Washington: White powder found at two post offices

A Postal Service center in Tacoma was evacuated Tuesday after a preliminary test indicated white powder found among some envelopes might be toxic. Later tests found no signs of a harmful biological substance.

State and fire department officials said tests by the Army National Guard and state health officials found no signs of any biotoxin. Samples will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for review.

The center was expected to reopen Tuesday night.

Elsewhere, six Postal Service workers were taken to a hospital in Fort Myers, Fla., after they were exposed to an unknown white powder when they opened a mail container unloaded from a FedEx plane at Southwest Florida International Airport. Tests on the substance found there also were negative.

New York: Reader’s Digest ends sweepstakes

After giving away millions in cash prizes for 41 years, the Reader’s Digest sweepstakes is being dropped as a circulation tool, the company said Tuesday.

At the same time, Reader’s Digest is trimming its guaranteed U.S. circulation by 1 million copies to 10 million copies and promising to keep it at that level for five years.

The company is hoping such a loyal readership will be more attractive to advertisers, spokesman William Adler said.

Reader’s Digest started using sweepstakes as a magazine promotion in 1962 and made extensive use of them through the end of the century to sell the magazine and other products. The company was one of the four largest users of sweepstakes in the country.

In all, the Chappaqua-based Reader’s Digest gave away $200 million in cash in the United States and millions more overseas, Adler said.

San Francisco: ACLU seeks data on secret ‘no-fly’ list

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the FBI and other government agencies Tuesday on behalf of two peace activists detained at an airport because their names popped up on a secret “no-fly” list.

The women were among 339 travelers briefly detained and questioned at San Francisco International Airport during the past two years after their names were found in the database, the ACLU said, citing government documents. Those travelers ultimately were allowed to continue on their journeys.

The database was created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as a way to prevent potential terrorists from boarding planes. The Transportation Security Administration gets names from law enforcement officials and gives the lists to airlines to screen passengers.

The ACLU is asking a federal judge to demand that the TSA, FBI or the Justice Department disclose who is on the list, how they got on it and how they can get off it.