Agency: Throw out ‘Rudolph’ charms

Agency: Throw out ‘Rudolph’ charms

LOS ANGELES

Federal regulators expanded their efforts Thursday to go after children’s jewelry that contains high levels of the toxic metal cadmium by telling parents to throw away “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”-themed charm bracelets.

The warning from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission came after agency scientists found that the jewelry released alarmingly high levels of cadmium in lab tests, potentially exposing children to a carcinogen that also can damage kidneys and bones.

The government is targeting “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” chain-link bracelets sold at dollar-type stores between 2006 and March 2009. The charms feature characters from the classic Christmas movie, including Rudolph and the Abominable Snowman.

Court upholds use of ‘God’ in pledge

SAN FRANCISCO

A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the use of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who claimed the references to God disrespect his religious beliefs.

Canadian agency blasted on Toyota

TORONTO

Canadian politicians Thursday accused the nation’s transportation agency of failing to take swift action after receiving acceleration-related complaints in Toyota vehicles three years before the company began a series of safety recalls.

Senior officials with Transport Canada came under fire after revealing the agency did not take steps to alert the public after it received 17 acceleration-related complaints during a Parliamentary committee probe into the issue of its handling of Toyota’s safety concerns.

$657.7M settlement in WTC health case

NEW YORK

After years of fighting in court, lawyers representing the city, construction companies and more than 10,000 ground-zero rescue and recovery workers have agreed to a settlement that could pay up to $657.5 million to responders sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.

The settlement was announced Thursday evening by the WTC Captive Insurance Co., a special entity established to indemnify the city and its contractors against potential legal action as they moved to clean up the site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Murder suspect violated parole

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

A convicted sex offender charged with murdering one California teenager and under investigation for another killing violated his parole by moving too close to a school but was allowed to remain free, according to records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Had John Albert Gardner III been returned to prison in 2007 he would have been evaluated for commitment to a state mental hospital as a sexually violent predator. He also would have qualified for wearing an electronic tracking device for the rest of his life.

Associated Press