Washington, D.C.

Metal charms recalled because of lead risks

A New Jersey company is recalling about 2.8 million metal charms sold at Michaels Stores and other arts and crafts retailers because they contain high levels of lead, the government said Thursday.

The recall was prompted by reports that a 6-year-old girl from San Jose, Calif., apparently suffered lead poisoning in December after placing a charm she wore as a necklace in her mouth, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The agency last month set acceptable lead levels for the millions of pieces of children’s metal jewelry sold at dollar stores and in vending machines.

The charms — some of which are pictured above — were made in China. They were sold in packages of two to 12 pieces for $3 to $4 from July 2002 to February 2005 at Michaels Stores; from October 2004 to February 2005 at ReCollections; and from January 2004 to January 2005 at Hancock Fabrics.

Consumers should contact Hirschberg Schutz & Co. Inc. at (800) 873-5506 or e-mail charmsrecall@horizongroupusa.com to receive a refund.

Atlanta

CDC: Current flu season less severe than last

After all the panic last fall about the vaccine shortage, the flu season is turning out to be milder than last year’s severe bout, but it may not have peaked yet, the government said Thursday.

Last year, flu cases started early and rapidly hit a high point in December, clogging emergency rooms with flu sufferers. By the end of that season, 153 children had died from the flu. So far this season, nine children have died from the flu.

Flu cases this season did not really start to increase until the end of December. As of Feb. 19, the latest data available, all 50 states have had at least one lab-confirmed flu case and 33 states, including Kansas, have widespread flu activity.

The season most often hits its peak in February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Boston

Hacker helps applicants access early decision

A computer hacker gained access to internal admissions records at Harvard, Stanford and other top business schools, then helped applicants log on and learn their fate weeks ahead of schedule, officials said Thursday.

Few of the people who followed the hacker’s directions managed to find out if their applications have been accepted, according to school officials. But many of them could end up getting rejected now that the schools are checking to see who tried to exploit the breach.

The unidentified hacker tapped into Business Week’s online forum early Wednesday and posted instruction on how applicants could log onto the schools’ Web sites to check their admission status.

The schools’ Web sites were vulnerable for roughly nine hours before the problem was fixed.

All of the schools use Apply

Yourself, an online application and notification program made by a Fairfax, Va., company.

West Virginia

Stewart leaves prison

Wasting no time, Martha Stewart left prison in the middle of the night today and quickly set her sights on rebuilding her homemaking empire after serving a five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale.

Stewart was allowed to leave prison at 12:30 a.m. today in a two-vehicle motorcade and headed to a nearby airport where she was to board a private jet for a flight to New York. She will spend the next five months on home confinement at her 153-acre estate in Katonah, N.Y.

A sport utility vehicle carrying Stewart drove through the prison gate past reporters and about 15 fans without stopping. About a 1/2 mile from the prison a cardboard sign said, “Goodbye Martha. From fans and friends in Alderson, W.Va.”

Stewart, 63, had 72 hours after leaving Alderson to report to corrections officials in New York to be fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet so her movements can be monitored.

Washington, D.C.

U.S. considers aid to Iranian activists

The Bush administration is considering a more aggressive effort to foster opposition inside Iran and seeking ways to use a new $3 million fund to support activists without exposing them to the risk of arrest.

The approach would represent a change since Bush’s first term, when the administration was more wary of such potentially dangerous moves, officials said.

“We can now be much more aggressive (about Iran) than we had been,” a senior official said, hailing the arrival of Condoleezza Rice at the State Department as invigorating the president’s push for democracy.

The more aggressive approach is being considered even while Bush moves toward supporting a plan created by France, Germany and Britain to offer Iran economic incentives to forgo nuclear weapons. Bush discussed the issue Thursday with Rice.

Iran contends its nuclear energy program is peaceful, but U.S. and European officials have charged that Tehran may be reserving a nuclear weapons option.

Washington

Republicans release list of suspect voters

Republicans have released 1,135 names of alleged felons who they say illegally cast ballots in the governor’s race that Democrat Christine Gregoire won by 129 votes.

The list turned over Thursday to Democratic Party lawyers contained the names and addresses of the alleged felons, along with 45 people who Republicans say died before the Nov. 2 election but who were listed as having voted.

“It’s one more significant piece of evidence that this past election was not only deeply flawed but that we don’t know who won,” said Mary Lane, a spokeswoman for Republican opponent Dino Rossi, who is challenging the results in court. “Christine Gregoire is not the legitimately elected governor.”

Rossi led after the first two vote tallies only to lose in a hand count of 2.9 million ballots cast. He and his supporters filed suit in Chelan County seeking to void the results, alleging widespread problems.

Washington, D.C.

FDA official dismisses call for more regulation

A senior Food and Drug Administration official backed off Thursday from calls for new and greater FDA regulatory powers over the drug industry.

Janet Woodcock, the FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for operations, told members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that her agency needs no new authority from Congress to carry out needed reforms in FDA drug oversight. She said the agency intended to move faster to identify potential side effects of drugs in use and to do more to get drug-safety warnings to patients and physicians.

In Thursday’s testimony, Woodcock stepped back from two congressional reform proposals.

One would allow the FDA to force drug companies to accept changes in warning labels. Another would permit the FDA to require companies to conduct clinical trials when concerns arose about the safety of drugs already on the market.