The nation in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “This kind of came out of the blue and was a surprisingly large amount.” Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, on a new $63-per-head fee on medical plans under the health-care overhaul Article, 1A

Man shot dead outside NYC school

NEW YORK - A man walking down a street outside a school near Central Park was shot in the back of the head on Monday and lay mortally wounded in a pool of blood as his killer escaped with a getaway driver, police said.

The shooting occurred about 2 p.m. outside the Saint Thomas Choir School, a small boarding school for young boys on West 58th Street, between Broadway and Seventh Avenue.

The gunman, wearing a dark coat with a dark hood and khaki pants, came up behind 31-year-old Brandon Lincoln Woodard of Los Angeles and fired what appeared to be a silver semi-automatic pistol, striking him once, police spokesman Paul Browne said.

There was no known connection to the school, Browne said. No motive had been revealed.

None of the 38 boys studying at the school witnessed the shooting , school receptionist Allie Roma said.

Colorado governor activates ‘pot’ law

DENVER - Marijuana for recreational use became legal in Colorado on Monday, when the governor took a purposely low-key procedural step of declaring the voterapproved change part of the state constitution.

Colorado became the second state after Washington to allow marijuana use without a doctor’s recommendation.

Both states prohibit public use of the drug, and commercial sales in Colorado and Washington won’t be permitted until after regulations are written next year.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, opposed the measure but had no veto power over the voter-approved amendment to the state constitution. Colorado law gave Hickenlooper until Jan. 5 to declare marijuana legal.

Hickenlooper Tweeted his declaration Monday and sent an executive order to reporters by e-mail after the fact. He told reporters he didn’t want to make a big deal about the proclamation, a decision that prevented a countdown to legalization as seen in Washington, where the law’s supporters gathered to smoke in public to celebrate.

Fewer than two dozen people publicly marked Colorado’s legalization day. A small group puffed away at 4:20 p.m. on the steps of the state Capitol, with no arrests and no police officers in sight.

Democrats get look at Sandy damage

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A group of Democratic U.S. senators toured storm-ravaged parts of the New Jersey shore on Monday, pledging to support the cost of rebuilding and noting that some of their Republican colleagues also have endorsed the cause.

The tour, led by New Jersey Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez, comes days after President Barack Obama asked Congress for $60.4 billion in federal aid for New Jersey, New York and other states hit by superstorm Sandy in October.

Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Jon Tester of Montana attended the tour, which included a visit to the devastated Holgate section of Long Beach Township. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was scheduled to attend but couldn’t make it because of bad weather.

Counselor convicted of sexual abuse

NEW YORK - A respected religious counselor in New York’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community was convicted Monday of repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl who had come to him with questions about her faith.

The Brooklyn courtroom was silent as the foreman said jurors had found Nechemya Weberman, 54, guilty of 59 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and sexual abuse. He faces 25 years in prison on the top charge and may get more time when he is sentenced on Jan. 9.

The trial put a spotlight on the insular Satmar Hasidic sect, and its strict rules that govern clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world.

The accuser, now 18, told authorities that Weberman abused her repeatedly behind his locked office door from the time she was 12 until she was 15. She had been ordered to see him by her school because she had been asking questions about her religion, was dressing immodestly according to the sect’s customs and needed to be helped back on the right path. Weberman was not a licensed counselor but spent decades working with couples and families in his community.

Weberman denied abusing the girl. Defense lawyers said they plan to appeal.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/11/2012

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