Nation briefs 11/15/04

Study: Cars do poor job of preventing whiplash

WASHINGTON -- More than half of car seats do a poor job of preventing whiplash injury because of the way they are built, according to tests by the insurance industry. General Motors Corp. cars were among the worst performers, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said in results released Sunday. Volvo and Saab cars were among the best.

U.S. death sentences drop to 30-year low

WASHINGTON -- The number of people sentenced to death reached a 30-year low in 2003, when the death row population fell for the third year in a row, the government reported Sunday. Last year, 144 inmates in 25 states were given the death penalty, 24 fewer than in 2002 and less than half the average of 297 between 1994 and 2000, according to the Justice Department.

Vice president only has case of the sniffles

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney, back home after a brief hospital visit, has nothing more than a bad cold and his heart is fine, his wife and an adviser said Sunday. Cheney, who has had four heart attacks, had three hours of tests Saturday after experiencing shortness of breath. They showed no problems with his heart -- "none whatsoever," said Mary Matalin, a former top White House aide to the 63-year-old vice president.

Secondhand smoke crux of federal tobacco trial

WASHINGTON -- Secondhand smoke can cause cancer. It's what the surgeon general says. So too the Environmental Protection Agency. And the World Health Organization. The $280 billion sought is the most ever in a civil racketeering case. The trial, which comes six years after the states reached settlements worth $246 billion with the industry to recoup the cost of treating sick smokers, is in its third month in U.S. District Court in Washington and probably will continue for several more. Testimony was to resume today.

Plane kills one in crash at senior complex

SAN ANTONIO -- A small plane crashed Sunday near an apartment complex for seniors, knocking a hole in one unit with its wreckage. One passenger was confirmed dead, but a federal official said it appeared four other people aboard the aircraft also were killed.The Piper Navajo was headed to San Antonio International Airport when it crashed about three miles away shortly after 5 p.m., said John Clabes, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

-- From wire reports

Senators want protection for whistle-blowers

WASHINGTON -- Two senators who wrote a tough but little-understood law to protect corporate whistle-blowers are pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission for aggressive enforcement just as a case emerges that could determine how companies are policed. Spurred by scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other large corporations, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. The law required chief executives to swear that their company's books are accurate. But it also gave corporate whistle-blowers more protection than any previous federal law has extended to insiders who report wrongdoing.

Lawmakers take CIA to task on intelligence

WASHINGTON -- Intelligence agencies came under sharp attack Sunday from lawmakers, as did Congress, where a bill to put in place recommendations from the Sept. 11 commission has stalled heading into this week's postelection session. Rep. Jane Harman, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was an obstacle to a compromise because he does not want to diminish the Pentagon's overwhelming control over intelligence agencies' budgets.

New N.J. governor starts job Tuesday

WEST ORANGE, N.J. -- State Senate President Richard Codey on Sunday took the oath of office as New Jersey's acting governor, a role he will assume Tuesday after Gov. James E. McGreevey's resignation becomes official. The transfer of power caps a transition period that began with McGreevey's stunning disclosure in August that he would resign because of a gay sex scandal. Because New Jersey is one of eight states without the position of lieutenant governor, Codey, 57 and a Democrat, will wield the clout of both governor and Senate leader for a time, filling the governor's term that ends in January 2006.

Plane kills one in crash at apartment complex

SAN ANTONIO -- A small airplane crashed Sunday as it narrowly avoided an apartment complex for seniors. At least one person aboard the plane was killed. Authorities were trying to determine if there were other victims on the Piper Navajo, which seats six to eight people. The plane was headed to San Antonio International Airport when it crashed about three miles away shortly after 5 p.m., said John Clabes, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

-- From wire reports