Judge tosses anti-paparazzi counts in Bieber case

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raef still faces traditional reckless driving counts.

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

Raef has not yet entered a plea in the case.

___

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

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Corzine blamed for fall of MF Global

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Staff report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Exclusive: Advanced Micro hires bank to explore options - sources

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Roethlisberger has sprained shoulder

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger left Heinz Field on Monday night with his sprained right shoulder in a sling. When he walks back in ready to play is anybody's guess.

Tomlin called Pittsburgh's franchise quarterback "questionable" but otherwise offered little detail Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Roethlisberger was pounded into the ground by Kansas City Chiefs linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston in the third quarter of Pittsburgh's 16-13 overtime victory.

"He is being evaluated," Tomlin said. "Obviously this injury puts his participation in the questionable category for this week."

Roethlisberger left the game and went to the hospital to for an MRI-exam. He underwent more tests on Tuesday to determine the severity of the sprain to the sternoclavicular (SC) joint in his throwing shoulder.

The SC joint connects the collarbone to the sternum. Treatment can range from a few days of rest and ice to as much as 4-6 weeks according to Dr. Victor Khabie, chief of sports medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

"You could tape it, you could do that stuff but the reality is those ligaments just have to heal," Khabie said. "If you go throwing, you slow down the healing process."

Roethlisberger was scrambling in the pocket to buy time on Pittsburgh's first possession of the second half when Houston wrapped up Roethlisberger's legs and Hali slammed into him, driving the quarterback's right side into the damp Heinz Field turf. Roethlisberger didn't appear to be hurt walking off the field but quickly made his way to the locker room before leaving the stadium with the game still in progress.

"It didn't seem like a tough hit ... but he came to the sideline and next thing you know he was gone," Pittsburgh left tackle Max Starks said. "I'm hoping it was nothing serious. Honestly it didn't seem like it."

If Roethlisberger can't play, the Steelers (6-3) will turn veteran backup Byron Leftwich, who completed 7 of 14 passes for 73 yards in relief as Pittsburgh won its fourth straight game thanks to Shaun Suisham's 23-yard field goal 51 seconds into the extra period.

The 32-year-old Leftwich hasn't started a game since 2009, when he went 0-3 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His last victory came on Oct. 8, 2006 when the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New York Jets 41-0.

The former first round pick has spent most of the last six years as a backup while dealing with a series of significant injuries. He missed all of last season after breaking his arm in a preseason game and threw seven regular season passes in 2010 after hurting his knee at the end of training camp.

Though there was a bit of rust after getting pressed into service, Leftwich did guide the Steelers to a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter.

"I try to prepare as if I am the starter every week," Leftwich said. "Nothing will change. I wish Ben the best. I hope he is healthy. Other than that I will be ready to go."

Leftwich insists he has mastered offensive coordinator Todd Haley's playbook and Leftwich's teammates are hardly concerned if he's under center on Sunday.

"We don't have a true rookie back there that's never taken a snap before," Starks said. "We feel good about who we have back there if it is Byron. We'll move forward and wait Ben's return if that's the case."

Roethlisberger isn't the only big name that could be out on Sunday. Safety Troy Polamalu continues to be plagued by a right calf injury and Tomlin described him "doubtful" to play against the Ravens. Safety Ryan Clark sustained a concussion for the second time in three games when he took a knee to the head from Kansas City wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, though Tomlin said it appears Clark is fine.

Maybe, but it's not exactly the way the Steelers wanted to be heading into a crucial three-game stretch that includes two games against the hated Ravens in three weeks.

Baltimore (7-2) appeared ready to run away with the division after Pittsburgh stumbled to a 2-3 start. The Steelers have ripped off four straight to draw within a game and can take firm control of the AFC North at home on Sunday.

The prospect of doing it without their two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback makes that task more difficult, but not impossible.

"B-Left has been here a long time," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "If he's in there, we expect to keep rolling."

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit lays off 500 employees: source

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Comcast Corp‘s NBCUniversal entertainment unit is laying off about 500 employees at cable channels, Jay Leno‘s late-night TV show and the Universal Pictures movie studio, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

The cuts add up to about 1.5 percent of the company’s workforce of 30,000 employees, the source said.

A large portion of the layoffs occurred at the G4 cable channel, a network about video games and the gaming culture, the source said. Two of the network’s shows were recently canceled.

Other layoffs occurred about two months ago at “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” which cut about two dozen crew members.

The company’s movie studio, Universal Pictures, also eliminated about 20 jobs, including some at the home entertainment division. Home entertainment sales have suffered across the industry as traditional DVDs fall from favor with consumers.

Other job cuts are expected at NBC News group and the company’s cable channels, which include USA, Bravo and E!, the source said.

Comcast bought a 51 percent controlling stake in NBC Universal in January 2011.

(Reporting By Ronald Grover; Writing by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Peter Lauria and Paul Tait)

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.

The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for European governments to sue Roche.

"I suggest we boycott Roche's products until they publish missing Tamiflu data," wrote Peter Gotzsche, leader of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. He said governments should take legal action against Roche to get the money back that was "needlessly" spent on stockpiling Tamiflu.

Last year, Tamiflu was included in a list of "essential medicines" by the World Health Organization, a list that often prompts governments or donor agencies to buy the drug.

Tamiflu is used to treat both seasonal flu and new flu viruses like bird flu or swine flu. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency had enough proof to warrant its use for unusual influenza viruses, like bird flu.

"We do have substantive evidence it can stop or hinder progression to severe disease like pneumonia," he said.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Tamiflu as one of two medications for treating regular flu. The other is GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. The CDC says such antivirals can shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the risk of complications and hospitalization.

In 2009, the BMJ and researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Centre asked Roche to make all its Tamiflu data available. At the time, Cochrane Centre scientists were commissioned by Britain to evaluate flu drugs. They found no proof that Tamiflu reduced the number of complications in people with influenza.

"Despite a public promise to release (internal company reports) for each (Tamiflu) trial...Roche has stonewalled," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee wrote in an editorial last month.

In a statement, Roche said it had complied with all legal requirements on publishing data and provided Gotzsche and his colleagues with 3,200 pages of information to answer their questions.

"Roche has made full clinical study data ... available to national health authorities according to their various requirements, so they can conduct their own analyses," the company said.

Roche says it doesn't usually release patient-level data available due to legal or confidentiality constraints. It said it did not provide the requested data to the scientists because they refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Roche is also being investigated by the European Medicines Agency for not properly reporting side effects, including possible deaths, for 19 drugs including Tamiflu that were used in about 80,000 patients in the U.S.

____

Online:

www.bmj.com.tamiflu/

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Day-Lewis heeded inner ear to find Lincoln's voice

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A towering figure such as Abraham Lincoln, who stood 6 feet 4 and was one of history's master orators, must have had a booming voice to match, right? Not in Daniel Day-Lewis' interpretation.

Day-Lewis, who plays the 16th president in Steven Spielberg's epic film biography "Lincoln," which goes into wide release this weekend, settled on a higher, softer voice, saying it's more true to descriptions of how the man actually spoke.

"There are numerous accounts, contemporary accounts, of his speaking voice. They tend to imply that it was fairly high, in a high register, which I believe allowed him to reach greater numbers of people when he was speaking publicly," Day-Lewis said in an interview. "Because the higher registers tend to reach farther than the lower tones, so that would have been useful to him."

"Lincoln" is just the fifth film in the last 15 years for Day-Lewis, a two-time Academy Award winner for best actor ("My Left Foot" and "There Will Be Blood"). Much of his pickiness stems from a need to understand characters intimately enough to feel that he's actually living out their experiences.

The soft, reedy voice of his Lincoln grew out of that preparation.

"I don't separate vocal work, and I don't dismember a character into its component parts and then kind of bolt it all together, and off you go," Day-Lewis said. "I tend to try and allow things to happen slowly, over a long period of time. As I feel I'm growing into a sense of that life, if I'm lucky, I begin to hear a voice.

"And I don't mean in a supernatural sense. I begin to hear the sound of a voice, and if I like the sound of that, I live with that for a while in my mind's ear, whatever one might call it, my inner ear, and then I set about trying to reproduce that."

Lincoln himself likely learned to use his voice to his advantage depending on the situation, Day-Lewis said.

"He was a supreme politician. I've no doubt in my mind that when you think of all the influences in his life, from his childhood in Kentucky and Indiana and a good part of his younger life in southern Illinois, that the sounds of all those regions would have come together in him somehow.

"And I feel that he probably learned how to play with his voice in public and use it in certain ways in certain places and in certain other ways in other places. Especially in the manner in which he expressed himself. I think, I've no doubt that he was conscious enough of his image."

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Chicago's top employers named

The Chicago Tribune released its annual Top Workplaces survey Monday, with a broad cross section of companies -- and dozens of new names -- earning recognition as the best places to work in Chicago. 

Abt Electronics and Coyote Logistics repeated as the top large and midsize employers, respectively, with iD Commerce + Logistics making the list for the first time as the top-ranked small company.  

This is the third year the Tribune has partnered with Workplace Dynamics to rank the top 100 companies as judged by their own employees, using criteria ranging from clued-in managers to flexible work schedules. More than 1,600 companies were invited to participate, with a record 254 completing the survey.

Pennsylvania-based Workplace Dynamics partnered with 32 newspapers and surveyed 1.5 million employees nationwide last year as part of its research efforts into what environments are best for employees. 

"We all spend an awful lot of time at work," said Doug Claffey, CEO of Workplace Dynamics. "Creating a really great workplace for employees is something that I think businesses have an obligation to do.  In addition to making money, you need create an environment where your people want to be."

Beyond Glenview electronics retailer Abt,  the top five large companies were Hyatt Hotels, Baird & Warner, ATI Physical Therapy and FedEx -- all new to this category this year.

Chicago-based Coyote Logistics was followed by kCura, Slalom Consulting, Edward Jones and Mercy Home for Boys & Girls among companies with 250 to 999 employees.  

Wood Dale-based id Commerce topped Webster Dental, 2011 winner Red Frog Events, Assurance Agency and LeasePlan USA among small companies.

Full survey results and a variety of top workplace profiles will be published in a magazine insert included in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune.

rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick

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Firefighter who died on duty remembered as mentor, friend

For the second time in little more than a week, Chicago firefighters made a sad procession to the morgue today to honor a fallen colleague.

Walter Patmon Jr., 61, an 18-year veteran, died late Sunday night after going into cardiac arrest within hours of responding to a small kitchen fire in the 1500 block of West 99th Street, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight said. The firefighters discovered meat burning on a stove, officials said.

After returning to his firehouse, Patmon experienced shortness of breath while cleaning equipment, Knight said. He was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital, where he went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 11:21 p.m.

Patmon's body was taken early Monday to the medical examiner's office, accompanied by a procession of fire and police vehicles. Dozens of firefighters and police officers lined the streets outside the office and saluted as the procession passed under an American flag hanging from an extended fire truck ladder.

With many bowing their heads and removing their helmets, the firefighters then gathered for a communal prayer before the firefighter's body was taken inside.

The death came three days after the funeral of Capt. Herbert "Herbie" Johnson, a 32-year fire department veteran who died while battling an extra-alarm blaze. Johnson was remembered Thursday during an emotional service attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and hundreds of firefighters at a Southwest Side church.

Patmon is survived his his wife and three daughters, according to the fire department.

Firefighter Dave Beason was placing purple bunting at Engine Company 121's station house at 1700 W. 95th St. in the Beverly neighborhood this morning.

He remembered Patmon as a good mentor to other firefighters.

“He was a great guy,’’ Beason said.  “He was always smiling, and he was someone who was always willing to teach you.

“He put himself out to help you in any way he could,’’ he said. “Whenever you knew you were going to work with him, you knew you were going to have a good day.’’

Beason worked with Patmon for six years before being transferred to O’Hare International Airport. He said he learned how to drive a fire truck from Patmon.

Patmon "was a real family man,’’ Beason added.  “He just adored his daughters.’’

Patmon was also famous for his barbecues, and Beason said he even encouraged him to open up his own eatery. “Anyone who knew him knew that he made the best barbecue."

Irving Brown Sr., a 63-year-old retired fire captain, said he had known Patmon for about 40 years. They grew up together in the area around 79th Street and Halsted Avenue.  "He really had an attitude that was golden," Brown said.

Known for his barbecue rub, Patmon loved to cook, Brown said. Not even the weather could stop him from barbecuing in his back yard.

"Whenever he had the fancy, he would cook," Brown said, including on wintry days when the temperature fell below freezing.

Neighbors also remembered Patmon for his tidy lawn.

"He took a lot of pride in his house," said Maurnice Ambrose, Patmon's next-door neighbor. Though always friendly, she added, Patmon often kept to himself.

Brown said Patmon joined the fire department in 1994 after working as a truck driver and as a postal clerk at Michael Reese Hospital. Brown said Patmon's love of people made him a perfect fit for the job.

"Once he got on, you couldn't pull him off of that job with two airplanes and a tow truck," Irving said.

Brown said Patmon graduated from Calumet High School.

Tom Ryan, president of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, praised Patmon's commitment to his job.

"To go through the academy at 23 is hard enough," Ryan said. "To go through at at 43? That's even harder.

"It's been a very, very difficult time for all of us," Ryan said about the two recent firefighter deaths. "It just doesn't seem like we're getting a break."

asege@tribune.com

Twitter: @AdamSege

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