Louisiana: Threatening letters target homes, business

At least 70 threatening letters, some with white powder enclosed, were delivered Friday to government offices, private businesses and homes in Lafayette.

Preliminary tests found no trace of anthrax or any other chemical agents on some of the letters, state police said. Because of the volume of material, it could take several days for every piece to be tested, said State Police spokesman Willie Williams.

“We anticipate them all coming back negative, but we’re siding with caution and we can’t take anything for granted,” Williams said.

Some letters contained bomb threats. Others used police departments as their return addresses. At least some of the letters were postmarked Lafayette, authorities said.

The Lafayette Parish Courthouse and the federal building were evacuated because of a mailed threat, Williams said. Several businesses voluntarily shut down after receiving letters.

Washington: Memo blasts Interior on Indian payments

The Interior Department is not certain that 300,000 American Indians are getting accurate payments for the use of their land because management problems that existed in 1997 remain uncorrected, according to a senior official in charge of the funds.

“The major problem is that after five years we do not have a system that can fulfill the fiduciary responsibility now or in the future, much less account for the past,” wrote John Miller, the No. 2 official in the Office of Special Trustee, in a scathing draft memo obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Congress created the Special Trustee’s office in 1994 to fix the troubled Indian trust fund, which has been mismanaged since 1887.

Miller wrote that “the bleeding would continue” if Interior continued to use its current system because it contains no mechanism to maintain accurate trust records.

Houston: Enron president resigns

Enron Corp. President Jeffrey McMahon, who complained two years ago about impropriety of financial partnerships that helped fuel the company’s downfall, said Friday he would resign.

McMahon, 41, said he decided his resignation, effective June 1, was necessary to help ensure Enron’s successful reorganization into a mover of electricity and natural gas.

“For that effort to have every chance of success, it became clear that outside leadership is required,” he said.

Stephen Cooper, a restructuring specialist hired in January as Enron’s interim chief executive officer, said McMahon’s position would remain open until an outside successor is found.

McMahon has accepted two promotions since Enron began a dizzying descent into bankruptcy last fall that left thousands jobless.

He succeeded Andrew Fastow, his former boss, as chief financial officer on Oct. 24. McMahon later moved up to president and chief operating officer in January.