Texas drinking charge against Barbara Bush is dismissed

AUSTIN — An underage drinking case against President Bush’s 19-year-old daughter Barbara, a Davenport sophomore, was dismissed Monday in

Municipal Court, city spokeswoman Patty Gonzales said. The dismissal comes after Barbara Bush, who pleaded no contest to a charge of minor in possession of alcohol in June, completed eight hours of community service, which she performed at Goodwill, attended an alcohol awareness class, paid $100 in court fines and stayed out of trouble for three months, Gonzales said. The charge will be wiped from her record, Gonzales said.

Barbara Bush and her twin sister, Jenna, who attends the University of Texas, were ticketed after their visit to a Mexican restaurant in Austin in May.

Jenna was fined a total of $600 in July and her driver’s license was suspended for 30 days after she pleaded no contest to trying to use someone else’s ID to buy liquor, stemming from the May incident, and a judge convicted her of underage drinking, stemming from an April incident.

However, Jenna Bush’s underage drinking charge will go on her record as a conviction because of the restaurant violation. Community Court Judge

Elisabeth Earle fined Jenna Bush $500 and suspended her license for that charge.

–Associated Press

Law professor calls for election monitors in Fair Haven and Hill

Citing reports of potential voter intimidation in the Fair Haven and Hill neighborhoods, Yale Law School professor Harold Koh earlier this week sent an e-mail to a human rights mailing list asking students to volunteer as impartial election monitors today. Koh urged students to volunteer as monitors “dedicated solely to promoting the fairness of the election process,” asking them to look for physical confrontation, voter fraud and other possible inappropriate activity. Students are being asked to observe the election process in Fair Haven’s Wards 14, 15 and 16 and the Hill’s Wards 3 and 4, according to the e-mail. Those wards are of particular concern because a contentious mayoral primary will occur alongside competitive aldermanic elections. The e-mail list is maintained by the Law School’s Schell Center for International Human Rights.

–Charles Enloe

State charges Giordano with sexual assault

ROCKY HILL, Conn. — The mayor of Waterbury, already jailed on federal child sex charges, also will be prosecuted on state charges, authorities said Monday. An arrest warrant issued Monday charges Philip Giordano, 38, with six counts each of sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and conspiracy. Giordano, a married father of three, has been in federal custody since his arrest July 26 on charges of using an interstate facility — such as a telephone or computer — to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and conspiracy. The alleged victims are two female cousins, ages 9 and 11. Giordano’s attorney, Andrew B. Bowman, did not immediately return a phone message left at his office. Giordano, a Republican serving his third two-year term, agreed in August to surrender the power and duties of mayor. He will retain the title until his term expires Dec. 31. He ran unsuccessfully last year for the seat held by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. Federal authorities learned of the alleged sexual assaults while investigating broader allegations of municipal corruption in Waterbury. Acting Mayor Sam Caligiuri said the latest charges will have little effect on

the city.

“It’s been terrible for all of the people involved, but in practical terms we’ve already put Phil Giordano into the past,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, he does not have a hold over the city anymore.”

–Associated Press