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Report: Treasury ok'd raises at bailed-out firms

First Posted: 3/6/2013 ALFRED, Maine
Zumba scandal conviction
An insurance agent accused of helping a Zumba instructor use her fitness studio as a front for prostitution was convicted of promoting prostitution in a scandal that brought international attention to a quaint seaside village.
Prosecutors contend Mark Strong Sr. controlled, supervised and managed the prostitution business and watched the sex acts live via Skype from his office 100 miles away.
The married businessman acknowledged having an affair with dance instructor Alexis Wright and helping her open the Kennebunk studio but contended he didn&#8217;t profit from her prostitution.
Wright is scheduled to stand trial in May, barring a settlement.
WASHINGTON
Menendez accuser recants
Murky allegations involving Sen. Robert Menendez, a top donor and prostitutes in the Dominican Republic have twisted in confusing new directions. The latest: A woman&#8217;s sworn affidavit that she was paid to lie when she claimed she had slept with the senator &#8212; and a media brawl over her role in a story that ignited the furor in the first place.
A conservative media website defended publishing the sensational prostitution claims, even as ABC News confirmed that the Dominican woman who&#8217;s come forward was among two self-described prostitutes who peddled the story less than a week before New Jersey voters re-elected Menendez in November.
Menendez, D-N.J., has always maintained that the allegations, which began circulating last year, were false.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
Abortion restrictions OK&#8217;d
Arkansas lawmakers overrode a veto Wednesday and gave the state the most restrictive abortion law in the country &#8212; a near-ban on the procedure from the 12th week of pregnancy onward that is certain to end up in court.
A day after the Republican-led state Senate voted to override Gov. Mike Beebe&#8217;s veto, the GOP-controlled House voted 56-33 to do the same. Only a simple majority was needed in each chamber.
The vote comes less than a week after the Legislature overrode a veto of a separate bill banning most abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy. That bill took effect immediately after the final override vote, whereas the 12-week ban wouldn&#8217;t take effect until this summer.
Abortion rights proponents already have said they&#8217;ll sue to block the ban.
SAN FRANCISCO
Museum not so far away
&#8220;Star Wars&#8221; creator George Lucas wants to build a museum dedicated to visual storytelling in San Francisco&#8217;s Presidio that would house an art collection he amassed over more than four decades.
The filmmaker said he has long sought to showcase his collection of 150 years of populist art, which includes illustrations by Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish, comics and digital technology.
Lucas, 69, said he doesn&#8217;t have enough wall space at his 6,000-acre Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, so he wants to invest up to $300 million of his own money to build the museum.

Nation/world briefs 03/07/2013