Report: Woman settles with doctor who carved initials

NEW YORK - A woman reportedly has settled her $5 million lawsuit with the doctor who carved his initials into her abdomen after delivering her baby by Caesarian section.

Liana Gedz will receive $1.75 million and drop her claim against Beth Israel Medical Center, The New York Times reported yesterday, citing sources involved in the settlement talks.

Dr. Allan Zarkin, 61, was dubbed "Dr. Zorro" after the Sept. 7, 1999, incident was publicized last month. His lawyer has said Zarkin admits cutting the letters "AZ" into Gedz but isn't responsible because he has a brain disease that impairs his judgment.

In a statement, the hospital said Gedz had released it from all claims and liabilities without payment by Beth Israel. Zarkin's malpractice insurance is expected to pay for the settlement, the Times reported.

Zarkin has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault. If convicted, he would face at least five years and up to 25 years in prison.

Gedz, a 31-year-old dentist, filed her lawsuit in November. She had asked prosecutors to spare the doctor from criminal charges. The state revoked Zarkin's medical license Feb. 3.

TWA: MD-80 pump problem not related to Alaska crash

PHOENIX - The failure of a hydraulic pump on board a TWA MD-80 had nothing to do with safety issues raised by the recent Alaska Airlines crash, TWA officials said yesterday.

TWA flight 299 made its scheduled landing in Phoenix on Friday night, repaired the problem and continued on to San Diego, said Jim Brown, a spokesman for St. Louis-based TWA.

The plane is of the same class of aircraft that crashed off the Southern California coast, killing 88.

But the TWA jet's problem was with its hydraulic system, not its horizontal stabilizer, the system targeted in the Alaska Airlines investigation, Brown said.

Navy moves carrier exercise from Puerto Rican island

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Navy is moving a planned carrier exercise away from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, where residents have protested the Navy's presence since a bomb killed a civilian last year.

The decision to move the March exercise for the USS George Washington carrier group was made because protesters are blocking the Vieques bombing range, Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., said in a statement Friday.

The Navy has bombed, shelled and strafed the eastern edge of Vieques with few restrictions for 60 years. But after an errant bomb killed a guard at the bombing range last April, protesters moved in to demand that the Navy quit using the island.

Police nab $9 million worth of marijuana near Chicago

CHICAGO - Police said yesterday they had seized 1.7 tons of marijuana with an estimated street value of $9 million near Chicago.

The marijuana, found late on Friday, was hidden in a semi-truck trailer amid a load of paper towels.

Airline resumes its schedule after pilots strike is averted

MILWAUKEE - Midwest Express resumed its regular flight schedule yesterday after averting a pilots strike over wages and retirement benefits.

The agreement reached early yesterday is the first labor contract between the company and the Air Line Pilots Association.

Pilots are expected to vote on the agreement within a week.

Teenage tumor patient dies, unable to donate most organs

CAMP HILL, Pa. - A teenager with a brain tumor died yesterday without being able to fulfill a last wish: to donate his vital organs.

Nicholas Breach, 14, of Camp Hill, went into cardiac arrest and died at home. His heart couldn't be restarted in the ambulance en route to Hershey Medical Center, and by the time he arrived, it was too late to harvest his heart, lungs, kidneys and liver.

Nicholas was able to donate his corneas for sight-restoring surgery, however.

N.Y. assemblyman charged with burglarizing aide's home

GENESEO, N.Y. - After a two-week stay in a psychiatric ward, a state assemblyman surrendered to police and was charged with burglarizing the home of a female aide.

Jerry Johnson, 57, a four-term Republican from western New York, was arraigned Friday on a charge of second-degree burglary, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison. Johnson pleaded not guilty.

Colorado governor pledges support for gun-control bills

DENVER - After losing a battle with state lawmakers, Gov. Bill Owens said he would push a ballot measure seeking to require sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks.

Owens commented Friday after failed attempts to add the provision to other legislation in the Colorado House. He said he wanted voters to decide the issue in November.

Three of the five gun-related measures sought by Owens and Attorney General Ken Salazar remain alive. The bills would include juvenile records in background checks, a ban on "straw purchases," in which someone buys a gun for someone else not legally able to do so, and raising the legal age for buying handguns.