Dallas Cowboy dies in crash; teammate faces charges

Cowboys defensive lineman Joshua Price-Brent is facing intoxication manslaughter charges. ...

Read More..

Exclusive: Google to replace M&A chief

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is replacing the head of its in-house mergers and acquisitions group, David Lawee, with one of its top lawyers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Don Harrison, a high-ranking lawyer at Google, will replace Lawee as head of the Internet search company's corporate development group, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, said the source,...

Read More..

Cowboy charged after player dies in auto accident

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys practice-squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a one-car accident Saturday and teammate Josh Brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter.Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz said the accident happened about 2:20 a.m. Saturday in the Dallas suburb. Brent was speeding when the vehicle hit a curb and flipped at least once, Argumaniz said.Argumaniz says...

Read More..

Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

Read More..

Rolling Stones hit NY for 50th anniversary gig

NEW YORK (AP) — "Time Waits for No One," the Rolling Stones sang in 1974, but lately it's seemed like that grizzled quartet does indeed have some sort of exemption from the ravages of time.At an average age of 68-plus years, the British rockers are clearly in fighting form, sounding tight, focused and truly ready for the spotlight at a rapturously received pair of London concerts last month.On Saturday,...

Read More..

Integrys Energy Services tapped to supply Chicago's electricity

The same company that heats homes in Chicago has been picked to provide the electricity that powers them.Integrys Energy Services,...

Read More..

Ex-Dixon official's home: Pool, baby grand, chandelier with pistols

Disgraced former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell's home has an in-ground pool, six-stall horse barn and baby grand piano in...

Read More..

Exclusive: Google to replace M&A chief

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is replacing the head of its in-house mergers and acquisitions group, David Lawee, with one of its top lawyers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Don Harrison, a high-ranking lawyer at Google, will replace Lawee as head of the Internet search company's corporate development group, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, said the source,...

Read More..

MLB average salary up 3.8 percent to $3.2 million

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball's average salary increased 3.8 percent this year to a record $3.2 million.According to final figures released Friday by the Major League Baseball Players Association, the rise was the steepest since 2007. The boost was helped by an increase in the minimum salary from $414,000 to $480,000.The New York Yankees had the highest average for the 14th consecutive season at $6.88...

Read More..

UK’s Kate and William “saddened” by nurse’s death

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate said on Friday they were “deeply saddened” by the death of a nurse who fell victim to a prank call from an Australian radio station seeking details of the duchess’s condition while she was in hospital for morning sickness.The King Edward VII hospital earlier confirmed the death of the nurse, Jacinda Saldanha.“Their Royal Highnesses were...

Read More..

Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

Read More..

Long-sealed Notorious B.I.G. autopsy released

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An attorney for the family of Notorious B.I.G. said Friday it's ridiculous that Los Angeles police have not arrested anyone for the rapper's 1997 killing, which has returned to the spotlight after coroner's officials released a long-sealed autopsy report.The report revealed that injuries cause by a single bullet killed the rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, during...

Read More..

O'Hare affected by United's latest computer glitch

United Airlines experienced more computer problems Friday, causing systems to slow down."We have been experiencing short-term,...

Read More..

Mother and son charged in drug overdose death

Carol Stedronsky, left, and her son Brian Stedronsky are charged with drug-induced homicide. Lake County Sheriff's Department...

Read More..

Facebook in talks to buy Microsoft ad technology: reports

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is in negotiations with Microsoft Corp about acquiring advertising technology that could allow the social network displays ads on other websites, broadly expanding its advertising business, according to media reports on Thursday. Facebook is in "serious" discussions with Microsoft about a deal to purchase Atlas Solutions, an ad-serving product that...

Read More..

Bryant eclipses 30,000, Lakers beat Hornets 103-87

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kobe Bryant grinned and uttered the word "irony" as he considered the fact that the team that drafted him nearly 17 years ago was his opponent on the night he eclipsed a scoring milestone to join an exclusive club of NBA greats.It's easy to forget that it was the Hornets who drafted and then traded Bryant away back in 1996.In the years since, the Hornets have changed cities, from...

Read More..

mtvU honors Frank Ocean, wounded Pakistani teen

NEW YORK (AP) — The mtvU network is honoring a rap superstar who detailed his love for another man and a Pakistani girl shot for her education advocacy as its Man and Woman of the Year.Frank Ocean, who earned six Grammy nominations Wednesday, published a letter online about his first love, a man, just as his “channel ORANGE” disc was being released. MtvU on Thursday called it “an incredibly brave...

Read More..

Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans...

Read More..

Actor Stephen Baldwin charged in NY tax case

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Actor Stephen Baldwin was charged Thursday with failing to pay New York state taxes for three years, amassing a $350,000 debt.Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Baldwin, of Upper Grandview, skipped his taxes in 2008, 2009 and 2010.The youngest of the four acting Baldwin brothers pleaded not guilty at an arraignment and was freed without bail. His lawyer,...

Read More..

Local sales of homes in foreclosure jump 65% in 3Q

Sales of Chicago-area homes in the foreclosure process but not yet repossessed by banks soared during the third quarter, RealtyTrac...

Read More..

Cops: State senator tried to board plane with unloaded gun, clip

State Sen. Donne Trotter, who is seeking the congressional seat vacated by Jesse Jackson Jr., was arrested this morning at O’Hare...

Read More..

Apple shares tumble 4 percent in heavy trade

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc tumbled nearly 4 percent on Wednesday, rounding off a bleak ten weeks for the most valuable U.S. company, with analysts citing factors such as increasing competition in the tablet market. The stock was one of the biggest percentage losers on the S&P 500, dropping 5.2 percent to $545.56 at one point as more than 17 million shares...

Read More..

Athletes lose medals; Armstrong decision pending

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Eight years after winning Olympic medals in Athens, four track and field athletes from eastern Europe were ordered to hand them back Wednesday because of positive doping tests, while Lance Armstrong can hold onto his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games a little while longer.The International Olympic Committee executive board disqualified four athletes whose 2004 Athens...

Read More..

Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for longer...

Read More..

Possible Wintour appointment gets London talking

LONDON (AP) — Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Quincy Adams ... and now Anna Wintour?A report suggesting that the influential editor-in-chief of Vogue is one of the candidates being considered for the top U.S. diplomatic post in France or Britain has sparked spirited debate about her qualifications, exciting Britain's glamour-hungry tabloids but raising hackles at the conservative Daily Telegraph."Anna...

Read More..

ICC lets ComEd delay smart meters until 2015

The Illinois Commerce Commission on Wednesday approved ComEd's request to delay the installation of smart meters until 2015...

Read More..

Hamstring strain could sideline Urlacher for season

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is expected to miss the next three games and possibly the rest of the regular season with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, according...

Read More..

U.S. fails to win early limit on Net controls at global gathering

DUBAI/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. and Canadian proposal to protect the Internet from new international regulation has failed to win prompt backing from other countries, setting up potentially tough negotiations to rewrite a telecom treaty. The idea, also supported by Europe, would limit the International Telecommunication Union's rules to only telecom operators and not Internet-based...

Read More..