WASHINGTON — More than $11 million will be restored to the settlement fund for former Enron Corp. employees who lost their retirement fund during the company’s collapse, the Labor Department says.
A settlement reached Thursday ends a contempt motion filed by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao in February against Hewitt Associates LLC, an Illinois-based company that was hired to allocate settlement monies owed to Enron employees.
In 2006, former Enron workers received about $89 million, the first payment in a lawsuit settlement over money the workers lost through Enron’s employee stock ownership and 401(k) plans. But more than 20,000 workers were overpaid or underpaid nearly $22 million because of a software glitch blamed on Hewitt.
Immigration official resigns
The leader of the immigration agency that grants citizenship is stepping down after a tenure in which he drastically increased the cost of becoming an American but failed to reduce the amount of time people must wait. Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, told the Associated Press on Thursday that he would leave the job April 18. He recommended that Jonathan Scharfen, the agency’s deputy director, replace him. The White House will name his successor, who must get Senate approval.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Republicans alleged theft
The former treasurer for the National Republican Congressional Committee diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars — and possibly as much as $1 million — of the organization’s funds into his personal accounts, GOP officials said Thursday, describing an alleged scheme that could become one of the largest political frauds in recent history. For at least four years, Christopher J. Ward, who is under investigation by the FBI, allegedly used wire transfers to funnel money out of NRCC coffers and into other political committee accounts he controlled as treasurer, NRCC leaders and lawyers said in their first public statement since they turned the matter over to the FBI six weeks ago.
Winter warm trend continues
Winter storms and snow notwithstanding, this winter was still warmer than average worldwide, the government reported Thursday. The global temperature for meteorological winter — December, January and February — averaged 54.38 degrees Fahrenheit, 0.58 degrees warmer than normal for the last century, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. Temperatures have been rising over recent years, raising concerns about the effects of global warming, generally attributed to human-induced impacts on the atmosphere.
200 flee from burning apartment
Fire ravaged an apartment building overnight, forcing the evacuation of several neighboring buildings and damaging a church. No residents were injured as flames engulfed the four-story building in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, but about 200 people were forced from their homes, authorities said. Fire department spokesman Alan Etter said the fire broke out shortly before midnight Wednesday and destroyed at least half the building. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Arizona: 750 dogs seized
About 750 dogs, including some missing paws, have been seized from what officials called a filthy “puppy mill” that sold dogs for thousands of dollars in the Tucson, Ariz., area. Most of the small-breed dogs are Chihuahuas and some are very ill, said Jenny Rose, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. Three were found dead. The dogs were being bred and sold by a couple who live there, Rose said. Some of the teacup Chihuahuas were offered for sale on the Internet for up to $2,400 each.
Afghanistan: Attack kills 6 people
A suicide bomber targeting U.S. troops instead killed six Afghan civilians Thursday, while U.S. forces acknowledged carrying out a cross-border missile strike that reportedly killed four civilians in Pakistan. Pakistan on Thursday sharply protested the cross-border strike, which it said killed four civilians
Canada: Afghan mission extended
Parliament voted Thursday to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan to 2011, provided NATO supplies more troops and equipment to back up its forces in the volatile south. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has been under growing pressure to withdraw Canada’s 2,500 troops as the death toll has mounted, now at 80 Canadian soldiers and a diplomat. The mission was set to expire in February 2009.
China: Avalanche buries 12
An avalanche buried 12 workers Thursday at a mountainous construction site for a pipeline in China’s far northwest, and the bodies of four have been recovered, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Xinhua said the workers in China’s Xinjiang region were digging a 2.4-mile-long tunnel for a pipeline to transport gas from Turkmenistan to Shanghai. About 70 workers were at the site in the northern Ili area of Xinjiang when 12 were buried by the snow, Xinhua said.
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