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Philadelphia, like most American cities, is lining for its share of $787 billion in federal stimulus money. But City Council members are wondering if the city is even prepared to move quickly when its cut comes through.
Councilmembers got few answers on Tuesday on what the city is likely to get from the stimulus pot of gold; the Nutter administration says it's too soon to say.
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The Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity is endorsing Seth Williams for Philadelphia district attorney, even as Williams (center of group in photo) fights to get his name back on the primary ballot.
Rev. Terrence Griffith (standing behind Williams), director of the Black Clergy's political action group, says 75 religious leaders unanimously support Williams and are confident that he will win his appeal and join the other four names on the May 5th primary ballot for Philadelphia's district attorney:
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| A resident pears out a door at Pinelake Health and Rehab Center in Carthage, N.C., Monday, March 30, 2009, a day after seven resident and one staff member shot and killed. As the magnitude of Sunday's shooting spree at the nursing facility sinks in, staff and family members are groping along, trying to determine how much residents know or remember _ and how much they should tell them _ about how a nurse and seven of their fellow residents were killed. |
CARTHAGE, N.C. (AP) -- The nurse's assistant who may have been the target of a deadly nursing home rampage in North Carolina survived by hiding in a bathroom inside a locked area for Alzheimer's patients, her mother said Tuesday.
Margaret Neal said her daughter Wanda is "devastated" by the alleged actions of estranged husband Robert Stewart, who authorities believe killed seven residents and a nurse during Sunday's attack.
She believes Stewart was after her daughter, who was safe behind the passcode-protected doors of the Alzheimer's care unit at Pinelake Health and Rehab as he allegedly shot up the home's hallways.
"She said she hid in the bathroom. She was close to him," Neal said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The reason he didn't get to her was because he didn't know the code."
Neal said her daughter left Stewart about a month ago and moved back to a home on the Neal family property, about half an hour from the site of the shootings in Carthage. She said Stewart had a tendency to grow violent, although Wanda usually kept quiet about the details of their marriage.
"He had a rage," Neal said. "It would just explode over everything. He would be good and then something would just set him off."
Authorities have said they are investigating whether Stewart's rampage was "domestic-related." Prosecutors have declined to comment more specifically on a possible motive, but have said his actions were not a random act of violence.
Moore County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Neil Godfrey said Tuesday that detectives have yet to complete a full interview with Stewart, a burly painter nicknamed "Pee Wee" by his hunting buddies. Stewart remains in a prison hospital. His wife is among the many witnesses who have been interviewed, but Godfrey declined to comment on what she told detectives.
"It would simply be speculation on the motive," Godfrey said.
But court documents show Stewart, 45, and his wife, 43, had an on-again, off-again relationship that spread over many years and bookended other failed marriages. Wanda Gay Neal and Robert Stewart first married as teenagers in the mid-1980s, a union that ended in divorce a few years later.
Even as they married several other people, Stewart still talked about her, said Sue Griffin, who was Stewart's wife for 15 years before he and Wanda reunited and married each other - again - in June 2002. Griffin said Stewart would often compare her and Luck, complaining that, "Wanda doesn't do it like that."
"I'd look at him and say, 'Well, I ain't Wanda,'" Griffin said in an interview Monday. "As time went on, I could tell he wasn't quite over her."
Griffin said in an earlier interview that Stewart had recently started telling family he had cancer and was preparing for a long trip and to "go away." Neal said Tuesday that her daughter wasn't aware of a cancer diagnosis, but Stewart had long used oxygen for breathing troubles. In court documents, Stewart listed his employer as "disabled" with an income of $786 a month. He listed no dependents.
"She just made up her mind that she had to get out," Neal said. "And thank the Lord she did."
Authorities said Stewart arrived at Pinelake around 10 a.m. Sunday. McKenzie said he was armed with more than one weapon, and witnesses said he was shooting both a "deer gun" and a shotgun. Several people inside the home called 911, pleading for help: "There's a man in here with a double-barrel shotgun shooting people! White man with a beard."
Stewart made his first court appearance Monday on eight counts of first-degree murder and a single charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer and isn't scheduled to return to court until next month. He was wounded by a Carthage police officer responding to the 911 calls and remains in medical care at the state's Central Prison in Raleigh.
One of Stewart's court-appointed attorneys, Frank Wells of Asheboro, said Tuesday he and his colleagues hoped to meet with their client for the first time later in the day. He declined to comment about the case.
Authorities identified the victims as Pinelake residents Tessie Garner, 75; Lillian Dunn, 89; Jesse Musser, 88; Bessie Hedrick, 78; John Goldston, 78; Margaret Johnson, 89; Louise DeKler, 98; and nurse Jerry Avant, 39.
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| Pakistani police officer stand guard during the funeral of the polices killed in Monday's attack in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital. |
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan's Taliban chief claimed responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a police academy, saying he wanted to retaliate for U.S. missile attacks on the militant bases on the border with Afghanistan. Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States, also vowed to "amaze everyone in the world" with an attack on Washington or even the White House.
The FBI, however, said he had made similar threats previously and there was no indication of anything imminent.
Mehsud, who gave a flurry of media interviews Tuesday, has no record of actually striking targets abroad although he is suspected of being behind a 10-man cell arrested in Barcelona in January 2008 for plotting suicide attacks in Spain.
Pakistan's former government and the CIA consider him the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. And Pakistani officials accuse him of harboring foreign fighters, including Central Asians linked to al-Qaida, and of training suicide bombers.
But analysts doubt that Taliban fighters carried off Monday's raid on the Lahore academy on their own, saying the group is likely working more closely than ever with militants based far from the Afghan frontier.
It's a constellation that includes al-Qaida, presenting a formidable challenge to the U.S. as it increases its troop presence in the region, not to mention nuclear-armed Pakistan's own stability.
Mehsud told The Associated Press that the academy and other recent attacks were revenge for stepped-up American missile strikes into Pakistan's border badlands.
"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud said in a telephone interview with an Associated Press reporter. He offered few details, though in a separate recorded conversation with local Dewa radio station, he said the White House was a target.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the bureau was not aware of any imminent or specific threat to the U.S., despite what the Pakistani Taliban leader said.
"He has made similar threats to the U.S. in the past," said Kolko.
State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said he had not seen any reports of Mehsud's comments but that he would "take the threat under consideration."
The ruthless attack on Lahore's outskirts Monday left at least 12 people dead, including seven police, and sparked an eight-hour standoff with security forces that ended when black-clad commandos stormed the compound. Some of the gunmen blew themselves up.
The siege-style approach using heavily armed militants came just weeks after the deadly ambush of Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team in the heart of Lahore. Both attacks were reminiscent of November's siege of Mumbai, India - also blamed on Pakistani militants.
A senior police investigator, Zulfikar Hameed, told Dawn News TV, that the men arrested for the attack have corroborated Mehsud's involvement.
Besides Mehsud, a little-known group believed linked to him also claimed credit. Mehsud declined to discuss the group, Fedayeen al-Islam, or any others who might have been involved.
Pakistan Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said one attacker who was captured was Afghan, and that the initial investigation suggested the conspiracy originated in South Waziristan tribal region, Mehsud's stronghold. But Malik also said the al-Qaida-linked group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi might have played a role. Officials have said three gunmen are in custody.
"In my view, it's not done by one group," said Mohammed Amir Rana, a Pakistani analyst well-versed in the intricacies of militant groups. "One group has the major role in providing the fighters or one group might be providing the logistics or intelligence. And one group provided the financing."
A variety of militant groups operate in Pakistan beyond al-Qaida and the Taliban, and officials and analysts say it appears the coordination among some of them is increasing. Of particular concern are violent groups based in Punjab, Pakistan's most populated province, which borders India.
Some Punjabi groups have their roots in the dispute with India over the Kashmir region. The Pakistani spy agency is believed to have helped set them up and maintain some links, a prospect that vexes U.S. officials.
Others have different origins.
Jhangvi, for instance, is a sectarian extremist group blamed for a stream of actrocities against minority Shiite Muslims. In recent years, it has evolved, Rana said, and is believed to provide foot-soldiers and suicide bombers for al-Qaida operations. Qari Hussein, a Jhangvi member, was named in Mehsud's Pakistani Taliban council in 2007.
The groups' membership is fluid and overlapping. They are riven with feuds. But analysts say they are finding a common cause in striking America and its allies, while also focusing on spreading Taliban-style rule over more and more of Pakistan.
Interviews in recent months with three Afghan and Pakistani Taliban operatives, who demanded anonymity for security reasons, suggest a Pakistani crackdown on some groups following the Mumbai assault has prompted many operatives of Punjab-based groups to seek sanctuary in the northwest.
The Mumbai attacks were specifically blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Punjab-based group fighting in Kashmir. Both Taliban and American military commanders have reported Taiba members even in Afghanistan's northeast. Masood Azhar, a Kashmiri militant leader wanted by India, is reportedly in South Waziristan with Mehsud.
The militant activity may also relate to American plans to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have roared back more than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion ousted their regime, said Shaun Gregory, an analyst at Britain's University of Bradford.
With more allies, the Taliban may feel more capable of taking on grander assaults like that in Lahore as opposed to suicide bombings favored when their resources are more depleted, he said.
Mahmood Shah, a retired military officer, voiced concern that the Taliban were embarking on a campaign of terror in Punjab similar to that employed in the northwest, where hundreds of police were killed before militants turned their attention to political leaders.
While the pro-West ruling party has been trying to persuade a skeptical public to close ranks against an increasingly powerful nexus of militant groups, it has been largely preoccupied with squabbles over power and privileges with a key opposition party.
In unveiling a new war strategy for Afghanistan last week, Obama urged Pakistanis to fight the "cancer" of extremism gripping their country and pledged more aid for them to do so. Still, his administration has resisted Pakistani pressure to halt the missile strikes, believed to be fired by unmanned CIA drones.
Doubts also remain about whether the powerful Pakistani military is committed to sidelining extremist groups it has used as proxies against India and Afghanistan.
Defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa said Pakistan must evaluate its own links to some of these groups if it is to survive.
"We have to dig this out of our past," she said. "Unless we do that, unless we have a consensus on our strategy ... we aren't going to go anywhere."
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| President Barack Obama is greeted by Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling as he disembarks Air Force One at London's Stansted International Airport, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. At center is Charge d'Affaires Richard LeBaron. |
LONDON (AP) -- Desperate but divided on ways to lift their nations from economic misery, world leaders converged for an emergency summit Tuesday holding scant hopes of finding a magic-bullet solution for the crisis that brought them hurrying to London. Even as President Barack Obama and the others were arriving, the U.S. acknowledged its allies would not go along with a massive burst of stimulus spending, while Europe was forced to backpedal from hopes for tighter financial regulation.
Instead, leaders are trumpeting the limited common ground they could reach, including more money for the International Monetary Fund and closer scrutiny of hedge funds and tax havens. As for the broader issues, they're hoping for the best - or at least that they will do no harm.
With turbulent world markets watching closely, the stakes are high, especially for America's new president, stepping onto the world stage for the first time to deal with the economic crisis and to meet face-to-face with many other leaders.
One global change is being acknowledged: The forum for grappling with world economic problems has grown beyond the established eight post-war economies that dominated previous economic summits - the U.S., Britain, Germany France, Japan, Canada, Italy and Russia. Now, 20 nations are coming together in London, with fast-growing developing economies such as China, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia - important players in any effort to coordinate economic policy - sitting as full negotiating partners.
"For the first time, there's a recognition that major emerging markets and developing countries have a critical role at the table," said Mike Froman, a White House international economic adviser.
But will that mean action to stop a global downward spiral?
Froman acknowledged that there have been few examples of international gains in times of crisis. "The depression was made 'great' by the lack of cooperation," he said, noting that nations like to keep control over their own fiscal and monetary policies.
And global leaders were quarreling up to the last minute before the summit.
Adding to the pressure, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday the leaders cannot afford to let the week pass without making substantial progress in fixing the world's economy.
"We have to obtain results, there is no choice, the crisis is too serious to allow us to have a summit for nothing," he said.
European countries are pushing for a tougher regulatory system for global finance, while the U.S. is emphasizing more spending - an idea that holds little interest for Europeans wary about debt.
Obama planned a round of meetings with leaders on Wednesday, including Queen Elizabeth II, summit host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the presidents of Russia and China.
The world economy is in far worse shape than when the group of rich and developing countries last met in November and set lofty goals for international cooperation.
Trade is deteriorating, protectionism is on the march and joblessness is rising. Street demonstrations have increased, and widespread protests are expected in London this week.
Brown, the host, had initially trumpeted the gathering as "a new Bretton Woods - a new financial architecture for the years ahead." But the meeting was shaping up as bearing little similarity to the 1944 conference in New Hampshire where the winners of World War II gathered to set postwar global monetary and financial order.
Brown's spokesman said the prime minister had spoken briefly by telephone on Tuesday with Obama, who was on Air Force One.
"It's an opportunity for both of them to take stock of where we were," Brown's spokesman Michael Ellam said.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick called for the G20 to back a $50 billion liquidity fund to keep global trade moving. In rich countries, he said, "people talk of bonuses or no bonuses. In parts of Africa, South Asia and Latin America, the struggle is for food or no food."
London does not have a good history for successful economic summits. One held in London in 1933, attended by more than 1,000 world leaders and financial officials - although not President Franklin D. Roosevelt - met for six weeks and then gave up.
Still, most leaders were upbeat Tuesday as they headed to London.
"It is important and necessary for the summit to take credible decisions which will help to halt and reverse the current slowdown and to instill a sense of confidence in the global economy," said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Summit partners will meet for dinner on Wednesday evening, then hold a business meeting on Thursday.
A draft of the communique circulating ahead of the meeting suggested that global leaders will embrace stimulus spending totaling about $2 trillion. But that includes a number of measures already announced.
Leaders of European countries, led by Germany's Angela Merkel, continued to resist calls for more stimulus and for printing money as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have done to try to jump-start a recovery.
Memories of the hyperinflation in the 1920s in Germany that gave way to the rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi party still haunt modern-day Germany.
On Wednesday, Obama will have separate meetings with Brown, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
With Moscow, the agenda will include disputes over energy, Russia's continued opposition to U.S. missile defense sites in Eastern Europe and warhead cutbacks. Obama has indicated less enthusiasm for the missile system than predecessor George W. Bush, raising hopeful expectations in Moscow. But Russian leaders have engaged in tough talk lately in terms regaining their own status in the world, posing an early test for Obama.
Obama's meeting with Hu is likely to touch on recent Chinese concern about the safety of its vast holdings in U.S. Treasury bonds, given dollar-eroding U.S. stimulus programs. China surpassed Japan last year as the largest holder of U.S. debt, and any Chinese flight away from those investments would rock global markets.
On the way to Europe, Obama aides made clear expectations have been lowered.
Instead of focusing on the additional stimulus spending the U.S. had sought, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs emphasized what already has been accomplished. G20 nations have spent so far an amount equal to 1.8 percent of their collective gross domestic product, he said, calling that "a significant commitment."
Gibbs also said he expects a joint pledge that the leaders will act further if developments warrant, and he said that commitment satisfies Obama. He also touted new regulatory proposals and the intention to boost contributions to the IMF.
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It's being billed as the largest convention ever to open at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. It's actually two trade shows in one venue, and it's all about the ways technology can improve your company's bottom line.
The "On Demand" Conference and Expo, and the AIIM International Exposition and Conference both open simultaneously on Tuesday at the convention center, at 12th and Arch Streets in center city.
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A Pennsylvania state lawmaker has put on hold, for the moment, his threat to penalize Philadelphia for delays in the construction of slots parlors.
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| President Barack Obama meets with the U.S. Envoy for Sudan Major General J. Scott Gration, left, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Monday, March 30, 2009, in Washington. |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama asserted unprecedented government control over the auto industry Monday, bluntly rejecting turnaround plans by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, demanding fresh concessions for long-term federal aid and raising the possibility of quick bankruptcy for either ailing auto giant.
Obama took the extraordinary step of announcing the government will back new car warranties issued by both GM and Chrysler, an attempt to reassure consumers their U.S.-made purchases will be protected even if the companies don't survive.
"I am absolutely committed to working with Congress and the auto companies to meet one goal: The United States of America will lead the world in building the next generation of clean cars," Obama said in his first extended remarks on the industry since taking office nearly 10 weeks ago. And yet, he added, "our auto industry is not moving in the right direction fast enough to succeed."
Obama, flanked by several administration officials at the White House, announced a short-term infusion of cash for the firms, and said it could be the last for one or both.
Chrysler, judged by the administration as too small to survive, got 30 days' worth of funds to complete a partnership with Fiat SpA, the Italian manufacturer, or some other automaker.
GM got assurances of 60 days' worth of federal financing to try and revise its turnaround plan under new management with heavy government participation. That would involve concessions from its union workers and bondholders. The administration engineered the ouster of longtime CEO Rick Wagoner over the weekend, an indication of its deep involvement in an industry that once stood as a symbol of American capitalism.
Obama's announcement underscored the extent to which automakers have been added to the list of large corporations now operating under a level of government control that seemed unthinkable less than a year ago. Since last fall, the Bush and Obama administrations, often acting in concert with the Federal Reserve, have engineered the takeover of housing titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, seized a large stake in several banks and installed a new CEO at bailed-out insurance giant American International Group.
Other presidents have forced showdowns with major industries, with mixed results. Harry Truman's decision to nationalize the steel industry on the eve of a strike in 1952 was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. But Ronald Reagan succeeded in busting the air traffic controllers' union three decades later.
The latest addition to the list, the once-proud auto industry, has struggled with foreign competition for more than a generation, then was further battered by the recession and credit crisis gripping the economy. Obama said 400,000 industry jobs have been lost in the past year alone, many in Michigan.
Under Fritz Henderson, newly named as CEO, General Motors issued a statement saying it hopes to avoid bankruptcy, but will "take whatever steps are necessary to successfully restructure the company, which could include a court-supervised process."
Chrysler Chairman Bob Nardelli sought to assure customers, dealers, suppliers and employees that the automaker "will operate 'business as usual' over the next 30 days" while working closely with the government and Fiat to secure the support of stakeholders.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, issued a statement calling the Obama administration's involvement "tough but fair, and we believe we will arrive at a result that will establish a credible future for this crucial industrial sector and that assigns the right priority to the repayment of U.S. taxpayers' funds."
Fiat executives have talked to administration officials about a proposal to acquire a 35 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for small car technology, transmissions and other items that Chrysler has valued at $8-$10 billion.
There was no immediate response from the United AutoWorkers Union. One worker, Don Thompson, 56, of Chesterfield Township in Michigan, said automakers were being punished because of public anger over the banking bailout. "They're using us for the mistakes they've made in Washington," he said.
Other workers alleged a double standard in how Washington dealt with Wagoner, as opposed to CEOs of bailed-out banks. "They're using him as a fall guy," said Frank Rowser, financial secretary for UAW Local 909.
When Wagoner leaves the automaker, he will take a financial package worth an estimated $23 million.
Ford Motor Co., the third member of the Big Three, has not requested federal bailout funds.
Obama said bankruptcy would be a way for either GM or Chrysler to "quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so they can get back on their feet," and stressed that either firm would remain open.
"What I am not talking about is a process where a company is broken up, sold off and no longer exists. And what I am not talking about is having a company stuck in court for years, unable to get out," he said.
Still, fears about the industry's future sent stocks plummeting, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing about 254 points. GM plunged 92 cents, or 25.4 percent, to $2.70. Chrysler is not publicly traded.
Obama's remarks were prompted by the expiration of a temporary bailout approved by the Bush administration last winter, with $17 billion in federal funds to help GM and Chrysler survive. Under its terms, the two automakers had until March 31 to submit restructuring plans as it searched for additional federal funds.
At the time, it appeared Bush had avoided an industry collapse on his watch yet had deferred the most difficult decisions for his successor.
By his comments, Obama bought himself a little more time, but made it clear it was fast running out. "Now is the time to confront our problems head-on and do what's necessary to solve them," he said.
The administration issued papers detailing the prospects for survival of both GM and Chrysler, credited them with making difficult choices, yet also stressing the difficulties that remain.
It said that while GM's new car of the future, the Volt, "holds promise, it will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short run."
The government has said it's willing to provide another $6 billion in financing for Chrysler if it is able to finalize an alliance with Italy's Fiat Group SpA. But to get the money, Chrysler must rid its balance sheet of most of its debt, including any investment by its private owners.
That means Chrysler's majority owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, would have to give up the $1 billion interest it has in the automaker, according to a person briefed on the deal. The person asked not to be identified because terms are still being negotiated.
Cerberus would retain ownership in Chrysler's financial arm, but it has pledged to the government the first $2 billion in profits to repay a federal cash infusion, the person said.
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by KYW’s Jim Melwert
Around 300 students from across Philadelphia took part in the second annual ‘checkmate violence;’ a 24-hour chess marathon in North Philadelphia that ended on 4pm on Saturday.
The games kicked off with 11-year-old Marquel Styles playing Mayor Michael Nutter in a game of chess. But Marquel had to leave early to catch his school bus.
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by KYW’s Jim Melwert
One of the five democratic candidates running for Philadelphia district attorney has been kicked off the May 5th primary ballot.
A judge's ruling removes Philadelphia District attorney candidate Seth Williams' (file photo) name from the May Democratic primary ballot.
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AP- It was physical. It was defensive. It was just the way they like it in the Big East.
With bodies clogging the lane and 3-pointers clanging off the rim, Scottie Reynolds made a half-court dash for a last-second basket to give Villanova 78-76 victory over Pittsburgh and send the Wildcats to their first Final Four since the 1985 team made its stunning run to the NCAA championship.
"That was kind of the greatest year in the Big East history, and we've had discussions whether that year was better than this year," said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose third-seeded Wildcats are the lowest remaining seed - just like they were in '85. "It's all kind of happening the same. ... If history repeats itself, I'll take it."
Reynolds scored with 0.5 seconds left to help the Wildcats (30-7) beat one conference rival and join another on its way to Detroit. Connecticut advanced to the national semifinals earlier; Louisville could make it three from the Big East with a victory over Michigan State on Sunday.
The only other time a single league sent three teams to the Final Four: 1985, when Patrick Ewing's Georgetown beat St. John's in the semis before losing to Villanova in an epic championship game. Rollie Massimino's Wildcats were a No. 8 seed - the lowest ever to win it all.
"I'm really happy - for Villanova, for the players. It's just tremendous," the old coach said after the new one, Jay Wright, came to his courtside seat for a congratulatory hug. "I told him I'm so proud of him. He's be on another level for a long time. I knew him when he was a baby. Now he's a superstar."
Pittsburgh (31-5) is the first No. 1 seed to leave the brackets this year despite 28 points from Sam Young and 20 points and 10 rebounds from DeJuan Blair. The Panthers led 67-63 with 3:24 left, and 69-68 with just over 2 minutes to play, but Villanova responded to the physical play by sinking 22 of 23 free throws, including 5-of-6 in the last 46 seconds.
"A moment where it felt like we had it done," Blair said. "And then it was anybody's ball game."
Dwayne Anderson had 17 points and four steals, and Reynolds had 15 to earn the East Regional's Most Outstanding Player honors. Villanova will play the winner of the South Regional championship between North Carolina and Oklahoma.
The teams pushed and shoved their way through the first 35 minutes before they started making baskets and making plays. The lead changed 15 times - six of them in the last six minutes, before Pittsburgh's Levance Fields hit a pair of free throws with 5.5 seconds left to make it 76-all.
Reggie Redding, who threw the ball away trying a full-court pass on the previous inbounds play, got it to Dante Cunningham this time, and he dished it to Reynolds. The Villanova guard worked his way into the lane for a falling-down floater in traffic.
"In that situation, you have four dribbles and a shot. That's five seconds. All that goes in your head. That's why we practice that every day in practice so we can make an instinct play. We did that," Reynolds said. "It worked tonight. Only has to work once."
The clock expired, and the Wildcats celebrated. But the officials immediately moved to put a half-second back on the clock.
Fields took the inbounds pass and launched a 65-footer that hit the backboard but then bounced harmlessly to the floor.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of our team, the way they played all year and how they played in the last 30 seconds," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "I can't tell you how proud I am of them. It's just a game that could have gone either way."
Villanova, which beat Pitt back in January, got there in a way that would make the big, bruising Big East proud.
Pittsburgh guard Jermaine Dixon left for most of the second half after landing awkwardly - in the splits - before Villanova's Shane Clark landed on his left leg.
Blair played the second half blood stains from an unknown victim streaking his shorts. Two Pitt players came over the first-row press table during the game, sending monitors and telephones and a pair of New York sports writers a-skitter.
The Panthers played Steelers-style basketball, but every time they sent Villanova to the line the Wildcats calmly sank them - until Redding missed with a chance to make it a five-point game with 20 seconds left. Blair scored on a layup with 13 seconds to go, and then Redding tried a full-court inbounds pass that Dixon gathered in.
Fields sank two free throws to tie it - the 10th tie of the game.
Villanova held Pitt to one basket in the first 4:59 and opened a 10-3 lead, making it 22-12 midway through the first half before the Panthers scored eight straight. Fields got it started with a 3-pointer, and Blair cut it to two points on a three-point play with just under eight minutes remaining.
Pitt trailed by three with several chances to tie it before Fields stepped back and hit a 3-pointer - the mirror-image of his game-winning shot from the regional semifinal over Xavier - to make it 30-all with 1:50 left in the half. After trading free throws, Young hit a pair with 4 seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 34-32 halftime lead.
The Panthers are 27-3 when leading at the half; two of the losses were to Villanova, which won the regular-season meeting between the cross-state rivals 67-57.
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| Michigan State's Durrell Summers (15) shoots against Louisville's Samardo Samuels (24) and Andre McGee, second from left,, in the first half of the NCAA Midwest Regional men's college basketball tournament final Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Indianapolis. |
Goran Suton had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the second-seeded Spartans (30-6) reached their fifth Final Four in 11 years - the most trips of any team in the nation during that span.
Only 90 miles from their campus in East Lansing, the Spartans will play Connecticut on Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit. A crowd of 72,000, the largest ever for college basketball's signature event, is expected for each game.
"Detroit, here we come," said coach Tom Izzo, a Michigan native. "I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that."
The Spartans made it 30 years after Magic Johnson led them to a national title over Larry Bird and Indiana State.
"Detroit needs something, Michigan needs something to feel good about," said Johnson, who was at the game. "And right now, the whole state is feeling good about this Michigan State team."
Along with advancing, the Spartans prevented a Big East blitz in the Final Four - Louisville (31-6) was trying to become the third school from the power-packed conference to make it.
The Cardinals scored 103 points in overwhelming Arizona in the regional semifinal, but barely reached half that total against a rugged, defensive-minded squad. Earl Clark scored 19 points, but coach Rick Pitino's team played without the precision or passion it had Friday night.
Louisville lost for the first time in 14 games. It was the second straight year they were eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the regional final.
Suton carried the Spartans early, scoring 17 points in the first half, and Durrell Summers delivered 10 second-half points.
"They prepared so well the past day and a half," Izzo said. "I didn't know if we could beat them but I thought we had a chance."
It went nothing like Louisville expected.
The Cardinals allowed Michigan State to dictate the pace with their deliberate half-court style, and Louisville's vaunted pressure defense produced no fastbreak points.
Instead, Michigan State relied on its physical style and finally broke the Cardinals.
After going 28 minutes without either team taking more than a three-point lead, the Cardinals broke down.
Louisville came back from a 30-27 halftime deficit to take a 34-32 lead with 15:33 to go.
But the Spartans answered with the first big run of the day, outscoring Louisville 9-2 over a two-minute span for a 41-36 lead.
The Spartans were just getting started.
Michigan State took advantage of the Cardinals poor free-throw shooting to go on a 17-7 run that made it 58-43 with 5:50 to go.
That forced Louisville to rush its offense into bad shots, and with Louisville's rebounders out of position, Michigan State dominated.
The Cardinals made only one basket in the last 5:18 and shot just 38.3 percent from the field.
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| Soldiers patrol the streets of Reynosa, on Mexico's northeastern border with the U.S., Tuesday, March 17, 2009. Mexico has deployed thousands of soldiers and federal agents to drug strongholds as part of a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006. |
Amid screams and the smell of urine and sweat, they find a blood-spattered room and a nail-encrusted log used to beat the captives and extort money from their families: $3,000 each.
Five suspected kidnappers are hauled off in a military truck, including the alleged leader - the son of a local police officer.
The Associated Press spent five days on the front line of Mexico's drug war, embedded with the army's 8th Division in Tamaulipas state, one of many organized-crime hotspots now policed by 45,000 troops nationwide. Launched by President Felipe Calderon in December 2006, the army is Mexico's last and best hope to gain control over drug cartels and spiraling violence, which have killed more than 9,000 people since then.
But the AP's exclusive front-row seat reveals the army offensive to be at once successful and imperfect, marred by police corruption, lack of training and local distrust. As Calderon has said, it's a temporary fix. There's still not a long-term solution.
Many Mexicans see the army as the only government entity able to face the heavily armed drug cartels, and soldiers rely on citizen complaints, such as the call that led them to the migrant hostages. They enter the house in a rough neighborhood without working with local police to get a search warrant, fearing officers could tip off the smugglers.
Army officials acknowledge they break rules to get results. Their fight is complicated by deep-rooted corruption among local and state police, who work as lookouts and sometimes hit men for the cartels.
"Here you can't call police," says army Capt. Huascar Santiago, "because they're in collusion."
The problem is also complicated by the constitution, which bars the army from doing police work such as the smuggling ring bust. Among other limits, soldiers legally can detain only people caught in the act of a crime as they check suspicious cars, rummage through trash cans and gather intelligence from neighbors.
Army Gen. Edgar Villegas, the division commander, says the military still maintains discipline in these situations.
"If we're going to act in this gray area, in the end what prevails is the honesty and transparency with which we do things," he says. "We're susceptible to committing errors, and when we do, we take responsibility for everything that comes with it."
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In the Reynosa raid, the soldiers free nine women held in the living room in their underwear and 46 men crammed into two small bedrooms - some for up to a month - with little food and water. The torture room has a mattress on the floor and blood and posters of half-naked women on the walls. A handgun sits on a corner table.
The soldiers handcuff the ring leader and cover his head. He is taken into the bathroom, made to kneel in a bathtub beside a bucket of water. The door is shut. The suspect emerges wet and willing to reveal the addresses of two other smuggling houses, though they yield nothing.
"You're heroes. God will reward you," reads a text message on Santiago's cell phone from the man who gave him the tip.
Drug traffickers once had free rein in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas and the Gulf Coast - the home base for the Gulf cartel. They raced around in convoys of bulletproof sport utility vehicles, setting up roadblocks to protect turf and forcing Mexican customs agents at gun point to wave through cars coming from the U.S. without inspection. Men openly displayed their weapons as they drank in bars or had their ostrich-skinned boots shined in the town plaza.
That was before Calderon took office and sent the army - mostly twentysomethings from rural provinces - to wrest control of areas taken over by cartels.
The 8th Division - 2,400 troops plus 1,500 reinforcements - was deployed in late 2007 after a former border town mayor who denounced cartel meddling in local elections was shot dead outside a restaurant.
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Maj. Andres Murias leads his column of 30 soldiers in the border town of Miguel Aleman past a house where he previously saw surveillance cameras and decides to make a stop. His soldiers find ski masks and ammunition inside a stolen truck in the yard, and freshly abandoned fried chicken and tortillas in the kitchen.
As his troops continue through the streets, Murias' driver points out a local squad car that keeps turning up nearby.
"We have been followed by the police every single moment," Murias says. "They have people everywhere reporting on our every move, and that makes it hard to surprise them."
But that doesn't keep them from trying. At dusk, Murias' unit shows up at a cattle ranch near the Rio Grande that he hears is a hideout for gunmen. Days earlier he flew over the ranch, taking pictures.
The military convoy breaks a chain to open the gate, shoos cows from its path and circles the property on bumpy dirt road lined by mesquite trees.
But the only find is a fuming Juan Gilberto Garza, the owner, demanding to know what intelligence the army used to illegally enter his land.
"You can come into the ranch whenever you want, but not like that," Garza says, shaking the broken chain at Murias. "I wanted to talk to you, to ask you to please close the gates. But no one would talk to me and left me standing there like an idiot."
Murias tells him a citizen complained of armed men on the property.
"I had to go in and check," he says.
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Mexico's National Human Rights Commission recently reported that complaints against soldiers - including illegal searches and heavy-handed treatment of detainees - jumped to 1,230 in 2008 from 182 in 2006, before the troops were dispatched.
Calderon defends them. In most areas where large military forces have been deployed, drug-related violence has dropped. That includes Mexico's deadliest city, Ciudad Juarez, where the federal government says drug-related killings are down 70 percent since 11,000 soldiers and federal agents arrived in February.
Murias' unit alone confiscated 52 tons of marijuana in 2008, compared to 2 tons in 2006. Last November, the 8th Division made the largest drug weapons seizure in Mexican history - 540 assault rifles, 165 grenades and 500,000 rounds of ammunition.
But signs are everywhere in Tamaulipas that cartel leaders are ready to return to business as usual as soon as the soldiers leave.
Illegal antennas adorn rooftops and empty lots - 5,000 in Nuevo Laredo alone - allowing a wide network of cartel spies to communicate by walkie-talkie. In some towns, residents tolerate and even protect the traffickers.
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In the town of Guardados de Abajo, another army unit is camping along the Rio Grande when soldiers hear a truck rumbling in the dark. They investigate to find more than 800 pounds (400 kilograms) of marijuana abandoned on the riverbank.
The next day, Murias discovers that the only way to get to the spot where the drugs were dumped is through a private driveway that passes a house and a goat pen.
He asks the resident if she heard anything suspicious the night before.
"I keep to myself," she says, nervously smoothing the sweater on her toddler. "And I go to bed early."
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| In this Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 picture, from foreground to background, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, testify at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the automotive industry bailout on Capitol Hill in Washington. A person with knowledge of General Motors' plans said Sunday, March 29, 2009 Wagoner will step down immediately as chairman and chief executive of the struggling Detroit automaker. |
The officials asked not to be identified because details of the restructuring plan have not yet been made public. On Monday, Obama is to announce measures to restructure GM and Chrysler LLC in exchange for additional government loans. The companies have been living on $17.4 billion in government aid and have requested $21.6 billion more.
Wagoner's departure indicates that more management changes may be part of the deal, but it is still unclear who will be put in charge of GM. The automaker recently promoted Fritz Henderson, its former chief financial officer, to become president and chief operating officer. Many in the company thought he would eventually succeed Wagoner.
Detroit-based GM issued a statement Sunday saying only that the company expects a decision by the administration soon but that "it would not be appropriate for us to speculate on the content of any announcement."
A person familiar with Chrysler's management said the company has been given no indication that the government will require any changes at the Auburn Hills, Mich., company, which has been led by former Home Depot chief Robert Nardelli since August 2007. The person also spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama's plan has not been made public.
Wagoner, 56, has repeatedly said he felt it was better for the company if he led it through the crisis, but he has faced sharp criticism on Capitol Hill for what many lawmakers regard as years of missteps, mistakes and arrogance by the Big Three automakers.
Wagoner joined GM in 1977, serving in several capacities in the U.S., Brazil and Europe. He became president and chief executive in 2000 and has served as chairman and CEO since May 2003.
Obama said Sunday that GM and Chrysler and all those with a stake in their survival need to take more hard steps to help the struggling automakers restructure for the future. In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" broadcast Sunday, Obama said the companies must do more to receive additional financial aid from the government.
"They're not there yet," he said.
A person familiar with Obama's plans said last week they would go deeper than what the Bush administration demanded when it approved the initial loans last year.
Wagoner, in an interview with The Associated Press in December, had declined to speculate on suggestions from some members of Congress that GM's leadership team should step down as part of any rescue package.
"I'm doing what I do because it adds a lot of value to the company," Wagoner said in a Dec. 4 interview as GM sought federal aid from the Bush administration. "It's not clear to me that experience in this industry should be viewed as a negative but I'm going to do what's right for the company and I'll do it in consultation with the (GM) board (of directors)."
Wagoner has been credited by auto industry analysts with doing more to restructure the giant bureaucratic automaker than any other executive. But given that he has been at GM's helm for so long, many of his critics say he moved far too slowly to take on the United Auto Workers and shrink the company as its market share tumbled.
While GM has improved its cars in the last two years, critics say the company relied for too long on sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles for its profits and was unprepared for a drastic market shift when gasoline prices hit $4 per gallon last year.
During the Congressional debate over whether to give GM and Chrysler loans last year, many lawmakers criticized Wagoner, including Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking Committee.
He accused automakers' top management of having a "head-in-the-sand" approach to problems and said Wagoner "has to move on" as part of a government-run restructuring that should be a condition of financial life support for the auto industry.
David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said Sunday that Wagoner's departure gives the government a rationale to provide additional aid to the automaker. He was not surprised by the move, but said he is disappointed because he considers Wagoner a capable leader.
"I think that as a condition for further government support, this helps give them a little cover with the public," Cole said. "Essentially he's taking one for the team."
Cole noted that other automakers have been shaking up management as well. He pointed to Toyota Motor Corp., whose president, Katsuaki Watanabe, recently said he would be stepping down as the Japanese automaker weathers financial difficulty. Also, France's biggest carmaker, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, abruptly ousted CEO Christian Streiff on Sunday, saying "exceptional difficulties" confronting the auto industry require new management at the top.
Cole said Nardelli's departure is less likely than Wagoner's because Nardelli is "relatively new" to the automaker, with less than two years at the helm.
Many GM executives likely will be disappointed at Wagoner's departure, Cole said.
"They had great affection for Rick - someone that's fair, that acts like a coach, that holds people's feet to the fire but has a good understanding of human behavior," Cole said.
GM and Chrysler were required by the Bush administration to get major concessions from debtholders and the United Auto Workers, with a deadline of March 31 for signed contracts. But very little headway was being made with either party this weekend as they awaited Obama's announcement.
Members of Obama's auto task force have said bankruptcy could still be an option for GM and Chrysler if their management, workers, creditors and shareholders failed to make sacrifices. Both companies are trying to reduce their debt by two-thirds and convince the United Auto Workers union to accept shares of stock in exchange for half of the payments into a union-run trust fund for retiree health care costs. The deals also call for executive pay cuts and labor costs that are competitive with Japanese automakers with U.S. operations.
Bondholders have been reluctant to accept the cuts, saying they're being required to sacrifice more than others, but they have been reviewing a recent offer by GM. The union has agreed to other terms of the loans, including work rule changes and reducing total hourly labor costs at U.S factories to a level comparable with Japanese automakers.
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| Workers scramble to pull an outlet hose for a pump over a dike as a helicopter behind lowers a giant sandbag in an attempt to patch a leak at the flooded Oak Grove Lutheran school Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Fargo, N.D. The bloated Red River briefly breached a dike early Sunday, pouring water into the school campus and the mayor called it a "wakeup call" for a city that needs to be vigilant for weaknesses in levees that could give way at any time. Crews managed to largely contain the flooding to the school campus, preventing more widespread damage in nearby areas. |
FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- Weary residents of this sandbagged city came together in churches Sunday, counting their blessings that the Red River finally stopped rising and praying the levees would hold back its wrath. A brief levee break that swamped a school provided a warning of the kind of threat that still hangs over them in the days ahead.
Church services that are a staple of life on Sunday mornings in Fargo took on greater significance as people gathered after a week of round-the clock sandbagging. They sang hymns and held hands, asking together for divine help in avoiding disaster.
"At a time like this, we need to call on God's providential assistance," said the Rev. Bob Ona, pastor of Fargo's First Assembly of God church. "All of you have been heroic in your efforts. All of you have been pushed past the wall of weariness, exhaustion and numerous frustrations in order to do the right thing - help people in the name of the Lord."
The Red River continued its slow retreat Sunday after cresting a day earlier, dropping below record level to 39.88 feet. City officials have said they would breathe easier when the river falls to 37 feet or lower, expected by Saturday, meaning a lengthy test for sandbag levees that residents hastily constructed last week.
Fargo faces another test this week as a storm approached with up to a half-foot of snow and powerful wind gusts that could send ferocious waves crashing into and over the already-stressed levees.
The sandbag effort resumed Sunday as helicopters began dropping 11 one-ton sandbags into the river to deflect its violent current and keep it from eroding vulnerable areas of the dike system.
The aerial effort also included an unmanned Predator drone used to watch flood patterns and ice floes and provide high-definition information to teams on the ground. North Dakota has more than 2,400 National Guard troops engaged in the flood fight across the state.
The helicopter sandbag effort was focused on an area of the river that put another scare into the city during the night when it burst past a levee and submerged a Lutheran school campus.
Oak Grove Lutheran Principal Morgan Forness said city officials, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Guard unsuccessfully tried to contain the gushing water after a floodwall buckled around 1:30 a.m. The water kept spreading and "we couldn't contain it. ... it's inundating all of the buildings," Forness said.
"The campus is basically devastated. They fought the good fight. They lost, and there's nothing wrong with that," Mayor Dennis Walaker said. "Those things will continue to happen. I guarantee it."
Crews largely contained the flooding to the campus, preventing more widespread damage in nearby areas. School officials also frantically raced to rescue a cockatiel, parakeet and tortoises, birds, iguanas and snakes kept at the school as part of its science program, while pumping out most of the water in the buildings within 12 hours.
The flooding at the campus - heavily damaged in the region's 1997 flood - represented the type of disaster that could crop up in Fargo throughout the week, with Walaker calling it a "wakeup call" for the city.
"The main event is right now, while we have this higher water. And it ain't over till it's over," said U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., comparing the need for vigilance until the very end to the University of North Dakota's stunning, last-second loss in the hockey playoffs the night before. "And it ain't gonna be over until several days from now."
The levee watch in Fargo was one of several fronts in the fight against the Red River. Public works officials were closely monitoring the situation to make sure that water and sewer systems remain safe and that raw sewage doesn't back up into homes. Flooding statewide was blamed for two deaths, in central and western North Dakota, in what health officials said were apparent heart attacks brought on by flood-prevention exertions.
Moorhead, a city of 30,000 directly across the river in Minnesota, also was fighting to hold back the river. A husband and wife had to be rescued by boat from their home just south of the city after they became trapped on the second floor, said Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist.
Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland said he was concerned but still optimistic about how long his city's dike could last against the pressure of the river water. "Some of us aren't sure how strong they might be," he said. "We have a long way to go."
The flood was caused by an enormous winter snowfall that melted and combined with more precipitation to send the river to record levels. The river flows from south to north through the tabletop terrain of North Dakota, providing few opportunities to drain.
"The place is so flat," said John Gulliver, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Minnesota. "It is totally flat, so there's really no place for the water to go because it can't leave that quickly. So it just keeps backing up like a bathtub with a slow drain."
Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church held its Sunday services at a Ramada hotel to accommodate all the people from other churches that canceled worship because of the flood. They pared down the service - no high-tech PowerPoint presentations, no food, no Sunday school. "Just prayer, some old hymns everybody knows, and being together," said church member Tami Crist.
"We can sit back and know that we've done what we can do. Now God's going to do what he can do," she said.
The pastor at the Assemblies of God church said now was the time to turn to spirituality for hope and not obsess about material possessions. After a week in which the church used its buses to shuttle people to feverish sandbagging efforts, Ona told the congregation that "we have done everything we can do, humanly speaking."
"We don't feel we deserve any awards or plaques for what we did," he added. "We are a church. This is what we do."
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| Duke center Brian Zoubek goes airborne ahead of teammate Lance Thomas, back, and above Villanova guard Corey Stokes (24) during the first half of a men's NCAA college basketball tournament regional semifinal in Boston, Thursday, March 26, 2009. |
BOSTON (AP) -- Dante Cunningham scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and third-seeded Villanova beat Duke for the first time in more than 50 years, taking advantage of the Blue Devils' poor shooting to win 77-54 Thursday night and advance to the NCAA regional final.
The Wildcats (29-7) will play Big East rival Pittsburgh (31-4), the top seed in the East, on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four.
Duke (30-7), which spent a week at No. 1 in the nation earlier this season, failed to reach the round of eight for the fifth consecutive year.
Kyle Singler scored 15 and Jon Scheyer had 13 for the second-seeded Blue Devils. But Scheyer and Gerald Henderson combined to make just four of 32 attempts as Duke shot a season-low 26.7 percent from the floor.
Villanova was playing on the tournament's second weekend for the fourth time in five years, but Jay Wright's Wildcats have yet to reach the Final Four. But the fans could sense another chance, chanting "We want Pitt!" when Corey Stokes hit a 3-pointer with 2:27 left to give Villanova a 71-50 lead - its biggest thus far in the game.
Villanova, which set a school record with its 29th win, beat Pitt 67-57 in their regular-season meeting at Philadelphia on Jan. 28 when the Panthers were the No. 3 team in the country.
But rankings and seeds have meant little to the Wildcats: No team in tournament history has won more games against higher seeds. The Wildcats are 14-12 as a lower seed since 1979, including their 1985 run to the national championship as a No. 8 seed - the lowest ever to win it all.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, already the winningest coach in tournament history, became the all-time leader in NCAA games coached with 93 - one more than Dean Smith, though the current format with six full rounds has only been in place since 1985. But it became obvious early on that he wouldn't be padding his lead.
After jumping to a 5-0 lead, Duke gave up the next 11 points and never led again. The Blue Devils trailed 26-23 and hit the first basket of the second half, but Villanova scored 12 of the next 13.
Worse, the 3-point shooting that got Duke past Binghamton and Texas abandoned the Blue Devils against the Wildcats. After making 45 percent and 50 percent of their 3s in the first two tournament games, Duke hit three of their first 18 attempts and 5-of-27 overall.
The Blue Devils had beaten Villanova five straight times since the Wildcats' last victory in 1958.
Scottie Reynolds scored 16 and Reggie Redding had 11 points and nine rebounds as Villanova won the rebounding battle 49-34.
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The city of Philadelphia may soon be slapping parents with $25 fines if they let their kids play hooky.
City Council has given final and unanimous approval to a bill that levies $25 fines on parents when a child is caught outside of school between 9am and 1pm.
For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/
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City council members who are due for lump sum pension payments under the DROP program are fuming about press accounts of their participation.
Councilwoman Marion Tasco made a speech on the floor of council chambers slamming the press:
"We are being maligned."
For full story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/
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| Louisville's Earl Clark (5) knocks the bal away from Arizona's Jordan Hill (43) in the second half of an NCAA Midwest regional men's college basketball tournament semifinal game Friday, March 27, 2009, in Indianapolis. |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Louisville proved it was the best in the Big East. Now, the Cardinals are showing just how mighty they might be. Earl Clark had 19 points and nine rebounds and the top-seeded team in the NCAA tournament delivered one of the most crushing blowouts in regional round history - a 103-64 romp over Arizona on Friday night.
Coach Rick Pitino and the Cardinals (31-5) topped 100 points for the first time this season, hit 14 3-pointers and nearly 57 percent from the field, moving into the Midwest final in impressive fashion. They will play either Kansas or Michigan State on Sunday.
The Big East regular season and tourney champs became the fourth team from the league to reach a regional final this season with a victory that just missed cracking the top five for most lopsided routs in regional round history. UCLA set the record with a 49-point victory over Wyoming in 1967, and all the top five were recorded before 1972.
Arizona (21-4) did little right and hardly resembled the team that shot 52.5 percent from the field in its first two tourney wins. On Friday, the Wildcats connected on just 37.8 percent and committed 15 turnovers against Louisville's pressure defense.
The Cardinals were simply too fast, too strong, too big, and shooting too well for 12th-seeded Arizona to have a chance.
At times, it appeared the Cardinals were toying with Arizona. Once, Terrence Williams grabbed a defensive rebound, whipped the ball around his back, then delivered a perfect outlet pass that led to Clark's 3-pointer.
Louisville built a 21-point halftime lead and eliminated any comeback hopes by opening the second half on an 18-5 run that made it 67-33.
It was by far the Cardinals' biggest rout in their long NCAA tournament, and easily the Wildcats' most-lopsided loss.
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| Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin (23) hits his head on the backboard as he shoots against Syracuse in the second half of a men's NCAA tournament regional semifinal college basketball game in Memphis, Tenn., Friday, March 27, 2009. Oklahoma won 84-71. |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Oklahoma is dangerous enough with Blake Griffin. Give him some help? The Sooners are nearly unstoppable.
Griffin scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds, and Tony Crocker added a career-high 28 points as the second-seeded Sooners beat Syracuse 84-71 Friday night and advanced to their first regional final since 2003.
Oklahoma (30-5) started pulling away midway through the first half and moved on to play either top-seeded North Carolina or Gonzaga in the South Regional final Sunday looking for their first Final Four since 2002. The last time the Sooners made it this far, Syracuse beat them en route to their own national championship.
And all that talk of an All-Big East Final Four?
That's over with now. Syracuse was the league's lone representative left in the South Region. The Orange (28-10) finally ran out of the magic that helped them pull off such wins as their six-overtime marathon over Connecticut in the Big East tournament.
Griffin once again put on a show despite being double-teamed again. He mowed over Syracuse's gutsy guard Jonny Flynn going to the basket and nearly hurt himself by banging his noggin against the bottom of the backboard while driving along the baseline for a rim-rocking dunk.
But it was Crocker, the junior guard who went scoreless in the Sooners' second-round win over Michigan, who helped shred Syracuse's vaunted 2-3 zone. He shot right over the zone, hitting six of his first eight 3s.
Flynn led Syracuse with 22 points despite playing the second half with a bruised back after that crunching collision with Griffin, trying to take a charge under the basket. Andy Rautins added 12.
Oklahoma denied Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim his career 800th victory in a game that never really was close as the Orange never found their outside shot or the scoring balance that had five players averaging in double figures. Eric Devendorf and Rautins went a combined 1-of-13 in the first half.
The Sooners grabbed the lead from the start off a 3-pointer from Crocker from the top of the key over Devendorf's outstretched hand, and the Sooners' rout was on. They scored eight of the first 10 points, and Blake Griffin had as many points by himself (nine) as the Orange through the first 10 minutes.
Flynn tried to rally the Orange. He scored six straight points starting with a running one-hander, then a drive and finally a jumper to pull them within 18-17 with 7:15 to go.
That was as close as they would get as Oklahoma led 39-26 at halftime and put together a 20-2 spurt spanning the halves.
Every time Syracuse made a mistake, Oklahoma made the Orange pay. The Sooners scored 32 points off Syracuse's 18 turnovers, including one Devendorf lost that Crocker turned into a fast-break layup.
Then Flynn tried to set up under the basket and take a charge as Blake Griffin drove up the right side toward the basket late in the first half. The 6-foot-10, 251-pound power forward slammed into the 6-foot Flynn, knocking him onto the floor.
Flynn writhed around a couple minutes before getting up. The official diagnosis was a bruised back, and Flynn finished the game. Even though Rautins got hot and had all of his 12 in the second half, it wasn't enough to get Syracuse closer than 14 in the final minutes.
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| Law enforcement officers salute as a hearse carrying the casket of a fallen Oakland Police officer arrives prior to a memorial service Friday, March 27, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. The memorial service was held for Oakland police officers Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai, who were gunned down Saturday police say by a 26-year-old parole violator, who was also killed. |
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The city virtually halted Friday for the funeral of four slain police officers, with a populace still in shock jamming a large sports arena, spilling into an overflow stadium and filling the streets to pay their last respects.
The funerals for Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai, who authorities say were gunned down March 21 by a parolee, shut down major freeways into and out of Oakland for much of the day as their long processions made their way to and from the Oracle Arena.
The shootings were the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001, and the deadliest in California in nearly four decades. A somber pageant of uniformed officers from law enforcement agencies across the country - police departments, sheriffs' offices, highway patrols - overwhelmed the arena.
The entire 815-member Oakland Police Department, wearing dress white caps and gloves and black mourning bands on their badges, filled the front rows, saluting their fallen brethren as their flag-draped caskets were carried inside.
Loved ones, community members and dignitaries, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state Attorney General Jerry Brown and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, made up the rest of the mourners in the arena, with a large overflow crowd filing into the adjacent Oakland Coliseum to watch the service on jumbo screens - more than 20,000 attendees in all.
"These four men were and are heroes, but they weren't made of steel. They always knew the day may come," Feinstein told the crowd. "When the time came to make the ultimate sacrifice, their final hour was one of their finest."
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums also attended the service, but was asked not to speak by at least one family of the victims, his spokesman said. Paul Rose said he did not know which family made the request nor the reason.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama sent condolences in a letter, read by Oakland police chaplain Jayson Landeza, saying, the officers' "commitment to their fellow man will never be forgotten."
Police say parolee Lovelle Mixon shot Sgt. Dunakin and Officer Hege at a routine traffic stop, then killed Sgts. Romans and Sakai in an apartment where Mixon also was killed.
One of the most affecting tributes came from Oakland police Capt. Edward Tracey, commander of the SWAT team that cornered Mixon.
"These were my men," he said. "They died doing what they loved: riding in motorcycles, kicking in doors, serving in SWAT."
Tracey thanked the citizens who called police after the traffic stop and singled out a man who performed CPR on Dunakin at the scene. He also addressed the members of the SWAT team present when Romans and Sakai were killed.
"Console yourself knowing that they spent their last moments in your company," he said. He also told the officers not to let the deaths "hold you back."
The officers' coffins lined the front of the arena. The tall black motorcycle boots that Dunakin and Hege wore were placed by their caskets.
Individual eulogies from friends, colleagues and relatives of the officers sketched portraits of dedicated, hard-working family men.
Dunakin, 40, known as "Dunny," was the life of the party who loved looking good on his motorcycle. Hege, 41, volunteered to work overtime at the Coliseum during Raiders home games to see his favorite team. Romans, 43, a former Marine Corps drill sergeant, was an avid hunter and enjoyed cooking up his game. Sakai, 35, was a former Boy Scout who loved backpacking through untouched wilderness.
Outside, a sea of police vehicles that carried law enforcers from around the country and from Canada filled the parking lot.
New York City police Lt. Tommy Ng, who attended the ceremony, said the tragedy brought back memories of Sept. 11. He said he was not surprised by the outpouring of support.
"When one of us is hurt, all of us are hurt," Ng said before the service. "We're all brothers."
Minneapolis police Sgt. Steve Blackwell and three other officers drove two squad cars from Minnesota over three days to attend Friday's service.
"It's a national tragedy," Blackwell said, "so it cuts pretty deep. We want to let the people of Oakland see that we care. I hope that this city finds strength from this tragedy to move ahead."
For those in the Oakland Police Department, the loss is almost unspeakable.
Gery Gilbert, 49, a traffic clerk at the Eastmont substation, where the slain officers worked, said she had a hard time just getting up Friday morning. She recalled how excited Hege was to be on motorcycle patrol when she last saw him two weeks ago, just one week after he joined the patrol.
Ronit Tulloch, a resident of Oakland, said she wanted to attend the funeral to show her gratitude for police officers.
"You take it for granted, you forget what they're really there for," she said. "They just get up every day and do it. It's amazing."
