Oil spill recovery enters new phase

BILOXI, Miss. — BP’s new boss said it’s time for a “scaleback” in cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Federal officials said there is no way the crude could reach the East Coast. And fishing areas are starting to reopen.

There were several signs Friday that the era of thousands of oil-skimming boats and hazmat-suited beach crews is giving way to long-term efforts to clean up, compensate people for their losses and understand the damage wrought. Local fishermen are doubtful, however, and say oil remains a bigger problem than BP and the federal government are letting on.

Other people contend the impact of the spill has been overblown, given that little oil remains on the Gulf surface, but Bob Dudley, who heads BP’s oil spill recovery and will take over as CEO in October, rejected those claims.

Bill Clinton arrives on wedding eve

RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Bill Clinton made a long-anticipated appearance in the upstate New York village where his daughter is getting married, drawing crowds of onlookers Friday afternoon as preparations continued largely out of sight for the grand and secretive occasion.

In the evening, hundreds of people gathered outside the hotel where many of the guests are staying to catch a glimpse of the former president with his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Shortly before 11 p.m., the Clintons exited a van arm-in-arm outside the Beekman Arms Hotel. The former first lady, in a long, green dress, waved to the cheering crowd waiting behind metal barricades outside and quickly went into the hotel. They left about a half-hour later.

Earlier in the day, Bill Clinton, looking fit and relaxed in blue jeans and a black knit shirt, walked with security a few blocks north from the picturesque village’s main intersection to the restaurant Gigi Trattoria.

To questions blurted from the huge crowd he attracted, Clinton rattled off easy answers.

How are you?

“We’re all fine.”

“We love it here,” he said. “Chelsea loves the area as well.”

How’s she doing?

“She’s doing well.”

Chelsea Clinton is expected to marry her longtime boyfriend, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, at a ceremony Saturday evening attended by 400 to 500 people at the grand Astor Courts, an estate on the scenic east bank of the Hudson River.

New claim in

Anna Nicole case

LOS ANGELES — A prosecutor sprang a surprise claim Friday that Anna Nicole Smith was a co-conspirator in the actions that have brought her two doctors and lawyer-boyfriend to trial for over-prescribing and obtaining massive amounts of prescription drugs.

It was unclear how the claim of Smith’s involvement could affect the case. Perry, however, said he was not going to dismiss any charges at this time against the defendants.

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Howard Stern have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to illegally provide the former Playboy model with opiates and sedatives. They are not charged in the overdose death of Smith in 2007 in Florida.

Rose alleged in court that Smith had e-mailed Bonnie Stern, the sister of Howard Stern, asking for medication to be delivered to Smith in the Bahamas. The e-mails between Smith and Bonnie Stern were found on Smith’s computer after she died, Rose said.

Death could mean more violence

MEXICO CITY — One of the world’s most powerful drug cartels took a major hit when soldiers killed a top kingpin in a gunbattle, and his death will likely will mean more violence as factions fight for the cocaine and methamphetamine empire that he left behind.

The death of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel during an army operation also challenges a long-held notion that Mexican government officials at the highest levels have been helping the Sinaloa cartel win the drug war. Coronel was the No. 3 of the gang led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mexico’s most-wanted drug lord.

The attack was an exclusively Mexican operation, unlike other recent raids targeting top drug lords that have relied on U.S. intelligence.

— The Associated Press