American Scene

CALIFORNIA

Autistic girl wins suit on lunch thefts

VENTURA | A Southern California jury has awarded $5,700 to the family of an autistic girl whose lunch money was stolen for nearly two months by a teacher’s aide.

The Ventura County panel found last week that Oxnard Union High School District was negligent for failing to remove the aide from Megan Spitzer’s special education class in 2007.

Kristen Santoyo was caught on video stealing the $5 a day that Megan’s parents gave her to buy lunch at Camarillo High School. Megan, now 16, was unable to tell anyone but her parents’ suspicions finally prompted an investigation.

Santoyo, an admitted methamphetamine user, pleaded guilty two years ago and got a 180-day jail sentence.

GEORGIA

Cancer costs rise with more patients

ATLANTA | The cost of treating cancer in the United States nearly doubled over the past two decades, but expensive cancer drugs may not be the main reason why, according to a surprising new study.

The study, which found that cancer treatment costs rose from nearly $25 billion in 1987 to more than $48 billion by the end of 2005, confounds coventional wisdom in several respects.

The soaring price of new cancer treatments has received widespread attention, but the researchers, led by Florence Tangka of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conclude that rising costs were mainly driven by the growing number of cancer patients.

The researchers also found that private insurers now cover a greater share of cancer treatment costs — about 50 percent — while patients’ out-of-pocket costs have fallen in the past two decades.

MARYLAND

Firefighter memorial available at eBay

HAGERSTOWN | A 40-foot sculpture in rural Maryland of three New York City firefighters raising the U.S. flag at ground zero is being offered on eBay, but there’s a catch: You can’t take it home.

Bidding on the towering tribute to heroes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will start Wednesday and end May 22, said Pat Huddleston, a Marietta, Ga., attorney who is the court-appointed receiver in an investment fraud case in which the sculpture was one of the assets. The auction will start at $500,000, he said.

Mr. Huddleston said proceeds from the Internet auction will benefit defrauded investors. The buyer will be recognized on a plaque as having donated the statue to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a congressionally chartered nonprofit in Emmitsburg that memorializes fire heroes and offers counseling and scholarships to their families.

“It’s a disgrace that such a symbolic memorial, which represents the best of America, is caught in the middle of a corporate scandal,” Mr. Huddleston said.

Mr. Huddleston turned to eBay after trying for more than two years to sell the bronze-and-steel statue for at least $425,000. The highest offer he got was $10,000. Sculptor Stanley J. Watts of Kearns, Utah, valued the piece in 2006 at $4.8 million.

MICHIGAN

Lexus “Don’t Buy” rating lifted

DETROIT | Consumer Reports magazine has lifted lifting a “Don’t Buy” recommendation for a Lexus sport utility vehicle that failed an emergency handling test.

The magazine said Friday that the 2010 Lexus GX 460 luxury SUV passed the test after a dealership updated software that runs its electronic stability control system. Toyota Motor Corp. recalled about 10,000 of the SUVs in the U.S. in April after the magazine told readers not to buy them. The automaker also stopped selling them.

Consumer Reports said the rear of the GX 460 slid sideways when testers lifted their feet off the gas pedal during a high-speed turn on the magazine’s test track. The magazine had told readers not to buy the SUV because its rear wheels could slide into a curb or off the pavement, raising the risk of rolling over.

NEW YORK

Staten Island ferry gave no warning

NEW YORK | Engine conditions appeared normal and no engine alarms sounded before a Staten Island ferry malfunctioned while approaching its terminal and slammed into a pier, injuring dozens of people, federal investigators said Sunday.

A National Transportation Safety Board team said it determined that the ferry’s two forward engines facing the Staten Island dock stopped upon impact but the two rear engines were still operating. The team has interviewed the chief engineer and some crew members of the Andrew J. Barberi ferry, which was carrying 252 passengers and about 18 crew members when it crashed Saturday, injuring 37 people.

Based on an initial interview Sunday with the chief engineer, who was in the ferry’s engine control room, “there were no engine alarms prior to the accident,” NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said.

“All conditions concerning the engines were normal prior to the accident,” said Mr. Sumwalt, adding there were no previous problems with the propulsion system or electrical systems.

Alcohol tests on the crew members all came back negative, Mr. Sumwalt said at a news conference on Staten Island on Sunday. The drug tests still were being evaluated, he said.

NEVADA

Damages awarded in hepatitis outbreak

LAS VEGAS | A jury has ordered two drug companies to pay a combined $500 million in punitive damages in the first of hundreds of civil cases stemming from a hepatitis C outbreak two years ago.

The Clark County District Court jury on Friday ordered Teva Parenteral Medicines to pay $356 million to Henry Chanin and his wife, Lorraine.

Baxter Healthcare Services was ordered to pay the couple $144 million.

The punitive damages come on top of more than $5 million already awarded to the couple by the same jury. It found the companies responsible for breach of implied warranty and failure to warn.

Health officials have blamed reusing vials of the anesthetic propofol for infecting patients with the incurable liver disease.

NEW JERSEY

Hydraulic problem aborts Tokyo flight

TRENTON | A hydraulic problem forced a Tokyo-bound Continental Airlines plane to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Steve Coleman said Flight 9 landed safely Sunday afternoon about an hour after it left Newark. No injuries were reported.

Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. said 291 people were on board. The Boeing 777 wasn’t damaged, though Continental says the plane will be inspected to determine the cause.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the pilots burned off and dumped fuel to make the airplane lighter before returning to the airport because of “a hydraulic problem.”

NEW MEXICO

Swastika assault brings hate charges

FARMINGTON | Prosecutors in New Mexico say they plan to pursue hate crime charges against three men accused of branding a swastika on a mentally challenged man’s arm with a heated metal clothes hanger.

Jesse Sanford, William Hatch and Paul Beebe — all in their 20s — were charged Friday with kidnapping, aggravated battery and other felonies.

The three white men are accused of forcing the 22-year-old victim from the Navajo Indian reservation into a car April 29, and driving him to an apartment to abuse him. Police say the trio also shaved a swastika into the man’s hair and drew degrading words and pictures on his body with permanent marker.

All three suspects are being held with bond set at $150,000 cash for each. It’s unclear whether they had attorneys.

UTAH

Students pull prank in school paper

SALT LAKE CITY | A prank literally spelled out in the University of Utah student newspaper has prompted administrators to put a hold on nine students’ transcripts.

The seniors wrote goodbye columns for the Daily Utah Chronicle’s April 28 edition. The first letter of each column is in larger type; together, they spell out two words referring to genitalia. One is penis; the other is a derogatory word for female genitalia.

Editor Rachel Hanson said she’s concerned the administration’s response could violate freedom of the press.

A university official said the holds will be taken off each student’s file once they meet with the associate dean of students to discuss the matter.

VERMONT

Uncle Sam giving more pupils dinner

BRATTLEBORO | More low-income school children could soon have access to free nutritious dinners.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering reimbursements for meals served to at-risk youngsters in after-school programs in 13 states and the District of Columbia. This year the program expanded to Vermont.

The USDA says about 49,000 children benefit from the after-school meals each day. Officials say the need is growing.

A USDA report says the number of Americans who live in food-insecure households rose to 49 million people in 2008. That’s up from 36 million in 2007. The report defines food-insecure households as homes that at times don’t have enough nutritious food.

The report says 16.7 million children were among those living in such households in 2008.

• From wire dispatches and staff reports