Nation IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Trustee to Oversee Teamsters Local

A Teamsters local that prosecutors say is one of the most corrupt in the nation has been placed under supervision of a court-appointed trustee to rid it of alleged Mafia influence, authorities said. The trustee will oversee Teamsters Local 295, a union of air freight truck drivers who work for companies operating at New York’s Kennedy International Airport. In previous criminal cases, officials of Local 295 and their alleged Mafia partners have been convicted of extortion and other strong-arm tactics against the air freight companies. “The record shows a smug, almost contemptuous, indifference to the presence of organized crime in union affairs by a number of former officials and an active effort by many in Local 295 to thwart reform,” federal Judge Eugene Nickerson wrote.