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Sexual assault rate found higher at juvenile prisons

By Times wire
Published August 1, 2005

WASHINGTON - Sexual assaults and other illicit incidents of sexual contact are reported at juvenile prisons at 10 times the rate than at adult lockups, a government study finds.

The research found 10 reported incidents for every 2,000 youths at state-run juvenile facilities. At state-run adult prisons, it was one reported incident for every 2,000 inmates, according to the study by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics released Sunday.

The numbers are based on substantiated reports to corrections officials in 2004.

TRIMONT, Minn. - The blood-alcohol level at which a Minnesota driver is considered intoxicated drops to 0.08 percent today, giving the United States a uniform measurement for drunken driving.

The question now for authorities in the last state to abandon the old standard of 0.10 percent is: Will the lower limit improve public safety?

Prosecutor Terry Viesselman expects more files to land on his desk starting this week because repeat offenders will rack up drunken driving convictions faster.

WASHINGTON - Supporters of expanding federally funded stem cell research expressed optimism Sunday that fresh support from the Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Bill Frist, would help them build a veto-proof majority in Congress.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a key proponent of the research, said that at least 62 senators now supported the bill he is sponsoring to expand federal funding and he hoped to reach 67 - the number needed to override a presidential veto.

"We're on our way," Specter said on CBS's Face the Nation . He acknowledged, however, that supporters were still a long way from getting the same level of support in the House of Representatives.

"I think now there are many senators ... it will have an impact on (members of) the House who can say, "Well, there's a little political cover,"' Specter said.

VALHALLA, N.Y. - One year after a neurosurgeon separated them by cutting through a section of brain, Carl Aguirre says "Wow!" as he whizzes a toy truck off the tray of his high chair and his brother Clarence holds his nose to let his mother know his diaper is dirty.

After "starting their life over," the formerly conjoined 3-year-old Filipino boys have been amazingly free of significant complications, doctors say. Clarence is about to take his first steps and therapists say Carl will soon follow.

"When they emerged from the OR as separate boys, it was almost as if that was their second birth," said Dr. Robert Marion, the boys' pediatrician. "Their motor skills are what you'd expect of a 1-year-old. They're starting to walk. They're playing appropriately in the way that a 1-year-old would. Their speech, also, is like that of a 1-year-old."

NEW YORK - Atkins Nutritionals Inc., the company that promoted low-carb eating into a national diet craze, filed for bankruptcy court protection Sunday, a company spokesman said.

Atkins has been hurt by waning popularity of its namesake diet, which focuses on eliminating carbohydrates such as bread and pasta as a way to shed weight. The diet quickly became one of the most popular in U.S. history, but also drew criticism from many experts for its focus on fatty foods and low fruit and vegetable consumption.

A hearing on the prearranged Chapter 11 filing was scheduled for today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, spokesman Richard Rothstein said.

[Last modified August 1, 2005, 00:59:12]