2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 10, 2006 NATION/WORLD Patriot Act agreement reached NEWS IN BRIEF.. 4 GOP sena5tors see eve to eve required to notify the FBI if he consulted a lawyer. These been an important weapon in the government's arsenal for i V V V LLN.blll V V\r 4 r \.+ VV ' f..+ x r - ~ - 't .. "C '" .. _ a... ., _.. . _ .... .. . ... with White House; Dems unsure about next move to prevent renewal of the legislation WASHINGTON (AP) - A band of Senate Republi- can holdouts reached agreement yesterday with the White House on minor changes in the Patriot Act, hoping to clear the way for passage of anti-terror legislation stalled in a dispute over protection of civil liberties. Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) and three other GOP lawmakers - all of whom joined with Democrats last year to block a long-term extension of the law - were to announce the accord later yesterday. White House press secretary Scott McClellan pre- empted them, saying the changes "continue to build upon the civil liberties protections that are in place but do so in a way that doesn't compromise our national security priorities." "We're pleased that this important legislation is mov- ing forward," he said. There was no immediate reaction from House Repub- licans, although several GOP officials said key lawmakers were informed of the proposed changes. One GOP official, who spoke on condition of anonym- ity, said the legislation was rewritten to make clear that an individual receiving a National Security Letter was not letters are secret requests for phone, business and Internet records. This official said a second proposed change would clarify that only libraries that are "electronic service pro- viders" could be required to provide information to gov- ernment agents as part of a terrorist investigation. A GOP agreement would put Senate Democrats in a politically difficult position of deciding whether to renew their filibuster on an issue of national security - an area where polling shows them trailing President Bush and the Republicans. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the agreement was "a step in the right direction." But two other Democrats swiftly denounced it as short of what was needed. "The few minor changes that the White House agreed to do not address the major problems with the Patriot Act that a bipartisan coalition has been trying to fix," said Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused the White House of "naysaying and partisanship." Still, Leahy's statement stopped short of having the senator join in Feingold's threat to renew a filibuster that stalled the legislation last year. The law originally was passed within days of the attacks of Sept. 11,2001, and the administration says it has tracking suspected terrorists. W Renewal of the law was blocked last year when critics said its provisions shortchanged civil liberties, particularly in the cases of individuals who were not suspected of ter- rorist activities themselves, but might have had innocent dealings with suspects. Also at issue was concern over the government's ability to demand information from libraries. As a result of the deadlock, lawmakers decided to extend the old law temporarily, a short-term solution that left the administration and many in Congress unhappy. The current extension expires March 10. Republicans said that with the changes, the chance would be remote that any library would have to turn over information. But Democrats said the same provision made explicit that some libraries could be forced to turn over informa- tion, adding that existing law is vague on the subject. Other than Sununu, the Republicans who had defied the president's wishes on the Patriot Act last December were Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. The changes were worked out over several weeks in discussions that involved the lawmakers and White House counsel Harriet Miers, according to one Republican familiar with the compromise efforts. Gretzky knew, about bettig Wiretap recordings reveal hocky legend talking about wife's involement TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Wayne Gretzky was recorded on a wiretap talking to the alleged financier of a gambling ring, discussing how the hockey great's wife could avoid being implicated, a person with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press yesterday. Gretzky, coach and part-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, can be heard on wire- taps made within the past month talking about his wife with assistant coach Rick Tocchet, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Gretzky's wife, actress Janet Jones, allegedly bet at least $100,000 on football games over the course of the investigation by state authorities, the person said. There is no evidence that Gretzky placed any bets, according to the person. Authorities say from Dec. 29 through Feb. 5 - the day of the Super Bowl - bettors placed a total of $1.7 million in wagers with the ring run by a New Jersey state trooper, Tocchet and a South Jersey man. All face charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy and are scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court in Mount Holly on Feb. 21, the state Attorney General's office said yesterday. WASH ING TON FDA urges special warning on Ritalin Ritalin and other stimulant drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder should carry the strongest warning that they may be linked to an increased risk of death and injury, federal health advisers said yesterday. The Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted in favor of the "black box" warning after hearing about the deaths of 25 people,,including 19 children, who had taken the drugs. The vote was 8-7, with one abstention. One committee member, Curt Furberg, a professor of public health sciences at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said it would be "inappropri- ate, unethical behavior".not to disclose that there was uncertainty about the safety of the drugs. The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory commit- tees but typically does. "The committee plainly wanted to tell us certain things ought to be in labeling in a more forceful way," Robert Temple, director of the FDA's Office of Medical Policy, told reporters after the meeting. NA LCH IK, Russia Mothers protest trial of Beslan attacker Seven mothers of children killed in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis began a hunger strike yesterday to protest what they said were efforts to end the trial of an alleged attacker prematurely. The lead prosecutor, meanwhile, demanded the death penalty for Nur-Pashi Kulayev, the man alleged to be the sole surviving Beslan attacker. More than 330 people died in the attack, nearly half of them children. A verdict in the trial, now in its ninth month, could be delivered by the end of the month, a prosecutor's spokesman said. The Sept. 1-3, 2004, raid on Beslan's School No. 1 by 32 heavily armed militants stunned Russia and prompted President Vladimir Putin to push sweeping political changes. Subsequent investigations have exposed a deep vein of corruption, particularly among regional law enforcement officials, and showed how turbulent Russia's North Caucasus region remains. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Preval on track to be Haiti's next president Rene Preval, a former president seen as a champion of Haiti's poor, appeared headed yesterday to a first-round election victory, even before offi- cial results were announced. Preval, a former protege and one-time ally of ousted President Jean-Ber- trand Aristide, was characteristically low-key as reports of election returns landed at his party headquarters in Port-au-Prince. A campaign official said Preval had won almost 68 percent of the 359,000 votes counted so far. Leslie Manigat, believed to be Preval's strongest rival in the field of nearly three dozen candidates, said early returns showed Preval has surged ahead. "There is a tiny chance that we will have a second round, but I fear Preval has made a clean sweep of the votes," Manigat said. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Sectarian violence kills 32 on Shiite holy day A suicide bomber struck yesterday in Pakistan on the holiest festival for Shite Mus- lims, triggering a riot that left a provincial town in flames and at least 27 people dead and more than 50 wounded. In neighboring Afghanistan, hundreds of Shiites and Sunnis clashed in the western city of Herat, hurling grenades and burning mosques. At least five people were killed and 51 wounded. APP HOT Phoenix Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky grimaces after the Coyotes give up a second period goal to the Chi- cago Blackhawks in NHL action at Glendale Arena in Glendale, Arizona yesterday. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS An editorial in Monday's edition of the Daily (Stem Cells and 'U') incorrectly stat- ed that Michael Clarke was an LSI faculty member. Clarke was a professor of internal medicine at the University's medical school before he left for Stanford University. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@2michigandaily.com. G~be lMirtiguu 1ti1i 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com Jones has not been charged. Investigators say about a half-dozen current NHL players placed bets with the ring and are looking into whether anyone involved in the 5-year-old opera- tion, which authorities say had a connec- tion to organized crime in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, wagered on NHL games. Gretzky is not the main focus of the probe, the person said. The Star-Ledger of Newark, citing unidentified law enforcement sources, first reported of a wiretap involving Gretzky in yesterday's newspapers. The newspaper also reported that Jones bet $500,000 during the investigation, including $75,000 on the Super Bowl. Earlier in the week, Gretzky denied any involvement in the ring. "My love for her (Jones) is deeper than anything. The reality is, I'm not involved, I wasn't involved and I'm not going to be involved. Ain I concerned for both of them? Sure there's concern from me. I'm more worried about them than me. I'm like you guys, I'm trying to figure it all out," Gretzky said Tuesday. Gretzky did not attend the Coyotes practice in Phoenix yesterday. He would not be available until after Thursday night's game against the Dallas Stars in Phoenix and the team would not com- ment, said Coyotes spokesman Rich Nairn. Lawyers involved in the case said details of the three-month investigation should not be made public. "I have never been involved in a case where the prosecution has engaged in such inappropriate con- duct in terms of making investiga- tors available to the press, appearing on nationally syndicated television," said Kevin Marino, a lawyer for Toc- chet, who was granted an indefinite leave from the NHL Wednesday. "It's improper, it's unwarranted and I will not tolerate it." "We are not going to try this case in the press and we're not going to let them either," he said. DoNN M. 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