Nation in brief: NYC doormen reach agreement

New York – An agreement was reached between New York City doormen and building owners, averting a threatened midnight strike.

Union spokesman Kwame Patterson says they reached a deal early today that includes a nearly 10 percent wage increase over four years and no cuts in benefits for workers.

Balloon hoaxers will pay $36,000

Fort Collins, Colo. – The parents who pleaded guilty in the balloon boy hoax have agreed to pay about $36,000 in restitution to authorities who responded to the incident.

Larimer County Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski on Tuesday accepted the agreement that prosecutors reached with Richard and Mayumi Heene. The Larimer County sheriff’s office and other agencies had sought $48,000 for responding to the Oct. 15 incident.

The Heenes reported their 6-year-old son had floated away in a homemade UFO-shaped helium balloon, touching off a scramble of dozens of emergency responders.

Underage sex case targets mobsters

New York – A reputed boss of the Gambino organized crime family and 13 other people are facing an array of charges, including what prosecutors called new criminal territory for the mob: sex trafficking of a minor, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Papers filed in federal court in Manhattan allege that Gambino soldiers and associates recruited prostitutes at strip clubs, including a 15-year-old, and advertised their services on the Internet.

Prosecutors said the mobsters drove the prostitutes to appointments in Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey, splitting their earnings with them. The defendants also “made the young women available for sex to the players at the regular high-stakes poker games” hosted by the family, the court papers said.