New York

States sue HUD over pesticide use in projects

The attorneys general of five states and the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to try to force the government to reduce pesticide use in public housing projects.

The suit contends that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is ignoring a 1996 law that directed federal agencies to use non-chemical pest-fighting techniques and only to employ pesticides as a last resort to kill insects and rodents.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Brooklyn by attorneys general from Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and the Virgin Islands.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Pentagon Papers source urges leaks of Iraq data

Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department official who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war, is urging government insiders to provide similar classified documents about the invasion of Iraq.

Joined by other whistle-blowers and former government employees, Ellsberg said at a news conference Thursday that claims of government deception and lies had “little credibility” unless supported by documentary evidence, which often is available only in classified materials.

In a memo to current government employees, Ellsberg and other former government officials said federal insiders owed a “higher allegiance” to the Constitution, the public and American soldiers in Iraq than to their government bosses.

LOS ANGELES

Famed Disney animator Thomas dies at 92

Frank Thomas, one of Walt Disney’s top artists who animated two dogs romantically nibbling a single strand of spaghetti in the 1955 Disney film “Lady and the Tramp,” has died. He was 92.

Thomas died Wednesday at his home, said Howard E. Green of Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures Marketing.

Thomas had been in declining health after a cerebral hemorrhage earlier this year.

In his 43-year history at Disney, Thomas, often working with old friend and collaborator Ollie Johnston, also animated the dancing penguins in “Mary Poppins” and Thumper teaching Bambi how to ice skate.

“Frank was a giant in our field, and he meant everything to me and to all of us who loved the art of animation,” John Lasseter, creative head of Pixar Animation Studios and a former Disney animator, said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Lawmakers question Iraq citation in 9-11 brief

Mention of the war in Iraq clouded a House resolution marking the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and 16 lawmakers voted Thursday against the otherwise noncontroversial measure.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., one of 15 Democrats and one Republican to cast no votes, said linking the 9-11 act of terrorism to the war in Iraq was “blatantly untrue” and had turned a resolution honoring the sacrifices of 9-11 victims into a political document.

“Why are we putting together a resolution that convolutes the issue?” asked Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., another no vote. The vote was 406-16.

The sponsor of the resolution, International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., responded to the critics, saying “there is a direct connection between the war in Iraq and the bombing of Sept. 11.”