Secrets

Lots of options for museum

2012-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

I agree with Mayor Daley, the controversy about the proposed Chicago Children's Museum in Grant Park is about 5-year-olds, not gang-bangers. But based on the insistence of museum officials, a few supportive City Council members and the mayor himself on putting the museum where they want it regardless of the wishes of the people of the city of Chicago, and the ingenuous comparisons to his actions regarding Meigs Field, where he took land away from private interests and gave it to the public rather than the reverse, I think maybe the 5-year-olds he's referring to are actually the adult-sized ones …

Province uses two cart system for organics and MSW collection

2012-03-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

Prince Edward Island, Canada

"We have been using a two cart collection system for organic residuals and waste since 1994 here in Prince Edward Island (PEI)," writes Don Jardine, Director of Pollution Prevention for the province. By the end of 2002, the entire population of PEI will be using carts as part of its Waste Watch program. "We are the only Canadian province with a two cart based system covering the entire province. Recyclables are gathered …

Oxfam warns 1.5 million at risk in Myanmar as some aid reaches survivors

2012-03-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

A Red Cross boat carrying relief supplies for survivors of Myanmar's cyclone sank Sunday, as aid groups warned up to 1.5 million face death if they do not get clean water and sanitation soon. The government announced the confirmed death toll had jumped to nearly 29,000.

Heavy showers were forecast for the coming week, further complicating delivery of aid that is still barely reaching victims in the Irrawaddy delta, ravaged by the May 3 cyclone.

Further inland, the country's biggest city Yangon was crowded with refugees.

"People are sleeping in the open or in one of thousands of flimsy shelters dotted around the city," the International …

Worshipping these false 'Idols' proves costly mistake

2012-03-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

'American Idols Live'

AT THE UNITED CENTER

For music fans, Fox's "American Idol" represents the ultimatetriumph of product over quality, though, in that regard, the nightis still young.

A bleak star search where the most likely outcome is televisedhumiliation by famous people, "Idol's" shamelessness is eclipsed onlyby its success. Its recently completed third season was a traditionalratings bonanza; minor controversies even erupted when the show'sphone-based voting system was flattened by millions of viewerssimultaneously trying to call in.

But there's a difference between watching something in your livingroom and dropping up to $45 to see a less …

3 Guilty of Murder In Store Killings

2012-03-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

Three West Side men have been convicted of murdering a Koreanstore owner and an employee during an armed robbery more than threeyears ago.

Darron Smith, 22, Rodney Williams, 25, and Shawn Hubbard, 23,will be sentenced to mandatory life prison terms next month,prosecutors said.

Triggerman Percy Hawkins, 22, was convicted in January and isserving a life sentence, said …

London-bound flight diverted after threat

2012-03-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

LONDON (AP) — British authorities say a Heathrow Airport-bound flight from Abu Dhabi was diverted and given a fighter escort after a passenger began making threats.

Britain's military says two Royal Air Force jets were scrambled to accompany the Etihad flight as it was diverted to Stansted airport, north of London. Police say a 37-year-old British man was …

FA Cup Draw List

2012-03-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Draw made Sunday for the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Games to be played on the weekend of Feb. 6-7 (home teams listed first):

Quaterfinals

Chelsea …

Ice tubes slip right into water bottles

2012-03-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Pam Moore was frustrated. Day after day, she would dutifully meltdown countless ice cubes until they were small enough to squeezethrough the narrow neck of her son's sports bottle.

Weary of this time-consuming, water-wasting chore, Moore decidedto stop complaining and show some entrepreneurial spirit instead.

Now, nearly two years later, she's awash in orders for her IceTubes. That's right, ice tubes.

It's …

TV cameraman didn't know Norway killer was on tape

2012-03-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A TV cameraman who captured the only known images of the gunman during his shooting rampage at a political youth camp in Norway says he had no idea at the time that the killer was in his viewfinder.

Marius Arnesen, a cameraman for Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, was in a helicopter hovering more than 600 feet (200 meters) over Utoya island, where panicked youth were being massacred as they fled into the water on Friday.

At the time, Arnesen says, he didn't realize the scale of the disaster, in which at least 68 people were mortally wounded.

"We were circling the island taking shots of the island," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "It …

Thompson becomes WNBA's all-time scoring leader

2012-03-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sparks forward Tina Thompson scored 23 points to become the WNBA's all-time scoring leader Sunday night in a 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars.

Thompson surpassed Lisa Leslie, who retired last season after amassing 6,263 points for Los Angeles, when she made a 16-foot jump shot in third quarter.

Thompson is the last of the original WNBA players. The now-defunct Houston Comets selected Thompson with the first pick of the 1997 WNBA draft.

When the Comets folded after the 2008 season, Thompson signed with the Sparks as …

Constructing A Good Blues Solo

2012-03-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

All scales are in C concert. All scales to be played ascending and descending and over entire range of your instrument.

In this column I am going to give you some basic scales that are used over blues progressions and from which blues riffs are developed. In the end analysis, what makes a good blues solo is a particular player's phrasing, tone and emotion, but before we get to that point we need to know what notes to play and where to play them, and by listening to other players we can create our own blues ideas.

The starting point for playing blues is the blues scale (see A). (For ease of explanation, we are using the key of C. All 12 bar blues and various scales can be …

Top US military officer warns of NKorean threat

2012-03-14T04:16:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The top U.S. military officer says South Korea could see more North Korean provocations as Pyongyang works to strengthen leader Kim Jong Il's successor.

Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters Thursday that North Korea's "threat remains very real."

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea has shown no signs …

Asian Pollution Affects Pacific Storms

2012-03-14T01:26:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Pollution from Asia is helping generate stronger storms over the North Pacific, according to new research. Changes in the North Pacific storm track could have an impact on weather across the Northern Hemisphere. Satellite measurements have shown an increase in tiny particles generated from coal burning in China and India in recent decades, researchers report in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team, led by Renyi Zhang of Texas A&M University, studied pollution and clouds between 1984 and 2005, concluding that increasing particles enhanced the cloud updraft to generate more intense thunderstorms than previously.

Comparing 1984-1994 with 1994-2005 they found an increase of 20 percent to 50 percent in deep convective clouds.

The Pacific storm track, they noted, plays a critical role in global atmospheric circulation, and altering this weather pattern could have a significant impact on the climate.

"The intensified storms over the Pacific in winter are climatically significant," the researchers wrote. "The intensified Pacific storm track can also impact the global general circulation."

A particular threat, they added, is the potential for increased warming of polar regions.

The research was supported by National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In another report in the same issue of PNAS, researchers said that in addition to protecting the ozone layer, the reduction on ozone-depleting chemicals has slowed the rate of global warming.

The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, led to a reduction in chemicals released into the atmosphere in an effort to preserve the ozone layer that screens out many of the sun's damaging rays.

Those same chemicals are also potent contributors to greenhouse warming, and their reduction has resulted in a slowdown in global warming, according to a team led by Guus J. M. Velders of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. The savings in trapped heat are equivalent to about 10 years of growth in carbon dioxide concentrations, they estimated.

Joining Velders in that study were researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and DuPont Fluoroproducts.

---

On the Net:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: http://www.pnas.org

The first test // Bus changes, outages frazzle some nerves

2012-03-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

Freshly sharpened pencils and new notebook tucked into his LooneyTunes backpack, Tom Passarelli has only one thing to do beforeheading out to the bus and beginning the school year.

He has to run out to the garden and pick a fresh tomato andpepper for his teacher.

"It'll be fun," the 6-year-old said when asked what he expected offirst grade at Orland Park Elementary. "Fun" was the same adjectivehe used to describe the professional wrestling match he and hisbrother, J.J., had seen the night before. It's also not the firstword many school administrators would pick to describe a day thatoften brings headaches along with smiles.

Tuesday was the first day back for Orland Park District 135 andmore than a dozen districts from Chicago to Arlington Heights andAurora East to Waukegan. In addition to normal headaches of missedbuses and getting students assigned to the right schools and rooms,many struggled with problems that ranged from power outages to staffshortages.

Students in Glenbard High School District 87 stayed home whilestriking teachers walked picket lines for a second day.

Besides keeping about 8,000 students out of classes, the firststrike in the district's history also forced Glenbard East andGlenbard North to forfeit Friday's football games. Glenbard Southand Glenbard West will forfeit Saturday games unless the strike isresolved today.

In Chicago, the year opened with the news that 26 schools wereoff the academic probation list. The decrease in the number ofschools where less than 15 percent of students are reading atnational norms is "further evidence that test scores are up and kidsare improving academically," schools chief Paul Vallas said.

Three grade schools were added to the list, bringing the finalnumber on probation to 36 of 74 high schools - or nearly half - and55 of 484 elementary schools.

At Disney Magnet, a new early-start busing plan left 200 parentscomplaining about problems. But Vallas said Disney was one of onlyfour schools with busing problems, and the number was not unusual foropening day.

Storms knocked out electricity to 20 Chicago schools, but bymidday only six or seven were operating without power.

Aurora East had power outages Monday afternoon but managed tohave everything working before Tuesday's opening bell, said Supt.Charles Ponquinette. The tougher problem to solve is teachervacancies, he said. His schools need bilingual, special educationand industrial arts instructors.

"They're specialized areas and there's great demand," he said.Classes will be covered by other teachers or substitutes untilteachers are found.

Waukegan District 60 is having similar problems.

"We had them filled, but employees can shop in a variety ofdistricts for the best deal they can get," Supt. George R. Kurtzsaid.

While school administrators deal with the problems of opening aschool year, second-grader J.J. Passarelli has been telling hisbrother all about first grade. "It's challenging," he said of hisschool. "The thing I missed most was recess."

Contributing: Dan Rozek

NTT DoCoMo's annual profit falls 3.9 percent

2012-03-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's top mobile phone carrier, said Tuesday its annual net profit slipped 3.9 percent to 471.9 billion yen ($4.9 billion) as the recession hit sales of handsets.

The company sold 20 million handsets during the fiscal year ended March 31, down 21.8 percent year-on-year as more consumers opted to keep their old handsets during tough economic times.

Japan's economy, the world's second-largest, is mired in its deepest recession since World War II.

DoCoMo's revenue fell 5.6 percent to 4.4 trillion yen, while operating profit rose 2.8 percent to 831 billion yen.

DoCoMo holds a 50 percent share of Japan's massive mobile phone market. But rivals KDDI Corp. and Softbank Mobile Corp. have been aggressively attracting customers with lower fees.

DoCoMo had 54.6 million subscribers as of March, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

For the current financial year to March 2010, DoCoMo expects net profit of 493 billion yen, operating profit of 830 billion yen. Revenue is seen at 4.4 trillion yen.

Its earnings are based on U.S. accounting standards.

Shares of DoCoMo rose 0.5 percent to 135,100 yen although the Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 2.7 percent to 8,493.77 Tuesday on a rising yen and growing uncertainty about the impact of swine flu on the global economy.

Hargreaves postpones comeback, but no new injury

2012-03-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

Owen Hargreaves has postponed his comeback with Manchester United even though the club says he has not been hit by another injury.

The England midfielder has been out of action since September 2008 after two knee operations and had hoped to play in a reserve game against Manchester City on Thursday.

The club said it was not a recurrence of the injury but the match did not fit in with his rehabilitation schedule.

Calif. wildfire forces hundreds from homes

2012-03-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

A huge wildfire churned through high desert wilderness north of Los Angeles on Friday, destroying a few buildings and forcing people from about 2,000 homes. Most of the displaced residents were allowed to return as the threat eased.

One single-family home and three mobile home residences were destroyed, another house had roof damage and various other outbuildings and garages were lost in the horse country region, authorities said.

A DC-10 jumbo jet tanker that can carry 12,000-gallon loads dropped swaths of retardant to block the 12 1/2-square-mile blaze, leaving orange slashes across ridges. Containment was estimated at only 5 percent.

The blaze erupted Thursday afternoon and prompted the evacuation of about 2,000 Antelope Valley homes, but most had returned by early Friday, Los Angeles County fire and sheriff's officials said.

Flames up to 50 feet high threatened the communities of Leona Valley, Anaverde and Ranch Vista but cool, windless overnight weather helped ease the threat.

Robert Arujo, 60, a retired phone technician, said he and his family watched a scary sight of flames burning fiercely on a hill just over the walls of his Rancho Vista subdivision.

"They looked like they were going to jump over," he said.

Arujo decided not to leave despite a call from the Sheriff's Department urging him to do so, and the family spent a tense night barely sleeping.

"It was frantic. Horrific. My wife and daughter were just totally _ 'Should we go? Should we go? Should we go?' non-stop," he said.

On Thursday, the fire stopped at the California Aqueduct, which runs along foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The concrete channel acted as a natural firebreak, fire Inspector Matt Levesque said.

"That fire burned right up to the homes (but there is) no more fuel for it to burn," he said.

Aircraft and about 750 firefighters were concentrating on protecting the densely populated Palmdale area a few miles away and a cluster of power transmission lines that provide electricity to much of Southern California.

A forecast of gusty afternoon winds and a high of 98 degrees were expected to pose a challenge for crews.

The fire broke out near a state highway that snakes through the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting Los Angeles to the high desert. Angeles National Forest lands lie on either side.

Bryant said fire investigators were focusing on some workers who were trying to remove a tire rim by hammering on bolts. He said the workers were cooperating with the investigation.

Southern California's big wildfires are usually associated with the fierce Santa Ana winds that blow withering dry air from the interior toward the coast. Winds this week have been blowing inland from out of the southwest as California experiences an unusually cool July with persistent coastal clouds and record lows.

Elsewhere, good weather in neighboring Kern County helped firefighters build containment lines around two wildfires that destroyed homes in remote mountain communities earlier in the week.

A 2 1/2-square-mile blaze near Tehachapi on the western edge of the Mojave Desert was 46 percent contained after burning about 30 homes and other structures in a scattered community called Old West Ranch.

The community nonetheless remained evacuated, affecting about 150 people, said John Buchanan, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The blaze erupted Tuesday afternoon and rapidly swept through an area where Kern County fire authorities say there is no history of any fires on record, meaning vegetation hadn't burned there in more than a century.

To the north, a fire that destroyed eight residences and a few outbuildings as it spread across about 26 square miles of the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada was 55 percent contained, authorities said.

Shhh! They can hear you

2012-03-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

The other morning, as I darted out of my house, praying I wouldmake it to work before the lunch hour, I noticed that my usuallyfriendly next-door neighbor was on his porch. I wished him a goodmorning. Instead of smiling back, he eyed me knowingly and offered acoy hello. His face was set in an odd expression-he looked bothembarrassed and disgusted. Crushed, I ran off.

On the subway I pondered what had just happened. Why had my kindneighbor just snubbed me? He used to tell me jokes when we bumpedinto each other. What had I done?

And then it hit me. Two nights before the brush-off, I had beenentertaining friends on the patio. As the contents of the winebottles disappeared, I'm embarrassed to admit, so did our goodbehavior. Nothing terribly scandalous happened. It might have beenwise, though, had I thought about it, to usher ourselves inside whenour evening started slipping from brilliant to blotto. But wise wewere not. We stayed outside until 3 in the morning. It's hard toremember the specifics, but suffice it to say, well before thenight's end we were no longer acting like ladies and gentlemen.

In our defense, it's hard to remember that you're not alone whenyou're on the patio. You think you're safe, plunked down on squishyplastic furniture, sandwiched between nothing but moonlight andfoliage, completely shielded from the city's hustle and bustle.

"It's weird," said Fran Hahn, a 24-year-old student, "becausethere's definitely the illusion that nobody can hear what you'resaying. Since there are a lot of trees, it's very easy to forget thatpeople can hear everything."

Sometimes the problem goes beyond eavesdropping. John Bowles, aradio editor, said of the patio at his previous house, "(Myneighbors') hamburger grill was inches away. They were always there,and that in itself would drive me crazy. I'd feel trapped. If I madea move, they knew I was there, and so I'd want to sit still and beperfectly quiet."

Ken Dhaliwal, an entertainment lawyer, said his patio "used to bewide open and, if the neighbors were in their yard and we were inours, it was gross. If we had people over for dinner, we felt like,`Oh, I didn't invite my neighbor over.' Once we shared a beer withthem because we felt bad. We never got to the point where we invitedthem over. We never felt that bad."

Rochelle Elie, a 31-year-old artist, lives above the patio of abar. She can hear everything the drinkers say. "There was a guy Iknew on the patio. I was talking on the phone. I called down to him;he looked really creeped out, like, `Who is this person in mybusiness?' It's also creepy for me because people can look up andwatch me."

Staying inside might be the solution for those who just can'tstomach the eavesdropping culture. It's safer inside. There are nomosquitoes. And there are walls to keep your neighbors at bay. AvrumRosensweig, a ponytailed radio personality, hates going out on hispatio.

"I talk to myself," he said. "I fear that people are going tooverhear me. I'm supposed to like the outside, but I find myself onthe couch at 2 in the afternoon, staring into the abyss. I hate goingoutside."

But what can you do if you don't want to abandon your patio? Whatif you want to overcome the fact that everything you and anybody elsesays is virtually being broadcast to the neighborhood? Paul Harper,an interior decorator, says there's not much you can do besides putin trees, bushes or shrubs. "Or just speak softly."

Architect Gordon Ridley suggests faking privacy. "Plant a hedge,"he said. "Put up awnings and fences. If you have visual privacy,that's 90 percent of the battle. The worst thing is if somebody'ssitting on the patio having lunch and you're looking right at them."

Still, it's no guarantee. Some people seem to enjoy monitoringother people's business, bushes or no bushes.

Mary Ann Kovalski, a children's book illustrator, said, "There isa small but significant population of middle-aged women who smokebehind their families' backs. It's a bit larger than the group ofwomen having affairs with their tennis instructors. I know that aneighbor smokes but her family doesn't know. I see her behind thebushes with smoke coming out."

Of course, if you're thinking unpleasant thoughts about your pationeighbors, chances are those feelings are reciprocated. Allan Shiff,a real estate developer, was surprised to come home and discover thathis neighbors had erected an 8-foot lattice wall between theirpatios.

"I didn't mind seeing the other people eating," he said, "but I'djust as soon not have seen them. I guess they weren't so excitedabout seeing us, either."

My neighbor's coming around, slowly, but I think I'll wait untilit gets cold out before I throw another party. Intolerably cold. Somerain would be nice, too.

National Post

`Farinelli' Star Took Cues From Jackson

2012-03-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

To prepare to play an 18th century operatic singer in theOscar-nominated "Farinelli," Stefano Dionisi watched tapes of OprahWinfrey interviewing Michael Jackson.

He says his impressions helped inform his portrait of thewildly popular castrato singer of 18th century Europe.

One thing Dionisi couldn't bring to the role, though, was asinging voice. "No, I don't sing at all, except maybe in theshower." Even if he did sing, it wouldn't be with the ethereal,high-pitched voice of someone who has been castrated.

Director Gerard Corbiau chose to use an electronicallymanipulated voice (created by two operatic singers) for Farinelli,and Dionisi lip-synched the songs.

"Still, I worked on that for more than two months," he says. "Iwoke up every morning at 9 a.m. and worked on singing, breath andposition. In the evening I listened to the playback. It was veryhard.

"That was just technique. What I found more difficult was thenatural voice of Farinelli. How would he talk to people? It wasvery important to see that my voice was the right voice. It was veryhigh."

As for the other effects of castration, Dionisi says heimagined his character as "someone who had been wounded.

"He was fragile. The only time he's happy is when he sings.Then he's in ecstasy."

Speaking by phone during a publicity swing through New York,Dionisi acknowledges that "Farinelli" has brought him moreinternational attention than any of the other dozen films he's beenin since starting his career in 1989. But he doesn't necessarilyassume it'll lead to many roles outside Europe.

"I may work outside Italy. In fact, I have already made anotherfilm in France," he says. "But working in the United States is moredifficult. Everything is done differently here."

6 family members killed in Iraq

2012-03-13T03:46:00.000-07:00

Assailants broke into a house and killed six family members before dawn Wednesday in an area north of Baghdad that was once a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq, Iraqi officials said.

The dead included a couple and two daughters, and two brothers of the husband, according to a police officer in Tarmiyah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital. The throats of two women were slit, while the other four people were shot execution-style; two of the couple's other children were not harmed.

A motive for the attack was not immediately clear. The Tarmiyah officer and a police investigator said the Sunni Arab victims were not affiliated with Sunni militiamen, many of them former insurgents, who joined U.S. forces and turned against al-Qaida in Iraq.

The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The officer said the three male victims were working as shepherds on a farm near their house.

Further north, in the city of Mosul, Iraqi forces assisted by American advisers detained 18 suspected associates of al-Qaida in Iraq during searches of residential buildings, the U.S. military said. Insurgents retain a foothold in Mosul despite blows to their networks that have sharply reduced violence nationwide.

Also Wednesday, a double bombing injured 25 civilians in the Shiite holy city of Karbala ahead of an Islamic holiday, officials said.

One bomb first exploded in a restaurant, drawing onlookers and police, before a suicide bomber on a motorcycle then drove toward the crowd and detonated his explosives, said a provincial police officer and a doctor at al-Hussein General Hospital.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Karbala restaurant was strewn with overturned tables and chairs in the aftermath of the blasts. Fragments of broken dishes and slippers littered the bloodstained floor.

"Where is the protection, where is the government?" a distraught woman shouted at Iraqi troops who arrived at the scene.

Karbala, home to important Shiite shrines, has periodically been targeted by Sunni militants. The holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, begins for Iraq's Sunnis on Friday, while Shiites start the celebrations on Saturday.

>___

Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

NHL Standings

2012-03-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

All Times EDT
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
	W	L OT Pts	GF	GA
Pittsburgh	49 25	8 106 238 199
Philadelphia	47 23 12 106 259 223
N.Y. Rangers	44 33	5	93 233 198
New Jersey	38 39	5	81 174 209
N.Y. Islanders	30 39 13	73 229 264
Northeast Division
	W	L OT Pts	GF	GA
Boston	46 25 11 103 246 195
Montreal	44 30	8	96 216 209
Buffalo	43 29 10	96 245 229
Toronto	37 34 11	85 218 251
Ottawa	32 40 10	74 192 250
Southeast Division
	W	L OT Pts	GF	GA
Washington	48 23 11 107 224 197
Tampa Bay	46 25 11 103 247 240
Carolina	40 31 11	91 236 239
Atlanta	34 36 12	80 223 269
Florida	30 40 12	72 195 229
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
	W	L OT Pts	GF	GA
Detroit	47 25 10 104 261 241
Nashville	44 27 11	99 219 194
Chicago	44 29	9	97 258 225
St. Louis	38 33 11	87 240 234
Columbus	34 35 13	81 215 258
Northwest Division
	W	L OT Pts	GF	GA
Vancouver	54 19	9 117 262 185
Calgary	41 29 12	94 250 237
Minnesota	39 35	8	86 206 233
Colorado	30 44	8	68 227 288
Edmonton	25 45 12	62 193 269
Pacific Division
	W	L OT Pts	GF	GA
San Jose	48 25	9 105 248 213
Anaheim	47 30	5	99 239 235
Phoenix	43 26 13	99 231 226
Los Angeles	46 30	6	98 219 198
Dallas	42 29 11	95 227 233

Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss or shootout loss.

___

Tuesday's Games

No games scheduled

Wednesday's Games

No games scheduled

Thursday's Games

Philadelphia at Boston, 7 p.m.

Montreal at Toronto, 7 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

Friday's Games

Anaheim at Buffalo, 1 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at Los Angeles, 1 p.m.

Ottawa at Detroit, 7 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Carolina, 7 p.m.

Nashville at Columbus, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.<

Sex offender stabbed at Cook County Jail

2012-03-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

A Cook County Jail inmate was recovering Tuesday from a stabbingin a maximum-security wing of the Southwest Side complex.

Demtre Golden, 28, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for a woundto the chest. At least three other inmates are suspected in theattack, said Bill Cunningham, a spokesman for Cook County SheriffMichael Sheahan, who runs the jail.

Golden was booked into the jail in June on a charge of failing toregister as a sex offender. The motive for the attack is unclear,Cunningham said, but investigators are looking into whether it wasrelated to his history as a sex offender or whether it was gang-related.

Somali pirates, security personnel in 3 shootouts

2012-03-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

Maritime officials say pirates have clashed with private security and military personnel in three separate incidents off the Somali coast in the latest indicator of rising pirate attacks.

Cmdr. John Harbour of the EU Naval Force says two incidents Friday involved French military personnel. The Spanish Defense Ministry says a third incident involved Spanish private security guards and military.

The attacks come one day after a Spanish fishing vessel caught fire after pirates launched a rocket-propelled grenade at it.

Harbour says pirates are beginning to attack in larger numbers because the monsoon season off the Somali coast has ended, resulting in calmer waters.

Stocks Rally Ahead of Fed Rate Decision

2012-03-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - Wall Street rallied Wednesday, reversing the Dow Jones industrial average's three-day losing streak, but investors still appeared skittish ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.

Stocks initially dropped after the Commerce Department said orders for durable goods plunged 2.8 percent in May following three months of increases. Later, the market shrugged off the report and clawed its way back up, boosted by some takeover deals and strong earnings reports, particularly from ConAgra Foods Inc. and software maker Oracle Corp.

Given the market's turbulence over the past few weeks due to soaring bond yields, investors will be looking for any clues in the central bank's statement Thursday about policy makers' views on growth and inflation.

The Fed - which is expected to keep the benchmark rate steady at 5.25 percent after its two-day meeting ends Thursday - has stated recently that it expects the economy to recover from a weak first quarter despite difficulties in the housing market, and that inflation remains a paramount concern.

"We'd like to hear a Fed that's much closer to the center, because they're still pretty hawkish. They sound closer to tightening than to easing," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. Rate hikes tend to slow down business and can dampen corporate profits.

The Dow rose 90.07, or 0.68 percent, to 13,427.73, after dropping 77 points earlier in the day. The blue-chip index had lost a total of 208 points in the previous three sessions.

Broader indexes also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 13.45, or 0.90 percent, to 1,506.34, and the Nasdaq composite index jumped 31.19, or 1.21 percent, to 2,605.35.

Treasury bond prices finished slightly lower after the weak durable goods data. The 10-year Treasury note's yield slipped to 5.08 percent from 5.09 percent late Tuesday.

On Thursday, all eyes will be on the Fed's statement.

"If they change the statement, people will pick up on that, no doubt. No matter what the change is, people will think it means something," said Janna Sampson, director of portfolio management at Oakbrook Investments.

Much of the choppiness in the market, though, has been from people simply rebalancing their portfolios as the second quarter ends and ahead of the July Fourth holiday week, Sampson added.

"We've got that internally here, people moving money around. We're heading into a pretty quiet week next week - people are trying to get their houses in order before going on vacation," she said.

The bulk of second-quarter earnings results arrive in mid-July. So far, earnings news has been mostly positive.

Oracle rose 53 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $19.69, after saying late Tuesday that its profit in the most recent quarter rose 23 percent, and that sales in the current quarter could beat estimates.

ConAgra on Wednesday reported a surge in its quarterly profit, despite the ongoing costs of recalling its Peter Pan peanut butter. The company, whose brands include Healthy Choice and Chef Boyardee, saw its stock rise $1.14, or 4.5 percent, to $26.70.

Nike Inc. said late Tuesday that growth in the United States and abroad pushed profit up 32 percent in the most recent quarter compared to the year-ago period. Nike rose $4.47, or 8.3 percent, to $58.29.

Though some investors are concerned that rising bond yields could translate to higher rates and dampen buyout activity, deal-making continued Wednesday.

Guitar Center Inc., the largest U.S. musical instrument retailer, said its board accepted a $1.9 billion cash buyout offer from a private equity firm. Guitar Center soared $9.92, or 19.8 percent, to $59.98.

Meanwhile, banking company People's United Financial Inc. agreed to buy Chittenden Corp., which operates banks in New England, for $1.9 billion in cash and stock. Chittenden rose $6.91, or 24.5 percent, to $35.15, while People's United Financial fell 54 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $18.17.

And CommScope Inc., which supplies coaxial cable and other networking infrastructure, said it is buying cable maker Andrew Corp. for about $2.6 billion. Andrew Corp. rose $1.42, or 10.9 percent, to $14.40, while CommScope rose 71 cents to $55.87.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 12.33, or 1.49 percent, to 838.46.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.35 billion shares, up from 3.26 billion shares Tuesday.

Crude oil futures for August delivery rose $1.20 to $68.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the government said U.S. gasoline inventories dropped last week.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold slipped.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.20 percent, and the sometimes-volatile Shanghai Composite Exchange rose 2.65 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.48 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.75 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.20 percent.

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On the Net:

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

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

India's Yuvraj Singh being treated for cancer

2012-03-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI (AP) — Yuvraj Singh is undergoing chemotherapy to treat a cancerous growth that may have been bothering him even while he produced his World Cup heroics last year.

The growth in his chest was originally thought to be benign, but has recently been diagnosed as malignant, and he traveled to the United States on Jan. 26 to seek treatment.

"It is a rare tumor and is cancerous, but it has been detected in stage-one," Singh's physiotherapist, Jatin Chaudhary, was quoted as saying Monday by the Press Trust of India.

"Doctors had to decide whether to continue medication or go for chemotherapy, but since parts of the tumor are just above the artery of his heart, there was a danger that while running it could burst. But it is 100 percent curable," he said.

Dr. Nitish Rohatgi, an oncologist in New Delhi's Max Hospital who has been co-ordinating with Singh's doctors in the United States, said the cricketer had been responding well to treatment.

"His malignancy is curable and he has been responding well to chemotherapy that is being administered since the end of January," Rohatgi told a news conference in New Delhi on Monday. "The chemotherapy will continue till the end of March and we are confident he will be cured."

Yuvraj Singh's mother Shabnam said in November that her son probably carried the illness through the World Cup in March and April last year, saying that the allrounder suffered from constant "bouts of coughing and vomiting" during the tournament and medical tests revealed a "golf-ball size lump over the left lung."

India's sports minister Ajay Maken has promised help to Singh.

"Wish Yuvraj a speedy recovery! Asking officials to find the quantum and nature of help required. Government should and will help him," Maken posted on Twitter.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has wished Singh "a speedy recovery" in an e-mailed statement, in which it also asked the media to respect the privacy of Singh and his family members.

The 30-year-old Singh, man-of-the-tournament during last year's home World Cup-victory, last played for India during a home test series against the West Indies in November.

Singh has played 37 tests, 274 limited-overs internationals and 23 Twenty20 internationals.

He played a large part in India winning the World Cup for the first time since 1983, playing in all nine matches at the 2011 edition and contributing 362 runs at an average of 90 and taking 15 wickets at 25 with his left-arm spin.

Singh is also famous for striking six sixes in an over off England paceman Stuart Broad during the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.

Singh's absence on India's current tour of Australia has been noticeable. India was trounced 4-0 in the test series and won just one of two Twenty20 matches before losing its opening one-dayer against Australia by 64 runs Sunday.