A Police Veteran, a Rookie and Fate: All Three Crossed Paths

Abstract: One was a rookie still fired up over one of his first arrests. The other was a veteran who made his first arrest -- the first of more than 1,300 -- when the rookie was about 5 years old. Officer Eric Hernandez, 24, was just beginning his career; Officer Alfredo Toro, 43, was ending his, telling a friend that he planned to retire in July after 20 years on the force. They wore the same uniform for the New York Police Department, but the similarities virtually ended there. Officer Hernandez was a charismatic bachelor and recent college graduate, a fast-footed running back on the department's full-contact football team. His friends still called him by his high school nickname: E. Officer Toro was a suburban family man with a two-car garage who showed off his athletic skills not in packed stadiums but in his backyard, playing with his two children. Officer Hernandez's life moved at a fast clip, a business major one moment, in a patrol car the next. Officer Toro stayed put, policing the same small precinct his entire career and working in virtual anonymity, though he found himself connected to a scandal that rocked the department in the mid-1990's. The two men had one thing in common: both worked night shifts on the tough streets of the Bronx, reporting for duty at station houses not quite two miles apart. In this city, people live their whole lives separated by such short distances and never once cross paths. But early Saturday morning, a confluence of events -- fate and chance, a flash of violence in a fast-food restaurant, a 911 call for help -- brought the men together. Officer Hernandez, off duty and in street clothes, was shot three times as he aimed his gun at a man he believed had attacked him inside a White Castle at 1831 Webster Avenue. It was Officer Toro who pulled the trigger. Police officials say that a preliminary investigation indicated that the shooting was justified and that Officer Toro followed departmental rules. Witnesses said they heard Officer Toro and his partner identify themselves as police officers and order Officer Hernandez to drop his gun. Officer Hernandez, apparently intoxicated and injured from being beaten by a group of young men, did not identify himself as an officer. As investigators explore the circumstances of the shooting, as Officer Hernandez clings to life at St. Barnabas Hospital, his right leg amputated at the knee, relatives and friends of both men trade condolences, wait for answers and pray for miracles. "We're very sorry for his family," Officer Toro's wife, Laura, said. Referring to her family, she added, "This is a very difficult time for us." Officer Toro preferred working the overnight shift at the 46th Precinct, 1.32 square miles of gritty South Bronx real estate that includes the Mount Hope and Fordham neighborhoods. David Biondi, who worked the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift with Officer Toro for five years, said Officer Toro was focused, keeping the small talk to a minimum. "Freddy Toro is one of the best cops that there is," Officer Biondi said. "What he did he did by the book." On Tuesday, Officer Biondi went to Officer Toro's home in Washingtonville, N.Y., an old-fashioned village of about 6,000 an hour's drive north of the Bronx in Orange County. Officer Toro lives with his wife and two sons on Woodfield Drive. Neighbors said Officer Toro was generous with his time and his snow blower. One winter morning, he saw his neighbor's wife shoveling snow outside her house. By the time her husband came outside to pitch in, the driveway was cleared. "He plowed my driveway thinking I wasn't there because he saw my wife shoveling snow," said the neighbor, Fernando Mora, 55. "That's the kind of guy he is." Officer Toro's by-the-book life and career met once before with controversy. On Dec. 22, 1994, Anthony Baez, a 29-year-old security guard, died during a confrontation with the police in the Bronx. His death ignited a passionate debate about police brutality and led to a series of state, federal and departmental hearings and trials. Officer Toro was one of the officers on the scene. The officer who used a chokehold on Mr. Baez, Francis X. Livoti, was found guilty in 1998 of violating Mr. Baez's civil rights. In 2002, Officer Toro testified that a black man wearing a baseball cap helped Mr. Livoti hold the victim's feet down, according to a report in Newsday. Mr. Livoti's testimony about the unidentified civilian had earlier been denounced by a police administrative judge as "contrived." One of the first suspects Officer Hernandez met on the job made a rather unwise decision: he tried to run away. In Manville, N.J., Eric Hernandez ran the football in high school, for the Manville Mustangs. In Fairfield, Conn., he ran the football for the Sacred Heart University Pioneers. In New York, he ran the football for the department's team, the Finest, a powerhouse squad that won a national championship in May against the Philadelphia Blue Flame. The score, 37-0. "Running against E is not a smart thing," said Kenny Mathieu, a high school friend whom Officer Hernandez told about chasing the suspect on a domestic disturbance call. "He caught the guy. That wasn't a surprise." Officer Hernandez moved to Manville, a working-class town of 10,000 in Somerset County, when he was a teenager. At the Alexander Batcho Intermediate School and at Manville High School, he was regarded by students, coaches and teachers as not so much a teenager but as a young adult, athletic and responsible. "He was the guy you would pick to show a new student around the school, the guy who people looked to as a leader," said Paul Lenihan, Officer Hernandez's language arts teacher at the intermediate school. Tall, square-jawed and handsome, he had no problem making friends at the 420-student high school, often spending weekends with classmates along the banks of the Millstone Canal, fishing and swapping stories. Officer Hernandez was not given to boast, and his friends said he was more likely to listen to a good story than tell one himself. At Sacred Heart, Officer Hernandez played for the Pioneers when the team won a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-AA championship in 2001. Friends and coaches say Officer Hernandez was not known as a drinker, and they are frustrated by the news coverage of the shooting, which has emphasized the fact that he was apparently intoxicated. "I was kind of surprised that he'd even been out," said Gary Reho, the director of the university's health and recreation center and one of Officer Hernandez's former coaches. Some of Officer Hernandez's friends were surprised to learn he joined the force in July 2004. They had imagined him starting his own business. Mr. Mathieu, Officer Hernandez's high school classmate, was not surprised. He said his friend started talking about becoming an officer during his senior year. "He has uncles on the force and thought it could be a good thing to do," he said. Timothy Dymond, who played football with Officer Hernandez at Sacred Heart, also became an officer, and both worked the same precinct, the 52nd. Mr. Mathieu was at the hospital on Tuesday when surgeons amputated part of the right leg of his friend, his friend who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards one year in high school. "Knowing that he won't be able to play football again will be devastating," he said. "That was his world." One day in April, Officer Hernandez, now living in White Plains, went back to his high school in Manville. He said hello to Stephen Venuto, the head football coach when Officer Hernandez was not badge No. 1872 but jersey No. 44 for the Mustangs. Mr. Venuto asked him what he was doing these days. He said he was a New York City police officer, working in the Bronx.

POLICE
NEW YORK CITY
BRONX (NYC)
HERNANDEZ ERIC
TORO ALFREDO
ATTACKS ON POLICE
MISTAKEN IDENTITY


John Miller of CBS, at Home on Both Sides of the Police Tape

Abstract: On the day of the school shooting in Newtown , Conn., reporters were struggling and failing to get their arms around a story too horrible to fathom. At our house, we stared at the incremental television coverage and came to realize that no one really knew anything. Then, late in the evening, a reporter came on CBS in New York. He knew the number of casualties, the type of weapon used, and that the mother of the shooter was dead inside her home. “Who is this guy?” I asked my wife. John Miller isn’t a psychic or a genius. He’s a senior correspondent for CBS News who had spent the afternoon working his sources while helping anchor the network’s special coverage. Mr. Miller, hired a little over a year ago by CBS, became a constant figure in the coverage in the days that followed, bringing a rare level of seriousness to a story that seemed to bring out the worst in television news. Low rated and often an also-ran, CBS News benefited greatly from Mr. Miller’s work, which helped it become the first network to break into programming with news of the shooting and the first to report the level of carnage. Like many of his colleagues, he made some mistakes — “I was first with the wrong name” he pointed out ruefully — but everything he said on the air was based on actual reporting, not meaningless stand-ups at the scene that are full of drama but no information. If Mr. Miller, 54, seemed to know what happened inside Sandy Hook Elementary School as soon as the police officials did, that’s because not that long ago, he was one of them. A police reporter in New York for 20 years for various television stations, he was hired by William Bratton, New York’s police commissioner, in 1994 as a deputy commissioner. He went back to reporting at ABC in 1995 and became co-anchor of “20/20,” where he interviewed Osama bin Laden. He wrote a book on the Sept. 11 attacks and then went back to work for Mr. Bratton in 2003, this time in Los Angeles as head of the counterterrorism and criminal intelligence bureau, along with the major crimes division. Mr. Miller went on to the F.B.I. and the office of the director of national intelligence, where he worked as deputy director of the analysis division. But he found himself thinking about a return to reporting after Bin Laden was killed. “My wife said to me, ‘Let me get this straight, you are going to leave a good, safe job in government and wander around New York in the worst economy in years looking for a job as a reporter? That’s your plan?’ ” he said. It was. He talked to Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of “60 Minutes.” “He is the definition of a pure reporter,” Mr. Fager said, “a really great fit with what we are trying to do here. On the big stories, we don’t want packages, we don’t do graphics, we want information. I could listen to John Miller report a story all day.” Journalists are taught to be suspect of those who have gone through the revolving door, but Mr. Miller’s trip through that door left him uniquely suited for the Newtown story. He had run major investigations, supervised big crime scenes and handled the information flow for others. “The information is coming in raw and in real time,” he explained in a phone call. “Forgive my grammar, but you have to filter into three questions: ‘What do we know, what do we don’t know, and when do we expect to know more?’ Everything is preliminary, everything can change, but you can’t just wait. You have to think through what you know and explain that.” Mr. Miller said that when he was called to the anchor desk on Friday morning he protested, saying he should just report at his desk. But he ended up on the set with a laptop and a phone, working both when he wasn’t on the air. “When I first heard a number for victims, I thought it was wrong because it was so high,” said Mr. Miller, who worked on the 1999 Columbine shooting while at ABC. “And then word came from people I knew that we should prepare ourselves for the worst.” “These people aren’t my sources, they are my friends,” he said. “If they couldn’t tell me, they told me who could.” Mr. Miller said he benefited enormously because he understood law enforcement hierarchy and was aware of the kinds of pressure brought to bear on the officials at the scene. “There is no one in law enforcement who won’t take John’s call,” Mr. Bratton said. “He’s careful and he knows his way around all aspects of law enforcement, which makes it easy to trust him and talk to him.” There is another factor that explains Mr. Miller’s success. He is a newsie by birth. His father, John J. Miller, was a syndicated gossip columnist for a variety of New York newspapers, and he often brought his son along on stories. “I’ve been going to crime scenes since I was 9 years old,” Mr. Miller said. “It would not be unusual for me to see Sammy Davis Jr. at the Copacabana on Friday night and then be at the scene of a murder in Washington Square on Saturday night.” Mr. Miller’s credentials are further burnished by the fact that the Mafia boss Frank Costello was his godfather. By the time he was 14 he was getting his own assignments at Channel 5 News. He would skip gym at Montclair High in New Jersey and hop a bus to the station’s headquarters in New York. While reporters were busy finishing editing, he would be sent out on late-breaking stories to do interviews. He covered collapsed buildings, murders and perp walks, and had his own N.Y.P.D. press pass saying “John Miller is entitled to cross police and fire lines wherever formed.” “It was like a golden ticket to the night,” he said. Since he got back in the racket, Mr. Miller has been a frequent face on “CBS This Morning,” often talking about crime, national security and terrorism with Charlie Rose. “He is wired in a way that few reporters are and has a manner that puts people at ease,” Mr. Rose said. “John knows where the story is and how to go to it.” Mr. Miller says that it’s not always whispered backgrounders from police pals that offer insight. “Sometimes I just go quiet and watch the live feed,” he said. “Because I have been in the command post, I know what I am looking at.” Still, when a major crime occurs, it creates a bit of conflict. “When something big is going on and I am covering it,” he said, “I always really wish I was on the other side of the yellow tape, right in the middle of it.”

Television
CBS News
Miller John
Newtown Conn Shooting (2012)
News and News Media
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Police Department (NYC)


A Family Emerges Even Closer From Times of Darkness

Abstract: Over the course of 10 months in the Negron household, starting in spring 2014, darkness became routine. With the family’s electricity shut off because of nonpayment, the youngest child, Nelson, 13, used a battery-powered lantern on his short walk from the kitchen to the cluttered bedroom he shares with his two older brothers. An extension cord snaked from a neighbor’s apartment to theirs, in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx, giving them just enough power to keep the refrigerator cold. Homework got finished before sundown, if it got finished at all, with the boys relying on candles to extend the light of winter days. So after the power came back on in February 2015, Nelson’s oldest brother, Angel, 21, decided the family needed to do something to celebrate. They decided to buy a birthday gift for their father, Jesus: tickets for the family to a Legends of Wrestling event at Citi Field. It featured the biggest legend of all, as far as the Negrons were concerned: Bret Hart , a grizzled Canadian whose pecs once bulged from a magenta tank top. “You can actually feel his power,” Nelson recalled of shaking Mr. Hart’s hand during a meet and greet after the match. “He’s just awesome. If things don’t go his way, he manages to get what he wants.” Financial problems had put the Negrons’ daily needs out of reach during their 10 months without electricity. They were also on the verge of eviction. Mr. Negron, 40, lost his custodial job when the day care he worked for ran out of money, he said. His wife, Martha Torres, 40, worked in a hospital’s medical billing department, but she did not earn enough to cover the Consolidated Edison bill in addition to rent and food for the boys, Nelson, Angel and Jesus Jr., 18. Nelson — serious beyond his years, with a round face that lights up when he talks about math class or his brothers — recalled students’ bullying one another during his early years at public school. Making do without electricity only made him grow up faster, he said. The Neediest Cases The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund provides direct assistance to struggling New Yorkers. Tap for information about how to donate. His father, too, knew the rigors of getting by in Hunts Point, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. Mr. Negron grew up without his father around and found an escape in watching wrestling matches with a brother who was around his age. “He was a mean drunk sometimes, and sometimes he was a happy drunk,” Mr. Negron said of his father, adding, “Wrestling kind of became our escape — that was our bond.” Mr. Negron had gone to the same public school that educated his older two sons but wanted a safer and more supportive environment for his youngest son. So the family pushed for Nelson to attend St. Ignatius School . The Jesuit school, which is affiliated with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York , paid Nelson’s tuition in full. The school provides social services, after-school programs and summer camp. It tries to steer students to college by finding them scholarships to strong high schools outside Hunts Point and by offering counseling and college planning. Nelson’s first year there was overshadowed by the family’s financial problems, but the school helped by hiring Mr. Negron as a part-time custodian. In August, when a full-time position became available, Mr. Negron got the job. Catholic Charities , one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund , also gave the family $340 from the fund to help Nelson buy a laptop, a book bag and a school gym uniform. Angel, who works as a cashier at a Duane Reade, decided to use his salary to help carry on two family traditions — surprises and wrestling-themed gatherings — with the event at Citi Field. It signified the family’s “coming back to life,” Mr. Negron said. Still, the family has had trouble paying back rent from the months when Mr. Negron was unemployed. They were threatened with eviction this month, but Mr. Negron has been working with Catholic Charities to get help covering the shortfall. Now Mr. Negron and Nelson see each other in the hallways of St. Ignatius. Nelson does not shy away from saying hello, as some 13-year-olds may — an acknowledgment, his father said, of all they have been through together. “He says it loud and clear, gives me a smile,” Mr. Negron said. “When I see him, he lightens up.”

New York Times Neediest Cases Fund
Catholic Charities
Philanthropy


With Turbulent Season Looming for Lakers, Kobe Bryant Demonstrates an Early Calm

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — It was an unusual scene. Here was Kobe Bryant, casually comfortable in his hooded sweatshirt, calmly reflective late Friday after the Los Angeles Lakers lost their third consecutive game to start the season. Their 118-111 loss to their hallway rivals, the Clippers, was sealed when Bryant — the sneering, lip-biting closer supreme — missed a pair of shots late that might have been the difference between defeat and victory. “I couldn’t be more pleased in this loss, actually,” Bryant said. “I think we figured a lot of things out.” There was no sarcasm, no seething. Bryant, once notorious for his hair-trigger impatience — with teammates, coaches, the front office and any sort of losing — was now wrapping his arms around a moral victory, prompting a question about the last time he had felt so good after a loss. “Probably never,” he said with a shrug. If this is a Zen-like transformation or merely some late-career pragmatism, it helps explain the current state of the union between Bryant, 36 and coming off two serious injuries, and the Lakers, with a roster of flotsam and jetsam surrounding him. It is going to take continued compromises. And that may be the only item of interest with the Lakers this season: Will this good soldier still be so at ease with his circumstance in February, or will his desire to win another championship prompt him to ask for a trade? Bryant’s patience is being tested. He lost a kindred basketball mind with Steve Nash’s season-ending injury and lost a promising young talent he might mold when Julius Randle broke his leg. And then he lined up again against Chris Paul, another reminder of the trade to the Lakers that David Stern nixed. “I know him and I know he’ll stay professional about it,” Clippers forward Matt Barnes, who spent two seasons with the Lakers, said of Bryant. “You always want to see someone who’s had a historical career go out in the right way, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen that way. It’s going to be a long season for him.” Bryant can no longer carry a team, not the way he once might have been able to do over 82 games or even attempted to do when the Lakers lost by 18 to Houston and 20 to Phoenix to open the season. But on Friday, Bryant revealed how he can still influence a team — and a game. Image Bryant said he was pleased with how Jeremy Lin, left, has been decisive with the ball and more assertive with his direction. Credit Stephen Dunn/Getty Images He whipped passes out of double teams. He guarded Paul. He blew past Barnes for a reverse dunk and later sold him on a pump fake. He stole the ball from Blake Griffin in transition. He sank a fadeaway 3-pointer in the corner over the shot blocker DeAndre Jordan and suckered him with a highlight reel pass fake before banking in a layup. He threw in a reverse lay in. And he kicked a pass out to Wayne Ellington, whose 3-pointer tied the score for the last time. When Bryant did not have the ball in his hands, he was often pointing the direction he wanted to see it move. When he sat on the bench, he did not keep his observations to himself. “They still take his lead,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said of Bryant, who had 21 points and 7 assists. “He gives that team toughness, he gives them resolve. I guarantee you, whether they play well or not, they’re not going to be a team that gives in, because Kobe never gives in.” What pleased Bryant the most was how Jeremy Lin, the point guard, played as if he were running the team — being decisive with the ball and more assertive with his direction. After the loss to Phoenix, Lin and Bryant shared text messages late into the night. On Thursday, Bryant initiated ones with Wesley Johnson. Soon, all the players were looped in. This was a different, more collegial, tact than he might have taken in the past, Bryant said. There were no death stares. “Absolutely,” he said. “A lot more teaching. A lot more communication as opposed to the players we had in the past. Here it’s really kind of teaching, how to get things down, how to deal with the emotional roller coasters that take place throughout the course of games, the challenge of things and figuring things out.” Midway through the fourth quarter, Bryant had Paul posted up on the block, and demanded the ball from Ronnie Price, the backup point guard who had the ball on the wing. But Price, sensing that Blake Griffin would be crashing down from the free-throw line to double-team Bryant, instead fed the ball to Griffin’s man, Jordan Hill. He sank a long jumper, the last of his 23 points. A few minutes later, with the shot clock winding down, Lin waved off Bryant and hit an off-balance 3-pointer. What Bryant liked is having a teammate strong-minded enough to make his own decisions on the fly. “You have to be able to assert yourself, especially on a team I’m playing on,” Bryant said. “I don’t want chumps and I don’t want pushovers. If you’re a chump and you’re a pushover, I will run over you. And so it’s important for them to have that toughness and to say ‘I believe in myself. I can step up and make these plays, I can perform.’ I think that’s very important.” The Lakers, Bryant seemed to sense, will need much more of that this season if they are going to leave any kind of mark.

Lakers
Kobe Bryant
Clippers
Basketball
Jeremy Lin


Islamic Center Ad Shows Limits of M.T.A. Powers

Abstract: In 1904, New Yorkers nearly rioted when they learned that advertisements would be plastered on the tiled walls of the city’s gleaming new subway system. “Cheap and nasty,” one official scoffed. Today, advertisements on buses and trains are so ubiquitous that the average straphanger is quite likely to forget that they are there at all: the injury lawyers and Dr. Zizmors are only a blurry backdrop to the daily voyage. Until, that is, this week, when a debate over a provocative advertisement reinserted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority into a fierce public debate over what should be allowed in the transit system — and to what extent the authority has the right to decide that at all. At issue was an advertisement submitted by a group opposed to the construction of a mosque and Islamic center near ground zero. The advertisement includes a photograph of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, one tower aflame, the other moments away from being struck by an airplane. A headline asks, “Why There?” And an arrow points to a rendering of the proposed center. The authority’s advertising firm initially rejected the advertisement as unsuitable, repeatedly requesting changes to the photograph of the twin towers, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week by the advertisement’s sponsor, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, and its leader, the prominent right-wing blogger Pamela Geller, who argued that her right to free speech had been infringed. On Monday, the authority relented, saying it would allow the advertisement to run in its original form . It is expected to appear next week on more than 20 city buses. The authority adopted rules in 1997 that allowed transit officials to reject advertising they considered obscene, deceptive or “directly adverse to the commercial or administrative interests of the M.T.A.,” among other reasons. (The guidelines were prompted in part by complaints about a racy Calvin Klein underwear advertisement.) But transit officials have faced legal challenges before, and in those challenges, the authority tended to lose. New York magazine successfully sued the authority in 1997 after transit officials removed advertisements poking fun at Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, at his request. (The Supreme Court rejected an appeal.) An advertisement submitted by riders’ advocates in 2000, which compared the morning commute to a packed ride in a cattle car, was initially rejected because it might discourage people from riding the subway. Those objections were quickly dropped after the New York Civil Liberties Union brought a lawsuit claiming censorship. In June, the authority removed a Georgi Vodka advertisement featuring a swimsuit model from some city buses after Hasidic leaders in Brooklyn complained. “We try to limit more suggestive ads upon neighborhood request,” the authority said in a statement. This week, the executives of Georgi Vodka said they wondered why the twin towers image made the cut and their company’s bikini advertisement did not. “We didn’t feel they came to bat for us,” said Phyllis Valenti, executive vice president for Star Industries, which makes the vodka. But she said lawyers had advised the company not to sue. The Working Families Party also decided not to pursue legal action after the authority rejected an advertisement it submitted in March. The advertisement, which mimicked the format of an official service notice, criticized Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for staying silent as the authority cut service and prepared to raise fares. “They said it was confusing to train riders; people would think it was an actual announcement from the M.T.A.,” said Dan Levitan, a party spokesman. He said the ensuing publicity made a legal appeal seem superfluous. “We decided to leave it at getting the ad out there online,” he said. Ms. Geller’s group paid the authority nearly $10,000 to run the advertisements. The group is also responsible for a publicity campaign aimed at converting Muslims that appeared on New York buses in May. Those advertisements were rejected in Detroit, where transit officials are now fighting a lawsuit filed by Ms. Geller’s group, similar to the one brought last week in New York. That case remains unresolved, and the advertisements have not yet run. A lawyer representing Ms. Geller’s group, Robert J. Muise, said the New York case was a victory for the Constitution. “It’s a problem when the government picks and chooses which messages they think are suitable,” Mr. Muise said. But the group’s victory in New York was not universally acclaimed. “This ad crosses a line, and I can’t believe the M.T.A. would allow it on its buses,” the city’s public advocate, Bill de Blasio, said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced the advertisement’s authors as “anti-Islam extremists.” For its part, the authority acknowledged that some of its decisions on advertisements could be difficult. “We do the best we can within our guidelines, with the understanding that in a lot of cases, we’ll have to put up ads that we may or may not agree with,” said Jeremy Soffin, the authority’s chief spokesman. “There will always be cases where people disagree.” Transit officials acknowledged that the visibility their system provides can attract provocateurs — a situation the authority has to live with. “You have people who are purposely trying to be provocative,” Mr. Soffin said, “and sometimes, frankly, more interested in the publicity that comes with the conflict, as opposed to the benefit of actually running the ad.”

Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Mosques
Park51
Geller Pamela
World Trade Center (NYC)
Advertising and Marketing


Credit Card Data Tells Mixed Story

Abstract: American shoppers did not shed their reliance on credit cards over the year-end holidays. While the average debt on credit cards in December decreased by 4 percent compared with the same month a year before, Americans still carried an average of $4,284 on credit card statements in December 2010, according to data released this week by the credit monitoring company Experian. The data offers conflicting versions of the economy’s already mixed picture. While some consumers spent more during the holidays because the economy was rebounding, others were still unable to cover expenses without leaning on their credit cards. And while holiday spending also appeared to have been more robust than in the last several years, even more recent data has shown a bit of a slowdown in consumption this year. “You’ve got people who already had good credit and were pretty much managing their credit, and because of the risk, paid down their debt even more,” said Maxine Sweet, vice president for public education at Experian. Then there were “very dramatic increases in debt by people who, mainly, lost jobs, but also had medical emergencies, and turned to credit cards to carry them through the hard times.” The most recent consumer credit report from the Federal Reserve showed that revolving credit, which is mostly credit card debt, increased by 3.5 percent in December at an annual rate, the first such increase in 27 months. (That data included “charge-offs,” or debt that the credit card companies considered essentially uncollectible, while the Experian data, since it was pulled from active credit files, did not.) Card spending (including credit, debit and electronic benefit-transfer cars) was up 6.5 percent in December compared with spending at the same stores a year earlier, according to First Data, which processes merchant transactions. Retailers tend to benefit from credit card spending, as it often means people are spending beyond their budgets. Holiday spending rose 5.5 percent in the 50 days before Christmas in 2010 compared with 2009, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. Much of that was driven by increases in apparel, jewelry and luxury goods. While many shoppers had vowed to spend only with cash this holiday season, that was a budgeting trick that not everyone could use. The cash shoppers, Ms. Sweet suggested, “were the ones that were pretty much in control — they can say, ‘I’m going to be more conservative.’ ” People under more difficult circumstances had to put certain debts on their credit cards, she said. In February, the retail analyst David Strasser issued a note to clients saying that the increase in credit spending was good news. Spending at Visa and MasterCard in the United States was up a combined 8.3 percent for the fourth quarter, Mr. Strasser noted, “a hopeful sign that big-ticket spending is in recovery mode for 2011.” “Weak credit trends have clearly bottomed out,” he wrote, and the increases in credit card spending “will disproportionately help big-ticket retailers that were hit hard during the downturn, as credit was curtailed and consumers lacked liquidity to purchase big-ticket products.” The Experian data, which is broken down by metropolitan area, also gives a sense of how different cities may be recovering from the recession . The city with the highest card debt in December was San Antonio, with $5,177 due on average, 21 percent above the national average. (The figures include debts on regular credit cards and retail Visas and MasterCards, but not a retailer’s own card — so a Gap-brand credit card would not be included, but a Gap Visa card would.) San Antonio was followed by Jacksonville, Fla., at $5,115, a city with one of the lowest average credit scores , suggesting that pure debt may have been piling up there. Dallas, which came in at fifth with $4,936, also has one of the lowest average credit scores in the country. Atlanta was third, with $4,960, and Honolulu, with $4,939, was fourth. In 2009, the list of cities with the most credit card debt was similar: Dallas, Atlanta, San Antonio, Jacksonville and the Waco, Tex., metropolitan area. Jeanie Wyatt, chief executive of the San-Antonio based advisory firm South Texas Money Management, said the economy in the city had been quite steady. “Our unemployment rate is lower than the national average,” she said, “the health care field has been fast-growing, and of course we still have a big military component, and tourism, and a growing energy component. People are feeling, I think, pretty good about their job security.” She said San Antonians were largely living on working-class paychecks, which could explain some of the credit card debt. “While San Antonio has a lower unemployment rate and a more stable economy, our wage earners are at that mid- to lower end,” she said. “I would presume that lower-income individuals tend to have a higher percentage of credit card debt.” The cities that racked up the lowest credit card debt for December were Sioux Falls, S.D. ($3,446); the area in Tennessee and Virginia around Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol ($3,449); Fort Wayne, Ind. ($3,476); Paducah, Ky.($3,515); and Davenport, Iowa ($3,515). In December 2009, the cities with the lowest credit card debt were Altoona, Pa.; Lafayette, La.; Evansville, Ind.; Davenport, Iowa; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. VantageScore, a credit rating produced by the three major reporting bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, gives a picture of whether the credit card spending came from economic confidence, or from desperation. Midwest and West Coast cities dominated the list of cities with the 25 highest VantageScores. Wisconsin had three cities on that list (Green Bay, at No. 1; Madison, at No. 2; and Milwaukee, at No. 21). Several states had two: California (San Francisco and Santa Barbara), Minnesota (Minneapolis and the Valley City-Fargo area, which crosses into North Dakota), Oregon (Eugene and Portland) and Iowa (Cedar Rapids and Des Moines). There were no Southern or Southwestern states on the list of the top credit scores. “Cities like Minneapolis, that always have great credit scores, actually have higher debt than other cities,” Ms. Sweet said. “But it’s offset by the fact that they never miss payments, and they always have high credit limits.” The list of the 25 cities with the lowest VantageScores in December was heavily Southern. Texas had seven cities on the list (Harlingen, El Paso, Tyler, Waco, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, going from lowest to highest credit scores). Other than two California cities (Bakersfield and Fresno) and Las Vegas, every other city on the list was from the South. “Part of that is a lot just a lot of younger people moving in, and a larger migrant population — so by younger, meaning not just in age, but also less depth in their credit history, and we think that’s one factor,” Ms. Sweet said of the lower credit scores in Texas in particular. “When you have these consumers who are in crisis with foreclosures and unemployment, that has to be driving up their credit card debt,” Ms. Sweet said. Shoppers interviewed last December sounded quite cautious about their spending. Julianne Cantarella, 43, was at the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, N.J. (the New York metropolitan area is No. 42 on the Experian list of high credit card debt). Her house had finally sold over the summer after being on the market for a year and a half, she said, so she thought the economy was improving. “But I did cut down on the money I’m spending and the amount of gifts I’m buying,” she said. In Columbus, Ohio (No. 12 on the Experian list), Dorothy Huggins, 54, was shopping with her granddaughter. “Everybody in our family is fine — nobody’s lost their jobs, but I have lots of friends and neighbors who have been hit,” Ms. Huggins said. “That made us more conservative this year because we’re wondering, are we next?” “There are so many people hurting, through no fault of their own. And we’re fortunate enough to be doing well,” she said. “So we bought a lot less stuff this year.”

Credit Cards
United States Economy
Consumer Behavior
Credit and Debt
Personal Finances


In England, Wigan Athletic Ousts Everton in F.A. Cup

Abstract: Wigan Athletic scored three times in four minutes on Saturday to stun host Everton, 3-0, at Goodison Park in Liverpool and reach the semifinals of England’s F.A. Cup for the first time in the club’s 81-year history. The visitors, facing a relegation battle in the Premier League and underdogs in the quarterfinal, saw Maynor Figueroa, Callum McManaman and Jordi Gomez all score in the first half. Defender Figueroa headed Wigan in front from a corner in the 30th minute. The former Everton schoolboy McManaman capitalized on Phil Neville’s mistake to double the lead 90 seconds later, and Gomez made it three with an exquisite left-foot curler from 26 yards. In Premier League games, Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa came from behind for critical wins that boosted their hopes of escaping relegation. Villa, behind the American goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who is likely to replace the injured Tim Howard in goal for the United States in coming World Cup qualifying matches, moved out of the relegation zone after goals from Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor provided a 2-1 victory at Reading. Last-place Q.P.R. drew even on points and on goal difference with Reading after its 3-1 victory against visiting Sunderland. BAYERN MUNICH RALLIES FOR WIN Bayern Munich trailed twice but rallied beat Fortuna Düsseldorf, 3-2, and close in on the Bundesliga title in Germany as the defending champion Borussia Dortmund lost by 2-1 at Schalke. Dortmund trails Munich by 20 points. Jerome Boateng scored in the 86th minute to secure the victory for Bayern Munich, which needs only 7 points to clinch the title. Munich hosts Arsenal in the Champions League this week with a chance to become the third Bundesliga club in the tournament’s final eight. (AP) M.L.S. GAME POSTPONED BY BLIZZARD In Major League Soccer, the Colorado Rapids’ home opener Saturday against the Philadelphia Union was postponed until Sunday because of a blizzard. Originally, the Rapids had said the game would be played no matter the weather, but the snowstorm intensified and the game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City was pushed back a day by the league. A travel advisory was issued Saturday for Adams County, where up to 14 inches of snow and 40 mile-per-hour winds were expected. People were advised to travel only for an emergency. The storm is expected to move out late Saturday, and the game is scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. Mountain on Sunday. (AP) SURGERY SIDELINES SOLO Goalkeeper Hope Solo will be out for three to four months after an operation to repair torn cartilage in her left wrist. The United States Soccer Federation made the announcement Friday, a day after the operation. The federation said she was likely to miss at least the first half of the Seattle Reign’s season in the National Women’s Soccer League, which starts its first season next month. Solo, 31, who has 135 international appearances, is missing the Algarve Cup tournament in Portugal, where the United States has won its first two games. The No. 2 goalkeeper Jill Loyden broke a bone in her left hand during training Thursday. Nicole Barnhart was in goal for Friday’s 5-0 rout of China. (AP) P.S.G. TO RETAIN TOP OFFICIALS Coach Carlo Ancelotti and the sports director Leonardo are doing well at Paris St.-Germain and will be there next season, the French club’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, said Saturday. News media reports have linked the Ligue 1 leaders to Real Madrid Coach José Mourinho for next season; however, Khelaifi said that Mourinho was not in his plans and that it would be up to Ancelotti to decide if he stays at P.S.G. “He will still be here if he wants to,” Khelaifi told the daily Le Parisien, three days after Ancelotti led P.S.G. to the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 18 years. “He has done an excellent job,” Khelaifi said. “It has been difficult from time to time because he has been under a lot of pressure, but he has done very well. Carlo is one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best. “As for Mourinho, I don’t know what his situation at Madrid is, but it’s none of my business.” Khelaifi, who took over as president when Qatar Sports Investment bought P.S.G. almost two years ago, also dismissed reports Leonardo could leave the club and return to Italy, where he has worked for the two Milan clubs. “He is staying. I have a good relationship with him,” Khelaifi said. “I hear things like sources in Doha have said there’s a problem with Leo. But people have to understand that I am Qatar’s official voice here. Leo is doing a very good job.” P.S.G. is in first place, 5 points ahead of Olympique Lyon, after Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Nancy on two goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. (REUTERS)

Soccer
Hope Solo
FA Cup
Everton Soccer Team
Wigan Athletic Soccer Team


County Clerk in New Mexico Issues Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples

Abstract: LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Saying he was upholding New Mexico’s Constitution — amended four decades ago to guarantee equal rights to all — a county clerk here began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday, magnifying a fight that could become one of the key issues in next year’s elections for governor. The clerk , Lynn Ellins, said he had exhausted his patience waiting for the courts to resolve the ambiguity between the state’s definition of marriage, which makes no mention of gender, and the marriage applications used by county clerks, which require couples to list their names under “bride” and “groom.” The issue was central to the lawsuits filed by same-sex couples in Albuquerque in March, and by Alexander Hanna and his partner, Yon Hudson, in Santa Fe in June. “If the court tells me to stop, I’ll stop,” Mr. Ellins said. “But until that happens, we’re open for business.” Mr. Ellins is the clerk of Doña Ana County, the political stronghold of Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, who has repeatedly expressed her opposition to same-sex marriage. Proponents are banking on the outcome of the court cases, pending before separate district courts, and on a statement by Gary King, the state’s attorney general, in June saying the statutory framework that precludes same-sex marriage would be “vulnerable to challenge.” Image Alexander Hanna, left, and Yon Hudson filed a lawsuit in June over marriage applications they believe violate the state’s guarantee of equal rights. Credit Mark Holm for The New York Times During a news conference in Albuquerque on Wednesday, Mr. King, a leading Democratic contender for governor, said he would not challenge Mr. Ellins or any other county clerk who decides to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He warned, however, that the licenses could be invalidated if the New Mexico Supreme Court eventually rules that same-sex marriage is not allowed in the state. In a terse decision last week, the state court denied a request on behalf of Mr. Hanna and Mr. Hudson to rule on the issue, a calculated maneuver the couple hoped would have allowed them to sidestep the lower courts and force a quicker resolution of the matter. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, two of the groups leading the push for the legalization of same-sex marriage across the country, increased the pressure. They filed an emergency request before the state’s Second Judicial District Court, asking to permit a woman with terminal cancer, Jen Roper, to marry her longtime partner, Angelique Neuman, immediately so that Ms. Neuman and their three adopted children would be legally protected once Ms. Roper died. “Because of my illness, we do not have the luxury of waiting years for the courts to decide whether loving, committed same-sex couples can marry in New Mexico,” Ms. Roper said in a statement. “For us, the time is now.” There are also signs that the political tide may be shifting. Despite her long-professed opposition to same-sex marriage, Governor Martinez has softened her stance, saying voters should be the ones to decide whether to legalize it in New Mexico — “not a court, not politicians in Santa Fe, and not one random county clerk,” as her spokesman, Enrique Knell, put it in a statement on Wednesday. Polls have indicated that the electorate is divided, though, with much of the resistance grounded in the strong Roman Catholic vein that runs through the state. Image Attorney General Gary King, a leading Democratic contender for governor of New Mexico, said he would not challenge any county clerk who decided to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Credit Russell Contreras/Associated Press At the Doña Ana County clerk’s office on Wednesday, staff members were issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at a rate of four an hour, a record for an office that generally grants five marriage licenses a day. The deputy clerk, Mario O. Jimenez, said the phone had been “ringing nonstop,” as couples from as far away as Lubbock, Tex., 350 miles to the east, called to tell they were on their way. Carrie Hamblen, 45, and her partner of seven years, Char Ullman, 51, arrived early, fearing that protesters or perhaps a court injunction might frustrate their marriage plans. Instead, said Ms. Hamblen, the chairwoman of the board of directors for Southern New Mexico Pride, they were greeted by cheers from county employees. Sarah Finke, 48, heard about the marriage licenses from a colleague at the elementary school where she works. During a fire drill, she called her partner of 10 years, Heather Oesterreich, also 48.why The women had decided long ago not to travel to another state to get married. Their pastor, Linda Mervine of the First Christian Church, married them under a palm tree in front of the county building here. Micah, their 6-year-old son, looked on approvingly. “This is our state,” said Ms. Oesterreich. “We have wonderful family and friends, and a God and our church that we wanted to witness this.” Doña Ana County became the first county in New Mexico to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples since 2004, when a clerk in Sandoval County issued 64 licenses, but stopped it after the state’s attorney general at the time, Patricia A. Madrid, issued an opinion saying the licenses were “invalid under state law.”

New Mexico
Lynn Ellins
Lawsuits
Alexander Hanna
Yon Hudson
Same-Sex Marriage,Gay Marriage


British Open 2014: Byeong-Hun An Birdies Early and Bogeys Late

Abstract: HOYLAKE, England — As Byeong-Hun An found out Saturday during the third round of the British Open, learning how to contend in the majors is like learning how to ride a bike. An was rolling along, not a care in the world, riding a streak of four birdies in his first six holes. At five under par for the tournament, An looked at the leader board, saw his name on the first page along with the names of some of the best players in the world, and grew wobbly. Shortly thereafter, at the par-3 ninth hole, he made the first of his two bogeys of the round. Only one of An’s five birdies in his round of three-under 69 came on his second nine, but he could not grumble too much about his position. After 54 holes, he was tied for 19th at four-under 212. “I was looking at the leader board every hole,” An said, adding, “There were some cool names on the leader board.” An, 22, a native of South Korea, was six strokes ahead of Tiger Woods, the 14-time major champion to whom he has been inexorably linked since becoming the youngest winner of the United States Amateur in 2009. At 17, An was a year younger than Woods was in 1994 when he won the tournament for the first time. After attending the University of California, Berkeley, for one year, An turned pro in 2011 and has been playing on the European Tour’s satellite circuit. His long-range goals include playing on the PGA Tour and competing in the Olympics. He comes by his passion for the Olympics naturally; his parents were medalists in table tennis at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, where he was born three years later. Asked why he did not choose table tennis as his sport, An laughed and said: “I wasn’t good enough. I was really slow, and I was chubby.” He was encouraged to play golf by his father, an avid player. “Table tennis is too hard; you just can’t play long enough compared to golf,” An said. “Golf, you can play until you’re 60, if you look at Tom Watson.” Watson, 64, a five-time British Open champion, became the oldest player to make the cut in this tournament and was five over par. An has a second-place finish this year on the Challenge Tour and has made five of six cuts in European Tour events. His progress has been slowed, he said, by the weight of the expectations he felt after winning the United States Amateur. “I think I was putting too much pressure on myself,” An said, adding, “I think it’s getting better.” FRIENDLY RIVALRY No introductions were required among the players who were first off the No. 1 tee on Saturday. For the Americans Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner and Phil Mickelson, the third round felt a lot like the money games they play at the start of tournament weeks. Bradley estimated that they had played “50, maybe more” practice rounds over the years. “Probably the most relaxed atmosphere I’ve ever had in a major, maybe in a tournament,” said Bradley, who led the group with a 69, which left him at three under for the tournament. DECISION APPROACHING Tom Watson, the 2014 United States Ryder Cup captain, carded a 75 and was at five-over 221. That put him two strokes behind one of his possible discretionary picks, Tiger Woods. Watson has said he plans to select Woods. But with time running out for Woods to play himself into form during the FedEx Cup playoffs, for which he has yet to qualify, Watson’s decision becomes trickier. Asked Saturday if he had spoken to Woods here, Watson said, “I just said hello to him.” So the Ryder Cup never came up in conversation? “I just said hello,” Watson repeated.

British Open
Byeong-Hun An
Tiger Woods
Golf
Phil Mickelson


Sharing Is Never Easy

Abstract: IN August, Comcast denied accusations that it was purposely disrupting file-sharing among its customers, but reports of stymied traffic — particularly from people using the popular BitTorrent protocol — have continued. Late last week, The Associated Press reported ( news.yahoo.com ) that Comcast “actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online.” Peter Svensson of The A.P. wrote that the practice was “the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. Internet service provider.” This week, the company told Brad Stone of The New York Times in a statement that it “does not block access” to any applications, but that it does “use the latest technologies to manage our network” to ensure quality of service to its customers ( bits.blogs.nytimes.com ). But an anonymous Comcast executive admitted that in some cases peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic like that generated by BitTorrent, is delayed, though not blocked. But Dave Burstein, the editor of DSL Prime, is among those not persuaded. “Comcast has definitely been blocking BitTorrent in some circumstances,” he wrote ( dslprime.com ). The A.P. confirmed the interference by conducting nationwide tests of Comcast’s network. “If widely applied by other I.S.P.’s,” Mr. Svensson said, the practice could strike “a crippling blow to the BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella file-sharing networks.” BitTorrent, though still often used for illicit sharing of copyrighted material, is increasingly used by media companies to distribute legitimate files. But copyrights are not Comcast’s concern in this case — bandwidth is. Its interference “appears to be an aggressive way of managing its network to keep file-sharing traffic from swallowing too much bandwidth and affecting the Internet speeds of other subscribers,” Mr. Svensson wrote. The practice plays into the debate over “net neutrality” — whether Internet service providers should be allowed to choose which traffic they carry. “Not only does the company have a major P.R. disaster on its hands, but it has in a matter of days become the poster child for net neutrality,” wrote Chris Soghoian of CNET ( cnet.com ). Lawyers “are circling the water,” Mr. Soghoian wrote. “They can smell blood.” ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS The blog VentureBeat has been following the venture capitalists scrounging for alternatives to technology investments as free-falling costs have drastically cut the need for outside financing. This week, Eric Eldon noted that Kleiner Perkins took part in a $50 million investment in YesPPG, a shirt factory in Shanghai ( venturebeat.com ). “That’s right,” Mr. Eldon wrote, “Kleiner Perkins, the paragon of tech venture capital — early investor in pathbreaking technology companies like Genentech, Sun, Netscape, Amazon and Google — is now investing in a mature Chinese shirt factory, churning close to $700,000 a day in revenue. OUT OF CONTROL “Felice” is a stay-at-home mother whose husband earns $5,000 to $6,000 a month. The family’s expenses, mostly hers, far exceed that. She spends hundreds of dollars a month at a “popular coffee chain,” according to the Web site of the Oprah Winfrey Show ( oprah.com ). The Web summary of her plea for help in an appearance on “Oprah” gets worse with each paragraph: $5,000 in silk flowers; many thousands on clothes; thousands more on murals. This is while her children go without health insurance. Still, she generates some revenue. “I sell their toys sometimes just because I don’t like them,” she said. Presumably, she means the toys. DAN MITCHELL

BitTorrent
Venture Capital
Computers and the Internet
Comcast Corp


Toshiba Delays Report on Finances Once Again

Abstract: Toshiba again delayed announcing its annual financial results on Monday as new accounting errors kept it from drawing a line under Japan’s worst corporate scandal in four years. Toshiba, which was scheduled to post earnings for the business year ended in March, said newly discovered problems included incorrect impairment charges on fixed assets at several subsidiaries and improperly timed booking of loss provisions at a United States subsidiary. Toshiba had already delayed announcing results by about three months because an investigation found that it had overstated past results by around $1.2 billion over several years. It said that government regulators had accepted its request for an extension and that it planned to submit the results by Monday. Shares of Toshiba were down more than 4 percent in early trading Tuesday.

TOSHIBA
Accounting
Accounting
Earnings Reports
Accountants


Porzingis, Lured by Pump Fake, Learns Lesson as Knicks Prevail

Abstract: It was late on Wednesday night, much later than usual, when Derek Fisher’s postgame news conference finally wound down. Earlier, the Knicks were on the verge of beating the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden before Kristaps Porzingis, the team’s precious big man, made a costly error, committing an injudicious foul on Gordon Hayward. Hayward calmly sank three free throws to tie the score with 2.5 seconds left to force overtime. “If Kris stays down and stands there like a light pole — he’s 12 feet tall basically — we’re out of here 40 minutes ago,” Fisher said with a chuckle. Fisher could laugh because the Knicks, fighting fatigue and sore limbs and getting a multidimensionally dominant performance from Carmelo Anthony, scraped out a 118-111 victory over the Jazz to improve their record to 22-22. And Porzingis — who fouled out on the play and watched overtime on the bench — could digest an important lesson in the forgiving afterglow of a win. Porzingis and his teammates, who had trailed by as many as 13, were defending a 3-point lead with seconds left in regulation when Porzingis was seduced by a pump fake beyond the 3-point line by Hayward (27 points). Porzingis flung the entirety of his 7-foot-3 body into the air, and Hayward, seeing the rookie hurtling toward him, craftily fired up a 3-point shot to draw the referee’s whistle. Image Derrick Williams, left, with Kristaps Porzingis after scoring during the fourth quarter. Credit Julie Jacobson/Associated Press “He gets the separation, but I’ve got to stay on my feet and use my length and try to bother his shot,” Porzingis said. “I let my instincts play, and I just jumped up there on the pump fake and fell into him.” It was a night that the Knicks would have appreciated finishing in four quarters. Before the game, Fisher said some players were battling soreness from the rigors of the season and a two-overtime win over the 76ers on Monday. Lance Thomas, one of the team’s best perimeter defenders, missed the game with a sore left knee. Porzingis was dealing with a bruised right foot, and Anthony was still recovering from a sprained right ankle. But Anthony, who played a season-high 49 minutes on Monday, nevertheless carried the Knicks back into Wednesday’s game, which the Jazz controlled for three quarters. He mixed impactful displays of unselfishness with his typically devastating one-on-one moves, finishing with 30 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Anthony also reached 21,763 career points, moving him into 31st on the league’s career scoring list, ahead of Larry Bird. “Knowing what he did in his career, what he did for this league, for me to pass him on that list, I don’t really know how to put that in words,” Anthony said. But on a night when he reached a scoring milestone, Anthony continued to show the other sides of his game. A sequence of plays late in the fourth quarter, in particular, exhibited the unselfishness, team play and trust that Fisher has been trying to coax from him this season. With 1 minute 1 second left in a tense fourth quarter, the ball made its way to Anthony, standing just inside the sideline opposite the Knicks’ bench. The entire Jazz defense shifted ever so slightly in his direction. Anthony did not hesitate with his next move, a powerful, two-handed, overhead pass back across the court to Arron Afflalo (14 points), who nailed an open 3-pointer to give the Knicks a 4-point lead. Twenty-five seconds later, after the Jazz had pulled to 2 points behind, Anthony did it again, bending the shape of the defense with his star power, firing another crosscourt pass, this time to Langston Galloway, who buried a 3-pointer. With about 15 seconds left, Anthony blew past Rudy Gobert for a powerful dunk, seemingly securing the game before the Jazz stormed back. “I think the interesting thing for Melo is that there is this land of opportunity out there that he has not quite accessed yet, and that’s what we’re here to do alongside of him,” Fisher said. Late in overtime, the crowd was loudly chanting the name of Derrick Williams, one of the unsung reserves on the Knicks’ bench. With just over a minute left and the Knicks holding a 3-point lead, Williams put forth a display of extreme hustle — hopping up and down while battling for an offensive rebound, tipping the ball five separate times — before securing a rebound and burying a second-chance layup while absorbing a foul. The 3-point play put the Knicks up by 6 points, and a minute later Williams held the ball as the final seconds ticked off. “It’s amazing,” Williams said of the chants. “As a little kid, you dream about stuff like that.”

Knicks
Utah Jazz
Derrick Williams
Basketball


Two Goods Reasons to Visit NoHo

Abstract: From the 1830s to the 1850s, East Fourth Street was a high-society Manhattan address with neighbors named Astor and Vanderbilt. Charles Dickens and Washington Irving sojourned in the area, which then was called Bond Street. The MERCHANT’S HOUSE , at No. 29, built in 1832, stands as a testament to that period, seeming as unchanged and as fragile as Miss Havisham’s wedding dress. It is also imperiled. In April, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission gave the go-ahead for an eight-story hotel to be built next door on the site of a one-story garage. That commission, at its inaugural meeting in 1965, acted to declare the Merchant’s House, a four-story Greek Revival townhouse, a landmark. The fastidiously preserved Merchant’s House had been a museum since 1936, in what is now called the NoHo Historic District. “Extensive underground engineering studies have shown that if the house moves even one-quarter inch, it could destroy all the ornate plaster moldings and come tumbling down,” said Dennis McAvena, an interior designer who moonlights at the museum as a guide. What may sound alarmist is not unfounded, Mr. McAvena told a group of Sunday visitors (the museum is open Thursdays to Mondays from noon to 5 p.m. for $10 general admission). A previous demolition of buildings on the other side of the house caused $1 million in damage. Margaret Halsey Gardiner, the museum’s executive director, struck a conciliatory note. “We’re trying to work with the developer and their engineers on protection plans that will ensure the safety of the house during demolition of the garage, excavation of the foundation and the construction of the hotel,” said Ms. Gardiner, who is known as Pi. The three-brick-thick edifice, its mahogany furnishings, pianoforte and rare gas-fueled chandeliers have survived because of Gertrude Tredwell, who was born at home in 1840, lived there all her life and died there in 1933. She was the eighth child of Eliza and Seabury Tredwell (he was a rich hardware merchant and Mayflower descendant), outliving her siblings by decades and changing nary a pillowcase from the days when they received fashionable callers and danced the Virginia reel in evening slippers. No diaries or letters have surfaced that might shed light on why five of the Tredwell children never married, but there is a photo of Gertrude’s onetime suitor Luis Walton, a handsome doctor who also remained single after they parted. Parallels have been drawn to Henry James’s “Washington Square,” most popularly known by its stage adaptation (and later film), “ The Heiress .” James did not base his story of the rejected heiress on Gertrude, but Hollywood set designers replicated the Tredwells’ sumptuous parlor and grand staircase for the 1949 film starring Olivia de Havilland. When “The Heiress” was revived on Broadway in 2012, the actors Jessica Chastain and Dan Stevens and the set designer Derek McLane spent time in the Merchant’s House to absorb its pristine 19th-century character. By the 1860s the beau monde had moved north, and the neighborhood became a commercial, working-class district. Why the Tredwells stayed is a mystery. Seabury died in 1865, leaving each of his children $10,000 (roughly $150,000 today). They also inherited hundreds of acres of land in Rumson, N.J., and Brooklyn, which they gradually sold off as their money drained away. Gertrude died impoverished. Multiple paranormal experiences suggest the family still does not want to leave. “I’ve had enough sane people telling me about seeing Gertrude on the stairs or Seabury in his room in a brown suit that at some point you have to say there must be something going on,” Ms. Gardiner said, suggesting that the candlelight ghost tour is more than a marketing ploy. “It can get spooky when I’m here alone.” Surprises can also materialize in the museum’s gift shop, whose shelves bear donated, mismatched china, glassware and the occasional set of heirloom silver, all at thrift-store prices. The formal, brick-walled garden is another revelation, bordered by black-eyed Susans, columbine and vinca, some grown from heritage plants discovered during an excavation. Pre-emptive plaster repairs will perhaps secure the house from extensive damage, reported Michael Devonshire, the director of conservation at Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, an architecture firm. “But there’s no doubt an eight-story hotel will cast a shadow and completely change the microclimate for the plants,” he said. “The house traditionally had support from houses of equal height on either side. Now it’s standing alone.” For the literary-minded, there is no smarter place to settle for the rest of the day than the SWIFT HIBERNIAN LOUNGE across the street at 34 East Fourth Street (212-260-3600). Open daily from noon on, the Irish pub is stocked with tattered books, a giant portrait of Jonathan Swift, wood detail rescued from Swift’s parish in County Meath and a vast collection of Irish whiskey, Scotch and beer. Its bill of fare, simple yet superior to most pubs’, includes a zesty, fat lamb sandwich, buttery and flaky sausage rolls and thin-crust pizza.

Swift Hibernian Lounge
NoHo Manhattan
Merchant's House Museum
bars,nightclubs
Historic preservation
The arts


Rising Profit Forecasts Send Shares Sharply Higher

Abstract: Stocks rose the most in three weeks as Caterpillar, Honeywell International and Lockheed Martin increased profit forecasts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index had their biggest gains since fourth-quarter earnings reports began. A government report showing that orders for durable goods rose more than forecast contributed to their advance. Phone companies rallied as sales at AT&T and Verizon Communications beat analysts' estimates. The S.& P. 500 rallied 9.15 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,273.83 for its biggest advance since Jan. 6 and third gain in the last four days. The Dow industrials climbed 99.73 points, or 0.9 percent, to 10,809.47, the biggest rise since Jan. 3. The Nasdaq composite index rose 22.35 points, or 1 percent, to 2,283. Some disappointing earnings reports pressured stocks earlier this month when the reporting period began, but that concern subsided this week as the picture began to brighten with reports from Dow members like United Technologies and McDonald's. Not all results yesterday were stellar. Stock in General Motors dropped after the company reported its first annual loss since 1992. Juniper Networks suffered its worst drop in five years after a sales forecast disappointed and analysts downgraded the shares. Caterpillar and Honeywell were the two biggest gainers in the Dow average. Caterpillar, the world's No. 1 maker of earth-moving equipment, rose $3.10, to $65.17. The company raised its 2006 per-share profit forecast to $4.65 to $5, from an earlier estimate of $4.52 to $4.91. Shares of Honeywell, the world's largest maker of aircraft cockpit controls, added $1.35, to $37.41, after the company said it expected 2006 per-share earnings of $2.40 to $2.50 on greater demand for commercial aircraft. It had previously forecast profit of $2.35 to $2.50 a share. Lockheed gained $1.98, to $66.99. The company increased its forecast for 2006 earnings to $4.50 to $4.75 a share, from $4 to $4.25. The Commerce Department said orders for durable goods, items made to last at least several years, increased 1.3 percent, to $228 billion, in December. Economists expected an increase of 1 percent. The results were led by the biggest increase in business equipment demand since August. AT&T, reporting its first results since the company was created by the combination of SBC Communications and AT&T, said revenue expanded 25 percent, to $21.6 billion, including its wireless unit. Net income more than doubled. AT&T added 30 cents, to $25.51, and Verizon climbed 30 cents, to $31.68. Microsoft said after the close that revenue this quarter would be $10.9 billion to $11.2 billion and per-share earnings would be 32 cents to 33 cents. Shares of Microsoft, which said fiscal second-quarter profit rose 5.5 percent, added as much as 40 cents, to $26.90, in extended trading. Chipotle surged to $44 from its offering price of $22. Chipotle and McDonald's together sold 7.88 million shares. Chipotle has 489 stores that sell burritos, tacos and salads and was acquired by McDonald's in 1998. McDonald's lost 22 cents, to $34.94. G.M. fell 80 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $23.05, the worst performance by companies in the Dow industrials. The company had a fourth-quarter loss of $4.78 billion and was unprofitable on an annual basis for the first time in 13 years amid rising health care costs and the lowest market share in the United States since 1925. Bond prices fell, with the 10-year Treasury bill falling 11/32, to 99 27/32, and the yield, which moves in the opposite direction from the price, rising to 4.52 percent, from 4.48 percent late Wednesday.


‘Famous’ Wolf Is Killed Outside Yellowstone

Abstract: Yellowstone National Park’s best-known wolf, beloved by many tourists and valued by scientists who tracked its movements, was shot and killed on Thursday outside the park’s boundaries, Wyoming wildlife officials reported. The wolf, known as 832F to researchers, was the alpha female of the park’s highly visible Lamar Canyon pack and had become so well known that some wildlife watchers referred to her as a “rock star.” The animal had been a tourist favorite for most of the past six years. The wolf was fitted with a $4,000 collar with GPS tracking technology, which is being returned, said Daniel Stahler , a project director for Yellowstone’s wolf program. Based on data from the wolf’s collar, researchers knew that her pack rarely ventured outside the park, and then only for brief periods, Dr. Stahler said. This year’s hunting season in the northern Rockies has been especially controversial because of the high numbers of popular wolves and wolves fitted with research collars that have been killed just outside Yellowstone in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Wolf hunts, sanctioned by recent federal and state rules applying to the northern Rockies, have been fiercely debated in the region. The wolf population has rebounded since they were reintroduced in the mid-1990s to counter their extirpation a few years earlier. Many ranchers and hunters say the wolf hunts are a reasonable way to reduce attacks on livestock and protect big game populations. This fall, the first wolf hunts in decades were authorized in Wyoming. The wolf killed last week was the eighth collared by researchers that was shot this year after leaving the park’s boundary. The deaths have dismayed scientists who track wolves to study their habits, population spread and threats to their survival. Still, some found 832F’s death to be particularly disheartening. “She is the most famous wolf in the world,” said Jimmy Jones, a wildlife photographer who lives in Los Angeles and whose portrait of 832F appears in the current issue of the magazine American Scientist. Wildlife advocates say that the wolf populations are not large enough to withstand state-sanctioned harvests and that the animals attract tourist money. Yellowstone’s scenic Lamar Valley has been one of the most reliable places to view wolves in the northern Rockies, and it attracts scores of visitors every year.

Yellowstone National Park
Wolves
Hunting and Trapping
National Parks Monuments and Seashores


Soccer in the Lower German Leagues, a Target for Bribery

Abstract: BAMBERG, Germany — In this small stadium in Bavaria, most seats are not just empty — they are covered in slippery grass and moss. There are no television cameras. Among the sponsors advertised on the boarding is Delphi, a local Greek restaurant. At stake for the visiting soccer club from Ulm: moving to sixth place, from ninth, in one of Germany’s three fourth-division leagues. Or, as even its manager, Markus Lösch, acknowledged, “Nothing at all.” Two weeks ago, Ulm, a charming town on the Danube, was best known for having the tallest church spire in the world and for being the birthplace of Albert Einstein. Now Ulm, and a handful of other German towns, have become associated with the biggest betting scandal in European soccer history, a case that has laid bare the little-known, often-bankrupt underbelly of the world’s most popular sport. For a few sweet hours on Saturday, none of that mattered. SSV Ulm beat F.C. Eintracht Bamberg, 3-1. The Ulmers dominated the game and loved every minute of it. Who cared that only 39 fans in Ulm’s black-and-white colors made the trip to Bamberg, a journey of about 155 miles, or that the Neu-Ulmer Zeitung newspaper had not bothered to send a reporter? For those few hours, everyone could forget that three of Ulm’s best players had recently been fired after they were accused of fixing matches. “Ulm players aren’t bribable,” the 39 fans chanted in spirited self-deprecation. “Too bad you didn’t cheat today,” retorted a Bamberg fan across the two metal fences separating them. Of the 200 European soccer games under investigation by prosecutors, 32 took place in Germany, and more than half of those — 18 — were in the fourth division, where experts did not seem surprised that betting rings appeared to have flourished. In the higher leagues, cheating is harder and less tempting. The scrutiny of television cameras means a deliberate hand ball or a missed penalty kick is less likely to go undetected. The ignominy of fixing a match stacks up poorly against the rewards of high pay and shares of hefty television fees. In the lower leagues, a poisonous combination of high expectations, meager success and astonishingly low pay makes the players in Germany’s 33 standard regional division clubs targets for bribery. These players operate on the fault line between professional and amateur soccer, where youthful dreams of greatness live side by side with end-of-career cynicism and frustrated mediocrity. They play below the radar of public interest, and often below the poverty line. Regional players earn as little as 150 euros, about $225 — the legal minimum for a basic monthly salary, excluding match bonuses, in German Football Association guidelines. Five-figure salaries are very rare, the six- and seven-figure wages of top stars a mere dream. Some clubs are so poor that they are forced to lure players with promises of jobs with corporate sponsors or mileage payment for attending training. “The regional leagues want to play professionally, but they don’t have the money the professional leagues have,” said Theo Zwanziger, the president of the German Football Association, which governs German soccer. “That makes the players in those leagues generally the most susceptible.” In his office underneath the grandstand of the local stadium, the Ulm coach, Ralf Becker, put it more bluntly, saying, “They are all potential offenders.” “When guys earn 500 euros to play soccer, you can’t allow bets worth thousands of euros and expect that it won’t have an impact,” added Becker, who says all betting on fourth-division matches should be banned. The betting on fourth-division matches happens largely in private betting companies. “They have all the pressures of professional football: the fear of injuries, the weekly competition to be selected to play, the 90 minutes on the playing field on the weekend, the knowledge that your career is over at 35,” said Becker, a former professional player who retired at 34 because of an ankle injury. “But Bundesliga players earn at least 10 or 20 times more,” Becker added, referring to the top level of German soccer. The three fired players — Davor Kraljevic, 31; Dinko Radojevic, 31; and Marijo Marinovic, 26 — are a case in point. They are under investigation and suspected of rigging four matches last season and two matches this season for several thousand euros each. Earning $4,500 to $6,000 a month, they were among the best and highest-paid players on the team. But as one official familiar with the investigation explains, their choice was between $525 in taxable bonus payments if the team had won, and about $7,500 in cash per rigged match. “Their calculation was, get paid well to lose or get paid poorly to win,” said the official, who declined to be identified because the investigation is continuing. The 163-year-old SSV Ulm club is in many ways a microcosm of the bittersweet world of German soccer, a blighted, little reported universe of shattered hopes, financial woes, low-level corruption and rarely realized dreams. In 1997, Ulm started on the long climb that resulted in the near impossible: it rose from third to second division and then — for one short exuberant season — into the Bundesliga. Holger Betz, 31, who was a substitute goalkeeper for the team then, recalled the thrill of playing in front of 85,000 people in the country’s biggest stadiums. But the fall was as spectacular as the rise. By 2001, Ulm was back in the third division and insolvent, virtually bankrupted by the decision to retain its well-paid players. A former senior official of the club is under investigation for failing to pay payroll charges on players’ salaries in the years after. Since then, the club has lived on $2.25 million a year and has been a typical fourth-division melting pot of would-be and former stars and a large group in the middle who are neither. Twenty-year-old players like Burak Tastan, with boyish ambitions to join the German national team, play side by side with former stars like Heiko Gerber, who spent 10 years with Bundesliga clubs and at 37 is winding down his career. And there are players like Betz, who spent virtually his entire career here. Now, no Ulm player earns more than about $5,500 a month before taxes. Players receive $225 for attending a match, and progressively more in the case of victory. “Nobody here drives a Porsche,” Becker said. Tastan, whose parents emigrated from Turkey and who speaks German with a Bavarian accent, drives his father’s car. He won’t say what he earns but says it is enough to live on. Rigging a game for money? “Never,” he said. “I could not do that to the fans.” For all the frustrations, many here have an undiminished passion for the game. They are local heroes. Local children ask them for their autographs. They are, in many ways, living their boyhood dream. Tastan, for one, says he feels fortunate to be paid at all to do what he loves most. Maybe, he admits, some players earn the same as waiters or hairdressers. “But we get to play football all day,” he said.


Annika Sorenstam Birdies, Then Walks Off Into Retirement

Abstract: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Annika Sorenstam ended her Hall of Fame career with an eight-foot birdie on the 18th hole of the Dubai Ladies Masters on Sunday, completing a 1-under 71 that left her in seventh place, six shots behind the winner, Anja Monke. Sorenstam, who is retiring to focus on her family and business interests, led the tournament after the second round but shot a 75 on Saturday that torpedoed her hopes for a third straight title at the season-ending tournament on the Ladies European Tour. Still, Sorenstam managed to end on a positive note with her final birdie drawing a standing ovation from a packed gallery. She raised her putter to acknowledge the crowd before hugging her caddie, Terry McNamara. “I have had many farewells since I announced my decision some five months back, but this one was special,” Sorenstam, a Swede, said. “I started my career with L.E.T., and it is fitting to end it with an L.E.T. event. “I felt at peace. I really felt very content. I walked up to hit my third shot on the 18th, and I felt the breeze coming in, and it was just a really comfortable feeling. I saw some players standing behind the 18th green, that gave me a tear. I saw my parents and my family and that give me a tear.” Monke of Germany shot a 68 to protect her overnight lead, finishing at 13-under 275. Veronica Zorzi of Italy was second, three strokes behind Monke, with the British veteran Laura Davies another shot back in third. “I’m feeling very happy,” Monke said, adding that it was tough to focus on her game and not Sorenstam. “Of course I heard the big applause when she was hitting her shot into the 18th green. I was on the 16th green at the time. And then we saw her actually finishing it off on 18. We hit our tee shots by that time and so I could at least see a little bit.” Sorenstam said she was a little nervous Sunday morning and came to the course a bit earlier to stretch and reflect on the day. But once she hit her first shot, she said it was “automatic.” “I know the time is right, and therefore I feel very happy,” Sorenstam said. “If you think about 15 years and all of the things I’ve achieved, it’s sad. But you close one door and you open another one. I’m glad I have a chance to do that.”

Retirement
Sorenstam Annika
Masters Golf Tournament
Golf


What’s That on Your Bumper? A Hairy Kind of Car Insurance

Abstract: In some parts of West Africa, ponytails aren’t just hairdos. They dress up taxis, too. In Senegal and Gambia, for example, many cabs that cruise along the crowded highways or bounce down sandy streets are adorned with clumps of long, tied horse, sheep or cattle hair attached to the back bumper or muffler. Image A taxi in Dakar, Senegal. Credit Dionne Searcey/The New York Times These tails are seen as providing strength and good fortune to drivers who spend hours navigating often treacherous road conditions in countries where traffic accidents are a common cause of death and injury. For a small fee, a Muslim religious figure known as a marabout will bless the talisman. Some drivers also have miniature tails on their key chains, West Africa’s version of a lucky rabbit’s foot. Animal hair is just one way to dress up your ride. In Nigeria’s major cities, images of Jesus and favorite Bible verses are common on bumper stickers and windshields. One vehicle spotted on a traffic-clogged highway in Lagos had a sign saying “Blood of Jesus.” In Dakar, Senegal’s capital, buses, cabs and trucks often display photos of local Islamic clerics, a distinction from some more conservative Muslim societies where doing so would be taboo. Semi-trucks that might bear silvery silhouettes of shapely women in the United States are more likely, in West Africa, to carry religious decals along with their fuel, onions or other big loads. Images of marabouts hang from rearview mirrors, and a giant Jesus is sometimes painted on vehicles. Truckers also pay careful attention to their windshield wipers, which they wrap in long, colorful ribbons that blow in the wind as they rumble along the roadways. Dakar is home to the most tricked-out ride of all: the car rapide — multicolored minibuses that zip across the city with painted mud flaps, hubcaps and side mirrors. They are as notorious for their décor as they are for being overstuffed with precariously dangling passengers — and they are being phased out, for safety reasons.

Hair Africa Taxis Senegal Gambia Nigeria Luck Superstition


Tentative Deal Reached to Preserve Cut in Payroll Tax

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Members of a House-Senate committee charged with writing a measure to extend a payroll tax reduction and provide added unemployment benefits reached a tentative agreement Tuesday evening, with Republicans and Democrats claiming a degree of political victory in a fight with significant election-year implications. One day after House Republican leaders said they would offer a bill to extend the $100 billion payroll tax rollback for millions of working Americans without requiring spending cuts to pay for it, the Congressional negotiators struck a broader deal that would also extend unemployment benefits and prevent a large cut in reimbursements to doctors who accept Medicare . A vote on the measure would most likely happen by Friday, when Congress is set to recess for a week. But senior aides warned that negotiators still had to sign off formally on the agreement and that obstacles could surface given the long-running tensions over the measure. Democrats, elated after winning the Republican tax concession after months of clashes, said they had also been able to beat back new conditions that Republicans had wanted on jobless pay, like requiring beneficiaries to seek high school equivalency degrees, and had found middle ground on Republican attempts to significantly reduce the number of weeks in which the unemployed could draw benefits. Republicans did make Democrats pay for the added unemployment benefits through changes to federal pensions, aides said. More important, Republican leaders and their advisers said that they had removed an election-year hammer from the hands of President Obama and Congressional Democrats, depriving them of the ability to keep pounding on the idea that Republicans were resistant to tax cuts for the middle class. The deal also appeared to solidify Speaker John A. Boehner ’s shift in leadership strategy, signaled at the end of the last year when he forced a short-term payroll tax extension on his fractious rank and file. The agreement on Tuesday suggested that he would spend the balance of the year doing what he thought was best for his party and its chances of holding on to the House, and less time fretting over whether the most conservative corner of his members were with him. In fact, the plan emerging from the negotiating committee could require the acquiescence of House Democrats to secure the 218 votes it needs for passage. The tentative accord emerged after Mr. Obama earlier on Tuesday welcomed signs of progress in extending a payroll tax cut but urged Americans to continue to press their representatives to approve the tax break quickly, before it expires at the end of the month. “As you guys know, you can’t take anything for granted here in Washington — until my signature is actually on it,” the president said in an appearance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. He was apparently referring to last December, when Senate Republicans initially agreed to a two-month payroll extension only to have House Republicans balk . The president ended up winning that fight after House Republicans buckled under political pressure and an onslaught of calls and e-mails from constituents. Republicans said that the House leadership decided to capitulate on paying for the tax cut because it appeared that Democrats were going to hold out in the talks and blame Republicans for the impasse if there were no resolution. “I can understand why the House leadership, exasperated with the lack of progress in the conference, is looking around at other alternatives,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky , the Republican leader, told reporters on Tuesday. While many rank-and-file members said they needed more time to study the agreement, and leaders in both parties preferred to stay mum until they were ready to make formal announcements, Democrats were privately crowing Tuesday night that the deal reflected far more of their priorities than those of their counterparts. Republicans, acknowledging that there were few substantive policy victories to claim, said they believed that it was worth it to avoid a protracted fight over benefits that together touch the lives of nearly every American. “Leadership clearly has a positive desire to put this behind us,” said Representative Bill Huizenga, Republican of Michigan , who left a meeting of House Republicans looking grim, “and are not as open to listening to the rest of the conference to find out what the conference thinks.” But he, like some other Republicans, seemed resigned to approval of the agreement. “We’re going to get an extension of the middle-class tax cut,” said Representative Michael G. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania , shrugging slightly. It was also clear that there were many members who would not support the measure. “I know enough to know I’m not voting for it,” said Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah . The highest priority for Democrats beside the payroll tax cut was to have a significant extension of unemployment benefits. Republicans wanted to move down from the maximum of 99 weeks to 59 weeks, while Senate Democrats proposed 93 weeks. In the tentative deal, the maximum number of weeks would be 73, a level that would be largely reserved for states with high unemployment. That extension will be paid for with the pension change for federal workers coupled with the sale of radio spectrum licenses and other smaller producers of revenue. The piece of the deal that would protect doctors from a huge cut in Medicare reimbursement fees would do so through cuts in the new prevention and public health fund established in the health care law , combined with reducing help for hospitals with bad debt and other health-care-related spending trims. The agreement was almost totally brokered by the two top tax writers in Congress, Senator Max Baucus , Democrat of Montana , and Representative Dave Camp , Republican of Michigan.

Payroll tax
Unemployment benefits
Republicans
Democrats
Medicare
Senate
US Politics
Federal Budget
House of Representatives


Playing Under Protest Over Challenged Call, Rays Fall to Jays in 10

Abstract: Jose Reyes singled home the winning run in the 10th inning, and the host Toronto Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay, 5-4, on Saturday in a game the Rays played under protest. Rays Manager Joe Maddon protested the game in the fourth after umpires granted Toronto a replay challenge. Tampa Bay designated hitter Wil Myers reached on a one-out single and was called safe by Bill Welke, the first-base umpire, on Mark Buehrle’s pickoff throw. After Yunel Escobar stepped back into the batter’s box and Buehrle returned to the rubber, Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons came out and asked to challenge Welke’s call. Maddon came out to speak with Bob Davidson, the crew chief and third-base umpire, about the timing of the challenge. When Myers was called out after a video review, Maddon spoke to Davidson again and indicated that the Rays were playing the game under protest. Baseball’s replay rules state that any challenge must be made before the next play or pitch, which is said to begin “when the pitcher is on the rubber preparing to start his delivery and the batter has entered the batter’s box.” The rules also say, however, that the crew chief has “the final authority to determine whether a manager’s challenge is timely.” CUBS 7, ORIOLES 2 Chris Coghlan finally solved Bud Norris with a bases-loaded triple in a four-run second inning, leading Chicago to a victory over Baltimore at soggy Wrigley Field. Coghlan was 0 for 15 with six strikeouts against Norris before connecting for his fifth triple of the season. Chicago will try Sunday for its first series sweep since winning three straight at Boston from June 30 to July 2. Justin Grimm pitched three and a third hitless innings after a long rain delay as the last-place Cubs won their second straight against the Orioles, the American League East leaders. Before the game, the Orioles announced that third baseman Manny Machado would have season-ending surgery on his right knee. Dan Duquette, the vice president for baseball operations, said Machado told the team Friday that his knee was not healing well with rest. Duquette said Machado conferred with his doctors and felt that surgery was the best option. Machado had a similar injury to the other knee last year, when he missed the final week of the season. He then had surgery and did not play in a regular-season game this year until May 1. PIRATES 10, BREWERS 2 Pedro Alvarez homered twice to break out of a 5-for-34 slump, and visiting Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee. Alvarez hit a three-run shot in the fourth inning and a solo drive in the fifth against starter Wily Peralta. Russell Martin also connected for a three-run homer off the right-handed Peralta, who held the Pirates hitless for three and two-thirds innings but quickly fell apart and exited after five. ATHLETICS 2, ANGELS 1 Coco Crisp scored the go-ahead run on Joe Smith’s wild pitch with two outs in the eighth inning, and host Oakland beat Los Angeles to move into a first-place tie in the American League West. TIGERS MANAGE A SPLIT Justin Verlander labored into the sixth inning, Nick Castellanos had two hits and two R.B.I., and visiting Detroit salvaged a doubleheader split by beating the Minnesota Twins, 8-6. Torii Hunter and J. D. Martinez each had three of Detroit’s 17 hits, and Joe Nathan notched his 27th save in 32 attempts. Verlander improved to 5-0 in seven career starts at Target Field. Still, with their 12-4 loss in the afternoon, the Tigers dropped a season-worst three games behind first-place Kansas City in the A.L. Central. They also fell a game behind Seattle for the second wild-card spot. In the opener, the Twins rookie Kennys Vargas drove in five runs, and starter Yohan Pino struck out six in five innings. ROYALS 6, RANGERS 3 Jeremy Guthrie gave up a home run on his first pitch and not much else, pitching visiting Kansas City past Texas for its 24th win in 30 games. Alex Gordon had two hits, including a first-inning homer, and made a diving catch in left field for the A.L. Central-leading Royals. REDS 1, BRAVES 0 Mike Leake pitched into the seventh inning and gave Cincinnati’s struggling offense a boost by hitting a double and scoring the game’s only run, and the Reds ended a seven-game losing streak by beating visiting Atlanta. Leake gave up two hits and walked three, leaving with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh. MARINERS 7, RED SOX 3 Dustin Ackley’s three-run homer capped a seven-run fourth that carried Seattle to a win over host Boston, sending the Red Sox to their seventh straight loss. It was the ninth win in 12 games for the Mariners, who increased their lead over Detroit for the second A.L. wild-card spot. Boston designated hitter David Ortiz had his streak of reaching base four times in four straight games halted, but he walked and was hit by a pitch before leaving with a bruised left elbow. Before the game, Rusney Castillo, a Cuban defector, appeared at Fenway Park, wearing Red Sox shorts and a T-shirt. Castillo chatted with the Mariners’ Robinson Cano on the field before the game, a day after news reports that the Red Sox had agreed with Castillo on a $72.5 million, seven-year contract. NATIONALS 6, GIANTS 2 Jordan Zimmermann pitched eight strong innings, Asdrubal Cabrera homered, and host Washington kept up its dominance of the two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, beating San Francisco. Jayson Werth added two run-scoring singles, and Denard Span had a triple and a single for the National League East-leading Nationals, one night after San Francisco ended Washington’s 10-game winning streak. CARDINALS 6, PHILLIES 5 Matt Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning, lifting visiting St. Louis over Philadelphia. The Cardinals have won eight of 10 and closed within a half-game of N.L. Central-leading Milwaukee. DIAMONDBACKS 5, PADRES 2 Arizona blew a lead in the top half of the eighth inning, but Didi Gregorius hit a three-run homer in the bottom half, lifting the host Diamondbacks past San Diego. INDIANS 3, ASTROS 2 The rookie Jose Ramirez’s ninth-inning single lifted host Cleveland to a win over Houston. Pinch-hitter Tyler Holt started the inning with a single off Jake Buchanan. After Roberto Perez moved Holt to second with a sacrifice, Michael Bourn walked. Buchanan’s wild pitch moved the runners to second and third before Ramirez lined a 3-2 pitch past third base for the win.

Jose Reyes
Blue Jays
Joe Maddon
Baseball
Tampa Bay Rays


Pakistan Calls Modi’s Remarks on Terrorism ‘Unfortunate’

Abstract: NEW DELHI — Pakistan responded swiftly on Wednesday to a tough speech by India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, that accused Pakistan of conducting a “proxy war” against India. Pakistan called Mr. Modi’s remarks “unfortunate” and said it sought good relations with its neighbor. During a visit on Tuesday to the town of Kargil in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir, Mr. Modi said that Pakistan “has lost the strength to fight a conventional war, but continues to engage in the proxy war through terrorism.” Kargil, which is near the disputed Indian-Pakistani border known as the Line of Control, was the site of a 1999 conflict between the two countries. Mr. Modi’s remarks reflected a toughening of his conciliatory initial approach toward Pakistan, which included inviting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in in May. Since then, however, cease-fire violations on the Line of Control have become more frequent. In a statement Wednesday , Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Modi’s remarks were “most unfortunate, especially as the leadership of Pakistan wishes to establish good neighborly relations with India.” The statement also said that Pakistan was the “biggest victim” of terrorism, which it said had claimed 55,000 of its citizens’ lives.

Pakistan
India
Narendra Modi
Kashmir and Jammu