Washington, D.C.

Administration won’t tap into oil reserves

The Bush administration voiced concern Wednesday about gasoline prices reaching an all-time high, but ruled out tapping into the government’s oil reserves to temporarily ease the problem.

“We need to make sure we have the resources in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to act in the event of an emergency, which would be a severe disruption of energy supplies,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

He said that there would be no halt in the program to keep pumping oil into the reserves, located in Texas and Louisiana, just because oil prices are currently so high.

The retail price of gasoline hit a record high Tuesday — nearly $1.74 per gallon nationwide — reflecting strong demand, tight supplies and the high cost of oil, the AAA reported.

Connecticut

Former financier’s aide sentenced to prison

Former financier Martin Frankel’s office manager was sentenced Wednesday in New Haven to 6 1/2 years in prison for her role in the theft of $200 million from insurance companies.

Mona Kim also was ordered to pay $50 million in restitution at the rate of $200 per month.

Frankel bought insurance companies in five Southern states, then stole their assets to finance a lavish lifestyle that included a two-mansion compound in Greenwich and a gaggle of female sex partners.

Kim, who met Frankel through an ad seeking a sadomasochistic sex partner, fled with him to Europe in 1999 as insurance regulators began to uncover the fraud. They left stacks of documents smoldering in the fireplace and filing cabinets of Frankel’s mansion, along with a “to do” list that included the notation “launder money.”

Boston

Scientists study effects of preemie treatment

A common steroid treatment for premature babies with lung problems can damage their brains and slow their growth, the first long-term study of the practice found.

The bodies of many premature babies do not yet make a chemical that keeps the lungs from collapsing when the infants exhale. Respirators keep them breathing but can stretch the fragile lungs. This causes inflammation and other damage, contributing to chronic lung disease.

To prevent chronic lung disease, doctors often give these babies the steroid dexamethasone to reduce inflammation.

To check its long-term safety, doctors at six hospitals in Taiwan looked at school-age children who had been born prematurely and given dexamethasone as infants. Eight years later, the children were shorter than others by about an inch and a half, they were less coordinated, and they had lower IQ scores. The report is in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Houston

Four bodies found in seach for helicopter

Four bodies believed to be from a helicopter that disappeared with 10 people aboard on its way to an oil exploratory ship were found Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico.

An offshore supply vessel assisting in the search discovered two bodies about 60 miles south of Galveston. A separate debris field and two additional bodies were then located nearby.

The search continued for the other six people on the flight that left Tuesday from Galveston. The helicopter carried a pilot, a co-pilot and eight workers.