Super Bowl blackout was caused by electrical relay

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The company that supplied electricity to the Super Bowl says the blackout that halted the big game was caused by a device it installed specially to prevent a power failure.

But the utility stopped short of taking all the blame and said Friday that it was looking into whether the electrical relay at fault had a design flaw or a manufacturing defect.

The relay had been installed as part of a project begun in 2011 to upgrade the electrical system serving the Superdome in anticipation of the championship game. The equipment was supposed to guard against problems in the cable that links the power grid with lines that go into the stadium.

"The purpose of it was to provide a newer, more advanced type of protection for the Superdome," Dennis Dawsey, an executive with Entergy Corp., told members of the City Council. Entergy is the parent company of Entergy New Orleans, the city's main electric utility.

Entergy officials said the relay functioned with no problems during January's Sugar Bowl and other earlier events. It has been removed and will be replaced.

All systems at the Superdome are now working, and the stadium was to host a major Mardi Gras event Saturday night, said Doug Thornton, an executive with SMG, the company that manages the stadium for the state.

The relay was installed in a building near the stadium known as "the vault," which receives a line directly from a nearby Entergy substation. Once the line reaches the vault, it splits into two cables that go into the Superdome.

Sunday's power failure cut lights to about half of the stadium, halting play between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers and interrupting the nation's most-watched sporting event for 34 minutes.

Not long after the announcement, the manufacturer of the relay, Chicago-based S&C Electric Co., released a statement saying that the blackout occurred because system operators had put the relay's so-called trip setting too low to allow the device to handle the incoming electric load.

The equipment was owned and installed by Entergy New Orleans.

"If higher settings had been applied, the equipment would not have disconnected the power," said Michael J.S. Edmonds, vice president of strategic solutions for S&C.

In a follow-up statement, Entergy said that tests conducted by S&C and Entergy on the two relays at the Superdome showed that one worked as expected, the other did not.

Entergy spokesman Mike Burns said both relays had the same trip setting.

Entergy's announcement came shortly before company officials went before a committee of the City Council, which is the regulatory body for the company.

During the committee hearing, council member Susan Guidry asked Entergy executives whether they were "fairly certain" that the relay was faulty.

"That is correct," Dawsey said.

However, when asked if the outage was caused by the design or a defect in a part of the equipment, Entergy New Orleans CEO Charles Rice said that had not been determined.

"The equipment did not function properly," Rice said. "At this particular time, based upon our analysis, we cannot say definitively that there was a defect in design. What we do know is that the equipment for some unknown reason, at this particular time, did not react the way that it should have."

Asked if Entergy and SMG still plan to hire a third-party investigator to get to the bottom of the cause, Rice said that possibility remains open.

"We'll work closely with SMG, and if there is a need for a third-party investigation, we will do that," Rice said, adding that Entergy was also working with the relay manufacturer.

Shabab Mehraeen, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Louisiana State University, said relays are common electrical fixtures in businesses and massive facilities such as the Superdome.

"They are designed to keep a problem they sense from becoming something bigger, like a fire or catastrophic event," he said.

The devices vary in size. Mehraeen, who was not familiar with the relay at the Superdome, said he "wouldn't be surprised if it was bigger than a truck."

The reasons the devices fail are the subject of much academic research into the interaction of relays with the complex electrical systems they regulate.

"It's not unusual for them to have problems," Mehraeen said. "They can be unpredictable, despite national testing standards recommended by manufacturers."

Entergy and SMG had both upgraded lines and equipment in the months leading up to the Super Bowl. Rice said the new gear, with the faulty relay, was installed as part of a $4.2 million upgrade by Entergy that included a new power line dedicated solely to the stadium.

In a separate project, SMG replaced lines coming into the stadium after managers expressed concerns the Superdome might be vulnerable to a power failure like the one that struck Candlestick Park during an NFL game in 2011.

Thornton stressed Friday that the dome was drawing only about two-thirds of its power capacity Super Bowl night. He said typical NFL games in late August or September can draw a little more.

Friday's announcement appeared to absolve Superdome officials of any missteps in the blackout.

City officials had worried that the Super Bowl outage might harm New Orleans' chances of getting another NFL championship game.

But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell downplayed that possibility, saying the league planned to keep New Orleans in its Super Bowl plans. Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the city intends to bid for the game again in 2018.

___

Associated Press Writer Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Read More..

After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.

The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.

For now, states like Georgia and New York — where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago — are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.

Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.

"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.

In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 — one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.

Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to flu and its complications

But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.

So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.

Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.

The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.

Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Read More..

Kiefer Sutherland honored by Harvard theater group

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Golden Globe-winning actor Keifer Sutherland has been awarded the pudding pot after being honored as Man of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

The roast for the actor took place despite a massive snowstorm hitting the Boston area. The Friday evening event, including presentation of the traditional pudding pot, was moved to the Charles Hotel in Cambridge.

The 46-year-old Sutherland has been in dozens of films. He's perhaps best known for his role as Jack Bauer in the television series "24," for which he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy awards. He is currently starring in the television show "Touch."

Last year's Man of the Year was Jason Segel.

The 2013 Woman of the Year, Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAR'), was honored last week.

Read More..

S&C relay at center of Super Bowl outage

An electrical relay device supplied by Rogers Park's S&C Electric Co. was found to be at the center of the Super Bowl power outage in New Orleans, the company said Friday.

S&C Electric Co. said the outage, which lasted for more than 30 minutes at Sunday's game, happened when the demand for Superdome power exceeding a "trip setting" for its electrical relay.

But the device didn't malfunction, S&C said. Instead, it said it found in testing that system operators didn't account for the amount of power needed at the Superdome. S&C doesn't control the power settings on its equipment.

S&C wouldn't go into more details, but the power provider for Sunday's game was Entergy New Orleans, a unit of Entergy Corp.

In a statement, Entergy said the relay device had functioned properly at other high-profile sporting events, including the Sugar Bowl.

The relay was designed to prevent an outage if a cable connection to the stadium failed.

"S&C continues to work with all those involved to get the system back online, and our customers can continue to rely on the quality and performance of our products," Spokesman Michael Edmonds said in a statement.

S&C equipment is commonly used where high reliability is critical, he said, including data centers for United Parcel Service Inc., drug manufacturing centers and hospitals. The company also works with other stadiums throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Entergy said in a statement that the Superdome relay has been removed and replacement equipment is being examined.

That statement came before a special meeting of the New Orleans City Council's Utility Committee Friday morning to discuss the root cause of the outage.

Immediately after the game, Entergy indicated its equipment was functional and the problem must have come from the Superdome, but later said it was launching an investigation to determine the source of the problem.

"While some further analysis remains, we believe we have identified and remedied the cause of the power outage and regret the interruption that occurred during what was a showcase event for the city and state," Entergy New Orleans President and CEO Charles Rice said.

sbomkamp@tribune.com | Twitter: @SamWillTravel

Read More..

Chicago area could get up to 5 inches of snow

A winter storm dumped almost 9 inches of heavy, wet snow in some far northern suburbs before tapering off this evening.

A winter storm warning was set to expire at midnight for Lake and McHenry counties, with Cook, DuPage and DeKalb counties under a winter weather advisory until midnight.

Some areas, such as near Beach Park, had 8.5 inches by this evening, with suburbs in Lake and McHenry counties expected to get a total of at least 6 inches, according to the National Weather Service. By this evening, Elgin recorded 4 inches, while Hanover Park saw 3.2 inches and Evanston 2.1 inches, according to the weather service.

Chicago sent out 199 of its snow and salt trucks and expected to patrol main streets throughout the evening rush.

The Illinois Tollway mobilized its full fleet of 182 snowplows during rush hour and throughout the evening across the 286-mile system, according to a release.

North and northwest suburbs saw numerous accidents, from Barrington to Antioch, according to Traffic.com.

In McHenry County, police warned motorists to avoid U.S. Route 31 between Crystal Lake and McHenry because the road was "impassable" where it crosses over a hill.

The Weather Service warned that today's storm produced what's "often referred to as a heart attack snow" because wet snow can cause people to overexert themselves, causing heart attacks.

"Be sure to take frequent breaks while shoveling so as not to overdo it," the weather service warned.

Some snow accumulation is possible into the early morning hours, with up to an inch in northern suburbs, according to the weather service. After a possibility of flurries Friday morning, the day will turn sunny and temperatures will go up to the low 30s. There will be gusty winds of up to 35 mph in the afternoon. Saturday is expected to be sunny and in the mid-30s. A high in the mid-40s is expected Sunday, with rain.

Photos: Chicago winter 2012-13

Still, the storm was nothing like the one barreling toward New England with forecasts of up to two feet of snow. A blizzard warning has been issued for New York City, Connecticut and the Boston area.

Forecasters warned the snow would begin lightly on Friday morning but ramp up to blizzard conditions by afternoon, leading Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to order the city's schools closed Friday. He asked businesses to consider allowing staff to stay home.

"We are hardy New Englanders, let me tell you, and used to these types of storms. But I also want to remind everyone to use common sense and stay off the streets of our city. Basically, stay home," Menino told reporters. "Stay put after noontime tomorrow."

The National Weather Service said Boston could get one to two feet of snow on Friday and Saturday, which would be its first major snow fall in about two years. Light snow is expected to begin falling around 7 a.m. EST on Friday, with heavier snow and winds gusting as high as 60 to 75 miles per hour as the day progresses.

"It's the afternoon rush-hour time frame into the evening and overnight when the height of the storm will be," said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts. "That's when we expect the storm to begin in earnest."

The heaviest snow was expected around Boston, the region's most populous city, with cities from Hartford, Connecticut to Portland, Maine, expected to see at least a foot.

If more than 18.2 inches of snow fall in Boston, the storm will rank among the 10 biggest snowfalls on record in the city. The heaviest snowfall ever recorded in Boston was a 27.6 inch dump that accompanied the blizzard of February 17-18, 2003.

The storm's timing brought back memories of the blizzard of 1978, Boston's second-heaviest recorded snow fall, which roared in on an afternoon, dropping 27.1 inches of snow, trapping commuters on roadways and leaving dozens dead across the region, largely as a result of downed electrical lines.

Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said one of the state's biggest worry is power outages.

"It being winter, folks losing their power means they're also losing their heat, and if you lose heat during the middle of the storm, you're not going to be able to go out to get to a shelter," he said, adding that the agency would begin 24-hour operations at its emergency compound at noon (1700 GMT) on Friday and would be in close contact with local utilities.

Unlike the 1978 blizzard, which had been forecast to drop far less snow than it actually did, he said he hoped several days of news coverage about this storm would prompt people to stay off the roads.

"People have been warned, they have been told what the issues are," Judge said. "We don't expect people to be surprised."

Reuters contributed to this report.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Twitter: @chicagobreaking

Read More..

How Einhorn turned from Apple advocate to agitator

(Reuters) - Hedge fund star manager David Einhorn was arguably Apple Inc's biggest cheerleader on Wall Street with a stake worth about $600 million and an oft-cited prediction that the company's market value would hit $1 trillion some day.

So it was a shock on Thursday when Einhorn announced that he was suing Apple to get it to deploy its $137.1 billion cash pile more effectively and arrest a 35 percent drop in its share price from a record high logged last September.

Unknown to Wall Street, Einhorn had for months been imploring Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, to have the company issue dividend-paying preferred shares to reward investors and juice the stock price.

Einhorn told Reuters he felt blindsided when he received Apple's January 7 annual proxy statement and saw that it contained a proposal that would make it more difficult for the company to issue preferred stock.

"We saw that the proxy came out and we saw they were planning to get rid of preferred and then we said, 'Wait a minute, we are not going to be able to bring this up again in a good way if we allow them to do this. So we should contest it now,'" Einhorn said in a phone interview.

Einhorn's $8 billion Greenlight Capital Inc on Thursday sued Apple in U.S. District Court in New York, asserting that its Proxy Proposal 2 would "restrict the board's ability to unlock the value on Apple's balance sheet.

The 44-year-old hedge fund manager, who made his name and fortune by predicting the collapse of Lehman Brothers, is also urging Apple shareholders to vote against the proxy proposal at the company's annual meeting on February 27.

Apple said in a statement that it will evaluate Greenlight's recommendation and denied that its proxy proposal was aimed at preventing the issuance of preferred stock. If Proxy Proposal 2 is adopted, Apple said it could still issue preferred stock as long as it obtained approval from shareholders.

But the extra hurdle, from Einhorn's point of view, was unacceptable and so he took the matter to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The way Einhorn tells it, Cook was more receptive than his CFO and the two sides are still talking. But Einhorn decided to file suit anyway because of the approaching annual meeting.

"The lawsuit is just to get the proxy sorted out," he said.

LONG ON APPLE

Einhorn began investing in Apple in 2010 and holds 1.3 million shares worth about $600 million at current values.

He emerged as a prominent advocate for the stock after it began to fall last year following some disappointing quarterly results, stiffer competition in the smartphone market, and product snafus that fueled fears Apple had lost its innovative edge following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

Einhorn said in a letter to investors last month that Greenlight had taken advantage of the drop in Apple's shares to buy more stock in the fourth quarter. That was one reason the fund posted a negative return of 4.9 percent in the quarter.

Since May last year, Einhorn has been urging the company to unlock several hundred billion dollars of shareholder value by distributing preferred stock, which he favored over a share buyback because it did not deplete cash immediately.

In private conversations with Oppenheimer, Einhorn said Apple could initially distribute $50 billion of perpetual preferred stock with a 4 percent annual cash dividend paid quarterly at preferential tax rates.

But, according to Einhorn, Oppenheimer and his advisers calculated the dividend to be 8 percent, which they deemed too high.

"We said, that's crazy. That's crazy. We think 4 percent. If we're wrong, maybe it's 4.5 percent or 4-1/4 percent - it is not 8 percent. So, we kind of agreed to disagree. We kind of sat on it for a few months," Einhorn said.

When he eventually took the matter to Cook, Einhorn said he felt that the CEO did not know all the details of Einhorn's discussions with Oppenheimer.

"When I discussed this with Tim Cook, and actually, the conversation has been going on for the last couple of weeks, he said that he wasn't familiar with my previous conversations with Peter Oppenheimer and whoever Peter Oppenheimer's advisers were. I was surprised by that.

"I think we got the brush-off the first time," Einhorn said about Oppenheimer and his advisers. "I don't know what the communication was" between Oppenheimer and Cook.

Apple declined to comment on the specifics of the discussions with Einhorn.

A source familiar with the matter characterized the interaction with the hedge fund manager as "cordial," saying that there had been "friendly disagreement" only on whether common shareholders should be allowed to vote on something as significant as an issuance of preferred stock.

NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE

Einhorn said in a television interview that despite their differences, he felt Cook was doing an excellent job as CEO, but he described Apple's management as having a "Depression-era" mentality that led it to hoard cash and invest only in the safest, lowest-yielding securities.

"In other words, people who have gone through traumas...and Apple has gone through a couple of traumas in its history, they sometimes feel like they can never have enough cash," Einhorn said on CNBC.

Cook and Oppenheimer both joined Apple during the turbulent late 1990s when the tech company was struggling to stay afloat and before Steve Jobs engineered a sensational turnaround with products like the iPhone and iPad that became must-haves for consumers around the world.

Oppenheimer later earned a reputation on Wall Street for extreme conservatism in cash management. The company likes to remain liquid by investing in safe but low-yielding U.S. Treasury and agency debt, shies away from big acquisitions, and repeatedly preaches a "capital preservation" mantra to investors.

Under Cook in 2011, Apple gradually loosened the reins, announcing its first multi-year dividend and share repurchase programs.

Einhorn and Apple will have another bout when they air their arguments on February 22 in court. Before then, the outspoken fund manager will be lobbying other shareholders.

Analysts say one benefit of preferred stock is that up to 80 percent of the dividends can be tax-free for corporate investors, although preferred shares tend to be less liquid than ordinary shares or bonds.

"The idea is powerful and when I have a chance to explain it to the shareholders, most will see it as an enormous win-win," Einhorn said.

(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Additional reporting by Edwin Chan and Poornima Gupta; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Matt Driskill)

Read More..

Illini buzzer-beater upsets No. 1 Hoosiers, 74-72

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Tyler Griffey made an uncontested layup at the buzzer off a baseline inbounds pass and Illinois beat No. 1 Indiana 74-72 on Thursday night, the fifth straight week the nation's top-ranked team has lost.

The Illini (16-8, 3-7 Big Ten) trailed 41-29 at halftime and by double digits for most of the second half before closing the game on a 13-2 run over the final 3:36.

With the score tied, Indiana's Victor Oladipo turned the ball over and recovered to block a breakaway layup by D.J. Richardson out of bounds with less than a second to play.

Griffey, who was open after setting a screen, took the inbounds pass from Brandon Paul with .9 seconds left and gently laid the ball into the basket.

Hundreds of Illinois students rushed the court, but held their collective breath while the officials checked replays to make sure Griffey had beaten the clock. They erupted once more when the officials signaled the shot was good, and Paul and Richardson hugged and cried.

The upset ended a three-game losing streak for Illinois.

The Hoosiers (20-3, 8-2) took over the top spot in The Associated Press' Top 25 on Monday.

Richardson had 23 points for Illinois, Paul had 21 and Griffey finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

This was Illinois' third win over a No. 1 team and first since beating Wake Forest in 2004.

Cody Zeller led Indiana with 14 points, while Will Sheehey had 13, Christian Watford 12 and Jordan Hulls 11.

Indiana shot 50 percent from the field (25 of 50), 52.9 percent from 3-point range (9 of 17) and 93 percent from the free throw line (13 of 14). The Hoosiers led by an 8- to 10-point margin for most of the second half.

When 6-foot-11 Nnanna Egwu fouled out with just under 5 minutes to play, the Hoosiers looked in control. Egwu is the only Illini player with the size to realistically match up with the 7-0 Zeller.

Watford made two free throws after Egwu's fifth foul and, at 69-59, the Illini looked done.

But with the clock under 3 minutes, Richardson went on a run of his own, first burying consecutive 3-pointers and then hitting a midrange jumper on the run to tie the game at 70 with 1:17 to play.

Oladipo's layup put the Hoosiers back on top with 50 seconds left, but Paul answered with two free throws, the first banked in, to tie the score again at 72.

With the clock under 30 seconds, Indiana had the ball for what would have been a last shot but Oladipo committed the turnover.

Griffey was benched several weeks ago as Illinois' slump dragged on. On a team that had lost its shooting touch, the senior forward had grown especially cold. And, though one of Illinois' bigger players at 6-9, he wasn't adding much to the inside presence the Illini desperately needed.

Sheehey slammed a two-handed dunk home over Griffey, screaming as he stood just a few inches from the face of the Illinois forward.

The taunt drew a technical — and an eye roll from Hoosiers coach Tom Crean — but with just over a minute left in the half it made the score 39-25, effectively muzzled a near-capacity crowd and drove home the point that the game had tilted Indiana's way as they led 41-29 at halftime.

Read More..

Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.

It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.

Blacks were five times more likely than whites to have the Southern dietary pattern linked with the highest stroke risk. And blacks and whites who live in the South were more likely to eat this way than people in other parts of the country were. Diet might explain as much as two-thirds of the excess stroke risk seen in blacks versus whites, researchers concluded.

"We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs," bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks, said the study's leader, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found.

In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish had a 29 percent lower stroke risk.

"It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk" — the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week.

Results were reported Thursday at an American Stroke Association conference in Honolulu.

The federally funded study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them. More than 20,000 people 45 or older — half of them black — from all 48 mainland states filled out food surveys and were sorted into one of five diet styles:

—Southern: Fried foods, processed meats (lunchmeat, jerky), red meat, eggs, sweet drinks and whole milk.

—Convenience: Mexican and Chinese food, pizza, pasta.

—Plant-based: Fruits, vegetables, juice, cereal, fish, poultry, yogurt, nuts and whole-grain bread.

—Sweets: Added fats, breads, chocolate, desserts, sweet breakfast foods.

—Alcohol: Beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables, salad dressings, nuts and seeds, coffee.

"They're not mutually exclusive" — for example, hamburgers fall into both convenience and Southern diets, Judd said. Each person got a score for each diet, depending on how many meals leaned that way.

Over more than five years of follow-up, nearly 500 strokes occurred. Researchers saw clear patterns with the Southern and plant-based diets; the other three didn't seem to affect stroke risk.

There were 138 strokes among the 4,977 who ate the most Southern food, compared to 109 strokes among the 5,156 people eating the least of it.

There were 122 strokes among the 5,076 who ate the most plant-based meals, compared to 135 strokes among the 5,056 people who seldom ate that way.

The trends held up after researchers took into account other factors such as age, income, smoking, education, exercise and total calories consumed.

Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure — a known stroke risk factor, Judd said. And sweet drinks can contribute to diabetes, the disease that celebrity chef Paula Deen — the queen of Southern cuisine — revealed she had a year ago.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, drugmaker Amgen Inc. and General Mills Inc. funded the study.

"This study does strongly suggest that food does have an influence and people should be trying to avoid these kinds of fatty foods and high sugar content," said an independent expert, Dr. Brian Silver, a Brown University neurologist and stroke center director at Rhode Island Hospital.

"I don't mean to sound like an ogre. I know when I'm in New Orleans I certainly enjoy the food there. But you don't have to make a regular habit of eating all this stuff."

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Read More..

Ex-LA cop, murder suspect sent CNN anchor parcel

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law enforcement officials are inspecting a package CNN's Anderson Cooper received from a former Los Angeles police officer who allegedly killed three in a shooting spree.

CNN spokeswoman Shimrit Sheetrit said Thursday that a parcel containing a note, a DVD and a bullet hole-riddled memento were sent by Christopher Dorner and addressed to Cooper's office.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith says LAPD robbery-homicide detectives will inspect the package for clues.

The package arrived Feb. 1, days before the first two killings Dorner is accused of.

It contained a note on it that read, in part, "I never lied."

Dorner was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements.

A coin typically given out as a souvenir by the police chief was also in the package, and riddled with bullet holes.

Read More..

Justice weighs action against Moody's

(Reuters) - The Justice Department and multiple states are discussing also suing Moody's Corp for defrauding investors, according to people familiar with the matter, but any such move will likely wait until a similar lawsuit against rival Standard and Poor's is tested in the courts.

Inquiries into Moody's are in the early stages, largely because state and federal authorities have dedicated more resources to the S&P lawsuit, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about enforcement discussions.

Moody's spokesman Michael Adler and Justice Department spokeswoman Adora Andy declined to comment for this story.

Moody's in the past has defended itself against similar allegations, including a 2011 congressional report that concluded the major ratings agencies manipulated ratings to drive business.

The firm previously said Moody's takes the quality of its ratings and the integrity of the ratings process very seriously. It also said the firm has protections in place to separate the commercial and analytical aspects of its business.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a $5 billion lawsuit against S&P late on Monday and accused it of an egregious scheme to defraud investors in the run-up to the financial crisis, fueled by a desire to gain more business.

Shares of McGraw Hill Cos Inc , which owns S&P, have fallen more than 25 percent since news of the lawsuits. Moody's shares have fallen about 15 percent, even though it was not named in any of this week's actions.

"Don't think Moody's is off the hook," said one law enforcement official.

Another rival, Fimalac SA's Fitch Ratings, is unlikely to face similar action, the sources said, since it is a much smaller player in the U.S. ratings industry. The firm also escaped the brunt of scrutiny from congressional investigators.

In a sign of just how high-stakes the battle is, S&P hired prominent defense attorney John Keker, who has represented everyone from cyclist Lance Armstrong to Enron's Andrew Fastow.

S&P said in a statement on Tuesday that the lawsuit is meritless and said it will vigorously defend itself.

A similar coordinated federal-state action against Moody's would follow lawsuits two states have already filed against the ratings firm. Connecticut, which led the states in this week's actions, sued Moody's and S&P in March 2010.

In January a state court in Hartford denied the last of the preliminary motions Moody's had filed to have the case thrown out. That case and the one against S&P are proceeding to trial in the second half of 2014.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who as then-attorney general brought the cases against S&P and Moody's in 2010, said he found rampant abuse across the credit rating industry.

"The difference is one of degree and scale rather than essential modus operandi," Blumenthal said in an interview. "S&P is the largest and they did the most sizeable amount of ratings with the largest profits."

CASE THEORY

Those earlier cases and the more recent ones against S&P are based on a theory that the firms misled investors by stating that their ratings on mortgage products were objective and not influenced by conflicts of interest.

Instead, the lawsuits contend, the firms inflated ratings and understated risks as the housing bubble started to burst, driven by a desire to gain more business from the investment banks that issued mortgage securities.

Framing the cases in that manner steers clear of attacking individual ratings, which have largely been shielded under free speech protections. Instead, the focus is on proving false just one statement S&P made - that its ratings were objective.

Read More..