IRVING, Texas (AP) -- NFL referees are ready to become unnoticed again, just as they prefer.
The refs approved a new eight-year contract with the league on a 112-5 vote Saturday, officially ending a lockout that led to three weeks of increasingly chaotic games run by replacement officials who drew the attention of everyone from the average fan to President Barack Obama.
After a few hours of final preparations with league officials, the next stop for the refs who gathered in Irving, Texas, was the airport. They'll be heading straight to their Sunday game sites.
''It was pretty much 'Come on it and vote,''' said Scott Green, president of the referees' association. ''We're going to talk football now. We're going to stop talking about CBAs and lockouts and now we're going to talk about rules and video and getting ourselves ready to work football games.''
They may get ovations similar to the one bestowed on the crew that worked Thursday's Cleveland-Baltimore game with the tentative deal in place. Before long, they expect to go back to being mostly anonymous and sometimes hated. They're OK with both.
''The last Super Bowl that I worked, when we got in the locker room, I said, 'You know, the best thing about this game, nobody will remember who refereed this game,''' Green said. ''That's how we like to work.''
Refs met for about an hour and a half Friday night to go over the contract, then gathered for another 30 minutes Saturday morning before the vote.
The deal came quickly after an increasing chorus of complaints became impossible to ignore when a disputed touchdown call on the final play gave the Seattle Seahawks a victory over the Green Bay Packers on national television Monday night. Many thought the ruling of a Seattle touchdown instead of a Green Bay interception was botched, and the labor dispute drew public comments from Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.
By late Wednesday, the sides had a contract calling for refs' salaries to increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019. The current defined benefit pension plan will remain in place for current officials through the 2016 season or until the official earns 20 years' service.
The defined benefit plan will then be frozen. Retirement benefits will be provided for new hires, and for all officials beginning in 2017, through a defined contribution.
Beginning with the 2013 season, the NFL will have the option to hire a number of officials to work year-round. The NFL also can retain additional officials for training and development and assign those officials to work games. The number of additional officials will be determined by the league.
The officials that worked Thursday's Ravens-Browns game were cheered from the moment they walked onto the field. The difference between the regular crew and replacements was clear. The officials kept the game in control, curtailing the chippy play and choppy pace that had marred the first three weeks of the regular season.
''I think the thing we're most proud of is the lesson that we all learned is if you're going to be in a professional league, you've got top-notch coaches, you need professional officials as well,'' Green said.
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Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL
FC Barcelona Regal reached a new agreement with head coach Xavi Pascual to extend his contract until the end of the 2014-15 season, the club announced Thursday. Pascual, age 40, was under contract until the end of the upcoming season but now added two more years under the new agreement. Pascual is the only Spanish coach to win the Turkish Airlines Euroleague title in the last three decades, when he led Barcelona to lift the trophy in 2010, downing Olympiacos 86-68 in Paris, France. He was promoted to Barcelona's head coach spot in February 2008, replacing his former boss Dusko Ivanovic, and guided the team to the Spanish League finals. His four full seasons with the club have been very successful, winning trophies every year. He has led Barcelona to win three Spanish League titles in 2009, 2011 and 2012, lifted the Spanish King's Cup trophy in 2010 and 2011 and above all, helped the club to win its second continental crown in 2010. A press conference to explain the new agreement has been scheduled on September 28, as Barcelona will fight for its fourth consecutive Spanish Supercup title in Zaragoza this weekend.
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BEIJING (AP) ? China's communist leadership expelled Bo Xilai from the ruling party Friday and sought to bury him with charges ranging from corruption to sexual affairs, aiming to sweep away their most damaging scandal in decades while finally scheduling their long-awaited leadership transition for November.
A statement from the party's Politburo amounted to a surprisingly strong and wide-ranging indictment against Bo, effectively ending the public of life of the flamboyant 63-year-old populist who was one of China's best known politicians and whose ambition was considered a menace to the country's top leaders.
The former Politburo member and regional party chief is to be charged with crimes dating back more than a decade, including abuse of power, bribe taking and improper relations with several women ? banned by the party because they are considered an inducement to corruption. He also is accused of involvement in the cover-up of his wife's murder of a British businessman, which was instrumental in triggering his downfall.
"They want to drive a stake through the heart of his political career, and make it absolutely impossible, not only for him to reappear but for anyone else who has that idea of trying to create that sort of personalized, political, charismatic leadership in some part of China which may challenge the leadership," said Rana Mitter, professor of Chinese history and politics at Oxford University.
The Politburo also announced the party congress would take place Nov. 8.
Dates for the congress, held once every five years, were overdue and highly anticipated because it will see President Hu Jintao step down after 10 years as party boss ? and China's ultimate leader ? to be replaced by Vice President Xi Jinping.
The congress had been expected to take place in mid-October, although the preparations were overshadowed by the Bo scandal.
"Bo Xilai's behavior resulted in serious repercussions and enormous damage to the reputation of the party and the nation, producing extremely vile effects domestically and overseas, and causing heavy damage to the cause of the party and the people," the Politburo said in a statement issued following its meeting in Beijing.
Speculation swirled for months over whether the party would harshly punish one of its own for criminal wrongdoing, or merely allow its own disciplinary arm to deal him a slap on the wrist.
The scandal was set off when a trusted Bo aide disclosed that his boss's wife had murdered a British businessman. Bo was sacked as party chief of the city of Chongqing; his wife, Gu Kailai, was given a suspended death sentence after confessing to the murder; and the aide, Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, received a 15-year prison term for initially covering up the murder and other misdeeds.
The trials of Wang, which wrapped up this week, and Gu, which finished earlier, cleared the way for the party to decide whether to charge Bo with criminal wrongdoing. But his ouster from the leadership early this year opened a window into the divisive jostling for power as president and party leader Hu prepares to retire to make way for younger leaders.
Bo is the first Politburo member to be purged and handed to prosecutors since Hu had Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu sentenced for corruption in 2007. In that case, more than a year passed before Chen stood trial, perhaps auguring a long wait before Bo's case goes to court.
High-level purges, however, are almost always more about political power plays than crimes.
Bo was a divisive figure among Chinese leaders. Self-assured and comfortable with the media, he promoted populist policies as party chief of Chongqing and rode high-profile campaigns to bust organized crime gangs and promote communist culture to national popularity. His ambition was seen as a threat not only by Hu but to Hu's soon-to-be-installed successor, Xi Jinping.
Bo's supporters called the Politburo decision a political tactic. "I have doubts on any criminal wrongdoings of Bo Xilai. I need to see the evidence," said Han Deqiang, an economics professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a leading voice in what Chinese call the new left. "I think this is a political battle turned into a criminal one."
Bo's detractors, however, were cheered by the news, though they too saw politics at play in the decision.
"This announcement is long overdue. This means there is some progress in the rule of law in China. There is more transparency," said Li Zhuang, a formidable defense lawyer who found himself jailed in Chongqing after he accused police of extracting his client's confession by torture. "Of course it is also political. In China, politics and law often go hand in hand."
The decision by the 25-member Politburo, of which Bo had been a member, said that "investigations show that Bo had seriously violated party discipline ... abused his power, committed grave mistakes and should be held responsible for the Wang Lijun case as well as Gu's murder case."
The mention of Gu's case appeared to be a reference to obstruction of justice. Wang testified that Bo ignored him when he told him of his suspicions, then boxed him in the ears, demoted him, and detained several of his subordinates.
It was the first direct mention of Bo in state media in months. His name was not mentioned for both Gu's and Wang's trials.
The Politburo statement said that he took huge amounts of bribes directly or through his family and "maintained illicit relationships with numerous females." It said Bo's crimes dated from his time as mayor of the eastern port city of Dalian, through his term as commerce minister and as leader of Chongqing.
Bo's removal is seen as strengthening Xi's position, leaving him the undisputed leader of the party's "princelings," as the offspring of high-ranking communist elders are known.
"Now Bo is finished, Xi can take over those supporters from Bo and enlarge his network among the princelings," said China politics analyst Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Yet his ouster will do nothing to win over Bo supporters among party hardliners and admirers of Bo, who was widely popular among working-class Chinese.
"Xi is safer with Bo gone, but the hardliners will withhold their cooperation at the congress as a sign of their disapproval," said China expert Feng Chongyi of the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia.
Friday's Politburo meeting sets a series of events in motion. The 204-member Central Committee, a cross-section of the national party elite, usually convenes about a week before the congress to approve decisions already made by the Politburo. Privately, the committee will also approve the incoming leaders and a policy blueprint for the next five years.
___
Associated Press writers Gillian Wong, Didi Tang and Isolda Morillo contributed to this report.
The city of Beaverton announced Friday that it received a $1.6 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control to fight health problems such as obesity and develop a health and wellness center.
The money will support the Beaverton Community Health Partnership, a group of about 10 health care providers. They include Community Action, Lifeworks Northwest and the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center. The partnership has been named an Oregon Solutions Project for building strong relationships between a public agency and nonprofits.
Part of the money will support the development of a Beaverton health and wellness center, a go-to spot for a variety of health resources. Officials have explored the vacant Westgate property near the Round at Beaverton Central as one potential location.
The partnership also hopes to reduce the frequency of diabetes and lower the rate of heart attacks and strokes.
The grant is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Community Transformation Grants. The money supports public programs that reduce chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles and manage health care spending.
Overall, the department has awarded roughly $70 million in grants to improve the health of communities that have fewer than 500,000 people. Beaverton has a population of about 90,000 people.
Notre Dame receives $6.1 million NSF grant award to advance Quarknet ProgramPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mitchell Wayne mwayne@nd.edu 574-631-8475 University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame has received a five-year, $6.1 million award from the National Science Foundation to support the continuation of the nationwide QuarkNet program, which uses particle physics experiments to inspire students and provide valuable research, training and mentorship opportunities for high school teachers.
Through the QuarkNet program, physicists at Notre Dame, Fermilab and 50 other research institutions will continue to mentor teachers in research experiences, enabling them to teach the basic concepts of introductory physics in a context that high school students find exciting. Faculty, students and teachers work together as a community of researchers, which not only develops scientific literacy in students, but also attracts young students to careers in science and technology.
"The Notre Dame QuarkNet Center is a great example of the mentoring and training provided by particle physicists at universities and national laboratories across the country," said Mitchell Wayne, professor of physics and principal investigator of the NSF grant. "It has become a focal point for educational outreach into our community. Hundreds of local high school students and many of their teachers have done research in particle physics at the center."
In addition, other education and outreach programs have been initiated by QuarkNet teachers, most significantly the Notre Dame extended Research Community (NDeRC), a significant GK-12 effort that brought interactive projects in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering to thousands of local schoolchildren.
One key feature of QuarkNet is the summer research experiences that participating centers offer for teachers and students. During its first year, each QuarkNet Center provides two teachers with eight-week research appointments and develops their expertise as lead teachers. In following years, each center may choose to host a team of high school students and a teacher for a research experience. Recently, 15 teachers, 14 students, nine mentors and a graduate student worked on nine different projects with Notre Dame faculty, including investigations into new scintillators, a presentation of particle physics in the Notre Dame Digital Visual Theater, investigations using the Compact Muon Solenoid e-Lab, and cosmic ray studies.
In the past few years, the reach of QuarkNet has become international, with QuarkNet-sponsored activities such as cosmic ray studies and master classes now being offered to students and teachers around the world. Since 2006, more than 2,100 students have participated in master classes. Currently, students in 25 countries are participating. Held at university and laboratory centers, master classes are institutes for teams of students who become physicists for a day, analyze real experimental data and discuss results through video conferences with physicists and peers across the world. "They are looking at particle events, making determinations, doing counting themselves, coming to their own conclusions," said Notre Dame's Kenneth Cecire, who facilitates master classes in the United States.
Notre Dame was one of the initial QuarkNet Centers. Randy Ruchti, a professor of physics at Notre Dame, started the center 15 years ago when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was still a decade away from operation. His vision was to inspire and educate high school students who would be interested and engaged in particle physics, and who would be prepared to work on the LHC project. To reach these students meant reaching out to their teachers and engaging these skilled professionals in the research effort. "The program has worked amazingly well, and is a two-way process: for teachers and students professional development and forefront research experiences; for physicists critical educational input from master teachers and expansion of the research effort to nontraditional, enthusiastic participants," Ruchti said.
Students and teachers in the QuarkNet program helped to build elements of the major Fermilab and LHC experiments over the last decade and are working on new detector upgrades. They are able to look at the latest scientific data from the LHC experiments, including events from the search for a Higgs-like boson, whose discovery was recently announced at CERN, the Center for European Particle Physics, on July 4. Ruchti says, "It just doesn't get more scientifically exciting than this!"
"We are delighted to receive this new award, and we are really looking forward to the next five years of QuarkNet," Wayne said. During the next five years, the Notre Dame QuarkNet faculty will continue all of their present activities and begin some new initiatives, including outreach to the Native American community.
###
The QuarkNet program involves more than 500 high school teachers across the United States. Funding for the program also comes from the U.S. Department of Energy, administered by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Notre Dame receives $6.1 million NSF grant award to advance Quarknet ProgramPublic release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mitchell Wayne mwayne@nd.edu 574-631-8475 University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame has received a five-year, $6.1 million award from the National Science Foundation to support the continuation of the nationwide QuarkNet program, which uses particle physics experiments to inspire students and provide valuable research, training and mentorship opportunities for high school teachers.
Through the QuarkNet program, physicists at Notre Dame, Fermilab and 50 other research institutions will continue to mentor teachers in research experiences, enabling them to teach the basic concepts of introductory physics in a context that high school students find exciting. Faculty, students and teachers work together as a community of researchers, which not only develops scientific literacy in students, but also attracts young students to careers in science and technology.
"The Notre Dame QuarkNet Center is a great example of the mentoring and training provided by particle physicists at universities and national laboratories across the country," said Mitchell Wayne, professor of physics and principal investigator of the NSF grant. "It has become a focal point for educational outreach into our community. Hundreds of local high school students and many of their teachers have done research in particle physics at the center."
In addition, other education and outreach programs have been initiated by QuarkNet teachers, most significantly the Notre Dame extended Research Community (NDeRC), a significant GK-12 effort that brought interactive projects in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering to thousands of local schoolchildren.
One key feature of QuarkNet is the summer research experiences that participating centers offer for teachers and students. During its first year, each QuarkNet Center provides two teachers with eight-week research appointments and develops their expertise as lead teachers. In following years, each center may choose to host a team of high school students and a teacher for a research experience. Recently, 15 teachers, 14 students, nine mentors and a graduate student worked on nine different projects with Notre Dame faculty, including investigations into new scintillators, a presentation of particle physics in the Notre Dame Digital Visual Theater, investigations using the Compact Muon Solenoid e-Lab, and cosmic ray studies.
In the past few years, the reach of QuarkNet has become international, with QuarkNet-sponsored activities such as cosmic ray studies and master classes now being offered to students and teachers around the world. Since 2006, more than 2,100 students have participated in master classes. Currently, students in 25 countries are participating. Held at university and laboratory centers, master classes are institutes for teams of students who become physicists for a day, analyze real experimental data and discuss results through video conferences with physicists and peers across the world. "They are looking at particle events, making determinations, doing counting themselves, coming to their own conclusions," said Notre Dame's Kenneth Cecire, who facilitates master classes in the United States.
Notre Dame was one of the initial QuarkNet Centers. Randy Ruchti, a professor of physics at Notre Dame, started the center 15 years ago when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was still a decade away from operation. His vision was to inspire and educate high school students who would be interested and engaged in particle physics, and who would be prepared to work on the LHC project. To reach these students meant reaching out to their teachers and engaging these skilled professionals in the research effort. "The program has worked amazingly well, and is a two-way process: for teachers and students professional development and forefront research experiences; for physicists critical educational input from master teachers and expansion of the research effort to nontraditional, enthusiastic participants," Ruchti said.
Students and teachers in the QuarkNet program helped to build elements of the major Fermilab and LHC experiments over the last decade and are working on new detector upgrades. They are able to look at the latest scientific data from the LHC experiments, including events from the search for a Higgs-like boson, whose discovery was recently announced at CERN, the Center for European Particle Physics, on July 4. Ruchti says, "It just doesn't get more scientifically exciting than this!"
"We are delighted to receive this new award, and we are really looking forward to the next five years of QuarkNet," Wayne said. During the next five years, the Notre Dame QuarkNet faculty will continue all of their present activities and begin some new initiatives, including outreach to the Native American community.
###
The QuarkNet program involves more than 500 high school teachers across the United States. Funding for the program also comes from the U.S. Department of Energy, administered by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi speaks to a reporter during an interview at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations while the 67th U.N. General Assembly is underway, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi speaks to a reporter during an interview at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations while the 67th U.N. General Assembly is underway, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi speaks to a reporter during an interview at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations while the 67th U.N. General Assembly is underway, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi speaks to a reporter during an interview at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations while the 67th U.N. General Assembly is underway, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi speaks to a reporter during an interview at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations while the 67th U.N. General Assembly is underway, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi speaks to a reporter during an interview at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations while the 67th U.N. General Assembly is underway, Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Italy will expand its economic and social commitments in Libya even as the North African country continues to battle problems that range from unsecured borders to dangerous armed groups, Italy's foreign minister said Friday.
A former colonial ruler of Libya, Italy has decades-solid trade ties with Tripoli, including extensive gas and oil interests.
"We are encouraging Libyan authorities to urgently tackle the issue of safety," Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday.
He noted that Libya's weak security instability contributed to the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, along with three other Americans in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi. And Libya's unsecured borders are a top priority that "must be resolved rapidly," Terzi said.
"We want to expand our partnership with this country, which is so important economically and politically," Terzi said.
He gave no details, but Italy's ties to Libya are strong.
Italy was Libya's colonial ruler in fascist times and went on to develop into Libya's largest trading partner as old resentments matured into mutually beneficial economic ties ? worth ?11 billion before trade was halted in February with the outbreak of civil war. Italy also is dependent on the Arab country's oil.
But Libya has suffered a big security vacuum following last year's killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and the collapse of his regime.
The void was quickly filled by local militia groups formed initially of rebel forces that fought Gadhafi's forces in an eight-month rebellion. Since then, they have grown in number and their ranks swelled with youths ready to take the law into their own hands.
"Italy is viewed by Libyans as their first point of reference in Europe," Terzi said. "We intend to increase our presence in every field."
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Apple says it is working to make the experience on its much-maligned iOS 6 Apple Maps app 'even better.' Meanwhile, iPhone 5 users continue to pine for the days of Google Maps.?
By Matthew Shaer / September 27, 2012
Hope you're not looking for the Google Maps app.
Reuters
Enlarge
Google Maps has been banished from the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. Some people are angry. Other people are counseling patience. Google, for its part, is reportedly working on a new iOS 6 mapping app, which could hit handsets and tablets by the end of the year ? providing Apple gives the app a green light. As Google chair Eric Schmidt said earlier this week, at an event in Tokyo, "it?s their choice."?
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So what exactly did iOS users lose when we lost Google Maps? Well, New York Times tech critic David Pogue recently posed that question, and offered his own answer: We lost quite a bit. "Entire lakes, train stations, bridges and tourist attractions have been moved, mislabeled or simply erased," he writes?in a review of Apple Maps. "Satellite photo views consist of stitched-together scenes from completely different seasons, weather conditions and even years."
In short, he adds,?"[Apple] Maps is an appalling first release. It may be the most embarrassing, least usable piece of software Apple has ever unleashed."?
Pogue doesn't think that Apple Maps will be bad forever ? he suggested looking at MobileMe, a "rough" offering that eventually led to the much smoother iCloud. But he does think Apple learned a lesson. "I suspect that Apple has just realized the same thing I have: that we may live on a small blue planet, but digitally representing every road, building and point of interest is a task of almost unimaginable difficulty," he wrote in a separate blog post.?
New question: What went wrong, exactly? How did Apple, typically an extremely astute company when it comes to the needs of its consumers, manage to bungle such a major offering? Over at Search Engine Land, Greg Stirling suggests that Apple failed to adequately test Apple Maps ? and then, compounding the problem, failed to label in such a way that users understood it was a work-in-progress.?
"Apple might have avoided some of this if had positioned Maps as a beta product and solicited crowd-sourced feedback accordingly," Stirling wrote. "In the absence of such messaging, everyone had inflated expectations." We agree. And maybe, in retrospect, so does Apple.?
"Maps is a cloud-based solution and the more people use it, the better it will get," company reps wrote in a statement to All Things D earlier today. "We?re also working with developers to integrate some of the amazing transit apps in the app store into iOS 6 Maps. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better.?
Horizons readers will remember that Apple has run into launch problems in the past, including the infamous "death grip." But the cure for that issue was simple: Free cases. Fixing Apple Maps, on the other hand, could take months.?
Tried out Apple Maps? Drop us a line in the comments section. And to receive regular updates on how technology intersects daily life, follow us on?Twitter @venturenaut.
President Barack Obama has opened up a decisive lead over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in three battleground states, breaking the 50-percent threshold in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to a new set of Quinnipiac/CBS News/New York Times polls released early Wednesday.?
The polls show Obama with his biggest advantage yet in all three states, leading Romney by 9 points in Florida (53-44), 10 points in Ohio (53-43), and 12 points in Pennsylvania (54-42). Combined, the three states hold 67 electoral college votes, making it difficult for either candidate to win the election without taking at least two out of three.?
Obama has also made significant gains on the question of which candidate can better handle the economy, wiping out Romney's key advantage on the top issue for voters in all three states. In Florida, Obama now leads Romney on the issue 51-46 percent in Florida, and 51-45 percent in Ohio and Pennsylvania.?
The results reflect the damage inflicted by the Romney campaign's stumbles over the past two weeks, and particularly by the candidate's "47-percent" comments, which dominated national and regional headlines last week.?
"Gov. Mitt Romney had a bad week in the media and it shows in these key swing states," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement. "The furor over his 47 percent remark almost certainly is a major factor in the roughly double-digit leads President Barack Obama has in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The debates may be Romney's best chance to reverse the trend in his favor."
But a deeper look within the polls reveal demographic trends that will be difficult for Romney to overcome in the next six weeks, and could be very troublesome for the Republican Party down the line.?
In all three states, Obama's lead is propelled by his support among female voters. While the president still lags ?slightly among men and white voters, he has made significant gains with those groups. Romney's advantage isn't enough to close the gap, particularly when you factor in support for Obama among black and Hispanic voters.?
Here's the breakdown:?
In Florida, Obama has a 19-point lead with female voters, while Romney edges out Obama among male voters 50 percent to 47 percent. Among white voters, Obama now trails Romney by six points, up from 19 points in last month's Florida poll. Obama carries 90 percent of black voters and leads Romney with Latinos, 55 percent to 41 percent.?
In Ohio, Obama leads Romney by an overwhelming 25 points among female voters, erasing Romney's eight-point advantage among men. Romney has a three-point advantage with white voters.?
In Pennsylvania, female voters favor Obama, 58 percent to 37 percent, while the two candidates run even with white voters and men.?
Significantly, Obama's job approval rating has also also crossed the 50-percent threshold considered necessary for an incumbent to win in all three polls, and now stands at 50 percent in Florida and Ohio, and 51 percent in Pennsylvania.?
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HOUSTON (AP) ? A caretaker at a group home for the mentally ill called police in the middle of the night because a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair was angry and wouldn't calm down.
What happened next is the subject of an investigation that now involves the FBI. One of the two Houston police officers who entered the home fatally shot the double-amputee in the head, saying he was cornered by the wheelchair and thought his partner was being threatened by what turned out to be a ballpoint pen.
Houston's police chief responded Monday to escalating criticism about the weekend shooting by cautioning against a rush to judgment. Community and civil rights groups say the incident is another example of problems that the Houston Police Department has with using excessive force.
"It is my desire to have everyone reserve judgment until all the facts and evidence in this investigation have been gathered," Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said.
Officer Matthew Marin shot 45-year-old Brian Claunch early Saturday after responding to a call that the man, who reportedly lost two limbs in a train accident, was causing a disturbance. Police say Claunch cornered and threatened to kill Marin, who reportedly told investigators he didn't know the object in Claunch's hand was a pen.
John Garcia, who owns the group home, told reporters over the weekend that Claunch liked to draw.
McClelland said Monday he would enlist the FBI's help in the investigation and reassured the public his officers are trained to deal with people with mental problems.
Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said she didn't know if the department requesting FBI assistance in officer-involved shootings was rare but said "it's the step we're taking at this point."
But the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, a group that includes 16 local and national civil rights organizations, suggested Claunch's death was part of a bigger problem at the Houston Police Department.
"The deeper problem is a failure to discipline for excessive force, especially in the area of shootings," said Randall Kallinen, a member of the group and a local civil rights attorney. "They are concerned only about liability."
Kallinen said he would like the shooting to spark a change in the department regarding discipline and training of officers.
Marin, a five-year veteran of the department, has been placed on three-day administrative leave. That is standard department procedure for all officer-involved shootings, and Silva said no unusual measures were being taken that would prevent Marin from returning to duty this week.
It's the second time Marin has killed a suspect while on duty. In 2009, investigators said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife, according to the Houston Chronicle.
In 2008, Marin was one of three Houston police officers who were accused of assaulting the father of Green Bay Packers player Donald Driver. They were later cleared and filed a defamation lawsuit that was later dropped.
The Healing Hands group facility, located in a somewhat rundown brick home, was quiet Monday.
Garcia could not be found at the facility on Monday and a woman at a separate address under his name said he was not there and asked a reporter to leave the property.
Estella Olguin, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Guardianship Program, said Claunch had been a ward of the county since 2003 and had lived at the home since March.
Garcia said Claunch had lost his right leg to just above the knee and his entire right arm when he was hit by a train, according to the Houston Chronicle. He said Claunch was schizophrenic.
Marin and a partner arrived at the Healing Hands around 2:30 a.m. responding to a disturbance call made a caretaker at the home. Police have not elaborated on the nature of the disturbance and authorities Monday had not yet made the 911 call public.
Once inside the home, according to a department statement Monday, the two policemen found Claunch agitated and threatening to kill the officers and other residents. While yelling at the officers, Claunch "waved a shiny object in his hand in their direction," according to the statement.
Police say Claunch refused an officer's direction to drop what turned out to be a ballpoint pen.
"As the suspect backed one of the officers into a corner, he attempted to stab the officer with the object," the statement said. "Officer Marin, fearing for his partner's life, and his own safety, discharged his duty weapon one time, striking the suspect."
Relatives of Claunch could not be found Monday. Public records show Claunch had brushes with the law multiple times over the last 20 years, including a 2006 arrest for trespassing at a shelter. His record also includes drug convictions.
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Weber reported from San Antonio.
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DETROIT (AP) ? Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it plans to cut several hundred salaried workers in Europe as part of a larger restructuring in the money-losing region.
The company is offering voluntary buyout programs in Germany, the U.K. and the rest of Europe. It's also cutting temporary salaried positions and some outsourced services.
Ford stressed that the separations will be voluntary. The Dearborn, Mich.-based company expects several hundred people will leave, but it won't know exact figures for several months.
Europe's economic crisis has hurt car sales, which dropped nearly 7 percent in the European Union in the first six months of this year. Ford also has been hit by an influx of cheaper imports from South Korea after Europe lowered its tariffs on Korean vehicles last year.
Ford lost $404 million in Europe in the second quarter. It expects to lose $1 billion in the region this year.
In addition to the salaried staff cuts, Ford is studying plant closures and other cost-cutting measures. The company has said it is using its North American restructuring ? in which it closed plants, renegotiated union contracts, accelerated new products and laid off thousands of workers ? as a template for Europe.
"I think we have a track record in terms of understanding what needs to be done and having the will and the ability to execute it," Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said last week at a conference for manufacturing analysts.
Earlier this month, Ford announced plans to bring 15 new or restyled vehicles to Europe over the next five years to revive sales. Among the new offerings will be the Mustang sports car, EcoSport small SUV and Edge mid-size SUV. Shanks said Ford's lineup in Europe isn't as profitable as it could be right now because it's heavily tilted toward smaller, less profitable cars.
Shanks also warned analysts that the restructuring will take time.
"The recovery of Europe will not be a two-quarter phenomenon," he said.
Ford shares fell 2 percent, or 23 cents, to close at $10.09.
The forthcoming Wii U console from Nintendo will be region-locked, just like the original Wii and the 3DS, Nintendo UK told Eurogamer. That means you won't be able to play obscure (or early) Japanese imports on it, and customs officials won't get anything to break up the monotony of seized cigars and bushmeat.
A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.
Toyota decides to scale back its electric minicar plans and scraps plans for a second electric vehicle.?
By Phil LeBeau,?CNBC correspondent / September 24, 2012
A participant to a press event by Toyota Motor Corp. puts a quick-charger plug into the newly developed compact electric vehicle 'eQ' during a test drive at a press event in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 24, 2012. Toyota is boosting its green vehicle lineup, but it is scaling back plans for all-electric vehicles.
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Or is this a case of Toyota learning from the struggles their competitors have gone through in ramping up production of electric vehicles.
Whatever the reason, Toyota has decided to cool off its once ambitious plans for developing electric cars. In fact, the company announced in Tokyo that it is scaling back plans for selling its all-electric minicar, the eQ. Even more telling is Toyota also saying that it no longer plans to develop a second electric vehicle.
Why?
Toyota?s Vice Chairman told reporters the company sees many difficulties developing electric vehicles, especially given the limited market for electric cars. The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge,? Toyota?s Vice Chairman Takeshis Uchiyamada told Reuters in Japan.
Uchiyamada?s comments will fuel critics of the Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF and other pure or extended-range electric vehicles. This is not someone standing in an oil patch who wants to protect the century long relationship between oil and cars. No, Uchiyamada is the man who helped lead development of the Prius hybrid in ?90?s. So when he says the world is not quite ready to embrace electric cars it carries some weight. (Read More:?GM's Volt: The Ugly Math of Low Sales, High Costs)
Let?s be clear, Toyota?s decision is also about the company playing to its strength in gas-electric hybrid cars. The Prius dominates hybrid sales and using that as a base Toyota says it expects to have 21 hybrid models by 2015, with 2/3 of them being all-new models.
But even in the hybrid market, Toyota is scaling-back plans. Look at plug-in hybrid sales in Japan. Toyota originally targeted sales of 35,000 plug-in hybrids in Japan this year. Eight months into this year it has sold fewer than 9,000. (Read More:?Best Cars for Commuting)
Will Toyota?s decision about EVs change things with GM and Nissan? No. Both companies have already invested heavily developing their electric cars ($1.2 Billion at GM) and they believe the Volt and LEAF will eventually pay off. So far, the sales have been underwhelming.
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The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best auto bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger,?click here.?To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link in the blog description box above.
Another "True Blood" star is expanding his brood!?We just caught up with "True Blood" and "American Horror Story" actor Denis O'Hare on the 2012 Emmys red carpet, where he shared some good news exclusively with E! News: he and his husband, Hugo Redwood, are close to adopting an infant!?
Check out the best quotes from the 2012 Emmys Red Carpet
O'Hare, who was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his work as Larry on FX's "American Horror Story," and Redwood are working to gain full legal guardianship of their foster son.?
The boy, who is currently 17 months old, has been living with the couple since he was two weeks old.?
See Hollywood's biggest celebs as they arrive at the 2012 Emmy Awards
O'Hare and Redwood married last summer in New York.?
The "True Blood" nursery is well stocked these days: O'Hare's costars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer recently welcomed twins.
TOKYO?Japan's prime minister warned China that its inflammatory reaction to a territorial dispute?from violent protests to apparent informal trade sanctions?could further weaken China's already-fragile economy by scaring away foreign investors. The comments showed the risks that the diplomatic standoff could broaden into a damaging commercial tit-for-tat between the world's second- and third-largest economies.
"China should be developing through the various foreign investments it receives," Yoshihiko Noda told The Wall Street Journal following a tense week filled with news of Japanese factories torched and cars overturned, and Chinese patrol boats hovering in and around territorial waters controlled by Japan. "I hope ...
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BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The head of a committee tasked with finding posts for militia fighters in the police in eastern Libya said on Thursday he had quit, becoming the third senior security figure sidelined a week after a deadly attack on the U.S. consulate In Benghazi.
Fozi al-Gaddafi, who is not related to ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, told Reuters he had resigned as eastern Libya head of the Security Committee in protest because recruits were not being adequately paid or supplied.
His deputy was acting in the post, he said.
Rows over top security posts have created a leadership vacuum in Benghazi at a time when U.S. officials are demanding Libya act against those who attacked the consulate on September 11, killing the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
A residential villa being used by the U.S. consulate was stormed after a violent street protest against a film made in America that insults the Prophet Mohammad.
The government in Tripoli announced this week that it was sacking the deputy interior minister for the east and the police chief of Benghazi, but both men have refused to step aside.
The man named to take on both jobs, Salah Doghman, told Reuters on Wednesday he asked the government to send troops if necessary to install him in his new job.
Libya's security institutions have been weak and armed militia have remained powerful since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown last year in a NATO-backed revolution.
Benghazi, 1,000 km (600 miles) from Tripoli across largely empty desert, is under the thumb of various armed groups, including some comprised of Islamist militants who openly proclaim their hostility to democratic government and the West.
Some of these have been identified by local people as being among those who were at the consulate protest last week. U.S. officials have described the violence as a "terrorist attack".
(Reporting by Peter Graff; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Mitt Romney arrives in Las Vegas, Nevada September 21, 2012. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Looking to blunt relentless Democratic attacks, Mitt Romney is to release on Friday his 2011 tax return, a summary of his effective tax rates for the past two decades and, for good measure, two doctors' notes attesting to the good physical health of the candidate and his running mate, Paul Ryan.
The tax return was to be released at 3 p.m. Eastern time on the website www.mittromney.com/disclosure. Ahead of the release, the former Massachusetts governor's campaign released a blog post summarizing the document.
Releasing information on a Friday afternoon is traditionally a way to reduce the amount of media exposure.
The move fulfills a promise Romney made earlier in the 2012 presidential campaign. But it was unlikely to quiet Democratic criticisms that Romney has failed to live up to a standard set by his father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, who released 12 years of tax returns when he ran for president in 1968.
The Romneys paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 of mostly investment income for an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent. (The Obamas paid an effective tax rate of 20.5 percent in 2011, a lower rate than the president's secretary, according to the White House.) ?
Romney, who is thought to have a personal fortune in the neighborhood of $250 million, gave $4,020,772 to charity, 30 percent of their income. (The Obamas gave 21.8 percent of their income to charities).
The blog post, written by the manager of Romney's blind trust since 2003, R. Bradford Malt, said the Romneys had filed their 2011 tax return with the IRS Friday morning. It also indicated that the Romneys' tax preparer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, would provide a letter summarizing the tax rates that the Romneys paid from 1990 to 2009.
The Romneys paid an average annual effective federal tax rate of 20.2 percent, with the lowest rate coming in at 13.66 percent. Over that same stretch of time, they gave an average of 13.45 percent of their adjusted gross income to charity.
"During the 20-year period covered by the PWC letter, Gov. and Mrs. Romney paid 100 percent of the taxes that they owed," the blog post read.
Democrats led by the Obama campaign have repeatedly hit Romney over his refusal to disclose his tax returns?a fight that has helped to keep Romney's vast wealth in the media spotlight at a time when the president is trying to paint him as an out-of-touch millionaire bent on helping the wealthy.
Officials at Binghamton University are more than likely recoiling from a report published on page A1 of the New York Times on Wednesday that details complaints stemming from last spring's hazing scandal that forced the university to temporarily halt pledging all of the school's fraternities and sororities. (Three fraternities currently are banned from recruiting new members, say officials, and a sorority is on probation.)
The paper published numerous emails sent by students and parents to the school pleading with it to crack down on what they described as dangerous hazing rituals.
One student wrote:?"I was hosed, waterboarded, force-fed disgusting mixtures of food, went through physical exercises until I passed out, and crawled around outside in my boxers to the point where my stomach, elbows, thighs and knees are filled with cuts, scrapes and bruises."
Others said they were thrown into a freezing shower, blindfolded, driven miles from campus and relieved of their phones, and forced to walk barefoot in the snow, resulting in frostbite. One pledge? said she was "forced to eat concoctions meant to make pledges vomit on one another" and to hold hot coals in her hands.
"My entire tenure from start to finish, I was scared to death that someone was going to die," said Sunni Solomon, the former assistant director of Greek life at Binghamton, in an email to the Times.
No one died at Binghamton, but at least six deaths relating to hazing?including Robert Champion, the Florida A&M drum major who died following a ritual beating by other band members?were reported at other U.S. schools in the last two years.
According to Hank Nuwer, who chronicles hazing deaths among U.S. college students, there have been 137 deaths resulting from hazing initiations since 1940?and 70 since 1990.
In 2011, a 19-year-old sophomore died after a night of heavy drinking at a Cornell frat house. His mother filed a wrongful death suit against the school, alleging "he was kidnapped in the early morning of Feb. 25 by fraternity pledges who bound his wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, then forced him to drink until he passed out."
An autopsy showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.409 percent, five times the legal limit. Cornell subsequently launched an independent task force to study the hazing problem.
"Greek Life at Cornell, after 144 years, is at a tipping point," the task force wrote in a preliminary report. "The Greek Community has a choice: We can recognize and respond to threats like dangerous hazing and high risk drinking or we can cease to exist."
The task force recommended an "end to pledging as we know it," and the development of an initiation process "free of degradation, humiliation or any other form of hazing."
Among other solutions still being mulled: "Make Cornell a dry campus and/or a dry Greek system"; "eliminate all Greek residences, convert to social clubs"; "establish faculty in residence in every house"; and lower the drinking age to 18 (making off-campus bars accessible). All would effectively emasculate fraternities and sororities.
Just 10 percent of Binghamton's students are members of fraternities and sororities, according to Student Life data. But 39 percent of its 11,861 undergraduates live off campus?meaning there's plenty of partying going on away from the school. (The first of Binghamton's "Ten Commandments," the student newspaper recently joked, would be "Thou shalt not vomit in a cab.")
The Times report on Binghamton's hazing complaints comes just days before the start of National Hazing Prevention Week, Sept. 24-28.
Some commenters on the N.Y Times story, though, were not so sympathetic.
"I don't understand these complaints," one wrote. "Is someone forcing these people to join these archaic institutions?"
"Every time a parent complains about how his or her child is being hazed, the university should respond, 'If your little snowflake doesn't want to get waterboarded, then maybe he/she shouldn't choose to hang out with people who want to waterboard them.'"
"If you don't want to get hazed then don't pledge, it is really that simple," wrote another.
"Having gone to SUNY Binghamton years ago, I can say it's not that simple," an apparent alumni countered. "There is no real college town there. There's very little for students to do except drink and study. And then drink some more. There is no social scene except drinking."
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Public release date: 28-Sep-2012
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