Accounting Office

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney won a major victory yesterday when a federal district judge here threw out a suit, brought by the head of the General Accounting Office, to require him to release records of the Bush administration's energy task force, which Cheney led. Though the ruling made no fundamental pronouncement on the separation-of-powers issues that Cheney had insisted were at the heart of the case, it served as a judicial validation for...

WASHINGTON - The Whitewater independent counsel was authorized yesterday to expand his investigation to include whether a former administration official lied about Hillary Rodham Clinton's alleged role in the 1993 firing of White House travel office employees.The broadened scope of the investigation was granted by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals at the request of Attorney General Janet Reno. It allows the independent counsel to review the travel office affair a matter separate from the Whitewater land deal and the first lady's involvement in the firing of seven career employees.

The advertisements promise a hassle-free and perk-filled process for getting rid of a clunker. "Donate your vehicle to charity. Avoid the trouble of selling it yourself and get a tax break." But what they aren't telling you is how doing it the wrong way can set off sirens at the Internal Revenue Service and shortchange the charity. If you're thinking of donating a vehicle, there are a few things to keep in mind about the process. Raising red flags The IRS supports the idea of reducing your tax burden, as long as you do it legitimately.

Washington. -- One of the cheerier delusions of good government is that big federal departments can be forced to tolerate in their ranks those righteous, pesky people known as whistle-blowers. Might as well expect them to welcome their worst enemies to their most secret connivings.That's the lesson to be had from a congressional study of how government agencies have responded to the Whistle-blower Protection Act of 1989, a law designed to protect federal employees who expose wrong-doing on the job.The study, by the watchdog General Accounting Office (GAO)

Faced with brutal competition from airlines and too many unprofitable routes, Amtrak announced yesterday that it will scrap more than a fifth of its service nationwide and cut 5,500 jobs.Effective Feb. 1, the frequency of service will be reduced on numerous routes, including the Silver Star between New York and Tampa-Miami, Fla.; the Silver Meteor from New York to Miami and the Crescent between New York and New Orleans. All three routes include daily stops in Baltimore.In addition, one daily Metroliner and three of the conventional trains running along the heavily traveled Washington-Boston corridor will be eliminated on April 1.MARC, the popular, state-subsidized commuter rail service, will not be affected nor will Amtrak's Christmas holiday schedule.

THERE'S LITTLE holiday cheer this season at the homes of Lori and Myles Kehs and Robert and Kathleen Clogg. The Kehses in Orefield, Pa., and the Cloggs in Chesterfield Township outside Detroit share remarkable similarities.Both couples purchased their first homes about a year ago. Both are raising two young children, ranging in age from 2 to 6 years. Both bought their homes using Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages. After settlement, both discovered that the appraisers who valued their homes failed to report flagrant structural, electrical and other health and safety hazards.

Services for Richard W. Bruckman, a retired accounting officer with the Maryland State Police, will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Eline Funeral Home, 11824 Reisterstown Road.Mr. Bruckman, a resident of Owings Mills, died of an aneurysm Thursday at Sinai Hospital. He was 70.A native of Altoona, Pa., Mr. Bruckman graduated from Altoona High School in 1937. His family later moved to Glen Burnie, and he worked for Eastern Aircraft while attending night school in Baltimore.He retired in 1985 as head accounting officer of the finance division of the Pikesville barracks after 40 years of service and was a member of the Alumni Association.

THE FEDERAL government's largest homeownership program -- FHA mortgage insurance -- is under attack for allegedly allowing lenders and realty agents to pressure appraisers to illegally inflate property valuations, ignore serious defects and building code violations and discriminate against racial minorities in the real estate appraisal profession.The allegations already have triggered an investigation by the General Accounting Office, and are expected to be the subject of congressional hearings.

WASHINGTON -- A congressional agency will turn the tables on the NCAA by making the powerful sports organization the subject of an investigation, it was announced today.The National Collegiate Athletic Association, the major governing body in college sports, is widely known for the investigations it conducts into alleged misconduct by member schools.The General Accounting Office -- an independent, investigative arm of Congress -- has agreed to probe the finances of college sports, said Rep. Tom McMillen of Maryland.

Westminster's Main Street is going to be immortalized.The Internal Revenue Service is making a video telling new entrepreneurs about their first-year tax requirements. And, to the IRS, White's Bicycle Shop appears the perfect small-town small business."It has a unique look on the exterior and a pretty interior with a lot of wood and a period look," said Stuart Cooper of Cooper Productions in Columbia. Mr. Cooper is the coordinator and location scout for the project."Everything else was very modern," said Mr. Cooper of the bicycle shops he checked out throughout the Baltimore area.