Adopted Daughter Accuses Late Author Of Sexual Abuse

MINNEAPOLIS - The adopted daughter of the late author Michael Dorris accuses him of sexually abusing her and claims that his wife, acclaimed poet and novelist Louise Erdrich, did nothing to stop it.

A civil lawsuit was filed yesterday in a Minneapolis district court against Erdrich and Dorris' estate by Madeline Hannah Dorris, 21, one of the couple's three adopted children. She is seeking unspecified damages in excess of $50,000.

Erdrich denied the accusations against her.

Dorris was facing a child sexual abuse investigation in Minneapolis when he committed suicide in a Concord, N.H., motel on April 11. Police records were sealed by a judge two weeks ago.

The Boston Globe, however, reported shortly after Dorris' death that it had seen the records and that the allegations involved one of the couple's three young daughters.

Dorris left a will providing for his three biological daughters with Erdrich, but it excluded his two living adopted children - Jeffrey and Madeline - and Erdrich, who was divorcing him. An adopted son died earlier.

HUD may close loan program due to contractor fraud, abuse

WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo yesterday proposed shutting down a key part of a federally insured home improvement loan program, citing contractor fraud and abuse that has cost taxpayers more than $114 million.

At issue was the Title I home improvement loan program, the oldest federally insured housing program that set up the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Under the program low- and moderate-income homeowners have been able to obtain the FHA-insured loans either directly from lenders or indirectly through their home-improvement contractors who work with the homeowners to obtain the financing from an FHA-approved lender.

HUD now wants to bar contractors from obtaining Title I loans for customers, saying it is a conflict of interest and an opportunity for fraud.

But Rep. Rick Lazio, R-N.Y., said HUD's proposal "to cover up HUD's own failure to enforce the rules on the books will benefit no one."

Permissive society blamed in Naval Academy scandals

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A panel investigating the Naval Academy blamed a string of scandals on a permissive society, The (Baltimore) Sun reported today.

Sources who have seen the panel's draft report told the paper that it vindicates the military academy's administration. The panel concluded that a rash of unethical and criminal episodes were isolated, and not the result of an underlying failure of school policy.

The board said society has shaped future midshipmen before they arrive at the college in Annapolis.

The report will be reviewed by Navy Secretary John Dalton.

Raspberries suspected again in outbreaks of cyclospora

ATLANTA - The same parasite that sickened almost 1,000 people last year made a comeback in the United States, and the same cause was suspected again.

Raspberries from Guatemala and Chile were the likely cause of 90 cases of cyclospora in five states in the past two months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

Guatemalan raspberries were blamed when the parasite sickened almost 1,000 people in the United States and Canada last spring and summer, but the U.S. government never found out how the fruit became tainted. Recent cases were reported in California, Florida, Nevada, New York and Texas after events such as luncheons and weddings.