CHARGES DROPPED: A total of 28 charges were dropped at the prosecution’s request Thursday in the Hollywood wiretaps case against private investigator Anthony Pellicano and a co-defendant. Assistant U.S. Atty. Dan Saunders said the government wanted some of the charges dropped because some of the alleged victims weren’t available to testify and other counts were redundant.
OIL BOAST: North Dakota and eastern Montana can now boast of having the largest known oil accumulation in the lower 48 states. The U.S. Geological Survey reported Thursday that an estimated 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered crude oil could be tapped from the Bakken Formation.
RECALL BILL: The federal government said Thursday it has billed a California slaughterhouse more than $67 million for expenses associated with the largest beef recall in U.S. history.
NO FISHING: West Coast fisheries managers have voted to cancel all commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts this year. Scientists and government officials are expecting the season to be one of the worst.
NO EXCEPTION: Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey told senators Thursday that a 2001 Justice Department memo insisting that 4th Amendment safeguards against unreasonable searches did not cover military activities within the U.S. is “not in force.”
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Page compiled from Tribune staff reports and news services
