Cops: Craigslist robber charged in several attacks

Booking photo of Andrew R. Jones (Photo from Chicago police / November 17, 2012)

By Deanese Williams-Harris




Tribune reporter

2:31 p.m. CST, November 17, 2012

Bail was set at $350,000 today for a 20-year-old man charged in several robberies where victims were attacked when they responded to ads posted on Craigslist, authorities said.

Andrew Jones, of the 8100 block of South Merrill Avenue, was charged with aggravated assault and armed robbery in connection with several robberies connected to an advertisement on Craigslist, police said.

Police had issued an alert earlier this week warning of people who were robbed when responding to an ad on the site. The victims met a man at a certain location where they were met by an armed robber who forced them to the rear of the location and robbed them, police said.

Police said the robber, identified as Jones, took the victims' car keys and vehicles. In one incident, he shot the victim.

Prosecutors said he shot a 23-year-old Wheeling man in the colon and groin. The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital but his condition was not immediately known.

Police worked with the Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the U.S. Marshals to track Jones down. He was arrested Friday afternoon near his home.

Tribune reporter Jennifer Delgado contributed.

dawilliams@tribune.com

Twitter: @neacynewslady

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Exclusive: Facebook offering e-retailers sales tracking tool

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc wants more credit for making online cash registers ring.

Facebook will begin rolling out on Friday a new tool which will allow online retailers to track purchases by members of the social network who have viewed their ads.

The tool is the latest of the new advertising features Facebook is offering to convince marketers that steering advertising dollars to the company will deliver a payoff.

Facebook, with roughly 1 billion users, has faced a tough reception on Wall Street amid concerns about its slowing revenue growth.

"Measuring ad effectiveness and outcomes is absolutely crucial to all types of businesses and marketers," said David Baser, a product manager for Facebook's ads business who said the "conversion measurement" tool has been a top customer request for a long time.

The sales information that advertisers receive is anonymous, said Baser. "You would see the number of people who bought shoes," he said, using the example of an online shoe retailer. But marketers would not be able to get information that could identify the people, he added.

The conversion tool is specifically designed for so-called direct response marketers, such as online retailers and travel websites that advertise with the goal of drumming up immediate sales rather than for longer-term brand-building.

Such advertisers have long flocked to Google Inc's Web search engine, which can deliver ads to consumers at the exact moment they're looking for information on a particular product.

But some analysts say there is room for Facebook to make inroads if it can demonstrate results.

"The path to purchase" is not as direct on Facebook as it is on Google's search engine, said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with research firm eMarketer. But she said that providing information about customer sales conversion should help Facebook make a stronger case to online retailers.

"It lets marketers track the impact of a Facebook ad hours or days or even a week beyond when someone might have viewed the ad," said Williamson. "That allows marketers to understand the impact of the Facebook ad on the ultimate purchase."

Marketers will also have the option to aim their ads at segments of Facebook's audience with similar attributes to consumers that have responded well to a particular ad in the past, Baser said.

Online retailer Fab.com, which has tested Facebook's new service, was able to reduce its cost per new customer acquisition by 39 percent when it served ads to consumers deemed most likely to convert, Facebook said. Facebook defines a conversion as anything from a completed sale, to a consumer taking another desired action on a website, such as registering for a newsletter.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Shares of Facebook, which were priced at $38 a share in its May initial public offering, closed Thursday's regular session at $22.17.

In recent months, Facebook has introduced a variety of new advertising capabilities and moved to broaden its appeal to various groups of advertisers.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in October that Facebook saw multi-billion revenue opportunities in each of four groups of advertisers: brand marketers, local businesses, app developers and direct response marketers.

Facebook does not disclose how much of its ad revenue, which totaled $1.09 billion in the third quarter, comes from each type of advertiser. Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser estimates that brand marketers and local businesses account for the bulk of Facebook's current advertising revenue.

Earlier this year, Facebook introduced a similar conversion measurement service for big brand advertisers, such as auto manufacturers, partnering with data mining firm Datalogix to help connect the dots between consumer spending at brick-and-mortar and Facebook ads.

And Facebook has rolled out new marketing tools for local businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops, including a revamped online coupon service and simplified advertising capabilities known as promoted posts.

The new conversion measurement tool is launching in testing mode, but will be fully available by the end of the month, Facebook said.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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No. 23 Michigan tops Iowa 42-17 with Gardner's TDs

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Devin Gardner accounted for six touchdowns to help No. 23 Michigan rout Iowa 42-17 Saturday.

The Wolverines (8-3, 6-1 Big Ten) weren't stopped on offense by the hapless Hawkeyes (4-7, 2-5) until Gardner threw an interception early in the fourth quarter.

Gardner threw three touchdowns and ran for three scores. He became the first Michigan quarterback to account for six TDs since 1983 when Steve Smith had as many passing and rushing scores in a game at Minnesota.

Denard Robinson played after missing two-plus games with nerve damage in his right elbow. Robinson started at running back and took some snaps at QB, but didn't throw a pass.

Michigan running back Fitzgerald Toussaint appeared to break his left leg on his team's first drive.

The Wolverines didn't need Toussaint to beat Iowa, but it will be more difficult to beat Ohio State for a second straight year without him next week.

It looked as if Toussaint's left leg snapped — between his ankle and knee — on his third carry when he was tackled by two Hawkeyes on Michigan's first drive after getting an option pitch from Robinson. Toussaint was carted off the field with his left leg in a brace.

The Wolverines did what they wanted through the air and on the ground against the Hawkeyes.

Gardner was 18 of 23 for 314 yards with TD passes to Roy Roundtree, Vincent Smith and Devin Funchess. Gardner ran for 37 yards, scoring on three short runs to lead a barrage of points that finally ended late in the third quarter.

Robinson ran 13 times for 98 yards, including a 40-yard sprint that included quite a juke along the sideline in the senior's last home game.

The Hawkeyes were officially eliminated from postseason contention by losing five straight games — for the first time since 2000. They'll need to upset Nebraska next week to avoid their longest losing skid since losing the last eight games of the 1999 season, which was Kirk Ferentz's first season as head coach.

Iowa athletic director Gary Barta has publicly supported Ferentz, who he gave a 10-year extension before the 2010 season.

Michigan, meanwhile, has a shot to have a second straight double-digit win season in Brady Hoke's second season in charge of college football's winningest program.

The Wolverines, though, need to beat the Buckeyes on the road and hope the Hawkeyes can stun the Cornhuskers next week at home to earn a spot in the Big Ten title game to have a chance to end an eight-year drought without a conference championship.

Michigan has found a QB to help it close out this season and to give the program high hopes for next year.

The Wolverines — and their fans — have only one game in mind.

Early in the fourth quarter, the crowd at the Big House started to chant: "Beat O-HI-O! Beat O-HI-O!"

Like Hoke, maize-and-blue clad fans don't say "State," when referring to the rival Buckeyes.

The Hawkeyes got running back Mark Weisman, who had been out with a groin injury, back on the field and he ran for 63 yards on 16 carries. Weisman also caught a 13-yard TD pass from James Vandenberg late in the game, but that didn't make the score look much more respectable.

Vandenberg, who was 19 of 26 for 181 yards, threw a 16-yard Henry Krieger-Coble that made it 7-all late in the first quarter in a game that the Wolverines led 28-10 at halftime.

Gardner's third rushing TD and third passing score made it 42-10 after three quarters.

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

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Lady Gaga tweets some racy images before concert

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lady Gaga's tweets were getting a lot of attention ahead of her Buenos Aires concert Friday night.

The Grammy-winning entertainer has more than 30 million followers on Twitter and that's where she shared a link this week to a short video showing her doing a striptease and fooling around in a bathtub with two other women.

She told her followers that it's a "surprise for you, almost ready for you to TASTE."

Then, in between concerts in Brazil and Argentina, she posted a picture Thursday on her Twitter page showing her wallowing in her underwear and impossibly high heels on top of the remains of what appears to be a strawberry shortcake.

"The real CAKE isn't HAVING what you want, it's DOING what you want," she tweeted.

Lady Gaga wore decidedly unglamorous baggy jeans and a blouse outside her Buenos Aires hotel Thursday as three burly bodyguards kept her fans at bay. Another pre-concert media event where she was supposed to be given "guest of honor" status by the city government Friday afternoon was cancelled.

After Argentina, she is scheduled to perform in Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Asuncion, Paraguay, before taking her "Born This Way Ball" tour to Africa, Europe and North America.

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Chocolatier finds sweet spot in Belize

Katrina Markoff, the founder of high-end Chicago chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat, is nearing completion on two high-profile projects: a winery-style chocolate facility in Logan Square and an education center at a cacao plantation and eco-lodge in Belize.

Markoff isn't ready to talk about the Logan Square project, her spokeswoman said. But in an interview last week, she said she hopes the Belcampo farm in Belize will become the source of a majority of Vosges' cacao once its plants mature.

The project means Markoff will soon play a role in every aspect of production from seed selection through packaging without having to assume the financial risk of owning a tropical plantation.

Belcampo Group CEO Anya Fernald said the education center that Markoff helped design will open in mid-December, and Markoff will teach her first "master class" on cacao to guests at the 12-room lodge April 23-27. In exchange for her time and expertise, Markoff will receive a better price on the beans.

"I've always wanted to be involved through the full vertical, from actually growing the varietals of cacao I want, and being particular about how they're grown and harvested and fermented and dried," she said.

Once the farm reaches full yield in about five years, Fernald estimated it will produce 250,000 pounds of cacao annually. Already, with only 60 acres planted so far — all under a rain forest canopy — Fernald said Belcampo is already Belize's largest cacao plantation.

"The integrity of that project is really, really unique and special," Markoff said. "Typically when people buy beans to make chocolate, they just buy whatever is available in the commodity market. There's not a lot of control over how it's grafted, where it's planted, how it's nurtured, who's taking care of it. You just don't get that kind of control."

Bluhm continues gambling push

Chicago real estate and gambling executive Neil Bluhm is entering the race to build one of four planned casinos in Massachusetts and has launched an online gaming division in Chicago, said Greg Carlin, chief executive of Bluhm's Rush Street Gaming.

Earlier this year Rush Street hired Richard Schwartz from Waukegan-based WMS Industries and appointed him president of Rush Street Interactive, its new online gaming division.

"We think (Internet gaming) is going to be eventually legalized throughout the country, or in jurisdictions that have bricks-and-mortar casinos," Carlin said. "Illinois is actually a leader in selling lottery tickets online and could be a leader in Internet gaming as well if they get ahead of the curve and pass legislation before some of the other states."

Nevada and Delaware have legalized some forms of Internet gambling.

In recent years, Bluhm has built three casinos: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, one in Pittsburgh and another in Philadelphia. In October, Bluhm sold his first U.S. casino, Riverwalk Casino and Hotel, in Vicksburg, Miss., for $141 million in cash to Churchill Downs Inc. (Bluhm held a 70 percent stake in Riverwalk.)

Churchill Downs, a horse racing and wagering company, also owns Arlington Park in Arlington Heights. Its largest shareholder is Duchossois Group, founded by Arlington Park Chairman Richard "Dick" Duchossois.

Duchossois has been trying to persuade the Illinois Legislature to approve slots at racetracks, which, if successful, would make Arlington Park a competitor of Bluhm's Des Plaines casino.

As for the Massachusetts casino, the gambling commission there will weigh applications for casino licenses well into 2013.

Alvarez joins Culloton

Public relations firm Culloton Strategies has hired Michael Alvarez, a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, as senior vice president for public affairs.

As the Sun-Times reported in January, Alvarez, 32, has worked for Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich and Richard M. Daley — while he has close ties to Ald. Richard Mell, Blagojevich's father-in-law.

In addition to his $70,000 annual salary at the water district, Alvarez has a $60,000-a-year public relations contract with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and a "fast-growing" lobbying practice, the Sun-Times reported.

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Drew Peterson files appeal, cites ineffective counsel

Drew Peterson began the uphill battle to overturn his murder conviction today, filing a motion for a new trial that could force his former lead attorney to testify about how he allegedly botched the case.

Peterson, 58, was convicted in September of drowning his third wife, Kathleen Savio, after some jurors said a witness called by lead defense attorney Joel Brodsky convinced them the former Bolingbrook police sergeant was guilty.

“I think we had a rogue defense attorney,” said Peterson attorney Steve Greenberg, who said he “vehemently objected” to Brodsky’s decision to call the witness, Savio’s divorce attorney Harry Smith.

Brodsky was pressured to withdraw from the case last month in the midst of infighting within the defense team. He was replaced by David Peilet.

In a post-trial motion filed this morning, Peterson’s defense attorneys asked Judge Edward Burmila to take the highly unusual step of either overturning the jury’s guilty verdict or granting Peterson a new trial.

They cited numerous reasons ranging from the admission of hearsay statements to mistakes they allege Burmila made in allowing evidence to be heard, but much of the focus was on Brodsky’s alleged deficient performance at trial.

Peterson’s attorneys plan to file a separate motion just on that issue.

But in the newly filed motion, they allege Brodsky had a financial interest in drawing as much publicity as possible to Peterson’s case.

The motion includes a contract Peterson and Brodsky signed with Glen Selig, a publicist who also worked for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

“(Brodsky) allowed his own self-interest to pollute how the matter was handled from the pre-trial media blitz to the trial itself,” the motion says.
 
Brodsky said in an email that the contract in question expired in 2008 and didn’t give him “any interest in any litigation or money which was to be earned by Mr. Peterson.”

Brodsky declined to explain or comment further.

sschmadeke@tribune.com

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Exclusive: Facebook offering e-retailers sales tracking tool

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc wants more credit for making online cash registers ring.

Facebook will begin rolling out on Friday a new tool which will allow online retailers to track purchases by members of the social network who have viewed their ads.

The tool is the latest of the new advertising features Facebook is offering to convince marketers that steering advertising dollars to the company will deliver a payoff.

Facebook, with roughly 1 billion users, has faced a tough reception on Wall Street amid concerns about its slowing revenue growth.

"Measuring ad effectiveness and outcomes is absolutely crucial to all types of businesses and marketers," said David Baser, a product manager for Facebook's ads business who said the "conversion measurement" tool has been a top customer request for a long time.

The sales information that advertisers receive is anonymous, said Baser. "You would see the number of people who bought shoes," he said, using the example of an online shoe retailer. But marketers would not be able to get information that could identify the people, he added.

The conversion tool is specifically designed for so-called direct response marketers, such as online retailers and travel websites that advertise with the goal of drumming up immediate sales rather than for longer-term brand-building.

Such advertisers have long flocked to Google Inc's Web search engine, which can deliver ads to consumers at the exact moment they're looking for information on a particular product.

But some analysts say there is room for Facebook to make inroads if it can demonstrate results.

"The path to purchase" is not as direct on Facebook as it is on Google's search engine, said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with research firm eMarketer. But she said that providing information about customer sales conversion should help Facebook make a stronger case to online retailers.

"It lets marketers track the impact of a Facebook ad hours or days or even a week beyond when someone might have viewed the ad," said Williamson. "That allows marketers to understand the impact of the Facebook ad on the ultimate purchase."

Marketers will also have the option to aim their ads at segments of Facebook's audience with similar attributes to consumers that have responded well to a particular ad in the past, Baser said.

Online retailer Fab.com, which has tested Facebook's new service, was able to reduce its cost per new customer acquisition by 39 percent when it served ads to consumers deemed most likely to convert, Facebook said. Facebook defines a conversion as anything from a completed sale, to a consumer taking another desired action on a website, such as registering for a newsletter.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Shares of Facebook, which were priced at $38 a share in its May initial public offering, closed Thursday's regular session at $22.17.

In recent months, Facebook has introduced a variety of new advertising capabilities and moved to broaden its appeal to various groups of advertisers.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in October that Facebook saw multi-billion revenue opportunities in each of four groups of advertisers: brand marketers, local businesses, app developers and direct response marketers.

Facebook does not disclose how much of its ad revenue, which totaled $1.09 billion in the third quarter, comes from each type of advertiser. Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser estimates that brand marketers and local businesses account for the bulk of Facebook's current advertising revenue.

Earlier this year, Facebook introduced a similar conversion measurement service for big brand advertisers, such as auto manufacturers, partnering with data mining firm Datalogix to help connect the dots between consumer spending at brick-and-mortar and Facebook ads.

And Facebook has rolled out new marketing tools for local businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops, including a revamped online coupon service and simplified advertising capabilities known as promoted posts.

The new conversion measurement tool is launching in testing mode, but will be fully available by the end of the month, Facebook said.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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Booker scores 19 as Colorado upsets No. 16 Baylor

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Colorado coach Tad Boyle always has a backup plan. The Buffaloes sure needed it Friday to take down No. 16 Baylor at the Charleston Classic.

Boyle knew his young players struggled from the foul line and watched them do it again, going 4 for 18 against Baylor.

"That's when you rely on defense and rebounding," he said, smiling.

The Buffaloes (3-0) got plenty of both to defeat the Bears 60-58 and advance to the championship of the eight-team tournament Sunday night. Not that it was easy to stomach down the stretch. Andre Roberson and Spencer Dinwiddie each missed in one-and-one situations, the usually reliable Booker was just 1 of 2 from the line and Roberson missed two more — all within the game's last 61 seconds.

All of it gave the Bears a chance to steal this one away.

Baylor's final chance ended when 7-foot-1 Isaiah Austin was off the mark on a catch-and-shoot prayer with a second left.

"They weren't making free throws but we weren't rebounding from the free-throw line," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I think it was two teams that wanted to win bad that didn't have postseason execution, but had early-season execution."

Askia Booker scored 19 points to lead Colorado, which earned a measure of payback for last March, when the Bears (3-1) knocked them out in the NCAA tournament's third round.

"We fought through the whole game because we know they're going to make shots," said Booker, who scored 15 points in the NCAA loss to Baylor. "It's going to come down to who wants it more."

Baylor star Pierre Jackson had just 12 points after scoring 31 in an opening-round win here against Boston College.

Cory Jefferson led the Bears with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Austin finished with eight points and 12 rebounds.

Dinwiddie added 11 for Colorado, while Roberson had seven points and 13 rebounds, his second straight tournament game with double-digit boards.

Roberson and the Buffaloes had to be strong on the glass with so many missed free throws. Roberson missed a one-and-one try with 1:01 to go and Colorado ahead 59-56.

Jackson's bucket with 19.8 seconds left drew Baylor within a point.

Dinwiddie next went to the line for Colorado and he, too, missed a one-and-one. But Shane Harris-Tunks came up the rebound for the Buffaloes, and Booker was fouled.

He made only one attempt and Baylor was on the run. A.J. Walton was short on his driving shot, though, and Roberson collected the rebound and got fouled to set up the final moments.

Baylor had hoped to duplicate what it accomplished against Colorado in March in an 80-63 victory. But those Bears were loaded with tall, strong, talented players like Quincy Acy, Quincy Miller and Perry Jones III to get going down low. Brady Heslip helped outside with nine 3-pointers in that one.

This time, Heslip was off the mark, making just one of his six 3-point tries.

Booker said the Buffaloes took extra care to slow down Heslip, who they watched connect for 27 points in the NCAA win. The emphasis, Booker said, was to work through screens and not let Heslip get going with his outside shot.

Booker said Colorado accomplished a big goal of its trip South in defeating Baylor. The next step, he said, is leaving with the Charleston Classic championship.

"This last one's going to be very important," he said. "We didn't want to just beat Baylor, we want to win the whole thing."

Baylor falls to the third-place game Sunday afternoon. Drew knew his club would have early growing pains, melding five freshmen into what had been an experienced, savvy team last fall.

Drew said he took on this tournament to put his younger players into difficult situations so they'll feel more comfortable when the games get bigger later in the season.

"But right now, unfortunately, we might pick up some losses like today," Drew said.

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

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Judge grants Miley Cyrus civil restraining order

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has granted Miley Cyrus a three-year civil restraining order against a man convicted of trespassing at her home in Los Angeles.

The stay-away order was granted Friday against Jason Luis Rivera by Superior Court Judge William D. Stewart.

The 40-year-old Rivera was convicted in October of trespassing at the singer's home and sentenced to 18 months in jail.

He is scheduled to be released in May. Authorities said at the time of Rivera's arrest in September that he was carrying scissors and ran into the wall of Cyrus' home as if trying to break in.

Rivera did not respond to Cyrus' petition.

The 20-year-old former star of "Hannah Montana" did not attend the hearing. Her attorney Bryan Sullivan declined comment.

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Sources: Liguori planned as next Tribune CEO

The new owners set to take control of Tribune Co. when it emerges from bankruptcy protection plan to name television executive Peter Liguori as the company's chief executive, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Liguori is a former top TV executive at Fox and Discovery. The decision to name him CEO ends months of speculation and will usher in a new era for the 165-year-old media giant, which owns newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, and television stations.  

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to sign off Friday on waivers needed to transfer Chicago-based Tribune Co.'s broadcast properties to the new ownership, the final significant  hurdle before the company can exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy after four years.

 While a date is not set, the new ownership group controlled by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JP Morgan Chase, will likely take the reins by the end of the year. The first step for the owners will be to appoint a board of directors. The new board, once constituted, will have the final say on who becomes CEO, but sources say the owners have chosen Liguori.

 "The decision has been made," one of the sources said.

Los Angeles Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein has been CEO of Tribune Co. since May 2011. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined comment.

A former advertising executive who transitioned into television more than two decades ago, Liguori, 52, is credited with turning cable channel FX into a programming powerhouse during his ascent to entertainment chief at News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Discovery Communications Inc., where he helped oversee the rocky launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Liguori is considered by some observers as a good fit for Tribune and its new owners. While the company's identity is closely connected to publishing, broadcasting is now the headline business and core profit center.  One of Liguori's main jobs will be to help maximize ratings, advertising dollars and increasingly important affiliate fees for WGN America and Tribune Co.'s 23 local TV stations, according to industry insiders.

 Liguori "is a very, very smart hire for Oaktree and the guys that run the company because I think what Tribune needs more than anything is somebody to kind of build the brands back and make it a true media company, as opposed to just a collection of businesses," said Jeff Shell, London-based president of NBCUniversal International, who worked with Liguori for six years at Fox beginning in 1996. Shell spoke recently about his former colleague's potential value as CEO of Tribune Co.

Liguori could not immediately be reached for comment.

Liguori became president of Fox's FX Networks in 1998, when it was a small basic cable channel airing reruns of everything from M*A*S*H to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Elevated to CEO in 2001, he remade FX by offering edgy original programming. Starting with "The Shield" in 2002, Liguori rolled out "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me," creating first-run successes that redefined FX, and perhaps basic cable, in the process.

 "FX was a channel, when he took over, a little tiny cable channel losing a bunch of money," Shell said. "He made it into something big by imagining something different, and I think that's what Tribune needs."  

Liguori became president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company in 2005, where he headed up program development and marketing. Squeezed out in 2009, he then joined Discovery as chief operating officer, where one of his responsibilities was to oversee the nascent joint venture with OWN.

In May 2011, Liguori assumed the dual role as interim CEO of OWN after inaugural head Christina Norman was forced out at the struggling network. That added responsibility evaporated two months later when Winfrey made herself CEO of OWN. Liguori left Discovery in December and the company eliminated his COO position. 

Liguori has been working since July as a New York-based media consultant for private equity firm, the Carlyle Group.  He currently serves on the boards of Yahoo, MGM Holdings and Topps.

rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick

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Judge gives Prentice Women's Hospital temporary reprieve

A judge Thursday issued at least a temporary reprieve to the old Prentice Women's Hospital, blocking the city from issuing a demolition permit until it can be determined if the process for landmark designation was properly carried out.

The judge's order for a temporary stay came during a hearing over a lawsuit by preservationists seeking to strike down a decision by Chicago’s landmarks commission to withdraw landmark designation for Prentice during the same meeting the designation had been given.

The building’s owner, Northwestern University, wants to tear down old Prentice and replace it with a modern medical research facility.

In an unusual move earlier this month, the landmarks commission voted to give old Prentice landmark designation, than shortly afterward revoked that status based on an economic impact report.

The lawsuit, filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States and the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, calls the commission’s action “an unprecedented process with a predetermined outcome.”

The fate of old Prentice, designed by renowned Chicago architect Bertrand Goldberg, was in the air for more than a year as preservationists mounted a battle to save the building while Northwestern put together an equally muscular public relations offensive to explain why it needed to come down.

In the end, Mayor Rahm Emanuel sided with Northwestern’s argument that the economic benefits of a new building outweighed the worth of saving old Prentice.

Also today, the Chicago Architectural Foundation is unveiling an exhibit of designs  for  alternative reuse of the hospital, vacant since replaced by a new woman’s hospital.

Preservationists have argued for adapting old Prentice to a new use. Northwestern says the building is not suitable for a modern research facility.

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Dell revenue lower than Street view

Whoa, trouble in TriBeCa! It seems that the tony downtown Manhattan neighborhood's two most famous residents, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle actor Robert De Niro and Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z, recently had something of a public spat. Well, it was actually more one-sided than a spat, as De Niro did most of the talking, scolding Jay for not returning his calls. ...

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NFL commissioner says sport will evolve, get safer

BOSTON (AP) — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says football will evolve and get safer.

Speaking to a packed auditorium at the Harvard School of Public Health, Goodell said the league will do what it needs to do to protect the safety of its 1,800 players.

Goodell discussed some of the rules that have been created to limit concussions. He says they are working, and there will be more changes as necessary.

The commissioner also noted Thursday that concussions are a problem in all sports and in the military.

The speech comes as the NFL faces lawsuits by thousands of former players who say the league withheld information on the harmful effects concussions can have on their health.

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ABC Adapting Disney Theme-Park Ride for “Big Thunder Mountain” Pilot

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – ABC found ratings success by adapting Disney‘s finest fairy tales into the one-hour drama series “Once Upon a Time,” so it’s not surprising that the network has turned to a theme-park ride from its parent company for inspiration as well.

Popular roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is being adapted for a television pilot by the Disney-owned network, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

Chris Morgan (“Wanted,” “Fast Five”) will co-write the story with “Ice Age: Continental Drift’s” Jason Fuchs, who will write the teleplay. ABC has ordered a script from ABC Studios, the individual said.

No word on what the show will have in common with the ride, but if it sticks with the theme presented to visitors at parks in California, Florida, Paris and Tokyo, it should have something to do with a mining town being destroyed by a natural disaster after settlers desecrate sacred Native American land.

Two other film projects have been developed based on Disney rides, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and 2003′s not-equally-successful “The Haunted Mansion.”

Morgan is represented by ICM Partners and McKuin Frankel, while Fuchs is repped by WME and Brookside and Bloom Hergott.

The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news on “Big Thunder Mountain.”

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.

The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed.

The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

"The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," she said.

Bolstering the numbers is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer because better treatments are available.

The disease exploded in the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in 100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was about 1 in 14.

Most of the increase has happened since 1990.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar; it's the nation's seventh leading cause of death. Complications include poor circulation, heart and kidney problems and nerve damage.

The new study is the CDC's first in more than a decade to look at how the nationwide boom has played out in different states.

It's based on telephone surveys of at least 1,000 adults in each state in 1995 and 2010. Participants were asked if a doctor had ever told them they have diabetes.

Not surprisingly, Mississippi — the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese — has the highest diabetes rate. Nearly 12 percent of Mississippians say they have diabetes, compared to the national average of 7 percent.

But the most dramatic increases in diabetes occurred largely elsewhere in the South and in the Southwest, where rates tripled or more than doubled. Oklahoma's rate rose to about 10 percent, Kentucky went to more than 9 percent, Georgia to 10 percent and Alabama surpassed 11 percent.

An official with Oklahoma State Department of Health said the solution is healthier eating, more exercise and no smoking.

"And that's it in a nutshell," said Rita Reeves, diabetes prevention coordinator.

Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

The study was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://tinyurl.com/cdcdiabetesreport

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DA: Heroin charge dropped vs. Bon Jovi's daughter

CLINTON, N.Y. (AP) — A central New York prosecutor says drug charges against Jon Bon Jovi's 19-year-old daughter have been dropped.

Stephanie Bongiovi was found unresponsive by medics after she apparently overdosed on heroin in a Hamilton College dorm early Wednesday.

Town of Kirkland police charged Bongiovi, of Red Bank, N.J., and another student with possession of a small amount of heroin and marijuana.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said Thursday he was dismissing the charges against both students. Under state law, someone having a drug overdose or seeking help for an overdose victim can't be prosecuted for having a small amount of heroin or any amount of marijuana.

Bon Jovi is scheduled to perform a concert to benefit Hamilton on Dec. 5. He has not commented on his daughter.

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Eurozone slides back into recession

The Eurozone is back in a recession, its first in three years, as gross domestic product for the debt-plagued 17-nation bloc contracted 0.1 percent in the third quarter from the earlier quarter.

In the second quarter, the currency collective tightened 0.2 percent, according to the official European Union statistics agency, Eurostat. Two consecutive quarterly slips make a recession.

Compared with a year earlier, GDP is down 0.6 percent. Eurostat said last month that unemployment in the bloc was at a record high of 11.6 percent. Protests and strikes rippled across Europe on Wednesday.

Growth in core countries such as Germany and France couldn't counteract the plunges in long-struggling, austerity-bound nations such as Spain and Italy. Portugal took an especially nasty 0.8 percent dive.

Even countries that had been expanding took a dive, with the Netherlands experiencing a 1.1 percent squeeze and Austria contracting 0.1 percent. Germany saw its growth slow to 0.2 percent in the third quarter from 0.3 percent in the second.

France, however, reversed a string of flat or down quarters with 0.2 percent expansion.

The wider, 27-member European Union escaped recession, its GDP advancing 0.1 percent in the third quarter after tightening 0.2 percent in the second. In Britain., fresh off the Summer Olympics, the economy boomed 1 percent after a 0.4 percent drop.

A separate Eurostat report Thursday showed annual inflation in the euro-currency area down to 2.5 percent in October, from 2.6 percent the previous month.

In a speech Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged governments to avoid tax hikes in favor of spending cuts as a strategy for fiscal consolidation. He also stressed the need for "calm pragmatism going forward.

"It is essential that all parties involved in Europe's large and complex path of reforms stick to their commitments," Draghi said.

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Food truck owners suing city

Greg Burke, owner and operator, of Chicago Schnitzel King, stands next to his food truck after he announced a lawsuit over city restrictions on food trucks. (Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune / November 14, 2012)

By Kevin Pang




Tribune reporter

3:53 p.m. CST, November 14, 2012

Calling Chicago's food truck ordinance "less than advertised," two local food trucks filed a lawsuit Wednesday with hopes of repealing key provisions of the recently passed law.

The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, aims to strike down two parts: 1) A requirement that food trucks stay at least 200 feet away from a brick-and-mortar restaurant, with violators fined up to $2,000, and 2) The provision that G.P.S. devices be installed in food trucks operating in Chicago.

Two food trucks — Schnitzel King and Cupcakes for Courage — are parties to the suit filed by the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, which describes itself as a "leading legal advocate for the rights of entrepreneurs."

Greg Burke, owner of the Schnitzel King truck, said his business has been "scraping by paycheck to paycheck" since the ordinance passed Chicago City Council in July. He said the law has limited the few places he could park, especially within the Loop.

—Kevin Pang

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Adobe says user forum was breached, takes site offline

BOSTON (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc shut down a website where customers share information about using its Connect online conferencing service after the software maker discovered it had been compromised in a data breach.

The company, whose software is frequently targeted by computer hackers because it is widely used to publish digital documents, said on Wednesday that it would reset passwords of the approximately 150,000 members of the site, Connectusers.com.

Adobe said its Connect web conferencing service and other company sites were not breached.

News of the breach surfaced on Tuesday when a hacker claimed in a posting on the Internet to have stolen log-in credentials of 150,000 Adobe customers and partners.

The hacker, who claimed to be from Egypt, released 644 records from the site, including emails, saying the release was done to point out that Adobe is slow in fixing security problems.

The hacker also promised to release data stolen from Yahoo Inc. A Yahoo spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Adobe breach was discovered a week after Russian security firm Group-IB said it had uncovered a flaw in Adobe's Reader software that criminals are currently exploiting to attack PCs by infecting them with malicious PDF documents.

Adobe spokeswoman Wiebke Lips said the company is still reviewing that report, though it has not yet received samples of malicious code discovered by Group-IB.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle; editing by John Wallace and Leslie Adler)

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Marlins' latest payroll purge prompts fan backlash

MIAMI (AP) — The attendance-challenged Miami Marlins have antagonized fans yet again by deciding a low-budget team is good enough for their new ballpark.

A blockbuster trade sending three stars to Toronto could save Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria $150 million, which prompted a backlash from South Floridians angered by the team's latest payroll purge.

"Everybody in the world wants to talk about the Marlins and the fact they're now a Triple-A team," said city commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who was an opponent of the ballpark project. "The Marlins have lost pretty much all credibility with fans. Even if this trade is a positive move from a baseball standpoint, it won't be viewed by the general public as a positive move."

Miami traded All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes, left-hander Mark Buehrle and right-hander Josh Johnson as part of the deal, which awaited final approval Wednesday pending physicals for the players.

Loria declined to discuss the trade with reporters as he passed through the hotel lobby at the owners meetings in Chicago.

"Not today, boys," Loria said. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not going to figure it out for you."

The trade sent several of the Blue Jays' best young players to Miami, but that wasn't enough to mollify many Marlins fans. Radio talk show host Jeff DeForrest fielded calls from irate listeners shortly after news of the trade broke Tuesday.

"The next move obviously is to have Fidel Castro throw out the first pitch next year," DeForrest said. "That's the only way they could alienate the fans more than they have."

Castro became a source of acrimony last April, when Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen's praise of the former Cuban leader infuriated team supporters. That was shortly after the new ballpark opened in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, and attendance never recovered from the tempest.

Management had projected the rebranded team would contend for a playoff berth and draw nearly 3 million fans, but instead the Marlins staggered to a last-place finish in the NL East and attendance barely topped 2.2 million.

With revenue falling short of projections, Loria decided to end the franchise's brief era of big spending. The players traded by the Marlins have combined guaranteed salaries of $163.75 million through 2018, including $96 million due Reyes. The deals he and Buehrle signed when they joined Miami a year ago were heavily backloaded.

Salaries for 2013 include $13.75 million for Johnson in the final year of his contract, $11 million for Buehrle and $10 million for Reyes. The net in guaranteed salaries coming off Marlins' books is expected to be $154 million, which does not account for any cash that may be involved in trade.

Three years ago, the Marlins reached an agreement with the players' union to increase spending in the wake of complaints team payroll had been so small as to violate baseball's revenue sharing provisions. But the trade with Toronto leaves the Marlins with an estimated opening day payroll of $34 million, which would be their lowest since 2008. Oakland had the lowest payroll in the majors last year at $53 million.

Of the lineup that took the field for the festive first game in the new ballpark less than eight months ago, only two players remain — Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison.

Stanton tweeted that he was angry about the trade and changed his Twitter photo in an apparent protest, swapping out his Marlins uniform for a black shirt.

"I'm not saying fans can't be upset," Morrison tweeted to his 123,000 followers. "I'm saying I'm not going to get upset. I can't control it. So don't expect me to be upset."

Fan ire was targeted primarily at Loria and team president David Samson.

"People are steamed," DeForrest said. "To dump the whole team is mind-boggling, but nothing is surprising with these two guys."

Many fan complaints involved the ballpark project, which was financed mostly with taxpayer money as Loria and Samson promised a new era with higher payrolls and more competitive teams.

The ballpark is state of the art, but the team has started looking like the same old Marlins.

"This," Sarnoff said, "has taught many who voted for the stadium a lesson: When you go into a public-private partnership, know your partner."

___

AP Sports Writers Ron Blum in New York and Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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Judge tosses anti-paparazzi counts in Bieber case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A law aimed at combating reckless driving by paparazzi is overly broad and should not be used against the first photographer charged under its provisions, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson dismissed counts filed under the law against Paul Raef, who was charged in July with being involved in a high-speed pursuit of Justin Bieber.

The judge cited numerous problems with the 2010 statute, saying it was aimed at newsgathering activities protected by the First Amendment, and lawmakers should have simply increased the penalties for reckless driving rather than targeting celebrity photographers.

Attorneys for Raef argued the law was unconstitutional and wasn’t meant to protect the public.

“It’s about protecting celebrities,” attorney Brad Kasierman said. “This discrimination sets a dangerous precedent.”

Prosecutors argued that the law, which seeks to punish those who drive dangerously in pursuit of photos for commercial gain, could apply to people in other professions, not just the media.

“The focus is not the photo. The focus is on the driving,” Assistant City Attorney Ann Rosenthal argued.

While the media is granted freedom under the First Amendment, its latitude to gather news is not unlimited, Rosenthal argued.

“This activity has been found to be particularly dangerous,” she said of chases involving paparazzi.

Raef still faces traditional reckless driving counts and has not yet entered a plea,

Prosecutors claim he chased Bieber at more than 80 mph and forced other motorists to avoid collisions while trying to get shots of the teen heartthrob on a Los Angeles freeway.

The chase prompted several 911 calls from scared motorists and led to Bieber being pulled over.

Rubinson cited hypothetical examples in which wedding photographers or even those rushing to do a portrait shoot with a celebrity could face additional penalties if charged under the new statute.

Rosenthal also argued that the judge should look at factors specific to Raef’s case, not hypothetical scenarios.

Kaiserman said the ruling only applies to Raef’s case but could lead to the law being struck down if prosecutors appeal.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Ireland probes death of ill abortion-seeker

DUBLIN (AP) — The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage was refused an abortion and died in an Irish hospital after suffering from blood poisoning.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he was awaiting findings from three investigations into the death of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian woman who was 17 weeks pregnant. Her case highlighted the legal limbo in which pregnant women facing severe health problems can find themselves in predominantly Catholic Ireland.

Ireland's constitution officially bans abortion, but a 1992 Supreme Court ruling found the procedure should be legalized for situations when the woman's life is at risk from continuing the pregnancy. Five governments since have refused to pass a law resolving the confusion, leaving Irish hospitals reluctant to terminate pregnancies except in the most obviously life-threatening circumstances.

The vast bulk of Irish women wanting abortions, an estimated 4,000 per year, simply travel next door to England, where abortion has been legal on demand since 1967. But that option is difficult, if not impossible, for women in failing health.

Halappanavar's husband, Praveen, said doctors at University Hospital Galway in western Ireland determined she was miscarrying within hours of her hospitalization for severe pain on Sunday, Oct. 21. He said over the next three days, doctors refused their requests for an abortion to combat her surging pain and fading health.

The hospital declined to say whether doctors believed Halappanavar's blood poisoning could have been reversed had she received an abortion rather than waiting for the fetus to die on its own. In a statement, it described its own investigation into the death, and a parallel probe by the government's Health Service Executive, as "standard practice" whenever a pregnant woman dies in a hospital. The Galway coroner also planned a public inquest.

"Savita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby," he told The Irish Times in a telephone interview from Belgaum, southwest India. "When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning, Savita asked if they could not save the baby, could they induce to end the pregnancy? The consultant said: 'As long as there is a fetal heartbeat, we can't do anything.'

"Again on Tuesday morning ... the consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita said: 'I am neither Irish nor Catholic' but they said there was nothing they could do," Praveen Halappanavar said.

He said his wife vomited repeatedly and collapsed in a restroom that night, but doctors wouldn't terminate the fetus because its heart was still beating.

The fetus died the following day and its remains were surgically removed. Within hours, Savita was placed under sedation in intensive care with blood poisoning and he was never able to speak with her again, her husband said. By Saturday, her heart, kidneys and liver had stopped working. She was pronounced dead early Sunday, Oct. 28.

The couple had settled in 2008 in Galway, where Praveen Halappanavar works as an engineer at the medical devices manufacturer Boston Scientific. His wife was qualified as a dentist but had taken time off for her pregnancy. Her parents in India had just visited them in Galway and left the day before her hospitalization.

Praveen Halappanavar said he took his wife's remains back to India for a Hindu funeral and cremation Nov. 3. News of the circumstances that led to her death emerged Tuesday in Galway after the Indian community canceled the city's annual Diwali festival. Savita Halappanavar had been one of the festival's main organizers.

Opposition politicians appealed Wednesday for Kenny's government to introduce legislation immediately to make the 1992 Supreme Court judgment part of statutory law. Barring any such bill, the only legislation defining the illegality of abortion in Ireland dates to 1861, when the entire island was part of the United Kingdom. That British law, still valid here due to Irish inaction on the matter, states it is a crime punishable by life imprisonment to "procure a miscarriage."

In the 1992 case, a 14-year-old girl identified in court only as "X'' successfully sued the government for the right to have an abortion in England. She had been raped by a neighbor. When her parents reported the crime to police, the attorney general ordered her not to travel abroad for an abortion, arguing this would violate Ireland's constitution.

The Supreme Court ruled she should be permitted an abortion in Ireland, never mind England, because she was making credible threats to commit suicide if refused one. During the case, the girl reportedly suffered a miscarriage.

Since then, Irish governments twice have sought public approval to legalize abortion in life-threatening circumstances — but excluding a suicide threat as acceptable grounds. Both times voters rejected the proposed amendments.

Legal and political analysts broadly agree that no Irish government since 1992 has needed public approval to pass a law that backs the Supreme Court ruling. They say governments have been reluctant to be seen legalizing even limited access to abortion in a country that is more than 80 percent Catholic.

An abortions right group, Choice Ireland, said Halappanavar might not have died had any previous government legislated in line with the X judgment. Earlier this year, the government rejected an opposition bill to do this.

"Today, some 20 years after the X case, we find ourselves asking the same question: If a woman is pregnant, her life in jeopardy, can she even establish whether she has a right to a termination here in Ireland?" said Choice Ireland spokeswoman Stephanie Lord.

Coincidentally, the government said it received a long-awaited expert report Tuesday proposing possible changes to Irish abortion law shortly before news of Savita Halappanavar's death broke. The government commissioned the report two years ago after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland's inadequate access to abortions for life-threatening pregnancies violated European Union law.

The World Health Organization, meanwhile, identifies Ireland as an unusually safe place to be pregnant. Its most recent report on global maternal death rates found that only three out of every 100,000 women die in childbirth in Ireland, compared with an average of 14 in Europe and North America, 190 in Asia and 590 in Africa.

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Judge tosses anti-paparazzi counts in Bieber case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A law aimed at combating reckless driving by paparazzi is overly broad and should not be used against the first photographer charged under its provisions, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson dismissed counts filed under the law against Paul Raef, who was charged in July with being involved in a high-speed pursuit of Justin Bieber.

The judge cited numerous problems with the 2010 law, saying it was aimed at First Amendment newsgathering activities, and lawmakers should have simply increased the penalties for reckless driving rather than targeting celebrity photographers.

Attorneys for Raef argued the law was unconstitutional and was meant merely to protect celebrities while punishing people who gather news.

"This discrimination sets a dangerous precedent," attorney Brad Kaiserman said.

Prosecutors argued that the law, which seeks to punish those who drive dangerously in pursuit of photos for commercial gain, didn't merely apply to the media but could apply to people in other professions.

Rubinson cited hypothetical examples in which wedding photographers or even photographers rushing to a portrait shoot with a celebrity could face additional penalties if charged under the new statute.

Raef still faces traditional reckless driving counts.

Prosecutors allege he chased Bieber at more than 80 mph and forced other motorists to avoid collisions while Raef tried to get shots of the teen heartthrob on a Los Angeles freeway in July.

Raef has not yet entered a plea in the case.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Corzine blamed for fall of MF Global

Poor management decisions by MF Global's former CEO Jon Corzine triggered the brokerage firm's collapse, while lax protections for customer funds contributed to the loss of an estimated $1.6 billion of customer money, U.S. congressional investigators have determined.

Evidence unearthed by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight puts the blame squarely on Corzine, the panel's chairman Rep. Randy Neugebauer, said in a preview of the report that will be released on Thursday.

"The responsibility for failing to maintain the systems and controls necessary to protect customer funds rests with Corzine," the report says. "This failure represents a dereliction of his duty as MF Global's chairman and CEO."

Corzine, a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs who also served as a U.S. senator and as governor of New Jersey, has denied any wrongdoing.

MF Global filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago, as investors scrambled to pull out funds after revelations the firm bet heavily on European sovereign debt and after credit downgrades.

Regulators, prosecutors and lawmakers have been looking into the estimated $1.6 billion in customer funds revealed to be missing after the firm's collapse.

The House subcommittee said it has held three hearings, interviewed more than 50 witnesses and reviewed thousands of documents from MF Global, its regulators and other sources.

The report will show that risks were exacerbated by an atmosphere at the firm in which no one could question Corzine's decisions, the subcommittee said.

Corzine also kept his own trading activities out of the firm's risk management review process, the subcommittee said. The group said it also found that regulatory agencies had not shared crucial information with each other, and other problems.

A trustee liquidating the company's broker-dealer unit released a critical report in June that said that in his attempt to build the firm into a global investment powerhouse, Corzine failed to address growing liquidity needs.

A spokesman for Corzine did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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U.S. Atorney: Ex-Dixon comptroller to plead guilty

Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell leaves the Lee County Courthouse in Dixon after being arraigned on felony theft charges. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune / October 31, 2012)

Staff report

2:31 p.m. CST, November 13, 2012

Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell plans to plead guilty Wednesday to a federal fraud charge that alleges she siphoned more than $53 million from the small northwestern Illinois city’s coffers, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The office released a statement saying Crundwell will change her plea to guilty at a hearing Wednesday morning before U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard in federal court in Rockford.

It was unclear from the release how Crundwell’s guilty plea to the federal charge will impact separate state charges she faces for the same wrongdoing. She also faces 60 counts of theft tied to her alleged embezzlement from the city's accounts.

Crundwell is accused of stealing the money over two decades and using it to sustain a lavish lifestyle and a nationally renowned horse-breeding operation.

Federal authorities have auctioned off about 400 horses and a luxury motor home that Crundwell allegedly bought with the stolen city funds. If Crundwell is convicted, much of the money will be returned to Dixon – after the federal government takes its cut for caring for the horses for months.

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Exclusive: AMD hires bank to explore options - sources

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