CHANGES TO THE BACKPACKER TAX

* 19 per cent tax to apply from first dollar on earnings up to $37,000, starting from January 1, 2017.

* Above that, normal marginal tax rates of 32.5pc, 37pc and 45pc in line with Australian taxpayers.

* $50 cut to fee for working holiday visa application (down to $390).

* Let employers with premises in more than one region employ the same person for six months in one place then six months in another.

* Employers of working holiday makers will have to register with the tax office.

* 95 per cent tax on superannuation payments once working holiday maker leaves Australia.

* $5 increase to passenger movement charge (up to $60) from July 1, 2017.

* $10 million fund for ads to attract backpackers to Australia.

Summary: The federal government has come up with a new plan to tax backpackers working in Australia more than they currently pay.


Illegal mining and land clearing have been major contributors to the death toll of recent landslides and flooding in West Java, with the Indonesian President calling for the prosecution of "environment destroyers".

President Joko Widodo visited Garut in West Java on Thursday - the worst-affected area of flooding and landslides in the region that killed at least 34 people last week and has left more than 6300 people living in shelters.

He said illegal clearing of land, as well as the mining of sand and clay in the region had caused major environmental degradation, eliminating natural barriers to stop landslides occurring.

"Law enforcement is the most important thing because without it, forest, vegetation and trees will be bald," he said in a statement.

"I have ordered national police chief to take legal action towards those environment destroyers who have caused floods like this one which happened in Garut."

Rains overwhelmed the Cimanuk and Cikamuri rivers at Garut and Sumedang further north on the night of September 20, with floods climbing from knee-high to two metres in just more than an hour.

Mud choked homes and cars were left on top of each other.

Dam repair and returning usable water supply are the main priorities, Mr Jokowi said, promising two low-cost apartment blocks to be built "as soon as possible" to house more than 6300 people in shelters.

Visiting the shelters, the president gave out more than 2200 packages to students of school equipment, as well as blankets, food, milk and mattresses.

National Disaster Management Authority chief Willem Rampangilei said the area needed to strengthen flood and landslide early warning systems as well as educate the community on prevention and mitigation.

Summary: Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for the prosecution of "environmental destroyers" following floods and landslides that killed at least 34 people.


Morgan Stanley is the first of the big U.S. brokerages—the others are Wells Fargo's Wells Fargo Advisors, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch and UBS's UBS Wealth Management Americas—to allow such leeway, said Valentina Chtchedrine, executive director for digital marketing strategy.

Read More140 things you don't know about Twitter

The firm has allowed self-created messages on LinkedIn since July 2012, and has not run into any regulatory problems, she said.

To date, about 6,500 Morgan Stanley advisers are approved to use LinkedIn, with 1,300 of them also approved to tweet.

Read MoreMorgan Stanley CEO: Investment banking is over

Advisers used to instant gratification with their personal Twitter accounts will have to put up with delayed gratification in their professional lives. All messages and status updates are moderated by a supervisor, with a decision on approval generally coming within several hours, Chtchedrine said.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry's self-regulatory arm, has told firms they must keep records of all social media communication and that content must adhere to federal laws and rules limiting advertising and testimonials. Brokers are not permitted to write about particular investments, offer forecasts or discuss more risky offerings such as commodities or structured products that require disclaimers.

"It's basically common sense," Chtchedrine said.

Summary: Morgan Stanley is opening the social media door for its brokers by allowing them to post self-authored content on firm-approved Twitter accounts.


A man has been charged with child sex offences after police raided his Sydney home.

An H2 Hummer, computers, phones and clothing were seized after his home in Mascot was searched on Friday afternoon.

The 36-year-old has been refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, charged with eight offences including aggravating sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14.

Summary: A Sydney man is due to face court on eight child sex offence charges.


Arrium says it will create 44 new jobs at its Whyalla plant. (9NEWS)

Troubled steelmaker Arrium is hiring dozens of new workers in Whyalla to keep up with rising demand for its products.

The company, which went into voluntary administration earlier this year, says increasing demand from NSW and Victoria has led it to add another shift at the Whyalla Steelworks, a move that will create 44 jobs by mid-2017.

The company went into voluntary administration earlier this year. (9NEWS)

The announcement comes as all of Arrium's creditors prepare to meet for the second time in Sydney on Friday, where they will discuss administrator KordaMentha's recommendation to sell the company off to the highest bidder.

Summary: Arrium is recruiting 44 new workers at its Whyalla steelworkers amid rising demand, despite being placed in voluntary administration earlier this year.


A Melbourne woman was allegedly on ice when police pulled over her during school pick-up and found two young unrestrained children in her car.

The Frankston driver tested positive for methylamphetamine after police intercepted her car - which had no number plates - at 3.50pm yesterday AEST, police said.

Officers found an unrestrained three-year-old and a three-month-old baby with loose safety straps in the vehicle.

The fluid sample that indicated the presence of ice will undergo forensic analysis.

The woman is expected to be charged on summons with drug driving, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving an unsafe vehicle and two counts of failing to have passengers properly restrained.

Summary: Police allege a woman was on ice while driving two young children in an unlicensed vehicle.


Every day in maths lessons around Australia there are children who pull out weighty text books, just as students did a hundred years ago.

With the latest international testing showing Australian results haven't improved in 20 years, educators are calling for a major re-think of how best to teach maths and science in the modern era.

Mathspace boss Mo Jebara, who has been involved in maths education for seven years, finds the pace of change extremely slow.

The Australian-developed Mathspace is an online platform schools pay for to help teach maths and track student progress.

"We largely rely on paper textbooks and have all 30 students in a classroom working off the same page of the textbook at the same time," Mr Jebara said on Wednesday.

"Teachers all know that this is not the best way to be improving student outcomes but they're often handcuffed to teaching to the test and getting through the curriculum."

But he noted some international research found increased use of computers in class actually led to students doing worse on tests, which he put down to the limitations of many apps to multiple choice.

Evidence for Learning, a new independent non-profit organisation, says many of the countries that have leapfrogged Australia in international rankings have invested in evidence-based teaching methods in recent years.

The group's director, Matthew Deeble, says much of the heated debate around education in Australia is based in opinion rather than facts about what works.

"We need to arm our busy teachers and school leaders with easy access to the most dependable learning strategies - what works and, just as importantly, what doesn't," he said.

The federal government wants to link its new schools funding agreement to measures it says are proven to help students improve, including lifting teacher standards and having more specialist maths and science educators in schools.

Summary: Educators are calling for a re-think in the way maths and science are taught in Australian classrooms to help students improve their results.


Melbourne's Anglican Archbishop has encouraged parishioners to worship without fear after St Paul's Cathederal was named as one of three targets in an alleged Christmas Day terror attack.

Five people will appear in court on Friday with police saying they planned to use explosives and weapons to attack the cathedral, Flinders Street Station and Federation Square on Christmas Day.

Following the arrests it was generally business as usual at the three venues.

Worshippers attended St Paul's 12.15pm church service on Friday.

"I've been told by Victoria Police that the threat level is no greater enhanced now that a terrorist plot has been foiled," Anglican Archbishop Dr Philip Freier told reporters.

"We look forward to continuing our worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day unaffected by these things and I'd encourage people who are planning to come and worship with us at St Paul's cathedral to do so."

Services will continue as scheduled but with extra security in place.

There was a heightened police presence at Federation Square on Friday with at least half a dozen police extra officers deployed.

"We're here to reassure the public and to make them feel safe," an officer told AAP.

Thousands of commuters continue to file through Flinders Street Station with many at first unaware of the police raids that led to the arrests.

Lizzie Hains, 18, was waiting for a friend at the station when she heard the news.

"That's so scary - I actually feel sick," she told AAP

"It makes me feel a bit unsafe."

Train services will operate as usual over Christmas and the New Year.

"There is no change to the previously scheduled services over the holiday period," a Public Transport Victoria spokesman told AAP.

Visitors continue to attend the National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square too, with staff saying the gallery was open as usual.

It will shut on Christmas Day only as it does every year.

Summary: Christmas Day services at St Paul's cathedral in Melbourne will go ahead despite the building being named as a target in an alleged terror plot.


WASHINGTON, Feb. 9  President Bush defended his anti-terrorist policies anew today, asserting that the United States and its allies had foiled a terrorist plot meant to bring down a Los Angeles building that is the tallest in the United States west of the Mississippi River.

The terrorists' intended target in the 2002 plot was the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles.

President Bush spoke today at the National Guard Memorial Building in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Bush said that just a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, terrorists planned to hijack another airplane by using "shoe bombs" to breach the cockpit door. Their target, had the hijacking been carried out, would have been the U.S. Bank Tower, the president said. (Government counterterrorism officials have acknowledged before that the tower would be a particularly inviting target.)

Osama bin Laden himself was involved in the plot, which was to be carried out by Southeast Asian men on the assumption that they would not arouse as much suspicion as Middle Easterners, Mr. Bush told the National Guard Association here. "Their plot was derailed in early 2002, when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key Al Qaeda operative," he said. "Subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations made clear the intended target and how Al Qaeda hoped to execute it."

"This critical intelligence helped other allies capture the ringleaders and other known operatives who had been recruited for this plot," Mr. Bush said.

The U.S. Bank Tower, formerly named the Library Tower after the nearby Los Angeles Central Library, is 1,018 feet tall and topped by a glass crown that is illuminated at night. The building, completed in 1989, was "destroyed" by alien invaders in the 1996 movie "Independence Day."

The independent commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks said in its 2004 report that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 assaults on New York City and Washington, had originally envisioned an even broader assault on America, with as many as 10 hijacked aircraft flying into buildings on both coasts.

And last October, government counterterrorism officials provided further details, saying that Mr. Mohammed and a terrorist ally, Riduan Isamuddin (better known as Hambali), had planned a new spate of attacks after Sept. 11 and that Los Angeles was in their sights.

Counterterrorism officials said months ago that the Los Angeles skyscraper (Mr. Bush mistakenly called it the "Liberty Tower") would be a logical target for a West Coast attack, although Mr. Bush had not spoken in detail before about the officials' suspicions. Given the building's iconic status, it is easy to see why America-haters would rejoice at seeing it fall  as some rejoiced when the Twin Towers in New York collapsed.

The president's national security adviser, Frances Townsend, told reporters later today that the West Coast plot was originally to have been part of the Sept. 11 attacks, but that Al Qaeda could not train enough agents by that deadline. She said investigators did not known what flight or kind of plane the plotters were zeroing in on  or even if their planning had reached that stage.

Ms. Townsend, who spoke to reporters on a conference call, declined to say whether the secret surveillance of electronic communications between people in the United States and terror suspects abroad had played a role in finding the terror cell involved. "We use all available sources and methods in the intelligence community, but we have to protect them, and so I'm not going to talk about what we did or did not use in this particular case," she said.

The president did not use the National Guard speech to defend the surveillance program undertaken by the National Security Agency since he took office. But he did defend his general anti-terrorist policies in several ways.

He said, for example, that his "aggressive strategy of bringing the war to the terrorists" had not cost the United States international support but, rather, had enhanced America's standing. A shining example is Pakistan, he said.

"A little over four years ago, Pakistan was only one of three countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," Mr. Bush said. "Today, Pakistan forces are risking their lives in the hunt for Al Qaeda."

Perhaps reaching out to Muslim countries whose people have been infuriated by Western cartoons poking fun at the prophet Muhammad, Mr. Bush praised President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan for remaining a United States ally despite threats on his life.

"President Musharraf is right," Mr. Bush said. "In the war against terror, there is no separate peace; and no nation can stand on the sidelines."

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Bush said other countries had to choose  "You're either for us or against us." Today, he said the United States' aggressive pursuit of terrorists had made that choice clearer than ever. "We're clarifying the choice facing every nation in this struggle between freedom and terror," he said. "Every nation has responsibilities, and no one can remain neutral."

Summary: Multinational cooperation foiled plans to fly an airliner into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast, the president said.


Thursday, July 3th 1997, 2:02AM

HONG KONG Young gang members here have heard about the glory days of organized crime, when rampant police corruption allowed Hong Kong's triads to run their rackets with impunity.

They hope the return to Chinese rule will usher in a new era of dirty cops and big money.

But older, wiser gangsters say the good old days are gone.

In an interview, a "semi-retired" gangster we'll call Jing Wong smiled and shook his head about the remarks of a young triad member who said he was "very excited and happy" about the handover.

"He will learn. The police are better, and we are worse. That's a bad combination," said Wong, 53, quickly adding that "there is still plenty of money being made, and that will go on."

In Hong Kong, there are 15 triad societies, or organized crime groups, with about 100,000 initiated members.

The structure and rules of the triads are similar to those of the American Mafia. The leader, or boss, is the dragon head, or 438. The second in command is an incense master, or 443. There are two No. 3 officials, each with slightly different duties. One is a straw sandal, the other is a white paper tiger. Each is a 412.

Under them is the red pole, or 426, a crew chief. The lowest inducted member is a blue lantern, or 49, the equivalent of a mob soldier.

Wong, a blue lantern, was inducted into a triad society at age 14 after he proved "worthy" by knifing a rival who had sold drugs on his gang's turf.

"There were about 100 new guys. The ceremony was very long, four hours. The incense master did it. He reads poems that have deep meanings that no one understands.

"During the ceremony, they have live chickens; they break the necks and pour the blood into a barrel of wine. Then we drink the wine.

"And the incense master, he says, 'How does it taste?'

"You say, 'Tastes sweet.' "

"It tasted awful," said Wong.

Wong, with years in prison behind him, does honest work now. But if his leaders call, he would do their bidding, or suffer the consequences.

The most powerful triad, the Sun Yee On whose men executed a Chinese businessman in Manhattan for New York's Ghost Shadows in 1991 has 30,000 men, said Mark McNicol, chief of the organized crime bureau of the Hong Kong police.

Despite their large numbers, McNicol said less than 5% of reported crime is triad related.

"That's nonsense," said Tony Godfrey, an assistant director of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, an agency formed in 1974 to combat "a syndicate of police corruption."

By the mid 1970s, Godfrey said, there were so many rotten apples on the Hong Kong police force that the agency deemed it impossible to root them all out. So it declared an amnesty for all police crimes prior to 1976, and started fresh.

Corruption among police officers is way down, said Godfrey, but there is still much more triad crime than cops admit.

"The triads are responsible for 50% of the crime in Hong Kong, almost all of it unreported the gambling, the loansharking, prostitution, extortion and protection rackets," said Godfrey.

FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency agents said they expect no lessening of law enforcement cooperation under Chinese rule.

Summary: HONG KONG Young gang members here have heard about the glory days of organized crime, when rampant police corruption allowed Hong Kong's triads to run their rackets with impunity. They hope the return to Chinese rule will usher in a new era of dirty cops and big money. But older, wiser gangsters say the good old days are gone. In an interview, a "semi-retired"gangster we'll call Jing Wong smiled and sh


Saturday, August 6th 2005, 9:41AM

'Duke' gets tokin' of Willie's affection You may not be shocked to learn that veteran stoner Willie Nelson brought his own smokes to the "Dukes of Hazzard" set.

"I'm not much of a weed guy. But when you're on Willie's bus ... you try and say no to Willie," says Johnny Knoxville. "Let Nancy Reagan try and say no to Willie. Bet she can't do it. I couldn't

But one person who wasn't on board was their co-star Seann William Scott.

"I never went on the bus," he told Entertainment Weekly. "Johnny told me his experience on the bus. He was like, 'Dude, just know: If you go on the bus, it's a commitment.'"

Heck, someone had to stay outside and keep Jessica Simpson company.

TomKat, living the suite life

If you're Tom Cruise, $300,000.

That was his bill at Rome's luxurious Hassler Hotel, where he stayed with Katie Holmes while filming scenes for "Mission Impossible III." The couple (below) checked out this week after a three-week stay.

Three hundred G's bought Cruise the whole seventh floor, including the penthouse suite, whose enormous terrace boasts views of the city and St. Peter's Basilica.

He also had a private garage with its own access to the top floor, shielding TomKat from thetans and the paparazzi. Mission accomplished!

Mischa Barton: Recovering nerd? "The O.C." beauty (right) says she's just as insecure as anyone else.

"There are huge differences between me and Marissa, my

character. I was never popular like she is," she tells CosmoGirl.

"When I was in high school, I was much more uncertain about who I was, what I was doing and how I was supposed to act. I had very few friends."

"I'm really quite willing to stay home a lot and watch Care Bear DVDs."

So maybe she's not entirely recovered from being a nerd.

Funnyman Eddie Murphy's wife of 12 years filed for divorce yesterday, citing irreconcilable differences.

"The welfare of our children is our main concern, and their best interests are our first priority," the actor and comedian told Access Hollywood yesterday.

Nicole Mitchell married Murphy in March 1993. The couple have five children, and Murphy also has Âanother son from a separate relationship. Murphy, a Brooklyn native, shot to fame on "Saturday Night Live" and found a new audience as the voice of Donkey in the "Shrek" animated franchise after making a string of hit movies in the 1980s.

Ben McKenzie joined Celia Weston and other cast members for the launch of his big-screen debut, "Junebug," on Monday. Asked how "The O.C." castmate Mischa Barton was doing after her most recent breakup with on-again, off-again boyfriend Brandon Davis, McKenzie replied: "She's doing well, we're back shooting, she's doing great." ... Legendary downtown New York deejay Johnny Dynell will celebrate his birthday at Salon on West St. tomorrow night. ... A relaxed Rudy and Judi Giuliani took dinner in Southampton at the new

Madame Tong's in the JL Beach Club. ... Sean Combs (r.) will have to get used to the pitter-patter of little feet.

His girlfriend, Kim Porter, just bought a poodle from Barbara Blatt, who owns the Biba boutique in East Hampton.

Which European financier of his girlfriend's high-profile business has been hitting on male houseguests at their Hamptons home? The Eurocreep likes to photograph them using the bathroom.

Which celebrity hair stylist may or may not have been a little blitzed when she left a party in the Hamptons last weekend and almost tore the fender off her BMW leaving the driveway? She didn't even bother to stop.

Summary: 'Duke' gets tokin' of Willie's affection Y ou may not be shocked to learn that veteran stoner Willie Nelson brought his own smokes to the "Dukes of Hazzard"set. "I'm not much of a weed guy. But when you're on Willie's bus ... you try and say no to Willie,"says Johnny Knoxville. "Let Nancy Reagan try and say no to Willie. Bet she can't do it. I couldn't either."But one person who wasn't on


But time also doesn't matter - there are no clocks, no seconds ticking away as you spend your time in the spa. You book in for the day (or half-day) and the friendly staff simply guide you from treatment to treatment.

You don't have to wait in a specified treatment lounge, they will come and find you wherever you are.

This bijou spa ensures you never get lost in the crowd my keeping numbers down. I counted just 12 other lucky ladies on my visit to the 13th-century Old Rectory, which has been converted to house treatment or ''Ritual' rooms, a pool, lounges stacked with books and even a Mongolian Yurt in the garden.

You can book specific treatments or let Sam Pearce and her award-winning team design a programme for you. That's what I did and it was 100 per cent the right decision. Fashion graduate and former PR Sam is amazingly astute and empathetic - she seemed to know exactly what I needed just by looking at me.

The day began with a dip in the pool, steam and sauna to get the body moving. Then I went to a Reiki session, something I have only experienced once before. Sam's mother Steph, who opened Eastthorpe Hall in 1999, is an inspiring character, very warm and calming. The Reiki, which works of the principles of cleansing energy points, or chakras, throughout the body, was the perfect start to me journey. I felt a little tearful at the time but very grounded and uplifted at the end of the session.

Next, it was time for mid-morning refreshment, a very welcome jam and croissant after my early morning start. This was accompanied by a mango and ginger smoothie.

I then had an hour's break to sit by the pool, which was deserted by then. I doodled, wrote a bit of poetry and generally luxuriated in the moment.

An hour-long aromatherapy massage awaited me next, and my therapist chose frankincense and fennel oils to target water retention and encourage detoxification. I felt instantly lighter and the scales the next day showed I had lost three pounds - impressive!

This was despite a gourmet lunch, and Eastthorpe Hall has won awards for its midday spread. Chef Granville laid on an opulent buffet of onion and goat's cheese tart, stuffed chicken breast, roasted new potatoes and fresh salads. I was also treated to a glass of pink champagne and a chocolate truffle to finish.

More treatments awaited in the afternoon, included a 'Space' massage treatment that incorporated an Indian head massage and a facial. I also had a consultation with Sam for a HD brows treatment - Lateral Inking provides permanent cosmetics, perfect for an eyebrow-pencil-reliant girl like me.

Finally, after a quick moisturising hand treatment, shower and change, I rounded the day off with a manicure. Sam sourced Chanel's sought-after Particulaire especially for her clients and my hands looked 10 years' younger afterwards.

They may be a long way from London but I would insist all spa lovers make time for a visit up North to Eastthorpe Hall - just leave your watch at home.

A full-day package at Eastthorpe Hall costs from £75, plus treatments, and includes a lifestyle consultation, welcome ritual hand & foot treatment, thermal journey featuring jacuzzi, swimming pool, infra-red sauna, individual steam cabinets, paraffin hand wax, complimentary teas, herbal infusions & wellness water, mid morning refreshment or afternoon tea, lunch and departure ceremony. More information: 01924 498507; eastthorpe.co.uk/home

Summary:
Time - that most precious commodity. It's never mattered more, or less, than
  at Eastthorpe Hall, a spa with a difference.


Oct 24th 2010, 16:21 by P.B.

WITH few signs of recovery nine months after Haiti’s earthquake, the country’s government and its main foreign-aid donors were forced to tout a rather underwhelming achievement—the absence of water-borne diseases like typhoid, diphtheria and cholera—as evidence of progress. Now, even that claim is beyond their grasp. In the past four days over 200 people have died of cholera in the country, and a handful of victims have shown up in Port-au-Prince, the capital.

This was the situation that humanitarian workers feared most. The capital’s tent cities, numbering over 1,300 and still home to 1.3m people, are veritable Petri dishes for disease. Many lack a consistent supply of clean water. Toilets are smelly and, even in the best-run camps, not de-sludged often enough. Flooding and standing water—literal cesspools—are frequent at this late stage in the rainy season.

Untreated, cholera can kill within hours of the first symptoms. It causes profuse diarrhea, and victims can lose gallons of water per day. The treatment is hardly high-tech—oral rehydration salts, IVs for victims unconscious or too weak to drink, and lots of clean water—but Haiti’s weak health system could not handle an epidemic.

Indeed, the “medical grid” (aid-speak for health-care infrastructure) has already collapsed in St Marc, where the first cases appeared Wednesday. Located 100km north of Port-au-Prince and unaffected by the earthquake, it is one of the main cities in Haiti’s so-called rice basket, the Artibonite Valley—whose eponymous river is where epidemiologists suspect that the outbreak originated. People use the river to bathe, wash clothes and drink.

So far, no cases are known to have originated in Port-au-Prince: the five confirmed victims in the capital appear to have journeyed there to seek care. That’s a sliver of good news. But as goods and people journey through the country, it’s not likely to last.

Summary: WITH few signs of recovery nine months after Haiti’s earthquake, the country’s government and its main foreign-aid donors were forced to tout a rather underwhelming achievement—the absence of water-borne diseases like typhoid, diphtheria and cholera—as evidence of progress. Now, ev  en that claim is beyond their grasp.


An ABC News investigation has found that corporate interests and their lobbyists are increasingly turning to state legislatures for lucrative contracts and favorable regulations, a dynamic that has bred a string of unsavory political scandals in state capitals around the nation. At least 80 state legislators have been indicted or convicted in the last five years.

The state house remains an often overlooked arm of American government, even as state legislators exercise control over more than a trillion dollars in taxes and spending, and enact laws that affect everyone. As a project to study an important institution that receives little scrutiny from the national media, five graduate school journalists selected as Carnegie Fellows working with the ABC News investigative unit examined the ethics and behavior of state legislators, and found conduct that could be best described as unbecoming.

At a national convention of state legislators in Louisville, Kentucky over the summer, more than 1,300 politicians and staffers fanned out across Louisville to a series of corporate and lobbyist sponsored dinners and parties, including a lavish reception at the world-famous horse racing venue Churchill Downs sponsored by Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo and Sprint, among others, and a massive waterfront concert. Lawmakers devoured prime rib and tenderloin, and consumed bourbon by the barrel.

One legislator from Puerto Rico took advantage of the festive environment to make unwanted advances on a female student journalist, groping and kissing her –all as the cameras rolled. In a statement to ABC News, Rep. Jorge Navarro Suarez denied any misconduct, and said he got close to the student to understand her, since the music was loud and he doesn't speak English well.

Click Here To Watch Video of The Encounter

Another lawmaker threatened a student journalist with a raised golf club when cameras caught the legislator skipping a good government seminar at the conference in favor of a private golf outing with a lobbyist.

A spokesperson for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which sponsored the Louisville gathering of lawmakers, said that the event included "40-plus hours of programs and sessions addressing important issues" and that the organization had no connection to private events held during the convention. "NCSL does not sponsor, endorse or otherwise encourage participation in events outside of our schedule," said Gene Rose, communications director for the group.

During the convention, NCSL staffer Anne Teigen told ABC News, "It's just a wonderful time to get together and learn wonderful new ways to govern."

A series of indictments and convictions of state lawmakers over the past five years suggests the problems of influence peddling and corruption are only getting worse. Lawmakers in Tennessee, Alaska , New Jersey, and Massachusetts have been caught by the FBI and convicted for accepting cash or taking gifts and favors in exchange for their willingness to change votes or influence state policy. Just this month, federal agents indicted four Alabama lawmakers on charges they took payoffs from lobbyists in exchange for their votes on controversial bingo legislation. All four have pleaded not guilty.

To learn more about what's really going on in America's state capitals, watch the full investigation this Wednesday on Nightline and World News.

CLICK HERE to follow the ABC News Investigative Team's coverage on Twitter.

CLICK HERE to follow the ABC News Investigative Team and Brian Ross on Facebook and join in on the discussion.

Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.

Summary: An ABC News Investigation Finds A Lack of Scrutiny Breeds Scandal Among State Lawmakers


Has the stock market finally entered a comfort zone?

Consider that the Standard & Poor’s 500 index on Friday closed above 1,500 points for the first time since December 2007. Fourth-quarter earnings are mostly coming in strong. Less than four weeks into the year, stocks already are up 5 percent.

Anxiety has eased so much that the Chicago Board of Options Exchange Volatility Index, also known as the VIX, has dropped to its lowest level in nearly six years. Referred to as the market’s fear gauge, it reflects expected movement in the S&P 500 over the next 30 days, as measured by options prices.

What’s more, investors are finally returning to the market. US stock mutual funds attracted nearly $13 billion in net deposits during the first two weeks of the year. That is an about-face from 2012, when withdrawals exceeded deposits for 24 weeks in a row, ending in late December.

A key reason that investors are back is the Jan. 1 deal between Congress and the White House to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Thorny issues remain unresolved, including spending cuts and potential reforms to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. But there is no longer an immediate threat of fiscal disaster.

When stocks are rallying as they are now, investors should exercise caution. The market is up more than 120 percent since early 2009, and the strongest returns may be behind us.

Yet Bruce Herring of Fidelity Investments is confident that the long-term outlook remains bright. As a chief investment officer with Boston-based Fidelity, Herring helps oversee more than $500 billion in stock assets.

Herring explained his belief that stocks offer strong growth potential because investors face far fewer economic and political uncertainties than they did a few years ago. Below are excerpts from an interview, edited for clarity:

What’s the key reason that you’re optimistic?

We’re starting to achieve a level of clarity we haven’t had in a long time, and that’s really powerful for stocks. For starters, there’s less uncertainty in Washington. In President Obama’s first term, there were many crises and several industries came under increasing scrutiny and regulation. With so much uncertainty, companies behaved conservatively. They stopped hiring, cut capital spending plans, and they didn’t raise dividends.

With the election behind, we know we’ll continue to have Democrats and Republicans each controlling one chamber of Congress, and a president entering his second term. We’ll still have partisanship. But we’re starting to get clarity around policies on financial services, energy, and other areas. And we’ve got clarity about tax policy. We haven’t had that in years.

What makes you optimistic about the economy?

We’re seeing a recovery in the housing market, and that matters to everybody, from corporate CEOs to consumers. A rising housing market is a powerful backdrop to general economic activity and the stock market broadly. Confidence matters a ton. Stocks are rallying this year because the market is operating on a longer time horizon, now that there’s more clarity.

But unemployment remains high, and there are other troubling signs in the economy.

Yes, but it’s better when you look at what drives the stock market, and that’s corporate earnings. Stocks continue to be priced inexpensively relative to the earnings they generate and we’re seeing decent earnings growth. And America’s competitiveness is very strong. Natural gas is incredibly cheap, and we’ve got an efficient and strong labor force. We’ve had lots of productivity improvements in corporate America and modest wage growth.

How will uncertainty about fiscal issues in Washington affect the markets in the next few months?

There’s incredible partisanship, which is obviously dysfunctional. When we had the debt ceiling debate and resulting credit downgrade in the summer of 2011, stocks fell about 20 percent in short order. But there was no comparable decline leading up to the recent fiscal cliff deal. Washington has found a new way to negotiate and the markets seem to be getting used to it.

In coming months, I suspect we’ll have more last-minute compromises that won’t make Republicans or Democrats happy, but will advance the ball a little bit. It doesn’t matter much for corporate America, and for the market and average consumers. The economy and the strength of corporate profitability is what really matters.

What do the stock market fundamentals tell you now?

Long-term, the case for stocks is great. We’ve got a low starting point for the market, after we’ve gone through a period of about 13 years where the market has generated no real returns based on stock price changes. Stocks have generated only a modest return if you factor in dividends. About a dozen years ago, stocks were trading at an average of about 26 times their expected earnings. Now, they’re trading at about half that level, or 13 times expected earnings, so stocks are relatively inexpensive. Earnings have roughly doubled over the last decade, but the market has basically been flat.

How do you explain the huge sums withdrawn from stock funds the past few years, and the huge amounts that have gone into bonds?

It’s not surprising after what we’ve been through over the past dozen years. We’ve had the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, oil hitting $100 a barrel, a housing market meltdown, and a financial crisis. There’s been a lot of volatility in the stock market and people have been burned. The problem is that people tend to sell at the wrong time and lock in their losses, which makes it even worse.

Can those investors get it right in the coming years?

Maybe not. My biggest worry is that 2008 was such a damaging experience to the psyche of America, especially for investors who were potentially less sophisticated and for those close to retirement. Their behavior has been influenced for a long time and possibly permanently. So I’m a little worried that as the market keeps rallying and investors perceive the market as less risky, the people who got out four to five years ago will think it’s OK to get back in. I hope that people will come back to stocks, so that they’re a consistent part of their portfolios over time. They’re an asset class that’s shockingly out of favor, despite good returns.

Summary: Has the stock market finally entered a comfort zone? Bruce Herring of Fidelity Investments is confident that the long-term outlook remains bright. As a chief investment officer with Boston-based Fidelity, Herring helps oversee more than $500 billion in stock assets. He believes stocks offer strong growth potential because investors face far fewer economic and political uncertainties than they did a few years ago.


IN THE LAST FEW years, Jamaican cuisine has overtaken the city. But where once you'd stumble across a roti stand in Queens, or a jerk house in the Bronx, now Jamaican restaurants are trading in their plastic forks for silver. Second only to its fire, Jamaican food is known for more-than-you-can-eat portions. In the U.

S., Jamaican chefs were always the guys (almost always a guy) behind the takeout counter. "Even five or ten years ago," recalls Brooklyn restaurateur Mike Hylton, "when family from Jamaica would come to visit, you'd have to take them to an Italian restaurant. West Indian food was only takeout. Now all that's changed. Now you can take them to a nice West Indian restaurant.

" Hylton's Flatbush Ave. eatery is one of them. He recently expanded his tiny Mike's Diner into Mike's International Restaurant, with a bar, live entertainment and space to seat 80. "It's about time we go beyond the oily pans," Hylton explains. "We want to compete with the other restaurants, charge a higher price and have something really attractive on the plate.

" The Jamaican dining experience Though you may never sip oxtail soup from a china bowl, Jamaican food is becoming a true "dining experience" all around the city. The leader of the trend may be Jamaican chef Norma Shirley, a former Manhattan food stylist who is now chef-owner of upscale restaurants in Montego Bay and in South Miami Beach. This fall, Manhattan's prestigious James Beard Foundation, famous for inviting the world's greatest chefs to cook $80-a-plate dinners, asked Shirley to host its first Jamaican meal. "Let me tell you something about me," Shirley offers from behind a pot of fish broth boiling for her Beard debut. "I've taken Caribbean food and created my own using the spices, and just made it more innovative, shall we say. Maybe more exciting.

" Her flavors may be Caribbean, but her artistic presentations are decidedly un-Jamaican: bright pomegranate sauce crisscrossing pork chops marinated in Red Stripe beer; raspberry coulis perching atop white tamarind mousse. (The prices aren't traditional, either: A Jamaican entree might run $10 elsewhere, but can set you back $30 in Shirley's restaurants.) The very origins of Jamaican food bespeak the economic hardships of its people, who, without refrigeration, had to protect ingredients from the hot Caribbean sun. Jamaica's best known tastes pickled fruits and jerked meats helped the bounty stay fresh year-round. Colonization by the French, Dutch, Spanish and English influenced Caribbean cuisine, too. Whereas Haiti took France's culinary legacy, Jamaica followed in the English tradition of quick, cheap meals. "Our food is excellent, it's superb," Shirley insists, "but it's not always presented as nice as it should be and we can be very staid. You can go to all the Jamaican restaurants and they're serving akee and codfish, our national dish, but I will make an akee soufflee instead, or an akee bisque.

" Although akee a fruit that resembles scrambled eggs when cooked, but is poisonous when immature or overripe is technically illegal in the United States, "as long as you have Jamaicans, you will always get akee," Hylton says. In fact, canned akee is available at the West African Grocery, at 535 Ninth Ave., Manhattan. To reach a wider U.

S. audience, ethnic chefs tend to dilute spicy palates, but Shirley argues that's less a copout than a culinary necessity with Jamaican food. Just think of the practically pyrotechnic Scotch bonnet pepper, 50 times hotter than the jalapeno chile. "I like spicy food, but I don't think it should be so hot that you feel like you're going crazy," Shirley says. "Then you lose the whole taste of the food.

" The following recipe for Shirley's spicy alternative to pumpkin soup is perfect for cold winter nights when you long for the fire of the tropics. Calabasha Bisque Seves 4 to 6 Calabasha is a West Indian winter squash (also known as toadback or zapallo) that's available along Ninth Ave. in Manhattan, Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn and in Hispanic bodegas throughout the city. As a last resort, substitute pumpkin. 1large onion, quartered 4ounces butter 4cups cubed calabasha 1sprig fresh thyme 4to 5 cups chicken stock 1Scotch bonnet pepper 2tablespoons sherry Salt and pepper to taste Parsley, chopped, for garnish White cheddar or white stilton, shredded, for garnish In a large skillet, saute onion in butter over medium-low heat until transluscent. Add calabasha and thyme and saute 1 to 2 minutes. Add enough chicken stock to cover. Stir well. Add whole Scotch bonnet pepper. Do not stir, so as to keep the pepper intact. Bring soup to boil, then simmer for one hour. Remove pepper and allow bisque to cool. Pour soup through blender or food processor and puree. Strain through sieve back into soup pot. Add sherry, and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat. Serve in heated soup bowls, topped with shredded cheese and parsley. (Walker is on The News' features staff.)

Summary:
IN THE LAST FEW years, Jamaican cuisine has overtaken the city. But where once you'd stumble across a roti stand in Queens, or a jerk house in the Bronx, now Jamaican restaurants are trading in their plastic forks for silver.
  Second only to its fire, Jamaican food is known for more-than-you-can-eat portions. In the U.S., Jamaican chefs were always the guys (almost always a guy) behind the takeout counter.
 "Even five or ten


A utopian experiment on an uninhabited island; a love triangle; a mystery baroness with two love slaves and poor hygiene; iguanas and giant tortoises; unsolved disappearances; sensational news stories; and the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, all under the pall of looming war. How could this not be a great documentary? By putting it in the hands of Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, who have squandered their sensational subject into a two-hour slog.

It begins in 1929 Germany, when Dr. Friedrich Ritter (voice of Thomas Kretschmann), fed up with a repressive, materialistic society and inspired by Nietzsche, journeys with his patient, lover, and acolyte Dore Strauch (Cate Blanchett) to the most remote spot in the world — uninhabited Floreana Island in the Galapagos archipelago. Dumping spouses and everything else, they seek Paradise in the midst of this wilderness.

Turns out to be a bad deal for Dore, as Ritter embraces not just the philosophy but also the misogyny of his Übermensch idol: He nags Strauch about her weakness (she had multiple sclerosis) and failure to keep up with the program. So Paradise is already troubled before Heinz Wittmer (Sebastian Koch), drawn by newspaper stories about the experiment and foreseeing war in Europe, arrives uninvited and sets up a rival homestead with his pregnant wife, Margret (Diane Kruger), and their son. And when the pistol-packing baroness (Connie Nielsen) shows up with two paramours, the stage is set for a melodrama displaying human nature at its most depraved.

Back in 1998, Goldfine and Geller approached the now deceased Margret Wittmer, the only surviving witness to what happened, but she refused to talk. Luckily Margret, her husband Heinz, Dr. Ritter, and Strauch had already written books or kept journals about their experiences — much of them contradictory. The filmmakers also had access to a cache of footage and photos of the events, which, combined with texts read by top actors, seemingly gave them plenty to work with.

Nonetheless, they insisted on including the present-day, inane reflections of the original islanders’ descendants and others of even less relevance. Why cut from Blanchett’s Strauch provocatively proclaiming, “I know henceforth that I shall be possessed by the dread that Friedrich and myself will be the next victims of the murderer who stalks Floreana. . . !” to banal analyses from those whose only credentials are that they now live on the islands?

Come to think of it, Strauch’s orotund prose sounds much like that of Werner Herzog, but without the irony. Herzog’s sensibility is missed here; he could have made a masterpiece about the absurdity of these deluded seekers of Eden.

Summary: ** The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden In the 1930s a German doctor and his mistress set up a refuge from civilization on an island in the Galapagos chain only to have their Eden fall prey to inescapable human nature. Though they have plenty of primary sources, the documentarians needlessly pad their sensational story with extraneous present-day interviews. In English and Spanish, with subtitles. (120 min., unrated) (Peter Keough)


TripAdvisor Inc., the Newton-based travel website, said it has agreed to buy Viator, a resource for researching and booking destination activities around the world, for about $200 million, subject to adjustment.

Viator features more than 20,000 bookable tours and attractions and has more than 600,000 reviews, photos, and videos submitted by travelers. The company has just over 250 employees in offices in San Francisco, its headquarters; Las Vegas; London; and Sydney. According to its website, TripAdvisor employs about 2,300 people.

“Viator will be a great addition to the TripAdvisor family, as online and mobile bookings for attractions and activities represents a huge opportunity for our business,” TripAdvisor president and chief executive Stephen Kaufer said in a statement. The acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014.

TripAdvisor has made several acquistions over the past 14 months, including Vacation Home rentals, a Newburyport-based website, in May. Shares of TripAdvisor recently slumped more than 5 percent after the travel service posted lower-than expected second-quarter adjusted earnings.

Summary: TripAdvisor Inc., the Newton-based travel website, has agreed to buy Viator, a resource for researching and booking destination activities, for about $200 million.


FORTUNE – Dear Annie: I work for a large multinational firm, and I’d like to be considered for a promotion to a management position. How should I let my boss know about my desire to move up? I do not want to give the impression that I want his job (which I really don’t want). I’d also like to make it clear that I’m not looking to leave the company, unless I have no choice.

Another question: There are other groups within the firm where there might be management opportunities for me, but they are so remote geographically that I don’t have a chance to make myself visible to them, or to get a sense of the political dynamics there. What do you suggest? — Looking Ahead

Dear Looking: In an ideal world, mentioning to your boss that you’d like to be promoted would be easy. You could simply tell him what you just told me. After all, plenty of companies pay lip service to the idea that a big part of managers’ mission is developing the talent under them and mentoring tomorrow’s leaders.

MORE: Condé Nast will regret cutting its internship program

Even so, says John Beeson, “It’s shocking how few big companies make it a point to help people develop a coherent career path” — despite the fact that countless studies have shown that doing so is one of the surest ways to keep star employees from quitting. Beeson, who is head of New York City-based Beeson Consulting, wrote a book you might want to check out called The Unwritten Rules: The Six Skills You Need to Get Promoted to the Executive Level.

“To some bosses, ‘ambition’ is a dirty word. Whether or not yours is one of them, this conversation is going to take some finesse,” Beeson notes. That’s especially true if you are someone your manager relies upon to meet his own goals. In his consulting work, Beeson often comes across a phenomenon he calls “talent hoarding.” “Gaining a reputation as a ‘star spotter’, someone who develops future leaders, can be good for a manager’s career — but sometimes the downside of losing you outweighs that benefit.”

So how do you start this tricky conversation? “First, avoid any indication that you’re impatient. Instead, make it clear that you’re thinking about the long term, and you’d like to have an ongoing discussion about your career,” Beeson suggests. “Emphasize that you’re committed to staying with the company, and you’d welcome your boss’s help in identifying which skills you need to work on, to prepare you for making a bigger contribution.”

Then, ask for your boss’s help in reaching out to other managers, both at his level and one rank higher. “Say something like, ‘I’d appreciate having their input into my career planning, especially what skills I need to develop and where in the company those might be most useful,’” says Beeson. “Managers outside your immediate sphere can be influential in opening doors for you in other parts of the company. They can recommend you for openings that are never posted anywhere, so you want to get on their radar screen for when the timing is right.”

Of course, you could approach those managers on your own, without involving your boss, but Beeson advises against it. “Getting in touch directly with a manager in another business unit who doesn’t know you tends to raise eyebrows,” he says. “He or she is going to wonder, ‘What is this person’s agenda? Does his boss know he’s calling me?’ Having your manager pave the way eliminates that.”

Once you’ve met and had conversations with a few people at your boss’ level and above, Beeson says, “it gets harder for him to justify hanging on to you when a better opportunity comes along. At that point, standing in your way becomes a bad reflection on him.”

It probably won’t come to that, he adds: “Even if you’re a star performer your boss would hate to lose, don’t assume he’s going to block you. If you approach this the right way — especially if you stress that you’re thinking about your future and have no immediate plans to go anywhere — most managers will be amenable.”

MORE: 4 ways Netflix can maintain the momentum

Nancy Friedberg, president of executive coaching firm Career Leverage, agrees, and offers two further thoughts. First, she points out that “in the Internet Age, being remote geographically from other business units isn’t the disadvantage it used to be. So make the most of your online presence.”

She recommends inviting influential leaders in your company — ideally after you’ve met them in person — to connect with you on LinkedIn. Join group discussions and contribute “thoughtful, content-rich information that can raise your visibility and identify you as an expert in your field.” You should also follow those senior managers on Twitter and, when it makes sense to do so, retweet their Tweets with an insightful comment of your own.

And second, Friedberg notes, “Often people overlook the fact that becoming more visible outside your own company also raises your profile inside. Making a name for yourself in your industry — through public speaking, writing for the trade press, or a widely-read blog, or being active in professional associations — can get you noticed by higher-ups who are in a position to promote you.” Good luck!

Talkback: Have you ever reported to someone who helped you get a promotion? Leave a comment below.

Summary: The surest route to your next promotion is probably through your boss, but enlisting his or her help can be tricky. Here’s what to say.


Updated JUL 27, 2014 6:47p ET

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The start of Cardinals tight end Troy Niklas's professional career has been anything but smooth, and, with the season fast approaching, the former Notre Dame standout is behind the proverbial eight ball.

Still recovering from a hand injury suffered in the spring, Niklas faces the task of playing catch up in his first training camp while competing for a position in a crowded field.

"He's way behind," Cardinals coach Bruce Arians aid. "You just can't miss that kind of time as a rookie and then try to catch up not only to the assignments but also to the speed of the game. But he'll be fine."

Niklas, a second-round draft pick, missed nearly all of the spring workouts due to sports hernia surgery and a broken right hand. He opened training camp with a soft cast on the hand but has participated thus far.

The cast appeared to hinder Niklas in pass catching Saturday, but despite that and the time he already missed Niklas feels he'll have no trouble getting up to speed.

"I wouldn't say I feel super far behind," Niklas said. "I stayed in my book and studied a lot and prepared a lot for camp. I felt like I knew what I was doing yesterday. It's just about doing it now and getting used to the offense."

Watching experienced tight ends John Carlson and Jake Ballard, Niklas said, has made learning the offense a little more doable from the sidelines. He called the learning curve to the pros "pretty smooth" and said those veterans were part of the reason.

Niklas said he'll be out of the cast in about a week and until then will have to figure out how to make catches with it on. More than that, though, he has to prove to coaches he's making up for lost field time.

"Now it's a lot about taking what I know and applying it on the field," Niklas said.

The situation at tight end is much different than it was a year ago when the Cardinals signinged a free agent in camp just to add competition. The position is loaded this year with Ballard, Carlson, Niklas and Rob Housler leading a six-man group.

"Last year we were searching," Arians said. "This year it's great competition to just get on the field, which is just going to make us better. We've got some big-bodied blockers, and we've got some very good pass receivers."

The estimated 10,000 fans on hand at University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday got their first look at the powerful arm rookie quarterback Logan Thomas was said to possess.

"Logan had probably one of his better days," Arians said. "He still has to learn when to throw the ball extremely hard and when to just throw it accurately. A strong-armed young quarterback has that problem. He gets all jacked up and wants to show it off."

Thomas, a fourth-round pick out of Virginia Tech, displayed the huge arm that wowed evaluators at the NFL Scouting Combine but not always in a positive way. Receivers didn't always seem prepared for the bullet passes Thomas was firing, with one even hitting Niklas in the helmet before he could turn his head around.

"Thank God Troy had a helmet on," Arians joked. "It's bad enough he had a cast on his hand, but to fire one at him...he's got bruises all over his chest from the other ones he was hitting him with."

Added Niklas: "He's definitely got a gun. He's trying to give people concussions out there."

Arians said he did see Thomas make some mental errors, such as snapping the ball in a no-huddle situation with the offense in an illegal formation, that he hopes will be eliminated quickly.

The NFL Network comes to Cardinals camp on Tuesday, with "Inside Training Camp Live" stopping in Glendale. Former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, who is set to go into the team's Ring of Honor on Sept. 8, and anchor Amber Theoharis will host the Network's coverage of the practice from 2-4:30 p.m.

-- Linebacker John Abraham still has not reported to training camp as he tends to a personal matter with the team's blessing.

-- Arians said Ballard suffered a thigh bruise Saturday and missed Sunday's practice. He is expected back Monday when the team practices in pads for the first time.

-- There probably won't be much shuffling on the right side of the offensive line during camp, as Arians said tackle Bobby Massie and guard Paul Fanaika have established themselves as the leaders there and need only maintain their holds on the spots. Still, Arians said no competition is settled yet.

-- Arians called Saturday's training camp-opening practice "very good" save one thing: "Disappointed in the number of veteran mental errors on offense. That was probably the only disappointing thing about the practice."

-- Arians on what he saw from the team's rookies Saturday: "We tell the young players 'You're either getting exposure or getting exposed.' A couple got exposed yesterday."

-- Linebacker Kenny Demens is trying to earn a roster spot, and Arians said he has been impressed with how Demens looks physically and the outlook is "very, very good" for him.

Follow Tyler Lockman on Twitter

Summary: Troy Niklas playing catch up due to hand injury; QB Logan Thomas shows off stong arm.


Matt Sayles/Invision for Academy of Television Arts & Sciences/AP

has gotten one very special thumbs-up following the announcement of

"He texted me today just to say, 'Hey, congrats babe! Saw that it's all out nowâ¦' " Hough, 26, told PEOPLE Thursday of the reaction from

29, who is a pro dancer on the show.

Asked if he made any jokes or showed any nerves about being judged on TV by a family member, she laughed, "Honestly, no!"

"It's all supportive. It's all in good fun," Hough said at the Heineken U.S. Open Kickoff Party at the Dream Downtown hotel in New York. "At the end of the day, we're all pretty lucky we get to do the show. It's not a have-to or a super competitive thing where it's life or death. This is fun."

In fact, the reaction has been warm all around.

"The support has been amazing," she said. "Obviously, the people who have followed me from day one have been supportive from day one. I'm just really excited. I feel like this is a fun opportunity for me to pursue what I want to do, which is acting and singing."

Summary: "The support has been amazing" from everyone, says the dancing show's new judge


National Guard troops in Ferguson, Missouri

As violent protests in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by a white police officer subsided, National Guard troops began leaving Ferguson, Missouri, on Friday, and residents were emotional.

"Everybody is touched by this," Pecolua Thurman, 42, who marched Thursday night, tells PEOPLE. "It's not just our voice. It's everybody's voices. We all know a Mike Brown. I think that's how people feel all over the country."

was fatally shot, the St. Louis County police department released a report of the incident in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Missouri asking that the report be made public,

Obtained by PEOPLE, the report lists the nature of the offense as "homicide," but provides no further detail. Meanwhile, a grand jury continues to hear evidence about the events of Aug. 9 when

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said

Though protests have quieted, residents continue marching and speaking out about the turmoil their city has suffered.

"The trust is broken," protestor Julius Edwards, 25, tells PEOPLE. "I don't know what it's going to take to rebuild it."

Summary: As troops withdraw from the St. Louis suburb, a grand jury continues to hear evidence in shooting


FORTUNE — I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the unsung hero of many startups: The other founder. A lot has been written about the founder/CEO and his growth and evolution as a company grows. But little is written about the (nearly omnipresent in my experience) co-founder — the No. 2, behind-the-scenes partner who teams with the founder/CEO from the very beginning to build the company.

I’ve probably been thinking about this topic a lot lately because I’ve been meeting with the other founder at a few of my portfolio companies. The conversations we’ve been having have a consistent set of themes. The other founder usually begins with a particular range of responsibilities that complement the founder. He may run a function, such as product or engineering, or they have a broader operational role and carry a COO title. Typically, a five-person company doesn’t need a COO, but it’s a useful catch-all title for the other founder because it sounds better than “vice president of miscellaneous” or “SVP of whatever falls through the cracks,” — which are more accurate descriptions of their role.

The challenge for the other founder is that as a startup evolves from “the jungle” (super-early stages, chaotic organization, prior to achieving product-market fit) to the “dirt road” (developing some organizational maturity and initial product-market fit), senior functional executives often get hired from the outside to take over departments. These executives naturally encroach on the other founder’s responsibilities.

For example, at one of my portfolio companies, the other founder looked after administration, finance, operations, product, and engineering. Basically, everything but sales and marketing. But then the company hired a VP of operations. And then a VP of finance. And finally a VP of engineering. And suddenly, after transitioning each function successfully to an outside senior executive one at a time, the other founder had successively worked himself out of a job.

The board and investors are super-focused on making the founder/CEO successful — building an executive team around him, perhaps even a COO/president to complement his skill-set and help the company scale. Or, as in the case of Google’s GOOG hiring of Eric Schmidt, an outside CEO who can guide growth and scale. In these situations, everyone is focused on the impact on the founder — what his role will be, how he handles the transition. Very little board attention is typically focused on the role, evolution, and growth of the other founder.

I would submit that ignoring the other founder is short-sighted. Typically they are intensely loyal to the company and the founder/CEO, valuable sounding boards, and champions of the company culture and mission.

Here are a few approaches or archetypes that I typically see as the role of the other founder evolves over the life of a startup:

This set of themes is one that I’m personally very familiar with because I played this role at one of my startups, Upromise. My title at the start was president and COO — thus I initially played the Mr. Inside role and rapidly grew into running a large organization. Then, as we hired a skilled operational CEO, I transitioned to driving strategic initiatives.

I guess that’s why I’m always a sympathetic ear for the other founder.

Jeff Bussgang is general partner at venture capital firm Flybridge Capital Partners. You can follow him on Twitter @bussgang

Summary: What to do with the company co-founder who isn't CEO?


Updated OCT 17, 2014 5:10p ET

PHOENIX -- Despite their fast-break prowess and reliance on point guards (when healthy), the Suns last season generated enough assists to register 29th among NBA teams.

Coach Jeff Hornacek regularly explained this type of statistical corruption can happen when your primary ball handlers are your top scoring options.

But now entering his second season back in Phoenix, Hornacek didn't mind when his team rang up 27 dimes in Thursday's rout of the San Antonio Spurs' split squad.

"I think we did a good job of passing the ball to the open guys," Hornacek said.

The open guys made 52.4 percent of their 3-point attempts and finished enough fast-break opportunities to generate 33 points in transition. And it certainly didn't hurt the game's fluctuating momentum was seized in the last 3:12 of the first half when Hornacek broke out his three-point guard (PG3) attack.

While this demonstration of speed and firepower may inspire a few additional film study and floor pacing around the Western Conference, it hit home with teammates.

One potential benefactor from such a lineup is stretch-four newcomer Anthony Tolliver, who wasn't on the floor when Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas were deployed.

"Oh, yeah ... oh, my gosh," Tolliver said when asked about what opportunities can be had by 3-point marksmen lucky enough to win a lottery and join that trio.

"It's funny ... I didn't notice it (the lineup) at first," he said. "Then somebody said something about it. I did notice we were movin' ... we were getting up and down the court real fast during that time. I'm sure we'll see that lineup sometimes when we really need to get it going."

For the record, Tolliver didn't have much of an opportunity to get it going against the Spurs, who were quite aware of hi pick-and-pop capabilities.

"They don't make too many mistakes," Tolliver said of a San Antonio team that limited him to 1 3-point attempt in 21 minutes. "There's a reason why they're the champions."

But much like Channing Frye before, Tolliver can positively impact the offense just by being on the floor ready to fire.

"I still did my job, because when I'm out there it opens things up for the guards and for Miles (Plumlee) to roll to the rim for dunks."

While the offensive assist and transition numbers were impressive regardless of who played for San Antonio, credit the Suns' defense as the biggest reason for those offensive statistics.

There was heightened awareness, quicker help-and-recover reactions, solid communication and a pesky attitude.

"We just have to get after it," Hornacek said. "We can't let any plays go during the game. We had a couple stretches tonight where I thought we took some plays off and a team's going to burn you. In those two situations, I think they scored five points. We can't get those little spurts like that."

In the last three quarters of Thursday's thumping, the Suns limited San Antonio to 39-percent shooting from the field. The Spurs missed 14 of 19 3-point attempts.

The feisty Suns' demeanor included 17 steals and provoked 25 turnovers from the Spurs, including four from superstar point guard Tony Parker. Individual efforts included a wow moment from Bledsoe, whose two blocks included a spike of a shot at the rim by ex-Arizona State star Jeff Ayres (formerly Pendergraph).

Slightly overshadowed by the PG3 debut was the combined performance of Marcus and Markieff Morris.

Marcus, who opened the game at small forward, hit the Spurs for 14 points -- making 6 of 11 shots from the field -- and six rebounds in a pinch over 25 minutes. He knocked in half of his four attempts from behind the 3-point line.

Markieff was even more efficient, coming off the bench to provide 17 points and seven rebounds in 22-plus minutes with tours at power forward and center.

The slightly older and taller twin made 7 of 10 shots from the floor, including a make on his only official attempt from 3-point range (he was fouled on the other).

On the preseason, Markieff -- who has been encouraged to help stretch the floor -- has been successful on 3 of 5 shots from distance.

Follow Randy Hill on Twitter

Summary: Suns offense fueled by defense in blowout of Spurs.


Cognex Corp., the Natick machine vision products maker, beat estimates in what executives called a spectacular third quarter, but its shares fell on a fourth-quarter forecast for lower earnings. Revenue for the third period came in at $169.36 million, beating estimates of $168.25 million, up 87 percent over last year. Earnings per share were 57 cents, just above estimates of 55.7 cents. Revenue growth was largely due to demand from the factory automation market and includes $65 million in revenue from one customer, executives said.

Summary: Natick machine vision products maker Cognex Corp. beat estimates in what executives called a “spectacular” third quarter, but shares fell on a fourth-quarter forecast for lower earnings. Revenue for the third period came in at $169.36 million, beating estimates of $168.25 million, up 87 percent over last year. Earnings per share were 57 cents, just above estimates of 55.7 cents. Revenue growth was largely due to demand from the factory automation market, and includes $65 million in revenue from one, executives said.


NEW YORK — Chrysler said Thursday it would recall 349,442 vehicles worldwide for faulty ignition switches that could cause cars to suddenly turn off while driving, adding to the recent wave of automobile recalls related to ignition problems.

The latest recall affects 2008 vehicles, including the Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee SUVs, earlier models of which were recalled in July for the same problem. The company is also recalling 2008 models of the Chrysler 300 sedan, the Dodge Charger sedan, and the Dodge Magnum station wagon.

The problems are similar to the ignition defects identified in more than 16 million General Motors cars this year and in more than 1 million other Chrysler vehicles.

The ignition switches in the latest group of recalled Chrysler models can rotate to the “accessory” or “off” position when jostled by a knee or bump in the road. Such a rotation can turn off power to the engine, disengage power steering, and disable safety features, including air bags.

A spokesman for Chrysler would not disclose the name of the supplier of its switches. Delphi Automotive supplied defective ignition switches to General Motors.

Chrysler, a division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said in a statement that it knew of one accident related to the defect and that it had linked no deaths or injuries to it.

“In the overall scheme of ignition-related problems, the recall by Chrysler is a small one,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, an automobile research and pricing company.

“But it does indicate the importance of ignition systems and overall vehicle safety, an aspect that was not well understood as the General Motors ignition issues developed and were reported,” he added.

Summary: DETROIT — Chrysler is recalling nearly 350,000 older cars and SUVs to fix defective ignition switches that can cause the vehicles to stall. With the latest recall, Chrysler has called back more than 2 million vehicles for defective switches. The switches can slip out of the ‘‘on’’ position, which is similar to the problem that forced General Motors to recall millions of vehicles this year.


It’s a new week for Spotify, and the streaming music service is eager to move the narrative away from Taylor Swift.

The pop star recently pulled her entire catalog from the streaming music service, calling the company’s business model a “grand experiment.” It kicked off a flurry of questions about the viability of Spotify’s business. Swift appeared on both the covers of Bloomberg Businessweek and Time last week. Understandably, Spotify would prefer we talked about anything but Taylor Swift today.

On a conference call this morning, Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek announced the company has partnered with Uber, the on-demand car service, to provide its music streaming services inside Uber vehicles. Uber customers can control the music during their car ride from their phone. Both the Spotify and Uber apps will promote the service.

“One of the big things is, ‘How do we get into the car, and how do we truly how do we get into that space and allow people to play their music?’ Ek said. “Instead of doing car integrations, we think about, ‘What is the next generation of transportation systems?’”

Ek said Spotify continues to seek partnerships with automakers that would put its app into in-dashboard operating systems. But many younger people are skipping out on buying their own car altogether, thanks to on-demand car services such as Uber, Lyft and others. “This is a way to reach a younger, more millennial audience in cities who are taking up Uber in droves,” he said.

Ek and Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick declined to comment on whether the partnership would involve any financial elements, such as revenue-sharing. “For Uber, its just sexy and interesting and fun for our users to bring everything into the car,” Kalanick said.

The launch begins in select cities — London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Toronto and Sydney — on Friday, and will be rolled out globally in the coming months. It’s only available to those who subscribe to Spotify’s premium service.

Summary: The two hot on-demand startups team up.


By now, we know that two things are likely when it comes to a 3G/Warren Buffett investment pairing: First, there will be massive cost and personnel cuts; Second, Buffett and the partners of 3G will make lots of money. There is no reason to think otherwise with today’s blockbuster deal, the Buffett/3G-owned Heinz’s $40 billion purchase of Kraft, the $18 billion (sales) maker of mac & cheese and Jell-O.

The food industry has long been ripe for drastic consolidation. Yet on a conference call discussing the deal, the anointed CEO of Kraft Heinz, Bernardo Hees (currently the chief of Heinz), and his boss, 3G cofounder and managing partner Alex Behring, stuck to one unified story line in explaining the expected benefit of the deal. As Behring put it, “This transaction is all about growth.”

But growth of what, exactly? Here are some things that, based on past history, may not expand.

–Jobs. Some 7,000 jobs have been slashed at Heinz since the merger took place two years ago. Plants have been shuttered, the headquarters reduced from two buildings to one. Hees said on the call that he intended to keep both companies’ headquarters in place in Pittsburgh (Heinz) and Chicago (Kraft), but expect dramatic consolidation there and elsewhere.

–Revenues. Since 3G took charge, Heinz’s profits are way up, but sales have fallen from $11.7 billion in 2012, the year before the merger, to $10.9 billion last year. This is in part because of cost cuts, but it’s also because trends in the processed food industry show a shift away from big food and toward more health-conscious items.

–Suppliers and consultants (other than Accenture). Outsiders with a relationship to Kraft, look out. 3G is loyal primarily to one outside firm—Accenture—and uses zero-based budgeting. That means every penny of spending must be justified every single year. Suppliers can expect to be told to reduce their costs by 20% or more, or risk losing the business. As it says in a chapter heading of a book called “Double Your Profits,” a tome favored by the top executives at 3G, “When suppliers say no, hit them again and again.”

–The current executive team. At both Heinz and Burger King, 3G immediately initiated sweeping turnover at the top. At Heinz alone, 11 of the top 12 executives were replaced, many by 3G execs, many of them Brazilian, with experience in implementing its playbook. Burger King has experienced a similar realignment. Execs who hope to stay should be ready to appear—with no more than one piece of paper in hand—for a sitdown interview with Hees.

–Kraft’s relationship with McDonald’s MCD . Because 3G also owns Burger King, the purchase of Heinz didn’t sit well with McDonald’s, which dropped Heinz as its ketchup supplier not long after the 3G merger went through. Kraft and McDonald’s recently announced a giant deal to roll out bagged coffee nationwide. Will that relationship take a hit too?

Read more from Fortune on the Kraft-Heinz deal:

Junk food: A winning strategy for the new Kraft Heinz?

Here’s what happens when 3G Capital buys your company

6 small bites on the giant Heinz/Kraft merger

Kraft is a big mess. Here’s how the Heinz deal might help

Summary: Execs for 3G say the Heinz-Kraft merger will spur growth. Perhaps—but plenty will shrink.


Updated APR 23, 2015 12:10p ET

Floyd Mayweather Jr. refused Wednesday to back off earlier comments declaring himself a better fighter than Muhammad Ali.

Mayweather said he respects Ali's great career and the things he did outside the ring. But he said he believes he has done as much in boxing as the legendary former heavyweight champion ever did, without the losses that Ali suffered in his career.

''He called himself The Greatest and I call myself TBE (The Best Ever),'' Mayweather said. ''I'm pretty sure I'll get criticized for what I said, but I could care less. I could care less about the backlash.''

Mayweather had earlier said that he was better than both Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson, pointing to his 47-0 record as proof. He also said he would never have lost to a fighter like Leon Spinks, who beat an aging Ali in 1978 after having just seven pro fights.

''I just look at Ali's career when he fought Leon Spinks and lost to a fighter with seven fights,'' Mayweather said. ''There were some other fights he lost and he's still known as The Greatest because that's what he put out there. It is what it is.''

A little more than a week before his megafight with Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather seemed relaxed on a conference call where he talked about his career and the man he will face in the ring May 2. He refused to say anything bad about Pacquiao, and said he was treating the richest fight ever as just another fight.

''I know it's the biggest fight in boxing history but I can't approach it like that,'' Mayweather said. ''I'm never going to put any unnecessary pressure on myself. I like to approach the fight like he's a fighter who's extremely talented. But my thing is to just be Floyd Mayweather.''

That has worked for Mayweather his entire career, though most boxing historians would disagree with his own view of his place in boxing's historical hierarchy. That includes the current heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko, who told a group of reporters in New York on Tuesday that maybe Mayweather shouldn't be so boastful.

''I think probably, I heard this comment from Mayweather that he's better than Ali or greater than Ali,'' Klitschko said. ''I think people call the king the king, not the king (who says) `I'm the king.' So people make others somebody that he is or that he's not. So that's people's opinions.''

While Mayweather's place in history may be in debate, there's no debate that he will make the biggest purse ever against Pacquiao. Depending on pay-per-view sales, which reportedly have been strong for a fight still 10 days away, he could earn as much as $180 million for the welterweight title bout.

That prompted a question Wednesday about whether the free-spending Mayweather, who owns a fleet of expensive cars, a private jet and several mansions, worries about losing all his money after he retires.

''I'm blessed, I made some good investments,'' Mayweather said. ''If I wanted to retire today, I could.''

Mayweather credited what he called a brilliant game plan for reaching his goal of becoming the first fighters to ever make a nine figure paycheck in one night. But he said he has changed in recent years, toning down his act and putting aside the Pretty Boy and Money May personas he used to help him sell previous pay-per-view fights.

This fight needs no selling, and Mayweather has been subdued at every public appearance.

''It took a game plan for me going out there to win and me speaking out with a very loud voice and having a lot of personality,'' he said. ''But as you get older you mature. You've done trash talking for 17 or 18 years, look at me, what I've done. I don't have to do all of that. I did all that loud talking and everything to get to this point.''

That includes speaking badly about Freddie Roach, who has tried to cast Mayweather as the bad guy in this fight promotion.

''He's making it basically a god against devil kind of thing, but he doesn't have to get in there and fight,'' Mayweather said. ''He's entitled to say what he wants to say, but the fighters aren't speaking like that and it comes down to the two fighters.''

Summary: Floyd Mayweather Jr.: I'm better than Muhammad Ali


POLISH LABOR UNION CALLS OFF A STRIKE SET FOR TOMORROW

WARSAW, Feb. 1 (By The Associated Press) - Poland's independent labor union announced today that it had canceled a one-hour nationwide strike that had been scheduled for Tuesday. The strike was planned to support the demands of private farmers to be allowed to form their own union.

The announcement came during a recess of the 10-million-member union's National Coordinating Commission, which was meeting in special session here. But the commission chairman, Lech Walesa, declared that the ''warning'' strike would be rescheduled ''if there is any attack on us or on farmers.''

Mr. Walesa said the strike was called off because the Government had finally sent representatives to Rzeszow, in southeastern Poland, for negotiations with farmers demanding recognition of their union. About 400 farmers have been occupying the Rzeszow headquarters of the now-defunct Government labor organization since Jan. 3. Decision to Support Farmers

Warsaw television reported that the leaders of the independent union, known as Solidarity, had decided to support the farmers with union actions on Feb. 10. There were no details on what form the actions would take.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to rule Feb. 10 on the farmers' application for a union charter. The Government of Stanislaw Kania has vigorously objected to the idea of a union of private farmers, who produce three-fourths of Poland's agricultural output.

A Government commission headed by Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrzej Kacala was to confer in Rzeszow with a worker-farmer panel led by Bogdan Lis, one of Mr. Walesa's two assistants. Evaluation of New Accords

Solidarity's national press spokesman told reporters that the commission, meeting at the Polytechnic University in Warsaw, had also evaluated new Government-union agreements on the length of the workweek and on Solidarity's access to state-controlled media.

The spokesman, Karol Modzelewski, said the accords, reached during 13 hours of talks that ended early yesterday, were ''far from satisfactory'' and represented ''an initial stage in the fulfillment of the Gdansk agreement.''

The Gdansk accord, named after the Baltic port where it was negotiated, lists the concessions the Government made to end last summer's crippling strikes. Those strikes and concessions established the independent union movement, the first in a Soviet-bloc country. 'Propaganda Campaign' Planned

Warsaw television said that the Solidarity commissioners had resolved to continue assistance to the farmers and consider the creation of a legal framework for the farmers' activity as the union's ''own cause.''

The broadcast quoted a resolution from the commission as saying that Solidarity ''will conduct a propaganda campaign, with articles, posters, meetings, etc.,'' on the farmers' behalf.

Solidarity and Government negotiators agreed early yesterday that workers would work every fourth Saturday in 1981, with the other three off. The Government agreed in principle to the union's demand for a five-day workweek, and the union accepted the compromise in light of Poland's economic difficulties, which include a foreign debt of $23 billion and shortages of food and consumer goods.

The Government agreed that Solidarity could publish a weekly newspaper and would receive radio and television time at regular intervals.

In Jelenia Gora in southwestern Poland, talks resumed today between local union members and Deputy Minister of Administration Jan Jablonski after a strike in the area was called off, the official Polish press agency reported.

But in Biala-Bielsko in the south, a sit-in continued at several factories, and municipal transportation and inter-city buses were not operating. Vacationers in the Beskid Mountains were finding it difficult to find transportation out of the area.

A student from Lodz, where 10,000 students at three colleges have been striking to demand changes in university policy, said that four rounds of negotiations with the Science and Higher Education Minister, Janusz Gorski, had produced little progress.

The students have been occupying the schools' administration offices to press demands for the abolition of compulsory classes in Marxism and for more self-government. ---- Soviet Assails Polish Union

MOSCOW, Feb. 1 (Reuters) - The Soviet Government newspaper Izvestia assailed Poland's independent trade union last night, portraying its leaders as reckless people leading the country to ruin.

The Izvestia report was written before a compromise was reached yesterday between the union and the Polish Government on a five-day workweek and access to the news media, suggesting that the Kremlin was alarmed about the possibility of new concessions.

An Izvestia correspondent in Warsaw said the union leaders were steering the organization along a course of confrontation and had so abused the strike weapon that they knew of no other means to solve disputes.

The paper's portrayal of the union leaders as irresponsible seemed to imply that Warsaw should not continue to give ground in negotiations.


The Elections Doubt over New Jersey's election for Governor continued after a chaotic day of checking and rechecking figures. Governor Byrne ordered all voting machines and paper ballots impounded and placed under a round-the-clock police guard in preparation for a recount. Unofficial tallies showed Thomas H. Kean, the Republican, leading Representative James J. Florio, the Democrat, by 1,158 votes out of more than 2.28 million cast. Neither candidate declared victory or conceded defeat. (Page A1, Column 6.) Democratic legislators held control of both chambers of the New Jersey Legislature, but by the slimmest margins of their eight years in power. In Tuesday's balloting, the Republicans gained five seats in the Senate and one seat in the Assembly. (B12:1-3.)

A victory for a prison bond issue in New York State was indicated by unofficial tallies. The proposal, to provide $500 million for new prison construction, trailed for many hours, but emerged later with a tiny lead. (A1:4.) An emphasis on minority affairs is planned by Mayor Koch, who will appoint an advisory council on the problems of New York City's black and Hispanic residents. Mr. Koch won in all Assembly districts, but not as strongly in minority districts as Democratic candidates usually do. (A1:5.) Efforts to improve transit service will also be pressed by Mayor Koch in his second term. He pledged to play a ''much closer role'' in upgrading the subways and buses in a shift of priorities. Heretofore, he listed law enforcement as his No. 1 priority. (B15:1-3.) Alfred B. DelBello, who survived a Republican sweep in Westchester to win a third term as County Executive, attributed his victory to confidence in his stewardship. He defeated State Senator Joseph R. Pisani. (B16:1-2.) Many propositions were rejected by American voters. These included tax breaks for private school pupils in the District of Columbia, a $750 million highway bond issue in West Virginia and a homosexual rights plan in Palo Alto, Calif. (B17:1-2.) International A NATO contingency war plan calls for the explosion of a nuclear warhead as a ''demonstration'' to deter the Soviet Union from trying to overrun Western Europe with conventional arms, according to Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. He made the statement in testimony before a Senate committee. (A1:1-2.) A stalemate in the Salvadoran war has been reached, according to key Reagan Administration officials. They said that the impasse was expected to lead to the defeat of the American-supported regime and that, as a result, Secretary of State Haig had been pressing the Pentagon to examine a series of options for possible military action in El Salvador and also against Nicaragua and Cuba. The Administration says they are conduits of aid to the Salvadoran rebels. (A1:2.) A strong U.S. human rights policy in foreign affairs is spelled out in a State Department memorandum approved by Secretary of State Haig. The document affirms that a strong commitment to human rights is needed if the United States is to offer a credible alternative to the Soviet example or to rising neutralism. (A1:5-6.) All Libyan troops will leave Chad within seven days, according to a statement by their commander that was broadcast on French television. However, the Libyan Government remained silent about its troops in the central African country. (A1:1.) National The second flight of the space shuttle Columbia was postponed for a week or possibly longer. The reason, according to project officials at Cape Canaveral, Fla, is impairment of the auxiliary power units that operate the craft's oil hydraulic system. (A1:3.) Elvis Presley's doctor was acquitted of all 11 charges of criminally overprescribing addictive drugs to the late singer and eight other patients. The jury in Memphis deliberated just over three hours before agreeing that Dr. George Nichopoulos was not guilty on all counts. (A14:1-2.) Divorced men are remarrying more often than divorced women, according to the Census Bureau. It also reported that the divorce rate for both black men and black women rose more than 140 percent in the 1970's. (A14:4-6.) Metropolitan A gain for Northern cities in closing the competitive gap with the Sun Belt was revealed by a survey of the wages and benefits of municipal employees in 12 major cities. The study found that city employees in the Sun Belt, among the lowest paid in the nation, had begun catching up with those in the North, narrowing the South's edge over Northern cities. (B1:5-6.) Two youths who fatally shot a 15-year-old Bronx student after a brief shouting match were being sought by the police. The slaying of Ronald Capobianco in the north-central Bronx was the first of five that occurred in the city in fewer than 10 hours. (B3:6.) The Rolling Stones are about to arrive in the metropolitan area, and officials at the buildings they will play in are talking about barricades, guards and secret ''options.'' Starting tonight, the British rock group will play a three-night stand at the arena in the Hackensack Meadowlands. (B2:1-2.)

Business Digest, Page Page D1


SYRACUSE, Jan. 17 (AP) - Tony Bruin scored 6 points in a span of 63 seconds late in the game today, leading Syracuse to a 75-70 victory over Georgetown in the Big East.

Before a national television audience and 25,623 fans in the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen snapped the Hoyas' 13-game winning streak. Both teams are 3-1 in the conference. Syracuse improved its overall record to 10-4, and the Hoyas are 14-3.

Syracuse pulled away from 60-60, the ninth tie, with 4 minutes 56 seconds left, partly because of two lane violations by Georgetown's Eric Floyd, the game's leading scorer with 20 points. Floyd negated one of two free throws by a teammate, Mike Hancock, preventing the Hoyas from moving into a 62-62 tie, then gave Erich Sanifer of the Orange an extra free throw as Syracuse went ahead, 63-61, with 3:33 left.

Bruin, who says he has come back slowly since jamming a finger Dec. 1, then went on his spree. He made baskets before and after a pair of free throws to put the Orange ahead, 70-65, with just over a minute remaining.

Included in Bruin's flurry was the fifth foul on Pat Ewing, the 7-foot Georgetown freshman, who picked up two fouls in his first two minutes of play and was never a factor in the game. He played only 16 minutes and scored 6 points. Santifer's 19 points led the Orange. Bruin contributed 17. A Syracuse cheerleader suffered a fractured skull when she fell from a human pyramid during a timeout. Michelle Munn, a 21-year-old senior and ca ptain of the cheerleading team, was reported in stable condition at Crouse-Irving Memorial Hospital. Missouri 69 Louisville 55

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A reserve guard, Michael Walker, sparked a surge at the end of the first half for unbeaten Missouri. Walker scored a total of 14 points, 6 of which came in the final 46 seconds of the half. Missouri led by 38-24 at intermission.

The Tigers protected leads of never fewer than 9 points in the last half. Ricky Frazier scored 22 points for Missouri, which shot 48.8 percent to Louisville's 37.7. Lancaster Gordon had 14 for the losers.

Paced by Derek Smith's rebounding, the Cardinals held the upper hand until Missouri went into a zone defense. Steve Stipanovich's long basket and two Frazier foul shots produced a 20-20 tie. Prince Bridges hit from 20 feet shortly afterward, and the Tigers were never headed.

The outcome, watched by 18,664, left Missouri at 14-0 and Louisville at 11-4. Virginia 89, Clemson 68

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (UPI) -Ralph Sampson scored 22 points and Virginia had three other players in double figures in the Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

Tim Mullen hit 15, Jimmy Miller 14 and Jeff Jones 12 for the Cavaliers, who are 16-1 and 4-1 in the conference. They shot a torrid 64.9 percent.

Clemson, 8-5 and 1-4, was paced by Fred Gilliam, a reserve. Leading by 5 at halftime, Virginia scored 9 straight points in two minutes to open the second half. A 3-point play by Sampson, a fastbreak layup by Othell Wilson, a jumper from the corner by Mullen and a baseline jumper by Craig Robinson gave the Cavaliers a 50-36 margin.

Clemson managed to pull to 53-46 with 15:20 left, but an 8-point run by Virginia put the game out of reach. A basket inside and four free throws by Sampson and a field goal by Ricky Stokes raised the lead to 61-46 with 12:30 remaining. Clemson, which has lost four of its last five games, never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

A total of 55 personal fouls were called.

Summary: SYRACUSE BREAKS GEORGETOWN STREAK   SYRACUSE, Jan. 17 (AP) - Tony Bruin scored 6 points in a span of 63 seconds late in the game today, leading Syracuse to a 75-70 victory over Georgetown in the Big East.   Before a national television audience and 25,623 fans in the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen snapped the Hoyas' 13-game winning streak. Both teams are 3-1 in the conference. Syracuse improved its overall record to 10-4, and the Hoyas are 14-3.


HARTFORD — Dunkin’ Donuts has purchased the naming rights for the new stadium being built in Hartford to house the Double-A baseball team that is moving from New Britain.

City, team, and company officials announced Wednesday that the stadium will be known as Dunkin’ Donuts Park when it opens in April.

Officials refused to disclose the terms of the deal. But under its agreement with the city, the Yard Goats baseball team, the Eastern League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, will get the first $50,000 from the stadium naming rights. The team and the city divide the remaining money.

The city had projected it would make $225,000 annually in naming revenue.

The deal includes putting the Dunkin’ Donuts logo and name on prominent signage and mowing the logo into the outfield grass.

The company also holds naming rights to the 14,000-seat Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, home to the Boston Bruins farm team, the Providence Bruins, of the American Hockey League.

Summary: The new stadium being built will be home to the Double-A baseball team that is moving from New Britain.