VOL. 18 NO. 22 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

OFFICIAL: MUSLIMS FACE RISING DISCRIMINATION - PG. 2 JERSEY CITY, HOBOKEN, BAYONNE, NEwARK, RuTHERfORd, pATERSON, pASSAIC

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VOL. 18 NO. 22 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

RICE: U.S. HAS NOT RULED OUT ARMING LIBYANS U.S. Ambassador to the United rebels as an option for trying to Nations Susan Rice said that end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year the Obama administration has rule. not ruled out arming Libya’s SEE PAGE 3.

Final

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

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NEWS BRIEFS Official: Muslims face rising discrimination QUEENS WOMAN SENTENCED IN DAY CARE DROWNING DEATH A Queens woman was sentenced to one to three years in prison after a baby in her care drowned.

Kristal Khan, 30, was found guilty of reckless assault and endangering the welfare of a child last month.

Khan — who ran a day care in Richmond Hill — was babysitting 11-month-old James Farrior in 2009 when he got into a bucket of water and drowned.

She admitted to investigators that she was knocked out on cold medicine.

Khan called it an accident and apologized for the pain the Farrior family is going through.

The child’s family says they are pleased with the sentence.

“I feel better now, I feel some type of closure basically. I feel my son can rest in peace finally,” said the child’s father, James Farrior.

“I just want her to sit in jail and realize, have time to think about this,” said the child’s grandmother, Teresa Weeks.

“Her message essentially was that this incident has greatly effected her, contrary to everything that was reported on this case. That she had a difficult time going back to that house, even living there any time thereafter. And essentially she’s a mother herself,” said Khan’s attorney, Eugene Guarino.

Khan’s attorney says he plans to file a notice of appeal.

FDNY: CHILD PLAYING WITH LIGHTER SPARKED FATAL BROOKLYN FIRE A fire in Brooklyn that claimed the lives of a man and his two daughters was caused by a child playing with a lighter, according to the New York City Fire Department.

Once the fire started, investigators say a delay in calling 911 slowed the response.

The fire last night gutted a fourstory brownstone on Putnam Avenue in Bushwick.

The outside stoop, stairwell and second floor were all heavily engulfed in flames.

Sources say 62-year-old Jeff Lormond and his 14-year-old daughter were found on the top floor after the fire was extinguished. They were pronounced dead on the scene.

Lormond’s three-year-old daughter was found on the second floor and died at the hospital.

“I’ve seen when they brought out a body in front of the street,” said one neighbor. “I’m sorry cause I get emotional when you see children crying. Then I see when they brought out the little kid. They brought ‘em to the ambulance. I see when the mother came. I think it was an uncle that came and another mother came. Everybody was screaming, crying.”

Seven others were injured, including a 47-year-old man who was hospitalized in critical condition.

Investigators have not said what caused the delay in reporting the fire.

By DAVID MORGAN WASHINGTON — American Muslims face a rising tide of religious discrimination in U.S. communities, workplaces and schools nearly a decade after the September 11 attacks, a senior Justice Department official said on Tuesday.

Evidence of growing anti-Muslim bigotry, aired at a Senate Judiciary hearing, poses a challenge for President Barack Obama as his administration works to foster good relations with American Muslims at a time when the United States is threatened by home-grown terrorism.

“We should all agree that it’s wrong to blame an entire community for the wrongdoing of a few. Guilt by association is not the American way,” said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who chaired the hearing.

He said Muslims account for less than 1 percent of the U.S. population but more than 14 percent of religious discrimination cases investigated by the federal government and 25 percent of religious discrimination cases involving workplaces.

The Justice Department has investigated over 800 incidents of vio-

lence, vandalism and arson against people believed to be Muslim, Arab or South Asian, since the September 11 attacks.

U.S. homeland security officials say the United States faces a homegrown threat from Islamic radicalization, including attempts by al Qaeda to radicalize and recruit U.S. Muslims to carry out attacks here and abroad.

The hearing quickly took on a partisan edge when Durbin responded to criticism from Republican Peter King, chairman of a House of Representatives panel widely criticized for a hearing on radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community less than three weeks ago.

King said on Monday that the civil rights discussion would “perpetuate the myth that there is a serious antiIslam issue in this country.”

But at the start of the session Durbin shot back: “Inflammatory speech from prominent public leaders creates a fertile climate for discrimination.”

“All of us, especially those of us in public life, have a responsibility to choose our words carefully. We must condemn anti-Muslim bigotry and make it clear that we won’t tolerate religious discrimination.”

Thomas Perez, the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said anti-Muslim bigotry has brought a surge in the number of federal discrimination cases involving zoning boards and other local authorities that have acted to prevent mosques from opening in their communities.

The Justice Department has begun 14 such cases since May 2010, around the time when plans for a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center attack in New York seized media headlines and ignited a national political uproar.

Before last May, the government had pursued only 10 land-use discrimination cases over a decade.

“In each city and town where I have met with (Muslim) leaders, I have been struck by the fear that pervades their lives,” Perez told the panel.

Muslims have also witnessed a fierce debate over a Florida minister’s threat to burn a Koran, as well as efforts in half a dozen U.S. states to ban the use of Muslim religious law on the pretext of a threat to the American judicial system.

Perez and Durbin both likened discrimination against Muslims to what Catholics experienced generations ago.

Coloring book used in New Jersey jail drug smuggling scheme PHILADELPHIA — Three inmates and their loved ones were charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into a New Jersey jail on the pages of a children’s coloring book, authorities said.

The drug, Subozone, normally used to treat heroin addiction but itself classified as a controlled dangerous substance, was dissolved into a paste and then painted into the coloring book, said Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer. Pages with “To Daddy” scribbled on top were sent to the prisoners at the jail in Cape May, New Jersey.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 38 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Schaffer.

Authorities received a tip drugs were being smuggled in drawings, Schaffer said.

Charged in the case were prisoners Zachary Hirsch, Charles Markham and Paul Scipione. Also charged were Markham’s mother, Debbie Longo, of West Wildwood, New Jersey, and Katelyn Mosbach, of Trevose, Pennsylvania, who was still being sought.

The New Jersey drug bust was the second one this month involving

Three inmates and their loved ones were charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into a New Jersey jail on the pages of a children’s coloring book.

Suboxone smuggling behind bars.

Authorities at a prison in Carbon County, Pennsylvania earlier this month arrested 11 people in what

they said was a scheme to hide the drug beneath postage stamps on letters mailed to inmates from family members.

Suspected ‘Holiday Bandit’ bank robber arrested in Queens A man suspected of being the “Holiday Bandit” after bank robberies this winter in New York and New Jersey was arrested in Queens on Tuesday, the FBI announced.

The arrest of Marat Mikhaylich, 35, comes just a day after he allegedly held up another bank on Monday, this time in Edison, New Jersey.

“The Holiday Bandit’s threemonth bank robbery spree has come to an end,” said FBI spokeswoman

Janice Fedarcyk.

“This should serve as a stark reminder to anyone who wishes to brandish a weapon, rob a bank, and put the lives of innocent civilians at risk,” Fedarcyk said.

The arrest came after authorities located a Toyota Camry reportedly stolen by Mikhaylich on Monday.

New York City Police reviewing film from roadside and toll-booth license plate scanners spotted the stolen car driving into Queens from

New Jersey. They alerted the FBI, whose agents descended on the car and apprehended Mikhaylich without incident.

Mikhaylich, accused in nine robberies in the New York and New Jersey areas, was expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court, Fedarcyk said.

The Holiday Bandit nickname stems from the timing of most of the robberies, which occurred between December and late February.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

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Rice: U.S. has not ruled out arming Libyan rebels

By DAVID MORGAN WASHINGTON — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday that the Obama administration has not ruled out arming Libya’s rebels as an option for trying to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.

Speaking a day after President Barack Obama defended his Libya strategy in a televised address, Rice said Gaddafi has shown no sign of leaving power without continued pressure from Western powers that have imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and used air strikes to constrain his ground forces.

“Over the long term, as the president said, there are other things that are at our disposal that perhaps will assist in speeding Gaddafi’s exit,” she told CBS’s “The Early Show” as part of a series of TV interviews.

“It may not happen overnight,” she added.

She spoke as more than 40 countries and international organizations gathered in London to chart a postGaddafi future for Libya. Britain and Italy suggested he could be allowed to go into exile.

Rice said the United States would maintain financial and diplomatic pressure on the Libyan government until Gaddafi leaves and hinted that new steps could be in the offing, including the arming of Libyan rebels.

“We have not made that decision, but we’ve not certainly ruled that

out,” she said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program.

The U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Libya on February 26 but exemptions are possible provided there is approval by the Libya sanctions committee, which consists of all 15 nations on the council.

Portuguese U.N. Ambassador Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, who chairs the sanctions panel, has voiced doubts about the idea of approving weapons transfers to the rebels.

Several council diplomats have said that granting a blanket waiver for the rebels would amount to tak-

ing sides in a civil war, which Russia, China and other council members would likely oppose. Sanctions committees work on the basis of consensus, so every council member has a de facto veto.

Referring to reports that members

of Gaddafi’s inner circle have begun to reach out to the West, Rice said: “We will be more persuaded by actions rather than prospects or feelers.”

“The message for Gaddafi and those closest to him is that history is not on their side. Time is not on their side. The pressure is mounting,” she told ABC. Meanwhile, Republican Senator John McCain criticized Obama’s decision to limit the current military operation to protecting civilians and aiding humanitarian efforts, given the U.S. policy goal of ousting Gaddafi.

“If Gaddafi remains in power, you will see a stalemate ... the same kind of thing we saw with Saddam Hussein when we established a no-fly zone, sanctions, etc., and it lasted for 10 years. We’ve seen that movie before,” he said.

McCain is among a handful of Obama critics who have called for arming the Libyan rebels.

The United States is scaling back its military involvement to a supporting role after more than a week of air strikes, allowing NATO to take full command of the international force.

MTA looks to put welfare recipients to work

Child welfare worker charged in death of child couldn’t handle caseload A New York City child welfare supervisor charged in connection with the death of a starved and beaten 4-year-old girl says she told her superiors the caseworker couldn’t handle his workload.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Chereece Bell says she had asked her bosses to transfer caseworker Damon Adams out of her Brooklyn unit three months before Marchella Brett-Pierce died.

Adams is also charged in connection with the girl’s September death.

Bell and Adams each face charges of criminally negligent homicide, marking the first time in New York that welfare workers have been charged in connection with the death of a child.

Bell says she and her bosses also discussed taking Adams’ cases away from him but that didn’t happen.

Adams’ lawyer tells the Journal he can’t confirm that.

The Administration for Children’s Services workers pleaded not guilty last week to criminally negligent homicide and other charges.

The Journal says the agency

declined to comment. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said last week he had “100 percent confidence” in the city’s child welfare commissioner.

The mother of the 4-year-old child, who authorities said was starved, beaten and tied to her bed, was indicted last year on murder and other charges. Marchella’s grandmother was indicted last week along with the welfare workers. She was charged with manslaughter.

Marchella weighed just 18 pounds when she died Sept. 2. The child was born with underdeveloped lungs, had serious trouble breathing and had a breathing tube in her throat, authorities said. She had been hospitalized in the months before her death.

ACS last year admitted failures in the case, and described Marchella’s home care as “grossly inadequate” in a report following her death last year. The caseworker and worker are no longer employed there.

If convicted, Adams faces up to seven years in prison and Bell faces up to four years.

The cash-strapped Metropolitan Transit Agency may soon begin hiring welfare recipients for cleaning jobs in line with the city’s Work Experience Program, which encourages employable individuals to work for the cash assistance and benefits they receive.

Nearly 200 MTA cleaners lost their jobs as part of the agency’s series of doomsday budget cuts that required MTA chiefs to slash about 3,500 positions.

Should the MTA hire workers in partnership with the city’s WEP, the benefits would be two-fold: The move would lower cleaning costs for the MTA as well as endow unemployment benefit recipients with skills to make them more marketable in the workplace and help them get off welfare.

“This is a program that has a

proven track record of doing three things: providing low-cost cleaning help for the subway; providing job training to people who need it, and leading directly to full-time employment for many of the people who participate in the program,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffintold the Daily News.

Welfare recipients in the WEP filled cleaning positions with the MTA for nearly a decade before the previous MTA administration opted to cut the free labor in 2008, reports the News.

At the time, agency heads figured it would be fiscally cheaper because union-represented cleaners who helped train and supervise the WEP workers got paid an additional $1.70 an hour in connection with the program, reports the News.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

JOURNAL OF THE PEOPLE’S PASTOR

fROm T HE pu B l I SH ER ’ S dESK

‘WRITING THE HISTORY I’VE LIVED, LIVING THE HISTORY I WRITE!’

Delroy Lindo challenged students to stay in school THOMAS H. WATKINS

Pardon of innocence for the Wilmington Ten

By DR. BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS, JR. Forty years ago in Wilmington, N.C., there was a serious struggle of Black Americans to end racial discrimination and violence over the manner in which public schools were desegregated. The NAACP, national and local, had won a series of important court battles in Wilmington and across America to desegregate public school systems. But, during the Nixon Administration in the early 1970’s, African Americans in the south, as well as in other regions of the nation, were being challenged with the systematic racial disparities involved in the details of how federal court-ordered school desegregation was being enforced.

We are grateful that at the recent 2011 Black Press Week in Washington, D.C., the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) committed to lead a national initiative to get a “Pardon of Innocence” for the Wilmington, N.C. Ten. The NNPA is a vital association of our nation’s leading newspapers that for 184 years have served the news and journalistic interests of the Black American community in the United States and throughout the Pan African world. While the specifics of case of the Wilmington Ten are unique, this case of political prisoners raised the broad issues and plight of the struggle for African American liberation and empowerment to a global level during the 1970’s.

Black students, parents, and community leaders made a decision in Wilmington in February 1971 that they would stand up and fight to protect and secure the “quality” education of African American students by attempting to preserve the high academic integrity and institutional legacy of African American public schools such as Williston Senior High School. The United Church of Christ, as a progressive mainline Protestant denomination of 1.7 million members, and its Commission for Racial Justice led by The Reverend Dr. Charles E. Cobb, decided to stand with the student-led coalition in Wilmington to demand fairness and equal justice. As a young civil rights activist, I was dispatched by the Commission for Racial Justice to give organizational assistance to our brothers and sisters in Wilmington.

Because we dared to speak out and to engage in nonviolent street protests to the long, unprecedented history of racial violence and injustice in that port city, the African American community became the targets of a violent, paramilitary, anti-Black terror campaign led by the Ku Klux Klan and the Rights of White People (ROWP) organization. Our movement’s headquarters in Wilmington Gregory Congregational United Church of Christ - and

Left to Right: Ms. Cindy Similien, Executive Assistant at The Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance (DBNA); Reverend Dr. Herbert Daughtry, Founder and President of DBNA; Mr. Delroy Lindo; and, Ms. Sharon Daughtry, Executive Director of DBNA, with the winners (Indira Mendez, Lydia Dye, and Imani Moore) at DBNA’s Third Annual Black History Month Essay Contest Awards Luncheon at The House of the Lord Church. very thoughtful and well-writ- Brooklyn, New York. As a conBy REV. DR. ten, it was difficult to select the solation, all of the essays were HERBERT best one. However, since we had given a citation. One of the to make a decision, we decided to aspects of Ms. Moore’s essay is DAUGHTRY choose the essay which was the portrayal of her desire to be written by Ms. Imani Moore of involved in the community Part Two While all of the essays were Satellite West Middle School in Continued on page 5 the surrounding African American community was placed in a state of siege by armed White vigilantes, who opposed racial justice and equality.

The Civil Rights Movement evolving from the 1950’s and 1960’s into the 1970’s had to grapple with the fact that the Nixon Administration took steps to counter and suppress the momentum and progress of the movement in the wake of the assassination of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Thus, what we faced in Wilmington, N.C. in 1971 was not only the vile of local racial hatred and violence, but also we later found out that right-wing law enforcement officials in the Nixon Administration aided and abetted the concerted frameup, unjust conviction, and imprisonment of the Wilmington Ten. We are the Wilmington Ten: Wayne Moore, William Joe Wright, Connie Tindall, Marvin Patrick, James McKoy, Ann Shepard, Willie Earl Vereen, Jerry Jacobs, Reginald Epps, and Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Because of our involvement in the struggle in Wilmington in 1971, we were unjustly charged, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a combined maximum total of 282 years in

prison in North Carolina in 1972. We all were completely innocent of the alleged charges of arson and conspiracy to assault. In 1978 , Amnesty International declared that we were “Political Prisoners.” We stayed in prison during most of the 1970’s while our case was on appeal.

On December 4, 1980, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the unjust convictions of the Wilmington, Ten because of “prosecutorial misconduct” in the unconstitutional and unfair frame-up. Yet, to date there has not been an official “pardon of innocence” issued by the state of or by the federal government.

NNPA Chair, Danny J. Blakewell, Sr. affirmed, “We are going to tell the story of the Wilmington 10.” The story of the Wilmington 10 is the story of Black Americans speaking out and standing up for equal justice and basic fairness. We live in a world where we have to tell our own stories and remind ourselves that our struggle for justice and empowerment is not yet complete.

— Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is Senior Advisor to the Black Alliance for Educational Options and President of Education Online Services Corporation.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

fORum

City Council member Larry B. Seabrook participates in forum on ‘Challenges to the Achievement of Young Black Males in Public Education’ BRONX — New York City Council Member Larry B. Seabrook, 12th District, will moderate a public policy forum on the “Challenges to the Achievement of Young Black Males in Public Education,” on Thursday, March 31, 2011 from 7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 Odell Clark Place & W. 138th Street, New York, NY 10030.

This forum will utilize the recently released report by The Schott Foundation for Public Education, “Yes We Can: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males

2010,” as a primer to measure and discuss the current educational status of our Black male youth, and the existing barriers to their overall academic and social success.

The confirmed forum participants, in addition to Council Member Seabrook, include Mr. Michael T.S. Wotorson, Executive Director, Campaign for High School Equity based in Washington, D.C.; Dr. Sandye P. Johnson, Principal, Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning & Social Change and Mr. Sean L. Davenport, Principal, Thurgood Marshall Acade-

my Lower School and Mrs. Sheena Wright, President & Chief Executive Officer, Abyssinian Development Corporation.

Council Member Larry B. Seabrook stated, “The Schott Foundation’s report offers a revealing examination on the educational condition of our African American male youth. We are witnessing a crisis of monumental proportions; therefore, we must explore both successful teaching methods, supportive networks and education related initiatives which have a profound impact on our chil-

dren’s academic performance. This forum will stimulate debate and hopefully lead to a nationwide call to reverse these startling statistical trends. I applaud the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III and the Abyssinian Baptist Church for agreeing to host this topical educational forum.”

Date: Thursday, March 31, 2011 Time: 7:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. Venue: The Abyssinian Baptist Church 132 Odell Clark Place & W. 138th Street (between Lenox Avenue & Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.)

New York, NY 10030

In school

United States, I can become one, too.

Other children in the world may want to become presidents, and they can start by having faith in themselves.

President Obama had faith, and it helped me realized that I should believe in myself, too.

President Obama helped kids like me believe in their dreams by setting an example as a leader. He never gave up on his dreams, and he taught us that we should not give up on our dreams, too. He helped kids like me by telling us to stay in school so we can have the chance to become the president of the United States of America.

President Obama taught us to make a difference in the community. I can make a difference in the community by forming a “clean-up” committee. I can gather people from my neighborhood to clean the community so that it can be a safe and clean environment.

I would also create a tutoring program, which will help students have a better understanding of their schoolwork and to teach them how to be successful in life. I believe my tutoring program will help students believe that they are not too young to hope, dream, and believe that when they grow up they can become whatever they wish to be as long as they believe.

President Obama helped me to believe that I can make a difference because if I want to be just like him, I need to be a leader and make a positive difference in my community.

Street (Ground Floor), corner of MLK, Jr. Drive. For more info, contact The National Community Action Alliance at (201) 716-1585.

Continued from page 4 because of President Barack Obama’s influence on her life. Thus, this sixthgrade student demonstrated a potential for literary greatness, and she evinced an interest in community involvement.

Ms. Imani Moore’s Essay I chose to write about Mr. Barack Obama, the president of the United States of America. I chose to write about him because he made a great impact on my life. His presidency is very important — he was the first African-American person to become the president of the USA. He made a wonderful contribution in my life. He helped me believe that if he can become the president of the

The End. ** Join Reverend Daughtry in Jersey City for the weekly Wednesday Evening Educational, Cultural, and Empowerment Forum from 6pm-8pm for an evening of information, inspiration, and challenge at 315 Forrest

** Listen to Reverend Daughtry on the weekly radio program which airs Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. on New York City’s WWRL-AM, dial 1600. ** NEED QUALITY CHILD CARE? Call the Alonzo A. Daughtry Memorial Daycare Center located at: 460 Atlantic Avenue (corner of Atlantic and Nevins) 718 596 1993 333 Second Street (between 4th & 5th Avenues) in Park Slope (718) 4992066 1005/07 Bedford Avenue (corner of Lafayette) 718 638 7979 Immediate openings are available in a state-of-the-art center.

Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone launches war on unemployment

By MARC H. MORIAL “Looks like what drives me crazy Don’t have no effect on you—But I’m gonna keep on at it Till it drives you crazy, too.”

— American poet, Langston Hughes In the great tradition of America’s global defense of democracy, our nation has now entered another foreign conflict to protect and improve the lives of innocent civilians. While we applaud the inclination to rescue people in peril around the world, we wonder why that same urgency does not seem to apply to the millions of urban Americans still in the grips of the great recession who have been anxiously waiting for the United States to declare war on unemployment.

For the past several years, the National Urban League has been leading the call for action. With our current 12-point Jobs Rebuild America

Blueprint, we have even offered Washington a winnable war plan, complete with a regime change strategy that will remove the scourge of high unemployment from our communities and replace it with a new era of jobs and opportunity. We will again put that strategy in the hands of White House and Congressional leaders during our State of Black America Legislative Policy Conference in Washington this week.

As the former mayor of New Orleans, I know that many lives can be lost waiting for the federal government to respond to a national crisis.

And, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t get reports from our Urban League affiliates on the front line of the jobs crisis about the direct and collateral damage double-digit unemployment is inflicting on urban families throughout the country. That is why I am encouraged by the pro-active action of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who has developed his own war plan to defeat the tyranny of joblessness in his city.

Congressman Cleaver, who hails from Langston Hughes’ childhood home of Kansas City, Missouri, and who is also the newly elected chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, has been the driving force behind that city’s promising Green Impact Zone.

His plan echoes many of the elements of the National Urban League’s call for national Green Empowerment Zones to attract investment and green jobs to neighborhoods with disproportionately high unemployment rates.

According to Congressman Cleaver, “Approximately 25 percent of the properties in the zone are vacant lots, and another one-sixth have vacant structures. Fewer than half of the homes are owner-occupied. Over the last two years, almost 20 percent of all mortgages were delinquent and median home prices for the area are less than $30,000.”

The mission of the Zone is use to use a comprehensive green strategy with intense resident engagement to more rapidly push community change and create jobs. Established with Stimulus

seed money, Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone is being sustained with private-public investments in reduced energy consumption, low-income weatherization, transportation and infrastructure improvements, youth mentoring, and job training with guaranteed employment upon completion. Together with the Entrepreneurship Center at the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, led by President and CEO Gwendolyn Grant, hundreds of sustainable jobs have been created as part of the project with many more to come.

Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone is paving the way for the rebirth of a neglected neighborhood and is proving to be a powerful weapon in Kansas City’s war on unemployment. We applaud Congressman Emanuel Cleaver for his leadership and urge Washington and the rest of the nation to follow his lead.

— Marc H. Morial is the President and CEO of the National Urban League.

The views expressed on the Forum page are the OPINIONS of its authors and may not reflect the views of the Daily Challenge.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

‘

NATIONAl

U.S. drops to 3rd in clean-energy investment

By TIMOTHY GARDNER WASHINGTON — The United States fell one spot to third place in clean-energy investment last year as the lack of a national energy policy hurt purchases in wind and solar power and other technologies, a report said on Tuesday.

China came in first and Germany second, according to the report “Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race” by the Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent, nonprofit group.

In the previous year the United States had fallen from the top spot to second place, behind China.

A comprehensive energy bill died in the Senate last July. Washington also has failed to pass national mandates for utilities to produce minimum amounts of clean power that environmentalists and some analysts say would boost confidence for alternative energy companies to invest in the country.

U.S. investment in clean energy totaled $34 billion last year, the report said.

That was up 51 percent from the previous year but below

San Diego uses innovative solar trees to collect renewable energy from the Sun. the $54.4 billion invested by because of its low labor other alternative energy.

China and the $41.2 billion costs,” Jennifer Granholm, a Last year the prospect of invested by Germany. former Michigan governor reductions in the tariffs, China and Germany have and adviser to Pew, said in under which renewableminimum clean-energy tar- an interview. “This is not power generators are paid a gets that helped them move about labor costs, this is premium price for the electricity they produce, helped about policy.” ahead, Pew said.

Germany has had a long spur dramatic growth in “There had been a theory out there that China was ris- history of using feed-in tar- solar, especially in smalling so fast in clean energy iffs to spur solar power and scale rooftop projects.

Overall investments in clean energy, excluding research and development funding, in the Group of 20 major economies rose 33 percent last year to $198 billion amid recovery from recession, the report said.

The United States did show some bright spots. It led the world in energy efficiency with $3.3 billion in investment.

It still led the world in venture capital and private equity investments in clean energy, which globally counted for $8.1 billion, up 27 percent from the year before.

Granholm said increasingly China and other countries developed and distributed ideas generated by the U.S. venture capital system.

Alternative-energy firms prefer setting up manufacturing and distribution plants in countries that have national incentives.

About 30 U.S. states have passed their own so-called renewable portfolio standards, which set mandates for minimum amounts of power from alternatives. But often they are surrounded by states that lack the mandates, which discourages investment, Granholm said.

Obama talks immigration, education with Hispanics WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sought to assure Hispanic Americans on Monday that he will not abandon his efforts to overhaul U.S. immigration policy or preserve government financial support for education.

Congress narrowly failed last year to pass the “Dream Act,” which would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

The vote was a bitter disappointment to many Latin Americans, the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and an increasingly important voting bloc.

“We have to have a pathway for citizenship for those who are just looking for a better life and contributing to our country, and I’ll continue to fight for that,” Obama said, to applause from a crowd at a Washington, D.C., school.

Obama’s “town hall” in English and Spanish — Obama used a translator — sponsored by a Spanish-language television network, was part of a White House cam-

paign to make the case that spending on education is essential to the future of the United States as Obama and his Democrats try to negotiate a budget deal with Congressional Republicans.

Republicans want to cut $61 billion in spending during the year ending September 30, and Democrats argue

that the rival party’s plans would cut a variety of essential programs, including education.

Obama addressed the issue when he was asked about how much the country spends on the military, compared with what it devotes to education, especially in light of the new U.S. military action in Libya.

“Our involvement there is going to be limited both in time and in scope,” said Obama.

“But you’re absolutely right that we have a very large defense budget. Some of that is necessitated by the size of our country and the particular special role that we play around the globe,” he said.

“But what is true is that over the last 10 years, the defense budget was going up much more quickly than our education budget.”

Obama then repeated his contention that his budget would increase education spending, despite the continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Supreme Court: Drugmakers can’t be sued on overcharge

By JAMES VICINI WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled that a group of large pharmaceutical companies cannot be sued by a California county for allegedly overcharging for prescription drugs in violation of federal law.

By an 8-0 vote, the justices overturned a U.S. appeals court ruling that the county with its medical facilities could sue because it was a direct beneficiary of the pricing agreements between the federal government and the companies.

Santa Clara County, which operates a number of hospitals or health clinics that receive federal funds, filed the lawsuit in 2005 for alleged overcharges dating back to 2001.

The county claimed the drug manufacturers violated a 1992 federal law that requires them to give the same discounts to federally funded medical facilities under the Medicaid program as those under standard pricing agreements between the federal government and the companies.

A federal judge initially dismissed the lawsuit and

ruled only the federal government, which signed the Medicaid agreements with the companies, had the right to enforce it.

The appeals court disagreed, reinstated the lawsuit, and ruled the county can seek reimbursement of excess payments.

The court also noted that if the suits were allowed to proceed, secret pricing information could be revealed in violation of the law governing the Medicaid program.

“This ban on disclosure is a further indication of the incompatibility of private suits with the statute Con-

gress enacted,” the opinion said.

The companies in their appeal told the Supreme Court that the appeals court ruling threatened to disrupt the $30 billion Medicaid program for outpatient prescription drugs.

Among the companies appealing were Pfizer, Merck & Co Inc, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Bayer.

The Obama administration supported the companies.

Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the case.

She previously served as U.S. solicitor general.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

INTERNATIONAl

Japan finds plutonium in soil at stricken nuclear plant

By CHIZU NOMIYAMA and KAZUNORI TAKADA TOKYO — Plutonium found in soil at the Fukushima nuclear complex heightened alarm on Tuesday over Japan’s battle to contain the world’s worst atomic crisis in 25 years, as pressure mounted on the prime minister to widen an evacuation zone around the plant.

Some opposition lawmakers blasted Naoto Kan in parliament for his handling of the disaster and for not widening the exclusion zone.

Kan said he was seeking advice on such a step, which would force 130,000 people to move in addition to 70,000 already displaced.

The drama at the six-reactor facility has compounded Japan’s agony after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11 left more than 28,000 people dead or missing in the devastated northeast.

In a gesture of support, France said it had sent two nuclear experts to Japan to help contain the accident and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit on Thursday for a meeting with Kan. France is the world’s most nuclear-dependent country, producing 75 percent of its power needs from 58 nuclear reactors, and selling stateowned Areva’s reactors around the world. Sarkozy will be the first foreign leader to visit since the earthquake.

In the latest blow to hopes authorities were gradually getting the plant under control, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said plutonium was found at low-risk levels in soil samples at the facility.

A handout from Japan Ground Self-Defense Force via Kyodo shows No. 4 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

A by-product of atomic reactions and also used in nuclear bombs, plutonium is highly carcinogenic and one of the most dangerous substances on the planet, experts say.

They believe some of the plutonium may have come from spent fuel rods at Fukushima or damage to reactor No. 3, the only one to use plutonium in its fuel mix.

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said while the plutonium levels were not harmful to human health, the discovery could mean the reactor’s containment mechanism had been breached.

“Plutonium is a substance that’s emitted when the temperature is high, and it’s also heavy and so does not leak out easily,” agency deputy director Hidehiko Nishiyama told a news conference.

“So if plutonium has emerged from the reactor, that tells us something about the damage to the fuel. And if it has breached the original containment system, it under-

lines the gravity and seriousness of this accident.”

Sakae Muto, a Tokyo Electric vice-president, said the traces of plutonium-238, 239 and 240 were in keeping with levels found in Japan in the past due to particles in the atmosphere from nuclear testing abroad.

“I apologize for making people worried,” Muto said.

With towns on the northeast coast reduced to apocalyptic landscapes of mud and debris following the quake and tsunami, more than a quarter of a million people are homeless. The event may be the world’s costliest natural disaster, with estimates of damage topping $300 billion.

Workers at Fukushima may have to struggle for weeks or months under extremely dangerous conditions to re-start cooling systems vital to control the reactors and avert total meltdown.

On Monday, highly contaminated water was found in concrete tunnels extending beyond one reactor, while at

the weekend radiation hit 100,000 times over normal in water inside another.

That poses a major dilemma for Tokyo Electric, which wants to douse the reactors to cool them, but not worsen the spread of radiation.

Japan’s nuclear safety agency said fuel rods in the plant’s reactors 1, 2 and 3 were damaged and there was a high possibility of some leakage from their containment vessels.

The crisis, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, has contaminated vegetables and milk from the area, as well as the surrounding sea. U.S. experts said groundwater, reservoirs and the sea all faced “significant contamination”.

A Tokyo Electric official told a briefing he could not rule out the possibility that radioactive water could still be entering the sea, though there was no continuous flow.

Tokyo Electric has sought help from French companies including Electricite de France SA and Areva SA. French Ecology Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said on Tuesday that experts from Areva and nuclear research body CEA had been sent to Japan “to share our experience on pumping and the treatment of radioactive water”.

As well as seeking help from France, Japan is also consulting the United States.

The government has declined to outline any specific plan for its nuclear energy policy but said renewable energy would play an important role in future.

Experts have said the lack of information and some inconsistent data made it hard to understand what was hap-

pening at Fukushima, which appears to have moved from a core-meltdown phase to one in management of which released radioactivity is paramount.

Another pressing concern has been the well-being of people living near the plant. More than 70,000 people have been evacuated from within 20 km (12 miles) of the facility.

But opposition MP Yosuke Isozaki blasted Kan for not ordering people living between 20 km and 30 km (12-19 miles) from the plant to also leave.

“Is there anything as irresponsible as this?” Isozaki asked.

The 130,000 people living inside the wider zone have been encouraged — but not ordered — to leave.

Environmental group Greenpeace has urged an extension of the 20-km evacuation zone while the United States has recommended its citizens who live within 80 km (50 miles) of the plant to leave or shelter indoors.

Kan, leading Japan during its worst crisis since World War Two, was already deeply unpopular and under pressure to resign when the crisis began.

He repeatedly defended his decision to fly over the stricken nuclear site a day after the quake, saying it had been important to see it for himself.

His top spokesman on Monday denied the visit had delayed operations to cool the reactors, as some media had reported.

The crisis has also put enormous pressure on Tokyo Electric, criticized for safety lapses and a slow disaster response. Its boss, Masataka Shimizu, has barely been seen.

Canadian election heats up over coalition claims

By ALLAN DOWD VANCOUVER — Opposition parties said it was hypocritical for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to accuse them of plotting to take power in a coalition government since he had once considered doing it himself.

The Conservative government’s charge that the Liberal, New Democratic and Bloc Quebecois parties plan to form a coalition government after the May 2 election has become the first major issue of the campaign that began on Saturday.

Polls show the Conservatives with a comfortable lead coming into the election, but they still do not appear to have enough support to win majority status — something they also failed to get in the 2006 and 2008 votes.

Harper warned on Sunday that if his government fails to win a majority that does not require opposition support to stay in power, the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois will band together in a coalition government that will hurt the economy.

The Bloc Quebecois advocates sovereignty for the mainly French-speaking

province of Quebec. This makes making working too closely with it a political liability in English-speaking Canada for the other parties.

The Conservative charge stems from a 2008 deal the Liberals signed with the NDP to unseat Harper with backing of the Bloc Quebecois.

Harper blocked that by having Parliament briefly suspended until the deal fell apart.

The other parties shot back, saying Harper negotiated a similar deal in 2004 with the Bloc and New Democrats to topple the then-Liberal Government. That agreement also

fell apart and the Liberals remained in power until the 2006 vote.

“It (a coalition government) certainly was one of the options that was discussed around the table,” NDP leader Jack Layton told reporters about meetings he had with Harper and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe in 2004.

A letter by Harper, Layton and Duceppe on how to unseat Liberals without holding an election does not use the word “coalition,” but Duceppe joked on Sunday, “If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s a duck.”

Harper, who needs to expand his political base beyond western Canada to win a majority government, denied the agreement in 2004 ever involved forming a coalition government with the other parties.

Harper said Duceppe was changing his version of what happened, and the Conservative leader charged that a vote for the Bloc Quebecois now will lead to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff becoming the next Prime Minister.

The Bloc only runs candidates in Quebec, but it far outpaces the other federal parties in that province.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

9

COmmuNITY AffAIRS

NNPA Newsmaker Award recipients applauded for contributions to make America better WASHINGTON (NNPA) —The National Newspaper Association Publishers Foundation’s 2011 Newsmaker of the Year Awards Gala drew more than 200 Black publishers, politicians, business executives, and civil rights advocates to the nation’s capitol to applaud the accomplishments of the event’s honorees.

In the tradition of past awardees, this year’s honorees distinguished themselves not only for their individual accomplishments but for the courage it took to keeping pressing for justice despite the obstacles. Honorees: Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign from her position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) only to be vindicated later; John Boyd, the steadfast leader of the National Black Farmers Association; Timothy Pigford, who led the a class action discrimination suit between USDA and Black farmers, which resulted in a $1.25 billion settlement last year; 92-year-old Garth Reeves, publisher emeritus of The Miami Times, who used his newspaper as the voice of the Black community; and the 10 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that were members of the Financial Services Committee, who fought for economic advances in the Black community during the housing crisis. Those CBC members honored were: Emanuel Clever II (D-MO), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Mel Watt (DNC), Al Green (D-TX), Andre Carson (D-IN), Maxine Waters (D-CA), David Scott (D-GA), Gregory Meeks (DNY), Keith Ellison (D-MN), and William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO).

“This year’s honorees are equally distinguished and we applaud them for their bravery in the face of circumstances beyond their control, the valiant fight they have fought against high odds and vigilance in their stand for financial parity in Congress for the Black community at large and the longevity and contributions to the Fourth Estate,” wrote NNPA Foundation Chairperson Dorothy Leavell, in her message to the attendees.

Receiving a standing ova-

Dorothy R. Leavell, NNPA Foundation Chair (left) is joined by Harry C Alford, President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce and Black Press Week Chair, who made a spirited presentation to Dr. John Boyd, President of the National Black Farmers Association and Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., Chair of NNPA (right). tion was the 2011 Newsmaker of the Year, Shirley Sherrod, who Leavell called a real heroine. “The last thing I was wanted to do was bring attention to me,” when she accepted the USDA position, Sherrod told the audience, remembering her plan to “make a difference without getting anyone’s attention…stay under the radar.”

While working at USDA, she said it became clear that the issues faced by the people she was trying to help through her work, she contends, were not raciallybased. “The issues were really about being poor,” she said. The solution lies is the Black community, Latino community, White community, Asian community, every community banding together to address their common concerns, she related, then “we will be able to make a difference and will make a change.”

Helping to change how USDA operates, was NorthStar Community Service Award recipient John Boyd, who has been advocating for Black famers for nearly 30 years. Introduced by event chair Harry C. Alford as “a great American hero,” Boyd told the gathering that when he began talking about the problems Black farmers were experiencing with USDA in the early 1980s, “I had no idea that 26 years later we would be sitting here talking about the same issues today.”

He applauded President Obama for signing the Black Farmers bill last year, but

noted there is still much work to be done. And, for those detractors who would give up the good fight because of the length of the battle or the size of the opponent, Boyd stressed “don’t give up. Don’t never, never, never, never give up.”

Equally grateful was Timothy Pigford, who was very humble in accepting the award. He credited Mary Alice Thatch, publisher of the Wilmington Journal and Dorothy Leavell, NNPA Foundation’s chair, for twisting his arm to get him to the nation’s capitol for the festivities.

The semi-formal awards ceremony was one of the highlights of Black Press Week, which celebrated the founding of the first Black newspaper – Freedom’s Journal. “As we gather to celebrate Black Press Week in honor of the founding of the first Black newspaper in America, we must dedicate ourselves to a very simple truth: If Black publishers are unified and truly stick together, we are a force in America to be reckoned with – like no other,” wrote Bakewell, Sr., in his message to the gathering. “Our newspapers must be dedicated to doing everything they can to elevate the quality of life for African Americans and the communities we serve in any and every way possible!”

Recognizing the strength and importance of the Black Press, honorees accepted their awards while acknowledging the significant role

CBC Members Congresspersons William Lacy Clay (DMO) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) (center) were two of ten Congresspersons honored for their bold action as members of the Financial Services Committee at the dinner.

They are flanked by Dorothy R. Leavell, NNPA Foundation Chairperson (left) and Danny J. Bakewell (right).

(Photo by Carole Geary)

Michael House, publisher of the Chicago Defender (left) was joined in presenting the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to 92-year-old Publisher Emeritus of The Miami Times Garth Reeves (center) by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Dorothy R. Leavell, NNPA Foundation Chairperson and NNPA Chair, Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. (Photo by Carole Geary) Black newspapers have played in telling their stories.

Rep. Maxine Waters (DCA), a member of the CBC Financial Services Committee, said she and her colleagues on Capitol Hill understand the power of the Black Press and applauded the publishers for the collective work they have been able to accomplish. “When we want to get a story out,” said Waters, “it is about getting that information to you.”

These are challenging times in urban communities.

And the role of the independent Black Press has never been more important.

Mrs. Leavell said it was “significant that tonight we honor one of our own in Garth Reeves, who at 92 is vibrant and is a role model

for all of us in the Black Press. Reeves said “it has been quite a ride (his years of publishing The Miami Times),” one in which there was no thought of doing anything else when taking over the reins from his father Henry S. Reeves. His daughter, Rachael Reeves is now the Publisher of the publication, who Reeves gave credit for new innovations and the success of the publication.

A surprise presentation of an award to Moses Brewer of MillerCoors Brewing Company was presented by Leavell, who said she wanted to make this award just in case she was not around when he finally decided to retire.

Brewer she said has been a supporter of the Black Press for many years.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

10

AfRICAN SCENE

Two towns fall, civilians killed in Ivory Coast war

By ANGE ABOA and TIM COCKS ABIDJAN — Forces loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara seized two major towns in the western cocoa belt in an offensive that is also picking up momentum in the east of the country.

In a sign of how bloody the West African state’s postelection conflict has become, forces loyal to Ouattara’s rival, incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, opened fire on civilians in Abidjan on Monday, killing about 10, the United Nations peacekeeping mission said in a statement.

Gbagbo’s camp was not immediately available for comment.

Witnesses and fighters from both sides of the conflict said on Tuesday that the former rebels, who have controlled northern Ivory Coast since the civil war of 2002-3, had seized the western town of Daloa from Gbagbo’s troops.

They also took Duekoue, further to the west. Both

towns potentially open up a route to the major exporting port of San Pedro and the area they now control produces about 600,000 tons of cocoa a year, half of Ivory Coast’s output.

San Pedro ships out about that amount each year.

In an escalation of fighting that had previously been limited to Abidjan and the far west, pro-Ouattara forces have also made progress in the far east of the country, marching south near the Ghana border.

A violent dispute over last November’s presidential election that U.N.-certified results showed Ouattara won, but which Gbagbo refuses to concede, has rekindled the civil war it was meant to finally end. Heavy fighting has rocked Abidjan and across much of a northsouth ceasefire line.

Up to one million Ivorians have now fled fighting in the main city of Abidjan alone, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Others have been uprooted across the country and at least 112,000 have crossed into Liberia to the west.

Cocoa futures were lower on Tuesday, down 3.3 percent in London at 1346 GMT, as the market closely watched conflict which has pushed them to 30-year highs in past months.

A source in the pro-Gbagbo military said Daloa and Duekoue had fallen, but fighting continued in parts of Duekoue. “The combat was very violent in Daloa the whole night, but we couldn’t keep our positions ... It has fallen into rebel hands.”

The former rebels, now part of the FRCI, the officially recognized Ivorian army, also seized Bondoukou in the east, near the Ghana border, and pushed south, reaching the town of Agnibilekrou unhindered, witnesses said.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission complained that FRCI fighters in Duekoue had fired on one of its reconnaissance helicopters. They have been targeted by Gbabgo’s forces, never by Ouattara’s.

Daloa is sympathetic to Ouattara and Duekoue is mixed, yet many of the areas surrounding them are hostile and teeming with pro-

Gbabgo militias, which could make the march south tough.

Still, the new fronts have moved quickly, so far.

“These places seem to be falling quickly. You would have thought they had better forces, fighters that wouldn’t give up,” said a diplomat following the situation.

Unlike the last war, when French peacekeepers stepped in at Duekoue to stop the rebels advancing on San Pedro, world powers are this time furious with Gbabgo for torpedoing the peace process by rejecting the election results.

All recognize Ouattara as president and diplomats say they are therefore unlikely to hinder the former rebels’ advance.

“The rebels are patrolling everywhere in pick-ups,” said Daloa resident and cocoa farmer Abdoulaye Timite.

“No farmers are going out to tend the plantations. They ransacked the local Gbagbo party office. They were applauded by the population,” Timite added.

Fear gripped the town of

Bouafle as residents anticipated the rebels advancing east toward the capital, Yamoussoukro.

“After the new attack on Daloa, lots of people are scared and are leaving Bouafle,” said Abi Cissokon, a resident.

“Lots of shops have closed today. We don’t see any gendarmes in town. Some people are heading to bus station with their bags,” Cissokon added.

Ouattara remains holed up in a lagoon-side Abidjan hotel.

The U.N. report of more civilians killed adds to a tally of 462 confirmed deaths since the crisis begin. Rights groups say crimes against humanity may have already been committed.

The world body is also investigating allegations that 200 African nationals — from Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea and Togo — were killed near Guiglo, southwest of Duekoue.

State television has been whipping up hatred by accusing West African foreigners of being behind the rebellion.

Up to 1,000 refugees Libya woman ‘being sued by her alleged attackers’ from Libya, Tunisia

A policemen guards would-be immigrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

ROME — Around 1,000 refugees from Libya and Tunisia arrived on several boats on the Italian islands of Sicily and Lampedusa early Tuesday, the Italian coast guard said.

The first group of around 500 arrived on a 115 foot fishing boat which washed up on the rocks soon after midnight on the southern coast of Sicily.

The immigrants, mostly Eritreans and Somalis fleeing unrest in Libya, were transferred to safety in small craft,

the coast guard said.

Three other boats carrying around 450 people arrived at Lampedusa, the small Italian island which has drawn around 20,000 immigrants.

The first boat carried 190 immigrants, mostly Eritreans while the other two carried Tunisians.

An Italian navy vessel picked up 827 refugees from Lampedusa and took them to the southern Italian port of Taranto in an attempt to relieve the pressure on the island.

TRIPOLI — A Libyan woman who said she had been raped by pro-government militiamen is being sued for slander for naming her alleged attackers.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said the woman, Eman al-Obaidi, faced court action because she had publicly named the men she accused of raping her.

“In Islam this is very serious when you accuse someone of a sexual crime,” said Ibrahim. “She named the accused publicly and they are suing her.”

Obaidi burst into a hotel full of foreign journalists in Tripoli Saturday and told

them, weeping, that she had been held for two days and raped by 15 militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

After being intimidated and subdued by security men and hotel staff, who also beat journalists trying to interview her in the hotel restaurant, Obaidi was bundled into a car and driven away.

Her allegations have not been independently verified.

The government said Sunday that Obaidi had been released and she was with her family.

Obaidi’s mother said she had been asked to convince her daughter to retract the

allegations in return for her freedom and cash or a new home.

Her mother, Aisha Ahmad, told journalists she had been contacted by the authorities about her daughter and how she could be freed.

“Last night at 3, they called from Gaddafi’s compound and asked me to convince my daughter Eman to change what she said, and we will set her free immediately and you can take anything you and your children would ask for,” she said, according to Britain’s Sky News, which broadcast her interview with an English translation late Monday.

S.African hospitals losing ambulances to theft CAPE TOWN — Hospital thieves have walked off with items ranging from ambulances to bed linen, costing South Africa more than $2 million, the health minister said Tuesday.

Most of the 16 million rand ($2.3 million, 1.7 million euros) in theft has occurred in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, where the bill for missing items at hospitals

and clinics comes to more than 13 million rand, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said in a written reply to a parliamentary question.

The North West province reported four ambulances, 10 computers, linen and medical equipment stolen.

Motsoaledi said computers and medical equipment were some of the most commonly stolen items. He did not give

details on when the thefts occurred in the public health system, which already struggles to cope with demand.

Patients and staff were among those responsible, Motsoaledi said.

11

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

‘

CARIBBEAN NEwS

Jamaica to name terrorists

By DOUGLAS MCINTOSH KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s senate has approved amendments to the Terrorism Prevention Act, to allow the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to list persons or entities as terrorists, following the approval of the Supreme Court.

The Bill, titled the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2011, was passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday March 22 and in the Senate on Friday March 25.

It seeks to establish the legislative framework to facilitate implementation of

special recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body linked to the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD), which develops policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Justice Minister and Attorney General, Dorothy Lightbourne, who piloted the Bill, said that the amendments will affect sections 14 and 16 of the Terrorism Prevention Act, to empower the DPP to apply to the Supreme Court for an order to list persons or entities as terrorist threats.

This is based either on a list issued under the United Nations National Security Resolution 1267, or if the DPP has reasonable grounds to believe that such persons or entities participated in terrorist acts.

The amendments are also intended to clarify and expand on the obligations for financial institutions to report on unusual or suspicious transactions. explained Lightbourne that the substantive Act defines terrorism as inclusive of activities by persons recruited to commit terrorist acts, as well as participation in the activities of a terrorist group. It also lists a range of

issues relative to terrorism financing, ranging from the prohibition of funding for terrorist acts to the monitoring of financial institutions to ensure that they do not deal with any entity with a terrorist designation.

The UN Security Council monitors member states’ implementation of Resolution 1373, by requiring that countries submit reports to a committee established under this protocol. Jamaica will submit a country report next month.

Lightbourne said that, by virtue of the amendments, Jamaica was now in a position to more effectively comply with the FATF’s special recommendations. The Task Force conducts regular evaluations of countries, to ensure that they adhere to international standards per-

Justice Minister and Attorney General Dorothy Lightbourne taining to money laundering and terrorism financing.

Jamaica underwent a similar evaluation in 2005.

Economic recovery will be painful, says Barbados finance minister

By JULIE WILSON BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Even though the island’s economy is showing modest signs of growth in some sectors, Barbados Minister of Finance, Chris Sinckler, has reiterated that overall economic recovery will be slow and painful.

He made this observation last week, while addressing a Barbados International Business Association’s (BIBA) luncheon.

The finance minister said that provisional data on Barbados’ economy showed growth of 0.3 percent last year, after recording a contraction of 4.7 percent in 2009. Additionally, there were also positive signs of expansion in the tourism sector, and the net international reserves at the end of 2010 stood at $1.4 billion, which was enough to cover 20 weeks of imports.

There was also marginal growth in non-sugar agriculture, while the international

business and the financial services sector continued to struggle despite increased company registrations in 2010.

Despite these modest milestones, he pointed out that the island’s economy was linked to its international trading partners and growth would only occur when their economies showed signs of progress.

“Our recovery, not unlike that of our major trading partners, has, and will continue to be, slow, painful and

dotted with periods of bad news and some uncertainty.

Let us not romanticise ourselves about our own abilities to procure economic expansion in Barbados... The cold hard reality is that given our heavy dependence on the international economy, economic growth, or decline as it were in Barbados, is inextricably linked to the fortunes of our major trading partners. When they grow, we grow. When they decline, we decline as well,” Sinckler said.

The finance minister acknowledged that, despite text book theorising on fiscal restraint, governments

would have little or no choice but to “engage fiscal expansion if it is to have any hope of keeping the very fabric of its communities together”.

He added, “The question, to my mind, is not if it will be done, it is when, and to what extent. Even more importantly, at what time are we going to set a course to pull back from such necessary adventures?”

Sinckler advised technocrats to see the recessionary period as an opportunity to forge a new platform for structural reform in the economy and not just settle for the small gains in an expanded GDP.

Turks and Caicos civil servants Trinidad minister says PSC chairman approve pension reform PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — According to an unsigned document sent by the Civil Service Association (CSA) to the Turks and Caicos Islands interim administration, the CSA agrees with the proposed reform of government pensions, which in many cases will reduce the income of retired civil servants.

The CSA document supports the point made by the Permanent Secretaries in their widely distributed letter to the CSA that only one pension should be paid to retired government employees, not two. The minor qualification the CSA document makes is for retirees to be given three months notice before their government pension is eliminated, “to rearrange their finances.”

The need for redundancies was also addressed by the

Permanent Secretaries who, in their letter, spoke about a “padded” and unaffordable civil service.

The CSA document refrains from taking issue with the need for layoffs (redundancies) among civil service employees. The issue of redundancies is not addressed in any portion of the CSA-authored document.

In paragraph 1(b) of the document, the CSA blames a reduction in customs duties paid by the entire population as being the cause for the 10 percent civil services pay cut, seemingly asking that such duties be restored to their former levels for the civil servants’ benefit.

In paragraph 1(a), the CSA asks that the refund of $7 million of the monies paid to set up the special investigative and prosecution team be used to refund the 10 percent

civil service pay cut. This CSA demand, however, would accomplish only a one time partial repayment and not restore the pay scales to their former levels.

Taken in total, the CSA document entitled “Demands/Proposals to the Administration” does not seem to give rise to any reason for a work stoppage of the type engaged in by some civil servants last week.

This then paints the shutdown of the Providenciales International Airport and some government functions last week as an unjustified, unofficial strike.

While most islanders hold CSA president Dr Rufus Ewing responsible for last week’s strike, at a press conference he later denied calling the “sick-out” strike.

However, he also called in sick.

should resign over racist remarks PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — Popular Trinidad and Tobago Works Minister, Jack Warner, said he is disappointed with Nizam Mohammed, chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), over a racial statement he made.

Warner told the Express newspaper that the statement would negatively affect the government and he (Mohammed) should resign.

Warner said, “I am very disappointed in him. I know the guy well. I’m disappointed in him. He has done disservice to the government and to the party by his conduct. I expect that my colleagues will deal with this matter, but this hasn’t done us very well at all as a gov-

ernment.”

Last Friday, Mohammed, at the Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) meeting, said records from the Police Service show there were more people of African ethnicity in leadership position as opposed to their East Indian colleagues.

He went further to say that the PSC, with the help of the Parliament, intended to change such, since there must be an “ethnic balance” within the service to ensure equality of treatment.

Warner said, “I would have thought that a man of his stature would have been more circumspect. If I were in his position and I had done that, I would have resigned.”

New American

The

14 12

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 201130, 2011

One Thought - One Humanity

For the conclusions of these stories check out the March 24th - March 30th, 2011 issue of The New American, which hits newsstands every Thursday TV Land has given a series order to comedy “The Exes” series (working title) starring “Scrubs” veteran Donald Faison, and “Happily Divorced,” which features “Martin” alum Tichina Arnold. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “The Exes” on three centers divorced men who live together in an apartment across the hall from their divorce attorney.

Wayne Knight, David Alan Basche and Kristen Johnston also star in the project. “Happily Divorced” stars Fran Drescher in her first TV vehicle since the “The Nanny.” It’s based on her real life and centers on L.A. florist Fran (Drescher) as she deals with dating after finding out her realtor husband of 18 years (John Michael Higgins) is gay. Tichina Arnold is joined by Rita Moreno in the supporting cast.

Slim Thug is facing legal action from a man who claims the rapper assaulted him during a business meeting.

Clarence Evans is suing the Hip-Hop star and his affiliate Raymond Thomas II over allegations he was “suddenly and without warning” struck in the face with a pistol, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Texas. Evans alleges the I Run hit-maker, real name Stayve Jerome Thomas, then ordered his associates to take his money. The lawsuit states: “Defendants participated in the attack and directed the other attendees of the business meeting to attack Plaintiff and steal any money Plaintiff had in his pockets at the time. As a result of the intentional and reckless acts and/or omissions of Defendants, Plaintiff suffered severe injuries and damages.” Evans is

seeking an undisclosed amount for medical charges, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical disability and disfigurement Rihanna covers Vogue’s April ‘Shape Issue’ with her fiery red ‘do, and inside the prominent fashion glossy the 23-year-old opens up about her career, body, father and her sprawling new 12-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills.

The Bajan songstress revealed that she had been eyeing the pad since April 2010, but took the time to shop around before coming to a final decision. “I looked steady for two years, and it is way above the price I was looking for, but I loved it,” she told Vogue, before detailing the house’s interior. “It is all white,” she said.

“There is a gun chandelier in the middle of the living room. In one room, I have this huge black-and-white painting of Bob Marley, and the wallpaper is green, yellow, and red, the African-flag colors.”

Rihanna’s Loud tour is struggling to make some noise in the U.S. the singer has reportedly been urged to axe concerts due to poor ticket sales.

The Umbrella hit-maker was forced to scrap a string of dates on her Last Girl On Earth Tour last year following disappointing sales figures.

B.o.B. appeared in his first Adidas commercial back in July 2010, to the backdrop of his single ‘Magic, a track from his debut album ‘B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray.’ Now the ATL rapper has resurfaced in the sneaker giant’s latest international campaign. The new Adidas “All In” commercial features a series of sport clips,

spliced with footage of the pop star taking the stage in front of a live crowd. But this time, instead of B.o.B.’s music, the ad is set to ‘Civilization,’ the new single from French electro group Justice.

The song will debut on their forthcoming album, due in April.

Kelly Price may have made a gospel album in the past but the soulful songstress is returning to her R&B roots with a new album. The New York native is gearing up for the release of ‘Kelly,’ an effort set to feature production from the likes of Warryn Campbell, Shep Crawford, Jazz Nixon and Lawrence Waddell.

The forthcoming LP, Kelly’s sixth to date, has already spawned two singles: the emotional ballad ‘Tired’ and the Stokley Williams’assisted ‘Not My Daddy.’ Price’s work with the Mint Condition member on the latter track was a natural one.

Author, curator and legendary publicist Bill Adler recently revealed that several items from his vast collection of Hip Hop artifacts are on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Barbara London’s “Looking At Music” series, presently dedicated to 1980s music culture in the city, includes artifacts and visual references to Public Enemy, Afrika Bambaataa and RunDMC. According to his blog on MoMA’s website, the items came from Adler’s personal collection. Throughout the ‘00s, Bill owned and operated the Eyejammie Gallery in Midtown Manhattan. He has also written an authorized biography on RunDMC, Tougher Than Leather.

Wiz Khalifa: ‘Rolling Papers’ about ‘growth and development’

By CLAYTON PERRY Wiz Khalifa is a Pittsburgh emcee that is determined to make an impact on the hip-hop scene. Not only does he want to be a gamechanger on the music side of the equation, but he plans to influence the overall culture, too.

After releasing nine mixtapes, his agenda is off to a great start – following the massive success of “Black and Yellow,” a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 and the “unofficial” anthem of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

On March 29, 2011, Wiz Khalifa is set to release his major-label debut, Rolling Papers (via Atlantic Records), which follows two independent efforts (via Rostrum Records): 2006’s Show and Prove and 2009’s Deal or No Deal. In the midst of a promotional campaign for Rolling Papers, Wiz Khalifa managed to squeeze some time out his busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry – reflecting on his love for hip-hop, the importance of mixtapes, and the support of his mentor, Eric “E. Dan” Dan. Clayton Perry: Although many mainstream music lovers were introduced to you via “Black and Yellow,” we both know that your career was anything but an overnight success. What are some of the early challenges and obstacles that you are proud to say you have overcome?

Wiz Khalifa: Well, you know, everything is added onto where I’m at right now; all that I’ve been through as far as other labels or sit-

uations. And it wasn’t anything bad.

It’s just what was necessary for me as an artist to go through to learn how to work for myself and how to do for myself and to get to where I am at this point today. Mainly just the work that I’ve been through and the different things that I’ve been through have just made me smarter, and it really didn’t affect me in a negative way, but more just in a positive way.

CP: Four years after the release of your debut album, Show and Prove, what exactly do you want to “show and prove” to the world?

WK: I really just want to show them the extent that my music goes.

A lot of people might just get to the surface of it. But anybody who is interested enough to try to find out exactly what I do and understand why my fans are as serious as they are, I invite them to fully be a part of the whole movement and experience it and have as much fun as everybody’s been having.

CP: At what point did you realize that music was going to be the center of your personal and professional lives?

WK: Really, around the time

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14

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

ENTERTAINmENT

Beyonce no longer managed by father, Mathew Knowles

By GIL KAUFMAN Artists cut ties with managers all the time. But when your shot-caller is your dad and he’s helped you climb the ladder of fame to the very top, things can be a bit trickier.

After years of rumors, Beyoncé confirmed on Monday that she is parting ways with the man who helped make her an international pop diva: dad Mathew Knowles. According to CNN, the split was amicable and both sides said it was a mutual decision. “I’ve only parted ways with my father on a business level,” Beyoncé, 29, said in a statement released on Monday. “He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly. I am grateful for everything he has taught me ... I grew up watching both he and my mother manage and own their own businesses. They were hardworking entrepreneurs and I will continue to follow in their footsteps.”

Mathew Knowles began managing Beyoncé’s career when she was a teenager and shepherded her through her

mega-success with Destiny’s Child in the late 1990s and into her even bigger career as a solo artist, which has garnered her 16 Grammy

Awards and millions in sales for her three post-DC albums. Her mother, Tina, is Beyoncé’s stylist and is heavily involved in their clothing

line, House of Dereon.

“The decision for Beyoncé and Music World Entertainment to part was mutual,” Mathew Knowles said in a separate statement also released on Monday. “We did great things together, and I know that she will continue to conquer new territories in music and entertainment.”

It was not announced who would take over management duties for Beyoncé, but Knowles said his record label would instead focus on gospel and inspirational artists. “Business is business and family is family,” Knowles continued. “I love my daughter and am very proud of who she is and all that she has achieved. I look forward to her continued great success.”

Among the artists who are listed on the Music World Entertainment site are Juanita Bynum, From Above, Pastor Rudy, the Bamaz, Beyoncé’s younger sister, Solange, and Trin-I-Tee 5:7.

Knowles also used to manage former Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, but they parted ways with him, respectively, in 2009 and

2010.

Mathew and Tina Knowles divorced in 2009 after 29 years of marriage. Beyoncé is reportedly close to finishing work on the follow-up to 2008’s I Am ... Sasha Fierce, which could include contributions from Sia and Sleigh Bells, along with Ne-Yo, S1, Jim Jonsin, Sean “The Pen” Garrett, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart.

BEYONCE DOESN’T USE TWITTER EVEN WITH A MILLION FOLLOWERS Twitter has proven to be one of the best entities to get celebrity opinions and updates, but for Beyonce lovers, it’s a different story.

In recent reports, it’s been discovered that she has reached 1 million Twitter followers, however, the singer has never shared a single Tweet since the account has been opened.

Interesting, right?

Even with that information, it’s still unclear whether or not Bey will begin to actually use her Twitter account.

Although some are whispering that she may start tweeting closer to the release date of her upcoming album later in the year.

Rapper Rick Ross Oprah dodges $100M suit over fattest president arrested for marijuana

By ERIQ GARDNER

Rapper Rick Ross was arrested and booked with possession of marijuana in Louisiana after being caught with one gram of the drug in a hotel room, police said on Monday.

Ross, 35, whose real name is William Roberts but adopted a stage name inspired by former Los Angeles drug dealer Ricky Ross, was caught with marijuana on Friday at the Hilton Hotel in Shreveport, Louisiana, police spokesman Bill Goodin said.

Police responded to a citizen’s complaint about “an odor of marijuana” coming from the Florida rapper’s hotel room, Goodin said.

Another man with Ross in the hotel was arrested for possessing eight grams of the drug.

The rapper, whose albums include “Port of Miami,” “Teflon Don” and “Deeper than Rap,” was charged with one count of a first

offense of possession of marijuana and was released from jail on a misdemeanor summons.

In the past the rapper, whose lyrics have bragged of a cash-fueled, drug boss life, has dealt with image problems after it was revealed he had once worked as a corrections officer, an occupation that jars with the hustling image of some rappers, including Ross.

Ross initially denied the reports, then admitted it but maintained his drug-dealing tales of the street were true.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has tossed out an author’s $100 million lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey for violating the copyright in the political booklet, “How America Elects Her Presidents.”

Charles Harris claimed in a lawsuit that in 2008, as Winfrey began supporting Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, Harris sent 10 copies of his booklet to “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in hopes of gaining publicity.

He followed up with several inquiries. Harris got no response, but according to the complaint, on the February 16, 2009 show, Winfrey allegedly read aloud exact questions that were included in the book. Harris wanted more than $100 million for alleged copyright infringement.

Winfrey filed a motion to dismiss, seeking sanctions for a frivolous lawsuit, saying that had the plaintiff obtained a public transcript

of the show in question, he would have realized that the talk show host didn’t read Harris’ “exact same questions” aloud with the arguable exception of one: “Which one of our presidents weighed the most?”

During the episode, titled “Oprah’s Search For The Smartest and Most Talented Kids,” she brought children on set, including one sixyear-old named Graham who she said was a “first grade whiz kid who knows more about American presidents than most adults.”

Oprah and Graham joshed about various presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama, before the talk show queen queried the kid about the heaviest president. Graham correctly answered it was William Howard Taft at 327 pounds.

Winfrey’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit said Harris’ lawyers should have known that facts about American presidents are not copyrightable. A compilation of facts based on the selection and arrangement can be copyrightable, but Winfrey pointed out that Harris didn’t register his work as a compilation, and it lacked originality, among other things.

U.S. District Court Judge Jan DuBois agreed that Harris’ work is “not original,” and that Winfrey’s use of the Fat Taft fact, even if she did learn it from Harris’ book, was not an infringement.

The judge, however, determined that the plaintiff’s claims were made with reasonable good faith under the circumstance, and declined to award sanctions.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

15

NEw JERSEY

Trenton man admits role in beating, stabbing death of 84-year-old community activist

By LISA CORYELL TRENTON — Downplaying his role as much as possible, a 20-year-old city man pleaded guilty Monday to felony murder in the beating and stabbing of beloved community activist Jerry Eure Sr. in 2007.

William Bethea will be sentenced to 45 to 50 years for his role in the savage attack on the 84-year-old retired state worker and former Tuskegee airman during a home invasion on Nov. 13, 2007.

Eure’s bloodied body was found in his Edgewood Avenue home a day later, hours after his stolen car was found abandoned in a city lot. His cell phone, a laptop computer and $600 in cash were taken as well.

As his tearful mother looked on Monday, Bethea tried to tell the court that his cousin Anthony Bethea, who lived next door to Eure, was the one who beat, stabbed and slashed the

elderly man’s throat.

William Bethea said he’d been robbing items in another room and had no idea Eure was being murdered.

“When I left he was still moving,” he said. “I thought he was going to be all right.

I thought he’d get up. I didn’t know he’d been stabbed that bad.”

In a videotaped confession played in court last year, Anthony Bethea alleged that his cousin had asked for a knife so he could stab Eure.

Assistant Prosecutor Brian McCauley stopped the hearing and said he would not accept William Bethea’s plea unless he took responsibility for the murder.

“I promised Mr. Eure’s family that the least I would do is get him to admit his involvement,” McCauley said later.

“They’ve been through a lot and I wanted to make sure they got that satisfaction.”

Later, under questioning from his defense attorney,

William Bethea admitted he and his cousin had entered Eure’s home to steal his car and that his cousin had a pole that he planned to use to beat the victim.

He said he knew his cousin was inflicting a fatal beating on the elderly man and that he left the house knowing Eure would die.

Last fall Anthony Bethea, 20, pleaded guilty to felony murder and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Both men must serve 85 percent of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole.

The Bethea cousins were charged with Eure’s murder after police tracked the dead man’s cell phone to William Bethea and the pair confessed.

The men said they broke into Eure’s home to steal his car because it was raining and cold outside and they didn’t want to walk the streets that night.

Eure’s daughter Sherrie Eure-Washington was out of town yesterday and did not

attend the hearing.

During a phone interview she said Bethea’s guilty plea is a relief to her family.

“It gives us the opportunity to avoid reliving this horrific incident through a full-blown trial,” she said.

“We certainly would have preferred that he received a life sentence, but 45 to 50 years is acceptable.”

Eure-Washington said she struggles with understanding why her father had to die that night.

“Why couldn’t they just knock him out, take the car keys and go out the back door,” she said.

“The thoughts just race through your head when you think about what your father went through.”

By all accounts Eure was a beloved family man well known for his political activism, charitable work and faith in God. In the past he’d hired Anthony Bethea to cut his lawn.

“I am hoping when William Bethea is sentenced and all this is over, it will

Jerry Eure Sr.

William Bethea give us closure and peace and our family can start to put this behind us,” EureWashington said.

Bethea is scheduled for sentencing on April 26.

School district plans to lay off, privatize 181 bus drivers, custodians, aides

By MEIR RINDE TRENTON — The school district plans to lay off 181 bus drivers, custodians and personal aides this summer and privatize their functions as acting superintendent Raymond Broach shifts more spending into instruction in an effort to boost student performance.

Broach said the union for the 129 custodial staffers who could lose their jobs will have a chance to propose salary, benefit and staffing concessions to prevent privatization, but said the district must find substantial savings one way or another.

“We’re going to meet with them to see if we can avoid privatizing them out, and to see if we can talk within the means fiscally of the school board to be able keep them,” Broach said yesterday.

The layoff plan met with outrage at a school board meeting last night that was packed with affected employees. Custodian union president Vincent Pucciatti argued the layoffs would hurt Trenton residents and reduce the quality of maintenance, while benefiting a

corporate contractor that would bring in lower-paid workers.

In a blistering speech, school board member Toby Sanders said he vehemently opposed the layoffs.

“I am not in favor of this,” he said, in response to a suggestion that the board had recommended the privatization. “We all are fatigued by people at the bottom of the pyramid taking the weight of the cuts.”

District employees also said they were disturbed by the speed of the budget approval and the lack of opportunities for meaningful public input. District officials said they received their aid figures Feb. 24 and were required to submit a provisional budget to the state March 4, though it may still be possible to adjust some numbers within the budget.

The district aims cut its $8.5 million custodial budget by $4.4 million, school business administrator Jayne Howard said.

Outsourcing about 30 bus driver, bus aide and related positions will allow the district to cut $2 million in spending from the district’s

$7.8 million transportation program while reforming a busing operation plagued with hiring difficulties, absenteeism and vehicle maintenance costs, officials said.

In addition, 22 paraprofessional aides who attend to students with medical or other issues would see their positions privatized for a savings of $600,000, Howard said.

The moves extend an outsourcing trend at the district as it copes with an ongoing freeze in its state funding, pressure to operate more efficiently and increasing enrollment at charter

schools, which draw their budgets from the district.

Two years ago Trenton laid off 168 cafeteria workers, some of whom were offered jobs by the district’s new food service provider, Aramark. Last year it laid off 85 security guards and hired Bowles Corporate Services to staff a smaller non-unionized force.

Broach is planning the cuts despite a temporary budget boost. The district has $7.5 million in federal education jobs aid it received last year but did not spend, as well as a $3.4 million surplus from the 2009-2010 school year, Howard said.

The proposed $295.6 million spending plan for 20112012 represents a substantial increase from this year’s $283 million budget.

The superintendent said much of money will go toward increases in contractual salaries and benefits, insurance and utilities.

But he also wants to put more money into teacher training, a bolstered reading program, school restructurings, bilingual services, and other areas that will help students perform better in class and remove schools from the “In need of improvement” classification under federal testing standards.

Fort Lee police left teenagers in van overnight without food or water, boy alleges FORT LEE — A group of teenage boys were allegedly left in a van by Fort Lee police overnight after cops broke up a rowdy house party, according to a report on NorthJersey.com.

Adam Kim, 17, says a group of minors were

brought to police headquarters after the party was stopped around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. While some of the teenagers were brought into the building, the rest were left in the van for more than 14 hours without anything to eat or drink, the report said.

Borough attorney Lee Cohen refused to confirm or deny the teenagers had been left in the van without supervision or police acknowledgment.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

16

HEAlTH fORum

Reliable? Heart studies often exclude the elderly

By ERICA WESTLY The vast majority of heart failure cases occur in adults aged 65 and older, but a report out today found that a large number of clinical trials studying the disease exclude older patients, often unnecessarily.

That means most of the treatments being developed for the condition have not been tested on the patient population who will be taking the drugs.

“It has been more than twenty years since regulatory agencies have been trying to include more older people in clinical trials, but the situation doesn’t seem to

be changing much,” Dr. Antonio Cherubini, a geriatrician at the University of Perugia Medical School in Italy, told Reuters Health.

Heart failure affects more than five million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. The condition occurs when the heart has difficulty pumping blood throughout the body and symptoms include fatigue and shortness of breath.

Forty-three percent of the 251 heart failure trials analyzed by Cherubini and his collaborators excluded the elderly without proper justification, the authors conclude in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

A quarter of the evaluated studies excluded older patients based on age alone, a practice that the American Geriatrics Society and other groups have been working to phase out for years. Other trials excluded the elderly indirectly by rejecting patients who have multiple diseases or take multiple medications.

For example, about 20 percent of the studies excluded patients already taking more than one drug, which would rule out more than 75 percent of Americans over the age of 60, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Leaving older patients

out of clinical trials can have serious implications.

Several studies have shown that taking multiple medications and suffering from other disorders—the very criteria that get the elderly excluded from clinical studies—can affect disease and drug symptoms response.

“Older patients are not the same as younger patients,” said Dr. Nicola Hanania, a lung specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who specializes in asthma, another disease that experts say is understudied in older adults.

“We’re not really doing these patients any favors by not looking at these issues,”

Hanania, who was not involved in the new study, told Reuters Health. “I hate to say the word ignored, but that’s really what it is.”

The need for more clinical study of older patients will only grow as life expectancy increases. The US Census Bureau has projected that, by 2030, the number of Americans over 65 will double and the population over 85 will quadruple.

“The elderly are difficult to include in clinical trials because they have so many ongoing problems,” said Cherubini. “That’s why we need specific trials that are designed for older subjects.

The science needs to adapt to them.”

Less stress, better sleep may help you lose weight

By STEVEN REINBERG If you’re looking to lose those extra pounds, you should probably add reducing stress and getting the right amount of sleep to the list, say researchers from Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland.

In fact, although diet and exercise are the usual prescription for dropping pounds, high stress and too little sleep (or too much of it) can hinder weight loss even when people are on a diet, the researchers report.

“We found that people who got more than six but less than eight hours of sleep, and who reported the lowest levels of stress, had the most success in a weight-loss program,” said study author Dr. Charles Elder.

Elder speculates if you are sleeping less or more than recommended and if your stress levels are high, you will not be able to focus on making behavioral changes.

These factors may also have a biological impact, he added.

“If you want to lose weight, things that will help you include reducing stress and getting the right amount of sleep,” Elder said.

The report, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is published in the March 29 online edition of the International Journal of Obesity.

In this two-step trial, 472 obese adults were first counseled about lifestyle changes over a 26-week period. Rec-

ommendations included cutting 500 calories a day, eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains by following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet approach, and exercising at least three hours a week.

In addition, the researchers asked the participants questions about sleep time, depression, insomnia, screen time and stress.

During this part of the trial, the participants lost an average of almost 14 pounds.

The 60 percent of the participants who lost at least 10 pounds went on to take part in the next phase of the trial.

Those in the second phase of the trial continued their diet and exercise program.

Elder’s team found the right amount of sleep and stress reduction at the start of the trial predicted successful weight loss. Lower stress by itself predicted more weight loss during the first phase of the trial, they added.

Declines in stress and depression were also important in continuing to lose weight during both phases of the trial, as were exercise minutes and keeping food diaries, Elder’s group found.

Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said that “while we often tend to look at health one condition at a time, the reality is that health is best viewed holistically.”

“People who are healthy and vital tend to be healthy and vital not because of any one factor, but because of many. And the factors that

promote health — eating well, being active, not smoking, sleeping enough, controlling stress, to name a few —promote all aspects of health,” he added.

This study shows that people are more likely to lose weight when not impeded by sleep deprivation, stress or depression, he said.

“Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight probably could have said much the same from personal experience. Similarly, weight loss reduced stress and depression. This, too, is suggested by sense and common experience, as it is affirmed by the science reported here,” Katz said.

The important message is that weight loss should not be looked at with tunnel

vision, Katz said.

“Improving sleep may be as important to lasting weight control efforts as modifying diet or exercise.

Managing stress is about physical health, as well as mental health. This study encourages weight loss in a more holistic context,” he said.

Another study presented earlier this month at the American Heart Association scientific sessions held in Atlanta found that people of normal weight eat more when they sleep less.

Columbia University researchers discovered that sleep-deprived adults ate almost 300 calories more a day on average than those who got enough sleep. And the extra calories mostly

came from saturated fat, which can spell trouble for waistlines.

The researchers came to their conclusions — which should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal — after following 13 men and 13 women of normal weight.

They monitored the eating habits of the participants as they spent six days sleeping four hours a night and then six days sleeping nine hours a night (or the reverse).

“If sustained, the dietary choices made by people undergoing short sleep could predispose them to obesity and increased risk of cardiovascular disease,” the researchers wrote in an American Heart Association news release.

Study sees 42 disease clusters in 13 states WASHINGTON — There are 42 so-called disease clusters in 13 U.S. states, showing incidence of numerous types of cancer, birth defects and other chronic illnesses, the Natural Resources Defense Council reported.

A study by NRDC and the National Disease Clusters Alliance, drawn from research by federal, state and local officials and peerreviewed academic studies, urges federal coordination and support to help confirm these clusters and determine their causes.

“The faster we can identify such clusters, and the sooner we can figure out the causes, the better we can protect residents living in

the affected communities,” NRDC’s Dr. Gina Solomon, co-author of the study, said in a statement.

The study looked at clusters that have occurred since 1976 when Congress passed the Toxic Substance Control Act, which was meant to regulate the use of toxic chemicals in industrial, commercial and consumer products.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control defines a cluster investigation as “a review of an unusual number, real or perceived, of health events (such as reports of cancer) grouped together in a time and location.”

The study is the first of

several that are planned. It examined clusters in Texas, California, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas.

Only one of the 42 clusters — in Libby, Montana — showed a specific source for chemical contamination: asbestos. In the other clusters, NRDC saw signs that documented exposure to toxic chemicals hurt the people who lived nearby.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on disease clusters and environmental health.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

17

HEAlTH fORum

Study: Radiation from airport scanners very low

By JULIE STEENHUYSEN CHICAGO — Airport scanners are an “extremely low” source of radiation exposure that poses virtually no health risk, not even to frequent air travelers, U.S. researchers said.

The study may help ease fears of uneasy travelers already spooked by reports of radiation leaking from the crippled nuclear plants in Japan.

“There is such a vast difference between super-low doses of radiation and the really high doses that happen if you are in the middle of a nuclear accident,” said Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a radiology professor at the University of California, San Francisco, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“Because they are all called radiation, we are tempted to put them all in the same category. That is a mistake.”

She said the nuclear crisis in Japan has heightened fear about radiation, but she said

Transportation Security Administration employees participate in a demonstration of new body scanner software that uses a stick figure to represent the passenger being scanned, rather than an actual image of the person, at the TSA Systems Integration Facility at Washington’s Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. a person would have to get interview. more than 50 airport scans to Some travelers and airline get as much radiation expo- crews have expressed consure as one gets from a den- cerns about being repeatedly tal X-ray. exposed to radiation from the “When used properly, the body scanners, which the doses from these machines Transportation Security are extremely low,” Smith- Administration has deployed Bindman said in a telephone to detect banned items on

passengers.

Only one type of full-body airport scanner — the backscatter X-ray machine — expose individuals to ionizing radiation such as that used in common medical Xrays.

To estimate the risk from these machines, the team divided travelers into three groups: all flyers, frequent fliers and 5-year-old girls who are frequent fliers, because children are more sensitive to the effects of radiation.

They said of the total 750 million flights taken per year by 100 million passengers, there would be an additional six cancers over the course of their lifetimes. That is in addition to the 40 million cancers that would normally develop among people in a group this size.

For frequent fliers, people who fly 60 hours a week, there might be four extra cancers on top of the 600 extra cancers just from flying — which exposes people to more solar radiation — and 400,000 cancers that normally would occur over

their lifetime.

And for every 2 million 5year-old girls who travel one round-trip a week, going through the scanners would cause one additional cancer out of the 250,000 breast cancers that are set to occur in this group over their lifetimes.

Dr. Stephen Machnicki of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, who was not involved in the study, said the radiation from one of these scanners is less than what someone would get just by taking a cross-country flight.

“Hopefully it will help them to overcome their fears of going through the scanners, Machnicki said.

Smith-Bindman — who has published several studies on cancer risks from overuse of medical imaging — said the risk from airport scanners is trivial.

“If you compare it to a CT scan, you need to go through an airport scanner 200,000 times to be equivalent to the dose of one CT,” she said.

“I’d rather focus on getting rid of some of those CTs.”

Study: Marijuana may hasten mental decline in MS

By FREDERIK JOELVING Although medical marijuana has been legalized in many U.S. states, people with multiple sclerosis should think twice before they start using the drug routinely, researchers say.

In a small study published Monday, they found people with the nerve-damaging autoimmune disease did worse on a number of psychological tests if they were heavy marijuana smokers.

“In multiple sclerosis, you already have a group of patients who are cognitively impaired,” said Dr. Anthony Feinstein, who led the new work. “When you add marijuana to the mix, you might worsen those problems.”

Still, the study doesn’t prove that marijuana fuels mental decline, Feinstein said. And even if it does, some people might choose to live with that trade-off.

Many people with chronic diseases say the illegal drug helps relieve their symptoms, and a few studies have hinted that cannabis extracts might alleviate pain, spasticity and other problems in

multiple sclerosis (MS).

The disease gnaws away at the fatty sheath around nerve cells, which can cause severe symptoms like vision loss, numbness, tremors, muscle stiffness and mental changes.

According to the National MS Society, some 400,000 Americans have MS. Of those, about one in six smoke marijuana, Feinstein said, yet almost no research has looked at how it affects their minds.

“There are just no data on the topic,” Feinstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, told Reuters Health.

So he and his colleagues decided to compare the mental skills of two groups of 25 people with MS. One group was made up of regular marijuana users — the majority had smoked it daily for many years — and the other included only non-users.

The two groups were matched on age, stage and course of disease, education and other factors.

Nearly two-thirds of the marijuana smokers were classified as cognitively impaired based on a several psychological tests, such as information processing

speed and verbal memory (all taken at least 12 hours after the patients had last used marijuana).

By comparison, only a third of the non-users had similar mental impairment.

The effect was independent of other factors that might affect mental functioning - such as whether the participants drank alcohol or were depressed or anxious.

Still, short of running an actual experiment that administers the drug randomly to volunteers, it’s

impossible to prove that marijuana use was at the root of the lower mental performance seen in the regular pot smokers.

“It’s not really surprising,” said Dr. Shaheen Lakhan of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who also runs the non-profit Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation in Panorama City, California.

“It’s a long established observation that there are negative cognitive effects on cannabis users,” Lakhan said. “But I must say that

most MS patients that I am familiar with find that their pain and spasticity are very disturbing, and they might choose this as a priority.”

He added that there are several medications approved to treat MS symptoms, including muscle relaxants, though all have side effects.

Feinstein said people with MS should be careful about smoking marijuana, especially because the therapeutic benefits appear to be weak.

‘Surgeon enthusiasm’ may spur higher rates of back pain procedures “Surgeon enthusiasm” is a major reason why surgeons in some areas are more likely to recommend surgery for low back problems, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data on more than 50,000 low back surgeries performed in the province of Ontario, Canada, between 2002 and 2006.

As in the United States, Ontario has some significant area variations in spinal surgery rates.

The study found that surgeons in counties with higher

rates of spinal surgery were more likely to recommend surgery for back problems, meaning they had more enthusiasm. Spinal surgery rates were 20 percent higher in counties ranked in the top quarter of surgeon enthusiasm, compared with counties in the bottom quarter of surgeon enthusiasm.

Patient or family-doctor enthusiasm for back surgery had no effect on spinal surgery rates, nor did local differences in rates of degenerative spinal disease.

“Surgeon enthusiasm was found to be the dominant potentially modifiable factor influencing surgical rates,” wrote Dr. S. Samuel Bederman, of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues.

Other factors include the availability of MRI and patient age, sex and income.

“Strategies targeting surgeon practices may reduce regional variation in care and improve access disparities,” the researchers wrote in a journal news release.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

18

BuSINESS & TECHNOlOgY

Mobile wallets coming soon to U.S.? Keep waiting

By SINEAD CAREW and BARBARA LISTON ORLANDO, Florida — U.S. shoppers awaiting the day they can wave their cellphones at the check-out counter to buy everything from books to shoes should hang onto their wallets a while longer.

About a decade after they were dreamed up by engineers and marketers, mobile wallets are still far from commonplace in the United States, due in large part to a combination of industry infighting, consumer tastes and regulatory hurdles.

That has not stopped banks, phone makers and technology companies — fearful of being left behind — from trumpeting the concept.

At the annual CTIA wireless tradeshow last week, service providers such as Sprint Nextel, credit card networks like Visa Inc and card reader firms like Verifone Systems all talked up the promise of mobile wallets.

Manufacturers including HTC Corp and Nokia said they are ready to embed inexpensive chips into phones to make them work like credit cards. The card networks have been preparing services for phones for years and mobile network opera-

Consumer confidence slips from 3-year highs U.S. consumer confidence fell in March a month after hitting a three-year high as expectations about jobs and income growth worsened, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 63.4 in March from an upwardly revised 72.0 in February.

The median of forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters was for a reading of 65.0.

Forecasts ranged from 55.0 to 72.0.

“Rising gasoline prices, and a range of other uncertainties are taking a toll on the consumer,” said Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC World Markets in Toronto.

The expectations index slipped to 81.1 from 97.5, while consumers’ expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months hit the highest level since October 2008.

The present situation index rose to 36.9 from 33.8.

Consumers’ labor market assessment worsened. The “jobs hard to get” index rose

to 44.6 percent from 44.4 percent the month before, while the “jobs plentiful” index slipped to 4.4 percent from 4.9 percent.

The cutoff date for the consumer confidence survey was March 16.

Political uncertainty in the Middle East and North Africa, which has led to a rise in oil prices, has weighed on consumers.

Confidence may have been impacted by Japan’s devastating earthquake on March 11, which triggered a tsunami and nuclear crisis and roiled global markets.

Financial markets showed a muted reaction to the data, which followed a report last week showing U.S. consumer sentiment at its lowest level in more than a year as gasoline and food prices rose.

U.S. stock indexes were little changed.

Treasury prices were mostly stable, while the dollar fell slightly against the euro.

Global uncertainty and rising inflation also took a toll on German consumer sentiment, which fell for the first time in 10 months going into April.

tors are jumping in.

The industry-wide interest has created another problem: Everybody is now jockeying for a piece of the future.

Currently, credit card companies charge merchants transaction fees.

But other players in the future of mobile payments such as wireless operators AT&T Inc and phone makers from Research In Motion to Apple Inc are likely to demand a cut of sales as well.

This puts U.S. retailers in the uncomfortable position of possibly likely surrendering more from their margins.

“There are many people who want a piece of the pie and I don’t know how to make the pie bigger,” Dickson Chu, global head of new products for Citigroup, told Reuters after a panel at the conference.

“You’ve got a lot of pushing and shoving about what the business model is,” added James Anderson, MasterCard Worldwide vice president for mobile.

In the technology early-adopter culture of Japan, more than a fifth of the population is registered for mobile payments, according researcher Celent. Ser-

vices there included train ticket purchases by phone.

Pitching U.S. consumers on the benefits of the technology will be tougher.

“If the only thing that these new entrants are bringing to the market is another way to pay for stuff you already buy and their business model is to extract a piece of the transaction (fee), then it’s going to take a long time,” to become popular said Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.

Giving people reason to use the system appears to be part of the thinking behind Google Inc’s latest agreement with Citigroup and Mastercard to enable users of phones that run Google’s Android software to make payments, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources.

Automatically applying discount coupons, adding points to a shopper’s loyalty programs and delivering electronic receipts are some ideas that could work well, said David Talach, a vice president for Verifone Systems Inc. Verifone has also been linked to Google’s plans, according to the Jour-

nal.

Google and its partners are relatively late to test these types of systems. Last year, Visa Inc tested a similar system with several U.S. banks including Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co. The companies have said the system will be commercially available later this year.

Wireless, Verizon AT&T and T-Mobile USA also last year formed Isis, a mobile payment joint venture with the Discover Financial Services payment network.

Moreover, Google’s heavyweight status in Silicon Valley provides no assurance of success.

Gwenn Bezard, a research director of payments at consultancy Aite Group, said Google’s reported pilot is “one of the players among many others,” and that the company has stumbled in its other payments efforts: “Google hasn’t had much success with Google Checkout.”

Using the wireless network to pinpoint where a shopper is located and sending coupons for specific stores is an idea that Sprint Nextel is pursuing, said Steve Elfman, Sprint Nextel’s

president for networks.

Sprint would generate advertising revenue rather than a transaction fee, which Elfman said could turn into a big business in the next three years.

“Advertising is going to be the more important revenue stream,” he told Reuters. “When you can target advertising at a consumer where they are, it’s going to be very relevant.”

But despite the broad efforts across several sectors, some proponents of the system argued that perhaps it would take the galvanizing force of Apple Inc to push mobile payments into the mainstream.

Apple has yet to unveil a mobile wallet strategy. But if it does, as analysts widely expect, another point in its favor is the more than 160 million consumers who have already trusted Apple with their credit card details to use its iTunes music and app store.

“Apple is in a position to play a very strong role,” said CCS Insight analyst John Jackson.

“It could do it in a way that on the one hand shuts rivals out, but on the other hand, makes the market happen.”

Japan carmakers see return to full output taking time

By CHANG-RAN KIM and KENTARO SUGIYAMA TOKYO — Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. said it would be some time before they could return to full production after Japan’s devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami disrupted supplies to their plants.

With some 500 parts affected, a Toyota spokesman said it was impossible to say when production would resume in full. A source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the automaker had told its main suppliers not to expect production to restart until at least April 11 — exactly a

month from the quake.

All vehicle assembly has been halted at the 18 domestic factories that build Toyota and Lexus cars except for two plants that began producing a limited number of three hybrid models, including the Prius.

Meanwhile, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told workers at one of the company’s factories in the stricken northeast he wanted to bring the site back to full production levels by early June at the latest.

Speaking at an engine factory in the city of Iwaki, about 30 miles from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where workers are battling to control radiation leaks, Ghosn said he had no intention of closing the site, a Nissan spokesman said.

Ghosn said he wanted to have the factory ready to start production by the end of April and to resume full production in June, while keeping an eye on suppliers.

The No. 2 Japanese automaker earlier told Reuters it aimed to manufacture on a “normal process” basis, with deliveries to come from suppliers from midApril, but added that deliveries of some parts may take longer to return to normal.

The earthquake off Japan’s eastern coast damaged some assembly and parts factories in the northeastern region, causing an industrywide production loss of at least 400,000 vehicles to date in Japan.

Analysts expect the effect to ripple across overseas production and non-Japanese automak-

ers will also be hit as inventories of parts dry up in the coming months.

A spokesperson for Honda Motor Co. said that car production would be suspended until the end of the week and that the company was considering when it could re-start output.

Honda said it needed to examine when suppliers will able to resume deliveries of parts and what their inventory levels are. The company has suspended exports of parts.

Toshiyuki Shiga, Nissan’s chief operating officer and the chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, told the Wall Street Journal the auto industry should be able to get a full picture of the parts-supply network by mid-April.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

19

BuSINESS & TECHNOlOgY

Consumer morale ebbs, home prices near 2009 lows WASHINGTON — Consumer confidence fell in March as households worried about inflation, while home prices fell for the seventh straight month in January, pointing to a loss in momentum in the economy.

While rising energy prices and nervousness about the effects of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are eroding consumer sentiment and chipping away at economic growth, the impact is expected to be temporary. The recovery from remains on track, with the labor market showing some vibrancy.

“Underlying econom-

ic growth appears to be good and the job market has been providing of further signs improvement in recent months,” said Jim Baird, a partner at Plante Moran Financial Advisors Kalamazoo, Michigan.

“We are likely looking at a continuing pattern of ‘two steps forward, one step back’ in terms of the collective mood given the sources of uncertainty and risk that will not be easily resolved.”

The Conference Board said on Tuesday its overall index of consumer attitudes fell to 63.4 in March from 72.0 in Feb-

ruary. That was below economists’ expectations for drop to 65.0. gasoline Rising prices pushed consumer’s one-year inflation expectations to the highest since October 2008, indicating households expect general prices to continue rising over the next 12 months.

The cutoff date for the consumer confidence survey was March 16 and sentiment might have been impacted by devastating Japan’s earthquake on March 11, which triggered a tsunami and nuclear crisis and roiled global financial markets.

Amazon beats rivals to ‘music locker’ service

By PHIL WAHBA Amazon.com Inc. has beaten rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc by introducing an online “music locker” service that lets customers play songs they already own on many smartphones and computers.

Amazon’s Cloud Drive, announced on Tuesday, will let customers store music files on the company’s Web servers instead of their own hard drives and play them over an Internet connection directly from Web browsers and on phones running Google’s Android software.

The service may push Amazon into legal gray area. In 2007, EMI sued MP3tunes, which offered a similar service. Consumers are allowed to store music files on their own computers, but it is unclear whether they have that right when they use remote storage services offered by cloud computing.

Cloud Drive is a coup for Amazon, which beat Google and Apple into the new market. The two rivals were expected to launch their ser-

vices at the end of last year.

The service is part of Amazon’s plan to be a bigger player in the digital content business and reduce its reliance on the sales of CDs and books.

“They don’t have leadership in digital formats,” said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis. “The next big race is locker services — that’s what we want.”

Gillis said he expected Google to introduce a remote music storage service in May and for Apple to follow suit in June.

Although Amazon’s service lets users listen to music from most computers or phones regardless of where they bought the song, it will not work on Apple’s iPhones or have an “app” on that company’s devices.

Amazon said customers would initially get 5 gigabytes of free storage.

A customer can get an upgrade to 20 gigabytes of free storage with the purchase of any MP3 format album from Amazon.

New music purchases from Amazon saved directly to the cloud service will not count against any storage

quota.

Users can save music files in MP3 as well as the AAC format, which is the standard for Apple’s iTunes service.

Amazon is also offering Cloud Player, which will allow music fans to listen to, download and make playlists on any Web browser as well as any application using Google’s Android operating system.

D1021664

3/30; 4/6, 13,20

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT: KINGS COUNTY WELLS FARGO BANK AS TRUSTEE; Plaintiff(s) vs. DAVID MOORE; et al; Defendant(s) Attorney(s) for Plaintiff(s): ROSICKI, ROSICKI & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 2 Summit Court, Suite 301, Fishkill, New York, 12524, 845.897.1600. Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on or about March 22, 2010, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder at Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Rm 274, Brooklyn, NY 11201. On April 28, 2011 at 3:00 PM Premises known as 927 Schenectady Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203 Block: 4695 Lot: 46. ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York.

As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale. Sold subject to all of the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale. Approximate amount of judgment $467,904.90 plus interest and costs. INDEX NO. 12850/2006 Brian Welsome, Esq., REFEREE

Separately, the S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas slipped 0.2 percent in January. The fall was less than market expectations for a 0.4 percent drop. On a year ago basis, prices fell 3.1 percent.

January’s fall home in prices left them just above the April 2009 lows.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data. Stocks on Wall Street rose on strength in large-cap tech shares, while prices for government debt fell. The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies.

“The housing market recession is not yet over,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P. “At most, we have seen all statistics bounce along their troughs; at worst, the feared double-dip recession may be materializing.”

D1021663

3/30

Notice is hereby given that an Order entered by the Civil Court, New York County on 03/21/2011, bearing Index Number NC-00035011/NY, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 111 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013, grants me (us) the right to: Assume the name of (First) Norma (Last) Langbert. My present name is (First) Nettie (Middle) Rebecca (Last) Langbort AKA Norma Langbert. My present address is 341 W. 24th Street, New York, NY 10011-1542. My place of birth is Brooklyn, NY. My date of birth is December 06, 1921.

D1021644

3/23, 30; 4/6,

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT: QUEENS COUNTY: THE HEATHCOTE GROUP, Plaintiff vs.

ELIEL@108-13 173RD assoc, Inc., et al. Defendant(s), Attorney(s) for Plaintiff(s): Clifford H. Greene & Associates, 145 Huguenot Street, Suite 402, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801 (914) 738-5992. Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on or about January 27, 2011, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder at Queens County Supreme Court, located at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York in Courtroom #25, On April 22, 2011 at 11: AM Premises known as 108-11 173rd Street, Jamaica, NY Block: 10257, Lot 87. ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Queens, County of Queens, City and State of New York. As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale. Sold subject to all of the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale. INDEX No. 7030/10 Thomas P. McCloskey, Esq., as REFEREE

Eleven of the 20 cities fell to the lowest levels since home prices peaked in 2006 and 2007, while the overall index was just 1.1 percent above the April 2009 low, the report showed.

Unadjusted for seasonal impact, home prices fell 1.0 percent for the month. Only San Diego and Washington, D.C. showed annual price increases.

The Case-Shiller index lags data from the National Association of Realtors, which reported earlier this month U.S. D1021643

3/16, 23,30; 4/6

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS AND AMENDED NOTICE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF KINGS– NYCTL 2008-A TRUST AND THE BANK OF NEW YORK AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN, against DORIS BIGNALL HUNTER; EAST BROOKLYN SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION; NORTH STAR CAPITAL ACQUISITION LLC; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; HYMAN J. GAINES if the aforesaid individual defendants are living, and if any or all of said individual defendants be dead, their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, committees, devisees, legatees, and the assignees, lienors, creditors and successors in interest of them, and generally all persons having or claiming under, by, through or against the said defendants named as a class, of any right, title, or interest in or lien upon the premises described in the amended complaint herein; PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE and “JOHN DOE # 1” through “JOHN DOE #100”, inclusive the last 100 names being fictitious and unknown to the plaintiff, it being intended to designate fee owners, tenants or occupants of the liened premises and/or persons or parties, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the liened premises described in the amended complaint, if the aforesaid individual defendants are living and if any or all of said individual defendants be dead, their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, committees, devisees, legatees, and the assignees, lienors, creditors and successors in interest of them, and generally all persons having or claiming under, by, through or against the said defendants named as a class, of any right, title, or interest in or lien upon the premises described in the amended complaint herein. Index #8249/09 TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the amended complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the amended complaint is not served with this supplemental summons, to serve

that the median U.S. home price had hit a nine year low in February as home sales volumes plunged 9.6 percent.

In a separate report, the Realtors group on Monday said the volume of contracts for sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose 2.1 percent in February after two straight declines.

The pending contracts data leads existing home sales by a month or two and suggests some of the recent weakness was due to unusually severe winter weather. a notice of appearance on the attorneys for Plaintiff within (20) days after the service of this supplemental summons, exclusive of the day of service or within (30) days after completion of service where is made in any other manner than personal delivery within the State. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof. In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the amended complaint. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT – THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Tax Lien pursuant to a Certificate recorded in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Kings on July 15, 2008, in CRFN# 2008000280709, covering premises known as 1094 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, NY lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York and designated as (Block 04670 and Lot 0038). The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt described above. NOTICEYOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME – If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the plaintiff, (tax lien holder), who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the supplemental summons and protect your property.

Sending a payment to the plaintiff, tax lien holder, will not stop the foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. The foregoing supplemental summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an order of the Honorable Larry D. Martin filed February 23, 2011 Shapiro, Dicaro & Barak, LLC, 105 Maxess Road, Suite N109, Melville, NY 11747, Attorneys for Plaintiff, BY: Shari S. Barak, Esq., NY 11747 (631) 844-9611. Our file No. 09076726

GAMESNUMBERS

20

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

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Your Horoscope ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Rest and relaxation will be more favorable than you think. The great outdoors will allow you to teach youngsters some of the things you learned when growing up. Friends may not be completely honest with you.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) Your charm will mesmerize members of the opposite sex today. Your knowledge and good sense will help more than you think. Luck is with you, regardless of the financial venture.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) You can make progress if you deal with the right individuals. Avoid purchasing expensive items. Matters pertaining to your home environment will be favorable if you are direct.

gance will be a problem. Be prepared to make compensations and adjustments.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) You may want to make changes that will turn your entertainment room into a real family affair. Love could develop with someone of a different cultural background. Competitive games will be your forte.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Travel and entertainment will be pleasurable. You may have personal problems, but professional duties might be pressing. Changes at home will be necessary.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) You will reach the most people if you speak out at an organizational function. Accept the inevitable, and opportunities for advancement will follow. You will find yourself tied to the phone.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Opportunities for new partnerships will develop through the organizations you encounter. You can learn a great deal if you listen to those who are older or more experienced. Your love will not be willing to listen to your criticism.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Your emotional partner will push the right buttons today. Help elders get their personal papers in order. Don't put your professional reputation on the line.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Sudden romantic encounters will set your head spinning. Be prudent and don't be led down the garden path. This may not be the day to get involved in risky joint financial ventures.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Disharmony will result in a lowered vitality.

Stress may result in minor illness. Be prepared to overcome frustrations and obstacles at work. You should be promoting your ideas.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Try to stay calm, and whatever you do, don't nag.

Your ability to get the job done will result in added responsibility and possible promotion. You can offer your mate a commitment or promise that will help stabilize your personal life.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Secret information will be eye opening. Extrava-

21

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

Daily Challenge

SPORTS

Fan protests of no consequence around NFL

By MICHAEL SILVER They congregated outside Qwest Field on the first Sunday of spring, spurred to action by a state of affairs they regarded as untenable.

Standing near the entrance of the Seattle Seahawks’ Pro Shop, the peeved protesters exercised their First Amendment rights by chanting “We Want Football” and voicing their displeasure over the NFL lockout to anyone who’d listen.

Then the angst-ridden agitators peacefully dispersed and headed off into an offseason of uncertainty – all 12 of them.

When word of the Dirty Dozen’s displeasure got back to the owners of the NFL’s 32 franchises last Sunday night – the wealthy individuals whose insistence on extracting financial concessions from players compelled them to shut down their sport – I’m sure they were shaking in their silk pajamas. Similarly, the approximately 1,900 players whose representatives gave up on collective bargaining and instead employed a strategy centered on decertification and litigation undoubtedly broke out in hives and went into panic-stricken convulsions.

Wait, that was convulsive laughter? Of course it was.

Put it this way: If at the next NFL owner meeting they were to broadcast video of the Seattle fan protest – and others like it in NFL cities such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore – a whole lot of old guys would be getting their Dr. Evil on.

Whether the owners and players are literally laughing at the fans whose devotion they’re testing isn’t really the point. At the very least, the two factions are taking the paying customers for granted as they steel themselves for a standoff that may or may not be resolved by the start – or finish – of the 2011 season.

Each side has its reasons for going to war, most of them preceded by dollar signs. And certainly, refusing to settle for a collective bargaining agreement they regard as substandard and slugging it out in the courts in an effort to attain leverage is the owners’ and the players’ prerogative.

Yet even as key figures in

each camp pay lip service to the fans’ interests, owners and players are basically giving a middle-finger salute to the bakers of their $9.3-billion annual pie. I’m fairly confident that the 12 angry men and women outside Qwest Field aren’t causing them to question that decision.

There’s a lot of talk about the prospect of the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987 alienating fans in a deep and enduring manner, as prolonged disputes in major league baseball and the NHL appeared to do in the 1990s.

Yet neither the owners nor the players seem overly stressed by this possibility.

Trust me: If either side believed that there’d be a significant drop-off in devotion and financial commitment from the public at large, we’d have a settlement faster than Charlie Sheen transformed the word winning into a popculture phenomenon.

In fact, this may be the only thing on which owners and players are in full agreement right now: No matter how messy things get on the labor front, the fans will come flocking back once football resumes. So, yes, fans are being disrespected by the very people whose lives they enhance. And they absolutely have good reason to feel betrayed, frustrated and powerless.

Being a professional sports fan in the United States is risky business. First, franchises suck you in and project a false sense of collective ownership: Ladies and gentlemen, YOUR Pittsburgh Steelers.

You buy into it, and then you buy tickets and jerseys and NFL Sunday Ticket accordingly. Except, when things get tough, you find out the team in question isn’t yours at all.

Just ask Sacramento Kings fans, who are about to lose the only professional sports team in town to Anaheim, which can offer a newer, sleeker arena to the franchise’s actual owners, the Maloofs. Or ask Seattle SuperSonics supporters or Los Angeles Rams loyalists or Montreal Expos enthusiasts how they feel about the teams they once thought were theirs. In the latter case, you might learn some cool new French swear words.

The same disconnect is present during the NFL lockout.

The Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers advertise themselves as the only nonprofit, community-owned franchise in major U.S. professional sports – but if you own stock in the team, try calling a vote to end the lockout, and see what kind of power your shareholder’s agreement grants you.

Obviously, fans ultimately retain the ability to vote with their wallets. If they get disgruntled enough – and right now, with all due respect to the Dirty Dozen and their sparsely gathered counterparts across the country, I’d say they’re only mildly gruntled – they could stage a boycott that would make owners and players sorry they treated their patrons so callously.

It sounds daunting, in theory. And if U.S. District Court judge Susan Nelson declines to grant the players an injunction to stop the lockout next week and the dispute drags into the season, public disapproval will certainly intensify. But a prolonged and sustained abandonment of pro football by a significant slice of the fan base, even after the lockout ends? Sorry, I just can’t see it.

For one thing, merely staying away from stadiums on Sunday isn’t nearly sufficient.

If you’re a fan who wants to turn his or her back on the NFL, you need to stop watching the games – all games – on television. That’s not so easy, is it? Last season, more of you watched NFL contests than ever before, and that sweet

HDTV in your family room is calling out for Al and Cris and Tirico and Gruden and Jaws.

You also must stop buying merchandise. And give up that fantasy-football juggernaut, complete with the weekend boondoggle in Vegas that you and your boys take every summer in the process of staging a beverage-fueled draft. And, for what it’s worth, stop clicking on NFL.com.

As a matter of fact, you can start your boycott by ignoring next month’s NFL draft and all of the hype leading up to it.

I’m not holding my breath, especially given the way many fans reacted to the mere possibility that the players might consider disrupting (or even not playing along with) the charade likely to play out in a few weeks – the systematic and arguably illegal drafting of players who’ll be locked out shortly after shaking NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand.

The basic message: How dare they mess with our illusion of normalcy?

Most of you, understandably, want this dispute to be settled and for things to go back to the way they were.

Eventually, it will be resolved – and I’m betting the vast majority of fans will swallow their pride and come rushing back to rejoin the party. Even if the lockout wipes out the entire 2011 season, I think the lasting damage will be minimal. If anything, I believe a lost season would make most fans that much more

fired up about football’s return.

This isn’t the NHL, and this isn’t major league baseball.

This is the league that counterprograms the World Series with mildly interesting regular-season matchups and kicks its butt, and it has no realistic competition in terms of captivating the American consumer.

So pardon my skepticism, as well as my instinctive compulsion to roll my eyes when I hear about things like the Facebook campaign initiated by national sports-bar chain Buffalo Wild Wings urging fans to sign a “Save Our Season” petition.

Some questions: Really, a corporate-led protest? This is what we’ve come to in the 21st century? I’m pretty sure Cesar Chavez didn’t see this coming.

And what bold act, exactly, can Buffalo Wild Wings conjure to escalate its brave display of civil disobedience – spiking its hot wings with habanero pepper flakes and delivering them to NFL and NFLPA headquarters?

Yes, I know, Derek Anderson(notes) – it’s not funny. I realize that I shouldn’t be goofing on the notion of fan dissatisfaction, given the fact that consumers’ appetite for all things NFL helps justify my professional existence too.

Yet against my better judgment, and until proven otherwise, I’m laughing at the lot of you, with a volume level that would make Dr. Evil proud.

Rest assured, I have lots of company.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

22

Daily Challenge

SPORTS Can Tiger win the Masters? Absolutely, he says

By SIMON EVANS ORLANDO, Florida — Tiger Woods put himself into ‘Masters mode’, ending weeks of introspective analysis to state confidently and simply that he can win the U.S. Masters for a fifth time next month.

Woods shot an even-par 72 in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill to end the week one under and well behind the leaders.

The numbers were not great but Woods was happy with his hitting throughout a round which was damaged by a bogey on the 17th and then a double bogey on the final hole where he found water.

Afterwards, before signing autographs with a crowd of enthusiastic fans, Woods was asked about his driving, his putting and his comfort level.

The 14-times major winner has been willing to share his problems of late but this time the message was that he

was getting better in all those areas and that crucially, for those who wonder whether he still has that formidable confidence, he had no doubt about whether he can triumph at Augusta.

Woods had a simple one word answer to the question of whether he can win, staring the reporter in the eye as he delivered it: “Absolutely.”

It was old school Tiger, a sign that with just over a week to prepare for the Masters he is now in the zone no longer focusing on the doubts and what he has called ‘the process.”

“It was a very good week and a week I need to see. I really hit the ball well and the things that we have been working on for the last couple of weeks, really, really felt comfortable today, I felt I was able to control just about every shot today,” he told reporters.

His driving? “Much better.

Every day has gotten a little bit tighter which is good. I have to keep working, keep staying the course, each day is progressing. Today was

really nice,” he said.

“I need to keep progressing and hopefully it will peak two more Thursdays from now. Early in the year was disappointing because the conditions showed some signs of weakness that I had to work on - now it’s feeling very, very good.”

That positive talk was however against the backdrop to a messy end to his round.

“I played well all day and the best shot I hit was on 17th but it didn’t come out.

On 18 I was caught between clubs, went with the lower one and didn’t luck out.

“I hit three water balls this week and had a few missed putts here and there and I’m not that far behind. Add all that together, you can’t afford to make those mistakes.”

Woods is not playing next week’s tour event in Houston, instead he heads early to Augusta to start practice.

Last year, Woods went into Augusta without playing any tour events and finished tied fourth.

Knicks’ defense delivers in must-win

By CHRIS SHERIDAN It was only one play, but it typified the defensive intensity that transformed the Knicks on the night Carmelo Anthony delivered on his “must-win” premise.

In overtime, Hedo Turkoglu had the ball far outside the 3-point arc, near midcourt, and Anthony was absolutely hounding him and would not stop as the shot clock ticked down. The relentlessness — hands poking at the ball, body pressed up close — did not cease, and Turkoglu ultimately had to let fly from 35 feet away with a hand in his face.

Defensive intensity like this had not been seen from the New York Knicks in weeks, and it was the key factor (aside from Anthony’s 39 points) that fueled the Knicks on Monday night as they snapped their six-game losing streak by defeating the Orlando Magic 113-106.

Was it a matter of pride?

Of shame?

Coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t buy the latter theory.

“No, heck, that’s hard.

That’s tough,” D’Antoni said.

“No, it’s a product of we’re in trouble.

“We just kept ratcheting it up. Again, a lot of games, a lot of nights, a lot of things, and who knows what causes it. Sometimes things sap your energy and you might not even be aware of it, but with efforts like this, the team will come together, and we’ll be better for it.”

The Knicks held the Magic to 18 first-quarter points, the first time since Dec. 5 against Toronto they held an opponent to that low a total in a first quarter.

Dwight Howard did not have a single field goal in the first half despite the Knicks starting with Shawne Williams as the primary defender on him, later switching to Jared Jeffries, Shelden Williams and finally Amare Stoudemire in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Howard ended up getting his numbers (29 points, 18 rebounds), but the Knicks’

ability to keep him from hurting them in the beginning when they went with a small starting lineup buoyed their confidence and boosted their energy, helping those qualities stick through the second half and the overtime when every deflected pass and every loose ball they made an extra effort for helped make the ultimate difference.

“If we can hold teams down defensively, with the offensive players we have somebody [who] can step up and have a big game. And that’s exactly what happened. Melo was out of sight tonight, and defensively we did a good job of taking away some things,” said Chauncey Billups, whose own defensive performance was helped by the fact that he did not have to chase Jameer Nelson (sprained knee), who was as much of a difference-maker on offense back when the teams met March 1 as Anthony was Monday.

But back to the question of whether this was a prod-

“It is nice to have some tournaments under my belt and be more in tournament shape going in. They have made a couple of changes at Augusta. I’ll take a look at those and develop a game

plan,” he said.

It is game on now for Woods and the golfing world will be watching eagerly to see whether there really is substance to his renewed swagger.

uct of pride or shame.

When you allow the second-worst offensive team in the NBA to score 64 points in the first half, as the Knicks allowed the Charlotte Bobcats to do Saturday, that is shameful.

When you allow the worst offensive team in the NBA to score 35 first-quarter points, as the Knicks allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to do two games ago, that, too, is shameful.

When the lane to the basket is virtually undefended, when layup after layup and dunk after dunk deflates not only the team’s collective ego, but the whole city’s attitude toward the franchise, that, too, is indeed shameful.

That’s the kind of stuff that had been defining the Knicks as a defensive unit, but it changed for one night against one of the East’s best teams. You could see it as early as the first quarter when one particularly deflection-driven defensive possession ended with Anthony stripping the ball from Howard after Anthony had just grabbed consecutive offensive rebounds on the other end.

Not that the Knicks were throwing around that “sh”

word.

They preferred the “p” word.

“That was probably a product of pride and determination. We knew this game was very important for us. We wanted to snap the losing streak, wanted to really get on the right track and get us geared up for the playoffs,” Stoudemire said.

The Knicks forced 21 turnovers, outrebounded the Magic on the offensive boards 11-9 and held them to 45 percent shooting.

And here’s the topper: That first half when they held Howard without a field goal?

Nobody had done that to Howard since the Boston Celtics, a team renowned for its defensive intensity, did it to him on Christmas.

“You just draw a line in the sand and you’re going to kick somebody’s ass tonight, and you got to do it. And if you do it, you have another chance to do it Wednesday,” D’Antoni said. “So I don’t really dwell on what happened before. We have to take this and move forward.

And again, we’ve been here before. We were like this against Miami. We just can’t let it slip away.”

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

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Daily Challenge

SPORTS Jeter under microscope in 16th season for Yankees

By LARRY FINE Despite being known as a consummate winner with five World Series rings to back that up, New York Yankees captain and shortstop Derek Jeter has as much to prove as any player heading into the 2011 Major League Baseball season.

Even as Jeter begins a campaign that should see him become the first Yankee to reach 3,000 career hits, the 36-year-old has been honing a new batting style to prove he still has what it takes after suffering through his worst year at the plate.

Jeter hit .270 with 10 home runs and 67 runs batted in 2010, for his lowest batting average in 15 seasons as New York’s starting shortstop. His on-base percentage of .340 and slugging percentage of .370 were also career lows.

Adding insult to the sting of a subpar season, were comments from Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner, who said the club, eliminated by Texas in the League Championship Series one

step away from the Fall Classic, may have lacked focus.

The Yankees won a record 27th World Series title in 2009.

“Sometimes you celebrate too much, players concentrating on building mansions and not concentrating on winning,” Steinbrenner said at spring training headquarters in Tampa.

That was widely interpreted as a dig against Jeter, who is building a 30,000 square foot, $9.5 million estate along Tampa Bay dubbed by local residents “St Jetersburg.”

With Jeter’s 10-year, $189 million deal completed, he was told to shop his talents if he did not think he was getting a good enough offer to remain, even though the classy shortstop had made it clear he had no desire to play for any other team.

In the end, Jeter signed a three-year pact worth $51 million and no tears need be shed for the 11-time All-Star who will have earned more than $200 million in his Yankees career.

The proud Jeter, always known as a clutch performer and now within 74 hits of

the revered 3,000-mark, is determined to bounce back in the batter’s box, working with hitting coach Kevin Long to take a wider stance and cut down his stride.

Countering Jeter’s habit of diving into a pitch, the better to drive an outside offering into right-field, pitchers have been successfully tying him up with inside fastballs.

Facing challenges late in a brilliant career is a common theme on the team — Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera also date their pinstripe tenures back to the 1995 championship campaign that began New York’s latest run of success.

Rivera has remained brilliant even at age 41, but New York made their lone free agent splash this off-season by signing former Tampa Bay closer Rafael Soriano to set him up and serve as insurance. Posada has been told his catching days are over and to prepare for a season as designated hitter.

The stakes are high, for as Jeter and the other veterans go, including 35-yearold slugger Alex Rodriguez, so go the Yankees.

Five teams to watch in 2011 MLB season Five teams to watch in the 2011 Major League Baseball season, which begins March 31: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS They scraped their way into the postseason by cobbling together just enough offense to support an outstanding pitching staff led by double Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

The formula carried them all the way to their first Fall Classic crown in 56 years, and manager Bruce Bochy will try again to pull the right strings with another rag-tag attack, replacing World Series Most Valuable Player Edgar Renteria at shortstop with Miguel Tejada and moving a slimmed down Pablo Sandoval back to third to replace Juan Uribe.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES The Phillies, who lost to the Giants in the NL Champi-

onship Series to miss out on a third straight trip to the World Series, will try to beat the Giants at their own game. After swooping in unexpectedly to sign prized free agent pitcher Cliff Lee, the rotation that includes Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels was compared to the best of all time.

Philadelphia will have to overcome some early adversity, with hard-hitting second baseman Chase Utley and closer Brad Lidge missing the start of the season due to injury.

TEXAS RANGERS Looking to prove their first American League pennant in 50 years as a franchise was no fluke, they have had to scramble to make their rotation whole after losing Lee. The hard-hitting lineup must shoulder more of the burden, aided by the signing of free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre and trade for first baseman/catch-

er Mike Napoli.

The dilemma of whether to use Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz as a starter or reliever was settled with the decision to leave him in the closer’s job. Last year as a 21-yearold, the h a r d throwing Dominican saved 40 games.

NEW YORK YANKEES An aging lineup ran out of steam late last season and the rotation did not deliver in the League Championship Series as the Yankees saw their hopes of a World Series repeat vanish at the penultimate stage in losing to Texas in six games.

The bulging wallet of the Yankees failed to lure Lee to the Bronx, leaving management in a state of shock with no Plan B on how to restore their dominance.

Finally, they paid a big price for Tampa Bay Rays’ former c l o s e r Rafael Soriano to set up Mariano Rivera and now wait for a chance to trade prospects for a quality starting pitcher.

BOSTON RED SOX Thwarted last year by an endless stream of injuries (Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Cameron), Boston were big off-season winners. They

signed fleet outfielder Carl Crawford and traded prospects for slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to add to their already robust lineup.

With small market Tampa Bay likely to take a step back after losing Crawford, Carlos Pena, shortstop Jason Bartlett and pitcher Matt Garza in an effort to keep their payroll down, the AL East looms as a Red Sox-Yankees battle royale.

Special Mention NEW YORK METS A team to watch both on and off the field.

Their disarray on the diamond the past couple of years has been overshadowed by a financial fiasco that has the trustee for victims of the notorious Bernard Madoff Ponzie scheme seeking up to a billion dollars from the Mets owners, who emerged from the enormous scam with profits they borrowed against for use in their baseball business.

Daily Challenge

SportS WEDNESSDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

CAN TIGER WIN THE MASTERS?

Tiger Woods put himself into ‘Masters mode’, ending and simply that he can win the U.S. Masters for a weeks of introspective analysis to state confidently fifth time next month.

SEE PAGE 22.

JETER UNDER MICROSCOPE IN 16TH SEASON FOR YANKEES SEE

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