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Tobacco wins in Supreme Court case
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court threw out a $79.5 million punitive damages award to a smoker's widow today, a boon to businesses seeking stricter limits on big-dollar jury verdicts.
The 5-4 ruling was a victory for Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA, which contested an Oregon Supreme Court decision upholding the verdict.
In the majority opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court said the verdict could not stand because the jury in the case was not instructed that it could punish Philip Morris only for the harm done to the plaintiff, not to other smokers whose cases were not before it.
The decision did not address whether the size of the award was constitutionally excessive, as Philip Morris had asked.
Climbers, dog rescued
GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. - Three climbers and their dog have been rescued from Mount Hood.
Rescuers using an electronic locating device found the climbers and their black Labrador in the White River Canyon on Monday.
"The dog probably saved their lives" by lying across them during the long night, said Erik Brom, a member of the Portland Mountain Rescue team.
The three climbers - two women and a man - fell off a ledge with their dog, Velvet, on Sunday as a snowstorm raged and winds howled at up to 70 mph.
Libby arguments begin
WASHINGTON - Prosecutors told jurors in the CIA leak case today that former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's story was too incredible to be believed.
Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is charged with lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Libby told authorities that he learned about Plame from Cheney, forgot about it, then learned it again a month later from NBC reporter Tim Russert.
In closing arguments of the monthlong trial, prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg said it's hard to believe that Libby would forget about Plame since he was eagerly trying to discredit her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had accused the Bush administration of doctoring prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Heart warning for women
Nearly all American women are in danger of heart disease or stroke and should be more aggressive about lowering their risk - including asking their doctors about daily aspirin use, the American Heart Association said in new guidelines.
It is the first time guidelines have urged all women to consider aspirin for preventing strokes, although specialists warn that it can cause ulcers and dangerous bleeding. They said it is probably not a good idea for young women with no big health problems.
The guidelines, released Monday, also advise daily exercise and less fat, and declare vitamins C and E, beta carotene and folic acid supplements worthless for preventing heart disease.
Police: Man killed family
LAKE PEEKSKILL, N.Y. - A man strangled his wife and teenage daughter, then killed himself, police say.
Authorities found the bodies at the family's home after relatives who could not reach them called authorities, state police said Monday. The killings apparently happened late Thursday or early Friday.
Steven Lessard worked at the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan, according to a spokesman for Entergy Corp. His wife, Kathy Lessard, and their 14-year-old daughter, Linda Lessard, had been strangled, police said.
Bush honors Washington
MOUNT VERNON, Va. - President Bush honored the 275th birthday of the nation's first president, likening George Washington's long struggle that gave birth to a nation to the war on global terrorism.
"Today, we're fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life," Bush said Monday, standing in front of Washington's home on President's Day.
"And as we work to advance the cause of freedom around the world, we remember that the father of our country believed that the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone."
Spike Lee gets Polk Award
NEW YORK - Director Spike Lee was named today as a winner of the annual George Polk Award for his documentary on life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Lee and producer Sam Pollard won the award in documentary television for "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts."
New York Times correspondent Lydia Polgreen was honored in foreign reporting for her accounts of the carnage in Sudan's Darfur region.
Senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers and producer Adam Ciralsky of NBC's "Nightly News" won for network television reporting. They exposed a secret effort by the Army to drop new technology aimed at protecting soldiers from rocket-propelled grenades.
The Polk Awards are considered among the top prizes in U.S. journalism.
Film shows JFK in Dallas
DALLAS - A recently discovered home movie shows a brief but clear glimpse of President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy just seconds before his assassination.
The assassination is not shown in the 40-second clip.
The silent, 8 mm color film is "the clearest, best film of Jackie in the motorcade," said Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum, which focuses on Kennedy's life and assassination. The film was unveiled Monday on the museum's Web site.
