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MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Saturday, November 21, 2009 | WIRELESS

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Nation Briefs

By Wire Reports
Published: 10/21/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 10/21/2009 4:39 AM

No increase planned for first-class postage

WASHINGTON — The price of first-class stamps will not go up next year.

The Postal Service has been implementing rate increases annually in recent years, with increases announced in January to take place in May.

The rate went from 42 cents to 44 cents this year.

But Postmaster General John E. Potter announced in an internal postal memorandum that there will be no rise in prices next year for products in which the agency dominates the market, such as first-class mail.

First-class rates cover the type of mail most widely used by individuals, cards and letters. Many businesses use first-class service to deliver bills.

An announcement is expected next month on whether there will be price changes for competitive products — priority mail, express mail, parcel select and most international products.

Changes proposed on medical liability lawsuits

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's willingness to consider alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits is providing a boost for taking such cases out of the courtroom and letting experts, not juries, decide their merits.

The idea of appointing neutral experts to sift malpractice facts from allegations appeals to conservatives in both political parties. They want to address medical liability as part of health care legislation that's now largely silent on the issue. Trial lawyers remain steadfastly opposed to curbs.

Nonetheless,

the American Hospital Association has been shopping a new plan to lawmakers, hoping it will be considered during Senate floor debate on health care in the coming weeks.

Sentencing delay likely for boy, 9, in killing

PHOENIX — A 9-year-old Arizona boy who pleaded guilty in the killing of his father's roommate likely won't be sentenced Thursday because no state or county agency is willing to pay for the costly psychiatric treatment required under terms of a plea agreement, attorneys said.

Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting said Tuesday that he phoned or met with several state agencies, the county Juvenile Probation Department and a group that provides mental health treatment.

None of the agencies was willing to oversee treatment, either because of the cost or their inability to accomodate someone so young.

The boy was 8 when his father and the roommate were shot to death as they arrived home from work in St. Johns, Ariz., last November. The boy was charged with both killings, but pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in only the roommate's death. The murder charge in the father's death was dropped.

The plea deal could become void if no agency will pay for the psychiatric treatment required under the deal, Whiting said.

It will cost anywhere from $30,000 a year to $100,000 a year to give the boy the treatment he needs, Whiting said.

Plot case figure's father faces trial in alleged lie

DENVER — A Colorado man whose son is accused of plotting a terror attack in New York City is scheduled to go to trial in December on a charge of lying to investigators.

A federal judge on Tuesday scheduled a 10-day trial for Mohammed Wali Zazi starting Dec. 7 in U.S. District Court in Denver.

Zazi is free under electronic monitoring on $50,000 bail. An indictment alleges he lied to the FBI when asked if he had spoken to anyone on the phone about whether his son was in any trouble with authorities.

His son, Najibullah Zazi, is being held without bond in New York on a charge of conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States. Najibullah Zazi has pleaded not guilty. By Wire Reports

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