2 lawsuits filed against Toyota in speeding deaths

2 lawsuits filed against Toyota in speeding deaths

LOS ANGELES — Two lawsuits complaining of sudden, uncontrollable acceleration in Toyotas that resulted in deaths in Nebraska and Mississippi were filed against the automaker in Los Angeles federal court Friday.

Jacquelyn Donoghue of Holder, Neb., said in the lawsuit that her 2006 Toyota Prius suddenly sped up and went out of control in December, slamming into another vehicle, killing her husband, John, and seriously injuring her.

Her attorney, Robert Nelson, said Toyota vehicles weren’t equipped with a brake-to-idle safety feature that allows drivers to override the electronic throttle and control the vehicle in case of a sudden unintended acceleration.

Nelson also is representing Teresa and William Myers of Laurel, Miss., the parents of Steffan Myers, a 20-year-old who was killed in an accident Jan. 10., just days before he started classes at the University of Mississippi.

Lawyer acknowledges errors in Sept. 11 claims

NEW YORK — The lead lawyer for thousands of Sept. 11 rescue and recovery workers has acknowledged that in preparing some claims, his firm made mistakes — including assertions that people had cancer when they didn’t.

But the attorney, Paul Napoli, said the errors all occurred at preliminary stages of the case, are being corrected and won’t have any bearing on the outcome. He characterized the mistakes as few and accidental, caused by a crushing workload and a rush to meet court deadlines.

Napoli’s firm, Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern, is coordinating lawsuits filed by more than 9,000 police officers, firefighters and construction workers who say New York City and its contractors failed to protect them from toxic World Trade Center ash.

The AP reported Sunday that some of the first cases headed toward trial in the long legal battle contained inconsistent or exaggerated information about worker health problems or the time they spent at ground zero.

Patrick Kennedy says he’ll retire from Congress

WASHINGTON — It was never a perfect fit — politics and Patrick Kennedy, the latest and perhaps the last in the long line of Kennedys at the heart of American political life.

The sometimes fragile son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy has spent all of his adult life in public office, but he has rarely seemed at ease in the spotlight. On Friday, five months after his father’s death, he announced he’ll retire from Congress, expressing a sense of relief. It will be the first time in six decades that Washington will be without a Kennedy in office.

Kennedy, 42, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and of Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, says he will serve out his eighth term but won’t seek a ninth this fall.

Carnival begins in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO — Carnival erupted Friday in Rio with raucous street parties that brought together cheering, drum-beating locals with sweaty foreigners escaping snowbound cities.

Thousands of Carnival revelers flooded the cobbled streets of the bohemian Santa Teresa neighborhood in skimpy costumes bordering on blasphemous.

At the “Carmelitas” party — named after a nearby convent — groups of young women dressed as sexy police in cutoffs and tank tops, while grown men who donned baby outfits, sucked on pacifiers and showered themselves with talcum powder.

Friday marked the start of dozens of the eccentric, pulsating street parties that are the heart and soul of Rio’s pre-Lent festival.

Chimp mauls woman in Fla.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Deputies say a chimpanzee has mauled and seriously injured a volunteer at a Florida primate sanctuary.

Sheriff’s deputies said 21-year-old Andrea Maturan was attacked while cleaning a cage Friday morning at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary near Tampa. Her injuries were serious but not life-threatening.

The sheriff’s office says Maturan struggled with the 10-year-old chimp named Shawn and locked herself in a bathroom to get away. Handlers were able to get Shawn and another loose chimp back in their cages.

CDC: 57M Americans have had H1N1 flu

LOS ANGELES — An estimated 57 million Americans have contracted pandemic H1N1 influenza since the outbreak began last April, about 257,000 have been hospitalized with complications from it, and nearly 12,000 have died, according to estimates released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Combined dispatches