california
Repair bid awarded for damaged highway
SACRAMENTO — State transportation officials on Monday awarded a contract to rebuild the collapsed highway overpass that melted last week following the crash of a gasoline tanker for a fraction of the expected cost.
C.C. Meyers Inc. of Rancho Cordova won the emergency contract to rebuild Interstate 580 with a low bid of $867,075. CalTrans had set aside $20 million for the work, and said it expected the job would cost at least $5 million. The emergency deal includes a $200,000-a-day incentive to reopen the road before June 27.
The I-580 work follows $8 million in construction to reopen a ramp connecting westbound Interstate 80 to southbound Interstate 880 on Monday, and nearly $9 million to clean up the accident site and boost public transit.
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2 officers punished over rally melee
LOS ANGELES — The highest ranking police official at the scene of a violent clash between officers and people at an immigration rally was demoted Monday, and his second-in-command was transferred.
Deputy Chief Cayler "Lee" Carter Jr., commanding officer of the operations central bureau, was demoted to commander and ordered to work from home. Cmdr. Louis Gray was moved to a post where he will have less authority.
Police Chief William Bratton announced the changes at a news conference. Police were videotaped using batons and firing rubber bullets at demonstrators after a march for immigration reform on May 1. The melee is the focus of four inquiries.
florida
'If I Did It' bid asked
MIAMI — The family of murder victim Ronald Goldman wants a federal bankruptcy judge in Florida to clear the way for them to bid on the rights to O.J. Simpson's canceled "If I Did It" book so they can publish their own version called "Confessions of a Double Murderer."
Simpson, who lives in the Miami area, has maintained his innocence since his 1995 acquittal of the slayings in California of Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.
The "If I Did It" book deal was canceled in November amid intense public outcry.
Alaska
2 in oil-service firm enter bribery pleas
ANCHORAGE — Two top officers of an oil-services company pleaded guilty Monday to bribing Alaska lawmakers with cash and the promise of jobs, contracts and favors for their backing on bills supported by the multinational firm.
Bill J. Allen, founder and chief executive of Anchorage-based VECO Corp., and Rick Smith, a vice president, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.
Allen's attorney did not immediately return calls made to his office Monday. Smith's attorney, John Murtagh, declined comment.
Prosecutors say Smith and Allen conspired to buy the support of five state lawmakers, who are not named in charging documents.
Allen also pleaded guilty to issuing company bonuses to VECO executives to repay them for campaign contributions they made to politicians, then claiming those bonuses as legitimate company expenses.
"It's an unfortunate day," said Amy Menard, an attorney for VECO. "No company wants to find itself where VECO is at. It's a difficult set of circumstances for any company to contend with."
Sentencing was not immediately scheduled. The sentence recommended for each is about 10 years in prison and fines up to $150,000, according to plea agreements unsealed Monday.
connecticut
'Cocaine' drink pulled
NEW HAVEN — An energy drink called Cocaine has been from pulled from stores nationwide amid concerns about its name, the company that produces it said Monday.
Clegg Ivey, a partner in Redux Beverages LLC of Las Vegas, said the company plans to sell the drink under a new name for now.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter last month that said Redux was illegally marketing the drink as a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement. May 4 was the deadline for the company to respond.
The company says Cocaine contains no drugs and is marketed as an energy drink.
