Suspect extradited in slaying of federal drug agent

U.S. authorities took custody yesterday of a man who was arrested 4½ years ago in Mexico and accused of killing an undercover federal drug agent, the Drug Enforcement Administration said.

Augustin Vasquez-Mendoza faces a murder charge in Maricopa County, Ariz., in the 1994 slaying of DEA agent Richard Fass. Vasquez-Mendoza was arrested in central Mexico in July 2000, and the United States had been seeking his extradition.

Vasquez-Mendoza was convicted of drug trafficking in Mexico, DEA administrator Karen Tandy said. He was sentenced Friday to time served. "That provided the avenue to extradite him to the United States," Tandy said.

U.S. authorities, who paid $2.2 million as a reward for his capture, previously had agreed to waive the death penalty and a sentence of life in prison without parole as terms of his extradition, she said.

Denver

Town official calls recall effort unfair

An official in a small tourist town sued his colleagues Friday, saying they are unfairly targeting him for recall over his refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at board meetings.

Estes Park town trustee David Habecker, who describes himself as agnostic, says the words "under God" in the pledge violate his religious beliefs and are at odds with the separation of church and state, according to his lawsuit, filed in Denver.

Habecker's recall election is scheduled for Feb. 15. Some citizens helped organize the recall committee, saying voters have lost confidence in his ability to represent patriotism and "common decency."

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, asked a judge to halt the recall election.

Sacramento, Calif.

Pollution found; firm fined $4 million

California's water-quality enforcers have fined the world's largest cheese factory $4 million, one of the highest penalties they have ever imposed.
The action against Hilmar Cheese is for 1,039 days of pollution violations since January 2002 as the company flushed high volumes of milky wastewater onto land, fouling Merced County's air and water supplies.

Hilmar Cheese officials did not return a request for comment Friday. The company must pay the fine by Feb. 26 unless it appeals the penalty.

Geneseo, N.Y.

Bus carrying hockey team hits truck; four die

A charter bus slammed into a tractor-trailer in western New York yesterday, splitting the bus in half and killing four people.
The bus was carrying members of a Canadian women's youth-hockey team when it rear-ended the truck parked on the shoulder of Interstate 390, 27 miles south of Rochester.

The truck driver and three passengers were killed, said Mark O'Donnell, a spokesman for New York State Police.

The bus was carrying 22 women hockey players ranging in age from 17 to 20, and players' parents and coaches.

ALSO

Top lawyer: The 60-member Association of Trial Lawyers of America chose veteran Democratic operative and communications expert Jon Haber, 51, as its new chief executive to lead its coming fight with President Bush over limiting medical-malpractice lawsuits.

Sick at sea: About 230 people aboard the cruise ship Holland America Veendam fell ill with a gastrointestinal illness while on a Caribbean voyage, forcing the trip to end early Friday night.