National briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 4, 2000

Tax agency awards benefit to lesbian

The state Board of Equalization has issued a written opinion backing up its landmark vote to grant head-of-household tax status to a lesbian who is supporting her partner and non-biological child.

The opinion follows the board's 3-2 vote on July 26 in Sacramento, making it the first tax agency in the nation to grant gay and lesbian parents the same tax benefits awarded other unmarried parents.

Although the board still must vote on the issue, the written opinion ends an almost three-year struggle by Helmi Hisserich of Los Angeles to win the same state tax break enjoyed by other unmarried taxpayers who support dependent family members.

Lorillard Tobacco negotiating settlement

Lorillard Tobacco Co., the nation's fourth-largest cigarettemak-er, is negotiating a deal in which the company would pay about $7.5-billion over 30 years to settle punitive-damage claims filed by thousands of smokers around the United States, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times reported.

If the agreement -- which faces a bevy of potential obstacles -- is consummated, it could increase the momentum behind efforts to craft a global settlement of hundreds of individual claims and class-action suits around the country.

The proposed settlement could mark a significant break in the ranks of the major tobacco companies, who until now have opposed efforts by U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein to negotiate a nationwide settlement of punitive-damage claims.

The nation's three largest cigarettemakers -- Philip Morris Cos., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. -- all said they would oppose any effort to certify any case as a class action. Thus far, about two dozen federal and state courts in other lawsuits have ruled that tobacco suits can't be treated as class actions.

Illegal immigrants die in SUV crash in California

Six suspected illegal immigrants were killed and eight others injured when the sport utility vehicle in which they were riding overturned on Interstate 8 in San Diego, officials said Friday.

The vehicle, a 1983 Chevrolet Suburban, tumbled twice on Thursday after entering from Mexico in the desert 30 miles east of Calexico, authorities said. Most of the passengers were thrown from the vehicle.

It went out of control when the tread separated from a rear tire, according to a California Highway Patrol report. A patrol spokesman said the tire was not made by Firestone, which has recalled millions of SUV tires susceptible to a similar problem.

Union leaders arrested at hospital rally

Five union leaders, including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, were arrested Friday after linking arms and briefly blocking traffic at a hospital rally in support of more than 1,200 striking nurses.

The union leaders were charged with impeding traffic after blocking vehicles for 15 minutes on one lane of a two-way street outside Washington Hospital Center, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. They paid a $50 fine and were released.

Draft: New York City water tunnel leaking

NEW YORK -- A respected environmental group charged Friday that an 83-mile-long tunnel that supplies New York City with up to four-fifths of its drinking water is leaking upward of 1-billion gallons a month and could collapse, hurtling the city into a drought.

In a draft of a report on the underground Delaware Aqueduct, the group, Riverkeeper, headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said the city's Department of Environmental Protection detected signs of the leak as far back as 1990 but has been slow to respond.

Recall

Ford Motor Co., the world's second-largest automaker, said it is recalling 709,245 pickup trucks in the U.S. because of a defect that could cause a fuel line leak.

The recall includes Ford F-150 and F-250 pickup trucks built between June 20, 1995, and Aug. 11, 1997, for the 1997 model year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week announced the recall of the F-150s.

The bracket that attaches the front fuel line to the transmission may have been bent during vehicle assembly, and the rear steel tubes of the front fuel-line assembly could also have been bent, causing parts to rub against the fuel line, Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said. He said 191 warranty claims could be related, though no accidents, injuries or fires were reported.

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