Rain cripples New York City transit By VERENA DOBNIK and DAVID CARUSO, Associated Press Writers

Rain cripples New York City transit By VERENA DOBNIK and DAVID CARUSO, Associated Press Writers
59 minutes ago



NEW YORK - A torrential downpour sent water surging through New York's subway system and highway tunnels and across airport runways Wednesday, leaving thousands of commuters stranded and one big question: How could 3 inches of rain bring the nation's largest mass transit system to a halt?

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The storm, which also spawned a rare tornado, hit just before dawn. By rush hour, the subway system was virtually paralyzed when pumping stations became overwhelmed. Bedlam resulted from too much rain, too fast; some suburban commuters spent a half day just getting to work.

"One big rain and it all falls apart," said Ruby Russell, 64, as she sat waiting on a train in Brooklyn. She had been trying to get to Manhattan for three hours.

The failure renewed a debate about whether the network of pumps, sewers and drains that protects the city's subways from flooding needs an overhaul. Every line experienced some sort of delay as track beds turned into streams gurgling with millions of gallons of rainwater. The washout was the third time in seven months that the subways were disrupted by rain.

Metropolitan Transit Authority engineers were asked to report back to Gov. Eliot Spitzer within 30 days with suggestions about how to deal with the chronic flooding.

"We have a design issue that we need to think about," Spitzer said.

The National Weather Service said a tropical air mass dumped an extraordinary amount of rain in a short period of time. The worst was recorded between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., with 2.5 inches falling on Central Park and almost 3.5 on Kennedy International Airport.

Naturally, the stormwater sought the low ground, and that meant the subways. Water poured in through vents, drowned the signal system and flooded the third rail, forcing a shutoff of power on some lines.

MTA Executive Director Elliot G. Sander said the intensity of the rain was simply overwhelming. The subway's drainage system can generally handle a maximum of 1.5 inches of rainfall per hour.

"The timing and intensity of the storm took us by surprise," Sander said.

The subway problems come as weather experts predict New York is due for a major hurricane. A storm with 130 mph winds and a 30-foot storm surge could cause the Hudson and East rivers to overflow — and bring with it more significant flooding than a severe rainstorm.

Keeping the subway system dry is a challenge, even in regular weather.

On an average day, hundreds of MTA pumps remove 13 million gallons of water from the system, which includes several tunnels and stations below sea level. Much of that water is groundwater that enters from sources such as streams.

Public officials called for improvements in the drainage system after a similar rain-related shutdown in 1999, and the MTA made some changes after another round of paralyzing tunnel floods in 2004, when the remnants of Hurricane Frances washed out the subways for hours.

The city's sewer and stormwater drains can handle steady rain, "but when it comes to these very intense, high inch-count rain events, over a short period of time, it is very difficult," said Michael Saucier, a spokesman for the city's Department of Environmental Protection.

DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd said the city is spending $300 million per year upgrading its piping systems and has been gradually building a more robust stormwater drainage system to replace the old combined sewers that handled wastewater and rain.

In Manhattan, Times Square was one huge mess Wednesday, packed with many of the 4 million riders who rely on the subway system daily. Thousands waited for hours for any means of transportation, jostling one another to get on the few buses that arrived. The suburbs were no better: In Westchester County, hundreds of commuters were stopped on a Metro-North train due to track flooding.

Streams of people in business attire — with briefcases, cell phones and BlackBerries in hand — trudged through drenched streets toward the subway. But it, too, was flooded. The hordes then made a beeline for buses they'd spotted up the street.

The storms also created problems for the region's airports, where delays of up to an hour were reported. The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down in Brooklyn, where winds downed trees, tore off rooftops and wrapped signs around posts. At least 40 homes were damaged.

Tornadoes have hit New York City before, but not often. The National Weather Service had records of at least five, plus sketchy detail on the last reported tornado sighting in Brooklyn, in 1889. None was as strong as Wednesday's twister, which had winds as high as 135 mph.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Jeffrey Tongue, a Weather Service meteorologist.

A woman on Staten Island died when a car got stuck in an underpass and another car came along and hit hers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. A handful of people were injured, Bloomberg said.

Lanie Mastellone, who lives in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge neighborhood, awoke as her roof was coming off. Before escaping, she ran to get her late husband's wedding ring.

"It happened so quick. Maybe he was watching over me," Mastellone said.

At the end of the day, some trains were finally back up and running. But commuters trying to get home were met with another unpleasant surprise: The storm left behind high humidity that felt like they were walking into a sauna — and when they got onto train cars, a sardine can.

___

Associated Press writers Kiley Armstrong, Samantha Gross, Sara Kugler, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews and Cristian Salazar contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS the last name of a commuter to Russell, instead of Russel.)

N.Y. company indicted in Big Dig death By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press Writer

N.Y. company indicted in Big Dig death By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press Writer
57 minutes ago



BOSTON - The company that provided the epoxy blamed in the fatal Big Dig tunnel collapse was indicted Wednesday in the death of a motorist crushed by ceiling panels.

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Powers Fasteners Inc. was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The Brewster, N.Y.-based firm is the only company involved in the construction and design of the tunnel to be indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury, Coakley said, noting that the investigation remains open.

A report from the National Transportation Safety Board released last month found the July 10, 2006, collapse could have been avoided if designers and construction crews had considered that the epoxy holding support anchors for the panels could slowly pull away over time.

Milena Del Valle, 39, was killed when 26 tons of concrete panels and hardware crashed from a tunnel ceiling onto her car as she and her husband drove through the westbound Interstate 90 tunnel. Her husband crawled out of the rubble with minor injuries.

Prosecutors said Powers Fasteners knew the type of epoxy it marketed and sold for the nearly $15 billion project was unsuitable for the weight it would have to hold, but never told project managers.

"They failed to make that distinction clear," said Paul Ware, hired as a special investigator by Coakley.

Jeffrey Powers, president of Powers Fasteners, said the company was unfairly targeted.

The decision to indict Powers doesn't mean other companies involved in the construction are off the hook, Coakley said. No individuals were indicted, but Coakley did not rule that out in the future.

The maximum penalty for a company charged with manslaughter in Massachusetts is $1,000. Coakley said there may need to be changes in the law, saying the criminal statute may be "wholly inadequate."

The indictment comes after more than a year of investigations by state and federal agencies, which Coakley stressed are continuing. The charge does not directly affect a separate wrongful death lawsuit that Del Valle's husband and daughter filed against Powers, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and eight other companies.

Jeffrey Denner, an attorney for Angel Del Valle, said he believes the grand jury would continue to consider criminal charges against others involved but that it was appropriate to charge Powers.

"They are certainly as culpable as it gets. They are the people who supplied the epoxy," he said.

In the report released last month, federal investigators spread blame for the collapse among the many corporations, consultants and engineers involved in the Big Dig project, the most expensive highway project in U.S. history. The agency also faulted the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority for failing to conduct a timely tunnel inspection program.

The NTSB singled out Powers for providing "inadequate and misleading" information about its Power-Fast epoxy. Tests had shown the epoxy's "Fast Set" formulation to be "subject to creep under sustained tension loading," the report said.

Officials from Powers Fasteners said after the report was issued that it would be "an absurd conclusion if the federal investigators were to consider Powers Fasteners in any way responsible, since the overwhelming evidence is that the fault lies elsewhere."

Powers said Wednesday his company filled an order for its Standard Set product for use in the ceiling and never knew its Fast Set product was used. Powers said in a statement that it supplied to a distributor only $1,287.60 of epoxy for that particular tunnel. Ware said the company billed the state more than $500,000 for its work on the Big Dig.

"At no time did anyone ever tell Powers, and Powers never had reason to believe, that its Fast Set product was used in the tunnel ceiling," Powers said.

Powers said that in July 1999, before the ceiling installation was done, the company informed state highway department officials overseeing the Big Dig that the Fast Set epoxy was intended only for "short term loading."

Del Valle's death prompted tunnel and road closures and sparked a public furor over the Big Dig. The project, which had an initial price tag of $2.6 billion, has been plagued by problems and cost overruns throughout the two decades it took to design and build.

The construction buried the old elevated Central Artery that ran through the heart of Boston with a series of tunnels, ramps and bridges.

Parole for man jailed after rape apology By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer

Parole for man jailed after rape apology By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 12 minutes ago



RICHMOND, Va. - A man who confessed to raping a woman as he apologized two decades later as part of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is scheduled to be released from jail after serving six months of an 18-month sentence, officials said Wednesday.

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William Beebe, 42, pleaded guilty in November to one count of aggravated sexual battery for his attack on Liz Seccuro while at the University of Virginia. In March, a judge ordered a 10-year prison sentence with all but 18 months suspended.

Seccuro was shocked when informed Tuesday by Beebe's parole officer of his impending release. She said she was never given the opportunity to speak to the parole board.

"Everywhere in America I've seen, the victim has a say," Seccuro said. "And that's the problem — rape victims are voiceless."

Virginia abolished parole for all crimes committed after 1994, but because the crime occurred a decade earlier, Beebe is a candidate for early release. He has a projected release date of Sept. 17.

"He only got 18 months on a plea deal, so according to the time that was computed under the old system, this is when he was eligible to be released," said Barbara Woodhouse, Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

His parole officer declined to comment Wednesday, and a message left for a representative of the parole board was not immediately returned.

"If Virginia is so very proud of the fact that there is no statute of limitations on rape, then the sentencing has to follow suit," Seccuro said. "All I ever wanted was for the people who were responsible to be held accountable — but to be held accountable properly. And I don't think this is proper."

Prosecutor Dave Chapman said that although he knew Beebe would be eligible for parole, a release date after just six months is surprising.

"It is an excellent illustration of why the abolition of parole was appropriate, advisable and sensible," Chapman said.

The case was revived in 2005 after Beebe, of Las Vegas, wrote Seccuro a letter of apology in an attempt to atone for the 1984 fraternity party assault as part of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step recovery program.

The program's ninth step calls on alcoholics to make amends to those they have harmed — unless doing so would cause further injury. In an exchange of e-mails that ensued, Beebe wrote: "I want to make clear that I'm not intentionally minimizing the fact of having raped you. I did."

Seccuro, 40, of Greenwich, Conn., eventually called Charlottesville police to report what had happened. There is no statute of limitations on felonies in Virginia.

Beebe had originally been charged with rape and object sexual penetration and could have received life in prison. But in November, he entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after investigators uncovered information suggesting Seccuro was attacked by more than one person that night.

Seccuro was given a drink at the party that made her feel strange, and she later passed out, leaving her memory hazy. She said she vividly recalls being attacked by Beebe, but always had a vague impression she'd been assaulted by additional members of the fraternity.

Authorities had hoped Beebe could assist them in their investigation, but prosecutors said he gave them no helpful information. Last month, officials told The Associated Press they had exhausted all leads, and the case has stalled.

Seccuro went public with her name and story, hoping to lead other sexual assault survivors to seek help. She launched STARS — Sisters Together Assisting Rape Survivors — to raise money for rape victims and their families.

___

On the Net:

STARS: http://starssurvivors.org/

Pakistan may declare state of emergency By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press Writer

Pakistan may declare state of emergency By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press Writer
47 minutes ago



ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The government of embattled Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Thursday it may impose a state of emergency because of "external and internal threats" and deteriorating law and order in the volatile northwest near the Afghan border.

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Tariq Azim, minister of state for information, said talk from the United States about the possibility of U.S. military action against al-Qaida in Pakistan "has started alarm bells ringing and has upset the Pakistani public." He mentioned Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama by name as an example of someone who made such comments, saying his recent remarks were one reason the government was debating a state of emergency.

But it appeared the motivation for a declaration of an emergency would be the domestic political woes of Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism who took power in a 1999 coup.

His popularity has dwindled and his standing has been badly shaken by a failed bid to oust the country's chief justice — an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to the Musharraf's bid to seek a new five-year presidential term this fall.

The Pakistani government's comments on a possible emergency declaration came hours after Musharraf abruptly announced he was canceling a planned trip to Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday to attend a U.S.-backed tribal peace council aimed at curtailing cross-border militancy by the Taliban and al-Qaida.

The decision to cancel the trip appeared linked to the government's deliberations over declaring a state of emergency.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke at length with Musharraf in a call that took place in the early hours of Thursday in Pakistan, a senior State Department official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, refused to discuss the substance of the 17-minute conversation.

During a state of emergency, the government can restrict the freedom to move, rally, engage in political activities or form groups and impose other limits such as restricting the parliament's right to make laws or even dissolving parliament.

"These are only unconfirmed reports although the possibility of imposition of emergency cannot be ruled out and has recently been talked about and discussed, keeping in mind some external and internal threats and the law and order situation," Azim told The Associated Press.

"I cannot say that it will be tonight, tomorrow or later. We hope that it does not happen. But we are going through difficult circumstances so the possibility of an emergency cannot be ruled out," he added.

Pakistani television networks reported that a declaration of an emergency was imminent, but other senior government officials said no final decision had been made.

No announcement had been made by daybreak Thursday. Legal experts and security officials began arriving at Musharraf's office in Islamabad at midmorning for meetings on the issue, a presidential aide said on condition on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum said he had been summoned to meet Musharraf later Thursday, but he had not been told the reason.

Azim referred to recent Pakistani military action against militants in northwestern border areas that he said had resulted in the deaths of many soldiers.

Violence has been rising in the lawless region where critics say a September 2006 peace deal with local Taliban has allowed Islamic militants to thrive. The U.S. has called the deal a failure, saying it gave al-Qaida an opportunity to regroup in the region.

Meanwhile, Musharraf on Wednesday pulled out of a "peace jirga" in Kabul that is to bring more than 600 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders together with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said Musharraf had phoned Karzai Wednesday to say he couldn't attend because of "engagements" in Islamabad, and that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would take his place. Afghan officials said the jirga would proceed as planned without Musharraf.

Aziz held talks with Musharraf early Thursday before leaving for Afghanistan, and that he was due back in Pakistan later in the day.

In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. understands Musharraf's decision to pull out of the planned meeting in Afghanistan.

"President Musharraf certainly wouldn't stay back in Islamabad if he didn't believe he had good and compelling reasons to stay back," McCormack said. "Certainly we would understand that."

Musharraf is under growing American pressure to crack down on militants at the Afghan border because of the fears that al-Qaida is regrouping there.

The Bush administration has also not ruled out unilateral military action inside Pakistan, but like Obama, has stressed the need to work with Musharraf.

On Wednesday, Obama was asked again about his views on Pakistan.

"We can't send millions and millions of dollars to Pakistan for military aid and be a constant ally to them and yet not see more aggressive action in dealing with al-Qaida," he told reporters in Oakland, Calif.

However, he did not repeat the most incendiary line from his foreign policy speech last week when he promised: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

On Tuesday night, Obama appeared to soften his position during a debate with other Democratic presidential hopefuls.

"I did not say that we would immediately go in unilaterally. What I said was that we have to work with Musharraf, because the biggest threats to American security right now are in the northwest provinces of Pakistan."

Obama and his spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday on Pakistan's possible declaration of a state of emergency.

One of Musharraf's worries back home is a Supreme Court hearing set for Thursday of a petition in which exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — ousted in 1999 in the coup that brought Musharraf to power — and his brother are seeking to be allowed to return to Pakistan contest parliamentary elections due by early 2008.

Speaking from London to Pakistan's Geo TV, Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, said an emergency would be aimed at stopping two "pillars of the country, two citizens of the country" from coming back.

"This will be another blunder by Musharraf. There is no justification, no basis for emergency," he said.

Another exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto — widely reported to have met with Musharraf recently in the United Arab Emirates to discuss a power-sharing deal — said that imposition of emergency would be a "drastic" step that the government should not take.

An aide to the president said Musharraf was due to meet with Cabinet ministers, the attorney-general and leaders from the ruling party on Thursday to discuss whether an emergency should be declared. He said he did not expect a declaration of an emergency in the early hours of Thursday.

A senior government official said Musharraf had held several meetings Wednesday with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, legal experts and top figures of the ruling party and the leaking of possible emergency plans indicated that it was a serious option.

Both the aide and the official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Under Pakistan's constitution, the head of state — the president — may declare a state of emergency if it is deemed that the country's security is "threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond" the government's authority to control.

If a state of emergency is to be extended beyond two months, it must be approved by a joint sitting of parliament, the constitution says.

______

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad and Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad, Pakistan and Jason Straziuso in Kabul, Afghanistan and Scott Lindlaw in Oakland, California contributed to this report.

Beckham's MLS debut possible By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer

Beckham's MLS debut possible By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer
51 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - David Beckham dribbled, juggled and passed the ball during a Los Angeles Galaxy practice on a stiflingly hot afternoon at RFK Stadium, offering at least some hope that the 45,000 people who have bought tickets for Thursday's game will actually get to see him play.

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"It's looking up," Beckham said Wednesday. "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully I'll get out there playing soon."

Thursday would be a good time to start, given the sellout crowd that has been anticipating the Galaxy's game against D.C. United, but Beckham's tender left ankle will have the last word. The English star who elevated MLS' profile to new heights simply by signing a contract still hasn't played a MLS game, a frustration compounded by the fact that he knows the fans have been let down.

"There's obviously going to be people who maybe don't understand, but it's a sports injury," Beckham said at a news conference that had to be held in one of the stadium's baseball batting cages to accommodate the media throng.

"I can't really apologize for being injured because that's just the way of life in any sportsman's career. It's frustrating for myself to not be out there on the pitch, probably more frustrating than for the people to wait for me to step onto the pitch. I'm doing everything possible to get fit, and that's all I can say."

If Beckham plays on Thursday, it will not be for long. He spoke of getting perhaps 10 or 20 minutes as a substitute, depending on how his ankle feels after his limited participation in two days of practice.

"If it's not right, it's not right," Beckham said. "It's one of those injuries that has to be right for me to play because I don't want to set myself back another five or six weeks just for 20 minutes on the field."

Beckham sprained his ankle while playing for England in June and aggravated the injury in a game with Real Madrid later that month. He made a 16-minute appearance in an exhibition game against English club Chelsea shortly after joining the Galaxy in July and has since missed all three of Los Angeles' SuperLiga games as well as Sunday's scoreless draw at Toronto.

Coach Frank Yallop said the opportune setting for a MLS debut — a full house in the nation's capital — would not influence whether Beckham plays.

"We're not going to put him out there to re-injure it," Yallop said. "We'll put him out there when he's fit and ready to go. He's getting close. We won't force him."

Beckham's health is also of concern to England coach Steve McClaren, who is preparing for an exhibition game against Germany on Aug. 22 and European Championship qualifiers against Israel on Sept. 8 and Russia four days later. United has been alerted that McClaren might attend Thursday's game, but Beckham said he spoke to the coach this week and got the impression the trip would be worth it only if he were starting.

"Whether it's worth him coming to see me for 10 minutes, I'm not so sure," Beckham said.

While Beckham was unsure about his playing status, he had a strong message for MLS: Ditch the artificial turf.

Beckham said he's noticed some things that are "not right" about MLS, and foremost in his mind was the fake grass used at four MLS stadiums. He said the fact that RFK Stadium has the real thing — unlike Toronto and New England, where the Galaxy play Sunday — will be a "huge factor" in whether he will play.

"As a professional athlete, you can't play a game like soccer on that sort of field," Beckham said. "What it does to your body as a soccer player, you're in bits for three days after that."

Wake Forest picks Gaudio to coach By JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer

Wake Forest picks Gaudio to coach By JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer
48 minutes ago



WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Dino Gaudio has taken over for Skip Prosser before.

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More than two decades ago, Gaudio replaced Prosser at a parochial high school in West Virginia and eventually led that team to a state title. On Wednesday, Wake Forest chose Gaudio to again take Prosser's place, this time to replace his late mentor in the cutthroat Atlantic Coast Conference.

"Just like this situation, he left me good players," Gaudio said. "Following him was a terrific tribute. He laid the foundation, set the table and it all worked out, and I hope the same thing happens here."

Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman, who signed Gaudio to a five-year contract, praised the 50-year-old Gaudio for his strength during the two weeks of grieving that followed Prosser's July 26 death from an apparent heart attack. While making such a long-term commitment to a coach with a career record of 68-124 might appear unusual, Wellman said he never considered hiring an interim coach.

"That is the worst-case scenario for a coach to be in," Wellman said. "What you're saying is that you're a lame duck. And how you coach is after every (game), the players start thinking you're a lame duck. ... That was not an option that I was interested in whatsoever.

"Quite frankly, I expect that to be the first contract (of many) for Dino," he said. He declined to discuss the value of Gaudio's deal, as is the practice at the private school.

The speedy hire also appeared aimed at emphasizing stability and continuity to a recruiting class that's ranked as one of the nation's best. Among the commitments are forward Al-Farouq Aminu of Norcross, Ga. (ranked No. 3 nationally by Scout.com), and center Ty Walker of Wilmington (ranked No. 14 by the service).

"The best way I can say it is, I feel really excited about this year, and I feel really, really, really excited about the next four years," Gaudio said, taking care not to break NCAA rules banning coaches from discussing high school players. "I think that's all I'm allowed to say."

Dave Telep, basketball recruiting editor for Scout.com, said Gaudio's promotion was key for the program to begin healing after Prosser's death.

"From a recruiting perspective, the only move that could unify their present roster and give them the best chance of maintaining their three commitments was to hire somebody from within," he said. "I'm sure it was a difficult decision because that staff is loaded with high-character guys, and I don't think anybody on that staff thought of themselves as above another guy."

Wellman outlined his search plans during a meeting with current staff members last Friday, the day before Prosser's burial in Cincinnati.

"My priority was to secure a basketball coach that would do the things that they had laid the foundation for," Wellman said.

A nearly four-hour interview with Gaudio on Monday led Wellman to strongly consider him that night, and a day later he finalized the decision to promote Prosser's longtime assistant.

"Nobody is going to be more driven, more motivated to complete the task that we set out a few years ago," Gaudio said. "We'll make certain that what we started, we're going to finish."

Sophomore point guard Ishmael Smith said the players were relieved that Gaudio was promoted, because there was a lingering worry about having to learn the new systems and schemes of an unfamiliar leader.

"Coach would want us to keep fighting, keep pushing, put this behind us and move on with coach Gaudio," Smith said.

Prosser and Gaudio first paired up in 1980-81 at a Catholic school in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. The native of Yorkville, Ohio, took over the program at tiny Wheeling Central in 1984-85 after Prosser left to join Xavier's staff, and a year later, won a state championship.

They reunited in 1987 under Pete Gillen at Xavier and stayed together until 1993, when Prosser took the head job at Loyola of Maryland and Gaudio accepted a similar position at Army. Gaudio went 36-72 in four seasons with the Black Knights before moving to Loyola of Maryland, where he was 32-52 before he resigned in 2000.

He rejoined Prosser at Xavier in 2000-01, and the two moved to Wake Forest together the following season.

Prosser's death following a midday jog stunned the college basketball world and left Wake Forest's close-knit campus in disbelief.

"I have a very heavy heart in how this opportunity presented itself," Gaudio said. "You know how much Skip meant to me. He was my best friend, he was my mentor, he's the one I turned to for advice, and he always looked out for me. Maybe he's looking out for me right now."

An example of how close the two were: Gaudio was nervous Tuesday night when calling Prosser's mother to tell her he would take over for her son. He shouldn't have worried.

"She was like, 'Terrific!' She was excited, and she made me feel so good," Gaudio said. "I said, 'Grandma Jo, you're still in this family, and I still need your advice.'"

___

AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh contributed to this report.

New Yorker winds up with Bonds' 756th By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer

New Yorker winds up with Bonds' 756th By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer
51 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Matt Murphy's stopover in San Francisco included a pretty wild ride, and it wasn't on a cable car. The 21-year-old college student who grew up near Shea Stadium emerged from a mad scramble at AT&T Park on Tuesday night with a bloodied face and the city's most-prized souvenir: the ball from Barry Bonds' record 756th home run.

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"I won the lottery," Murphy told The Daily News in a story posted on its Web site Wednesday. "I'm scraped up but nothing serious."

Murphy said the ball was "under lock and key."

"I'm going to be smart about what I do with it," he said. "Funny enough, I'm only keeping 51 percent of what the ball brings."

Murphy said the rest would go to a friend who went with him to the game, wearing an Alex Rodriguez jersey.

Murphy had a layover in San Francisco on his way to visit a friend in Australia. As of Wednesday, he was planning to catch a later flight.

One of Murphy's neighbors said the family is born-and-bred from Queens and that his mother grew up in the home.

"I think it's extraordinary, what a stroke of good luck. I hope they get a lot of money. They certainly deserve it. They're a very, very, very nice family," John Kroeger said.

Wearing a Mets jersey, Murphy went to the stadium and took his seat in the right-center field seats to see the Giants play Washington.

Then in the fifth inning, Bonds struck. The slugger sent a drive into the stands to break Hank Aaron's home run record, setting off a scrum.

"The first thing I saw once it hit was I'm sure somebody was coming out of that pile bloodied," Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard said. "I'm sure they were in there scratching, clawing, scraping, punching, kicking, doing whatever they could do to get that ball."

That's about what happened, Murphy said.

"When I caught the ball, I just curled up under a bleacher and immediately there was a 30-person dogpile," he told the News.

"I kept yelling, 'I got it! I got it!" he said. "The SFPD saved my life."

San Francisco police officer Ana Morales and her partner, Kevin Martin, were assigned to that section at the ballpark. When Bonds connected, "there was complete chaos," she told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday from San Francisco.

Morales said the ball "hit something, bounced up and then as it was going down toward the ground, he (Murphy) leaned over and got it."

There was a massive pile of fans scrambling to get to the ball, and Murphy was on the bottom, Morales said. The officers began peeling people off the top.

"Everyone wanted to be a part of it and everybody wanted the ball," she said.

When they got to Murphy he was bent over and bloodied, with the ball in his hand. She told him: "Put the ball in your pocket and we will protect you."

Morales and Martin led Murphy to a secure area in the ballpark and Giants officials who authenticated the baseball.

"I didn't get to see the rest of the game, which kind of upset me," Murphy said. "My Mets jersey? I had to throw it out. It was trashed."

Morales said Murphy "didn't seem to want any publicity. He was a kid who just wanted to take his ball and go home."

Murphy grew up in Queens and when he's not in school, he lives in a tidy wood-framed house with his parents, grandmother and little brother.

Next-door neighbor Kay Mitchell said Murphy is a real clean-cut guy. "You never hear anything bad about him. He's just a nice college kid," she said.

Even though there were thousands of loyal Giants fans in attendance, Morales said she's happy that Murphy ended up with the ball because he seemed like a true fan of the game.

And anyway, she had consolation: "I got to touch it," she said.

___

Associated Press Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco and Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

It'll be hot finale at PGA Championship By DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer

It'll be hot finale at PGA Championship By DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer
51 minutes ago



TULSA, Okla. - High noon at Southern Hills looked more like a ghost town. Wednesday before a major championship usually is bustling with activity, especially at the PGA Championship, the last chance for players to win a major until the azaleas bloom in April at Augusta National. But it's particularly quiet at Southern Hills, so quiet you could almost hear drops of sweat sizzling on the sidewalk.

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"My guess is a lot of guys are playing practice rounds at 4 a.m.," Paul Goydos said.

British Open champion Padraig Harrington was among the brave. He teed off shortly before noon to play 18 holes as the temperature climbed toward 100 degrees, and it looked even hotter with a flame shooting from the top of a refinery on the horizon. An elderly gentleman approached to say he was from Ireland, and Harrington looked toward the blazing sun.

"You're a long way from home," he said.

They are a long way from the gray skies and cold rain of Carnoustie, where Harrington won three weeks ago.

Heat figures to be as intimidating as anything defending champion Tiger Woods might do at Southern Hills, which has a history of hosting some of the hottest majors. Retief Goosen, who won the U.S. Open here in 2001, played nine holes and went through five bottles of water.

Not too many players went more than nine holes, if that much.

"I can't imagine anyone practicing a lot," Chad Campbell said. "You don't want to wear yourself out."

Woods stopped playing a practice round on Wednesday at the majors a few years ago, and he must have been especially glad to have changed his routine at Southern Hills. He arrived about 8 a.m. and hit balls for an hour before heading for the putting green.

The world's No. 1 player has one last chance to add a major to his collection this year, and there are mixed feelings about his chances. Woods has not played Southern Hills particularly well in two recent trips, although he points out that he was an emotional wreck in 1996 with his father in the hospital, and didn't know where the ball was going at the 2001 U.S. Open.

And while Southern Hills has a history of wire-to-wire winners, there is nothing about the Perry Maxwell design that tends to favor a particular style, whether it's long or short, great irons or great short games.

"If Tiger wins this week — if he can dominate on a golf course like this — then we're all done," Goydos said.

The Bermuda rough is only about 3 inches, deep enough that balls sink to the ground and can be hard to find, but not so much that players have no choice but to hack out onto the fairway. The greens are pure, but not linoleum slick like Oakmont.

The PGA Championship has earned a reputation in recent years as being the most fair major.

And given its spot on the calendar, the hottest major. That explained why it was so quiet on the eve of the final major.

Twenty minutes after Harrington teed off, the first fairway remained wide open. In recent years, the biggest problem with practice rounds at the majors is that they take up to six hours with so many players hitting putts and chips from every conceivable angle.

"There was no one ahead of us and no one behind us," Kevin Sutherland said after playing nine holes with Goydos. "We stood on the ninth green for five minutes telling stories and we never saw anyone in the fairway."

Even a quick practice round was no picnic. Sutherland was in the clubhouse when someone passed by and slapped him on the shoulder, only to look down at a hand dripping wet.

"Just got out of the pool," Sutherland told him.

For Stephen Ames, it brought back fond memories.

"I'm going to play nine holes and then find a nice mango tree," said Ames, who grew up in Trinidad & Tobago. "That's what we used to do on days like this. Find a nice mango tree and hit balls in the shade. We'd cut down the grass and hit balls. Very nice."

Not so nice was Darren Clarke's wardrobe on Wednesday, in which he surely borrowed a chapter from Colin Montgomerie on how not to dress when the temperature hits triple digits. Monty famously wore navy blue slacks and a shirt in the 1994 playoff at Oakmont. Clarke wore black pants and a black shirt.

"Weight-loss program," he said.

The heat is getting plenty of attention, and while it's true that players are going through bottles of water as frequently as John Daly goes through a pack of cigarettes, it is not terribly surprising.

The PGA Championship is in August. It's supposed to be hot.

The most recent exception was Whistling Straits in northern Wisconsin a few years ago, when it was so chilly in the third round that some fans brought Green Bay Packers jackets to the tournament. But it was stifling in Atlanta in 2001 and in New Jersey two years ago.

"Baltusrol was the worst," Sutherland said. "The cuffs of my pants were soaked because that's where the sweat was running."

Goydos pondered the heat during a breakfast of cantaloupe, bacon and a Danish — no need to check him for steroids — and wondered what everyone was expecting.

"If you come to Tulsa for the PGA and are shocked to find it too hot," he said, "you might need to find a new profession."

One only has to see the motorized fans, 50 inches in diameter, around most of the greens at Southern Hills. The tournament arranged for Precision Air Systems out of Pompano Beach, Fla., to deliver 21 of these massive fans for the PGA Championship.

They deliver air that is about 10 degrees cooler and will help keep the greens alive. The fans have been running 24 hours a day since Tuesday. Workers will remove them Thursday morning before the first round, replace them after the round and repeat the process until the PGA Championship has a winner.

"I wish they'd leave them on during the tournament," Rory Sabbatini. "And add some misting for us."

Celtics luring Miller out of retirement By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer

Celtics luring Miller out of retirement By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer
1 hour, 45 minutes ago



BOSTON - The Boston Celtics have spoken with future Hall of Famer Reggie Miller about coming out of retirement to help the once-proud franchise in its push for an unprecedented 17th NBA title.

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"I'm always flattered when my name is mentioned as someone who can still help an NBA team win a championship," Miller said Wednesday in a statement relayed to The Associated Press by the TNT network. "I've had limited discussions with Celtics management about their roster and a potential role for me. At this time, I'm enjoying my role as an analyst with TNT."

ESPN.com was the first to report the talks.

Celtics officials did not respond to requests for comment. Miller's agent, Arn Tellem, declined comment.

Miller, who will turn 42 this month, played 18 seasons, all with the Indiana Pacers, before retiring in 2005. He is 13th on the league's career scoring list with 25,279 points and the leader in 3-pointers made and attempted.

His uniform No. 31 was retired by the Pacers last year.

In addition to working on television broadcasts of NBA and WNBA games, he has run a movie production company called Boom Baby Productions and co-hosted "Live with Regis and Kelly." But he admitted when the Pacers opened training camp without him in 2005 that it wasn't the same thrill.

"It's strange not to be a part of an (NBA) organization or part of a team," he said then. "I'm not joking with anybody on the bus like I usually do. But waking up with my back, knees and ankles hurting — that's not stuff I'm going to miss much."

The Celtics were 24-58 last season and have won three playoff series in the nine years since drafting Paul Pierce. But they have undergone a near-complete roster overhaul this summer that has taken them from a rebuilding program to Eastern Conference contenders.

They traded for seven-time All-Star Ray Allen on draft weekend and then pulled off an unprecedented 7-for-1 trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for former MVP Kevin Garnett. Those two will team with Pierce to form one of the most formidable top three in the NBA.

But the rest of the roster needs work.

The starting lineup includes second-year pro Rajon Rondo at point guard and Kendrick Perkins at center. Only four other players are under contract.

"Clearly, we need a little bit more help just to shore up the bench," coach Doc Rivers said after the Garnett deal. "But it's sure better talking about shoring up our bench than shoring up our starting lineup."

That's where Miller would fit in, as a backup for Allen and the kind of veteran who would provide guidance — and perhaps a key 3-pointer — in the playoffs. (The last time the NBA's most decorated franchise, made the postseason, in 2005, they were bounced out in seven games by the Pacers in Miller's final season).

Lopez may get $545,000 from ex-hubby Noa 53 minutes ago

Lopez may get $545,000 from ex-hubby Noa 53 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - Jennifer Lopez has been awarded nearly $545,000 in a lawsuit against her first husband, Ojani Noa, over his plans to publish a tell-all book claiming she had several affairs.

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A court-ordered arbitrator made the decision in April in Lopez's breach-of-contract lawsuit against Noa, court papers filed Monday indicated. The figure includes only $200,000 in damages, with the rest going for arbitration costs and attorneys' fees.

Lopez's lawsuit claimed that Noa had violated a previous lawsuit settlement preventing him from revealing private information about their relationship.

The arbitrator also decided that a permanent injunction should be awarded against Noa that would bar him from "criticizing, denigrating, casting in a negative light or otherwise disparaging or causing disparagement" to the singer-actress.

Noa also would be directed to give Lopez or her attorney all copies of materials related to the book.

The arbitration decision was disclosed Monday when Lopez's attorney filed papers asking a Superior Court judge to confirm the award. A hearing in the case was scheduled for Sept. 5.

A call to Lopez's attorney, Paul N. Sorrell, wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

Noa couldn't be located for comment.

Noa, 31, and Lopez, 39, married in February 1997 and were divorced 11 months later.

His unpublished, ghostwritten book alleges that during that time Lopez had multiple affairs, including one with her third and current husband, Marc Anthony, court documents indicated.

Her lawsuit claimed Noa offered not to publish the book in return for $5 million.

In 2004, Noa sued Lopez for breach of contract, claiming she lured him into taking a $1,000-a-week managerial job at her Pasadena restaurant, Madre's, and then fired him five months later.

Noa settled the case for $125,000 and agreed not to disclose private information about their relationship or to disparage Lopez, according to court papers.

Lopez's lawsuit claimed Noa's book plans breached that agreement.

___

On the Net:

Jennifer Lopez:

http://www.jenniferlopez.com/

Woodstock's famous farm on the market 56 minutes ago

Woodstock's famous farm on the market 56 minutes ago



BETHEL, N.Y. - The famous farm near the alfalfa field that drew 400,000 people to Woodstock for three days of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll is up for sale.

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The asking price: $8 million.

Roy Howard, the current owner, is packing it in after years of tangling with local officials over permits for reunion gatherings to mark the 1969, three-day Woodstock music festival that helped ignite a generation.

Up for sale is the 2,000-square-foot house that belonged to dairy farmer Max Yasgur, along with a larger farmhouse, a barn and 103 bucolic acres about 80 miles north of New York City.

Included are a gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances, double convection ovens, Viking stove, antique soapstone sink, 22-foot vaulted ceilings and expansive views of the Pocono Mountains. There's also a double whirlpool tub, steam shower and bidet.

The nearby alfalfa field where the concert was held isn't included in the sale. It's owned by cable magnate Alan Gerry, who turned it into the 4,800-seat Bethel Woods Center last summer.

Yasgur lent out the alfalfa field for the concert after promoters were rejected by officials in the nearby town of Woodstock. About 400,000 people packed the field Aug. 15-17 for the festival that drew the biggest names in music — Jimi Hendrix and the Who among them.

Yasgur and his farm were celebrated in Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock," popularized by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the line: "I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm. I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band."

Sullivan County Treasurer Ira Cohen, who was at Woodstock, helped organize reunions during the 1990s and said the sale will end an era.

"The reunions were a way to keep the music going," he said.

Funk band member stars as Celia Cruz By SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS, Associated Press Writer

Funk band member stars as Celia Cruz By SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Playing the Queen of Salsa on stage is a dream come true for Xiomara Laugart, the star of the musical "Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz." But the singer doesn't want to mislead the audience.

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"I am not Celia. I don't sing like Celia," said Laugart, a former member of funk band Yerba Buena, who is making her stage debut in the off-Broadway production.

Like Cruz, Laugart, too, is Cuban and a singer. But Cruz "is the Queen of Salsa. I am the queen of my house," Laugart said.

"Imagine! She is the pioneer of the music and the representation of black, Latina and Cuban women. How can you represent that? That's a tremendous challenge, a tremendous responsibility," the exuberant 46-year-old singer told reporters at a Manhattan restaurant, flashing a huge smile.

"People will come to remember Celia. ... What we are doing is recounting her life in the most respectful way."

The musical, opening Sept. 12 at New World Stages, will be directed by Jaime Azpilicueta, who helmed Spanish language productions of "My Fair Lady," "Evita" and "The Way We Were." Modesto Lacen, 30, known for his work in Puerto Rican film, TV and theater, will portray Cruz's husband, Pedro Knight, an accomplished trumpeter who died at age 85 in February.

The book for the show was written by Carmen Rivera and Candido Tirado. The musical director is Isidro Infante, who worked with Cruz and Mambo king Tito Puente.

Through 30 songs once performed by the legendary singer, the musical covers Cruz's birth in Santo Suarez, Cuba, in 1925, to her death in 2003 in New Jersey at age 77.

Cruz studied to be a teacher in her native Havana, but was lured into show business when a relative entered her in a radio talent contest, which she won. She later studied music at the Havana Conservatory and performed at the world-famous Tropicana nightclub.

In the 1950s, Cruz became famous with the legendary Afro-Cuban group La Sonora Matancera. She left Cuba after its 1959 revolution for the United States in 1960, and never went back.

With her powerful voice and flamboyant stage shows, Cruz helped bring salsa music to a broad audience.

Popular with both young and old, Cruz dazzled with her personality and outrageous outfits, including a different wig at each performance. Always flashing a wide smile, she gave an energetic stage show, punctuated by her trademark shout, "Azucar!" — or "Sugar!" — in the middle of a song.

Cruz recorded more than 70 records and had more than a dozen Grammy nominations. She won the award twice, for best salsa album in 2002 and 2003.

Among her biggest hits were "La vida es un carnaval," "Que le den candela" and "Quimbara."

"I go to sleep listening to Celia's songs on my headphones," Laugart recently told The Associated Press. "Before I lay down, I read the script in English and Spanish from top to bottom. I get up in the mornings and do the same, and then go to rehearsal from 10 a.m. until whatever hour."

During rehearsals, Laugart said she feels as if Cruz is with her. "It's a sensation you can only feel if you're there."

A lifelong fan, she met Cruz only once after attending one of Cruz's shows in Italy in the early 1990s.

While waiting in a long line to go backstage, she said Knight noticed her and asked her where she was from. When she responded Cuba, she said Knight brought her in and Cruz greeted her warmly.

Laugart will have makeup artist Ruth Sanchez, who for years worked with the Queen of Salsa and even prepared Cruz for her funeral.

"She tells me all the time how Celia moved when she talked," Laugart said. Sanchez even took her to get long nail extensions such as the ones Cruz wore.

Laugart most admired how Cruz was "always happy — her sincerity, modesty and the way she treated everyone the same way."

"This is a dream come true — to be Celia on Broadway," she said.

court documents filed Friday.

court documents filed Friday.

"The law does not permit people to recover money from reporters who ask routine questions while covering ongoing stories of national significance to the public," lawyer Judith Mercier wrote.

Kara Skorupa, a lawyer for Duckett's estate, said a response would be filed by next week.

Duckett, 21, was on Grace's show a year ago after her son Trenton went missing from her apartment. Grace grilled the woman, accusing her of hiding something because Duckett did not take a lie-detector test and answered vaguely regarding her whereabouts.

Police later named Duckett the prime suspect in the boy's disappearance.

Duckett shot and killed herself the day the taped interview was scheduled to broadcast. The lawsuit blames Grace for severe emotional distress that led to the suicide.

Trenton, who would turn 3 on Friday, has not been found.

HBO drama surfs the season's final wave By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer

HBO drama surfs the season's final wave By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
2 hours, 6 minutes ago



NEW YORK - "The end is near," says John from Cincinnati.

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That's what he's been saying since the HBO drama "John From Cincinnati" began, though with scant supporting evidence. John isn't big on details.

Even so, he's been proved right. At least, one way. "John From Cincinnati" will conclude its 10-episode run Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT. The end for sure is near.

What will the end bring? Maybe some answers about the Yost surfing family and other eccentrics in Imperial Beach, Calif., during a very peculiar few days. (Series stars include Rebecca De Mornay, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Van Holt, Luke Perry, Ed O'Neill, Greyson Fletcher and Austin Nichols as John.)

Maybe there will be an explanation for why, these days, long-ago surfing great Mitch Yost sometimes rises several inches off the ground.

And maybe an accounting for how Mitch's teenage grandson, Shaun, seemed to breathe life back into a dead pet bird — and how, with Shaun left paralyzed and brain-dead from a surfing accident, the bird was able to restore him to life and full health.

Maybe the end will, at last, shed light on the mysterious stranger known up to now as John — just who he really is and where he's from (don't bet on Cincinnati).

John seems to be the cause of all the miraculous, befuddling goings-on. He seems divinely touched, the sort of guy whose savagely inflicted stab wounds healed right away. He also seems to be mentally challenged, or an idiot savant, with his choirboy wholesomeness.

"You'll know to say something but you won't know what it means," an exasperated local presses him. "You want to do something and you'll do it — but you won't understand what you did."

Why should he? As John says with his rote delivery, "Some things I know and some things I don't."

Ditto for viewers, who should know better than to count on a tidy resolution when the season (or the series?) meets its imminent end.

Co-created by David Milch, "John From Cincinnati" echoes his earlier HBO series, "Deadwood," a 19th-century Western teeming with elliptical, thorny storytelling and f-word-studded lyricism.

As on "Deadwood," whose scramble for wealth was framed as a model of America's, "John" also addresses the profit motive, though in contemporary terms. It asks: Should the pristine passion of surfing (as personified by young Shaun) be corrupted by corporate sponsorships and other moneymaking deals?

"That's flipping your fins for an audience," seethes Mitch, who doesn't want his grandson selling out.

OK. Money is the root of all evil. Fair enough.

But if that's true, why is the divinely inspired John packing a platinum credit card with no upper limit? "Deadwood" preached the civilizing impact of the free-enterprise system, even on a wild-and-woolly mining town. Why, on "John," must a similar entrepreneurial spirit be at war with spiritualism?

What's up with all that mystic mumbo-jumbo? How come Mitch goes up in the air?

Some things I know and some things I don't. One thing I know: "John From Cincinnati" has been a confounding exercise for me as a viewer. It's a series too murky and withholding for its own good — or that of many would-be fans.

And yet ... I, for one, have kept returning. However confusing "John" may be (until now, anyway, before the revelation that may or may not come), it compels me to stop scratching my head long enough for a round of applause.

Applause for its originality. For its brass. For the music of its raunchy dialogue (sorry, nothing quotable here).

And, most of all, for its collection of characters. No, they aren't the equal of those who populated "Deadwood" — not as novel, rich or outrageous. But the people of "John From Cincinnati" share with one another a trait whose pervasiveness has me maddeningly fixated: They, with almost no exception, are quite mad.

"John" has reveled in madness of many stripes and many colors.

There's Butchie, the drugged-out former surfer king and Shaun's derelict dad. Cissy, Butchie's sexy mother, who has swallowed too much LSD and has a hair-trigger temper to show for it.

There's Dr. Smith, who is thrown for a loop (and abandons his hospital job) after witnessing Shaun's resurrection. Barry, an epileptic who, along with his seizures, gets visions (including the lottery number that made him a fortune).

There's Bill, a paranoid retired cop with a delusional streak who talks philosophy with his pet birds.

And there are plenty more in this seaside asylum.

"I wanna go back to normal," Shaun told his father in a recent episode.

"The hand that you were dealt ain't going anywhere," Butchie scoffed. "Or mine ... your gram's ... gramps' ... your mom's. Or anybody else's."

Sure, they may be blessed with redemption in the final episode (though, God, I hope not). Or, instead, Butchie might be right: They ain't going anywhere, least of all within shouting distance of normal.

Some things I know and some things I don't. I don't know what "John From Cincinnati" is about. But I do know there's a madness to its method. Madness — not family or the surfing culture — is what binds these characters, however punishing for them and challenging for me.

Madness is the series' unifying force, at the core of its convoluted message.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hbo.com

__

EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org

FDA investigates import seafood claims By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer

FDA investigates import seafood claims By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it is checking whether shipments of Chinese seafood on an agency watch list were properly cleared for public consumption without being tested for banned drugs or chemicals.

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Agency officials said that while they believe the shipments were screened correctly, they wanted more details. That review comes in response to findings The Associated Press published Tuesday that at least 1 million pounds of frozen shrimp, catfish or eel raised in Chinese ponds were on an agency watch list but were not diverted to a lab.

The 28 shipments the AP identified arrived under an FDA "import alert," which is supposed to trigger the tough screening requirement.

The seafood, equal to the amount 66,000 Americans eat in a year, did not pose an immediate public health risk; the FDA has worried that long-term exposure to substances fed to some Chinese seafood could increase the risk of cancer or make antibiotics less potent.

A leading Democrat in the House of Representatives said the AP's report raises serious questions about FDA's inspection system and his committee's investigators want the FDA to explain what percentage of all import alert shipments from China — not just seafood — are being stopped and tested.

"The discovery that suspect seafood from China has reached dining room tables in America without being tested is disturbing," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., whose Energy and Commerce Committee has been investigating the FDA's imported-food safety record. "Apparently, the 'import alert' system used by the FDA to test high risk foods cannot be trusted."

The agency said it has about 450 budgeted positions for screening all the imports it oversees — approximately 20 million shipments of everything from fish to vegetables to pharmaceuticals. Funding for inspectors has not kept pace with the surge in imports over the past decade and FDA employees have told Dingell's committee they're too stretched to guarantee food safety.

For its investigation, the AP reviewed 4,300 seafood shipments from China and found 211 that arrived under import alert between October and May. It was during that period the FDA was putting specific Chinese companies with seafood that had flunked lab tests on its watch list, leading up to a June announcement that all farm-raised shrimp, catfish and eel had to be inspected.

The AP was able to reach importers that brought in 112 of the shipments. They said that 28 of the 112 shipments had not been detained and tested.

The FDA did not verify the AP's numbers.

Agency officials said their initial research showed 19 shipments from a list the AP provided weeks before publication were flagged by FDA's computer system and reviewed by a person who determined they didn't need to be tested. The officials said further research may add as many as four more shipments to the 19 they've identified.

The officials said they needed to talk to local offices that processed the cargo to find out why each of the shipments was allowed through.

"What we're saying is that based on the electronic 30,000-foot view, we can't determine why they were released and we're going to look into those further," said Michael Chappell, the official responsible for field inspections and labs.

"There is no evidence to say they were released ... incorrectly," said Domenic Veneziano, who oversees FDA's import operations.

The agency would not provide details on the total 23 shipments without a Freedom of Information Act request.

Kroger launches broader organic push By DAN SEWELL, AP Business Writer

Kroger launches broader organic push By DAN SEWELL, AP Business Writer
1 hour, 13 minutes ago



CINCINNATI - The nation's largest traditional grocer is expanding organic food offerings and targeting a broader range of customers for the fast-growing segment.

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The new push by Kroger Co., which was launched Wednesday, features its own brand of organic foods, from pasta to peanut butter, and displays them throughout the store, outside their usual home in natural foods sections. Starting with 65 items, Kroger expects to double its Private Selection brand organics by the end of the year.

Linda Severin, vice president for corporate brands, said marketing under the slogan "Organics for Everyone" will appeal to consumers who don't focus their shopping on organic foods but are interested in trying them. The private brand line generally will be priced lower than other organics Kroger sells.

"This responds to customers who just want to make a smarter food choice and start opening their lives to organic," Severin said. "It's a way for people to sort of put their toe in the water."

Kroger's line will carry the U.S. Department of Agriculture seal for organic foods, which are free of pesticides and hormones.

Kroger, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other major grocery sellers have been increasing selections of organic and natural foods in response to rising demand and the growth of chains such as Whole Foods Market Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc.

The Organic Trade Association says that while organic foods comprised less than 3 percent of total food sales in 2006, annual percentage sales growth in the past decade has been in the high teens into the twenties, up to $16.7 billion.

"Organics is probably the hottest thing going in the food market right now," said Ted Taft, managing director of Meridian Consulting Group. "The conventional grocery channel has seen that growth and seen that as something they need to have."

He said Kroger and other large chains can offer lower prices than specialty stores and appeal to shoppers who are worried about organics for only certain items, such as milk.

"There are very few consumers that everything they have has to be organic," Taft said. "If you go to a Kroger, you have options."

Bruce Silverman, global vice president of private label for Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods, said organics have always been a Whole Foods cornerstone.

"When new competitors begin experimenting with offering organic foods, they are helping Whole Foods Market further our mission for the world to enjoy more organic and natural foods," he said in a statement.

Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, said that while Pleasanton-Calif.-based Safeway Inc. and some regional supermarket chains have had success with organic offerings, organic advocates are wary of giant, bottom-line companies in the market.

"They're more concerned about their quarterly profits than their sustainability," Cummins said. "The organic market segment is the wave of the future, and it's not just people looking for an organic label and saying, 'Where can I get it the cheapest?'"

Cummins noted approvingly that Kroger last week announced plans to begin selling milk that is certified as free of synthetic hormones.

The company, which operates 2,458 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states, some under local names, also is offering gluten-free items such as crackers in its private brand, for those who want to avoid the wheat protein, and recently launched a milk brand that can help reduce cholesterol.

Kroger five years ago introduced a Naturally Preferred line of foods, which includes some organic foods and contain no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors, and many of its stores have a special section called Nature's Market.

"Customers are telling us they want more of these products," said Nancy Moon-Eilers, vice president for natural foods procurement and merchandising. "Organic growth has been really strong, and I don't see that easing up any time soon."

___

On the Net:

Kroger Co.: http://www.kroger.com

Organic Trade Association: http://www.ota.com

Organic Consumers Association: http://www.organicconsumers.org

SpiralFrog aims for end of year launch By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

SpiralFrog aims for end of year launch By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer
56 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - SpiralFrog.com, an ad-supported Web site that allows visitors to download music and videos free of charge, has begun testing its service with plans to launch by the end of the year.

The New York-based company recently began allowing an unspecified number of users in North America to try out the site, which has about 700,000 tracks available for downloading, said SpiralFrog founder and Chairman Joe Mohen.

The company plans to expand its "beta" test in the coming weeks and will launch the service in the United States and Canada after receiving feedback from users, advertisers and recording labels.

"We're really testing the user experience to make sure it satisfies the needs of demanding young consumers," Mohen said.

SpiralFrog lets users download audio tracks and music videos for free, but requires that they register and log on at least once a month to continue to play the content. Though free, the audio and video files carry copy protections like those found on tracks available for sale at Apple's iTunes Store and elsewhere.

It takes 90 seconds to download a track — more for a video. During that time users are enticed to browse the site and, its advertisers hope, become exposed to more ads.

"The consumer is paying for the music with some time," Mohen said.

Downloads cannot be burned to a CD, but can be transferred to dozens of digital music players. The content, however, is not compatible with Apple's Macintosh computers or its market-leading iPod.

SpiralFrog aroused interest last fall after it announced licensing deals with Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, the world's largest recording company, and performing right organization Broadcast Music Inc. But the company missed its early 2007 launch and instead underwent an executive shuffle that ended with the ouster of then-CEO Robin Kent.

Mohen blamed the launch delay on the time-consuming process of obtaining rights from music publishers, who will be getting 10 percent of ad revenues, and the need to expand its data storage and bandwidth capabilities.

"With SpiralFrog we have an entirely new business model," Mohen said. "In most cases we have to clear the publishing rights ourselves, and that takes a long time."

Mohen said SpiralFrog continues to hold licensing talks with other labels and hopes to have a catalog of around 1.5 million tracks at launch.

___

On the Net:

SpiralFrog: http://www.spiralfrog.com

Fossils challenge old evoluton theory By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

Fossils challenge old evoluton theory By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
45 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Surprising research based on two African fossils suggests our family tree is more like a wayward bush with stubby branches, challenging what had been common thinking on how early humans evolved.

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The discovery by Meave Leakey, a member of a famous family of paleontologists, shows that two species of early human ancestors lived at the same time in Kenya. That pokes holes in the chief theory of man's early evolution — that one of those species evolved from the other.

And it further discredits that iconic illustration of human evolution that begins with a knuckle-dragging ape and ends with a briefcase-carrying man.

The old theory is that the first and oldest species in our family tree, Homo habilis, evolved into Homo erectus, which then became human, Homo sapiens. But Leakey's find suggests those two earlier species lived side-by-side about 1.5 million years ago in parts of Kenya for at least half a million years. She and her research colleagues report the discovery in a paper published in Thursday's journal Nature.

The paper is based on fossilized bones found in 2000. The complete skull of Homo erectus was found within walking distance of an upper jaw of Homo habilis, and both dated from the same general time period. That makes it unlikely that Homo erectus evolved from Homo habilis, researchers said.

It's the equivalent of finding that your grandmother and great-grandmother were sisters rather than mother-daughter, said study co-author Fred Spoor, a professor of evolutionary anatomy at the University College in London.

The two species lived near each other, but probably didn't interact, each having its own "ecological niche," Spoor said. Homo habilis was likely more vegetarian while Homo erectus ate some meat, he said. Like chimps and apes, "they'd just avoid each other, they don't feel comfortable in each other's company," he said.

There remains some still-undiscovered common ancestor that probably lived 2 million to 3 million years ago, a time that has not left much fossil record, Spoor said.

Overall what it paints for human evolution is a "chaotic kind of looking evolutionary tree rather than this heroic march that you see with the cartoons of an early ancestor evolving into some intermediate and eventually unto us," Spoor said in a phone interview from a field office of the Koobi Fora Research Project in northern Kenya.

That old evolutionary cartoon, while popular with the general public, is just too simple and keeps getting revised, said Bill Kimbel, who praised the latest findings. He is science director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University and wasn't part of the Leakey team.

"The more we know, the more complex the story gets," he said. Scientists used to think Homo sapiens evolved from Neanderthals, he said. But now we know that both species lived during the same time period and that we did not come from Neanderthals.

Now a similar discovery applies further back in time.

Susan Anton, a New York University anthropologist and co-author of the Leakey work, said she expects anti-evolution proponents to seize on the new research, but said it would be a mistake to try to use the new work to show flaws in evolution theory.

"This is not questioning the idea at all of evolution; it is refining some of the specific points," Anton said. "This is a great example of what science does and religion doesn't do. It's a continous self-testing process."

For the past few years there has been growing doubt and debate about whether Homo habilis evolved into Homo erectus. One of the major proponents of the more linear, or ladder-like evolution that this evidence weakens, called Leakey's findings important, but he wasn't ready to concede defeat.

Dr. Bernard Wood, a surgeon-turned-professor of human origins at George Washington University, said in an e-mail Wednesday that "this is only a skirmish in the protracted 'war' between the people who like a bushy interpretation and those who like a more ladder-like interpretation of early human evolution."

Leakey's team spent seven years analyzing the fossils before announcing it was time to redraw the family tree — and rethink other ideas about human evolutionary history. That's especially true of most immediate ancestor, Homo erectus.

Because the Homo erectus skull Leakey recovered was much smaller than others, scientists had to first prove that it was erectus and not another species nor a genetic freak. The jaw, probably from an 18- or 19-year-old female, was adult and showed no signs of malformation or genetic mutations, Spoor said. The scientists also know it isn't Homo habilis from several distinct features on the jaw.

That caused researchers to re-examine the 30 other erectus skulls they have and the dozens of partial fossils. They realized that the females of that species are much smaller than the males — something different from modern man, but similar to other animals, said Anton. Scientists hadn't looked carefully enough before to see that there was a distinct difference in males and females.

Difference in size between males and females seem to be related to monogamy, the researchers said. Primates that have same-sized males and females, such as gibbons, tend to be more monogamous. Species that are not monogamous, such as gorillas and baboons, have much bigger males.

This suggests that our ancestor Homo erectus reproduced with multiple partners.

The Homo habilis jaw was dated at 1.44 million years ago. That is the youngest ever found from a species that scientists originally figured died off somewhere between 1.7 and 2 million years ago, Spoor said. It enabled scientists to say that Homo erectus and Homo habilis lived at the same time.

___

On the Net:

Nature: http://www.nature.com

Wall Street rises on tech strength By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer

Wall Street rises on tech strength By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
44 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Stocks surged Wednesday as solid results in the technology arena and renewed demand for risky debt soothed investors a day after the Federal Reserve said the economy should keep expanding.

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However, a late-day plunge and recovery revealed investors' underlying unease over how problems in lending might hurt corporate America, despite the Fed's assurances.

The Dow Jones industrial average initially soared more than 190 points, then dropped into negative territory in the last hour of trading, reportedly on speculation that investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. would release some negative news. When Goldman Sachs dispelled the rumor, the Dow rebounded to finish up more than 150 points.

The sell-off illustrated how quickly sentiment can turn. The stock market has been ricocheting up and down in recent weeks on worries that borrowing will get tougher because of losses in the subprime mortgage market.

John O'Donoghue, co-head of equities at Cowen & Co., said he doubts that all the possible problems involving risky lending are resolved in investors' minds. "We'll have to see how the dust settles here in the next few days ... I don't think the market has made up its mind what it wants to do," he said.

On the whole, though, Wall Street was pleased to hear that computer network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. posted a 25 percent jump in quarterly profit and raised its revenue forecast for the year. The upbeat technology news, along with strong recoveries in the beleaguered financial and homebuilding sectors, came a day after the Federal Reserve suggested that the lending environment isn't difficult enough to trip up the economy.

The Fed's suggestion that it wasn't too worried about the credit markets appeared to reinvigorate them: Risky, high-yielding corporate bonds rose, while safe, low-yielding government bonds fell.

The Dow rose 153.56, or 1.14 percent, to 13,657.86.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.78, or 1.41 percent, to 1,497.49. The S&P has had its biggest three-day point gain since October 2002.

Both the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies posted their largest one-day point gains since June 29, 2006.

The Nasdaq added 51.38, or 2.01 percent, to 2,612.98.

The Russell 2000 index gained 21.53, or 2.78 percent, to 795.66. The index had dipped in late July into negative territory for the year, battered as credit crunch worries led investors to turn to larger, more established companies. Now, the Russell is back in positive terrain for the year.

"People are getting some appetite for risk again," said John C. Forelli, portfolio manager for Independence Investment LLC in Boston.

President Bush on Wednesday tried to reassure Wall Street, expressing confidence that the stock market would eventually calm down, saying to a small group of reporters that "the underpinnings of our economy are strong."

Bonds plummeted as stocks rose, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note spiking to 4.89 percent from 4.77 percent on Tuesday. Investors exited government securities after the Fed's statement dashed hopes of a rate cut, and on rumors that Asian governments would get rid of some of their U.S. assets.

The financial and homebuilding sectors — big losers in recent weeks — saw large gains Wednesday, as investors saw value in these pummeled stocks.

Bear Stearns Cos., whose collapsing hedge funds have been a prime cause of jitters in the market, rose 3.6 percent. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. rose 6.7 percent, JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 2.6 percent, and American Express Co. rose 4.2 percent.

California homebuilder KB Home rose 8.8 percent after saying late Tuesday it used cash on hand to repay $650 million in debt to rid its balance sheet of obligations. D.R. Horton Inc. rose 6.9 percent; Centex Corp. rose 8.2 percent; and Pulte Homes Inc. rose 7.2 percent.

The housing market is still weak, though, which could keep Wall Street nervous going forward. Toll Brothers Inc.'s preliminary measure of fiscal third-quarter revenue showed home building revenue fell 21 percent. Still, the company's chief executive said he sees housing demand increasing, and the quarterly revenue estimate of $1.21 billion was better than analysts expected.

Toll Brothers rose $1.38, or 6 percent, to $24.33.

After releasing its quarterly results, Cisco rose $1.99, or 6.7 percent, to $31.68.

The Nasdaq was also helped by a stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit at Priceline.com Inc. The online travel agent's stock surged $14.47, or 22 percent, to $79.56.

The dollar fell against the euro and British pound, but rose against the yen. Gold prices rose.

Crude oil prices fell 27 cents to $72.15 a barrel, even after the Energy Department said crude and gasoline inventories fell last week.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 8 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to a heavy 5.30 billion shares, up from 4.71 billion shares Tuesday.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.64 percent. London's FTSE 100 gained 1.35 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.23 percent, and France's CAC-40 climbed 2.29 percent.

___

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Cable networks boost News Corp. earnings By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

Cable networks boost News Corp. earnings By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer
45 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. reported higher earnings in its latest quarter Wednesday, one week after the media conglomerate wrapped up a three-month campaign to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co.

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Murdoch, speaking on a conference call with analysts and reporters, said he had high hopes for Dow Jones' potential, saying there was no better company to exploit the "burgeoning demand for global financial information."

At the same time, Murdoch also took aim at the $5 billion deal's critics — several of whom said the quality and indepedence of the paper could suffer under Murdoch.

Murdoch called the Journal the best paper in the United States and said the company has "powerful brand names, unassailable credibility, and worldwide reach," saying that was why the company paid such a high premium and why he personally spent most of the last three months "enduring criticism normally leveled at a genocidal tyrant."

For its latest quarter, News Corp.'s net earnings rose 4 percent rise as higher cable network results outweighed weakness in movies and television. In addition to its many Fox-branded entertainment businesses, News Corp. also owns many newspapers ranging from the highbrow Times of London to the racy British tabloid The Sun.

News Corp. earned $890 million in the three months ended in June, the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, versus $852 million in the year-ago period.

Excluding discontinued operations in the year-ago period, however, profits rose 24 percent, reaching 28 cents per share from 23 cents per share. The results were in line with the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Last year the company sold a radio station group in Europe as well as the Times Education Supplement in Britain.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $7.37 billion.

Driving the results higher were more gains in cable networks, a division that includes Fox News Channel, FX and a series of regional sports networks. Operating income in that unit rose 46 percent.

The company's satellite television business, which had been through a rough patch, reported an 85 percent jump in profit as SKY Italia signed up 368,000 new customers, bringing its base to 4.2 million.

Gains at those two divisions outweighed a decline in income from movies and TV programming, which fell to $106 million from $200 million a year ago, a period that included a bump from box office earnings from "Ice Age: The Meltdown."

Broadcast TV was also weaker, falling 4 percent to $385 million. The division was affected by losses from the first year of MyNetworkTV, a mini-network that News Corp. started up after the sudden closure of the UPN network, which left several News Corp. stations without a network affiliation.

AIG posts 34 percent jump in 2Q profit 42 minutes ago

AIG posts 34 percent jump in 2Q profit 42 minutes ago



NEW YORK - American International Group Inc., one of the world's largest insurers, on Wednesday said its second-quarter profit jumped 34 percent on growth in its general and life insurance businesses and its asset management group.

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AIG President and Chief Executive Martin J. Sullivan took steps to defuse investor concern over its exposure to the troubled subprime mortgage lending market, saying in a statement that the company continues "to be very comfortable with our exposure to the U.S. residential mortgage market, both in our operations and our investment activities."

Defaults on subprime loans, or those made to people with poor credit, have climbed sharply in recent months and have triggered concern about the impact on credit markets worldwide. AIG has potential exposure to that industry as an investor, lender and mortgage insurer.

Sullivan said AIG would provide more detail about its exposure to subprime loans in a conference call on Thursday.

The company reported net income rose to $4.28 billion, or $1.64 per share, from $3.19 billion, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted to exclude certain items, earnings totaled $4.63 billion, or $1.77 per share, versus $4.16 billion, or $1.58 per share, in the same period last year.

The results topped Wall Street's consensus forecast, and the company's shares rose $1.32, or 2 percent, to $67.80 in aftermarket electronic trading.

Analysts had expected AIG to post a profit of $1.61 per share, according to Thomson Financial. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Net premiums written increased 4 percent in AIG's general insurance business to $12.14 billion from $11.63 billion a year ago. Premiums written in its life insurance and retirement services segment increased 7 percent to $8.17 billion from $7.65 billion.

AIG said its consolidated assets stood at $1.034 trillion as of June 30.

Sprint Nextel profit drops on costs By DAVID TWIDDY, AP Business Writer

Sprint Nextel profit drops on costs By DAVID TWIDDY, AP Business Writer
54 minutes ago



KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Wireless provider Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday said second-quarter profits dropped sharply, but it still beat Wall Street estimates and had positive news on subscriber growth for the first time in almost a year.

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The Reston, Va.-based company, with operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., said it earned $19 million, or 1 cent per share, during the three months ending June 30, compared with $370 million, or 10 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.

Not counting one-time amortization, the company said it earned 25 cents per share, beating the 22 cents per share prediction of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenue during the quarter rose about 2 percent from $10 billion to $10.16 billion, missing Wall Street's estimate of $10.2 billion.

Analysts, many of whom had low expectations for the quarter, expressed cautious optimism following the company's earnings, although some were still concerned that Sprint Nextel could be vulnerable to competition.

Sprint Nextel shares fell 45 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $19.77 Wednesday.

"We believe the quarter represents a good baseline for Sprint Nextel on which to build, but we view much of the low-hanging margin improvement fruit as being achieved in the most recent quarter, and we continue to question how much growth the U.S. wireless industry as a whole has left," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King in a research note.

The company, which has struggled to keep up with rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, said it added 373,000 subscribers during the quarter, including 16,000 postpaid customers, subscribers who pay a variable bill at the end of the month and are considered the most valuable. It was the first positive numbers in the category in almost a year.

Wholesale channels contributed 155,000 new subscribers, while affiliates generated 33,000 new subscribers.

During the same quarter, AT&T added 1.5 million customers while Verizon Wireless added 1.6 million customers, but lost 300,000 through the bankruptcy of Amp'd Mobile.

Much of Sprint Nextel's improvement came as the company said it did a better job of holding onto customers. It said its churn, the number of new and department customers, decreased to a little more than 2 percent, compared with 2.1 percent a year ago and 2.3 percent in the first quarter.

The company continued to lose customers on its Nextel-branded service, which has been plagued by signal problems and other issues since Sprint acquired the company in August 2005.

"We reported a double-digit gain in subscriber acquisitions in our business channels," Gary Forsee, the company's chairman and chief executive, said in a release. "We met our goal of reducing churn to 2 percent, and network performance continued to improve."

Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh warned during a conference call with analysts that Sprint Nextel would likely see a loss of customers in the third quarter as more of them are jettisoned for not paying their bills and for other reasons.

The company said it spent $51 million developing its WiMax network, a mobile broadband network that provides Internet speeds comparable to DSL and cable modems. It is similar to the Wi-Fi technology used in airports and coffee shops, but WiMax can provide coverage to entire cities.

Overall expenses during the quarter rose 8 percent to $8.5 billion, including higher network maintenance and marketing costs. Costs from the buyout increased 44 percent, from $113 million a year ago, to $163 million.

Wireless revenues rose 3.5 percent from $8.5 billion to $8.8 billion while revenue from more traditional wireline business remained level at $1.6 billion.

The company reiterated its guidance of between $41 billion and $42 billion in revenue and operating income before taxes and depreciation of between $11 billion and $11.5 billion. Analysts are expecting revenue of $41 billion and earnings of 87 cents per share.

Bush confident of market recovery By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

Bush confident of market recovery By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
1 hour, 5 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - President Bush struck a reassuring tone Wednesday about recent turbulence on Wall Street, saying he believes the markets will work their way through the turmoil safely and achieve a "soft landing."

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Bush, in his most extensive remarks on a gyrating stock market that has sent investors on a rollercoaster ride, expressed confidence that investors would eventually calm down. The president said he expects investors to reassess their risk and begin to focus more on the economy's fundamentals, which he said are solid and sound.

"I'm not an economist, but my hope is that the market, if it functions normally, will be able to yield a soft landing," Bush told a small group of reporters at the Treasury Department on Wednesday. "That's kind of what it looks like so far."

Investors are concerned about a worsening housing slump and possibly a widening credit crunch — an uneasiness of recent weeks that they fear could permeate the financial system and the national economy.

"The underpinnings of our economy are strong," Bush said, adding that such conditions should help the markets get through the current problems.

"So the conditions for a — you know — for the marketplace working through these issues are good, and that's how I look at it," Bush said.

Bush noted that the economy is growing modestly and generating jobs, despite the ill effects of the sour housing market.

After nearly stalling in the first three months of this year, the economy rebounded in the April-to-June quarter, growing at a solid 3.4 percent pace, the best in more than a year. The nation's unemployment rate edged up to 4.6 percent in July yet remains low by historical standards. Inflation — aside from a recent burst in energy and food prices — has shown signs of improving.

However, stocks have been swinging wildly.

The president indicated he wasn't overly worried. He said the markets have gone through periods of ups and downs before. "It's the nature of the markets," he said.

On Wall Street, stocks — encountering another volatile session — ended the day up 154 points.

"I'm a glass half-full person," the president said of his optimism. "I believe that if markets are given a chance they will adjust" in a way that won't endanger the economy, he said.

Although Bush insisted his economic policies have helped the economy grow and his tax cut let workers keep more of their own money, the president has been coping with weak public-approval ratings for his economic stewardship. Only 37 percent approve of his performance, close to a record low, a recent AP-Ipsos poll indicated.

"I do understand there is disquiet out there," Bush said.

On the one hand he blamed the war. "I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of peoples' sense of optimism," Bush said. On the other hand, he noted that consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, soared to a six-year high. He said there have been conflicting measures about Americans' moods and their feelings about the economy.

Looking ahead to the Democratic-controlled Congress' return in September, Bush made his case anew for keeping taxes low and restraining spending.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., shot back, saying Bush's comment on fiscal responsibility "strains credulity" and accused the president of being determined "to instigate a political fight with the Democratic majorities in Congress."

Bush also urged policymakers to avoid protectionist trade measures.

Lawmakers and some Americans are losing patience with China, which they blame for the loss of millions of factory jobs, unfair trade competition and a flood of harmful food, toys and other products flowing into the United States. The U.S. trade deficit with China last year swelled to $233 billion, the highest with any single country.

The president acknowledged China "is on a lot of Americans' minds" these days. He said the administration is working to protect Americans from unsafe goods and deal with trade problems. Bush said one of his big concerns is the rampant piracy of U.S. movies, computer software and other intellectual property rights. The administration is also working to curb that and wants to make sure "people don't steal our ideas," he said.

Romney speaks up for sons' decisions By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

Romney speaks up for sons' decisions By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
48 minutes ago



BETTENDORF, Iowa - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his five sons' decision not to enlist in the military, saying they're showing their support for the country by "helping me get elected."

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Romney, who did not serve in Vietnam due to his Mormon missionary work and a high draft lottery number, was asked the question by an anti-war activist after a speech in which he called for "a surge of support" for U.S. forces in Iraq.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, also saluted a uniformed soldier in the crowd and called for donations to military support organizations. Last week, he donated $25,000 to seven such organizations.

"The good news is that we have a volunteer Army and that's the way we're going to keep it," Romney told some 200 people gathered in an abbey near the Mississippi River that had been converted into a hotel. "My sons are all adults and they've made decisions about their careers and they've chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard."

He added: "One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

Romney's five sons range in age from 37 to 26 and have worked as real estate developers, sports marketers and advertising executives. They are now actively campaigning for their father and have a "Five Brothers" blog on Romney's campaign Web site.

Romney noted that his middle son, 36-year-old Josh, was completing a recreational vehicle tour of all 99 Iowa counties on Wednesday and said, "I respect that and respect all those and the way they serve this great country."

The woman who asked the question, Rachel Griffiths, 41, of Milan, Ill., identified herself as a member of Quad City Progressive Action for the Common Good, as well as the sister of an Army major who had served in Iraq.

"Of course not," Griffiths said when asked if she was satisfied with Romney's answer. "He told me the way his son shows support for our military and our nation is to buy a Winnebago and ride across Iowa and help him get elected."

Rival John McCain's son, Jimmy, a 19-year-old Marine, is either in Iraq or is heading there shortly, and another son, Jack, is at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. The Arizona senator is a decorated Vietnam War veteran and former POW.

The town-hall-style meeting was the first of eight events scheduled for Romney just three days before the Iowa Straw Poll, a nonbinding beauty contest among the Republican presidential contenders.

In the days leading up it, Romney is airing a new television ad in the state in which he encourages supporters to attend the event, portrays himself as an outsider to Washington and takes swipes at both Republicans and Democrats there.

"Washington politicians in both parties have proven they can't control spending, and they won't control our borders," Romney says in the ad. "I will, but I need your help to do it."

While former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who is considering a campaign are not participating, Romney has been actively organizing with the aim of gaining momentum into January's Iowa caucuses, which kick off the presidential nominating process.