Court says BP must pay claims during appeal
NEW ORLEANS – BP PLC must resume paying claims while it asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review its settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a federal appeals court panel said Wednesday.
The 2-1 judgment said the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will not put a stop to payments while BP appeals the court’s earlier ruling that businesses, under the settlement, don’t have to prove they were directly harmed by the spill to collect money.
BP asked the Supreme Court to review Wednesday’s ruling, saying that otherwise “countless awards totaling potentially hundreds of millions of dollars will be irretrievably scattered to claimants that suffered no injury traceable to BP’s conduct.”
Perry may be eyeing new presidential run
HIAWATHA, Iowa – Behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s visit to Iowa this week to campaign for local politicians is a careful effort to remake his image from the 2012 Republican presidential candidate who couldn’t remember a key message during a debate, to a more polished and prepared contender.
While he denies it is a dress rehearsal for a second presidential run, Perry is studying policy, traveling and meeting with key activists as he campaigns for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and U.S. Senate candidate Matt Whitaker in the state expected to host the first presidential caucus of 2016.
“This hasn’t got anything to do with preparation. This has everything do to with Matt Whitaker,” Perry told reporters Wednesday after touring a Cedar Rapids-area manufacturer.
But the appearance with Whitaker, among five candidates for U.S. Senate, was the start of Perry’s third trip to Iowa since last year.
World Trade Center security tightened
NEW YORK – Recent incidents of illegal access to the World Trade Center tower have led to a security shake-up.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Wednesday that a company that provides unarmed security at the region’s airports will also perform that function at the trade center. Allied Barton’s contract will be increased by about $60 million with the new duties.
Three parachutists jumped from the top of 1 World Trade Center last fall, and in March a New Jersey teenager climbed to the top of the 1,776-foot tower’s spire.
Summit Security Services had been providing unarmed security at the World Trade Center and will continue to provide security at other Port Authority facilities.
Allied Barton was hired for airport security last year.
Associated Press
