Washington Blade - December, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal chief of AIDS research says he believes drug companies don't have an incentive to create a vaccine for the HIV and are likely to wait to profit from it after the government develops one. And that means the government has had to spend more time focusing on the processes that drug companies ordinarily follow in developing new medicines and bringing them to market. "We had to spend some time and energy paying attention to those aspects of development because the private side isn't picking it up," Dr. Edmund Tramont testified in a deposition in a recent lawsuit obtained by the Associated Press. Tramont is head of the AIDS research division of the National Institutes of Health, and he predicted in his testimony that the government will eventually create a vaccine. He testified in July in the whistleblower case of Dr. Jonathan Fishbein. An official of the group representing drug companies took exception to Tramont's comments. "Our companies are well aware of the need to succeed in this vital area of science," said Ken Johnson of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Frist AIDS charity fees called 'excessively high'

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's AIDS charity paid nearly a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle, according to tax returns providing the first financial accounting of the presidential hopeful's nonprofit. The returns for World of Hope Inc., obtained by the Associated Press, also show the charity raised the lion's share of its $4.4 million from just 18 sources. They gave between $97,950 and $267,735 each to help fund Frist's efforts to fight AIDS. The tax forms, filed nine months after they were first due, do not identify the 18 major donors by name. Frist's lawyer, Alex Vogel, said last week that he would not give their names because tax law does not require their public disclosure. Frist's office provided a list of 96 donors who were supportive of the charity, but did not say how much each contributed. World of Hope gave $3 million it raised to charitable AIDS causes, and the rest of the money went to overhead.

South's oldest feminist bookstore faces possible closure

ATLANTA - When Linda Bryant opened Atlanta's Charis Books & More in 1974, she dreamed of creating a place where people could not only buy books, but literally come together to change themselves and the world. Buoyed by feminist publishing companies that thrived in the 1970s and '80s, the store evolved into a community center of sorts. But after three decades as a beacon for lesbians across the region, the South's oldest feminist bookstore needs a significant increase in sales if it is to survive to reach its 32nd birthday next November, according to Bryant and Charis co-owner Sara Look. In a widely disseminated Dec. 11 e-mail, the bookstore's staff asked the "Charis Community" if they still "want and need Charis to be here." Look said in an interview that she and Bryant, both lesbians, have been "carrying" the business financially, and cannot continue indefinitely. "I'm not asking people to save us," Look said. "What I want to know is, in this culture, do people still value and want there to be feminist bookstores?"

A fifth N.J. county offers domestic partner benefits

FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) - Monmouth County is extending pension benefits to the domestic partners of certain gay county employees, in the wake of neighboring Ocean County's refusal of a similar request from a dying lesbian police officer. In a 4-0 vote last week, the county's freeholder board agreed to give employees of its law enforcement agencies the same choice that other county employees have in choosing a beneficiary for their pension. The change will apply to about 130 people, most of them employees of the county prosecutor's office, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. Monmouth is the fifth county to grant domestic partnership rights - the others are Bergen, Union, Hudson and Mercer - since former Gov. James E. McGreevey signed the Domestic Partners Act into law last year.

LAPD plans to recruit at Chicago's Gay Games

CHICAGO (AP) - When the Gay Games open in Chicago next summer, the Los Angeles Police Department will be in town looking for a few good recruits. The department's aggressive strategy to fill 400 newly created jobs will include offering a written test during the games, officials said. "Our overall crime rate is down, but we have areas of the city that it is not down enough," said Bruce Whidden, a spokesperson for the LAPD's personnel department. "In order to take care of some hot spots, we need to grow the department." The LAPD is a co-sponsor of Gay Games VII, scheduled for July in Chicago. Los Angeles police officers will march in uniform during opening ceremonies along with members of the city's team.

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