Prosecutors receive Limbaugh’s records
West Palm Beach, Fla. A judge gave some of Rush Limbaugh’s medical records to prosecutors Wednesday, allowing their long-stalled investigation into whether the conservative commentator illegally purchased painkillers to move forward.
Circuit Court Judge Thomas Barkdull III returned other of Limbaugh’s records to his attorney, Roy Black, who had argued some of the records contained privileged, even embarrassing, details about medical procedures, symptoms and other issues unrelated to the criminal investigation.
The records’ contents were not revealed.
After the hearing, Black said he believed the records given to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office would not support a criminal charge.
Prosecutors seized the records after learning Limbaugh received painkillers from four doctors in six months at a Palm Beach pharmacy near his oceanfront mansion. They have said the records will prove Limbaugh engaged in “doctor shopping,” or illegally deceiving multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions.
Limbaugh acknowledged an addiction to pain medication, attributing it to severe back pain, and took a five-week leave from his radio show to enter a rehabilitation program in October 2003.
Former sailor sues over ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
Boston During her first five years in the Navy, Jen Kopfstein avoided conversations about her personal life, taking the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy seriously.
“I felt like I was being forced to lie and having to be dishonest,” Kopfstein said.
“I could never share anything about my family or my home life or even say what I did on the weekend. It is hurtful to do that.”
After she finally wrote a letter to her commanding officer telling him she was a lesbian, she was discharged.
Now she and 11 other servicemembers are challenging the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, arguing in a federal lawsuit that it violates their constitutional rights. The Bush administration is asking a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit in a motion to be heard Friday.
Established in 1993 under the Clinton administration, “don’t ask, don’t tell” prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or engaging in homosexual activity.
More than 9,400 servicemembers have been discharged since the policy was implemented, a number critics call astonishing with the country at war and recruitment lagging.
In court documents, the Justice Department argues that Congress, in approving “don’t ask, don’t tell,” recognized that the military is characterized by its own rules and traditions that would not be accepted in civilian society.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which filed the lawsuit, contends the policy is clearly discriminatory and violates rights to privacy, free speech and equal protection of the law.
Deal with workers averts transit shutdown
Oakland, Calif. A Bay Area Rapid Transit walkout was averted early Wednesday when unionized workers reached a deal with management less than two hours before the trains that carry more than 300,000 riders each day were threatened to be shut down.
The agreement was announced by BART spokesman Linton Johnson just before 3 a.m., ending more than four days of round-the-clock negotiations that would have led to gridlocked freeways, overcrowded buses and ferries, and a messy commute.
“We are happy that we have been able to work out a reasonable, tentative agreement,” said Harold Brown, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1555.
“Our primary concern has always been rider safety and service. We are glad that riders will not be inconvenienced by a strike.”
The 2,300 unionized BART workers were expected to be back at work when the trains were scheduled to resume running shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday.