Survivor of NYC bubonic plague case
The Associated Press
A man who nearly lost his life in New York City's first instance of bubonic plague in more than 100 years has died of an unrelated illness in a Santa Fe, N.M., hospital, his wife said Thursday.
John Tull was diagnosed with a rare cancer last month, but doctors didn't believe it was connected to his previous health struggles, said Lucinda Marker, his wife. Tull was 65 when he died Wednesday.
In November 2002, the New Mexico couple was on vacation in New York City when both came down with flulike symptoms including a fever and swollen lymph nodes. They were diagnosed with the plague, an exceedingly rare disease that wiped out a third of Europe in the 14th century. It was considered New York's first plague case in more than a century, but doctors said Tull and Marker had likely become infected in New Mexico.
While Marker recovered within days, Tull was hospitalized for more than two months. He fell into a coma and both of his feet were amputated.
With the case coming in the relative aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, speculation and scrutiny were rampant. Marker said she was questioned for days by a "parade of people" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FBI and New York City health officials.
"They thought we were possibly terrorists or victims of bioterrorism," Marker said.
About seven plague cases are reported across the U.S. each year, and the disease can be treated with antibiotics, according to the CDC. Worldwide, between 1,000 and 2,000 cases are reported to the World Health Organization, the CDC says.
IRS thwarter of Nixon's 'enemies list'
The New York Times
Johnnie Walters, a commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service under President Richard Nixon who left office after refusing to prosecute people on Nixon's notorious "enemies list," died Tuesday at his home in Greenville, S.C. He was 94.
His son Hilton confirmed the death.
Nixon had fired his first IRS commissioner, Randolph Thrower, for resisting White House pressure to punish political opponents. Thrower, who served from 1969 to 1971, died at 100 in March.
Walters' stated goals were simplifying the tax process and catching tax cheats.
Walters had not been told of Nixon's other job requirements, as revealed in a White House conversation recorded on May 13, 1971. "I want to be sure he is a ruthless son of a b****, that he will do what he's told, that every income-tax return I want to see I see, that he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends," the president said.
Walters failed to follow this script -- which was unknown to him -- when John Dean, the White House counsel, summoned him to his office on Sept. 11, 1972. Dean handed him the "enemies list" of 200 people, most prominent Democrats, whom he wanted investigated.
Several days later, Walters went to his immediate boss, Treasury Secretary George Shultz, showed him the list and recommended that the IRS do nothing. Shultz told him to lock the list in his safe.
Walters testified to various committees investigating Nixon misdeeds. He left office in April 1973.
Metro on 06/28/2014