17 wounded Syrians transported to n.Lebanon hospitals

BEIRUT: Seventeen Syrians wounded in ongoing gunbattles in the Qalaat al-Hosn area, which is adjacent to the northern Lebanese border region of Wadi Khaled, were transported to hospitals in north Lebanon Thursday.

More to follow ...

Judge extends order blocking data destruction

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco has extended his nationwide order blocking the National Security Agency from destroying telephone surveillance records.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White issued a restraining order on March 10 to prevent the National Security Agency from destroying phone records that it had collected more than five years ago.

On Wednesday, White, who is overseeing an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the agency, prolonged that order, ruling the records were needed to decide the case.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1j9mp67 ) that the 23 organizations who are plaintiffs in the suit include churches, marijuana advocates and gun owners.

Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said the records could be destroyed if the government would confirm that the plaintiffs' phone data was collected, but the Justice Department's lawyer, James Gilligan, said that information should remain secret.

Sentencing set Thursday for ex-CEO of Fiesta Bowl

PHOENIX -- A former Fiesta Bowl chief executive who admitted to participating in an illegal campaign contribution scheme is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.

The sentencing of John Junker will mark the end of criminal cases that arose from the contribution scandal that jeopardized the bowl's NCAA license and led to Junker's ouster.

Junker has admitted being involved in a scheme in which bowl employees made illegal campaign contributions to politicians and were reimbursed by the nonprofit bowl.

Bowl employees were reimbursed at least $46,000 for campaign contributions.

Junker was sentenced last week in federal court to eight months in prison for his part in the scheme.

He will be sentenced Thursday for his guilty plea to a state charge of solicitation to commit a fraudulent scheme.

Syria army kills scores of militants in ambush near Lebanon border

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The Syrian army killed or wounded scores of Nusra Front militants in an ambush near the Lebanese border region of Wadi Khaled Thursday, security sources said.

More to follow ...

25 years later, Exxon Valdez spill effects linger

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, there was the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, at the time the nation's largest oil spill.

The 987-foot tanker, carrying 53 million gallons of crude, struck Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989. Within hours, it unleashed an estimated 10.8 million gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the water. Storms and currents then smeared it over 1,300 miles of shoreline.

For a generation of people around the world, the spill was seared into their memories by images of fouled coastline in Prince William Sound, of sea otters, herring and birds soaked in oil, of workers painstakingly washing crude off the rugged beaches.

Twenty five years later, most of the species have recovered, said Robert Spies, a chief science adviser to governments on the oil spill restoration program from 1989 to 2002. But some wildlife, as well as the people who live in the region, are still struggling.

Here's a look at what's changed since the spill:

—FISHERMAN

Bernie Culbertson was preparing to fish cod when the Exxon Valdez ran aground. With oil in the water, fishing came to a standstill and life for he and other fishermen drastically changed.

"The bottom fell out of the price of fish," he said. Pink salmon that sold for 80 cents per pound fell to 8 cents per pound. Consumers turned to farm fish or tuna out of fear of tainted salmon. His boat caught 2.5 million pound of pinks one season and lost money.

Culbertson turned to other fisheries, traveling as far as California. Fishing 12 months a year, his marriage failed. Friends couldn't repay loans and lost boats or homes. Exxon compensation checks, minus what fishermen earned on spill work, arrived too late for many.

The fisheries today are not the same. "The shrimp are slowly, slowly coming back. The crab aren't back. The herring aren't back. The salmon are back in abundance," he said.

—INDUSTRY

At the time of the spill, complacency among government officials and the oil industry had set in after a dozen years of safe shipments, said Mark Swanson, director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council and a former Coast Guard officer.

When the tanker ran aground, for instance, spill response equipment was buried under snow. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. in 1989 had 13 oil skimmers, five miles of boom and storage capacity for 220,000 gallons of spilled oil.

Now, Alyeska has 108 skimmers, 49 miles of boom and on-water storage capacity of almost 38 million gallons. North Slope oil must be transported in double-hull tankers, which must be escorted by two tugs. Radar monitors the vessel's position as well as that of icebergs.

The company conducts two major spill drills are conducted each year. And nearly 400 local fishing boat owners are trained to deploy and maintain boom

—PACIFIC HERRING

After the spill, the population of herring crashed. It is now listed as "not recovering." The silvery fish is a key species because it is eaten by salmon, seabirds and marine mammals from otters to whales. Four years after the spill, the estimated herring population based on modeling shrunk from 120 metric tons to less than 30 metric tons.

How that happened remains a question, said Scott Pegau, research program manager for the Oil Spill Recovery Institute in Cordova, Alaska.

Here's what's known: Adult herring feed on zooplankton, which crashed for three years after the spill. With less to eat, herring may have been more susceptible to disease normally fended off within a herring population.

Herring populations can stabilize at a low or high number, but something has prevented a rebound. Oil likely is no longer a factor, Pegau said.

—SEA OTTERS

Responders estimated that as many as 3,000 sea otters died the first year. Hundreds more died in the years after of exposure to oil that persisted in sediment, where otters dig for clams.

Three factors could have had an impact on the otters' ability to survive. Oiled fur loses insulating value. Otters ingest oil as they groom, and researchers years after the spill found blood chemistry evidence consistent with liver damage. Grooming takes time away from feeding.

"One of the lessons we can take from this is that the chronic effects of oil in the environment can persist for decades," said Brenda Ballachey, who moved to Alaska a few months after the spill and spent the next summer dissecting sea otter carcasses collected from beaches and frozen.

The U.S. Geological Survey research biologist is the lead author of a federal study released last month that concludes that sea otters have finally returned to pre-spill numbers.

—PIGEON GUILLEMOTS

The pigeon guillemot (GEEL'-ah-mot), which looks like a black pigeon with web feet, is one species that has not recovered. Numbers were declining before the spill. An estimated 2,000 to 6,000 guillemots, or 10 to 15 percent of the population in spill areas, died from acute oiling.

Researchers suspect river otters, mink and other predators targeted guillemot eggs as an alternative to foraging on oiled beaches.

Like sea otters and another bird that took years to recover, harlequin ducks, pigeon guillemot's forage for invertebrates in sediment and likely were affected by lingering oil, said David Irons, a seabirds expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The decline of its other prey, juvenile herring, didn't help. Numbers continue to decline in both oiled and non-oiled areas. Irons has proposed reducing mink numbers on the heavily oiled Naked Islands, once prime habitat for guillemots, to restore their numbers.

AP WAS THERE: Exxon Valdez Runs Aground in 1989

EDITOR'S NOTE: Early on March 24, 1989, Dean Fosdick, the Alaska bureau chief of The Associated Press, was awakened around 5:30 a.m. by a phone call. The caller had a tip that a tanker had run aground outside Valdez.

Fosdick quickly confirmed with a top Coast Guard official that the Exxon Valdez had struck a reef and was leaking thick, toxic crude oil into Prince William Sound, and sent out first word to the world of what at the time was the nation's worst-ever oil spill.

The AP dispatched more than a dozen reporters, photographers and editors to cover the disaster. For a generation of people, the stories and the images of fouled coastline, of sea otters, herring and birds soaked in oil, of workers painstakingly washing crude off the rugged shoreline, became seared in their memories.

Twenty five years after their original publication, the AP is making this report, by Susan Gallagher, and images, taken by Jack Smith and John Gaps III, among others, available to subscribers:

---

GROUNDED TANKER SPILLS 270,000 BARRELS OF OIL OFF ALASKA

VALDEZ, Alaska (AP) — A tanker ran aground on a reef and ripped holes in its hull Friday, gushing millions of gallons of thick crude oil into pristine Prince William Sound in the largest spill in U.S. history.

The Exxon Valdez, a 987-foot tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Co. Inc., struck Bligh Reef about 25 miles from Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in the United States, spilling an estimated 270,000 barrels or 11.3 million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard said.

Early Friday the tanker was losing 20,000 gallons of oil per hour, but the outflow slowed to a trickle later Friday. An oil slick snaked about five miles from the ship as wind and tide pushed the crude oil into the sound and away from shore.

"This is the largest oil spill in U.S. history and it unfortunately took place in an enclosed water body with numerous islands, channels, bays and fiords," said Richard Golob, publisher of the Golob Oil Pollution Bulletin.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said three tanks on the ship's right side and five tanks along the centerline were punctured. The tanks on the left side appeared intact, the agency said.

Exxon was bringing in three planeloads of cleanup crews from around the world.

"A spill of this size in such a complex environment promises to be a cleanup nightmare," said Golob, a Cambridge, Mass.-based consultant whose firm has studied oil spills and environmental disasters for 15 years.

"There's no way for the oil to go out to sea without passing through narrow channels," he said by telephone from Cambridge. "As a result a large shoreline area will most likely be polluted and undoubtedly the cleanup will be very extensive and labor intensive."

In Washington, Interior Department spokesman Steve Goldstein said efforts had begun to evacuate waterfowl, sea otters and other wildlife from the danger area. "Obviously some of the waterfowl have already died," he said.

The vessel had loaded 1.26 million barrels of oil at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. marine terminal at Valdez and left late Thursday for Long Beach, Calif.

The terminal was closed to tanker traffic early Friday while officials tried to deal with the spill. The Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace for six miles around the tanker to keep sightseers at bay.

Officials cut the flow in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline to 800,000 barrels daily from 1.2 million barrels, which would let the terminal operate for nine days before the line has to shut down, said Alyeska spokesman Tom Brennan.

Coast Guard Petty Officer John Gonzales said the tanker's captain was experienced and may have been maneuvering to avoid icebergs from Columbia Glacier when the vessel ran aground. Two Coast Guard investigators went aboard the tanker, he said.

"The rock they hit is definitely not in tanker lanes," said Coast Guard Lt. Greg Stewart in Juneau. He said the reef is about 1 1/2 miles outside normal lanes.

Gonzales said employees of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the trans-Alaska oil pipeline for a consortium of oil companies, were working to contain the oil with floating booms.

Don Cornett, Alaska coordinator for Exxon USA, said about two dozen people were aboard the Exxon Valdez. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Gov. Steve Cowper arrived in Valdez on Friday to evaluate the spill. He said state officials were considering the use of chemicals to disperse and sink the oil.

"The problem is that chemical use can have a bad effect on marine life," he said. "It's going to be a tough judgment call."

Cowper said conventional responses, such as booms, probably would not work because the spill is so large. "You probably couldn't do it (contain the spill) with all the equipment available in North America. This is a major spill by any reckoning.

"We've been able to brag for a long time that there's never been a major oil spill in Valdez Harbor. Now, we can't do that anymore."

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game called an emergency meeting to discuss the potential effect on marine mammals and birds in the sound.

In addition to the terminal, the picturesque community of about 3,000 year-round residents about 125 miles east of Anchorage relies on the fishing and tourism industries. The sound is a playground for kayakers, sport fishermen and tourists.

Exxon's Cornett said his company was bringing three planeloads of oil spill response workers from all over the world to deal with the mess. He said the company hoped to pump the oil remaining aboard the grounded vessel onto another ship, refloat the Exxon Valdez and clean up the oil.

"I haven't the foggiest idea what it will cost," he said. "It won't be cheap."

Jason Wells, executive director of the Valdez Fisheries Development Association, said he believed the oil slick would cause little damage unless wind pushes it back toward Valdez. The fishing industry is between seasons.

Wells said the black cod fishery is scheduled to begin April 1, but the region's major herring fishery is not expected to get under way until mid-April.

But the spill likely will draw increasing fire from environmentalists sensitive about the trans-Alaska pipeline and efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development.

"It's of concern for two reasons: one is the size of the spill and that this is such a sensitive, very productive area," said Lisa Speer, senior staff scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York.

"This is a consequence of North Slope oil development that is rarely mentioned," she said.

Valdez City Manager Doug Griffin said the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline which carries oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and the marine terminal have an enviable environmental record. "But this could be a catastrophic occurrence, so we're concerned," he said.

"Living in Valdez, we've always worried that sometime somthing like this could happen," he said.

Previously, the largest tanker spill was the Dec. 15, 1976, grounding of the Argo Merchant tanker off the Nantucket shoals, in which 7.6 million gallons of oil spilled, Golob said.

The largest tanker spill in history was in the July 19, 1979, collision off Tobago of the supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain, in which 300,000 tons - more than 80 million gallons - of oil was lost.

Winter's snowy barrage hammers US road budgets

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- In Michigan's way-up-north Keweenaw Peninsula, where 200 inches of snow in a single season elicits barely a shrug, officials know there's nothing in the budget more important than keeping the roads passable.

Yet even they have been caught short this merciless winter. Houghton County planned to spend around $2.1 million for plowing, salting and related maintenance, which experience suggested would be plenty, but has overshot it by $500,000 and counting.

State and local governments across a huge swath of the nation, from the Great Plains to the Upper Midwest and the Deep South to New England, are experiencing sticker shock after one of the coldest, snowiest, iciest winters in memory. Many have spent two or three times as much as they budgeted for clearing roads. More bad weather could send costs higher.

Even as Thursday's official arrival of spring presages warmer weather, it's clear that winter's bitter aftertaste will linger much longer as officials compensate for untold millions in unexpected spending that includes patching a rash of potholes. In some states, legislatures are already preparing emergency appropriations. Elsewhere, road agencies are delaying repaving projects, cutting back on roadside mowing and summer hires, dipping into rainy-day funds and making do with battered equipment instead of buying more.

"It'll have a considerable impact on cities and their fiscal health," said James Brooks of the National League of Cities. "Just as they're emerging from the depths of the great recession, they got whacked very hard by this intemperate winter."

Its sheer ferocity caught nearly everyone by surprise, including those for whom dealing with cold and snow is second nature.

"This is a very unique winter, even talking with some of the old timers who have been here longer than I have," said Houghton County highway engineer Kevin Harju, a resident of the Lake Superior community since 1976. "You can get a lot of snow or you can get extremely low temperatures, but not both — except this year."

Virginia budgeted $157 million for snow removal and may exceed it by $150 million — probably the most the state has ever spent for the purpose. "The bills are still coming in," spokeswoman Tamara Rollinson said.

Montgomery County, Md., in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, has spent three times its budgeted amount. Illinois is 200 percent over its three-year average, and its crews have spread almost double the usual volume of salt — a mixed blessing, since it corrodes roads and bridges as it melts the snow. North Carolina planned for $40 million and has spent $62 million. Arkansas, where ice is often a bigger problem than snow, has spent a record $18 million, three times its seasonal average.

Ernie Winters, highway commissioner in Winnebago County, Wis., thought things were tough in 2013 when his department blew through its winter maintenance budget by April. But now he's over budget again — by an even bigger margin.

"Last winter was a peach compared to this one," he lamented.

Officials are scrambling to make up for the massive cost overruns. Atlanta, pummeled by ice storms that created epic traffic jams, is dipping into a rainy-day fund to cover $13.5 million in cleanup costs. In Michigan, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, legislators have approved special appropriations that will help but won't pay for everything.

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities is lobbying its lawmakers for relief. "This is like being hit by a tornado or flooding, although we haven't had any loss of life and the pictures aren't quite as dramatic," Executive Director Dan Thompson said.

Transportation agencies insist they won't neglect filling potholes, a top priority because they're a safety hazard and hugely expensive. The typical U.S. vehicle owner spends an extra $335 a year on repairs caused by rough roads, while in large cities the average is $746, says Tony Dorsey of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

And by all indications this year's crop of potholes will be one of the most bountiful ever. In Michigan, where frost lines extend up to 80 inches below ground, Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle recently warned legislators to brace for "one of the biggest pavement breakouts we've ever seen in our lifetime."

In many places, cutbacks will be made on maintenance planned for spring and summer: replacing worn-out sections of pavement; filling cracks with tar; restriping lane markers. It's not sexy, but officials say the basic upkeep prevents deterioration that requires even costlier fixes in the future.

"Your road shoulders are crumbling on the edges and people think, 'So what?'" said Randy Ort of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. "...But having the shoulder in good condition keeps moisture off the travel lanes, which helps keep potholes from occurring. So it's very important."

In Michigan's Houghton County, highway engineer Harju has been waiting for an opportunity to repave and improve drainage on a road that provides access to Lake Superior and a park that's important for tourism. The federal government would pick up most of the tab, but 20 percent must be paid locally.

The project is "hanging in the balance because our matching funds are being spent on snow removal," Harju said, adding that funding is so short that some roads may have to be converted to gravel.

Equipment purchases are another likely casualty.

Many of the state's 83 counties are equally desperate to replace aging graders and plow trucks, said Denise Donahue of the County Road Association of Michigan. "We're starting to see an unraveling of our road infrastructure," she said.

Bethlehem, Pa., will delay a park upgrade and a downtown streetscape project, public works director Mike Alkhal said. The city has no choice after more than doubling its usual winter maintenance spending.

"It was practically around the clock for days and days and weeks and weeks," Alkhal said, referring to the road crews' overtime.

In many cities and counties, officials say it's too early to know what will be sacrificed, as winter's toll is still being tallied. And the despised polar vortex could always stir up more trouble on its way out.

"We're expecting a couple more storms," said Bruce Stelzner, highway commissioner in Chippewa County, Wis., "which will dig our hole a little deeper."

Contributing to this story were Associated Press writers Jason Keyser in Chicago, Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania, Larry O'Dell in Richmond, Va., Tom Foreman Jr. in Charlotte, N.C., Kelly Kissel in Little Rock, Ark., Bob Salsberg in Boston, Phillip Lucas in Atlanta, Donna Bryson in Denver, Ben Neary in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Matt Volz in Helena, Mont.

Australia checking 2 objects in search for plane

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Four military search planes were dispatched Thursday to try to determine whether two large objects bobbing in a remote part of the Indian Ocean were part of a possible debris field of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

One of the objects spotted by satellite imagery had a dimension of 25 meters (82 feet) and the other one was smaller. There could be other objects in waters nearby in the area that's a four-hour flight from Australia's southwestern coast, said John Young, manager of Australian Maritime Safety Authority's emergency response division.

"This is a lead, it's probably the best lead we have right now," said Young, while cautioning that the objects could also be seaborne debris along a key shipping route where containers periodically fall off cargo vessels.

Young told a news conference in Canberra, Australia's capital, that planes had been sent to the area about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth to check on the objects. He said that satellite images "do not always turn out to be related to the search even if they look good, so we will hold our views on that until they are sighted close-up."

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had earlier told Parliament about the debris, and said Orion search aircraft were expected to arrive in the area Thursday afternoon.

Young said visibility was poor and may hamper efforts to find the objects. He said they "are relatively indistinct on the imagery ... but those who are experts indicate they are credible sightings. The indication to me is of objects that are a reasonable size and probably awash with water, moving up and down over the surface."

Military planes from Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand have been covering a search region over the southern Indian Ocean that was narrowed down from 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) to 305,000 square kilometers (117,000 square miles).

The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by several false leads since it disappeared March 8 above the Gulf of Thailand.

Oil slicks that were spotted did not contain jet fuel. A yellow object thought to be from the plane turned out to be a piece of sea trash. Chinese satellite images showed possible plane debris, but nothing was found.

But this is the first time that possible objects have been spotted since the search area was massively expanded into two corridors, one stretching from northern Thailand into Central Asia and the other from the Strait of Malacca down to southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

Abbott said he spoke to the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, about the latest developments. Australia's envoy to Malaysia, Rod Smith, joined a meeting of senior Malaysia search officials at a Kuala Lumpur hotel after Abbott's announcement. Smith did not respond to reporters' questions.

"As I've been doing from day one, I've followed every single lead. And this time, I hope it is a positive development," Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters.

The FBI has also joined forces with Malaysian authorities in analyzing deleted data on a flight simulator belonging to the pilot of the missing jet.

Files containing records of flight simulations were deleted Feb. 3 from the device found in the home of the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said.

It was not clear whether investigators thought that deleting the files was unusual. They might hold hints of unusual flight paths that could help explain where the missing plane went, or the files could have been deleted simply to clear memory for other material.

Hishammuddin told a news conference Wednesday that Zaharie is considered innocent until proven guilty. He said members of the pilot's family are cooperating in the investigation.

Zaharie was known to some within the online world of flight simulation enthusiasts.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name, said the FBI has been asked to analyze the deleted simulator files.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington that the FBI was working with Malaysian authorities. "At this point, I don't think we have any theories," he said.

Flight 370 disappeared March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanation, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened next.

Investigators have identified two giant arcs of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane about 7½ hours after takeoff, based on its last faint signal to a satellite — an hourly "handshake" signal that continues even when communications are switched off. The arcs stretch up as far as Kazakhstan in central Asia and down deep into the southern Indian Ocean.

Police are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board, and have asked for background checks from abroad on all foreign passengers.

Gelineau reported from Sydney, Australia. Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.

Oprah chai tea to be sold at Starbucks stores

SEATTLE -- Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz brought Oprah Winfrey on stage Wednesday at the shareholders meeting in Seattle to announce a drink named after the media mogul.

Beginning April 29, customers will be able to walk into Starbucks and Teavana stores across the United States and Canada and order Teavana Oprah Chai Tea. Starbucks will make a donation to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation for each product sold.

Schultz also told shareholders the coffee company is still in the early stages of growth and has a long-term target of doubling its market cap to $100 billion.

Television writer and producer Norman Lear kicked off the meeting by introducing the Playing For Change Band, whose third album will be available in Starbucks stores in June.

Alibaba investment gives Tango a reason to dance

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tango is joining the conga line of mobile messaging services that have turned into hot commodities as more people use them to communicate and share photos, music and other content.

China's Alibaba Group is making the latest big bet on the trend with a $215 million investment in Tango and its 200 million registered users.

Another group of investors that includes Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang is anteing an additional $65 million to raise the total funding round to $280 million.

Alibaba is buying into Tango's future just a month after online social networking leader Facebook Inc. announced plans to acquire mobile messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion. Another mobile messaging specialist, Viber Media, sold for $900 million last month to Japan's Rakuten Inc.

'Last of Us' wins big at Game Developers Awards

By DERRIK J. LANG The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- "The Last of Us" won the top honor at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

The gripping post-apocalyptic survival saga created by developer Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3 picked up the game of the year trophy Wednesday at the 14th annual ceremony honoring the best video games released over the past year. "The Last of Us" also won the awards for best design and narrative.

Irrational Games' slick sky-high shooter "BioShock Infinite" landed the awards for best audio and visual art, while Lucas Pope's quirky immigration agent simulator "Papers, Please" captured the innovation award and best downloadable game prize.

Other winners at the Moscone Center ceremony included Rockstar Games' heist romp "Grand Theft Auto V" for best technology and The Fullbright Company's coming-of-age story "Gone Home" for best debut.

Toyota to pay $1.2B to settle criminal probe

WASHINGTON -- Toyota agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle an investigation by the U.S. government, admitting that it hid information about defects that caused Toyota and Lexus vehicles to accelerate unexpectedly and resulted in injuries and deaths.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the penalty is the largest of its kind ever imposed on an auto company. The four-year criminal investigation focused on whether Toyota promptly reported the problems related to unintended acceleration.

The company admitted to misleading consumers and regulators by assuring them that it had adequately addressed an acceleration problem stemming from ill-fitting floor mats— which attracted widespread publicity in 2009 following a car crash in San Diego that killed a family of four — through a limited safety recall of certain models.

Toyota knew at the time that it had not recalled other models susceptible to the same problem and also took steps to conceal from regulators a separate acceleration problem related to a faulty pedal, according to the Justice Department.

"In other words, Toyota confronted a public safety emergency as it if were a simple public relations problem," Holder said at a news conference.

According to a statement of facts filed in the case, an exasperated Toyota employee was said to have remarked at one point, "Idiots! Someone will go to jail if lies are repeatedly told. I can't support this."

Toyota said in a statement that in the four years since the recalls it had "made fundamental changes to become a more responsive and customer-focused organization, and we are committed to continued improvements."

The company's finances have recovered from the recalls, as well as the recession and the 2011 tsunami in Japan. But its once-sterling reputation for quality and reliability has been tarnished, and its market share is still below where it was in 2009.

Prosecutors filed a criminal charge Wednesday alleging the company defrauded consumers by issuing misleading statements. They said they'll move to dismiss the charge in three years if Toyota complies with the terms of the settlement. An independent monitor will review policies, practices and procedures at the company.

No Toyota executives were charged under the deal. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, whose office brought the case, said he expected the agreement to be a "final resolution."

Starting in 2009, Toyota issued massive recalls, mostly in the U.S., totaling more than 10 million vehicles for various problems including faulty brakes, sticky gas pedals and ill-fitting floor mats. From 2010 through 2012, Toyota paid fines totaling more than $66 million for delays in reporting safety problems. Toyota agreed last year to pay more than $1 billion to owners of its cars who claimed to have suffered economic losses because of the recalls.

The company still faces wrongful death and injury lawsuits that have been consolidated in California state and federal courts. In December, Toyota filed court papers after saying that it's in settlement talks on nearly 400 U.S. lawsuits, but some other cases aren't included in the talks.

The negotiations began less than two months after an Oklahoma jury awarded $3 million in damages to the injured driver of a 2005 Camry and to the family of a passenger who was killed.

The ruling was significant because Toyota had won all previous unintended acceleration cases that went to trial. It was also the first case where attorneys for plaintiffs argued that the car's electronics — in this case the software connected to a midsize Camry's electronic throttle-control system — were the cause of the unintended acceleration.

At the time, legal experts said the Oklahoma verdict might cause Toyota to consider a broad settlement of the remaining cases.

Toyota has blamed drivers, stuck accelerators or floor mats that trapped the gas pedal for the acceleration claims that led to the big recalls of Camrys and other vehicles. The company has repeatedly denied the electronics are flawed.

No recalls have been issued related to problems with onboard electronics. In the Oklahoma case, Toyota attorneys theorized that the driver mistakenly pumped the gas pedal instead of the brake when her Camry ran through an intersection and slammed into an embankment.

But after the verdict, jurors told AP they believed the testimony of an expert who said he found flaws in the car's electronics.

While significant, the latest penalty isn't a severe hit to Toyota's finances. In its last fiscal quarter alone, Toyota posted a $5.2 billion profit, crediting strong global sales.

Toyota's U.S. market share, however, has fallen more than 4 percentage points since unintended acceleration came to the forefront in August of 2009, when a California Highway Patrol officer and three others were killed in a fiery crash.

At the time, Toyota controlled 17.8 percent of the U.S. market. Gas prices were high, favoring Toyota's fuel-efficient small cars and hybrids. Detroit automakers were in serious financial trouble and had few fuel-efficient cars for sale.

By last month, though, Toyota's share totaled just 13.3 percent, according to Autodata Corp. Citi research analyst Itay Michaeli estimated last week that the recalls have cost Toyota more than 1 percentage point of market share. And the Detroit and South Korean automakers now sell more competitive small and midsize cars.

The Toyota case could foreshadow what's in store for General Motors. The same U.S. attorney's office is investigating the Detroit auto giant for its slow response to a faulty ignition switch problem in older compact cars that has been linked to at least 31 crashes and 12 deaths. NHTSA also is investigating whether GM withheld information about the problem and could fine the automaker $35 million.

North Dakota oil train crash cleanup almost done

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Cleanup of an oil train derailment on the outskirts of a small southeastern North Dakota town "is all but complete," a state health official said Wednesday.

"We've identified a couple of small spots that still smell of oil, but cleanup for the most part is done," said Dave Glatt, chief of North Dakota Department of Health's environmental health section.

The Dec. 30 collision occurred when a BNSF Railway train carrying soybeans derailed and caused another company train carrying crude oil to derail 1 mile west of Casselton. The wreck sparked massive explosions, towering fireballs and an ominous cloud that hung over the city of about 2,400 residents. No one was hurt, but about 1,400 people voluntarily evacuated.

The derailment highlighted worries about shipping crude by rail and led to a safety alert from the U.S. Department of Transportation warning about the potential high volatility of crude from the rich oil fields of western North Dakota and eastern Montana.

Federal investigators determined 400,000 gallons of oil was lost when the oil-carrying train derailed and caught fire.

Glatt, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from the crash site Wednesday, said about 10,000 tons of oil-tainted dirt and other material has been removed by contractors working for the railroad. The company, based on the inspection Wednesday, has permission to begin backfilling the site with new soil, he said.

"They are good to go," said Glatt, adding that regulators had estimated the cleanup of the fouled soil would last at least through the first part of summer. "They wanted to backfill in with good soil before the spring rains come and turn the whole area into a quagmire."

Glatt said the state requires the monitoring of water runoff from the site at least through spring. BNSF also will be required to monitor groundwater for at least two years, he said.

"We want to continue to monitor that site, as a precaution," BNSF Railway spokeswoman Amy McBeth said. "We will continue to work with the state Department of Health, as we have from the beginning."

Most of the fouled dirt was taken by truck to out-of-state landfills, McBeth said. The tangled and charred wreckage of 15 grain cars and 21 oil tank cars that had been strewn in the area also has been hauled away, she said.

McBeth said the railroad would not disclose the cost of the cleanup.

Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell said things were beginning to return to normal in the small town, about 30 miles west of Fargo.

"It's better than it was," he said of the wreck site. "But there still is a good healthy mistrust of that track."

One Sotheby’s and Fortune International lead condo sales for Brickell City Centre

Miami-based One Sotheby’s International Realty and Fortune International Realty jointly landed the coveted assignment of leading sales and marketing pre-construction condominiums for Swire Properties Inc.’s massive Brickell City Centre development.

“Both brokerages will begin sales efforts in April for the 820 condominium residents currently under construction as part of phase one of Brickell City Centre,’’ Swire said in a statement.

Swire went through a fiercely competitive review to choose the condo marketing team for Brickell City Centre.

Maile Aguila, Swire’s senior vice president of sales, said the two firms will complement each other, with One Sotheby’s bringing a global luxury reach and Fortune leveraging its established presence locally and in Latin America.

“It’s a very unique product. There’s really nothing like it in the marketplace,’’ Aguila said. “You will be able to experience a lifestyle never seen in Miami.’’

Mayi De La Vega, founder and CEO of One Sotheby’s, who was traveling in Dubai Wednesday, said pricing for condo units is being finalized.

Swire will adopt the buyer deposit model that has proven popular in Miami. “It will be 50 percent of the down payment in stages during construction and 50 percent at closing,’’ Aguila said.

The high-profile $1.05 billion mixed-use development under construction in downtown Miami, will span 5.4 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, retail and entertainment space and underground parking.

The first phase, which is slated for completion by the end of 2015, will include a luxury shopping center; a hotel branded EAST, Miami by Swire Hotels; a wellness center; and class A office space.

Swire’s project is the centerpiece of downtown Miami’s redevelopment into a work-live-play center and already has been a catalyst for a host of other development.

Swire, a unit of Hong Kong-based Swire Properties Limited, previously developed the island of Brickell Key in downtown Miami.

'Baton Pass' cancer research campaign kicks off

NEW YORK -- Pass a baton and help raise funds for cancer research.

That's the message behind "The Baton Pass" campaign launched in New York City Wednesday by the non-profit Stand Up To Cancer.

Siemens, a leading medical imaging company, jump-started the fundraising by donating one dollar.

The company will make a donation every time the baton passes from one person to another between Wednesday and Sept 5.

Siemens will donate up to $1 million.

A GPS system allows Facebook app users to make a virtual donation online and track the baton as it moves across the country.

Cancer survivor Robin Roberts helped kick off the campaign on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Siemen's President and CEO Gregory Sorensen says the baton pass lets people know there is "a reason for hope."

Grain higher, cattle and pork lower

CHICAGO -- Grain futures were higher Wednesday in early trading on the Chicago Board f Trade.

Wheat for May delivery was unchanged at 6.9250 a bushel; May corn was 2.25 cents higher at 4.8850 a bushel; May oats were unchanged at 4.4125 a bushel; while May soybeans was 15.75 cents higher at 14.34 a bushel.

Beef and pork was lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

June live cattle was .33 cent lower at $1.3802 a pound; May feeder cattle was .32 cents lower at 1.7800 a pound; June lean hogs loss 1.85 cent to $1.3115 a pound.

Ukraine gives up 2015 Euro basket championship

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine has pulled out of hosting next year's European basketball championship, citing political uncertainty over Russia's annexation of Crimea and financial reasons.

Organizing committee head Markiyan Lubkivsky says he "cannot imagine how to carry out preparations in the current severe economic and political conditions."

Ukraine was awarded the biennial 24-team championship in December 2011. The tournament would have been played in five Ukrainian cities.

France has offered to replace Ukraine as host. Ukraine now hopes to host the tournament in 2017.

Taxi driver found dead in car of natural causes

BEIRUT: A taxi driver found dead in his car Wednesday died of natural causes, security sources told The Daily Star.

Abdel Rahman Rifai, who was in his early seventies, was found sitting in his parked Mercedes near the Al Dunia gas station in the Beirut neighborhood of Tariq al-Jdideh. Rifai, who was known as Abu Deraa, was later determined to have died of a heart attack.

Stocks barely higher ahead of Fed decision

NEW YORK -- U.S. stock futures rose slightly Wednesday, as investors awaited the results of the Federal Reserve's first meeting under its new chair, Janet Yellen.

KEEPING SCORE: Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 12 points to 16,274 about 20 minutes ahead of the market open. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures were up 1.75 points to 1,865.50 and Nasdaq futures were up five points to 3,700.

YELLEN'S DEBUT: Investors will be watching closely for any hints of how Yellen's Fed will differ from the path set by her predecessor, Ben Bernanke. The Yellen era will begin in earnest Wednesday when the Fed ends two days of policy discussions. It will be her first meeting as Fed chair, a position she assumed Feb. 3.

After the Fed issues a statement at the end of its meeting and updates its economic forecasts, Yellen will preside over a news conference. She is widely expected to embrace Bernanke's approach of keeping interest rates low while gradually scaling back the Fed's stimulus.

TRADE REPORT: Large increases in exports of petroleum and agricultural products helped shrink the U.S. current account deficit to the lowest level in 14 years in the October-December quarter, according to a government report out Wednesday. The trade deficit narrowed to $81.1 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $96.4 billion in the July-September quarter. That's the smallest gap since the third quarter of 1999.

EUROPEAN MARKETS: In Europe, Germany's DAX was up 0.8 percent and France's CAC-40 was up 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was trading around the breakeven mark.

ASIA: In Japan, the Nikkei rose 0.4 percent. In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent.

Ambassador Rice Meets with Governors from Nigeria

Yesterday, National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice welcomed 12 governors and one deputy-governor from Nigeria to the White House to discuss areas of strategic importance to both the United States and Nigeria. Ambassador Rice and the governors discussed the need to bring an end to the violence and insurgency in northern Nigeria; create broad-based economic opportunity in the north and throughout Nigeria; protect and respect human rights; strengthen democratic governance; and ensure that the 2015 elections in Nigeria are free and fair. The meeting was an important opportunity to underscore the U.S. partnership with the government — at both the federal and state levels — and people of Nigeria.

The visiting officials represented Nigeria’s north and middle belt, which face numerous security, development, and socioeconomic challenges. The leaders shared their concerns about the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency that has indiscriminately killed hundreds of innocent Nigerians this year. She and the governors agreed on the need for comprehensive approaches to counterinsurgency that couple security measures with deepened investment to promote opportunity and development across the country. Ambassador Rice drew special attention to the importance of Nigeria’s 2015 elections; the role that governors can play in countering corruption; and how the United States remains committed to partnering with Nigeria to address shared challenges.

The governors were visiting Washington to participate in a U.S. Institute of Peace-hosted forum.

JPMorgan selling physical commodities business

NEW YORK -- JPMorgan said on Wednesday that it has made a deal to sell its physical commodities business for $3.5 billion, after new regulations crimped its ability to control power plants, warehouses, and oil refineries.

If it's approved by regulators, the deal would put the commodities business in the hands of energy and commodities trading company Mercuria Energy Group Ltd.

Big banks have long profited from price swings in metals, energy, and other commodities. But some had branched out into owning physical facilities. Last summer JPMorgan said that the possibility of new regulations on whether banks could continue to do that was a factor behind its decision to consider selling some of its physical commodities business, which includes metals and energy assets.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Wednesday that after the sale it will still provide traditional banking activities in the commodities markets. It will also continue to make markets, provide liquidity and risk management and offer advice to global companies and institutions.

The deal, which is not expected to have a material impact on JPMorgan's earnings, is targeted to close in the third quarter.

JPMorgan shares rose 13 cents to $58.19 in morning trading. Its shares have risen more than 18 percent over the past year.

Auto supply firm to add workers in eastern Alabama

PHENIX CITY, Ala. -- A South Korean auto parts manufacturer intends to hire 23 more employees over the next year as part of a $16.5 million expansion at its plant in eastern Alabama.

The Phenix City Council on Tuesday approved a plan to give ILJIN Alabama Corp. tax abatements and up to $150,000 in incentives for the expansion of its plant in Phenix City. The facility opened in 2010 in the city just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Ga.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports (http://bit.ly/1qTG4wc) that the company manufactures wheel bearings for companies such as Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler and General Motors. It currently employs 62 people in its Phenix City operation.

Tonawanda Coke, manager face penalty for polluting

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A western New York industrial plant and its environmental controls manager face sentencing Wednesday for illegally releasing the carcinogen benzene into the air and improperly handling hazardous sludge.

Tonawanda Coke Corp., along the Niagara River, and manager Mark Kamholz are due in federal court in Buffalo, where they were convicted following a trial last year. Jurors also found Kamholz guilty of obstruction for moving to hide problems from an inspector.

The charges followed years of complaints from neighbors about black soot and high cancer rates. The company burns coal to produce coke, used in steel making.

Kamholz is expected to receive up to 3 years and 5 months in prison. The government is seeking $57 million in fines for the company.

About 20 civil suits involving more than 250 people are pending in state court.

Editorials from around Pennsylvania

Editorials from around Pennsylvania:

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PENNSYLVANIA HIGHER EDUCATION — INCLUDING STATE SYSTEM — DUE FOR A RE-EVALUATION

Successful businesses don't just happen. They're the product of hard work, expert planning and decision-making, and ongoing self-examination.

Profitable enterprises have a handle on where they've been, where they are and in what direction they're heading. And they're never satisfied with the status quo.

Education also needs all of that.

Amid that acknowledgment is the fact that these are not the best of times for Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education.

The fact that some state lawmakers favor giving the 14 PASSHE schools the right to leave the system and become state-related universities, instead, demonstrates eroding confidence in the system's ability to help the schools meet their needs and overcome their obstacles in the future.

Only four universities in the commonwealth currently have state-related status. They are Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln.

It's premature to predict whether the State System might eventually begin experiencing an exodus of member schools and even whether the PASSHE, as a governing parent, might eventually go out of existence.

It might be possible to avoid a major upheaval in the system, if a well-thought-out attack against current challenges is initiated.

Any study should not just be focused on the State System but, rather, encompass the whole spectrum of higher education in this state. That is what Frank Brogan, PASSHE chancellor for only about five months, advocates.

As reported by the Mirror on Feb. 23, Brogan, appearing before the state House Appropriations Committee, told lawmakers that "this probably would be a good time for Pennsylvania to begin a broader look at how we are organized as a state as far as how all things higher education are concerned."

Brogan told the committee that he isn't sure that the way higher education is organized in the commonwealth at this time is sustainable for the long haul.

Twelve of the 14 State System schools experienced an enrollments decline last year.

In a March 12 Mirror article, state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-Bucks, expressed concern that without changes, some of the schools might have to close.

Tomlinson is a sponsor of a bill that would allow PASSHE schools to exit the system as a means for acquiring the flexibility to deal with new enrollment trends and financial pressures.

During the House Appropriations Committee meeting at which Brogan spoke and fielded questions, state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, referred to Pennsylvania's menu of universities and colleges as a "hodgepodge," which is an apt description.

"We have state-related (universities), and we have the state system, and then we have these independent colleges and community colleges," he said.

Brogan told the Senate Appropriations Committee later that day that "trying to treat all of those (schools) with a one-size-fits-all approach is impossible and unsustainable" - for the schools and the state.

Pennsylvania should follow up on Brogan's suggestion for a comprehensive study, prior to action on Tomlinson's or any similar measure.

The Keystone State's educational opportunities must not be compromised due to a lack of self-evaluation.

Appointing a study panel should be the first order of business.

--The (Altoona) Mirror

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OPEN TALKS ON ROAD-BUILDING DECISIONS

Area residents learned recently about two multimillion, multiyear, landscape-changing highway plans here. In both cases, the announcement came as a surprise.

Why didn't nearby property owners, other area residents, even municipal officials, know up front?

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced in January that Interstate 80 would be widened from four to six lanes between the Delaware Water Gap toll bridge west to Exit 303 at Ninth Street and Route 611. State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-176, called it "a done deal."

Gov. Tom Corbett himself announced the second project, widening Route 115 between Long Pond Road and Route 903. Corbett called Pocono Raceway's three annual races the equivalent of a Super Bowl, the road project as "igniting economic opportunities for the communities" near the track.

Local residents, property owners and local officials deserve to be in the loop on such projects. Yet they weren't. Even when PennDOT held public meetings in February to show some of the proposed I-80 widening options, the agency didn't have maps for public officials as promised. Stroud Township Supervisor Daryl Eppley wondered aloud how a short-distance six-lane interstate would affect already congested Route 611 once the highway shrinks back to four lanes.

Tunkhannock Township Tax Collector Kenneth Henning owns two properties along the affected portion of Route 115, and is disgruntled that "we property owners should ... suffer just for the convenience of other people who are only here two weekends out of the year."

Area residents can't be blamed for picturing the proverbial smoke-filled room where power brokers decide on road projects for the coming years. After all, neither of these major road projects showed up on the much-discussed "12-year plan" that serves as a sort of blueprint for future infrastructure improvements.

The reality isn't that dire. Public meetings are taking place. But in the case of the interstate, they are happening at the federal and state level — far from local decision-makers or property owners who will be directly affected. Likewise, the Route 115 project has also come up at official meetings — though not at meetings of the four-county Metropolitan Planning Organization that works with the Northeast Pennsylvania Alliance to plan and discuss transportation improvement projects.

Remember, plenty of PennDOT meetings occur outside the Poconos. And requests for funding priority don't always come from local officials, but directly from those with much at stake. The owners of Pocono Raceway, for example, have lobbied transportation officials for decades for highway improvements to benefit the track. This time, they caught the governor's ear.

However these decisions happen, there should be a mechanism to alert affected property owners, neighborhoods and local municipal officials — all of them taxpayers whose hard-earned money will pay for the changes. Otherwise, locals are blindsided by a project that could eliminate their home and/or business and will alter traffic flow for the indefinite future. The little people deserve a say, too.

--The Pocono Record

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SCHOOL DISTRICT SHOULD PURSUE ADVERTISING MONEY

Earlier this year, students in the Easton Area School District faced the potential loss of 56 teachers, and their parents, along with other taxpayers, were being told to expect at least a 2.7 percent jump in their property tax bills for the coming school year. Since then, the number of anticipated teacher cuts has dropped to 36 while the expected tax increase for the 2014-15 school year has climbed to 4.9 percent.

With those and other financial challenges on the horizon, officials within the Easton Area School District have been discussing broadening the amount of commercial advertising that can be done within the school district.

Critics are skeptical. Some students have told Superintendent John Reinhart that the student body is a captive audience and widespread commercial advertising would be inappropriate. Others argue that finding new revenue sources isn't the answer to Easton's problems; learning to live within its means is.

Still, other districts have found a balance — benefiting from advertising cash while establishing boundaries.

The Parkland School District landed a $2 million benefit by allowing naming rights on a new elementary school. The Jaindl family sold 20 acres to the district at a huge discount and the school was named the Fred J. Jaindl Elementary School.

In the Bethlehem Area School District, Frank Banko Field was built with the help of a $600,000 endowment.

For a district facing the financial problems that Easton is confronting, tapping potentially lucrative revenue streams such as this one makes sense as long as strict guidelines are created and enforced.

If the administration and school board choose to allow more advertising, district officials will have a lot of questions to address as they formulate a policy.

What kind of advertising would be acceptable? From whom? And where could it be located?

Luckily, though, Easton wouldn't be operating in the dark. Other districts have dealt with these matters and developed reasonable policies. Easton should follow their lead, inviting those with concerns, including students, to play a part in the decision-making.

---The (Easton) Express-Times

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MAKE PA LEGISLATURE PART-TIME

America's largest full-time state Legislature will keep Pennsylvania known as the State of Corruption until and unless Pennsylvanians demand that lawmaking revert to the part-time pursuit it once was and should be.

Pennsylvania's 253 full-time lawmakers have a budget of $277 million, about 2,700 staffers, salaries of $84,012 to $131,129, generous pensions and health coverage, state-paid cars and per diems with little accountability. They are rewards so lavish that too many members are tempted to break the law to further enrich themselves and/or retain their seats, with 15 who've served accused of corruption since 2007, including two this year.

The Legislature morphed from part time to full time after voters approved a constitutional change from two-year to annual budgets in 1959. Lawmakers spent more time in Harrisburg, hired more staff and opened Capitol and district offices. Combined with longtime "machine politics," the full-time Legislature's corruption scandals leave many Pennsylvanians feeling "this is how politics works," says Muhlenberg College political scientist Christopher Borick.

Rep. Tim Krieger, R-Hempfield, who has been urging a return to part-time status for three sessions, says his bill "will never move until the public says, 'We want it,' and the public hasn't said that yet."

But only strong, sustained public pressure will end the full-time lawmaking that has led to the pursuit of full-time corruption.

--Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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PENN STATE BOARD ALUMNI BALLOTING SHOULD FOCUS ON COSTS AND ACADEMICS

A new Penn State Alumni Association survey suggests graduates of the university are moving past the Jerry Sandusky scandal, even as news reports continue to thrust the situation back into the mainstream.

We think this is a positive trend, and we hope a forward-looking spirit permeates the upcoming elections for alumni seats on the university's board of trustees.

Even as national media were focusing again on Dottie Sandusky, wife of the convicted former Penn State coach, and Mike McQueary, whose testimony was critical in Sandusky's 2012 child sex-abuse trial, the alumni association was releasing data that show growing interest in topics unrelated to the scandal.

The university has a new president on the way, a new football coach launching spring drills, more high school students than ever applying to become new Penn State students in the fall.

And graduates said Penn State is on the right track.

The alumni association surveyed members in December, and the organization's overview of the results notes that respondents said the university's top priorities should be "academics, building the university's reputation and affordability."

The alumni did again urge Penn State to find a way to honor the late Joe Paterno for his service to the school.

Support for public recognition of Paterno was higher in this survey (81 percent) than in one done a year earlier (75 percent), but not as high as in May 2012 (87 percent).

As we've said, we would support revisiting the honoring of Paterno once lawsuits and legal battles stemming from the Sandusky matter have run their course, depending on Paterno's connection to the outcomes.

But it is clear that alumni surveyed are less focused on the Sandusky scandal than they have been in prior reports.

Consider these shifts from December 2012 to December 2013:

. The percentage representing those closely following the implementation of the Freeh report recommendations dropped from 56 to 35, and the percent following slightly or not at all rose from 19 to 36 percent.

. The same trend is seen with the legal proceedings for former Penn State administrators Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley. The percent following closely fell (55 to 40 percent); the percent following slightly increased (18 to 31 percent).

. As for the various lawsuits connected with Penn State's NCAA sanctions, the same happened: percent following closely dropped (67 to 44), percent following slightly rose (12 to 27 percent).

We suspect the interest in those areas will tick back up when court activity builds.

But we hope alumni maintain their focus on key areas such as costs and academics, and we hope those priorities drive decisions in the voting for alumni trustees.

Financial literacy bill advancing in Kansas House

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Legislation moving through the Kansas House would require public school students to receive instruction on personal financial literacy and how to give a professional handshake.

The measure is up for final action Wednesday. It would revise financial literacy standards for all grade levels. The material would be taught in math classes or other appropriate courses such as family and consumer science or economics.

Proponents say students need to know more about managing money. Topics to be covered in the instruction include saving and investing, credit and debt and the importance of setting a budget.

The bill also requires the State Board of Education to give lawmakers a report on student scores on financial literacy tests before the start of the 2015 legislative session.

Rough winter hurts General Mills 3Q sales

MINNEAPOLIS -- Rough winter weather took a bite out of General Mills' fiscal third-quarter sales, and the cereal maker's results missed Wall Street expectations.

The maker of Cheerios, Yoplait and Betty Crocker products said Wednesday that its fiscal third-quarter net income rose 3 percent, free of a charge that hurt its results a year earlier.

For the three months that ended Feb. 23, the company earned $410.6 million, or 64 cents per share. That's up from $398.4 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.

Last year's third quarter included a $6.1 million charge.

Removing certain items, earnings were 62 cents per share. Analysts expected 64 cents per share, according to a FactSet survey.

Revenue dipped 1 percent to $4.38 billion from $4.43 billion, hindered by bad winter weather, lower volumes and unfavorable foreign currency translation.

Wall Street was calling for $4.41 billion in revenue.

U.S. retail sales declined 2 percent as the company dealt with higher dairy costs and increased marketing and merchandising costs for its domestic yogurt business.

The yogurt business has been challenged by upstart competitors such as Chobani selling Greek yogurt.

Sales for the conveniences stores and food-service unit dropped 7 percent due to the winter weather and lower prices on some product lines.

Sales improved in Europe and the Asia Pacific region, which offset weakness in Latin America and Canada.

General Mills Inc. maintained its forecast for strong double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter. The Minneapolis company also reaffirmed its fiscal 2014 guidance for adjusted earnings between $2.87 and $2.90 per share.

Analysts predict full-year earnings of $2.87 per share.

Shares of General Mills rose 30 cents to $51.01 in morning trading.

This Video About Explaining Cockblocking to Your Grandfather Certainly Isn’t Going to Make Your Day Any Worse

Back when your grandfather was going to Bop Night down on the docks -- right after V-D Day and right before he got broken up with by Dorothy, that ice cold flooz -- he did not call the circumstances that led to his Not Getting Any as “cockblocking.”

He called it “cutting in.”

We know this because a very Canadian man named Ethan Cole decided to explain to his grandfather what cockblocking is, and he also decided to videotape it. That video located is above.

The results are appropriately adorable. Grampa Cole promises to try to incorporate it into his vocabulary. Grandma Cole hops in on Ethan’s cell phone and reprimands his friends for their nonstop mastery of the cockblock.

Excuse me, we mean “cutting in.” She reprimands them for their non-stop mastery of cutting in. We should watch our language around Dorothy, just in case she’s still single now, 70 years later.

The 9 Craziest Flight 370 Theories We've Seen

Iranian Terrorists Stole (or Blew Up) the Airplane

You can't blame the United States for hearing about a missing jumbo jet and immediately thinking "terrorism." Only hours after MH370 went missing, rumors began to circulate that two Iranian nationals aboard the flight had been traveling with stolen passports, as did speculation that these passengers pointed to an Iranian terrorist plot.

Now it looks as if they were just two guys traveling with stolen passports. Interpol investigated both travelers and did not find any evidence that linked them to a terrorist group. As Ronald K. Noble, secretary general of Interpol, told The New York Times, "The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it is not a terrorist incident."

The Passengers are Safe...and Taking Calls

Perhaps the saddest—and eeriest—Flight 370 theory is that the passengers are safe but unable to answer their cellphones. When the airplane first went missing, several of the passengers' families announced that their loved ones' mobile phones rang repeatedly, instead of going straight to voicemail. Add that to reports that the passengers' instant messaging accounts remain online and active, and some began to suspect that the passengers were alive, albeit with spotty Internet access.

Although we'd like to believe that the 227 souls aboard MH370 are alive and well, the phantom cellphone theory has been effectively debunked. Even if a phone is completely destroyed, a few rings on the caller's end are fairly typical while the network searches for a connection, Jeff Kagan, a wireless analyst, told NBC News.

Chinese Satellites Found the Wreckage

One of the most promising leads so far was the rumor that Chinese military satellites had spotted the wreckage. This news spread like wildfire last week, only to fizzle just as rapidly. Malaysian officials announced that the Chinese images did not contain signs of debris, and that search planes have already scoured this region of the South China Sea, to no avail.

The World's First Cyber Hijacker Is in Control

This week a theory has gained traction that a malicious hacker infiltrated the airplane's electrical system, echoing earlier claims by Hugo Teso, a technology consultant who announced last year that he could theoretically disable an aircraft with a cellphone.

It's a wild theory, and one that would fundamentally change how we view cyber security. But the FAA vehemently denies that a hacker could gain control over a passenger jet. "The hacking technique described during a recent computer security conference does not pose a flight safety concern because it does not work on certified flight hardware," the FAA said in an official statement it released.

A Meteor Hit the Plane

CNN raised the possibility of a meteor strike after noting that a meteor had been reported in the area around the same time that Flight 370 took off. The odds of a meteor taking out an airplane are pretty slim, and, ironically, the odds of being hit by a meteor are less than the odds of dying in a plane crash.

Just Another Zionist Plot

Unaware that they were citing a satirical post, conspiracy theorists have been promoting the theory that Israeli intelligence blew up Flight 370. Snopes caught on and debunked the rumor, but that didn't stop some people from taking to social media to prove that the Mossad had performed yet another vicious (if not terribly covert) assassination.

Missing Engineers and Their Invisibility Cloaks

Amidst tired conspiracy theories that point fingers at the Illuminati, aliens, and the Mossad, one novel take on the missing flight caught our attention. Last week skeptics discovered that 20 of the missing passengers on board Flight 370 were engineers at Freescale Semiconductor, a technology firm that develops components for military aircraft weapons systems. The resulting conspiracy theory: MH370 is cloaked, as part of either a wacky publicity stunt or a very sophisticated terrorist plot.

Although stealth technology could theoretically render an airplane invisible to radar, we're not convinced. Business associates often travel in groups, and Freescale Semiconductor has issued a statement expressing grief over the loss of its 20 employees.

An Elaborate Insurance Fraud

When a house catches fire, insurance companies investigate for signs of arson. But when a plane goes missing, how many insurers cry foul? Last week Malaysian officials investigated the insurance policies of each passenger on board MH370, searching for signs of recently purchased life insurance as a motive for suicide.

Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has not ruled out an elaborate insurance scheme, although we have no indication that any one passenger is suspected. While Malaysia claims to be examining all leads, we are fairly confident (read: hopeful) that one passenger didn't murder some 240 people to collect on his life insurance policy.

Obscure Airborne Chinese Martyrs

Days after the Malaysian Airlines flight went missing, the Chinese Martyrs' Brigade claimed responsibility. No one had ever heard of the Chinese Martyrs' Brigade, so officials were skeptical, but the brigade's menacing email sent to Chinese journalists read, "You kill one of our clan, we kill 100 of you".

Malaysia's minister of transportation, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, told reporters that "there is no sound or credible grounds to justify their claims."

Originally published by Popular Mechanics.

State: Landfill might be mined for recyclables

RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The state says a company wants to buy a Genesee County landfill and possibly mine it for buried recyclables in an operation that would be unique in Michigan.

The Flint Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1doYax5 ) Clarkston-based TerRenova offered $1 million for the shuttered Richfield Landfill in Richfield Township, about 50 miles northwest of Detroit.

The state Department of Environmental Quality says the proposed mining hasn't been detailed in writing but has been discussed in meetings with TerRenova. The DEQ says TerRenova also is considering a waste-to-energy operation on the 272-acre property.

TerRenova has been negotiating with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee to buy the landfill, which an unsold asset of another business. TerRenova last month applied for a license to operate the landfill and DEQ officials say the application is under review.

EMarketer sees 2014 mobile ad spending at $31.5B

NEW YORK -- Research firm eMarketer says it expects worldwide spending on mobile advertising to reach $31.5 billion this year, a 75 percent increase from 2013.

By the end of this year, eMarketer says mobile will account for nearly a quarter of total digital ad spending.

Mobile ad spending has been growing fast, mainly due to ad revenue growth at Facebook Inc. and Google Inc.

In 2013, mobile ad spending more than doubled, to nearly $18 billion from $8.8 billion in 2012. Facebook and Google together saw an increase of $6.9 billion in mobile ad revenue.

EMarketer expects Facebook's share of the mobile ad market to grow to 21.7 percent this year from 17.5 percent in 2013, taking a bite out of Google's share, though Google remains No. 1.

French court upholds prison for rogue trader

PARIS -- France's highest court upheld Wednesday a prison sentence for one-time rogue trader Jerome Kerviel but threw out the 4.9 billion euros ($7 billion) in civil damages he'd been ordered to pay back.

Kerviel had appealed the 2010 sentence of three years in prison, which had already been upheld once before by a lower appeals court.

In a statement, the court said the lower court decision had not taken into account faults committed by Kerviel's former employer, French bank Societe Generale, when it ordered ordered Kerviel to repay the bank's entire losses in the fraud.

Kerviel is currently in Italy, walking back to Paris on a pilgrimage after meeting the pope. Television images showed him wearing a red jacket and red backpack, walking swiftly and trying to ignore the numerous journalists trailing him. He made no statement.

The ex-trader was convicted of carrying out one of the biggest trading frauds in history. In a radio interview on Tuesday Kerviel said he would not try to abscond if his appeal was rejected.

Kerviel sees himself as a victim of a system that turned a blind eye to his trades as long as they made money for the bank, Societe Generale.

Beirut residents block road during funeral

BEIRUT: Friends and relatives of Husam al-Shawwa fired shots into the air and used trash cans to block the road near the Khashakhji Mosque in the Beirut neighborhood of Qasqas during his funeral Tuesday, a day after he was killed in a protest.

On Tuesday, residents of the Bekaa Valley town of Lebweh blocked a vital highway leading to the nearby town of Arsal, claiming Arsal residents were providing a haven to militants that have launched rocket attacks on Lebweh and other predominantly-Shiite villages in the area.

In response, angry protesters blocked several roads in the capital, including the Qasqas road, as well as in east and north Lebanon, declaring their solidarity with Arsal, a Sunni town that hosts some 100,000 Syrian refugees.

Shawwa, 40, was shot during the Qasqas protest and later died in hospital. Lebanese soldiers fired into the air and used teargas to disperse the protesters.

Stocks slip ahead of Fed decision; Oracle falls

NEW YORK -- Stocks are slightly lower in early trading on Wall Street as traders wait for the latest policy decision from the Federal Reserve.

Technology stocks had some of the biggest declines early Wednesday after software maker Oracle reported weaker earnings and revenue than investors were expecting. Home builders rose sharply following a surge in revenue and profits at K.B. Home.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged down a point to 1,870.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 10 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 16,326. The Nasdaq composite fell eight points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,324.

The Fed finishes a two-day policy meeting later Wednesday. Investors will be watching closely to see how quickly the new Fed chief, Janet Yellen, will move to reduce the central bank's stimulus.

Tiffany COO and CFO Fernandez plans to retire

NEW YORK -- Tiffany & Co. said Wednesday that James Fernandez, its chief operating officer and chief financial officer, plans to retire in July.

Fernandez, 58, had served as CFO since Patrick McGuiness resigned in November. He had previously served as CFO from 1989 to 2011. Fernandez has been as COO since 2011.

The luxury jewelry company named Ralph Nicoletti as CFO and executive vice president, effective April 2.

Nicoletti, 56, will be responsible for Tiffany's worldwide financial functions and information technology. He most recently served as executive vice president and CFO at health services and insurance company Cigna Corp.

Nicoletti will report to chairman and CEO Michael Kowalski. He will be based at the company's New York headquarters.

Tiffany said that the COO post will be eliminated when Fernandez retires.

Tiffany shares finished at $92.67 on Tuesday. They are up more than 35 percent since a year ago.

Two rockets hit northeast Lebanon

BEIRUT: Two rockets struck a deserted area in the northeastern town of Hermel near the public hospital Wednesday.

No casualties or material damage were reported.

"Two rockets landed near the hospital but there was no damage," a staff member at the Hermel Government Hospital told The Daily Star.

FedEx profit up, but misses expectations

DALLAS -- FedEx says its profit rose 5 percent from a year ago despite storms that raised the company's costs. But its results were below analysts' expectations.

The package-delivery giant said Wednesday that net income rose to $378 million, or $1.23 per share, for the quarter that ended Feb. 28. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $1.45 per share.

Revenue rose 3 percent to $11.30 billion, below Wall Street's forecast of $11.43 billion. Ground shipping is doing better, but the express-delivery business is flat.

The company expects earnings for the fiscal year that ends in May to be between $6.55 and $6.80 per share. That's below analysts' prediction of $6.89 per share.

FedEx shares fell 2 percent in premarket trading. Its shares had been down 3.6 percent this year after gaining 57 percent last year.

BMW aims for new sales, profit records this year

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Germany's luxury carmaker BMW predicted Wednesday that underlying earnings this year will easily outstrip last year's.

In a speech at the carmaker's home base in Munich, CEO Norbert Reithofer said that the company would sell more than 2 million vehicles, up from last year's 1.96 million.

He also said the company is aiming for pretax profits "significantly above" last year's 7.9 billion euros ($11 billion). Its pretax earnings in 2013 were more or less flat compared with the previous year.

Reithofer said the company was looking at expanding production capacity in the United States. Last year it built 300,000 vehicles at its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

In 2013 BMW saw net profit rise 4.5 percent to 5.34 billion euros. Sales fell 1 percent to 76.1 billion, largely due to a stronger euro that shrinks earnings in other currencies when they are restated in euros.

EU fines producers of key automobile parts

BRUSSELS -- The European Union has fined two EU and four Japanese companies a total of nearly 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) for rigging the market of key components in the car and truck industry at the expense of consumers.

EU Antitrust Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Wednesday it was at least the third case of market rigging in the car industry that the EU had found so far. He said another half dozen investigations were ongoing in the sector.

Almunia said "it is incredible to see that one more car component was cartelized." He hoped "the fines imposed will deter companies from engaging in such illegal behaviour and help restore competition in this industry."

Both Schaeffler from Germany and SKF from Sweden were fined in excess of 300 million euros ($400 million).

First insurance payments made for missing plane

BERLIN -- German insurance company Allianz says it has made initial payments in connection with the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

Allianz's global head of communication Hugo Kidston confirmed Wednesday that the Munich-based insurer and "other co-reinsurers of Malaysia Airlines aviation hull and liability policy have made initial payments."

Kidston said the payments were in line with normal market practice and contractual obligations when an aircraft is reported as missing.

He declined to say how much money the company had paid already and didn't give any further details on who exactly received the money.

Search crews from 26 countries are looking for the plane that vanished early March 8 with 239 people aboard en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Argentine, French leaders to discuss debt in Paris

PARIS -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is meeting with her French counterpart in Paris and is expected to discuss ways to tackle her country's growing international debt.

Argentina currently owes $9.5 billion to the Paris Club, a group of the world's wealthiest countries that has in recent decades helped other nations with debt problems.

The Paris Club and Argentina plan to reopen formal negotiations in late May on the debt, which Argentina hasn't made payments on since its economy collapsed in a world-record default in 2002. Moody's Investors Service, the ratings agency, on Monday downgraded Argentina's government bond rating amid concerns about its finances.

Fernandez will have a working lunch with Francois Hollande at Paris' Elysee Palace on Wednesday, part of a European tour during which she has also visited the Pope.

Mott Community College getting $55.8M in software

FLINT, Mich. -- Mott Community College is getting $55.8 million worth of software to help train students to work in manufacturing jobs.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/1cYC6hO ) that the in-kind grant from Siemens is being announced Wednesday as part of the 2014 Automotive Summit at the Manufacturing in America Symposium at Ford Field in Detroit.

Siemens says the donation means students at the Flint-based college will have access to the same Siemens product lifecycle management, or PLM, software that's used by automakers, auto parts suppliers and about 1,000 companies in Michigan.

The software allows companies to have a central storage place for data generated around a product.

Mott President Dr. M. Richard Shaink says in a statement that the software will "further expand our work in design, PLM and digital manufacturing."

6 face charges following medical marijuana raids

SPRINGFIELD, Mich. -- Six people are facing charges following raids last June on three medical marijuana dispensaries in southern Michigan.

The Calhoun County prosecutor issued warrants Friday in the Springfield raids and Michigan State Police have begun to make arrests.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Matt Smith tells the Battle Creek Enquirer (http://bcene.ws/1cWSRKg ) the warrants were issued for employees and owners of The Karmacy and two other dispensaries. Charges include delivery of marijuana and possession with intent to deliver.

Bruce Leach is a lawyer representing Karmacy owner Kiel Howland. Leach says Howland surrendered on Monday and he's confident that Howland will be exonerated. All three dispensaries were licensed by the city of Springfield and Leach says Karmacy earlier was inspected by law enforcement.

Michigan voters approved marijuana use for some chronic medical conditions in 2008.

China trade pact foes occupy Taiwanese legislature

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Hundreds of opponents of a trade pact with China demonstrated in and around Taiwan's legislature Wednesday, in the most serious challenge to date to President Ma Ying-jeou's policy of moving the democratic island of 23 million people economically closer to Communist China.

About 200 protesters burst into the legislative chamber around 9 p.m. on Tuesday to protest the ruling Nationalist Party's decision to renege on a promised clause-by-clause review of the trade deal, which was signed by both sides last year but is awaiting ratification by Taiwan's parliament.

After midnight, police tried but failed to clear the chamber as demonstrators used dozens of chairs to erect barricades around the entrances. Several police were reportedly injured during brief clashes with the occupiers.

If passed, the trade agreement would allow Taiwanese and Chinese service sector companies — in businesses ranging from insurance to hairdressing — to set up branches or shops in the other's territory. China would allow Taiwanese companies to conduct online shopping and offer medical care, transportation, tourism and other services on the mainland, while Taiwan would allow mainland companies to run businesses like publishing, theaters, morgues and medical care on the island.

Opponents say the deal would cost Taiwan tens of thousands of jobs because small businesses on the island will be unable to compete with cash-rich, mostly state-run Chinese companies intent on investing in Taiwan. They also say it would give a big boost to China's efforts to bring the island, which split from the mainland 65 years ago, under its control.

During his six years in office, Ma has pushed for greater integration of the two economies. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in passenger flights across the 150-kilometer (100-mile) -wide Taiwan Strait and in 2010 the two countries implemented a partial free trade agreement that significantly slashed tariffs on a broad array of goods.

The Nationalists control 65 seats in the 113-seat legislature so the bill's final passage seems a foregone conclusion. But ratification of the trade deal has been held up by delaying tactics by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and Ma's continuing spat with the legislative speaker, a member of his own party.

A move earlier this week by a Nationalist lawmaker to move action on the pact from a legislative committee to a binding vote on the legislative floor — without the promised review — appears to have galvanized its foes.

After Tuesday night's takeover of the legislative chamber in downtown Taipei, about 700 more protesters gathered outside the building, which was blocked off by dozens of police officers carrying riot shields.

Briefly joining the protesters inside the legislature early Wednesday were senior leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party, which in recent years has gone a considerable way in muting its traditional stance in favor of formal Taiwanese independence, amid efforts to increase support among middle-of-the-road Taiwanese voters.

Chen Wei-rong, a 30-year-old graduate student at National Cheng Kung University in the southern city of Tainan, drove to Taipei early Wednesday after reading about the legislative takeover on Facebook.

"I came here because this is a very important bill, and the government is not listening to the voice of the people," he said.