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'Hero of Harlem' rewarded for daring rescue

By TIMESWIRES
Published January 5, 2007

A man's rescue of a teen who fell on the subway tracks earned him the title the "hero of Harlem" on Thursday, plus $10,000 from Donald Trump and a trip to Disney World. Mayor Michael Bloomberg bestowed the title on Wesley Autrey as he presented him with the Bronze Medallion, the city's highest award for civic achievement, calling the 50-year-old construction worker "a great man - a man who makes us all proud to be New Yorkers." On Tuesday, Autrey saw Cameron Hollopeter, a 19-year-old film student, suffer a seizure and fall into the path of a train. Autrey jumped to the tracks and rolled with the man into a drainage trough between the rails. Neither man was injured. After Thursday's City Hall ceremony, a limousine took Autrey - who also received a year's worth of free subway rides - to a meeting with Trump, who presented him with $10,000.

Nuclear official forced to resign

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Thursday dismissed the chief of the country's nuclear weapons program because of security breakdowns at the Los Alamos, N.M., laboratory and other facilities. Linton Brooks said he would leave in two weeks to three weeks as head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, a post he held since July 2002. Brooks was reprimanded in June for failing to report to Bodman a security breach of computers at an agency facility in Albuquerque, N.M., that resulted in the theft of files containing Social Security numbers and other personal data for 1,500 workers. The theft did not become generally known, nor was Bodman made aware of it, for eight months.

Two dead after powerful storms

Two people were dead and three children were missing after reports of tornadoes touching down during a strong cluster of storms in southern Louisiana, authorities said Thursday. The twisters, which were reported in eastern Iberia Parish just before 4 p.m., tore off roofs and ripped seven mobile homes from their foundation, Sheriff Sid Hebert said. The victims' names were not released. At least 15 people were taken to area hospitals. The tornado reports came in as a severe band of storms hit the parish. Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency in four parishes.

Elsewhere

Colorado: A spent Russian booster rocket re-entered the atmosphere Thursday over Colorado and Wyoming, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. No damage was reported.

Spokane, Wash: The Spokane Catholic Diocese has agreed to pay at least $48-million to people molested by priests as a part of a deal to emerge from bankruptcy, a federal mediator said Thursday. The number of victims who would be covered by the settlement was not clear.

[Last modified January 5, 2007, 00:37:13]