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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Informant admits fraud, ‘hearsay’

Compiled from wire reports The Spokesman-Review

Los Angeles A paid informant who figured prominently in police and FBI investigations into the killing of rap star Notorious B.I.G., and who accused rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight and a rogue police officer of orchestrating the murder, has admitted that his information was “all hearsay.”

The informant, questioned under oath in a civil lawsuit, also admitted that his identification of the alleged gunman was fraudulent. He described himself as a paranoid schizophrenic.

The statements cast grave doubt on a theory that has gained wide currency: that corrupt police officers played a role in the slaying and that top Los Angeles Police Department officials covered up their actions.

The theory, promoted by a former Los Angeles police detective, has been featured in Rolling Stone magazine, on MTV and PBS’ “Frontline,” and in books and movies. It has attained a kind of pop-culture immortality.

Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, was gunned down March 9, 1997, after a music-industry party in the Mid-Wilshire district. The case remains unsolved.

Parents of dead girl settle for $2 million

Chicago A trial that offered graphic descriptions of a sixth-grader’s frantic final moments as she choked on marshmallows ended abruptly Thursday when a settlement was reached in her parents’ wrongful-death lawsuit.

John and Therese Fish agreed to a $2 million settlement with Glenview Elementary School District 34 and a teacher six years after the death of their daughter.

Catherine “Casey” Fish was 12 when she suffocated after playing Chubby Bunny at school, a game in which marshmallows are placed in the mouth one at a time until the person can’t say “chubby bunny.”

“We’re happy it’s over,” John Fish said as the couple left the Cook County courtroom at the Daley Center. “I’d say it’s a parent’s worst nightmare, but nightmares end.”

Casey was playing the game with several friends at Hoffman Elementary School before she was rushed to Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview and died shortly afterward on June 4, 1999.

The accord came eight days into the trial. The defendants were the school district and teacher Kevin Dorken, 36, who had left the classroom on an errand when the incident occurred.

Gay marriage bill fails in California

Sacramento, Calif. A bill to legalize gay marriage in California died Thursday after it failed to gain the simple majority needed to pass the state Assembly.

In the second and final time in two days before the 80-member house, the tally was four votes shy of a majority.

Nearly a quarter of majority Democrats either joined Republicans in opposing the bill or chose not to take a stand on the hot-button topic, now headed for likely showdowns in the state’s courts and at the ballot box.

“Voting for this bill may erode the advances we have made,” said Gloria Negrete McLeod, a Democrat who abstained despite a previous record that gay rights advocates considered friendly to their cause. “It’s a shame we get into these things where we become so politicized and polarized.”