Saturday for failing to follow critical navigational procedures before the vessel crashed into an undersea mountain in the South Pacific last month.

The officer, Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, also received a letter of reprimand after a hearing in Yokosuka, Japan. One sailor was killed, and the Navy now says 98 others were injured Jan. 8 when the nuclear attack submarine San Francisco hit the mountain at high speed.

The submarine was 500 feet below the surface at the time, and Navy officials have said that the mountain was not on its charts. But in announcing the disciplinary action Saturday, the Navy said investigators also had found that "several critical navigational and voyage planning procedures were not being implemented" aboard the San Francisco.

HONOLULU - Camouflaged among the Hawaii's white sand beaches lies a hidden peril - seemingly indestructible cigarette butts cast away by smokers.

State lawmakers want that to stop. Under a bill before the Legislature, smoking would be banned on public beaches and parks, and cigarette butts would have to be tossed only into designated trash bins. Violators could be fined $250.

Several municipalities, including San Francisco and Honolulu, already have some sort of ban.

But Hawaii would be the first state to have such a law on its books. Other states, including Delaware and California, recently failed to pass similar legislation.

SAN FRANCISCO - Marking the anniversary of his decision to sanction same-sex marriages, Mayor Gavin Newsom on Saturday urged gay couples to back politicians who support gay marriage, saying it is time "to hold our elected officials accountable."

"It is no longer acceptable for politicians to come to you every election cycle and ask for money and then say, "It's too much, too soon,"' Newsom told about 3,000 gay and lesbian supporters during a ceremony to remember the anniversary of last year's "Winter of Love," the four-week period when his administration granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The licenses later were voided by the California Supreme Court, which ruled that Newsom had overstepped his authority. A ruling is expected any day on a pair of lawsuits filed by the city and same-sex couples that seek to overturn California's marriage laws.

ARIZONA STORM: A strong storm lashed parts of Arizona with heavy rain Saturday, forcing authorities to close portions of four highways because of rock slides and flooding, and driving dozens of people from threatened homes.

Some 40 residents of two mobile home parks in Punkin Center, about 80 miles northeast of Phoenix, were evacuated because of rising water from Tonto Creek.

[Last modified February 13, 2005, 01:09:06]