LIRR Strikes Pedestrain

By James Brierton
Editor-in-Chief

KINGS PARK (TheMatadorOnline.com) - A pedestrian was struck Friday evening around 5 p.m. by a Long Island Rail Road train in Kings Park.

The pedestrian was struck by the eastbound train at the crossing on Indian Head Road, just east of the Kings Park train station.

The unidentified pedestrian was taken by helicopter to Stony Brook University Medical Center. Their condition is unknown at this time.

Investigators from the Suffolk County Police Department and MTA Police were on hand at the scene.

Police shut down Indian Head Road between Meadow Road and 25A while they investigated. The incident created a 30 to 60 minute delay for the railroad on its Port Jefferson branch.

An investigation is on going.

U.S. to cut 12,000 troops in Iraq over next 6 months

By Greg Miller and Usama Redha
Tribune Washington Bureau
(MCT)

BAGHDAD _ The U.S. will reduce its military presence in Iraq by 12,000 troops over the next six months as part of the first major drawdown since President Barack Obama announced his plan to end combat operations in the country in 2010, U.S. military officials in Baghdad said Sunday.

The announcement came just hours after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck a crowd of police recruits outside an Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad, killing at least 33 people and wounding 61.

Despite that grim reminder of the lingering danger, U.S. officials said the drawdown reflected growing confidence in the security gains in Iraq over the past two years. It also reflects a major shift in priorities for the U.S. military, which increasingly is focused on efforts to arrest the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

The plan would reduce U.S. troop strength by nearly 10 percent just as Iraq is preparing for nationwide elections in the fall _ a step that would have been unthinkable at the height of the insurgency but was endorsed in this case by top U.S. military officials.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

"The time and conditions are right for coalition forces to reduce the number of troops in Iraq," Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said in a prepared statement. Successful provincial elections in January "demonstrated the increased capability of the Iraqi army and police to provide security," he said.

In the coming months, Odierno said, "Iraqis will see the number of U.S. forces go down in the cities while more and more Iraqi flags go up at formerly shared security stations."

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

The plan calls for the number of U.S. combat brigades to drop from 14 to 12. Two brigades that had been scheduled to redeploy in the next six months will not be replaced.

A British brigade of 4,000 troops also will leave without being replaced, the final British combat troops in Iraq.

When the American move is completed, the U.S. military presence in Iraq will have been reduced to about 128,000 troops, dipping for the first time below the number of troops in the country before then-President George W. Bush ordered the buildup he referred to as the surge in 2007.

The schedule for the withdrawal represents a compromise between the 16-month timetable Obama advocated during his campaign and a 23-month plan pushed by the military.

Under the compromise, all combat forces will be pulled out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, but a residual force of 35,000 to 50,000 soldiers will remain for training and support missions.

The Iraq withdrawals are crucial to the Obama administration's plans to devote more military resources to Afghanistan, as well as to limit spending at a time when the government is facing record deficits.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Senior U.S. national security officials are nearing completion of a strategic review of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, a step that Obama has described as an effort "to stabilize a deteriorating situation," one he has implied was neglected by Bush.

Seven years after the U.S. invasion, Afghanistan's stability is threatened by a Taliban insurgency, as well as frustration with a central government regarded by its own people as corrupt and ineffective.

In February, Obama announced plans to send 17,000 additional U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan _ deployments that would more than offset the troop reductions in Iraq outlined Sunday.

Despite the suicide bombing Sunday, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. David Perkins said violence had dropped to its lowest level since summer 2003, just months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In February, 221 civilians were killed, despite violence during a major Shiite religious festival that saw at least 60 people killed.

Even with the dramatic turnaround, bombings and assassinations occur almost daily, and Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohamed Askari said it was impossible to fully stop the violence.

"Definitely the security situation is improving, but such terrorist thoughts are not easy to eliminate. There are breaches. They want to affect the situation," Askari told the satellite news channel Al-Arabiya.

He vowed more precautions would be taken around recruiting centers, where large crowds are an appealing target for armed groups.

___

© 2009, Tribune Co.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

North Korea threatens war if U.S. shoots down satellite

By Tim Johnson
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)

BEIJING _ North Korea on Monday put its armed forces on standby, severed a military hot line with South Korea and warned that any attempt by the United States to shoot down a rocket launch would trigger an immediate war.

The escalation in tensions coincided with the onset of joint U.S.-South Korean war games, which brought a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier off the Korean Peninsula.

Scores of South Koreans were stranded at the Kaesong industrial complex several miles inside North Korea, where dozens of companies from South Korea have set up factories.

Pyongyang appeared to be moving ahead with plans to send what it claims is a communications satellite into orbit. U.S. and Japanese officials charge that the launch is a cover for a test of North Korea's latest-generation ballistic missile, potentially powerful enough to hit Alaska, and that their own antimissile batteries may try to shoot it down.

"Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," said a statement in the name of Pyongyang's general staff of the military, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Pyongyang said it had put its armed forces on "full combat readiness," and it vowed immediate retaliation for any strike.

Apparently to clear the skies before the expected launch, North Korea said last week that it couldn't ensure the safety of commercial jetliners within its airspace.

The senior Obama administration envoy for the North Korean nuclear crisis, Stephen Bosworth, warned Pyongyang that firing a ballistic missile would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted after a previous test of a Taepodong-2 missile in 2006. Later that year, North Korea tested a nuclear device.

"Whether they describe it as a satellite launch or something else makes no difference. This would be a violation of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718," Bosworth said in Seoul, South Korea, where he was visiting, according to the semiofficial Yonhap news agency.

Neighboring China, which serves as host to longstanding disarmament talks that include the Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia, has said that it's aware that North Korea plans a launch, but it has declined to characterize it as an act that would defy the U.N. resolution.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyou said in Seoul that 621 South Koreans were at the Kaesong industrial complex or elsewhere in North Korea, and that 80 of them who were scheduled to return to South Korea on Monday were unable to do so, Yonhap said. The complex was built earlier in the decade when South Korea sought to defang North Korea through major investment schemes.

Some 25,000 U.S. military personnel and an undetermined number of South Korean troops are taking part in the war games, which have occurred annually and are scheduled to last through March 20 this time.

"It's purely a defensive exercise," said Dave Palmer, a spokesman in Seoul for U.S. Forces Korea.

Pyongyang charged that the war games were aimed at launching a "second Korean war."

Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, is widely thought to have suffered a stroke last August, and a possible succession drama in the Stalinist state has drawn international attention.

North Koreans went to the polls Sunday to vote on the country's parliament, and Kim won re-election to a seat with 100 percent support, North Korea's official news agency said.

Late Monday, North Korea released the names of all 687 lawmakers who had been elected to the body, and the names didn't include Kim's Swiss-educated youngest son, Kim Jong Un, 26, who some analysts said was a likely successor. Once again, signs are murky over who may be the heir apparent to North Korea's 67-year-old ruler.

___

© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush sentenced to 3 years

By Laith Hammoudi
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)

BAGHDAD _ An Iraqi court Thursday sentenced television journalist Muntathar al Zaidi to three years in prison for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush.

The decision by Iraq's Central Criminal Court provoked an outcry among those at the trial. "Hero, hero, Muntathar. God is great," a group of relatives chanted.

Zaidi's immediate family wept on hearing the sentence. His brother Udai accused the court of being Americanized. "This was expected from an Americanized court," he said. "We don't feel sorry for Muntathar, we only feel sorry for Americanized Iraq."

Zaidi, who reports for the satellite channel al Baghdadiyah, threw his shoes at Bush during the former president's final media appearance with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki in December. "This is the farewell kiss, dog," Zaidi shouted as he threw the first shoe.

Bush ducked nimbly. Zaidi threw the second shoe, and Bush ducked again. Later, the president joked that he'd noticed that the shoes were a size 9. He also said the incident reflected the new freedom of expression that had taken hold in Iraq.

To Muslims in many countries, it wasn't a joke but an act of defiance against what's widely seen as an oppressive American presence in Iraq and throughout the region.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

In his first court appearance last month, Zaidi almost bounced into the courtroom. On Thursday, however, arriving under heavy guard, he almost stumbled in, exhausted and looking worried, and no longer wearing an Iraqi flag scarf.

Chief Judge Abdul-Amir al Rubaie started the proceedings by reading a ruling that Bush's visit had been an official visit of state, implying that Zaidi could be sentenced under criminal law.

Tariq Harb, a leading defense attorney, urged the court instead to follow Bush's words and consider the incident an act of democratic expression.

"There should be no case without the approval of the prime minister, which didn't happen. I trust the justice of the Iraq judiciary, but I can't ignore the law," he said.

Dhia al Saadi, who headed the defense team, told the court that Zaidi had committed an action "meant to insult, not attack, the U.S. president."

Saadi added that his client had a right under international law to "fight the occupier" and that his "patriotic motives" shouldn't be overlooked. He admitted that Zaidi had broken the work rules for journalists. Saadi insisted, however, that this was an issue for the journalists union, not the courts.

Zaidi's sentencing came the same week that a car bomb killed two of his co-workers as they covered a national reconciliation conference in Abu Ghraib.

___

© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

_____

ARCHIVE PHOTO on MCT Direct (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Dhia al Saadi

Florida principal seeks donations from parents to help balance budget cuts

By Leslie Postal
The Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)

ORLANDO, Fla. _ Faced with slashing half a million dollars from his budget, an Orange County, Fla., elementary-school principal turned to fundraising but went way beyond the traditional wrapping paper and cookie sales. He asked parents to chip in $500 per child so the school could avoid laying off teachers in the coming months.

Trevor Honohan, principal of Audubon Park Elementary, sent his fundraising plea to parents Thursday _ even suggesting naming rights to the school could be sold for "large financial contribution."

In his letter, he said Audubon is slated to lose $500,000, or the equivalent of more than eight teachers, for the 2009-10 school year. These cuts would "rip apart the foundation" of the school, he wrote.

"Our backs are against the wall. I need your help today!" added Honohan, promising he would contribute $1,000 because he has two children at the school. Parents were given "Honohan's Hero" pledge cards and asked to turn them in within five days.

The letter was a clear sign of how desperately worried public-school administrators are about pending budget cuts, which could require them to slash 15 percent from next year's spending plan because of Florida's tanking economy.

Jean Hovey, president-elect of the Florida PTA, said she had not heard of any other public school in the state asking parents to help stanch the budget bleeding by chipping in to keep teachers on the payroll.

"Wow," said Hovey, a longtime Seminole County PTA member, when told of Honohan's letter.

District school leaders had about the same reaction _ convening a meeting after learning about the letter, which had not been approved by top Orange County administrators.

They decided late Thursday the letter had been sent prematurely and asked Honohan to send a telephone message to the parents of Audubon Park's 875 students Thursday night telling them to disregard it, said district spokesman Shari Bobinski.

District officials needed time to figure out whether such an effort was legal in a district that must equitably fund all campuses, Bobinski said.

"The district has to stay fair to every school. Cuts are cuts. We can't favor one school over another just because of the economic makeup of that school," she added.

Honohan did not return calls or an e-mail asking for his comment.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

His A-rated school is housed in a new campus in Orlando's upscale Baldwin Park community.

In his letter, Honohan estimated 52 percent of Audubon Park parents could afford to make a donation. If each of those parents wrote a check for $500 per child enrolled, he wrote, the school could replace the $500,000 it expects to lose. Otherwise, "hard working teachers we know and love will be unemployed," he wrote.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

The letter also detailed how parents could purchase naming rights for the school cafeteria, media center and classrooms if they would donate at least $10,000, and how Honohan would be open to discussions about renaming the school for an unspecified but "large financial contribution." The last action would require School Board approval, however, the letter stated.

Parent Monica Abel said Thursday afternoon she planned to contribute $1,500 for her three children who attend Audubon Park.

"It's going to put a financial strain on us. But I believe this is what the school needs. My family will make it happen right now. I certainly will miss it, but it's about priorities."

Abel, treasurer of the school's PTA, said she appreciated that Honohan was a "forward-thinking" principal who was trying to find creative approaches to the budget crisis. She admitted it was "kind of foreign" to be asked to donate money for teacher salaries at a public school. Still, she added, "I appreciate what he is doing to keep Audubon at the level where it's at."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Across Florida, many administrators have warned they will have no choice but to lay off large numbers of teachers to keep their budgets in the black during the 2009-10 school. They also expect to enact other unpleasant cuts, such as closing schools, trimming sports programs and eliminating some academic programs.

Hovey of the Florida PTA worried Honohan's effort undermined education advocates' central argument during the current budget crisis: it is the state's responsibility to fund public schools.

Audubon Park's extraordinary effort also raised "fairness issues," Hovey said.

"What happens when at the school down the road the parents can't afford the $500?"

For now, Honohan's plans are on hold. In his follow-up phone message to parents Thursday night, he said some of his information, such as the size of the school's pending budget cut, was premature.

"I appreciate the positive responses I have received," he said, "and want to clear up any misconceptions derived from the letter. Thank you all for your continued support."

___

© 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Teen hands out thousands of dollars after finding drug money

By Joy Powell
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
(MCT)

MINNEAPOLIS _ It's believed to have been $18,000 in drug loot that a 16-year-old found along a bicycle trail in Farmington, Minn., this week, and then took home _ for the night, at least.

"By morning, he shared his fortune with everybody," or so it seemed, said Dawana Witt, a Dakota County sheriff's deputy who cracked the case.

The teen gave away fistfuls of hundred-dollar bills, which soon showed up in four south metro schools Tuesday.

By day's end, Witt and three fellow school resource officers had snapped up about $11,000 the boy gave away. Investigators ended up recovering $18,000 _ nearly all the cash the boy found and either kept or gave away, Witt said.

The case began with the teen's discovery as he pedaled his bike near Pilot Knob Road and 195th Street after school Monday.

Investigators suspect not long before that, a marijuana dealer, who feared he was being tailed, had tossed the loot out a car window _ along with several pounds of high-grade marijuana and scales, said Chief Deputy Dave Bellows of the Sheriff's Office.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

"We're confident that both the money and marijuana wound up in the ditch at the same time," Bellows said.

It's understandable why the boy missed the pot, he said.

"It's a weedy area. This kid goes down, opens up the bag and sees a large quantity of cash," Bellows said. "I don't think he's looking for anything else."

On Tuesday morning, Witt fielded a call from a supervisor of Marschall Line Inc., a Farmington bus company serving the alternative school the boy attends, Alliance Education Center in Rosemount. Students attend that school part-time, while also enrolled at other high schools or Dakota County Technical College.

A bus aide reported the teen had asked her early Tuesday whether she could accept gifts. She told him no, but after he exited the bus, she found $1,200 in her bag, Witt said. The aide told Witt the teen apparently also gave cash to a classmate on the bus.

Witt interviewed the aide, and then the teen with the loot. He first said the cash was from his allowance before telling the truth. Witt asked him why he gave cash to the bus aide.

"She has a kid and she needs the money," the teen replied.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

The teen led skeptical Dakota County authorities to the ditch where he found the money, and there, they spotted 4 pounds of marijuana and the scales.

Witt and Bellows said they expect no charges against the teen for not turning in the cash, though state law requires anyone who finds anything of value to make reasonable attempts to return it to its owner.

"This kid, he has a good heart, he really does," Witt said. "He just made a bad decision. I don't think he had any bad intentions."

Finding thousands of dollars presented an exciting, though misguided, opportunity for a kid who likes to give, she said.

"All I've got to say," said Witt, "is that he was very happy for about 24 hours."

___

© 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Visit the Star Tribune Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.startribune.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Students Working Together

High School students and the fifth grade enrichment groups from all of the elementary schools are working together on a project entitled C.L.A.S.S. (children learning about social studies). The topic is the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World combined with the wonders of Canada, the United States and Mexico. Students work in groups and choose a wonder to research. Each group has a HS student as a mentor who assists the fifth graders by showing them how to navigate a web quest. The final product for the fifth grade students will be a newspaper on the wonders.

Madoff Pleads Guilty

Bulletin: Bernard Madoff pleads guilty to all 11 charges in one of Wall Street's largest swindle
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Obama decries earmarks, signs bill with 9,000 of them

By Steven Thomma and David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ As a candidate, Barack Obama once said that a president has to be able to do more than one thing at a time. Wednesday he proved it, though not in the way he had in mind.

He criticized pork barrel spending in the form of "earmarks," urging changes in the way that Congress adopts the spending proposals. Then he signed a spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them, some that members of his own staff shoved in last year when they were still members of Congress.

"Let there be no doubt, this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability," Obama said.

He said, however, that it was crucial for him to sign the $410 billion bill as soon as it arrived at the White House from Congress because it's needed to finance much of the government for the rest of this fiscal year. It was largely written last year but was held back while Republican George W. Bush was president because he opposed it.

"I am signing an imperfect ... bill," Obama said, "because it's necessary for the ongoing functions of government, and we have a lot more work to do. We can't have Congress bogged down at this critical juncture in our economic recovery."

Obama proposed changing the way special projects are financed, including competitive bidding for spending that goes to for-profit businesses. Aides also said the White House Office of Management and Budget would review the spending bill for examples of wasteful spending. The president then could send those back to Congress as proposed cuts, called rescissions, for an up-or-down vote.

Although Obama insisted that the recently enacted $787 billion plan to stimulate the economy be free of any earmarks _ spending on special projects usually in senators' home states or representatives' districts _ he made no such demand of this spending bill.

"The president could have done better. He couldn't have eliminated the earmarks in this bill, but he could have at least cut them back significantly," said Steve Ellis, the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group. "We appreciate how he kept them out of the stimulus, but we think he's only batting .500."

"The American people know actions speak louder than words," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, his party's leader in the House of Representatives. "The president's new promises on earmark reform would carry greater weight if they had been accompanied by a veto keeping his earlier promises on earmark reform."

The bill contains 8,816 earmarks worth $7.6 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Notable among them are $155.9 million worth of projects that six members of the Obama administration who were members of Congress last year, when the bill was originally written, inserted into the bill.

Top among them was Vice President Joe Biden. As a senator from Delaware, Biden added 56 earmarks that cost a total of $52.1 million, including $13.7 million for the Intracoastal Waterway from the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay and $190,000 to help build a children's museum in Wilmington.

Others:

_White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who as a House member from Illinois added 16 earmarks worth about $8.3 million, including money for a Chicago planetarium and suburban children's museum.

_Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, formerly a Democratic senator from Colorado, $44.6 million.

_Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, formerly a Republican congressman from Illinois, $26.5 million.

_Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, formerly a Democratic House member from California, $15.5 million.

_Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, formerly a Democratic senator from New York, $6.7 million.

The White House has pledged to send legislation to Congress seeking the rescission of all earmarks sponsored by current members of the Obama administration.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Geographically, Alaska topped the list, with 100 earmarks valued at $143 million, or $209.71 per capita. Next was North Dakota, with $110 million or $172 per capita.

The data show that it pays to be a top Appropriations Committee official. Hawaii, the home state of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, came in third, at $165 million, or $128.12 per capita. Fourth was Mississippi, represented by top Republican Appropriations member Thad Cochran, with $324 million in earmarks, or $110.59 per capita.

Last on the list: Arizona, the home state of Sen. John McCain, with $54 million, or $8.41 per capita. McCain railed against the practice throughout the weeklong Senate debate, just as he did in last year's presidential campaign, but his effort to effectively erase earmarks from the bill failed by a big margin Monday night.


___

© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

_____

PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): OBAMA

Apple unveils tiny iPod shuffle that talks

By John Boudreau

San Jose Mercury News

(MCT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. _ It's a new recession iPod.

Apple on Wednesday rolled out its third iteration of its low-end iPod shuffle with speech-based functions that tell users what song is playing and who the performer is. The VoiceOver technology on the $79 device, which the Cupertino, Calif., company calls the world's smallest digital music player, will list the names of play lists, giving users a new way to navigate their music on the screen-less iPod.

The new shuffle, which holds up to 1,000 songs, can also tell users other information, such as battery life. In addition to English, it can communicate in 14 languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Turkish, German and French.

And it's about half the size of the previous generation.

"These are exactly the kinds of products you need to come up in the midst of a recession," Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said. "It's not a stripped-down experience. It has a new cool user interface that isn't even on the high-end iPods. Apple has worked hard not to make this a race to the bottom."

Apple launched the first of its iPod line during the last economic downturn, in 2001.

The new 4 gigabyte device _ which costs $10 more than the second-generation model it replaces, which had half the capacity _ will give a "small boost" to the company's bottom line, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a note to investors. The high-margin shuffle could nudge iPod sales for the current quarter from 9.5 million to 10 million, he said.

Munster said the new shuffle indicates the innovative tinkering continues at Infinite Loop.

"Following a disappointing Macworld, investors had been wondering what was next for Apple," he wrote. "The shuffle is a small part of the overall story but the innovation we are seeing is encouraging for future product development."

Munster sees a possible launch of a 10-inch, touch-screen tablet-type device or low-end MacBook next year.

The new shuffle comes in two colors, silver and black. Apple is still selling the 1GB shuffle, which plays about 240 songs and comes in array of colors, for $49, without any upgrades.

___

© 2009, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

Visit MercuryNews.com, the World Wide Web site of the Mercury News, at http://www.mercurynews.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama makes case for taking time to get economy out of deep hole

By Kevin Diaz

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Obama, in his 51st day on the job, acknowledged that he has yet to reassure a nervous public about his game plan for stabilizing the financial system that has pulled the rug out from under the economy."We can always do a better job," he said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with 15 regional newspapers, including the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

"I recognize the degree of concern that people have. We've been in office all of seven weeks so far. This is a crisis that was eight years in the making, maybe longer, in certain aspects. The buck stops with me and we're responsible, but it's going to take some time."

The meeting was Obama's second with regional reporters who cover Washington, part of an aggressive media strategy that has seen the new president reach out to bloggers and columnists across the political spectrum.

"This is my monthly occasion to break out of the Washington bubble," Obama said in the West Wing's Roosevelt Room. "I enjoy the keen insights of people outside of Washington."

The president walked into the room with a casual "Hey, how you guys doing?" He spent the next hour holding forth on topics ranging from Mexican border violence to 57 extra police officers in Minneapolis, citing the latter as evidence of the benefits of his recently passed $787 billion economic stimulus package.

"Obviously, our overarching focus right now is the economy," Obama said. "I'm very mindful of the hardships that are taking place all throughout the country."

Speaking slowly and deliberately, like the college professor he was, Obama made clear that his administration is in its infancy and that he still has the public on his side.

"The truth of the matter is the American people I think understand that it's going to take some time," he said. "If you look at the public polling, they recognize that it's going to take a while to dig ourselves out of the hole."

Obama noted that it's been only two weeks since he laid out his plans in a joint session of Congress. "The reviews were pretty good," he said.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

He noted that one aspect of the stimulus package _ extra money to preserve police officer jobs _ was highlighted by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a co-chairman of Obama's presidential campaign in Minnesota. "People are getting the message that slowly, surely, we are making progress on these fronts," Obama said.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

As for the unanimous opposition to his stimulus plan from House Republicans, including the three from Minnesota, Obama said "Saying 'no' is easy. ... I'm not impressed by just being able to say no."

For early signs of hope, Obama pointed to his new housing plan to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. "You're already starting to see an uptick in refinancings that are providing families with relief," he said. "And in certain pockets of the country, you're starting to see housing prices stabilize after a long drop."

The president acknowledged, however, that there's "significant uncertainty" in the markets about the banking sector, which has been decimated by bad loans and mortgages. "That's obviously a particular concern to Wall Street," he said.

One problem is that the administration is still in the process of "stress-testing" or evaluating the financial strength of banks. "What we don't want to do is to prejudge those tests, or make a lot of statements that cause a lot of nervousness around banks that are already having difficulties," Obama said. "On that particular issue we've got to explain to people _ and as I said, we can always do better _ why it is so important to get lending going again, to get credit flowing to businesses and consumers.

"I'll be making statements about this tomorrow and the next day and in my radio addresses next week. And the main message I'm going to be delivering is that it's going to take some time to get out of this deep hole we're in. But we're going to get out."

By the time Obama took his last question, his water glass was still more than half full.

___

© 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Visit the Star Tribune Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.startribune.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama: No U.S. troops to Mexico border

By Todd J. Gillman

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama is keeping close watch on the violence from Mexico's drug war, but he said Wednesday so far it hasn't spilled into this country enough to justify sending troops to the border.

"We've got a very big border with Mexico," he said. "I'm not interested in militarizing the border."

Last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry visited El Paso, Texas _ whose neighbor, Ciudad Juarez, has taken the brunt of drug violence that has claimed more than 7,000 lives in Mexico in 14 months _ and called on Washington to send a thousand troops or border agents.

"We're going to examine whether and if National Guard deployments would make sense and under what circumstances they would make sense," Obama told The Dallas Morning News in an hour-long talk with 14 regional newspapers. "I don't have a particular tipping point in mind."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared a war on drug cartels nearly two years ago, setting off waves of violence as rival gangs fight for turf and resist the government crackdown. Obama emphasized he will continue working closely with Mexico and said within "a few months" he will offer a comprehensive policy to curtail U.S. demand for drugs and curb the southbound flow of cash and guns that give the cartels "extraordinary power."

"It's really a two-way situation," he said, promising a combination of border security, law enforcement, prevention and treatment.

"We're fighting with one hand tied behind our back because our effort to lower demand is grossly underfunded," Obama said. "The average person who's seeking serious substance abuse treatment in a big city like Dallas or Chicago typically has a three-, four- or six-month waiting list to get enrolled."

Obama has said little until now about the horrific violence in Mexico, which has included beheadings, assassinations of top anti-drug officials and police, running gun battles in border cities and the resignations of law enforcement officials who flee into the U.S. for safety.

Obama lauded Calderon for "taking some extraordinary risks under extraordinary pressure to deal with the drug cartels."

In 2007, then-President George W. Bush hammered out a deal with Calderon, called the Merida Initiative, to provide equipment and training to help Mexico take on the traffickers and weed out corruption.

Obama noted recent high-level contacts between U.S. and Mexican officials as a sign of the ongoing partnership.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Last Friday, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with counterparts in Mexico and offered more intelligence and surveillance, as well as training based on lessons learned against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder have already met with top Mexican officials, too.

On Wednesday, Obama named a national drug czar, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. Bush had given the post Cabinet rank. Obama removed that designation but said that's not a reflection on how seriously he takes the effort to curtail drug use.

"We do have to treat this as a public health problem, and we do have to have significant law enforcement,' he said. "If we can reduce demand, obviously that allows us to focus more effectively where interdiction is needed."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

As a candidate, Obama called the "war on drugs ... an utter failure." He also said he was open to legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

Asked Wednesday if he believes this country is still engaged in a war on drugs, he avoided the phrase but promised not to weaken drug laws and to pursue border security and law enforcement while putting fresh emphasis on prevention and treatment.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

President George W. Bush's drug czar, John Walters, agreed on the need for a multifaceted approach.

"It's not an endless battle, and it's not a war like the Vietnam War," said Walters in a separate interview. "The issue of the 'war' has become a kind of metaphor for using inappropriate means, or focusing on force, or focusing on the supply side rather than the demand side. We have learned that we need balance."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Obama also offered assurance Americans won't be put at risk when he closes the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfers some detainees to U.S. facilities. Texas Republicans in Congress are among those who have denounced his plan, insisting he send terror suspects elsewhere.

"We already have experience with terrorists who are in federal prisons," Obama said. "And there's been no indication that the safety or security of prison guards or of surrounding communities have been compromised."

On food safety, Obama said he has ordered the Agriculture Department and the Health and Human Services Department to work more closely and develop better procedures, after a salmonella outbreak traced to peanut processors in Texas and Georgia. The nation needs "better warning signals" from food producers and an ability to track contamination more quickly, he said.

___

© 2009, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama says NASA's next leader must end agency's 'drift'

By Mark K. Matthews

The Orlando Sentinel

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama said Wednesday that NASA is an agency afflicted by "a sense of drift" and that it needs "a new mission that is appropriate for the 21at century."

Obama said the first priority of a new agency administrator _ whom he promised to appoint "soon" _ would be "to think through what NASA's core mission is and what the next great adventures and discoveries are under the NASA banner."

Until that happens, he said during a session with reporters from the Orlando Sentinel and other regional newspapers, the White House would delay any major policy decisions about the agency.

That would likely ensure the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010 _ as Obama called for in the budget proposal he gave Congress last month _ and pave the way for massive job losses at Kennedy Space Center and the surrounding Space Coast in Florida.

Obama took only one question about NASA. He said nothing about whether he wants to continue the Bush administration's Constellation program, intended to send astronauts to the moon by 2020. The program's Ares I rocket is behind schedule and over budget, leading to speculation that it will miss its targeted 2015 launch date and further reduce the skilled work force at KSC.

He was also silent about the fate of the $100 billion international space station. Once the shuttle is retired, NASA will depend on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for access to the station.

Obama made clear that the agency, which has been without an administrator since his Jan. 20 inauguration, could not continue on its current course.

"Shaping a mission for NASA that is appropriate for the 21st century is going to be one of the biggest tasks of my new NASA director," he said. "What I don't want NASA to do is just limp along. And I don't think that's good for the economy in the region, either."

Several names have been floated as possible replacements for former agency chief Michael Griffin. Congressional and space-industry sources said the current front-runner appears to be Steve Isakowitz, a former NASA official now with the Department of Energy who is said to have the strong support of Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

Other candidates include former NASA astronaut Charles Bolden, a favorite of Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, and two retired Air Force generals, Lester L. Lyles and J. Scott Gration.

Since taking office, Obama has said little about NASA. The only clues to his policy aims were included in his proposed 2010 budget, which called for the shuttle's retirement next year but added one additional launch if it can be done "safely and affordably."

But with eight missions needed after Discovery to finish construction of the space station, it could be difficult to cram another launch into the schedule before the 2010 deadline. The bonus mission Obama touted would ferry a physics experiment to the space station.

The end of the shuttle era is expected to devastate Kennedy Space Center and the Space Coast. KSC's main function is to launch shuttles and other NASA rockets. With nothing to fly, there would be little work.

NASA estimates that at least 3,500 KSC jobs would be lost, while shuttle contractors put the estimate at 10,000. With each NASA job credited with creating 2.8 others in the community, an additional 9,870 to 28,200 jobs would be at risk.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

During his hourlong press briefing, Obama touched on several other topics:

_High-speed rail: He said he wishes he could have shoehorned more than $8 billion in his economic-stimulus package for high-speed rail. Florida officials are interested in a high-speed-rail project that would connect Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

One advocate, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, said he couldn't be "more enthusiastic" about Obama's support. "I have to be careful how much I praise him," Mica joked. "It's one of the most exciting things I have ever been involved in."

_Voting Rights Act: The president voiced his continued support for Department of Justice reviews of states, primarily Southern, that wish to implement changes that could affect minorities' voting rights. "That's not such a huge hurdle to jump through," he said. Several Florida counties are affected by the law.

_Mexican drug violence: Obama said he has not yet decided whether to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to combat growing drug-related violence. "We are going to examine whether, and if, National Guard deployments would make sense and under what circumstances they would make sense . . .," he said. But he noted: "We have a very big border with Mexico, so I'm not interested in militarizing the border."

___ WHO'S IN MIX?

President Obama says a new NASA chief will be named "soon." Top candidates:

_Steve Isakowitz: Insiders say ex-NASA official is in lead.

_Charles Bolden: Ex-astronaut has Florida Sen. Bill Nelson's support.

_Lester L. Lyles, J. Scott Gration: Retired Air Force generals.

___

© 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

'Contained engine failure' of plane departing LaGuardia Airport rains metal pieces on businesses below

By Keith Herbert

Newsday

(MCT)

NEW YORK _ In what the Federal Aviation Administration called a "contained engine failure," dozens of pieces of metal believed to be from an American Airlines flight that had taken off from LaGuardia Airport near New York City rained down Wednesday on an area of College Point, N.Y., that includes businesses and large stores.

No one was injured by the debris, which fell just after the 8:15 a.m. departure of American Flight 309, bound for Chicago's O'Hare Airport. None of the 88 passengers or five crew members on the MD-80 jet was injured, officials said, and the plane made an emergency landing at nearby Kennedy Airport.

Many pieces of metal, some the size of a quarter and others much larger, were embedded in the tar of a warehouse roof and found across several acres off 123rd Street, across Flushing Bay east of the airport.

The pilot declared an emergency after losing the right engine at 1,800 feet and stated he wanted to land at Kennedy Airport, according to the FAA.

Air traffic controllers called Kennedy to report that a plane with one engine and 23,000 pounds of fuel on board was making an emergency landing. The jet was on the ground there by 8:36 a.m., according to the FAA.

Flight 309's passengers were put on buses, taken back to LaGuardia and offered seats on other flights. Some passengers canceled their travel plans and went home, American Airlines spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said.

The FAA's designation of the event as a "contained engine failure" referred to the breakup of the engine's internal parts, which were expelled out of the rear of the engine.

"We heard an explosion and then 20 to 30 seconds of shrapnel pelting the building," said Robert J. Bellini, 45, of Lake Grove, N.Y.,who owns Varsity Plumbing and Heating on 123rd Street. He estimated 200 pieces of metal were scattered over a 6-acre area.

"We knew it was a problem with a plane," Bellini said. "We just didn't know how bad."

Investigators were working under the assumption that debris came from Flight 309's malfunctioning right engine, said Jim Peters, an FAA spokesman in New York.

The FAA, the Port Authority and New York City police investigated reports of the debris. The FAA collected pieces of the metal in cardboard boxes and took them to the FAA's Garden City office for examination.

The plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, manufactured in 1999. Wells Fargo Bank in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the registered owner, according to FAA records.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Pratt & Whitney of East Hartford, Conn., manufactured the turbofan engines that powered the jet.

Huguely said engine failure, not a bird strike, was the likely cause of the emergency landing.

On Jan. 15, US Airways Flight 1549 made a controlled glide landing in the Hudson River after striking Canada geese and losing power in both engines just moments after takeoff from LaGuardia. All 155 passengers and crew on board survived.

___

(Pervaiz Shallwani, Daniel Edward Rosen and staff writer Rocco Parascandola contributed to this report.)

___

© 2009, Newsday.

Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Company hopes Guitar Hero strummers will want a real guitar

By Thomas Lee

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

(MCT)

MINNEAPOLIS _ Sure, they're just video games, but anyone who has played the hugely popular Guitar Hero or Rock Band has probably channeled a little bit of Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, or Aerosmith in their performance.

But can someone truly rock out by hitting a bunch of colorful buttons on a plastic guitar controller?

Zivix LLC is betting some players will want to upgrade to the real thing. The Minneapolis-based start-up is developing an electric guitar with fingertip sensors that allow users to play and control the game wirelessly. The company hopes players will want to feel and look the part.

But the Headliner digital guitar is not meant to be just another tricked-out controller. By holding and feeling out a real guitar, players may actually want to learn how to play the instrument and write music, said Zivix president and founder Dan Sullivan.

"There is a certain group that aspires to go beyond the game," said Sullivan, who started Zivix in 2006. "They had a taste of what it's like to be a real guitar player because that's the illusion. Why not take the next step and being able to play?"

Zivix is also developing software called JamSession that it could package with Headliner. The software allows multiple users to mix prerecorded song loops from different instruments and genres.

But some venture capitalists wonder if Zivix is making too big of a leap. Users may love to play Guitar Hero, but will they pay $249.99 for the Headliner guitar when they can get a beefed-up PlayStation 2 guitar controller for $39.99? That depends on whether a video game player really does want to be a musician instead of pretending to be one. (First-time players might spend $500 for a quality electric guitar.)

"The question that comes to mind is ... why would anyone want to buy this?" said Peter Birkeland, chief financial officer of Rain Source Capital, a St. Paul-based network of angel investors. "Guitar Hero and Rock Band is not about playing music. It's about playing a game."

Birkeland also questions the cost of making real guitars vs. traditional game controllers.

Sales of video game accessories like controllers jumped 14 percent last year to $2.6 billion, according to NPD Group Inc., a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.

Much of those sales are due to the phenomenal success of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Star. Activision Blizzard Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., which released Guitar Hero III in 2007, has sold 10 million units in the United States, making Guitar Hero the all-time bestselling video game.

"The game-play is fun whether or not you have an interest in music or being a musician, and I think that is key to the success of both Rock Band and Guitar Hero," said Anita Frazier, a NPD analyst. "They're also quite accessible _ video game enthusiasts and newcomers to gaming as a form of entertainment can both enjoy these games."

The popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band has led some industry officials to speculate whether the games can boost sales of real instruments. So far, the numbers don't bear that out.

U.S. guitar sales totaled $1.1 billion in 2007, about flat compared with the previous year, according to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). Unit sales fell 4.1 percent to 2.86 million.

However, some data suggest there might be a correlation between game and guitar. About 67 percent of people who play rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band said they were likely to pick up a real instrument, according to survey by Guitar Center, a guitar retailer that reported a nearly 27 percent jump in first-time sales last year. Another 81 percent said the video games motivated them to ask for a real instrument for the holiday season.

NAMM is funding a study by Drexel University that seeks to determine whether Guitar Hero and Rock Band will encourage middle school and high school students to pursue formal music education and whether playing the game results in real musical skills.

Zivix hopes to release the JamSession software in June and the Headline guitar by late fall. The company is discussing partnerships with retailers, video game makers, and even real-life musicians to create song loops for JamSession. Sullivan envisions people creating their own loops and sharing the music with other JamSession users over the Internet.

"The idea is to use technology to make it easier for beginners that don't know anything about music to sound like they are playing music," Sullivan said. "It's a technology boost to music creation."

___

© 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Visit the Star Tribune Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.startribune.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

NY Plane Makes Emergency Landing

An American Airlines flight bound for Chicago made an emergency landing Wednesday morning.

American Airlines flight 304 took off from LaGuardia Airport bound for O'Hare International Airport at 8:18 am.

Shortly into the flight, the MD 80 aircraft apparently had mechanical failure in engine two.

The flight landed safely at Kennedy Airport. None of the 81 passengers or 5 crew members on board were injured.

Mechanical pieces found in College Point, Queens, are believed to have fallen from the broken engine as the aircraft flew over. No one on the ground appears to have been injured.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Accolades and Updates: 3/10

Edward Ehmann, Superintendent of Schools of the Smithtown School District, made the following announcements at the March 10th Board of Education meeting at the Joseph M. Barton Administration Building.

One thousand parents filled the seats of Nesaquake Middle School’s Auditorium at the District’s third Parent University. The topic, Drugs in our Town: What’s a Parent to Do? featured an outstanding panel that explored the problem of drugs from the school, community, parent, law enforcement, medical and counseling perspectives. Those who wish further information are encouraged to visit either high school websites, which both link to a Drug Resource Blog: http://hstaskforce.blogspot.com/ or to e-mail questions and concerns to pipeline@smithtown.k12.ny.us.

Members of the community are invited to attend upcoming budget development meetings. There will be a Business Affairs Committee meeting on March 18th at 7 p.m. at the Joseph M. Barton Administration Building and a Citizens’ Advisory meeting will take place on March 11th at 7 p.m.

The Civics Club of St. James Elementary School was accepted to the O’Ambassador program to support the children in Ecuador. In addition to hosting several other programs that directly impact the children of Ecuador, the Civics Club created a “Quarters for Books” event. Gently used books as well as quarters were collected for a “book swap.” Left over books were donated to Larry Hohler, a retired Smithtown teacher. He is sending a container of books to an orphanage and school in Africa.

Tackan Elementary students with the help of Mr. Keith Sheppard, Director of Science Education at Stony Brook University, had a few lessons in science. Tackan holds special Science Days throughout the school year to promote science and discovery.
The “Peanut Butter Gang” Community Service Club at Dogwood Elementary recently visited the Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care. Fifth graders assisted residents in making a picture frame craft.

Fourteen Smithtown students won in several categories at Sprachfest. Sprachfest is an annual event organized by the American Association of Teachers of German, Long Island Chapter.
Smithtown High School West seniors Ross Whalen and Molly Cook recently completed a community service project with the Suffolk County Police Department. The seniors painted a mural of the American flag at the offices of the Emergency Service Section in Ronkonkoma. The project was coordinated with HS West Art teacher Steve Halem and Emergency Service Police Officer Peter Knudsen.

SHS East students earned All County Honors this winter track season. Cara Hallahan was the Large School Champion in the high jump and Ashley Beck placed 2nd at the State Qualifier also in the high jump. Ashley will represent Suffolk County at the State Track Meet at Cornell University on March 7

High School students and the fifth grade enrichment groups from all of the elementary schools are working together on a project entitled C.L.A.S.S. (children learning about social studies). The topic is the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World combined with the wonders of Canada, the United States and Mexico. Students work in groups and choose a wonder to research. Each group has a HS student as a mentor who assists the fifth graders by showing them how to navigate a web quest. The final product for the fifth grade students will be a newspaper on the wonders.

Madoff plans guilty plea, faces 150 years in prison

By Anthony M. DeStefano
Newsday
(MCT)
MELVILLE, N.Y. _ Bernard Madoff, after being charged with 11 counts for allegedly running Wall Street's biggest Ponzi scheme, now faces up to 150 years in prison when he pleads guilty tomorrow, officials said Tuesday.
Manhattan federal prosecutors unveiled the charges, as well as the 70-year-old's prospect of dying behind bars, during a court appearance in which the disgraced investment adviser told a judge that he wanted to keep his lawyer despite potential legal conflicts.
The attorney, Ira Sorkin, said Madoff intends to plead guilty to the charges tomorrow.
In disclosing the charges, prosecutors revealed that Madoff is accused of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering in connection with a $50-billion Ponzi scheme that allegedly ran for more than 25 years. He is also charged with perjury, giving false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission and stealing from an employee benefit program.
"From at least as early as the 1980s through on or about December 11, 2008, Bernard L. Madoff, the defendant, perpetrated a scheme to defraud the clients of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Services by soliciting billions of dollars of funds under false pretenses," federal prosecutors said in charging documents.
"I think 150 years is in the right direction," said investor Burt Ross of Englewood, N.J. "When will he go to jail?"
The documents didn't spell out a specific amount of investor losses. But the charges noted that as of November, Madoff's clients received statements showing total balances in their accounts of $64.8 billion, when the amount was just a fraction of that. When he was arrested, Madoff allegedly told investigators his scheme totaled $50 billion.
The charges also indicate other unnamed Madoff employees took part in the alleged scheme by generating false account statements and trading tickets to show investment activity that didn't exist.
There wasn't information on Madoff's wife, Ruth, who is on the verge of being counseled by the law firm of former federal prosecutor Peter Chavkin. Chavkin was in court Tuesday as a special counsel to advise Madoff on the conflict-of-interest issues involving Sorkin. Chavkin has cited that possibility in court.
Madoff, under house arrest after posting a $10 million bond, also diverted $250 million in client funds over a six-year period to fund the operation of his legitimate market-making activities, according to the documents.
Disclosure of the charges overshadowed the ostensible reason for the court hearing, which was the legal conflict of interest issue. On that point, Madoff, who had come to court wearing a protective vest, spoke publicly for the first time. Leaning against a table, Madoff for 12 minutes answered repeatedly with "Yes," and "Yes, I am," when asked by U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin if he understood or was aware of the nature of Sorkin's potential conflicts.
Sorkin had represented two men who were potential witnesses against Madoff, and his family members had prior investments with Madoff's company. Sorkin himself also at one point had about $60,000 in retirement money invested with Madoff, but took it out around 1993, court papers disclosed.
Prosecutor Marc Litt revealed Madoff hasn't signed an agreement with the government, indicating he would have to plead guilty to all charges and could face up to 150 years. "He is throwing himself at the mercy of the court," said a defense attorney not involved in the case, who didn't want to be named.
Chin said sentencing would take place "several months" after any guilty plea.
___
© 2009, Newsday.
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

How 2 ...delay sending Outlook e-mail messages

By Etan Horowitz
The Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)
Have you ever realized after you sent an e-mail that you said something in it you shouldn't have or there was a major typo? You could try to recall the message in Microsoft Outlook, but that rarely seems to work.
A better option might be to defer delivery of your messages by a few minutes so you give yourself a chance to fix any errors or career-ending mistakes. Kudos to thehowtogeek.com for pointing this out.
1. In Outlook, choose "Rules and Alerts" from the "Tools" menu and click on "New Rule."
2. Select "Start from a blank rule," "Check messages after sending" and then click "Next." In this screen, you can set conditions for the messages you want to delay sending. For instance, you might only want to delay sending messages to your boss. To do that, set the appropriate condition and then click "Next." To delay delivery of all your messages, just click "Next."
3. Check the box next to "defer delivery by a number of minutes" and click on the underlined words below to set the number of minutes you want to delay sending your messages. Continue clicking "Next," give your rule a name and then click "Finish."
4. Your rule is now active. The next time you hit Send, your message will be placed in your "Outbox" and will be sent when the specified number of minutes is up. If you notice a mistake, you can go into the message, modify it and hit "Send." You can also delete the message from the Outbox, which will prevent if from being sent (if you do it in time).
5. If you want to turn this rule off, or modify the messages that it applies to, just go back into "Rules and Alerts" in the Tools Menu.
(Etan Horowitz is the technology columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at ehorowitz@orlandosentinel.com.)
___
© 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

iLife upgrade makes photos, videos fun

By Etan Horowitz
The Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)
One of the main reasons people buy Apple computers is because they come with fabulous software for managing your photos and creating movies.
But the curse (or blessing?) of owning Apple products is that there's always a newer version right around the corner. For most people, it generally doesn't make sense to upgrade your iPod, iPhone or Apple computer when a new one is released. But software is a different story.
In January, Apple released iLife '09, a $79 suite of applications that includes the latest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD. It also comes pre-installed on all new Macs.
If you are a heavy iPhoto and iMovie user, the upgrade is worth it. The iPhoto enhancements make organizing, viewing and sharing your photos easier and more fun, and the new iMovie has more professional editing tools. You must have the Leopard operating system to upgrade to iLife '09.
I'm going to focus on iPhoto and iMovie because those are the most widely used, according to Apple.
Face time iPhoto '09 gives you two new ways to group your photos: based on who is in the picture and where it was taken.
When you first launch it after you upgrade, the program will go through all of your photos and find the faces in each one. This takes a long time, about a second or two per photo, according to Apple. Once it's finished, you open up a photo and identify some of the faces by clicking on "Name." A picture of each person you identify is added to a corkboard in the "Faces" section of iPhoto. Double clicking on a face on the corkboard will bring up a bunch of other photos that iPhoto thinks contain that same person. By confirming which ones are actually that person, you help iPhoto's face detection software get better.
The face detection is pretty accurate, but it's not perfect. For instance, it thought that pictures of my brother or my mom were me and that two unrelated people were the same person, presumably because they both had glasses. I was impressed that the software was able to correctly identify pictures of my relatives and me when we were children. Apple says you'll get better results if you "seed" the face detection by identifying more than one photo of the same person.
Going through this somewhat tedious process gives you a fun and new way to look through your photos. If you are making a slideshow or photo book and you know you want to include certain people, instead of having to look through different collections, you can instantly pull up every photo in your collection that includes that person.
Uploading
In the past, you had to download a separate plug-in to iPhoto to upload photos directly to Facebook. Now the ability to upload to the social networking site is built right into iPhoto. When you upload your photos directly to Facebook, the album title, captions and names of the people you have identified are all automatically added in Facebook and the photos can be automatically "tagged." Changes in Facebook (such as someone tagging himself) are automatically made in iPhoto as well, which saves you some time.If you have an iPhone or a GPS enabled camera, iPhoto automatically detects where the photo was taken and labels each photo accordingly. You can see a map plotting the locations of your photos and you can organize and search by photo location. If you don't have an iPhone or GPS enabled camera, you can manually add locations to individual photos or collections of photos.
iPhoto also now lets you upload your photos directly to photo-sharing site Flickr. The places you've added to your photos will appear on your Flickr map (you have to enable this in preferences) and like Facebook, changes you make in Flickr are automatically synced so both collections are the same. You can also use places to make new travel themed photo books that display a map tracing your trip alongside your photos.
Making movies
Apple overhauled its iMovie program to help make your movies look even better. Probably the best feature is "video stabilization," which makes shaky video play back smoothly. It takes a long time to work, but it's worth it. iMovie isn't as easy to use as iPhoto, but it lessens the need for a more advanced video editing program such as Final Cut Express. Now it's easy to do things like speed up or slow down clips or take the audio from one clip and lay it over the video from another. There are lots of cool new transitions, titles and effects and themes. If you like to create digital media from your photos and videos, iLife '09 is a worthwhile investment.
(Etan Horowitz is the technology columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at ehorowitz@orlandosentinel.com.)
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© 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Newspapers make move to online only

By Eric Pryne
The Seattle Times
(MCT)
SEATTLE _ If the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stops publishing in print but stays alive in some form online _ as now seems likely _ it won't be the first daily newspaper to make the move.
Over the last 15 months, two failing Midwest papers have taken similar leaps.
On the last day of 2007, media giant E.W. Scripps shut down the shrinking Cincinnati Post and Kentucky Post, a zoned edition that served the city's Northern Kentucky suburbs.
A day later it launched KyPost.com, with a veteran Post editor as managing editor.
In Madison, Wis., the struggling afternoon Capital Times halted daily print publication last April and unveiled a beefed-up Web news operation. It also started two new weekly tabloid print publications.
The P-I seems poised to make a similar break with the past. Owner Hearst Corp. put the money-losing paper up for sale in January, saying it would close it unless a buyer emerged in 60 days. A sale is considered highly unlikely. But Hearst also said the P-I might re-emerge an online-only publication. And last week, with the 60-day deadline nearing, it quietly began offering a few P-I staffers jobs with a new Web venture.
Hearst won't say anything about its plans.
The Cincinnati and Madison online newspapers emphasize what's local. Both contain familiar newspaper content, such as obituaries and high-school sports results. The Wisconsin site even has comics.
Both sites report significant increases in traffic. The Capital Times' owners say the move to digital should result in cost savings of $3.5 million to $4 million in 2009. A Scripps vice president says KyPost.com should break even this year.
But neither is a stand-alone venture. Both have relationships with traditional media outlets _ a television station in Cincinnati, the remaining print daily in Madison _ that effectively subsidize the fledgling Web operations.
In Seattle, by contrast, seattlepi.com apparently would be flying solo.
CINCINNATI
The Cincinnati/Kentucky Post died when the joint-operating agreement that linked it to the dominant, morning Cincinnati Enquirer expired at the end of 2007. Under the JOA _ similar to one that links the P-I with The Seattle Times _ the two papers maintained competing newsrooms, but the Enquirer handled the business operations for both and the publishers split the combined profits.
The Post's weekday circulation had plummeted _ from 188,000 in 1977 to just 27,000. Scripps concluded the Post couldn't be sustained outside the JOA.
But the Kentucky Post's brand was strong in Northern Kentucky, says Adam Symson, vice president of interactive for Scripps' television group. With the paper's demise the company saw a news and advertising niche an online product might fill.
Plus a Kentucky-focused online operation could piggyback on Scripps' Cincinnati television station, WCPO. "That was fundamental to the launch of KyPost.com," Symson says.
The Web site operates out of WCPO's offices. TV station employees sell its ads and run its servers. Stories from the TV station's Northern Kentucky reporter are posted on the site, which Symson says is promoted regularly on WCPO's newscasts.
Those synergies allow Scripps to keep KyPost.com's costs low.
Managing Editor Kerry Duke doesn't dispute that the news staff is bare-bones. Besides him, there's just one other full-time journalist, a Web producer/reporter, plus two interns and about five sports freelancers. Before it closed, the Cincinnati/Kentucky Post newsroom had 50 employees.
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But Duke says he has a "very handsome freelance budget, and I've got the resources of a TV newsroom at my disposal."
KyPost.com emphasizes breaking news. During one week last month its sole reporter was blogging from a big murder trial. Most of the site's other featured stories were from wire services.
"Honestly, I don't pay much attention to KyPost.com," says Ben Kaufman, media critic with the Cincinnati alternative paper CityBeat. "They do so little original reporting."
But Symson says the site doesn't strive to do everything the Kentucky Post did: "I don't know if I would characterize what KyPost.com does as an online newspaper. I'd call it an online news and information resource."
KyPost.com is a startup business, says Duke. "As we grow revenue, we'll develop the site more."
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MADISON
The Capital Times is a more ambitious enterprise.
The size of its news staff is down more than one-third from its print days. Still, it employs about 40 journalists _ editors, columnists, beat reporters, photographers, sports writers, critics.
But editor Paul Fanlund says there's no way the online and remaining print ad revenues would support a staff that big. It's possible only because for 60 years the Times has been part of what amounts to a JOA with Madison's remaining print daily, the morning Wisconsin State Journal.
The family-owned Times gets half the combined profits while generating only a small fraction of the combined revenues.
The Journal subsidizes the Times, Fanlund acknowledges, "but they've been doing it for 30 years. And the subsidy is less substantial now (since the Times went primarily online) than it's probably ever been."
By the time the Times stopped publishing daily in print last April, its weekday circulation had dwindled to just 17,000, while the Journal's stood at 89,000.
The line between the two papers has blurred since the Times moved primarily online. Its two weekly print tabloids _ one focusing on news and opinion, the other on arts and entertainment _ are inserted in the Journal.
Each publication's Web site links to some stories from the other. Sports reporters from both collaborated on a blog from the state high-school wrestling tournament last month.
At first, Fanlund says, the online Capital Times tried to be "a CNN for Madison," emphasizing breaking news.
There's still plenty of that on the site. But Fanlund says he's pushing the online Times to become "a more substantial, magazine-type publication," with at least one good long-form read every day plus lots of opinion and commentary.
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Sue Robinson, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has followed The Capital Times' transformation, says it's too soon to say whether the move online will succeed.
The site's economic fate may continue to be linked to the Wisconsin State Journal's, and that paper's owner, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
The online Capital Times has more Q&As, more profiles, more issue stories and less meeting coverage, Robinson says. Most beat reporters blog, which creates a greater sense of informality.
But giving up daily print publication hasn't been easy for the paper's staff _ or its readers, she said in an e-mail. "The company continues to struggle with a perception in the community that it has died."
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OTHER PAPERS DE-EMPHASIZING PRINT, EMPHASIZING WEB
_East Valley Tribune: Daily paper in Phoenix suburbs cut print publication to four days a week in January while continuing to publish daily online.
_Detroit Free Press/Detroit News: Partners in a joint-operating agreement are scheduled this month to cut back home delivery of print papers to three days a week while beefing up online presence.
_Christian Science Monitor: National paper plans to stop publishing daily in April, replacing it with weekly print magazine and daily subscription-only online edition.
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© 2009, The Seattle Times.
Visit The Seattle Times Extra on the World Wide Web at http://www.seattletimes.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

'Digital living room' getting closer

By Troy Wolverton
San Jose Mercury News
(MCT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The digital living room is still under construction, but consumers can now get a glimpse of what it might look like.
The electronics industry has long dreamed of giving consumers on-demand access in their living rooms to a universe of movies, music and other entertainment content and information at the touch of a button. Recent announcements from electronics companies, Hollywood studios, Internet firms and cable networks suggest that dream is becoming a reality.
"The vision is coming together," said Van Baker, an analyst with Gartner, a technology research firm.
Here are developments announced just last week:
Silicon Valley startup Roku announced it is teaming up with e-commerce giant Amazon.com to allow owners of its digital video player to rent or buy movies and TV shows from Amazon. The 40,000 on-demand videos from Amazon are in addition to the 12,000 videos from Netflix that Roku video player owners could already choose from.
Valley startup ZillionTV unveiled a service and device that it will introduce later this year. The company, which is backed by five of the six biggest Hollywood studios, plans to offer a free set-top box, to be distributed by Internet service providers, through which consumers will be able to watch about 15,000 videos on-demand.
Time Warner revealed a plan dubbed "TV Anywhere" that would allow cable and satellite TV subscribers to watch on computers or other Internet-connected devices all of the programming they get on their televisions.
With all the recent changes, "it's just become amazing to watch this space," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a research and consulting firm.
To be sure, few folks are living in anything close to the digital living room today. Thanks to high costs and resistance to adding another box to their living room entertainment centers, consumers have been reluctant to buy the devices offered to date. And those gadgets still fall short of delivering the unlimited content envisioned for the digital living room.
Baker thinks the true digital living room may still be five years or so from reality.
But electronics and content companies seem to be learning from past mistakes, and in doing so, helping to bring that day closer. Meanwhile, their efforts are pressuring traditional pay TV service providers _ from whom the large majority of Americans receive their video content _ to respond with more on-demand services and digital living-room type services.
The first iterations of digital living room products were often tied to consumers' computers. Either consumers had to connect a device to their computers over a local network to access movies or photographs that were stored on the PC, or they had to plug their PCs directly into their TVs. Both methods proved a hard sell.
More recently, electronics companies have been releasing devices that bypass the PC altogether in delivering digital content to the TV. Roku users, for instance, can order a video from Amazon directly from their couch. The Yahoo widgets on new TVs are designed to be accessed with a remote control, not a keyboard, without ever turning on a PC.
Rather than just having access to locally stored movies and music, devices are now being built around the "cloud media concept," noted Scherf, and can access "all kinds of content ... over the Internet."
The cloud concept has another advantage _ it can be cheaper. Because all the content is stored on the Internet, devices don't have to include a potentially pricey hard drive. Roku is offering its device for just $100. ZillionTV plans to charge customers a one-time fee for its device that's even cheaper.
Another theme of the emerging digital living room is lots of options _ not just in content but in devices.
Consumers can now get on-demand video on a range of gadgets: on their PC through Web sites such as Hulu; on their smart-phone; in the living room through their cable set-top box; on game systems such as Microsoft's Xbox 360; on multi-function media devices such as Apple TV and inexpensive video players like Roku's.
Consumers also have an increasing number of choices about how to "purchase" the media they consume. They can rent or buy videos a la carte from Amazon, Apple's iTunes and similar services and watch them on devices such the Roku player, TiVo or Sony's PlayStation 3.
With an Xbox 360, an LG Blu-ray player or the Roku device, they can watch as many digital videos as they want for a monthly subscription fee from Netflix. Or, under ZillionTV's model, they can watch shows for free _ as long as they agree to watch some targeted advertisements.
"We're seeing experimentation, which is good," said Ben Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies, a technology consulting firm. "I don't think any of the solutions nail it on the head, but we're starting to get closer."
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© 2009, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).
Visit Mercury Center, the World Wide Web site of the Mercury News, at http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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ARCHIVE ILLUSTRATION on MCT Direct (from MCT Illustration Bank, 202-383-6064): NETWORK ILLUS

Teenagers see serious consequences of ‘sexting'

By Bianca Prieto
The Orlando Sentinel
(MCT)
ORLANDO, Fla. _ After his former girlfriend taunted him, Phillip Alpert remembered the nude photos she e-mailed to him while they were dating.
He took revenge with an electronic blast _ e-mailing the photos of the 16-year-old girl to more than 70 people, including her parents, grandparents and teachers.
Three days later, Alpert, then 18, was charged with transmitting child pornography. Today Alpert is serving five years of probation for the crime, and he is registered as a sex offender _ a label he must carry at least until he is 43.
"I didn't know how bad of a decision it was," Alpert, now 19, said recently at his MetroWest apartment. "I don't think it's fair."
Alpert is one of many people across the country who are being charged with felonies and getting sentenced as sex offenders for doing something their friends do all the time, unaware of potential criminal charges.
One national study found that as many as 20 percent of teens have sent or posted nude or seminude photos of themselves in what has become known as "sexting." Young teens are using high-tech phones to text, post or e-mail racy photos _ technically child porn. Most do it for fun.
But getting caught means being kicked off sports teams and facing expulsion from school. Others are going to jail.
"It's become a troubling trend," said Marisa Nightingale, senior adviser for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which conducted the study. "Since the beginning of time, teens have flirted with each other and pushed the envelope. But 10 to 15 years ago, it didn't go global in 30 seconds."
Lawrence Walters, an Orlando attorney who practices First Amendment and Internet law, has been following the sexting trend as it has been emerging across the country.
"It's a new phenomena," Walters said. "Kids shouldn't be doing this _ shouldn't be engaging in this type of behavior. But using these harsh criminal laws for child pornography is a bit of overkill."
Just last month, a 15-year-old Pennsylvania girl was charged with creating child pornography for sending images of herself via MySpace to a 27-year-old man.
Also last month, a Brevard County, Fla., teen was jailed after forwarding a cell phone picture of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend's naked breasts to another teen. The girlfriend allowed the photo to be taken while the two were dating, police said.
Bryce Dixon, 18, told investigators he sent the photo because he thought the girl had cheated on him with his best friend. He said he knew that sending the photo would make her mad.
A judge set Dixon's bond at $140,000 for charges he faced, including transmission of child pornography. Dixon, who remains in jail, and his family declined to talk to the Orlando Sentinel. In an interview aired Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, he said he made a stupid decision.
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Some states are trying to adjust the laws to deal with the problems of transmission of intimate photos of teens to teens, Walters said. But it hasn't been an issue debated by state lawmakers in Florida, said Republican state Rep. Pat Patterson.
Law enforcement officers have their hands tied when it comes to recommending charges to the State Attorney's Office in these types of cases, said Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Carlos Padilla.
"They don't have a choice because of how the statute reads. Regardless of the situation, the law dictates the charges, and they have to register as a sexual offender," Padilla said.
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The consequences of sexting are unpredictable.
An Ohio teen hanged herself in May after her ex-boyfriend forwarded nude photos of her, sharing them with other high school girls.
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Even teen celebrities have been caught in sexting scandals.
In September 2007, nude photos of Disney's "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens surfaced on the Internet. The photos were alleged to be self-portraits taken with Hudgens' own cell phone and sent to her boyfriend, co-star Zac Efron. She later apologized for the photos, according to numerous news reports.
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Nightingale, with the advocacy group, said such cases should put teens and parents on alert.
"If that guy who you used to trust all of a sudden shares it, you have no control over it," Nightingale said. "If you regret it and change your mind, there is nothing you can do about it, or very little you can do about it."
For Alpert, he never asked for the photos that got him in trouble in 2007. He met the girl at a church function in 2005 and dated her off and on for about 2½ years, he said. At one point the girl took nude photos and videos of herself and sent them to his e-mail.
He tried using them against his ex-girlfriend with the mass e-mail after she called him and said she was much happier without him.
Although Alpert was charged with transmission of child pornography, the girl was never in any legal trouble. She did not respond to requests for interviews with the Sentinel.
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Since his arrest and conviction, Alpert's life has been difficult.
Classmates at Ocoee High School teased him unmercifully, sending him into a depression that caused him to miss class and avoid his graduation last year. He lost friends because "they just don't want to be friends with a sex-offender kid," Alpert explained.
He said he was kicked out of Valencia Community College in September because he's a sex offender. Neighbors have knocked on his door after finding him in the sex-offender database and asked him what he's done.
Alpert's mother moved out of state after he graduated, but the conditions of his probation don't allow him to leave Orange County without permission. He can't live with his father in Ocoee because the house is too close to a school, Alpert said.
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Every Wednesday he attends a class for sex offenders where he is joined by people who have raped and molested children. He's not like them, Alpert said, but the law says he is.
His advice to other teens tempted by sexting: "Don't do it. It's stupid."
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Although technological advances are helping bring people together, they also are causing new problems for teens and parents. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has compiled a list of tips for parents and teens to help navigate this new virtual world and set rules and guidelines.
TIPS FOR PARENTS
_Talk to your kids about what they are doing in cyberspace.
_Know with whom your kids are communicating.
_Consider limitations on electronic communication.
_Be aware of what your teens are posting publicly.
_Set expectations and make sure you are clear about what you consider appropriate electronic behavior.
TIPS FOR TEENS
_Don't assume anything you send or post is going to remain private.
_There is no changing your mind in cyberspace _ anything you send or post will never truly go away.
_Don't give in to the pressure to do something that makes you uncomfortable.
_Consider the recipient's reaction.
_Nothing is truly anonymous.
Source: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
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SEXTING STATISTICS
A recently released study of teen and young adults' behavior online was conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a Washington-based advocacy group founded in 1996. The online survey, taken by 1,280 people ages 13 to 26, shows about 1 in 5 teens has sent or posted nude or seminude photos of themselves. This was the first public survey of its kind in the nation. To read the report, go to www.thenationalcampaign.org. Some of the findings:
How many teens say they have sent/posted nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves?
_20 percent of teens, 13 to 19
_22 percent of teen girls
_18 percent of teen boys
_11 percent of teen girls, 13 to 16
Why are teens sending or posting sexually suggestive content?
_51 percent of teen girls say they feel pressure from a guy.
_18 percent of teen boys say they do it because of pressure from girls.
_23 percent of teen girls say friends pressured them.
_24 percent of teen boys attribute sending images or messages to peer pressure.
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© 2009, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): SEXTING