Washington, D.C.: Bob Dole has new role on Capitol Hill

At freshman orientation Tuesday on Capitol Hill, one spouse had more experience than the 10 new senators.

Bob Dole joined seven senatorial wives in a separate briefing for freshman spouses.

“Mrs. Lott gave us hints on how to get around,” Dole said after a session with the wife of Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

Dole served as majority leader before retiring from his 28 years in the Senate to run against President Clinton in 1996.

Did he offer advice to his wife, Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.?

“She knows a little bit about the place,” said Dole, whose wife also served in two Cabinets, as secretary of Transportation and Labor.

Dole said he was impressed by the spouses’ gallery overlooking the Senate chamber. “I could open a lobbying office up there.”

Alabama: Legal fees sought in commandments case

Attorneys who won a federal court order for Alabama’s chief justice to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state’s judicial building in Montgomery have asked for $704,000 in legal fees and expenses.

A motion filed in federal court Monday asks U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson to approve the payment for the work of six attorneys during a seven-day trial and for more than a year’s preparation.

Thompson ruled that the 5,300-pound granite monument to the Ten Commandments is unconstitutional and gave Chief Justice Roy Moore 30 days to remove it. Moore, who had the monument moved into the rotunda last year, has said he plans to appeal the ruling.

Moore has said the money to fight the lawsuit would come out of his pocket or from his supporters. But Ayesha Khan, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said Tuesday she expects Moore will ask the state to pay the $704,000.

Minnesota: University settles anti-Semitism case

St. Cloud State University agreed Tuesday to pay nearly $1 million over the next five years to settle allegations of anti-Semitism among administrators and professors.

Three faculty members who sued a year ago – Arie Zmora, Laurinda Stryker and Geoffrey Tabakin – will each receive $314,678, while other faculty members who filed discrimination or retaliation complaints will share $50,000.

The lawsuit alleged department administrators disparaged classes taught by Jewish professors to persuade students not to take the courses. The lawsuit also said Jewish faculty members were paid less, denied promotions and not given full credit for their teaching experience.

Under the proposed settlement, which still requires approval from a federal judge, the university also agreed to create a Jewish Studies and Resources Center and hire a coordinator who will also teach classes. The center will be funded for at least five years at about $125,000 a year.

Houston: Second Enron logo brings fraction of first

A second of three stainless steel “tilted E” logos that used to adorn Enron Corp. buildings sold at auction Tuesday for $10,500.

A Houston chemist bought the logo – complete with neon lights – that once stood outside Enron’s headquarters. Fred Massey says the 5- by 5-foot letter will be a Christmas present for his wife, and he figures it will make a good conversation piece as a coffee table.

At a similar sale in September, the first logo sold for more than four times as much, and the $44,000 model not only doesn’t light up, but it came from a satellite office.

Money raised at the auctions of items from Enron’s offices will go to pay creditors of the energy trader, which filed for bankruptcy a year ago.