Feature Articles

By John William Tuohy

NEW YORK: A superior court has decided that CBS broadcasting network must defend itself against defamation charges brought by the owners of a Miami nightclub that was filmed by the CBS Evening News and used as the backdrop for a report on Russian organized crime.

     Along with CBS Corp., defendants include the reporter for the segment, James Stewart, and news anchor Dan Rather, who is the managing editor of the CBS Evening News but did not report the segment. According to the complaint, in September of 1997 CBS news approached the owners of La Luna, a Russian restaurant, and asked to film their cabaret show, for, they were told "backgro und footage for a broadcast about tourism in Miami Beach."

     However, the film appeared as part of a report on "the violent threat posed by the new Russian mob in America and, in particular, in Miami."

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A Norwegian man briefly became the richest person in the world after a bank error dumped 9,999,999,973,885.24 Norwegian crowns, or about $1,122 billion US dollars, into his account. Ole Andresen, aged 29, from Oslo, noticed the sum when checking his account via the Internet. For the several hours that the money was in his account, Mr. Andresen was the richest person in the world.

LONDON: According to a prison source, British gangster Reggie Kray has been diagnosed with cancer of the intestine.

     Kray, 66, is serving a life sentence for murder at Wayland Prison, in Norfolk, eastern England

     Kray is the last surviving member of the notorious crime family and has been behind bars for more than 30 years, but was seen in public in April when he attended the funeral of his elder brother Charlie, who died while serving a jail sentence for plotting to smuggle cocaine.

     Reggie and his twin Ronnie achieved notoriety in the late 1960s when they ruled London's underworld by day and rubbed shoulders with celebrities by night.

     Both twins were jailed for life in 1969 -- Reggie for the murder of a minor underworld figure Jack ``The Hat'' McVitie.

     Ronnie died in Broadmoor in 1995. Charlie was buried alongside him at a plot in east London.

CHICAGO: Thomas A. Foran, the US attorney in Chicago from 1968 to 1970 who successfully prosecuted more than 150 members of the Accardo-Battaglia mob, has died of cancer. He was 76.

     Foran was the chief prosecutor in the "Chicago Seven" anti-Vietnam War conspiracy case which stated as a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

     Foran and his prosecuting team won convictions against five of the accused protesters - although not on the conspiracy charge.

SAO PAULO: Seven people were shot to death this in the worst gang-related slaying in Sao Paulo's shantytowns this year.

     Gunmen first shot and killed two teenage brothers in one bar and then opened fire on another nearby bar, killing five and injuring three, including a six-year-old girl.

     It was the 36th gang-related slaughter this year in the drug and crime-infested slums that ring Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest and wealthiest city with a population of 11 million. The slayings have claimed 124 lives this year.

     Sao Paulo has one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America along with war-ravaged Colombian cities, with more than 50 murders per 100,000 people.

WASHINGTON DC: Since I seem to be forever writing about Itlo- Americans who have violated the labor laws, its only right to note that Walter Maggiolo, who helped resolve several major labor disputes as a federal mediator in the 1950s and '60s, died this week at age 92.

     In 1949, Mr. Maggiolo helped lead 60 continuous hours of negotiations that prevented a strike by New York milk delivery drivers. He helped settle a nationwide telephone strike in 1957 and a shutdown of the steel industry in 1959. In 1964, he mediated a national master agreement for the trucking industry and the Teamsters.

     Born in the Bronx, Maggiolo graduated from Holy Cross College in 1930 with a degree in philosophy. He received his law degree at Harvard University in 1933 and went into private practice in New York.

Mr. Tuohy can be reached at MobStudy@aol.com

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