Bronx Man, a Father Figure in His Family, Is Fatally Attacked by 6 Men

Abstract: Hugo Galindo had been scheduled to work at a private party at a restaurant on New Year’s Eve, but he was looking forward to it nonetheless. He and a cousin, both food runners at a Times Square restaurant, planned to climb to the roof just before the stroke of midnight, the cousin said, and watch the storied ball drop. But early on Thursday, Mr. Galindo, 24, was killed, attacked by six men on the street in the Norwood neighborhood of the Bronx. They set upon him with punches, and ultimately stabbed him and left him unconscious, bleeding on Decatur Avenue, just blocks from his home, the police said. “We were planning to sneak upstairs and watch the ball together, and then go back to work downstairs,” said his cousin, Omar Franco, also 24, sitting in the kitchen at Mr. Galindo’s mother’s home as a stream of family members arrived at the house, many red-eyed and trembling. “He was like, ‘Yeah! We are going to have fun, and dress up,’ ” the cousin said. “We were just talking about it at lunch on Monday.” Image Mr. Galindo A surveillance video from a nearby building shows that the six men surrounded Mr. Galindo around 2:45 a.m., according to the police. As one pummeled him, another, a heavyset man, began attacking him with his hands in a “thrusting” motion, the police said. Mr. Galindo was found unconscious and without identification, according to the police, who said they believed he was robbed. He was pronounced dead at Montefiore Medical Center. Nicknamed Juice, a play on the Spanish meaning of his first name, Mr. Galindo was a father figure to his many cousins, who considered themselves more like siblings, said one of them, Iliana Franco, 26. There were so many cousins that they formed a family soccer team; at their scrimmages, Mr. Galindo was the star, she said. Off the field, the young man was a fulcrum of his family, stepping into a fatherly role to help his single mother, an immigrant from Mexico. He would often give his mother his restaurant earnings, Ms. Franco said, insisting that she use the money to treat herself to a night out on the town. “If he felt like there was tension in a certain situation, he would be the one who would mend it,” Ms. Franco said. When he was 15, he gave her the entire contents of his piggy bank for her birthday: $27. “I’ll never forget it,” she said. His cousins admired him for the role he took on, she said, and joked about coveting his long eyelashes. He was especially protective of his sister, Arelis Galindo. “We were best friends,” she said. “He was more than a brother to me.” Overcome with emotion, she laid her head down on the kitchen counter and sobbed. Image Marvin Hatchett, 60, visiting the memorial for Mr. Galindo. Credit Nicole Craine for The New York Times In the next room in her mother’s apartment, a dozen people had gathered, praying in Spanish, some on their knees. “We told each other everything, everything,” she said. He had a weakness for children. His Facebook page is dotted with selfies featuring him and his cousins’ babies. When his niece Delilah was born eight months ago, she became his world. “She has his eyelashes,” the baby’s mother said. At Maple Restaurant and Lounge in Midtown, where he worked for nearly a year, he would challenge the staff to feats of strength in an effort to encourage others to exercise, slipping in friendly push-up competitions between serving diners. He met his girlfriend there, a colleague, his sister said. Recently he had confided to her his resolution to take his girlfriend hiking in the new year, she said, something he had never done. “The staff are coming into work, but they are too sad for it,” said Rony Delgado, a server at the restaurant. “The crew is so down.” On Decatur Avenue, residents set up a small shrine where Mr. Galindo was attacked. At midday Thursday, several stood around the flickering candles, discussing the violent act. At night, said Wanda Urbina, a resident, she frequently calls the police when she hears fights though her first-floor window. The mourners tried to understand what had happened to a young man known for his smile and composure. “We are going to fight to the end to get those six men that hurt him,” said Ms. Urbina. “The boy just worked every day to pay his bills,” she said. “And they took his life away? For what?”

Bronx
Hugo Galindo
Murders and Homicides
Robbery
Norwood Bronx
NYC


A Real Estate Speculator Goes From Boom to Bust

Abstract: ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The home foreclosure business was very good to Todd Haupt. He started buying and flipping foreclosed houses in 1994, when he was 20, and by 2000 he graduated to building homes. At 32, with just one semester of community college, he owned a BMW, a Corvette and a 5,000-square-foot house worth $1.2 million. He was a creation of the boom. “I was on top of the world,” Mr. Haupt said recently. Then, last May, the real estate market stopped booming. Now Mr. Haupt’s house is in the hands of his creditors, as are the cars, three small office buildings and 89 lots he bought in a subdivision in neighboring Lincoln County. He owes about $6 million in personal and business debt, and as Mr. Haupt’s fortunes soured, so have those of plumbers, electricians, framers, landscapers, supply stores and others that relied on his business, which he estimated at $300,000 per month. “And that’s just little bitty me,” he said. Mr. Haupt is one of thousands of Americans who jumped into the raging housing market of the last decade, which was heralded in stories of neighbors’ windfalls and reality television shows like “Flip That House,” “Flip This House” and “Flipping Out.” Driving past his empty house recently, Mr. Haupt considered how things had crashed so fast. “I feel like, yes, I overextended myself,” he said. “But when do you know not to overextend yourself? If I had a crystal ball, I never would have built my house. But when do you know? That’s why we’re speculators.” He added, “If the banks had a crystal ball, they might not be in this mess either.” St. Charles County, an affluent, fast-growing neighbor of St. Louis, was a natural incubator for speculators like Mr. Haupt, with a construction boom that doubled the population from 1980 to 2001. Subdivisions with names like Crimson Meadows, Spring Mill and Barton Creek, pushed the suburban frontier ever farther from St. Louis. For a young builder, the low price of credit drove down the costs of building and drove up the homes’ sale prices. As long as the market kept going, Mr. Haupt felt he could not lose. His million-dollar house now sits forlorn and unattended, a dead spot in an expensive subdivision that was once all cornfields. Asked to identify the architectural style, he said, “I call it ‘Bank Repossession’ now.” He now rents a small house for $1,275 a month. He became a born-again Christian in February, after his business and his marriage collapsed. Mr. Haupt, whose parents work for a local supermarket, got into the real estate business after attending a seminar on how to buy property with no money down. At 20, taking a mortgage that required no income check (also called a stated income or liar loan), he bought a house for $20,000, then flipped it for a quick profit of $4,000 or $5,000. It was less than he had hoped, but more than he was making at UPS. He was hooked. By 2000, he was carrying as many as 25 foreclosed houses at a time, renovating them and selling at a profit of $10,000 to $15,000 each. With his success, he was able to establish lines of credit with eight commercial banks. He never thought about the homeowners who had lost the houses that he flipped. “It’s a fine line,” he said. “You’re making money off what they lost. Is that wrong? Now that I’m in that position today, losing my house, I see that it’s just business.” As the price of foreclosed houses rose, reducing his profits, Mr. Haupt shifted to building houses in subdivisions in Lincoln County, a less affluent area slightly farther from St. Louis. That required heavier borrowing but brought higher profits. For the price of a longer commute to work, buyers got new homes that promised to go up in value as development continued around them. By last May Mr. Haupt owned 65 lots and had a contract to buy 20 more, for about $650,000. Then gasoline prices spiked, and the longer commute became a deal-breaker. Mr. Haupt had never questioned the ability of buyers to afford the increasingly expensive homes, or how far the boom could continue. “I never did any homework on the home buyers; I just built the houses,” he said. “My feeling was, if they’re approved, they’re approved, I’m going to build them a house.” By February, he said, he was sitting in his 5,000-square-foot house with no money, a quarter tank of gas, and too much pride to accept money from his family or friends. “I couldn’t put the key in the ignition because I didn’t know where I’d get my next tank of gas,” he said. On a recent afternoon, Cort Schneider, a St. Charles real estate agent, pointed out foreclosed properties on a drive through the area — new houses in new subdivisions, just old enough for their adjustable rate mortgages to reset beyond the owners’ means. Lori Henderson, a vice president at First Advantage Bank, who arranged loans for Mr. Haupt since 2001, said that until the market turned, he was a good risk. “Todd performs,” Ms. Henderson said. But when she advised him not to buy more lots last year, he simply went to other lenders. “People were upset about the war, gas prices were up, people were backing out of contracts,” she said. “It wasn’t the time for a small builder to take on two and a half years’ worth of inventory.” Despite its fast growth, St. Charles County has been spared the precipitous ups and downs of the housing markets on the coasts, said Mark Stallman, chief executor of the St. Charles County Association of Realtors. But for builders like Mr. Haupt, who were heavily leveraged, the slowdown — especially in Lincoln County — was catastrophic. “It’s a bad time to be a builder,” Mr. Stallman said. “But it’s a good time to buy a house.” In a county where one in 10 workers is employed in construction, twice the national average, the slump has taken its toll. Ron Vogt, an electrical contractor who often worked for Mr. Haupt, said his business had fallen to 15 percent of its former level, which in a good year did $700,000 worth of work. The 89 lots in Lincoln County have left what Mr. Haupt called a “ghost town” effect for the homeowners in the unfinished development. “I can see why they’re upset,” he said. “When they moved in, they thought the neighborhood was going to be built up.” Mr. Haupt now works for a company that sells bottled water and energy drinks, and drives an orange pickup truck covered with logos for Tahitian Noni water. He picks up money from side jobs, including finding houses for speculators still in the market. Colleagues who became wealthy when he did are in the same situation, he said. “I asked one guy, ‘What are you doing today?’” he said. “He said, ‘I’m going to cut the grass, then my wife is going to make me eggs.’”

Foreclosures
Housing
Sales
Buildings (Structures)


Ukraine Crisis and Advance of ISIS Dominate Agenda for Group of 7

Abstract: KRÜN, Germany — President Obama would have preferred to spend the summit meeting of the leaders of the seven leading industrial nations fully focused on big issues that he hopes will define his legacy, including confronting climate change and expanding global trade. Instead, crisis diplomacy once again largely overshadowed those issues, as Mr. Obama and his Group of 7 counterparts struggled to confront the threats posed by the Islamic State and the persistent and vexing problem of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. The president headed home on Monday with pledges from European leaders to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases. And Mr. Obama said the leaders he had met with were united in their efforts to expand free trade. But the agenda here at a sprawling resort in the shadow of the Bavarian Alps was dominated by security issues. Video President Obama met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to talk about United States assistance for Iraqi forces to step up the counteroffensive against the Islamic State. Credit Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times At a news conference Monday after the close of the summit meeting, Mr. Obama acknowledged a need to accelerate the training of Iraqi military forces to counter the advance of Islamic State militants, and he said that he had asked the Pentagon for a plan to do that. “We don’t have, yet, a complete strategy, because it requires commitments on the part of Iraqis as well,” Mr. Obama said. “The details are not worked out.” Mr. Obama said of the militants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIL and ISIS : “They’re nimble and they’re aggressive and they’re opportunistic.” He acknowledged that the training of Iraqi forces “has not been happening as fast as it needs to.” And he said the United States has “made some progress, but not enough” in stemming the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria. Mr. Obama said that “thousands” of new fighters were replenishing the ranks of the Islamic State faster than the coalition could remove them from the fight. Image Global leaders met in the Bavarian Alps, where they committed to reducing greenhouse emissions and expanding global trade. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times “If we can cut off some of that foreign fighter flow, then we are able to isolate and wear out ISIL forces that are already there,” Mr. Obama said. “Because we are taking a lot of them off the battlefield, but if they’re being replenished, then it doesn’t solve the problem over the long term.” The president also said that Turkey was not doing what was required to monitor its border with Syria and halt the stream of fighters. Earlier on Monday, Mr. Obama met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, where he reaffirmed the world powers’ commitment to supporting Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State, which has made major gains in recent weeks. “Although it is going to take time, and there will be setbacks and lessons learned, we are going to be successful,” Mr. Obama said at the start of his meeting with Mr. Abadi. “ISIL is going to be driven out of Iraq, and ultimately, it is going to be defeated.” The campaign to defeat the Islamic State has been part of the crowded agenda at the meeting here. Discussions were dominated by the question of how to address Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine. Video President Obama said that the group remains strongly united in its support for Ukraine, and will maintain sanctions on Russia in hopes of halting that country’s aggressions. Credit Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Mr. Obama has tried to hold together a European sanctions program in the face of increasing pressure from President Vladimir V. Putin. As he departed, Mr. Obama said he expected that European leaders would renew sanctions next month and indicated that those measures could be expanded if Mr. Putin did not relent. “He’s got to make a decision — does he continue to wreck his nation’s economy and continue Russia’s isolation in pursuit of a wrongheaded desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire?” Mr. Obama said at a news conference after the two-day meeting. “Or does he recognize that Russia’s greatness does not depend on violating the territorial integrity” of its neighbors. The consensus at the end of the summit meeting was a boost for Mr. Obama, who needs European allies to maintain sanctions that keep Russia isolated and on the defensive. But that prospect seems increasingly unlikely, as violence mounts and Moscow appears to have weathered the economic onslaught of American and European sanctions. The European Union is scheduled to vote later this month on whether to extend the sanctions, and some of the leaders here are facing calls at home to pull back their economic sanctions on Moscow. The language used by the leaders in their joint communiqué was an important marker, indicating that they are willing to maintain sanctions even in the face of domestic criticism. In his first meeting with Mr. Abadi since Islamic State fighters took control of the Iraqi city of Ramadi, Mr. Obama called the prime minister a reliable partner, and praised his “refreshing honesty” in acknowledging the challenges of confronting the militant group. Image President Obama met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq at the Group of 7 meeting. He reaffirmed world leaders' commitment to aiding Iraq in its battle against Islamic State militants. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times The president said he believed the militants’ takeover of the capital of Anbar Province was “a short-term tactical success,” and said his administration was working to determine how to get more weapons into the hands of Iraqi forces who are prepared to fight the Islamic State on a timely basis. With the Sunni militants racking up gains in Iraq and Syria, G-7 leaders used the meeting as a chance to restate their commitment to the American-led coalition seeking to help stop the group. But Mr. Abadi has said that the assistance is not enough. On Monday, he said he needed help assembling a “global intelligence-sharing effort” to try to thwart the Islamic State’s recruitment efforts, saying the scores of foreign fighters streaming into Iraq and Syria to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks were an increasingly grave threat. “This will require the effort and the mobilization of the international community,” Mr. Abadi said. Though much of the gathering focused on the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, it was also an opportunity for Mr. Obama to discuss issues he has made central to his legacy. On climate change, the G-7 leaders agreed on Monday to work toward a long-term goal of reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases between 40 and 70 percent by 2050, signaling that they are united in support of a significant climate change accord in Paris in December. The leaders endorsed the objective that a United Nations climate change panel said last year must be reached in order to avoid damaging and dangerous increases in the Earth’s temperature, and said that they would work for reductions at the higher end of the target range. “Urgent and concrete action is needed to address climate change,” the leaders said in their statement, expressing support for adopting an “ambitious, robust” climate deal in Paris later this year.

Ukraine
Russia
Haider al-Abadi
G8,G7,G-7,Group of Seven
ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State
US Foreign Policy
Barack Obama
Bavaria
US Politics


Exporters Plan Group on Gas Pricing

Abstract: DOHA, Qatar, April 9 (AP) — The world’s largest exporters of natural gas plan to establish a high-level group on gas pricing, the Russian energy minister said Monday, as his Iranian and Qatari counterparts denied that the group aimed to establish a cartel. Russia’s industry and energy minister, Viktor Khristenko, made his remarks at Monday’s gathering here of the 16-member Gas Exporting Countries Forum. The forum brought together countries that control more than 70 percent of the world’s gas reserves, including Algeria, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, Nigeria, Oman and Turkmenistan. Europe and the United States have expressed worries that the gas exporters seek to establish a cartel along the lines of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Faced with those concerns, leading producers backed away from such talk on Monday. Mr. Khristenko said the forum would create a group to look into pricing. “Russia is ready to be the one that will carry out research into the problem of price formation for gas,” he said, according to the Russian Interfax news agency. The Iranian minister of petroleum, Seyed Hamaneh, and his Qatari counterpart, Abdullah al-Attiyah, said the discussions aimed to create a stable world market for gas, and they dismissed talk of a cartel.

Qatar
Russia
Cartels
Gas (Fuel)
Prices (Fares Fees and Rates)
Iran


Astorino Trying to Persuade New York Democrats to Ignore Party Lines

Abstract: NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Marash Stalaj is a registered Democrat, but he plans to vote for Rob Astorino, the Republican candidate for governor, on Nov. 4. Shopping at a Home Depot here, Mr. Stalaj, 59, a building manager, said that he disliked the Democratic incumbent, Andrew M. Cuomo , because he believed that Mr. Cuomo was using the governor’s office as “a steppingstone for the presidency.” Also, Mr. Stalaj has formed a favorable impression of Mr. Astorino as the man who runs Westchester County and has held the line on property taxes. “I like his conservative views, because in Westchester we’re overtaxed,” Mr. Stalaj said, alluding to reports that list the county as having some of the highest property taxes in the state. He owns a home in Purchase. If Mr. Astorino is to realize his long-shot quest to defeat Mr. Cuomo, he must win over thousands more people like Mr. Stalaj: Democrats and unaffiliated voters willing to look past party label and social issues like gun control and abortion rights, over which Mr. Cuomo has been relentlessly hammering Mr. Astorino as an “ultraconservative.” Mr. Astorino has a long way to go. Democrats have a 2-to-1 edge in voter registration in New York State, and the latest Quinnipiac University poll showed Mr. Cuomo with a 20-percentage-point lead among likely voters. And while Mr. Astorino has tried to introduce himself across the state, the governor’s barrage of pungent television advertisements have been demonizing Mr. Astorino not just as conservative on social issues but also as insensitive to older residents and as a threat to Medicaid patients. Mr. Astorino has faced uphill climbs before. Although Democrats have the same lopsided registration advantage in Westchester County, he was elected county executive in a close contest in 2009, and was re-elected in 2013 with over 55 percent of the vote. Image John DeCicco praised Rob Astorino’s attention to local businesses. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times Interviews with dozens of Westchester residents show that Mr. Astorino’s fiscal and economic record — including having balanced the county budget without raising taxes — has intrigued both centrist Democrats and those who describe themselves as conservative. “He’s done a pretty good job in Westchester being a good fiscal manager,” said Anthony Mast, a retired aerospace machinist who said he voted for Mr. Cuomo in 2010 but was leaning toward Mr. Astorino this year. Then again, Westchester residents have had years to get to know Mr. Astorino, up close, in a job where a personal touch can do much to create good will. John DeCicco, 66, a Democrat who owns a family-run chain of 10 suburban supermarkets, said he appreciated that his county taxes — admittedly, a small portion of his overall tax bill — had not risen. He also said he liked Mr. Astorino’s attentiveness to the needs of small businesses. Mr. DeCicco recalled that when his family opened a market in Armonk last June, creating 120 jobs, Mr. Astorino sent a representative who offered to help find ways for the company to reduce its high electricity costs. Then Mr. Astorino showed up himself. “He’s been very supportive,” Mr. DeCicco said. Still, Mr. Cuomo’s portrayal of Mr. Astorino as staunchly right-leaning on social issues appears to be resonating with many Westchester Democrats, especially women. Karen Dorfman, 71, a real estate agent from New Rochelle, said she was already predisposed to vote against Mr. Astorino because he seemed to be using the county executive’s position as a springboard for the governorship, but she became firmly persuaded when she saw Mr. Cuomo’s ads attacking Mr. Astorino. “If he’s anti-gun control and a woman’s right to choose, those are totally against my views,” she said. Image Bishop Collie N. Edwers noted Mr. Astorino’s efforts to reach out to minority communities. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times Of course, there are Democrats who share Mr. Astorino’s views on social issues. Mr. Mast, 76, said he was a churchgoing Roman Catholic and planned to support Mr. Astorino in November in part because they were like-minded on same-sex marriage and abortion. But the interviews suggested Mr. Cuomo had lost more support among Westchester Democrats over his abrupt disbanding of an anti-corruption commission that he formed last year to investigate political chicanery in Albany. Joe Kucera, 83, a Korean War veteran from Rye Brook, said he voted for Mr. Cuomo in 2010, but was supporting Mr. Astorino this year in protest of the ethics commission’s shutdown. As he did in his re-election campaign, Mr. Astorino has tried to cultivate support among minority voters in Westchester. He has made a point of visiting churches and merchants in predominantly black communities like Mount Vernon. He even traveled to New Orleans last month to speak at a convention of black Baptist ministers, many of whom support his views on same-sex marriage. One supporter, Bishop Collie N. Edwers, the pastor of Friendship Worship Center in Mount Vernon, praised Mr. Astorino’s efforts and complained that the governor, by contrast, seemed “missing in action.” But it was among small-business owners — the shopkeepers and restaurateurs in places like Mount Vernon and New Rochelle — that Mr. Astorino seemed to find his sturdiest support. On Main Street in New Rochelle, John Contreras, 49, the owner of the Mexican Corner restaurant, said Mr. Astorino ate there a year ago and talked with him about the challenges facing local entrepreneurs. “Cuomo’s not paying attention around here,” Mr. Contreras said. “Cuomo is more for big business and corporations. And we are forgotten.”

New York
Democrats
Westchester
Quinnipiac University
Polls
Robert P Astorino
Andrew Cuomo
County Executive races
Gubernatorial races


Burnett Pitches Better, and Rally Beats Red Sox

Abstract: BOSTON — Through all of A. J. Burnett ’s recent failings, the Yankees have supported their struggling pitcher. They took a lot of criticism for allowing Burnett to continue to start, but on Thursday night Burnett finally rewarded them for their faith. Working against one of the most challenging lineups in baseball, Burnett pitched as well as he has in two months. He allowed only two runs — his lowest output since June 29 — and five hits against the Boston Red Sox , and might have saved his spot in the starting rotation. Burnett kept his team close, and then watched as the offense finally broke through with three runs in the seventh inning to secure a 4-2 victory in a 4-hour-21-minute game at Fenway Park. Ninety-six of the game’s 381 pitches were thrown by Burnett in his biggest start of the year. “I pitched tonight,” he said. “I went at it as a playoff game, and was pretty much focused on every pitch, and threw every pitch with conviction.” The Yankees took two of three games at Fenway and won their first series from Boston this season. More important, they moved a half-game behind the Red Sox in the American League East. “They played better than us,” Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. “Long games. We’re all tired.” Part of what extended this chapter of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was a tense ninth inning in which Yankees closer Mariano Rivera loaded the bases with two walks and a single. But with two outs, Rivera got Adrian Gonzalez on a called third strike for his 36th save, the 595th of his career. “That pitch was low,” Gonzalez said. “I should still be hitting. That’s all I’ve got to stay.” With the Red Sox holding a 2-1 lead after a two-run homer by Pedroia in the fourth, the Yankees broke out with three runs in the seventh. Russell Martin, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left thumb, had the big hit: a one-out, two-run double off the hard-throwing reliever Daniel Bard with both runners moving. That scored Chris Dickerson, a pinch-runner for Andruw Jones, who had drawn a much-deserved walk at the end of a 14-pitch at-bat, and Jesus Montero, who was making his major league debut. Eric Chavez, pinch-hitting for Eduardo Nunez, then drove in Martin with a single to right. Montero, the Yankees’ top prospect, was 0 for 4 as the designated hitter. He reached base, though, after he was grazed by a pitch in the seventh. That put him on base and in position to score the first run of his career on Martin’s double to the gap in right-center. Burnett was replaced in the sixth and did not get the win. “A. J. gave us a great performance,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “I mean, outstanding. I’m very proud of what he did.” After his two more recent outings, in which he allowed a combined 15 runs, Burnett had worked with the pitching coach Larry Rothschild in an effort to simplify some aspects of his wind-up and delivery. He adjusted the way he held his hands in his glove as he came to the set position, and he also tried to reduce the rotation of his body. On Wednesday Burnett said that he wanted to change some minds with his performance. “I changed my own mind, and that’s the most important thing,” he said. “I felt comfortable out there. I feel like this is something I can build on. We talk about minor changes, but they are major to a guy who has been pitching the same way for 11 years.” Burnett’s only two mistakes came in the fourth, when he fell behind both Gonzalez and Pedroia. Gonzalez doubled on a 2-0 pitch, and Pedroia followed with a two-run home run into the center-field bleachers on a 3-1 pitch. Burnett scattered three other hits in his five and one-third innings, one of them an infield single by Jacoby Ellsbury in the fifth. He threw 96 pitches, the last one a ball on a full count to David Ortiz in the sixth inning after Pedroia had singled to right and stolen second. With runners at first and second and one out, Girardi pulled Burnett, who then watched as Boone Logan and Curtis Granderson got him out of his predicament. First, Logan struck out Carl Crawford. Then reliever Cory Wade induced a bloop to shallow center from Jed Lowrie. Granderson sprinted in to make a terrific diving catch , saving at least one run, and the Red Sox failed to increase their lead. “That’s a huge play,” Girardi said of Granderson’s catch. “That’s why I talk about him for M.V.P., because it’s not just about his numbers at the plate. It’s his defense as well.” INSIDE PITCH C. C. Sabathia said he would be starting Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays on regular rest. Freddy Garcia will presumably start Monday against Baltimore, a team he beat in his last outing. ... Mark Teixeira was hit in the right knee with a pitch by Alfredo Aceves in the sixth inning and was later removed from the game with a bruise after it stiffened up. Teixeira said he hoped to play Friday. ... Phil Mickleson, in town for the Deutsche Bank Championship, took batting practice left-handed and threw out the ceremonial first pitch right-handed. ... Alex Rodriguez, who is recovering from a sprained left thumb, said he was hoping to be able to play Friday.

Baseball
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Burnett A J
Montero Jesus
Girardi Joe


Hong Kong Scrambles as Van Spills Wads of Cash

Abstract: HONG KONG — A blizzard of millions in cash paralyzed a road in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon, when a security van spilled bundles of Hong Kong 500 dollar notes, presenting onlookers with a Christmas Eve test of whether to be good for goodness’ sake. The police estimated that the equivalent of about $2 million was missing, local news reports said , suggesting that not everyone who saw the windfall had passed the goodness test. “Anyone who picked up the cash concerned should hand it over to the police as soon as possible,” a district police officer, Wan Siu-hong, told reporters, according to Radio Television Hong Kong, a public broadcaster. “Otherwise, they may have committed the crime of theft.” Until mid-December , several Hong Kong streets had been blocked for nearly three months by protesters demanding democratic elections. But the latest, brief traffic snarl was more in keeping with this city that has a reputation for chasing the dollar. The money fluttered across an eight-lane section of Gloucester Road in the Wan Chai area after three plastic crates of the crisp, new notes fell from the back of the security van, news reports said, citing the police and bystanders. Traffic froze as people stepped out of their cars or walked onto the road to pick up the swirls of money. Now Television, a commercial broadcaster, showed video of people crouching on the road to snatch up the cash, but it was unclear whether they were helping recover the money or just helping themselves. “Many people picked up cash and then left,” a man at the scene said in the television report . “One old lady picked up cash and gave it to the police when they turned up.” The police cleared the road, but said about 15.23 million Hong Kong dollars was missing — about $2 million — according to the security transport company that reported the loss. They were less sure about just how the money fell out of the van. “We believe the money was dropped,” Mr. Wan, the police officer, said, according to The South China Morning Post . “We cannot rule out any possibilities at this moment.”

Hong Kong
Robbery
Car Crash
Roads and Traffic


Judgment Day Awaits Tony Sparano Against the Rams’ Brian Schottenheimer

Abstract: FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Long ago, a wise man gave what Tony Sparano, the Jets ’ offensive coordinator, deems an indispensable piece of advice. He told Sparano to imagine himself riding on a train. Outside the window, the scenery is beautiful. But blink, and it is gone, for the train just keeps grinding ahead toward its destination. “If you spend too much time looking back, you have a big problem,” Sparano said. “We just look forward.” Nine games are in the Jets’ past — nine games of uneven play and disappointing results, of costly turnovers and touchdown droughts, all problems that, to one degree or another, predated Sparano’s arrival in January. Seven games are in the Jets’ future, a critical phase that begins Sunday in St. Louis. Looking forward, Sparano envisions their latest stretch of crisp and productive practices finally translating into the success that can sustain this disappointing season for another week. The Edward Jones Dome will serve as the backdrop for the most important game of Sparano’s tenure. He will be judged, fairly or not, by how his unit performs not against the Rams ’ defense, but against their offense, which is headed by his predecessor, Brian Schottenheimer. By the end of Schottenheimer’s six years with the Jets, the philosophical disconnect between him and Coach Rex Ryan was pronounced and irreparable. So Ryan immediately imported Sparano, who favors a style rooted in his background as an offensive-line coach: power rushing that, in theory, sets up a play-action passing game. Under Schottenheimer, the Rams have hardly revived the Greatest Show on Turf. But in almost every significant statistical category aside from scoring average — the Jets, at 19.4 points a game, sit four spots ahead of 28th-ranked St. Louis (17.9) — the Rams are superior. Sparano presides over the N.F.L.’s 30th-rated offense, a group with an erratic quarterback, a middling receiving corps and a running game that cannot dictate to a defense. Asked whether the Jets’ offense was better than it was last year, Ryan declined to compare. “I don’t think it’s really relative,” he said, adding, “This year is different.” According to the calendar, for certain. According to other criteria, maybe not. The Jets have continued to commit the same mistakes that stalled so many drives in seasons past. Seemingly every positive moment — their ruthless efficiency against Buffalo, the 252 yards rushing against Indianapolis, Mark Sanchez’s second half at New England — has been offset by a destructive penalty, a red-zone interception or a protection breakdown. “Am I frustrated? No, I wouldn’t call it frustration,” Sparano said. “Do I want us to do better? Yes.” Sparano was speaking softly, but there was an edge to his voice, as there often is. His bark in the film room and his bite on the practice field are very much part of the Jets’ daily soundtrack here. At his news conferences, Sparano assumes accountability for the offense’s performance. He acknowledges how injuries to players like Santonio Holmes, Dustin Keller and Stephen Hill have ratcheted up the degree of difficulty, but he does not use them as excuses. Still, he grows weary and defensive when the subject turns, as it often does, to his deployment of Tim Tebow. Almost every week, Sparano is asked whether shuffling quarterbacks disrupts Sanchez’s rhythm, and almost every week, he is asked about expanding Tebow’s role. He chuckled at the juxtaposition Thursday, saying, “It doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.” On the surface, perhaps not. But there is a balance, and the Jets have yet to find it. Even though Sparano acknowledged Tebow’s potential as a passing threat as far back as early May, it took until last Sunday in Seattle, when Tebow completed all three attempts, that he truly forced teams to account for that possibility. For all their gloating about how Tebow’s presence demands that opponents prepare specifically for him, it has not prevented those defenses from dominating. The Jets have scored fewer than 10 points four times, including in three of their last four games. They rank 25th in time of possession. They have converted 46.4 percent of their red-zone chances, down from a league-high 65.5 last year. Sanchez has the lowest completion percentage among starters, at 52.0, and, despite Sparano’s emphasis on ball security, has thrown nine interceptions and fumbled eight times. After scoring 48 points against Buffalo in the season opener, the Jets managed but three offensive touchdowns in their next 46 possessions. After scoring 35 points against Indianapolis, they managed but three offensive touchdowns in their next 36 possessions — a stretch of ineptitude that endures. “I think the mark of a good coach is to maximize the talent that you have around you,” Ryan said. “I think, without question, we do that.” Considering the Jets’ record, Ryan’s evaluation of the situation is an indictment of the team’s talent level or a failure on his part to recognize shortcomings on his staff. Sparano inherited an offense largely unchanged from the bunch that ended last season by committing 10 turnovers in its final three games, all losses. The thinking was, Sparano would help restore the so-called ground-and-pound mentality that Ryan desires — “a knock ’em back” philosophy, said guard Matt Slauson, who added, “There’s more of an emphasis on toughness now, a more physical type of play-calling.” Greg Cosell, a senior producer at NFL Films whose football acumen and analysis of game film is respected around the league, said that was rarely noticeable on film. He said that the Jets’ struggles derived from “a significant lack of talent,” that neither their offensive line nor their primary back, Shonn Greene, had played well enough for their offense to work off the run. “If you can’t run and your defense isn’t good, what do you have? You’ve got nothing,” Cosell said. “That’s the position that the Jets are in right now.” Sparano, not surprisingly, has a different opinion. He said their short-yardage and goal-line packages had improved. He cited a rushing offense that, over the last four games, has averaged 4.56 yards a carry. The Jets have already produced four plays of at least 40 yards — one more than they did last season. Guard Brandon Moore, one of the veteran sages in the locker room, praised Sparano for balancing tough coaching with positive reinforcement, saying that “he understands that sometimes you have to build guys up after tough losses, bad press, growing pains, things like that.” But, responding to statements by Sparano and Ryan that the offense was on the verge of clicking, Moore added: “How can I sit here and say we’re doing this well and that well if we’re 3-6? It kind of looks silly on my part.”

Football
New York Jets
St Louis Rams
Schottenheimer Brian
Sparano Tony


Esquire Partners With 3 Agencies to Promote Male Mentorship

Abstract: ESQUIRE magazine is teaming up again with Madison Avenue for a new cause-marketing initiative, seeking to encourage more adult men to mentor boys and young men. The initiative comes eight years after a collaboration between the magazine and an up-and-coming agency to raise money for clean drinking water in the third world. That effort proved successful enough to become a permanent Unicef fund-raising program — and helped the agency become better known. This time, Esquire has recruited three agencies deemed on the cutting edge of creativity to produce multimedia campaigns to demonstrate how valuable mentors are to youth and the benefits to the mentors of helping out. The initiative begins with the October issue of Esquire, now making its way to newsstands and subscribers. In addition to the 30 or so pages in the issue devoted to mentoring — focused on the theme “Who made you the man you are today?” — Esquire is creating content online and working with a social publisher called RebelMouse to invite readers to share their mentoring experiences through videos, photographs and posts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Esquire also plans to promote the initiative on the Esquire Network cable channel, a unit of NBCUniversal, and to involve other magazines like Popular Mechanics that are also part of Hearst Magazines. The goal of the initiative, which includes a partnership with a national mentoring organization, Mentor , is to enlist 100,000 men as mentors by 2020. “We’ve been concerned about the state of boys and young men, covering the way the education system and the criminal justice system fail them,” said David M. Granger, editor in chief of Esquire, which is based in New York. “As we’ve talked to experts, we’ve found one consistent path to success is a relationship with a strong male role model,” he added, “so there’s a need for men, the next generation of mentors, to get interested in the idea of mentorship,” and a need to make it easier for them to volunteer. To increase the appeal of mentorship to men in their 20s and 30s, “we wanted to make the idea more ‘sexy,’ ” Mr. Granger said, and make the word “mentor” seem less fusty. Just as Esquire sought out the New York agency Droga5 in 2006 to create the effort to improve access to drinking water — originally known as the Tap Project and since rebranded as the Unicef Tap Project — the magazine decided to ask three agencies to develop campaigns to put more men into mentoring. The intent was to find agencies that are filled with potential the way the now well-known Droga5 was eight years ago, said Richard Dorment, a senior editor at Esquire. “When we worked with Droga5, it was before they were Droga5,” he said, laughing. After considering a list of agencies considered fresh on the scene, Mr. Dorment and Mr. Granger reached out to Barton F. Graf 9000 in New York, which works for clients like GoDaddy ; Makeable, formerly Poke, a New York agency that specializes in design and product development; and 72andSunny, a Los Angeles-based agency that works for clients like Samsung. The campaign from Barton F. Graf 9000 is centered on a proposed Mentor Act, which would establish mentorship “as a legal excuse from jury duty.” A website explains the concept: “Stay out of the court system by helping young men stay out of the court system.” Gerry Graf, the agency’s founder and chief creative officer, said: “I was pretty excited when they contacted us. I have, I think, three subscriptions to magazines, and Esquire is one of them.” The campaign was developed by approaching the issue as “a standard marketing problem,” he said, adding: “How do you get people to try something? Give them something back. We thought, if you’re a mentor, there’ll be less reason for jury duty.” The work by Makeable is focused on webuildmen.org, a website now under construction, offering potential mentors what the home page calls “the know-how, the people and the tools for today’s man to build tomorrow’s.” Michael Kantrow, a co-founder of Makeable with Tom Ajello, said: “We’re all very busy. So we thought, let’s help guys figure out this mentoring thing in today’s world by giving them a tool kit, a platform we call the beginning of a community that would appeal to contemporary men.” The campaign by 72andSunny, part of MDC Partners, suggests that by mentoring, men can have fun, tapping into their inner boys with their mentees, while doing something important. The ads use a censored version of a vulgarism in offering a phrase mentors can say when questioned about what they are doing; the expression is something like “Back off, I’m helping.” The variation on the vulgarism is “not just glib,” said Matt Jarvis, partner and chief strategy officer of 72andSunny, but part of the agency’s attempt to “bring a populist sensibility” to mentorship and make it more accessible to more people. “Our insight was that mentorship has an earnest, worthy sensibility to it, so much so that a lot of men feel they don’t qualify to be mentors,” Mr. Jarvis said. “So we say, ‘You don’t have to read Shakespeare together, you can eat hamburgers together, jump off a high-dive together.’ ” Mr. Dorment and Mr. Granger said they intended to devote pages of the November and December issues of Esquire as part of plans to keep the initiative going into next year. Esquire is not the only brand seeking to bolster the ranks of male mentors. The Dove Men-Plus Care line of antiperspirants and deodorants sold by Unilever is starting a campaign centered on mentoring through youth football.

Mentor
Esquire Magazine
advertising,marketing
Men and Boys


Adam Silver Aims to Reduce Excessive Fouling

Abstract: TORONTO — Commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday that his personal views on the so-called Hack-a-Shaq tactic used by N.B.A. coaches had evolved. “I’m beginning to feel that a change needs to be made,” Silver said. The strategy of fouling poor free-throw shooters to slow offenses has prolonged games and exasperated fans, and more teams are doing it more often than ever. In fact, Silver said, the league had seen an increase of five and a half times in the frequency of Hack-a-Shaq fouls this season compared with last. The data coming in is “showing that there’s a clear trend,” Silver said. The league’s competition committee has continued to evaluate the policy, Silver said, and there appears to be a growing sense that the fouling ought to be curbed. Any change to the rule would require the approval of two-thirds of the league’s owners. “The interesting thing, though, and this is true even among the strongest critics of the so-called Hack-a-Shaq strategy: There doesn’t appear to be a clear consensus on what the new rule should be,” Silver said. “So I think it’s my job right now to at least formulate an alternative.” He added: “It’s easy to say, ‘I hate the strategy.’ But it’s a much more difficult issue to decide exactly what the new rule should be.” Silver made his comments in Toronto as part of All-Star weekend festivities. Sunday’s game will be the first N.B.A. All-Star Game held outside of the United States, and Silver said he was open to the idea of moving the game outside of North America as the sport continues to grow internationally — perhaps to Europe, he said, though not anytime soon. “We’re always talking about it,” Silver said, adding: “It’s not going to happen in the next two, three or four years. But I think down the road it could be a really exciting element for the N.B.A.” DUNKING PERFECTION Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic in the final round of the slam-dunk contest, posting four straight perfect 50s to win for the second straight year. LaVine and Gordon matched each other dunk for dunk for the first two tries in the final round and then needed two rounds of tiebreakers to decide a winner. Gordon got a 47 with a Harold Miner-style jackknife dunk on his fourth dunk, which opened the door for LaVine in one of the most memorable competitions in years. He ended it with a between-the-legs dunk from a step inside the free-throw line to become just the fourth player to win back-to-back titles. (AP) WARRIOR TOPPLES WARRIOR Klay Thompson of Golden State defeated his teammate Stephen Curry to win the 3-point contest. Thompson scored 27 points in the final round, making his last eight shots to beat Curry and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns. Curry scored 23 points in the final round, and Booker finished with 16. Curry was the event’s defending champion. Thompson made 19 of his 25 shots in the final round; he was 18 for 25 in the first round. He shot a staggering 74 percent — 37 for 50 — from long range over the course of the night. (AP) ROOKIE WINS SKILLS EVENT The Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns beat Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas to win the All-Star Skills Challenge. Towns, a No. 1 overall draft pick who stands nearly 7 feet tall, won in the first time the competition was opened up to include frontcourt players. Towns went through an obstacle course, fed a pass through a target, and made a layup and a 3-pointer to win it. “I’m glad I was able to help the bigs come out with this trophy,” Towns said. “This is bigger than me. This is for all the bigs out there, with the game changing the way it is, to show that bigs can stand up with guards and skillwise.” Towns beat Golden State’s Draymond Green and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins in the big-man side of the bracket before edging Thomas in the finals. (AP)

Adam Silver
All-star game
Basketball
NBA


Roots of Ryder Cup Golf Tournament Involve Seed Company

Abstract: The Ryder Cup, which will be held for the 39th time this week at Medinah Country Club near Chicago, has become one of the most keenly anticipated team events in sports. But the origins of the event are somewhat muddled. For many years, it was accepted as fact that the Ryder Cup was dreamed up in 1926 by Samuel Ryder, a successful English seed merchant, as he was celebrating at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey, England, with a group of British professionals in the afterglow of their 13 ½-1 ½ victory over an American team. Marveling at the fine play and camaraderie between the two sides, Ryder reportedly said: “We must do this again! I’ll donate the trophy.” Thus, the Ryder Cup was born. It is a nice story, but that is not what happened. What became the Ryder Cup had been in the works for several years. Ryder and his brother, James, began staging challenge matches for British professionals at his golf club, Verulam Golf Club , just north of London, from 1923 to 1925. The event attracted the best players of the day: Harry Vardon, James Braid and J. H. Taylor, remembered in Britain to this day as the Great Triumvirate. After the American Walter Hagen won the British Open in 1922 and 1924, and the new British stars George Duncan and Arthur Havers emerged by winning in 1920 and 1923, the time seemed ripe for a match between the best of the United States and the best of Britain. The planned match was reported in The Daily Telegraph in 1925, the year before the Wentworth event was to take place. In April 1926, it was announced in the news media: “Mr. S. Ryder, of St. Albans, has presented a trophy for annual competition between teams of British and American professionals. The first match for the trophy is to take place at Wentworth on June 4th and 5th.” Ryder’s involvement was further reported in The Times of London, by the great golf writer Bernard Darwin, six weeks before the event and in The New York Times at the time of the event. Invitations, undoubtedly arranged for by Ryder, had been sent a year before the event to Hagen, the leading American player of the day, to see if he could arrange a team to play. Ever the showman, the bombastic Hagen enthusiastically accepted for the American side. While not an officially sanctioned event by the British P.G.A., it was a marketing coup for Ryder’s firm, the Heath and Heather Seed Company, to promote his penny mail-order seed packets. Thus, the Ryder Cup may be one of the earliest examples of corporate sponsorship of a sporting event. But ultimately this first Ryder Cup was expunged from the record books. Why? Soon before the matches, a general strike gripped Britain, effectively shutting down most travel into the country. Several of the American stars, most notably Gene Sarazen and Johnny Farrell, could not make the trip and were replaced by non-American stand-ins, including two Britons, two Scotsmen and an Australian trick-shot artist. In the end, Ryder withheld the trophy, calling for the first official Ryder Cup to be played the next year. To commemorate the victory, the British team was presented with gold medals instead. But the seeds of what became the Ryder Cup were planted much earlier, in 1913. In a little-noted event, the first real international team match in golf was contested in France, of all places. It consisted of two four-man teams in four-ball matches on the first day and four singles matches on the second, each match at 36 holes. The French, led by the 1907 British Open champion Arnaud Massy, soundly thrashed the American side, 6-0, in Versailles. (The Ryder Cup will be played in France for the first time in 2018 at Le Golf National, near Versailles.) The seeds for the Ryder Cup were further sown in 1921. George Sargent, a former president of the P.G.A. of America, discussed holding an international match with Sylvanus Jermain, the president of Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio. The magazine Golf Illustrated promoted an international match later in 1921 as follow-up to The Glasgow Herald’s 1000 Guineas Tournament to be played at the Kings Course in Gleneagles, Scotland. The British team overpowered the Americans, 9-3, and the event was not a rousing success. Few spectators stayed after the tournament was concluded, perhaps because the American side was sprinkled with Scottish exiles and the golf was less than sterling. The public viewed it as little more than a weak exhibition, but it was a beginning. After the halting start in 1926, the Ryder Cup took root with the first official matches at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club the next year. The United States won convincingly, 9 ½-2 ½, and received the somewhat diminutive 17-inch-high, solid-gold trophy with the image of Samuel Ryder’s golf instructor, Abe Mitchell, addressing a tee shot on top. The seed that was planted in France in 1913, nurtured in 1921, cultivated at Wentworth in 1926 and that finally came into full bloom in 1927 at Worcester has grown into what many call golf’s fifth major championship.


Long After Bergdahl’s Release, His Hometown Is Still Under Siege

Abstract: HAILEY, Idaho — It was the third text message from the unfamiliar number — the one that made direct reference to Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — that frightened Sherry Horton. It was written in nearly unintelligible gibberish, but its tone was unmistakably menacing. Ms. Horton had reason to be fearful: Hailey is the hometown of the American soldier who was vilified as a deserter and possibly even a traitor days after his release from Taliban captivity in May 2014 in a prisoner swap . Here in Hailey, death threats soon followed — hundreds of calls to the Chamber of Commerce and to businesses owned by people who had most visibly supported Sergeant Bergdahl, including the wine bar that Ms. Horton partly owns. The town canceled plans for a public celebration after a hostile biker gang and angry veterans’ groups threatened to disrupt it. A crude bomb filled with black powder was left outside a local business. “We were put through the worst of it,” said Ms. Horton, who taught Sergeant Bergdahl ballet and remains close with the soldier. “And it’s not over for us, that’s pretty freaking clear.” Image A yellow ribbon to show support remains around a tree. Credit Kim Raff for The New York Times Such is the transformation of this small town down the road from Sun Valley in the Northern Rockies, where yellow ribbons were once wrapped around trees along Main Street and “Bring Bowe Home” stickers were plastered on car bumpers. The ribbons and stickers are mostly gone, and the five years that Hailey stood behind its hometown kid when he was held by the Taliban have given way to a distrust of outsiders and a bitterness about the hostile tenor of American politics. There is a “mob mentality that’s been created and is being created,” said Lawrence Schoen, the commissioner of Blaine County, where Hailey is. People in town have heard the demands of Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican and a former prisoner of war, that Sergeant Bergdahl be punished. People have also heard Donald J. Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, regularly call Sergeant Bergdahl “a dirty, rotten traitor” who should be executed or simply pushed from an airplane without a parachute. The valley that surrounds Hailey is a relatively affluent and liberal sliver in a deeply conservative state, which added to the sense of being under siege in the immediate aftermath of Sergeant Bergdahl’s release. “There’s some really ignorant people who live some places in the West,” said Fritz Haemmerle, the mayor. “They’re very right wing, they’re very militant, they’re very uninformed and they’re people with guns and with an attitude.” Where Bergdahl Disappeared Maps of where Bowe Bergdahl was stationed and the initial operations to find him. The harassment of people here may have tapered off since the weeks after Sergeant Bergdahl was released, Mr. Schoen said, but the overall threat remains. “Am I concerned?” he said. “Yes. And is the level of threat serious? It is.” There is also far more ambivalence about Sergeant Bergdahl, who now faces a court-martial and a possible life sentence on charges of desertion and endangering troops stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in 2009, a move that led to his capture by the Taliban. In the five years Sergeant Bergdahl was held, the exact circumstances of his capture remained unclear, and the people of Hailey embraced him. People in town critical of Sergeant Bergdahl’s actions did not want to be quoted, in part out of deference to his parents, Robert and Jani Bergdahl, who still live outside town. One man, Doug, who would not give his full name, said that if people found out that someone was bothering the Bergdahls, “no one here is going to talk to you about anything.” Others say they are not happy that Sergeant Bergdahl, who is on administrative duty at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, has become the town’s most well-known native son. Image Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, last month at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., with his lawyer, Lt. Col. Franklin D. Rosenblatt. Credit Ted Richardson/Associated Press “This town’s been a town since about 1882,” Mr. Haemmerle said. “We’ve had people fight in probably every single war since that day. We’ve got dead people in our cemeteries, veterans, you name it, we have it.” Hailey is still welcoming to outsiders, Ms. Horton insisted. “We rely on tourism here,” she said. “If we’re not friendly, we’re all going under.” But there are limits: “We don’t trust just anybody in this town anymore, not until we know what they’re about and why they want to know what they’re asking.” Sergeant Bergdahl’s parents, who were at the White House when President Obama announced Sergeant Berghdahl’s release, have not spoken publicly since their son was set free. Sergeant Bergdahl’s father, in particular, was criticized for growing a beard, learning to speak Pashto and studying the Quran in hopes of finding a way to free his child. Sergeant Bergdahl, who is now 29, is not believed to have visited Hailey since his return to the United States. His only public comments have been featured in a podcast, “Serial,” whose second season is focused on his case. In it, Sergeant Bergdahl said he walked off his outpost in hopes of hiking to a larger base about 18 miles away to tell a general about what he considered the dangerous incompetence of his commanding officers. Video President Obama announced that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban in 2009, had been recovered in exchange for five prisoners. The sergeant’s parents also spoke. Credit Credit Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Sergeant Bergdahl told the same story to Army investigators, who found it credible. Lt. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl, the lead investigator, said at a preliminary hearing in September that Sergeant Bergdahl had delusional expectations for his deployment. The general also said there was no evidence that Sergeant Bergdahl, who identified with John Galt, the hero in Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged,” intended to desert or that any soldiers had been killed while searching for him. The brunt of the threats in Hailey were borne by a small group of women who had led the campaign to free Sergeant Bergdahl. Some knew him because “he danced with their daughters,” said Ms. Horton, the ballet teacher, who also let Sergeant Bergdahl live at her house during stretches of his teenage years when his family life was strained. He was quirky and well mannered and definitely made an impression on the women, she said. Even as a teenager, “he was opening doors and doing all that, as opposed to with men, where he wouldn’t have done those things.” Sue Martin, who employed Sergeant Bergdahl at her Zaney’s River Street Coffee House, also became a target in the aftermath of his release. Zaney’s was the unofficial headquarters of the campaign to free Sergeant Bergdahl. The Facebook page of the coffee shop was defaced by people accusing Ms. Martin of sympathizing with the Taliban, she said in an interview. Men accosted her, including one who came into the shop and berated her about her support for Sergeant Bergdahl . Within days, she decided to close up the shop for about two weeks. She has since intermittently shuttered her business when Sergeant Bergdahl’s case makes news, and has done her best to stay out of the spotlight the rest of the time. “I think people don’t realize the significance of the backlash on people in town,” she said.

Hailey
Bowe Bergdahl
Desertion
Taliban
Threat
Prisoner of war
Court-martial
Afghanistan War
US Military


Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut

Abstract: A sharply divided Connecticut Supreme Court struck down the state’s civil union law on Friday and ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Connecticut thus joins Massachusetts and California as the only states to have legalized gay marriages. The ruling, which cannot be appealed and is to take effect on Oct. 28, held that a state law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples, and a civil union law intended to provide all the rights and privileges of marriage to same-sex couples, violated the constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law. Striking at the heart of discriminatory traditions in America, the court — in language that often rose above the legal landscape into realms of social justice for a new century — recalled that laws in the not-so-distant past barred interracial marriages, excluded women from occupations and official duties, and relegated blacks to separate but supposedly equal public facilities. “Like these once prevalent views, our conventional understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional protection,” Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote for the majority in a 4-to-3 decision that explored the nature of homosexual identity, the history of societal views toward homosexuality and the limits of gay political power compared with that of blacks and women. “Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same-sex partner of their choice,” Justice Palmer declared. “To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others.” The ruling was groundbreaking in various respects. In addition to establishing Connecticut as the third state to sanction same-sex marriage , it was the first state high court ruling to hold that civil union statutes specifically violated the equal protection clause of a state constitution. The Massachusetts high court held in 2004 that same-sex marriages were legal, while California’s court decision in May related to domestic partnerships and not the more broadly defined civil unions. The Connecticut decision, which elicited strong dissenting opinions from three justices, also opened the door to marriage a bit wider for gay couples in New York, where state laws do not provide for same-sex marriages or civil unions, although Gov. David A. Paterson recently issued an executive order requiring government agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The opinion in Connecticut was hailed by jubilant gay couples and their advocates as a fulfillment of years of hopes and dreams. Hugs, kisses and cheers greeted eight same-sex couples as they entered the ballroom at the Hartford Hilton, where four years ago they had announced they would file a lawsuit seeking marriage licenses. One of those couples, Joanne Mock, 53, and her partner, Elizabeth Kerrigan, 52, stood with their twin 6-year-old sons, choking back tears of joy and gratitude. Another plaintiff, Garret Stack, 59, introduced his partner, John Anderson, 63, and said: “For 28 years we have been engaged. We can now register at Home Depot and prepare for marriage.” Religious and conservative groups called the ruling an outrage but not unexpected, and spoke of steps to enact a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, blamed “robed masters” and “philosopher kings” on the court. “This is about our right to govern ourselves,” he said. “It is bigger than gay marriage.” But the state, a principal defendant in the lawsuit, appeared to be resigned to the outcome. Gov. M. Jodi Rell said that she disagreed with the decision, but would uphold it. “The Supreme Court has spoken,” she said. “I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision, either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution, will not meet with success.” Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office was reviewing the decision to determine whether laws and procedures will have to be revised — local officials will issue marriage licenses to gay couples without question, for example — but he offered no challenge and said it would soon be implemented. The case was watched far beyond Hartford. Vermont , New Hampshire and New Jersey all have civil union statutes, while Maine , Washington , Oregon and Hawaii have domestic partnership laws that allow same-sex couples many of the same rights granted to those in civil unions. Advocates for same-sex couples have long argued that civil unions and domestic partnerships denied them the financial, social and emotional benefits accorded in a marriage. The legal underpinnings for gay marriages, civil unions and statutory partnerships have all come in legislative actions and decisions in lawsuits. Next month, however, voters in California will decide whether the state Constitution should permit same-sex marriage. The Connecticut case began in 2004 after the eight same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses by the town of Madison. Reflecting the contentiousness and wide interest in the case, a long list of state, national and international organizations on both sides filed friend-of-the-court briefs. The plaintiffs contended that the denial of marriage licenses deprived them of due process and equal protection under the law. While the case was pending, the legislature in 2005 adopted a law establishing the right of same-sex partners to enter into civil unions that conferred all the rights and privileges of marriage. But, at the insistence of the governor, the law also defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Arguments in the case centered on whether civil unions and marriages conferred equal rights, and on whether same-sex couples should be treated as what the court called a “suspect class” or “quasi-suspect class” — a group, like blacks or women, that has experienced a history of discrimination and was thus entitled to increased scrutiny and protection by the state in the promulgation of its laws. Among the criteria for inclusion as a suspect class, the court said, were whether gay people could “control” their sexual orientation, whether they were “politically powerless” and whether being gay had a bearing on one’s ability to contribute to society. A lower-court judge, Patty Jenkins Pittman of Superior Court in New Haven , sided with the state, denying that gay men and lesbians were entitled to special consideration as a suspect class and concluding that the differences between civil unions and marriages amounted to no more than nomenclature. The Supreme Court reversed the lower-court ruling. “Although marriage and civil unions do embody the same legal rights under our law, they are by no means equal,” Justice Palmer wrote in the majority opinion, joined by Justices Flemming L. Norcott Jr., Joette Katz and Lubbie Harper. “The former is an institution of transcendent historical, cultural and social significance, whereas the latter is not.” The court said it was aware that many people held deep-seated religious, moral and ethical convictions about marriage and homosexuality, and that others believed gays should be treated no differently than heterosexuals. But it said such views did not bear on the questions before the court. “There is no doubt that civil unions enjoy a lesser status in our society than marriage,” the court said. “Ultimately, the message of the civil unions law is that what same-sex couples have is not as important or as significant as real marriage.” In one dissenting opinion, Justice David M. Bordon contended that there was no conclusive evidence that civil unions are inferior to marriages, and he argued that gay people have “unique and extraordinary” political power that does not warrant heightened constitutional protections. Justice Peter T. Zarella, in another dissent, argued that the state marriage laws dealt with procreation, which was not a factor in gay relationships. “The ancient definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has its basis in biology, not bigotry,” he wrote. About 1,800 couples have obtained civil unions in Connecticut since the law was adopted three years ago, although gay-rights advocates say the demand has slowed. They cite complaints that the unions leave many people feeling not quite married but not quite single, facing forms that mischaracterize their status and questions at airports challenging their ties to their own children. But marriage will soon be a possibility for gay couples like Janet Peck, 55, and Carol Conklin, 53, of West Hartford, who have been partners for 33 years. “I so look forward to the day when I can take this woman’s hand, look deeply into her eyes and pledge my deep love and support and commitment to her in marriage,” Ms. Peck said.

Connecticut
Same-Sex Marriage,Gay Marriage
Decisions and Verdicts
Richard N Palmer


Google’s Strength May Be Part of Microsoft Defense Strategy

Abstract: BERLIN — Microsoft will argue against a European Commission proposal that it promote competing browsers in its Windows operating system on the ground that such a move would strengthen its rival Google ’s dominance in the global search-advertising market, according to a person with direct knowledge of Microsoft’s legal defense. The company will make the argument at a June hearing in Brussels as part of an antitrust inquiry about the packaging of its Internet Explorer browser with Windows, which powers more than 90 percent of the world’s personal computers. The person with knowledge of Microsoft’s legal strategy, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said that Microsoft would outline what it saw as the damaging effects to the search-advertising industry of incorporating competing browsers — like Firefox from Mozilla or Chrome from Google — into Windows. Mozilla derives the bulk of its income from the fees it receives for driving Web traffic to Google’s search engine. Google makes most of its revenue with advertising aimed at search results. Google dominates the search advertising sector. “Not only would Google’s browser Chrome suddenly be on all Windows PCs, but it would strengthen Google’s dominance in search advertising,” said this person. Google, in a statement, did not directly respond to Microsoft’s argument. “We believe more competition will mean greater innovation on the Web and a better user experience for people everywhere,” said William Echikson, a Google spokesman in Brussels. By aiming at its rival, Microsoft underscores the stakes for both it and Google, which are increasingly clashing as personal computing moves from software to the Web. Aside from competing in e-mail, online advertising and search, Google also makes an operating system used on mobile computers and cellphones. The new European complaint over browsers, like the previous nine-year antitrust case centering on Microsoft’s media player and computer-server coding, has forced the biggest names in the global software and Web businesses to choose sides. The complaint was brought in December 2007 by Opera, a tiny Norwegian software maker with 510 employees. Since then, Microsoft’s main competitors — Google, Mozilla, Sun Microsystems, Nokia, I.B.M., Adobe, Red Hat and Corel — have all signed on directly or through industry groups to argue as co-complainants. Google, Mozilla and the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, a group based in Brussels representing the other Microsoft rivals, each plan to testify during the closed-door hearing next month before Michael Albers, a hearing officer in the European Commission’s competition section. On Jan. 15, the commission informed Microsoft that it might order the software maker to preinstall competitors’ browsers in Windows, while simultaneously disabling Internet Explorer. Microsoft has warned investors that the case could lead to a “significant” fine. Microsoft paid more than 1 billion euros in fines and penalties fighting the first antitrust case, which it abandoned in 2007 after losing an important legal appeal. According to the person, Microsoft will argue that Internet browsing is inseparable from the Windows operating system. Microsoft will also emphasize that consumers can download and use any competing browser with Windows, and that Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market has been falling steadily. An estimated 67 percent of computer users around the world use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, according to Net Applications, a researcher in Aliso Viejo, Calif. In Europe, the Firefox 3 browser has overtaken Internet Explorer 7 as the most-used browser, according to the Web analytics firm StatCounter. But it still trails Microsoft by 10 percentage points when all versions of the Explorer are counted. The interoperable systems committee has said that it intended to present data at the hearing showing that Microsoft’s browser market share was closer to 85 percent in Europe.

European Commission
Microsoft Corp
Antitrust Actions and Laws
Google Inc
Web Browsers


Russia Announces Daily Cease-Fires to Allow Aid into Aleppo

Abstract: MOSCOW — Russia said Wednesday that there would be daily three-hour cease-fires in the Syrian city of Aleppo starting on Thursday to allow aid convoys to enter the city safely, a proposal that the United Nations said it would consider. The Syrian government and rebel forces control different portions of Aleppo. The rebel-held east, where about 250,000 people are thought to be living, was surrounded in early July after government forces cut the main supply route into the district. On Friday, rebels staged a major assault southwest of Aleppo to break through the siege. Fighters managed to pierce the ring of government-controlled territory, but a safe corridor for civilians and aid has not yet been established as fierce fighting continues. Speaking at a televised briefing, Lt. Gen. Sergei F. Rudskoi, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official, said the cease-fire would run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. General Rudskoi said the question of joint control over the delivery of humanitarian aid was being discussed with the United Nations and the United States. He said “all military action, air and artillery strikes” would be halted for the three-hour periods. Image Opposition fighters driving a tank in Aleppo’s rebel-held eastern portion, besieged by government forces for three weeks. Credit Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images “This is to ensure that all interested organizations have the opportunity to deliver their humanitarian assistance to the residents of Aleppo,” General Rudskoi said. He added that Russia, an ally of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, would work with the Syrian government to ensure the safe delivery of aid. A spokesman for a rebel group fighting inside Aleppo said he was skeptical of the Russian plan. “Is this publicity that Russia is a neutral party?” said Abd al-Salaam Abd al-Razzaq, the spokesman for the Nour al Din al-Zinki Movement. “What is three hours? In those three hours they will just be bombing Idlib,” he said, referring to another rebel-held area. Airstrikes killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens in Idlib Province, southwest of Aleppo, on Wednesday. One town, Saraqeb, has been hit daily with airstrikes since a Russian helicopter was shot down nearby 10 days ago. Concerns are growing for the roughly 250,000 people believed to be trapped inside eastern Aleppo, where food supplies, infrastructure and medical services are immensely strained. The United Nations aid chief, Stephen O’Brien, said on Wednesday that he was willing to consider the Russian plan, but that a 48-hour pause in fighting was needed to meet all the humanitarian needs in Aleppo. A State Department spokeswoman, Elizabeth Trudeau, said the United States would welcome any pause in fighting in Syria to facilitate the delivery of vital humanitarian aid, but a truce must be observed by all parties.

Russia
Syria
Humanitarian aid
Military
Bashar al-Assad
Aleppo Syria
UN
International relations


South Korean Court Lowers Jail Sentence of Ferry Company’s Chief

Abstract: SEOUL, South Korea — An appeals court on Tuesday reduced the prison sentence given to the head of the company that operated the Sewol ferry, which sank last year off South Korea’s southwestern coast, killing more than 300 people. Image Kim Han-sik in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014. Credit Yonhap, via Associated Press The High Court in the city of Gwangju lowered Kim Han-sik’s sentence to seven years from 10 years. Mr. Kim, 72, the chief executive of Chonghaejin Marine Company, had received the 10-year sentence from a lower court in November after being convicted of accidental homicide and embezzlement. The presiding High Court judge, Seo Kyong-hwan, said Tuesday that he had decided to reduce Mr. Kim’s sentence after considering the lighter punishments given to other defendants in connection with the April 2014 sinking of the Sewol, one of South Korea’s worst disasters in decades. Investigators found that the ferry had been dangerously overloaded, among other safety violations, and that the family that controlled Chonghaejin Marine had stolen funds that could have been used to make the ship safer. Mr. Kim and others were convicted of helping the family embezzle the funds. Most of the 304 people killed in the ferry sinking were high school students on a field trip. The ship’s captain, Lee Jun-seok, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison last month for fleeing the ship without trying to help the passengers.

South Korea
Ferry
Kim Han-sik
Cheonghaejin Marine Company
Boat Accidents


Trial in Iran of Washington Post Reporter Jason Rezaian to Resume Monday

Abstract: The adjourned espionage trial of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent incarcerated in Tehran since last July, will resume on Monday, Mr. Rezaian’s brother said Wednesday. The brother, Ali Rezaian, confirmed via email a report by the Iranian Students’ News Agency quoting the defense lawyer, Leila Ahsan, as saying that said she had been informed of the date for the next hearing in the case, which is closed to the public. The first hearing was held on May 26 in branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court with no word on when it would resume. Mr. Rezaian, a 39-year-old Californian, could face up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty of the charges against him, which include espionage. The United States government, The Post, and Mr. Rezaian’s family and friends, and international press advocacy groups have described the accusations as absurd. At least three Americans are imprisoned in Iran, including Mr. Rezaian, who has been The Post’s correspondent in Tehran since 2012. Anger in the United States about their fates, as well as that of a fourth American who disappeared in Iran in 2007, has become a festering issue between the two countries. It may also complicate the multilateral talks on Iran’s disputed nuclear energy program, which are heading toward a June 30 deadline for completion. On Tuesday, Ali Rezaian was among the relatives of the Americans imprisoned or missing in Iran who testified in Washington at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, which then approved a bipartisan resolution demanding that Iran release the captives immediately. While the resolution had no practical effect, it reflected the high levels of suspicion in Congress over Iran’s trustworthiness.

Iran
Washington Post
Jason Rezaian
Political prisoner
Freedom of the press
Freedom of speech
News media,journalism
Kidnapping and Hostages
Judiciary
Spying and Intelligence Agencies


Bombs in Bahrain’s Capital Kill Two Foreigners

Abstract: CAIRO — Five bombs exploded in the capital of Bahrain on Monday, killing two foreign workers and critically injuring a third, in a sharp intensification of the violence that has simmered in the island nation since the beginning of a pro-democracy uprising 21 months ago. The government said the bombs, which detonated in three districts in the capital, Manama, were improvised explosive devices. One victim was killed after kicking a bomb, causing it to explode, officials said. Another was injured after picking up one of the devices, a hospital employee said on state television. Bahraini officials called the bombings a terrorist attack and said the police had found and detonated a sixth bomb. Bahrain’s chief of public security, Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Hassan, said several suspects had been identified, but he did not provide their names. The government has frequently invoked terrorism when describing its opponents, or has cast them as accomplices in a foreign plot. It has cited the use of incendiary devices like Molotov cocktails by some protesters as a reason for the forceful response by the riot police. Since February 2011, protesters have demanded that the Sunni monarchy grant greater political freedom and end discrimination against the Shiite majority in the Persian Gulf nation, which is host to the main regional base for the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The bombings on Monday, apparently aimed at civilians, seemed to open a dangerous new phase in the conflict. Some of the government’s opponents immediately raised questions about the timing, a few days after the monarchy drew international condemnation for banning protests . Human rights advocates called the decree part of an escalating crackdown on dissent. On Friday, the authorities arrested Said Yousif al-Muhafdah, a Bahraini human right activist who monitored protests. His lawyer said Mr. Muhafdah, who is charged with illegal gatherings and unauthorized protests, could face up to two years in prison. “It all seems to come in a very crucial time,” said Mohamed Hasan, an activist and a blogger, noting that no one had taken responsibility for the bombings on Monday and that opposition groups had condemned them. “The government will use it as a way to attack the demands of the opposition.” The first bomb exploded around 4:30 a.m., and the last device damaged several cars around 9:24 a.m., General Hassan said. Officials did not identify the two victims who died, saying only that they were Asian and that one of the men was 27. State television showed their bodies, one with a large wound below his neck and the other lying in a garage, next to a damaged car. The injured victim, a street cleaner, was photographed in his hospital bed, waving bandaged hands. A hospital employee said he is Indian and had picked up the bomb as he started work.

Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )


Explosives Abandoned in Cemetery Pose a Mystery

Abstract: The New York City Marble Cemetery has long had an air of mystery. Practically hidden between apartment buildings and brownstones, the leafy urban pocket was once the resting place of President James Monroe. A fire long ago destroyed records showing some of its other early inhabitants. The cemetery’s Web site welcomes amateur genealogists to help fill in the blanks. Now the quaint old cemetery in the East Village is the site of another mystery, this one still unfolding, after a volunteer on Sunday discovered a decaying garbage bag filled with 10 pounds of military-grade C-4 explosives, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Monday. Mr. Kelly said he did not believe the aging explosives were linked to a terrorism plot. No ignition devices or primers needed to detonate the C-4 were found. But how the explosives ended up interred near a 19th-century vault is still anybody’s guess. Mr. Kelly said the package was originally discovered in May or June of last year by a caretaker at the cemetery, founded in 1831 and usually closed to the public. The caretaker did not know what he had found and put the bag under a tree near a fence. And there it sat. On Sunday, when the cemetery was open for tours as part of Open House New York, a volunteer came upon the bag around noon and looked inside. He showed it to Andrew Knox, a cemetery board member, and Colleen Iverson, the director. “We thought it was like a movie prop,” Mr. Knox said. “It was sort of crumbly, the plastic was coming off. It clearly said explosive on it, but it had been outside for so long that the plastic was sort of delaminating.” The bricks were individually wrapped in plastic and had green and yellow military-style markings, but it did not cross their minds that they were real, Mr. Knox said. “I said, ‘Why don’t you just throw it out?’ ” he said. “And so he carried it over to the front of the gate, where we throw our garbage.” That night though, the volunteer, whose name has not been disclosed, had second thoughts and on Monday morning, he called the police, Mr. Kelly said. The neighborhood has a history of political radicalism, and an anarchist Web site still lists a nearby bookstore as a place to congregate. The cemetery is also about a half-block from a Hells Angels clubhouse on East Third Street that has had a tumultuous relationship with the police. A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation said the clubhouse was one of several facets of the inquiry. Ronald L. Kuby, a lawyer who has represented the Hells Angels, said he spoke to a member of the group who said they knew nothing about the explosives. Mr. Kelly said investigators noticed a note written in what appeared to be chalk on the sidewalk in front of the cemetery that said, “I really hope one of you find this.” The police did not know who wrote the note or what it was referring to. The commissioner said it probably had not been written before the most recent rain, which quite likely would have washed the writing away. Adding to the mystery, another note written on paper was discovered Sunday on a squad car in front of the Ninth Precinct station house, on East Fifth Street. The note had rambling religious messages and made an odd reference to Second Street, where the cemetery is located, Mr. Kelly said. “Stop putting Christ on Second Street,” the note said, according to Mr. Kelly. It was signed Jesus Christ. The police said they did not know if either of the messages was tied to the explosives. Officers cordoned off Second Street between First and Second Avenues on Monday, and Bomb Squad officers dug up areas near where the explosives were first discovered, but as of Monday evening no other suspicious packages had been found. Mr. Kelly said the package contained eight sticks of C-4 weighing about one and a quarter pounds. He said the material was not commonly available. “It could have been taken from a military installation, perhaps years ago,” he said. “We don’t know how old it is.” Mr. Kelly said that based on the condition of the bag, the package might have been in the cemetery for several years. The explosives were taken to the police bomb lab in the Bronx.

The New York City Marble Cemetery
Bombs and Explosives
Kelly Raymond W
East Village (NYC)


Vice Media to Begin Nightly HBO News Program on Sept. 26

Abstract: Vice Media announced on Tuesday that it will begin broadcasting its daily HBO half-hour newscast on Sept. 26. The show, called “Vice News Tonight,” will run weeknights for 48 weeks a year. Josh Tyrangiel, who was previously the editor of Bloomberg Businessweek and chief content officer for Bloomberg Media, was hired by Vice last October to oversee the show. The daily show is part of Vice’s broader ambitions to make its programming available across the media spectrum. The company, which started as a free punk magazine in Montreal in 1994, introduced its own cable channel, called Viceland, this year. It is not clear what size audience the channel attracts, but Vice plans to release ratings for it next month. Vice recently announced an agreement with ESPN to produce and distribute films and other programs. In the last several years, the company has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in financing and signed deals with major media companies including Rogers Communications, a Canadian media conglomerate. It has also pushed to expand its presence internationally, announcing multiplatform deals with the Times of India Group and the Moby Group, a Middle Eastern media group. Image Shane Smith, the founder of Vice Media. Credit Jesse Dittmar for The New York Times Vice already produces a weekly newsmagazine show for HBO, called “Vice,” which began in 2013. In a statement, Mr. Tyrangiel said he wanted to make broadcast news more appealing to young viewers. “We’re going to have to earn people’s time and attention with great reporting and original forms of storytelling,” he said. Plans for “Vice News Tonight’’ were first announced in March 2015. At the time, Richard Plepler, chief executive of HBO, said the show would debut that year . A spokesman for Vice Media said in an email that the show was “on schedule.” Vice has been on an aggressive hiring push in the last year, snapping up dozens of journalists from news organizations including MSNBC, the BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times. Along with Mr. Tyrangiel, the company has hired Nellie Bowles, a technology reporter from The Guardian, and Madeleine Haeringer, an executive producer at MSNBC and veteran of NBC News. Vice promoted Mr. Tyrangiel in May to run all of the company’s news operations as part of a reorganization of the division. It also laid off roughly a dozen employees.

Vice
HBO
Josh Tyrangiel
Richard Plepler
TV
News media,journalism


In New York City, Rivals Overtake a Grocery’s Stock

Abstract: Jefferson Market, a gourmet grocery on Avenue of the Americas, just north of 10th Street, opened in 1929, the year of the first great crash. It may not survive a second one. Already, late last week, the market had the depressing look of deprivation. The cheese counter was practically empty, lights throughout the store were dim, there were gaping vacancies where there should have been chicken, pork, lamb. Amid all the talk of imminent financial disaster, the store seemed to be portending tough times ahead: In places, the cupboards were literally bare. “Boy, things are a little scary these days,” said a man in a Yankees cap, looking around nervously at the nearly empty shelves as he stood in line at the meat counter. “I’m looking at a place that used to look totally different. I can’t believe this place.” Change is always unnerving, but never more so than when everyone is waiting with trepidation for the first signs that the sky really is falling, not just on paper, not just in exurb developments in Florida, not just for the bankers whose offices are closing. In some ways, the reality of Jefferson Market’s problems may be oddly comforting: it’s a sad story, but it’s our sad story, the kind we know by heart, not some new version that has endings we cannot yet fully anticipate. Louis Montuori, one of the market’s current owners and the son of the man who took it over in the 1960s, has been explaining, sometimes to 20 or 30 concerned customers a day, why he has not had the cash flow necessary to fully stock the store. To start, he has suffered from a huge uptick in competition, from Citarella, which opened one block south in 2003; Whole Foods, which opened in Union Square in 2005; and from Trader Joe’s, which opened there in 2006. So it’s a story of the big-fish markets eating the little-fish market. It’s also a story about real estate, and how the West Village has changed. “A lot of these new families, with all this money, they don’t cook,” said Mr. Montuori. “People don’t cook.” And if they do, they already know how to shop at Whole Foods — they don’t have the decades of history with Jefferson Market that their predecessors in the neighborhood had. And it’s a story, Mr. Montuori will acknowledge, of some bad management choices, like letting the staff get too big, and not wanting to let anyone go. “We were running it like a mom-and-pop when we shouldn’t have been,” Mr. Montuori said. For a long time, Jefferson Market felt like a throwback to another era, the kind of place where a kindly, rosy-cheeked butcher asked after your kids and taught you how to cook a roast. “I used to place big orders, when I threw a lot of dinner parties,” said Claudette Fink, who’s lived on 12th Street since 1973. “But I could also call at 6 o’clock and say ‘Roger, Roger, Roger, I love you, you know what I need? Just a bit of parsley.’ And he’d say, ‘It’s out the door as we speak, Mrs. Fink.’ It was like living in a small village in Tuscany.” It is still the kind of mom-and-pop where the family runs the place — not from afar, but up close and personal. When business was hopping, Mr. Montuori himself used to work behind the butcher counter (his father, legendary for his beef and poultry, trained him in the meat business). His uncle, Angelo Montuori, 82, still manages the inventory. And another uncle, Anthony Montuori, who’s 87, still rises at 4:30 a.m. to come to the store from his home in New Jersey and deliver groceries, sometimes to customers he’s been serving for 30 or 40 years. When there is nothing to deliver, he keeps busy squeezing oranges for juice. “He never learned to read or write,” Angelo said of Anthony. “He’s crazy about the store.” Back when the store opened (right across the street), it took its name from the original, 19th-century Jefferson Market, a cluster of individual proprietors selling ice, meat, dairy and vegetables that had been named for the country’s third president. Now the store is one of the last of its kind in New York, a market with name recognition that isn’t a chain, a place whose location is grounded in its specific history, not in a focus group or a financial analysis of the block’s demographic and median income. It’s not that the economy has not had an impact on business. That’s part of it, Mr. Montuori said. Food costs have jumped, but he cannot raise his prices any more. And people are ordering less. “We used to get consistent orders for $200 rib roasts, for parties,” he said. “Now that’s very rare. That’s just a holiday thing.” Mr. Montuori hasn’t given up hope of reviving the store, but he knows it will take an infusion of cash, which he has started actively seeking. There has been some interest, he was relieved to report, but until a deal is sealed, he’ll be waiting to see how the times treat him. “I picked the worst week in history,” he said, “to be looking for an investor.”

New York City
Supermarkets
United States Economy
Small Business