Washington: SEC chairman under fire for meeting with Xerox

The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission met privately with the Xerox Corp. chairman in December while the SEC was investigating the office-equipment maker for alleged accounting fraud, a company spokeswoman said Saturday.

Disclosure of SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt’s meeting with the Xerox chief follows public criticism of his April meeting with the head of accounting firm KPMG whose audits of Xerox are being investigated by the SEC and which Pitt represented as a private securities lawyer.

It is generally considered improper for an SEC chairman the government’s top securities regulator to discuss a pending investigation with an executive of the company involved.

Florida: Study: Stress disorder felt by 425,000 NYC residents

New Yorkers took an emotional battering after the terrorist attacks, says a study that suggests more than 400,000 city residents have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder.

Researchers based in St. Pete Beach had previously released results taken in October and November, covering Manhattan below 110th Street. On Saturday, they announced the findings from the second wave of surveys, which included residents throughout the city during January and February.

The number of residents who have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder since Sept. 11 related to the attacks was put at 7 percent, or 425,000.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms include nightmares, anxiety, irritability or outbursts of anger.

Washington: Female Everest climbers forced to stop shy of goal

The five Americans who hoped to become the first all-woman team to climb Mount Everest were forced to turn back just short of the summit.

Health problems and weather forced the women Alison Levine, Kim Clark, Lynn Prebble and Jody Thompson to turn around early Saturday, just 285 feet from the summit. A day earlier, Midge Cross stopped because of health problems.

Expedition leader Eric Simonson of International Mountain Guides had reported that everything was fine, said his wife, Erin, business manager for the trek.

“Everything was going beautifully,” she told The News Tribune of Tacoma. “Twenty minutes later, I’m getting this distress call.”

Nebraska: Priest’s porn use report leads to resignation request

A teacher at a Catholic school says the archbishop of Omaha asked her to resign because she told police that a priest had used a church computer to look at child pornography on the Internet.

Archbishop Elden Curtiss acknowledges that he talked with Norfolk Sacred Heart kindergarten teacher Linda Hammond but did not say if he asked her to resign. She did not resign.

Madison County Atty. Joe Smith said he was considering charges against Curtiss.