ILLINOIS
Officials to hear foes of Emanuel
CHICAGO | Dozens of people who don’t want former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to be Chicago’s next mayor are moving ahead with efforts to keep him off the February ballot.
Chicago election officials began handling petition challenges Monday in the mayor’s race including more than 30 objections to Emanuel’s candidacy.
The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has assigned hearing officers to his case and others wanting to run for mayor, alderman or other citywide office.
Opponents say Mr. Emanuel doesn’t meet the residency requirement to run for mayor because he lived in Washington for nearly two years while working for President Obama.
Mr. Emanuel, a former Chicago congressman, moved back in October to run for mayor after Richard M. Daley announced he wouldn’t seek a seventh term.
KENTUCKY
Man sentenced for Obama threat
LOUISVILLE | A Kentucky man who acknowledged threatening President Obama in a poem has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Johnny Logan Spencer apologized for writing the poem, which described a fatal sniper shooting of the president.
The 28-year-old said in federal court in Louisville on Monday that he was upset over his mother’s death and had fallen in with a white supremacist group that had helped him kick a drug habit.
U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. called Spencer’s writing of the poem an extremely dangerous thing. Spencer will be on supervised release for three years after he completes the 33-month sentence.
The poem, titled “The Sniper,” was posted on a website in 2007 and again in 2009 after Mr. Obama took office.
NEW YORK
GOP candidate concedes race
ALBANY | New York Republican Bob Cohen has conceded defeat to Democratic incumbent Suzi Oppenheimer after a recount of Nov. 2 election results in a state Senate race. Still, Republicans insist they will control the New York Senate in January.
This year’s election gave Republicans a chance to regain dominance in the state Senate after Democrats won a 32-30 majority two years ago. But challenges to election results in three races, including the Cohen-Oppenheimer race, left party control of the Senate uncertain.
With Mr. Cohen’s concession Monday, it appears a state appeals court will be the final arbiter. The court is to take up an appeal of a ruling in New York’s 7th Senate District that gave a Republican the victory.
SENATE
Report: Medicare used for unneeded stents
A Senate investigation has found that Medicare spent millions of dollars for stents implanted by a Maryland doctor accused of putting them in patients who didn’t need them.
The investigation also found that the doctor was treated to an elaborate crab feast and barbecue by Abbott Labs, the maker of the stents. The stents are tiny, metal-mesh tubes used to keep unclogged arteries open.
The report released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee said Dr. Mark Midei’s questionable implantations cost the Medicare program $3.8 million between 2007 and 2009.
Dr. Midei’s attorney, Stephen L. Snyder, says the committee’s investigation was not thorough and relied on documents.
An Abbott spokesman said the company’s consulting relationship with Dr. Midei ended earlier this year.
MISSISSIPPI
Ex-congressman sued over fight
JACKSON | A youth league soccer coach is suing former Mississippi Rep. Chip Pickering after the men got into a fight during a game a year ago.
Christopher Hester claims in the lawsuit that Mr. Pickering attacked him, and that he lost income and suffered permanent scarring and disfigurement. He is filing the lawsuit in part to meet a one-year deadline for some of the claims.
Attorney Mike Malouf, who represents Mr. Pickering, said his client never received any demands for medical expenses. Mr. Pickering claimed after the Dec. 6, 2009, fight that his son was being verbally abused.
Mr. Pickering and Mr. Hester had accused each other of simple assault, but agreed in court to have the complaints remanded to the files.
Mr. Pickering, a Republican, served 12 years in the U.S. House.
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