Rangel charged with ethics misdeeds

July 23, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON

A House investigative committee has charged New York Rep. Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations. Sources who could not discuss the allegations publicly said they include Rangel’s misuse of official stationery, his use of rent-subsidized New York apartments and failure to publicly disclose financial information as required.

The House ethics committee is expected to publicly disclose the charges next Thursday against the former House Ways and Means Committee chairman, a Democrat with some 40 years in Congress.

Charged in stabbing

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

A couple was charged with murder Thursday in the fatal stabbing of a movie producer’s son who had dated one of the suspects. Scott Joseph Barker, 23, and Chie Alexandra Coggins Johnson, 20, were charged with murdering Katsutoshi Takazato, whose body was found Tuesday outside his father’s home in a normally tranquil and exclusive neighborhood where killings are uncommon.

Takazato’s father, Fuminori Hayashida, produced several movies in the 1990s, including “Lured Innocence” starring Dennis Hopper. Hayashida lives in Japan. Takazato had until recently dated Johnson, who then started dating Barker. She told her new boyfriend that Takazato had physically abused her, prosecutors said, prompting Barker to become enraged and stab Takazato.

Peruvian candidate campaigns in N.J.

PATERSON, N.J.

A candidate for president of Peru made a campaign stop Thursday to court the votes of an increasingly important constituency: Peruvians living abroad.

Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Peru’s imprisoned but popular former president Alberto Fujimori, added Paterson, N.J., to her itinerary. The city is home to one of the largest emigre communities outside the South American nation.

Lobster-fishing ban on East Coast killed

WARWICK, R.I.

A proposal to ban lobster fishing over a vast stretch of the East Coast was killed Thursday after lobstermen said it would do “almost biblical” damage to the industry.

The board that advises the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on lobster rules voted instead to consider lesser reductions in the catch — or no new restrictions at all.

The vote by the American Lobster Management Board came after lobstermen said a possible five-year ban on lobster fishing from south of Cape Cod, Mass., to North Carolina would destroy their businesses just as the species is rebounding.

2 die in explosion

MONACA, Pa.

An explosion Thursday at a zinc-smelting plant in western Pennsylvania killed two people and injured at least one, authorities said.

A worker who initially had been reported missing was among the dead, Beaver County emergency dispatcher Kevin Joy said. The rest of the work force at the Horsehead Corp. facility was accounted for after the blast. The facility has about 600 employees, he said.

2 Americans killed

KABUL, Afghanistan

A helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing two U.S. service members, NATO forces said. The Taliban claimed it shot down the craft, but NATO said it was still investigating.

Hostile fire has not been ruled out in the crash in Helmand province, said Lt. Commander Katie Kendrick, a spokeswoman for the military coalition.

Associated Press