Texas

Professor charged in plague vial case

The government charged a Texas Tech University professor with lying to investigators Thursday, saying he accidentally destroyed 30 vials of plague bacteria then claimed they had vanished from his Lubbock laboratory.

Dr. Thomas C. Butler, 61, was ordered held without bond on the charge of giving a false statement to a federal agent. The charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Defense attorney Floyd Holder said the tenured professor intended to plead innocent.

The incident began Tuesday night when the university notified authorities and local hospitals that the plague had been reported missing to campus police. Butler was arrested Wednesday.

According to the FBI, Butler confessed to accidentally destroying the vials and then lying about their disappearance.

Washington, D.C.

Prescription drug misuse skyrockets

A record 36 million Americans, an increasing number of them young, have misused prescription drugs recreationally, according to a government study released Thursday.

Of the 11 million people estimated to have used prescription drugs nonmedically in 2001, nearly half were younger than 25, according to a national household survey conducted by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Nearly 3 million adolescents age 12 to 17 used prescription drugs for recreational purposes or other nonmedical reasons at least once, according to the survey.

The estimates were based on a poll of 69,000 people by the agency, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

San Francisco

Court orders review of Mexican trucks

A federal appeals court Thursday ordered the U.S. government to study the potential environmental effects of reopening U.S. highways to Mexican trucks for the first time in two decades.

The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after environmental, labor and trucking industry groups challenged a November order by President Bush opening the roads.

The three-judge panel said the Transportation Department acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” by not preparing a full statement on air quality impact as required by federal law.

Since 1982, trucks from Mexico had been allowed only in 20-mile commercial border zones, where Mexican rigs had to transfer their cargo to U.S. trucks that then made deliveries within the United States.

Los Angeles

New law expected to shift priest scandal

Roman Catholic dioceses in California are bracing for the impact of a state law that temporarily lifts the statute of limitations for lawsuits claiming sex abuse. The measure could affect hundreds of alleged victims of priests.

An estimated 400 lawsuits are being prepared under the law, which took effect Jan. 1 and eases the statute of limitations for a year. Some suits already have been filed.

Many church observers think the crush of litigation will shift the focus of the nationwide clerical sex abuse crisis from Boston to California.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers say church documents released during court proceedings or exposed in legal settlements could tarnish the image of Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, along with other bishops and priests in California. The suits also could lead to millions of dollars in settlements.