Philadelphia: Libraries try to block filters on Internet porn

A battle over free speech and online pornography returns to the nation’s birthplace today as librarians try to convince a federal court that requirements to block adult materials amount to censorship.

Library officials and free-speech advocates want the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to invalidate the federal requirements, saying the filtering technology used to block porn is imperfect and can also inadvertently block important information on health, sexuality and social issues.

The lead plaintiffs in the case are the American Library Assn. and the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Ore., which wants to offer patrons a choice between filtered and unfiltered Internet access.

New York City: Terrorism ruled out in vehicle explosion

A bomb exploded Sunday in a van in one of Brooklyn’s busiest Jewish neighborhoods, severing a man’s leg, but police ruled out terrorism.

The “fairly sophisticated” bomb likely was planted in the van rented by Yisroel Halberstam because of a personal dispute, said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. He would not give details, but said a car Halberstam rented about two weeks ago was set on fire.

The bomb exploded on the driver’s side of the van when Halberstam opened the door, Kelly said.

Halberstam, 46, who owns a home electronics store, was in critical condition, said Bellevue Hospital spokesman Peter Schectman.

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents the Borough Park district, said residents had jumped to the conclusion that the explosion was terrorism-related.

Chicago: Study: Phone therapy helps heart patients

Intervention as simple as phone calls from a nurse can help keep heart-failure patients out of the hospital and significantly lower their medical costs, a study found.

The study involved 358 patients who were followed for six months after being sent home from two hospitals in the San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare network.

Patients received either usual follow-up care or printed educational material and an average of 17 phone calls from a nurse checking on their health and offering advice. Calls began within five days of hospital discharge.

Hospital readmission rates for heart failure were 36 percent lower among patients who received the calls. Among phone-call patients who were re-hospitalized for heart failure, the average number of days spent hospitalized was 46 percent lower than for usual-care patients. Hospital costs for patients readmitted for heart failure were 45 percent lower for the phone-call group.

The results of the study appear in today’s Archives of Internal Medicine.

New York: Bus collision injures 12 high school students

Two buses collided on an interstate highway just north of New York City, injuring 12 members of a high school rowing team, police said.

The accident happened Saturday night when a coach driving one of the buses fell asleep at the wheel and hit another bus just in front of him, State Trooper Robert Young said.

The buses, carrying students from The Gunnery, a private high school in Washington, Conn., spun and overturned at an entrance ramp to Interstate 684 at Harrison, Young said.

The most seriously hurt was a 19-year-old boy who suffered broken bones and bruised lungs. Eleven other students received mostly minor injuries. Neither driver was hurt.

Young said each 15-person bus was carrying eight students and an adult driver. The team was returning from the Roanoke, Va., area, where it had been practicing during the school’s spring break, he said.