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Candidate's taping of husband stirs inquiry

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 28, 2006

NEW YORK - State attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro said Wednesday she is facing federal investigation for plotting to secretly record her husband to find out whether he was having an affair.

Pirro, speaking at a Manhattan news conference, said any investigation into her marriage was "highly improper" but said she had no intention of quitting her campaign, calling the investigation politically motivated and sexist.

"My husband is a great father. I have two beautiful children in school ... a teenage son, who needs his father with him," she said, her voice breaking. "These are personal choices that I have made, and I shouldn't have to keep explaining them."

Pirro, a Republican, said federal prosecutors had no business delving into her union with millionaire lobbyist Albert Pirro, who spent 11 months in prison after being convicted on tax fraud charges in 2000 and fathered an illegitimate daughter after their wedding in 1975.

Pirro, who faces former federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo in the attorney general's race, said she learned about the investigation when she was approached by two FBI agents outside her home. She repeatedly said this was a personal matter involving her husband and charged she was the target of "an unethical, overzealous prosecutor with a partisan agenda."

5-year-old girl dies after dental treatment

CHICAGO - A 5-year-old Chicago girl who never awoke from her sedation during a visit to the dentist died Wednesday at Children's Memorial Hospital, a hospital official said.

Kindergartner Diamond Brownridge had been in a coma and on life support since the weekend dentist visit, said Julie Pesch, a spokeswoman for Children's Memorial Hospital.

Family members have said Diamond received a triple dose of sedatives - an oral agent, an intravenous drug and nitrous oxide gas - during Saturday's exam at Little Angel Dental. The girl was having two cavities filled and caps placed on her lower front teeth.

The girl's mother, Ommettress Travis, said she was asked to leave the room during the half-hour procedure. When she returned, her daughter was not breathing, Travis said.

The girl's dentist, Hicham Riba, was certified to administer anesthesia to patients and his state license was current, said Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Ky. crash survivor has surgery to stabilize spine

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The co-pilot who survived the crash of Comair Flight 5191 underwent surgery on his fractured spine Wednesday and it might be months before he can return home, a hospital official said.

James Polehinke was in serious condition Wednesday night. The co-pilot was the lone survivor of the Aug. 27 crash that killed 49 people.

Andrew Bernard, a surgeon at University of Kentucky Hospital, said Polehinke faces months of rehabilitation.

Polehinke's family said this week that his left leg has been amputated. Other surgeries have repaired his broken right leg and foot.

A police officer pulled Polehinke out of the charred wreckage after the regional jet crashed trying to take off from Lexington's Blue Grass Airport.

Investigators say the captain taxied the jet onto a runway that was too short before Polehinke took the controls and tried to get the jet airborne.

Meanwhile, a crash victim's family sued the airline, claiming negligence. The lawsuit filed by the mother of Cecile Moscoe is among a half-dozen filed in federal court against Comair and its parent company, Delta Air Lines.

[Last modified September 28, 2006, 00:57:29]