More waiting for man seeking to clear his name

Bennie Starks has been waiting 26 years to clear his name. It became apparent today that he will have to wait a bit longer.

As one of his first official acts, newly elected Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim announced this week that he would drop a final battery charge against Starks – a move that would end a legal ordeal that saw Starks spend 20 years in prison for the rape and beating of a woman in Waukegan before he was eventually exonerated of the rape charge.

But an apparent technicality prevented a judge from formally dropping the last remaining charge against Starks Friday, as planned.

Judge Victoria A. Rossetti said she would need a “letter of mandate” from the Illinois Supreme Court that would formally return the case to Lake County.

The state Supreme Court was the last to rule in the case, when it declined last week to consider a request from Nerheim’s predecessor to overturn a lower court’s ruling requiring a hearing at which Starks’ lawyers could argue for a new trial on the battery charges.

Starks was released from prison in 2006 after DNA evidence raised doubts over his guilty in the 1986 attack. Former State’s Attorney Michael Waller eventually dropped the rape charge against Starks in May, but his office continued to seek to hold Starks accountable for beating the woman in the same attack.

Though Starks has called his legal odyssey “26 years of hell,” he took what appeared to be a brief setback toward final exoneration in stride.

“I’m still positive,” he said after today’s hearing. “I wanted it done now, but a couple of more weeks won’t hurt. I’m still positive.”

Starks conceded, however, that it has been difficult having the case hanging over his head for so many years.
“I got out in 2006 but I felt I was still incarcerated, still fighting. But my life goes on. The main thing is they are going to dismiss it,” he said.

Nerheim said he would file a motion seeking to have the case returned to Lake County immediately. He said he hopes to have the matter resolved before the new year.

“An hour after I was sworn in (Monday) I was briefed on (Starks’ case),” Nerheim said. “After reviewing various appellate rulings and evidence, I didn’t believe the interest of justice was served.”

Waller, who spent 22 years as state’s attorney – during which time the cases against Starks and three other violent crime suspects fell apart after DNA evidence pointed to their innocence -- could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Exclusive: Google to replace M&A chief

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is replacing the head of its in-house mergers and acquisitions group, David Lawee, with one of its top lawyers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Don Harrison, a high-ranking lawyer at Google, will replace Lawee as head of the Internet search company's corporate development group, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, said the source, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Google is also planning to create a new late-stage investment group that Lawee will oversee, the source said.

Google declined to comment.

Harrison, Google's deputy general counsel, has been involved in Google's regulatory issues and many of Google's acquisitions. He joined Google more than five years ago and has completed more than 70 deals at the company, according to biographical information on the Google Ventures website. Harrison is an advisor to Google Ventures.

The planned late-stage investment group has not been finalized, the source said. The fund might operate separately from Google Ventures, the company's nearly four-year old venture division which provides funding for start-up companies, according to the source.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic)

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Vols hire Cincinnati's Jones as new football coach

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Butch Jones wasn't Tennessee's first choice as its next football coach. The Volunteers believe the former Cincinnati coach will prove he's the right choice.

Tennessee introduced Jones on Friday as its successor to Derek Dooley, who was fired Nov. 18 after going 15-21 in three seasons. Jones becomes the Volunteers' fourth coach in six seasons, ending a tumultuous couple of days for both parties. The new Vols coach said he was taking over "the best college football program in America."

"We'll be working to be champions each and every day," Jones said. "We will be a champion in everything we do. That's not only on the field but off the field."

Jones, 44, has a 50-27 record in six seasons as a head coach. He went 27-13 in three seasons at Central Michigan and was 23-14 at Cincinnati the last three years. He now faces the task of rebuilding a former Southeastern Conference power that has posted three consecutive losing seasons.

Tennessee went after at least two other candidates before hiring Jones.

During the 19-day search to replace Dooley, the Volunteers contacted ESPN analyst and former Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden, who indicated he wasn't interested. The Vols then pursued Charlie Strong, who said Thursday he had turned down their offer and would stay at Louisville.

"Rarely in life is anything exactly what it seems to be," Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said. "Life doesn't throw us all fastballs. It throws us curves, and then you've got some screwballs. ... You've got to be able to adjust."

Jones, meanwhile, was apparently waiting for a job like Tennessee.

On the same day Strong made his announcement, Jones rejected an offer to take over Colorado's program. He also had been linked to the Purdue coaching job before withdrawing his name from consideration.

Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock said Jones told him Thursday morning that he was rejecting Colorado's offer. Mere minutes later, Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart called Babcock to express his interest in contacting Jones. Babcock said he gave Jones 24 hours to make a decision on whether to stay or go, if Tennessee offered. Babcock said Jones notified him of his decision Friday at 5:15 a.m. and informed Cincinnati's players at a 7:30 a.m. team meeting.

"It's been kind of a whirlwind," Jones said.

Jones' hiring means each of the four Southeastern Conference teams that fired coaches this year has filled its vacancy.

Kentucky hired Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops last week to replace Joker Phillips. Arkansas hired Bret Bielema away from Wisconsin on Tuesday to take over for John L. Smith. Auburn selected Arkansas State's Gus Malzahn on Tuesday as the replacement for Gene Chizik.

Jones will be Tennessee's fourth coach in a six-season stretch, not including offensive coordinator Jim Chaney's stint as interim head coach in the 2012 season finale after Dooley's dismissal. Phillip Fulmer was fired after the 2008 season, ending his career with a 152-52 record at Tennessee. Lane Kiffin coached Tennessee in 2009 before leaving for Southern California. Dooley lasted three years.

After winning at least eight games for 16 consecutive seasons from 1989-2004 and posting double-digit wins in nine of those years, Tennessee hasn't earned more than seven victories in any of its last five seasons. The Vols went 5-7 this fall for their fifth losing season over the last eight years. This also is the first time since 1909-11 that Tennessee has finished below .500 three years in a row.

Hart said at the start of the search that head coaching experience was "critically important" and that he wanted a coach who "knows the difficulty of climbing the ladder in the SEC." Jones lacks SEC experience, but he has a career winning percentage of .649. Jones' teams have earned at least a share of a conference title in four of his six seasons as a head coach.

After replacing Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly at Central Michigan and then again at Cincinnati, Jones maintained the momentum his predecessor had established at each school.

In Jones' three-year stint at Central Michigan, the Chippewas won two Mid-American Conference championships and posted a combined league record of 22-3. Jones went 4-8 in his first year at Cincinnati, but the Bearcats are 19-6 since and have tied for first place in the Big East each of the last two seasons. Cincinnati's 2011 season included a 45-23 loss at Tennessee.

Jones signed a contract extension after the 2011 season that includes a $1.4 million buyout if he left before Jan. 1.

He becomes the third consecutive Cincinnati coach to leave after three seasons. Mark Dantonio went 18-17 from 2005-06 before Michigan State hired him away. Kelly posted a 34-6 record before leaving for Notre Dame at the end of a perfect regular season in 2009.

Cincinnati has made defensive line coach Steve Stripling its interim head coach for the Dec. 27 Belk Bowl against Duke in Charlotte, N.C., while it begins searching for Jones' successor.

"There is no timetable to make the hire," Babcock said. "Making the right hire is better than the quickest hire, but admittedly sooner is better if possible."

Jones' background as an assistant is entirely on offense, but one of his biggest challenges at Tennessee initially will be strengthening a defense that allowed the most points (35.7) and yards (471.4) per game of any SEC team this season. The Vols hadn't allowed that high a scoring average since 1893, when they gave up 42.7 points per game while playing a six-game schedule. They hadn't yielded that many yards per game since at least 1950, the earliest year Tennessee's sports information department has that statistic on file.

The makeup of Jones' first offense at Tennessee also remains uncertain, at least for now.

Starting quarterback Tyler Bray and star wide receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter all are projected as first- or second-round draft picks if they choose to turn pro rather than returning to school for their senior seasons. Bray threw for 3,612 yards and 34 touchdowns this year to rank second on Tennessee's single-season list in both categories, behind Peyton Manning's 3,819 yards and 36 touchdown passes in 1997. Hunter caught 73 passes for 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns. Patterson gained a school-record 1,858 all-purpose yards.

Junior offensive tackle Ja'Wuan James also has been mentioned as a possible draft candidate.

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AP Sports Writers Joe Kay in Cincinnati, Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Teresa Walker in Nashville, contributed to this report.

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

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

The King Edward VII hospital earlier confirmed the death of the nurse, Jacinda Saldanha.

“Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha‘s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time,” said a statement from William’s office.

(Reporting by Tim Castle; editing by Stephen Addison)

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.

Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison.

A few dozen people gathered on a sidewalk outside the north Seattle headquarters of the annual Hempfest celebration and did the same, offering joints to reporters and blowing smoke into television news cameras.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store!" shouted Hempfest volunteer Darby Hageman. "It's all becoming real now!"

Washington and Colorado became the first states to vote to decriminalize and regulate the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21. Both measures call for setting up state licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores. Colorado's law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.

Technically, Washington's new marijuana law still forbids smoking pot in public, which remains punishable by a fine, like drinking in public. But pot fans wanted a party, and Seattle police weren't about to write them any tickets.

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

The mood was festive in Seattle as dozens of gay and lesbian couples got in line to pick up marriage licenses at the King County auditor's office early Thursday.

King County and Thurston County announced they would open their auditors' offices shortly after midnight Wednesday to accommodate those who wanted to be among the first to get their licenses.

Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hours later, as the line grew, volunteers distributed roses and a group of men and women serenaded the waiting line to the tune of "Chapel of Love."

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

In dealing with marijuana, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers on Wednesday, just before legalization took hold, that until further notice they shall not issue citations for public marijuana use.

Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

He offered a catchy new directive referring to the film "The Big Lebowski," popular with many marijuana fans: "The Dude abides, and says 'take it inside!'"

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress."

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Alison Holcomb is the drug policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and served as the campaign manager for New Approach Washington, which led the legalization drive. She said the voters clearly showed they're done with marijuana prohibition.

"New Approach Washington sponsors and the ACLU look forward to working with state and federal officials and to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented," she said.

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Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

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

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Notorious B.I.G. was killed by a single bullet that pierced several vital organs in a 1997 drive-by shooting, a long-sealed autopsy report released Friday shows.

The rapper was hit four times in the shooting, which 15 years later remains one of Los Angeles' highest-profile unsolved murders.

The report had been sealed at the request of detectives until last week, Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey said. The 23-page report details the trajectory of each of the shots that hit the rapper, whose name was Christopher Wallace. Investigators determined that a single shot that hit his left lung, heart and colon led to the 24-year-old's death.

No drugs or alcohol were found in his system, the report states.

The rapper from Brooklyn, N.Y., had just left a music industry event when he was shot. Los Angeles police and the FBI have investigated the killing, but no arrests have ever been made. Neither agency had any immediate comment on the release of the report.

A lawyer for Wallace's family and widow Faith Evans did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Federal agents conducted a bi-coastal search for Wallace's killer, but federal prosecutors determined in 2005 that there wasn't enough evidence to pursue a case. Agents looked into whether any Los Angeles police officers had been involved in the shooting, which came months after another rap superstar, Tupac Shakur, was shot dead in Las Vegas.

In March 2011, the FBI electronically released files on its investigation, which were heavily redacted but shed new light on the efforts that investigators took to try to find those responsible for the rapper's death. Agents conducted surveillance and interviews in Los Angeles, San Diego and New York, the files showed.

The deaths of Wallace and Shakur have been the subject of rampant speculation about the motives. The one-time friends became rivals and instigators in an East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry during the mid-1990s.

Wallace's family filed a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles, and a 2005 trial ended with a mistrial after attorneys for Wallace's family discovered the city had withheld a trove of LAPD documents.

The family dismissed the lawsuit in 2010. Their attorney said that was done in order for the FBI and other agencies to pursue new leads in the case.

The civil case could be refiled, although that has not yet occurred.

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

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O'Hare affected by United's latest computer glitch

United Airlines experienced more computer problems Friday, causing systems to slow down.

"We have been experiencing short-term, intermittent Internet connectivity issues, causing some systems to run more slowly than normal," United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said.

However, the airline is continuing to operate flights and "take care of customers," he said, adding that interruptions last for about five minutes.

The problem is only at some locations, including Chicago O'Hare International Airport, he said.

The glitch has not harmed the airline's on-time performance, which was running at 91.5 percent for United Airlines flights and about 85 percent for United Express flights, he said. Those rates are higher than normal for United, which has been running closer to 80 percent on time.

Computer problems have plagued the airline this year, starting in March when it switched to a new reservations system. During the summer its operations were especially poor, with rampant flight delays and cancellations.

gkarp@tribune.com

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Driver killed after colliding with school bus near Kankakee

By Deanese Williams-Harris




Tribune reporter

12:18 p.m. CST, December 6, 2012

The driver of a car was killed after crashing into the back of a school bus carrying high school students near Kankakee this morning, state police said.

Several of the children were taken to hospital but their injuries were minor, police said.

The accident happened about 7:15 a.m. on Illinois Route 113 west of Warner Bridge Road in the town of Limestone, state police said.

According to preliminary reports, a 2002 Chevrolet struck the rear of the bus from Herscher High School. The bus had its lights flashing and students were boarding at the time, police said.

The driver of the Chevrolet was pronounced dead at the scene and identified as Aaron Ballenger, 29, of Braceville, police said.

Officials at Herscher High School were notifying parents about the students involved in the accident.

dawilliams@tribune.com

Twitter: @neacynewslady

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Facebook in talks to buy Microsoft ad technology: reports

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is in negotiations with Microsoft Corp about acquiring advertising technology that could allow the social network displays ads on other websites, broadly expanding its advertising business, according to media reports on Thursday.

Facebook is in "serious" discussions with Microsoft about a deal to purchase Atlas Solutions, an ad-serving product that Microsoft acquired through its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive in 2007, according to reports in the technology blogs Business Insider and AllThingsDigital on Thursday.

The deal could allow Facebook to significantly expand its advertising business by showing ads on third-party websites, mounting a challenge to Google Inc's DoubleClick ad network, said the reports, which cited anonymous sources.

The potential price for the acquisition was unclear, though Business Insider said the highest bid for Atlas in Microsoft's previous attempts to sell the business was $30 million.

Facebook and Microsoft representatives declined to comment.

Facebook, the world's No. 1 online social network with roughly 1 billion users, has been moving aggressively to bolster its advertising business with new capabilities, including ads on mobile devices and features that demonstrate the effectiveness of its ads to marketers.

Facebook currently generates 86 percent of its revenue, which totaled roughly $1.3 billion in the third quarter, from ads that appear on its own website.

Shares of Facebook were off 1.2 percent, or 33 cents, at $27.38 in midday trading on Thursday. Microsoft shares were up 7 cents at $26.73.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

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

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kobe Bryant grinned and uttered the word "irony" as he considered the fact that the team that drafted him nearly 17 years ago was his opponent on the night he eclipsed a scoring milestone to join an exclusive club of NBA greats.

It's easy to forget that it was the Hornets who drafted and then traded Bryant away back in 1996.

In the years since, the Hornets have changed cities, from Charlotte to New Orleans, and Bryant has become one of five players in NBA history to score 30,000 points, surpassing the mark with a 29-point performance that helped the Lakers to a 103-87 triumph Wednesday night.

"It's funny how sports always seems to kind of have that connectivity, in some shape, form or fashion," Bryant said. "It just always seems to come full circle."

Bryant entered the game needing 13 points to make history and no one doubted he would get it. NBA Commissioner David Stern, who happened to be making a scheduled visit with new Hornets owner Tom Benson, offered Bryant a congratulatory hand shake before tip-off.

Bryant had 17 points by halftime, eclipsing the 30,000-mark with a short jumper in the paint over Robin Lopez late in the first half. That might have been the least spectacular of his baskets, which included the usual array of soaring dunks, demoralizing transition 3-pointers and twisting, off-balance jumpers.

The only other players to score more than 30,000 are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

"It's pretty awesome," Bryant said. "These are players I respect tremendously and obviously grew up idolizing and watching and learned a great deal from."

When Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni was asked before tipoff about Bryant's impending milestone, the coach joked, "That just means he is old."

In fact, at 34, Bryant is younger than the other four were when they hit the mark, but Bryant also turned pro at 18, and is in his 17th season.

"Honestly, I don't know why I'm still working as hard as I am after 17 years," Bryant said. "That's the thing that I'm most proud of — every year, every day working hard at it. It's a lot of years, a lot of work."

Dwight Howard added 18 points and five blocked shots for the Lakers, who trailed 48-47 at halftime, but seized control with a 13-0 run to open the third quarter, and the lead grew as large as 20 in the fourth.

Ryan Anderson scored 31 points, hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers for the Hornets, who were playing their ninth straight game without top overall draft choice Anthony Davis. Greivis Vasquez added 16 points, while Lopez scored 15 points and blocked five shots.

Antawn Jamison scored 15 and Metta World Peace 11, and Chris Duhon had 10 assists for Los Angeles, which is playing without Steve Nash and Pau Gasol and won for only the second time on the road this season. The Hornets fell to 3-7 at home and lost for the 10th time in 12 games overall.

The Hornets led from early in the first quarter until halftime, going up by as many as eight points when Al-Farouq Aminu slammed down an alley-oop lob from Vasquez, energizing the largest crowd of the season at the New Orleans Arena.

Bryant helped the Lakers trim their deficit after that, hitting five free throws and his milestone on 3-foot jumper in the last 2:15 of the second quarter.

Jamison opened the third-quarter onslaught with 3, Howard followed with a fast-break layup and Bryant had two straight fast-break dunks, one of which he created with a steal. Howard finished the surge with a layup.

"I just didn't think our defense was there, especially that first five or six minutes of the third quarter," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "Our defense was really poor, and we can't afford those lapses."

After the game, Bryant sat in his locker, reflecting on the elite company he now keeps in NBA history, and the things he sees in younger, prolific scoring stars like Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, whom the Lakers will face on Friday night, and who could very well join the 30,000-point club at the rate he's going.

One common characteristic, Bryant said, is an apparent immunity to both pressure and criticism.

"Scorers kind of have a fighter-pilot mentality. We're a different breed," he said. "But there are different positions. We scored in a myriad of ways. We all went about it differently in different situations. It's fun to see."

NOTES: Before attending the game, Stern toured the headquarters of the New Orleans Saints, also owned by Benson, and saw how Benson's plans for the NBA franchise were taking shape. New construction has begun on additions that will also accommodate Hornets offices and practice courts. .... Stern said he was pleased to be able to also see Bryant surpass the 30,000-point mark in person. "As a talent, a competitor, I think that he is up there on the pedestal with Michael Jordan," Stern said. "He is one of the greatest." ... Stern also discussed the possibility of a team name change for New Orleans, something Benson has said he wants since buying the club last spring. Stern says the club has not yet applied for a name change but that the league would likely accept whatever name the Hornets want and expedite the transition.

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