LOUISIANA

Reversing a decision that some found bureaucratically absurd, the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted $99,766 to a New Orleans aquarium that saved taxpayers a bundle by catching replacements for the fish it lost to Hurricane Katrina.

FEMA had said that the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas needed to buy the fish from commercial vendors, a method the agency said would cost $616,849 but would comply with disaster aid laws.

When aquarium staff went out and caught them for $99,766, FEMA denied their petition for reimbursement. Carlos J. Castillo, FEMA's assistant director of disaster assistance, reversed the decision.

MARYLAND

Bush gives thanks at Camp David

President Bush is spending Thanksgiving at the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains, where he'll enjoy a traditional turkey dinner with family and get a little quality time with his future son-in-law.

Joining Bush at Camp David were his wife, Laura, daughters Jenna and Barbara, and Henry Hager, who proposed to Jenna in August, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. Bush left for the retreat Tuesday and was to return to Washington on Saturday.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Sen. won't testify in escort case

A federal judge spared Sen. David Vitter an embarrassing appearance on the witness stand in a prostitution case when she abruptly canceled a hearing scheduled for next week.

The Louisiana Republican was under subpoena to testify about his ties to a Washington escort service. Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of running a prostitution ring, had sought to question Vitter about whether he paid for sex.

But U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler canceled the hearing, saying it served no purpose in the criminal case. It was Kessler who originally set the hearing but, after seeing Palfrey's witness list, the judge said she was convinced Palfrey was just trying to game the judicial system.

LOUISIANA

New Orleans official sentenced

A former New Orleans City Council member who prosecutors said reneged on a plea bargain to cooperate in a corruption probe was sentenced to a little over three years in federal prison for taking a $15,000 bribe.

Oliver Thomas, once considered a shining light on the city's political scene and a potential future mayor, pleaded guilty Aug. 13.

In exchange for the plea, according to federal prosecutors, Thomas had agreed to provide information about other illegal activity but later indicated he did not wish to be a "rat."

NEW YORK

Newsday loses discrimination suit

A federal jury in Long Island's Central Islip awarded $100,000 in damages to a former Newsday copy editor, finding that the newspaper had discriminated against her because she suffered from repetitive stress injury.

Nancy Ruhling, 51, of Queens, had originally sued Newsday in 2004 for $60 million. In her civil complaint, Ruhling alleged that the paper also had discriminated against her because of her age.

In addition, Ruhling said the paper had retaliated against her because she had complained to the Tribune Co., Newsday's parent corporation, that she had been harassed by a Newsday supervisor, according to her attorney, Louis Stober of Garden City.

From Times Wire Reports