Nabbed in sting operation

Nabbed in sting operation

ALBANY, N.Y. — A state parole board member who served 20 years in the Legislature appeared in court Tuesday on a federal charge that he used the Internet to solicit sex with minors.

Chris Ortloff repeatedly e-mailed what he believed to be 11- and 12-year-old sisters and tried to arrange a meeting to have sex with them at a motel in suburban Albany, federal prosecutor Thomas Spina said. He had actually been in contact with investigators in a state police sting operation since June and was arrested at the motel Monday, Spina said.

According to a state police criminal complaint, Ortloff used a webcam to discuss the rendezvous and brought condoms, lubricants, vibrators and a camera to the motel where he was arrested.

Ortloff, 61, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit and handcuffs in court, heard the criminal complaint against him but didn’t enter a plea.

Monitors back in N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea allowed United Nations monitors back into their main nuclear site Tuesday, but it was unclear whether they had fulfilled a pledge to resume disabling the facilities in line with a six-nation deal.

A diplomat in Vienna familiar with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s work at the site said the agency’s three-member team had resumed monitoring the site, including reapplying seals the North had ordered taken off and remounting IAEA cameras. He demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

‘Batman’ composer dies

LOS ANGELES — Neal Hefti, a former big band trumpeter, arranger and composer who worked with Count Basie and Woody Herman and later composed the memorable themes for the movie “The Odd Couple” and the campy hit TV series “Batman,” has died. He was 85.

Hefti died Saturday at his suburban Los Angeles home, said his son, Paul. He did not know the cause of death but said his father had been in good health.

Among his credits as a film composer are “Sex and the Single Girl,” “Harlow” (one of his most famous tunes, “Girl Talk,” came out of the score), “How to Murder Your Wife,” “Boeing Boeing,” “Duel at Diablo,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “A New Leaf,” “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” and “The Odd Couple,” whose theme he reprised for the 1970s TV series.

Hefti also gained notice for composing the energetic title theme for “Batman,” the over-the-top 1966-’68 superhero series that became an overnight sensation.

U.S. soldier dies in Iraq

BAGHDAD — An American soldier was killed Tuesday by gunfire in western Baghdad, the U.S. military said, the first U.S. combat death in the capital in two weeks.

Five Sunni insurgent organizations, meanwhile, have issued statements disavowing attacks on Iraqi Christians in Mosul, a monitoring service reported Tuesday. The attacks, widely attributed to al-Qaida in Iraq, have prompted thousands of Christians to flee the northern city.

A U.S. statement said the soldier, whose name was not released, was wounded when gunmen opened fire on a U.S. patrol late Tuesday afternoon. The soldier was rushed to a hospital by helicopter but died of the wounds, the statement said.

It was the first combat death suffered by American forces in the capital since Sept. 30.

Hawaii quarter due Nov. 3

DENVER — Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle led a delegation to the Denver Mint for the striking of the first of that state’s commemorative quarters — and the last in a 10-year series commemorating the 50 states.

Hawaii’s coin features monarch King Kamehameha I stretching a hand toward the eight major Hawaiian Islands. Inscribed is the state motto, “The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness,” in the Hawaiian language. It will go into circulation Nov. 3.

Study: More working poor

WASHINGTON — The ranks of low-wage working families increased by 350,000 between 2002 and 2006, raising their numbers to nearly 9.6 million, or more than one in four of the nation’s working families with children.

The report by the Working Poor Families Project, an advocacy group that analyzed census data, defined low-wage families as those earning less than double the poverty rate. For a family of four, that would have been an annual income of $41,228 or less in 2006. The report’s author, Brandon Roberts, attributed the increase to the growth in low-paying jobs, from health-care aides to cashiers, that form an increasing share of the nation’s service-based economy.

Combined dispatches