New York City

Class-action lawsuit on concert tickets OK’d

A judge has approved a class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Madison Square Garden for allegedly selling seats with obstructed views of Michael Jackson’s 30th anniversary concert three years ago.

The judge said the suit potentially covers 7,840 ticket buyers “who received no advance notice that their seats were inadequate for viewing purposes.”

The suit filed by Dana Gross, 32, says she paid Ticketmaster $98.50 plus service charges for each of six tickets to see the self-styled King of Pop’s concert in September 2001. She’s asking for $14 million in damages.

Glen Rosenberg, 33, one of Gross’ friends who went to the show, said after the lawsuit was filed, “We couldn’t even see the show properly on the TV screens. It was so bad I might as well have been sitting in my bathroom.”

No date was set for a trial.

New York City

Convention protesters’ charges dropped

A Manhattan Criminal Court judge dropped charges Wednesday against 227 protesters arrested during the Republican National Convention after prosecutors said they would have difficulty proving the case.

Assistant Dist. Atty. William Beesch told Judge Katherine Fried that the demonstrators might have been confused by instructions given by police officers.

Beesch said it would have been difficult to prove that the protesters “were deliberately defying police directives or were intentionally acting in a disorderly manner” just before police raised nets around them and ordered them cuffed.

Martin Stolar, president of the city chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, said the dismissals would not deter lawyers from filing a federal civil rights lawsuit this month on behalf of those arrested.

Washington, D.C.

Construction begins at inauguration site

In a nail-driving ceremony for what could be a nail-biting election, senators on Wednesday officially initiated construction for the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration.

When finished, the West Front of the Capitol will be ready to welcome more than 200,000 expected to attend the 55th presidential inauguration. Hundreds of thousands more will line the parade route and watch from afar on the Mall between the Capitol and Washington Monument.

Architect of the Capitol Alan Hantman said there would be seating for 12,000, with others standing. He said $2.8 million had been appropriated for inaugural costs, although the total cost of inaugural events — the parade, parties, fireworks and security costs — is far higher. In 2000 President-elect Bush took in $40 million from campaign donors for his inaugural celebration.

Chicago

Scientists report libido stimulator

The aphrodisiac women have been seeking for centuries may be as close as the next nursing mother.

Researchers at the University of Chicago reported Wednesday that breast-feeding women and their infants emit a chemical signal that increases sexual desire in other women.

“This is the first report in humans of a natural social chemosignal that increases sexual motivation,” said Martha McClintock, a University of Chicago psychology professor and a member of the research team.

Dr. Irwin Goldstein, director of the Institute for Sexual Medicine at Boston University, called the finding “exciting.”

“If they could identify the exact molecule, and if it could be commercialized, it could be used to treat women with low libido,” he said.

A 1999 study found that 32 percent of American women between age 18 and 59 suffer from low libido, or lack of interest in sex.