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(06/28/09 11:57pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>NEW YORK – Michael Jackson’s death has led to skyrocketing sales of his music and videos, with major retailers selling out of products that have regained immense popularity overnight.Bill Carr, Amazon.com Inc.’s vice president for music and video, said Friday that once the world learned the pop icon had died Thursday, the Web site sold out within minutes all CDs by Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5.Jackson’s albums accounted for all 10 of Amazon’s “Bestsellers in Music” list Sunday, with the 25th anniversary edition of the celebrated “Thriller” album taking the top spot.Barnes and Noble Inc.’s Web site and retail stores also sold out most Jackson CDs, DVDs and books, and its 10 bestselling CDs were Jackson titles as well. Borders Group Inc.’s Web site sold out almost everything related to the star.Albums also sold out at some of the book seller’s retail locations.“We saw something similar when (Luciano) Pavarotti and (Frank) Sinatra passed, but from the initial read on this it seems to be a faster rush,” Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said. “People seem to be shocked by the news and want to go out and rediscover his music.”At a Borders in midtown Manhattan, Chris Barnes, 37, came in during his lunch break Friday and was disappointed he couldn’t get a compilation of the star’s number-one videos – something he had seen on the shelf just a few days earlier.“He was an icon. I grew up on ‘Off the Wall’ and all that,” Barnes said, listening to Jackson’s “Rock With You” on his iPod as he spoke.Apple Inc. would not describe the level of demand for Jackson’s music at its online iTunes Store, but his dominance of iTunes’ top-seller lists Friday speaks for itself.Before word of Jackson’s hospitalization, none of his albums were in iTunes’ list of top sellers. After the news broke, “Thriller” quickly cracked the iTunes top 100; within hours, it reached No. 1. By Friday afternoon, nine of the top 10 albums were Jackson’s. “The Essential Michael Jackson” song collection was the top-selling album, followed by “Thriller.”Five of Jackson’s singles made it to iTunes’ list of most-purchased tracks – “Man in the Mirror,” “Thriller,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” and “Smooth Criminal” – in what might be one of the best barometers to gauge his most popular songs.Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon all were working on restocking their stores.Sixty percent of Amazon’s CD orders Thursday were for Michael Jackson music, something Carr called “stunning.” He said he’d “never seen anything like this” before at Amazon after the death of a pop culture icon.With Amazon sold out of Jackson CDs, Carr said many customers were buying Jackson’s music in digital form. Sales of Jackson-related videos are also up on Amazon – Carr said most DVDs, including the 1978 movie musical “The Wiz,” are currently out of stock.Carr said it was difficult to say whether the increased sales would persist, saying Amazon for now was taking things “minute by minute” and reacting to customers’ orders.“They love him, he’s a legend, and they’re anxious to make sure they have his music in their collections,” he said.Demand for Jackson-related products also shot up abroad.The Web site for Britain’s largest music seller, HMV Group, saw an unprecedented amount of downloads of Jackson’s music after his death.At HMV stores, sales rose about 20-fold, though they had stocked up on albums in advance of concerts that were to begin next month, HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said. Jackson, 50, had been prepping for a 50-show engagement at London’s O2 Arena.
(06/07/09 11:05pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Officials in Gainesville have renamed the city’s downtown plaza after rock ’n’ roll legend and former Florida resident Bo Diddley.Diddley died in June 2008. Officials honored him Friday by unveiling a mural and renaming the downtown space the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. Diddley lived in Archer, Fla., a few miles southwest of Gainesville, and played at the plaza in 2006.Diddley’s grandson Garry Mitchell thanked the city at the ceremony, and he and other family members gave city officials one of Diddley’s guitars.“Gainesville’s been really good to my granddad,” Mitchell said. “Thank you for your encouragement and your prayers. Long live rock and roll!”Diddley’s family planned to unveil his tombstone in Bronson, also southwest of Gainesville, at 10 a.m. Sunday.
(05/26/09 4:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Some of the life-size dog statues set up in and around the Purdue University campus are being taken inside because of theft and vandalism.Organizers of the “Dog Days of Summer” project are dismayed that the painted statues weren’t safe in outdoor locations.“I’m disheartened by the lack of respect for creativity,” said Joanne Kuhn Titolo, who had two pieces in the outdoor exhibit. “Because of the increased thefts, our artwork isn’t safe. This is horrifying.”A total of 41 dog statues were installed in Lafayette, West Lafayette and on Purdue University’s campus. Seven have been stolen or significantly damaged, with most of the problems coming at Purdue or in West Lafayette near the Wabash River.As of Friday, organizers had moved 18 of the dogs to the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette until suitable indoor homes can be found for the work. One of those stored temporarily at the museum is “St. Joan of Bark,” a dog painted in a fleur-de-lis motif.Some dogs in Lafayette side will remain in their original spots.The “Dog Days” event celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Purdue Veterinary Medicine Department and the 100th anniversary of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette.Organizers had printed maps so that people could take walking tours to see all the artwork. Kevin Doerr, a member of the organizing committee, said he hopes the dogs can be placed near their original spots so the maps can still be used. But the dogs will be indoors, where they can be monitored.
(07/06/08 8:26pm)
WIMBLEDON, England -
(07/04/08 3:08pm)
FALLON, Nev. — Aarik Wilson, a 10-time all-American in track at Indiana, is on the verge of achieving his lifelong dream.\nWilson will attempt to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Beijing when he competes this weekend in the U.S. Olympic trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.\nWilson, who graduated from Nevada's Churchill County High School in 2001 and Indiana in 2005, has spent the last four years trying to improve on his failed attempt to make the Olympics in 2004.\nHe finished 14th at the Olympic Trials with a jump of 16.09 meters (52 feet, 9.5 inches) but has been unstoppable since.\n"Back in 2004 I didn't realize how nervous I was until I actually got a chance to sit back and look at film," Wilson told the Lahontan Valley News in a recent interview.\n"The mental part was missing. It's 80 percent mental, 20 percent physical, if not more."\nWilson's mother, Kirsten, said he's in a better position to qualify this time around.\n"He has had so much experience internationally now and has been able to learn and compete under pressure," she said. "His experience is going to make all the difference from the last trials. It was heartbreaking. I don't see that happening this time. He knows what to do."\nWilson credits his longtime High School track and football coach Paul Orong for getting him started in the sport.\n"He got my whole love for the sport, really," Wilson said. "I've been really devoting myself to track ever since I got into it. The connection I've had with my coaches is more comfortable than anything else."\nOrong, who himself participated in the 1984 Olympic Trials at the Los Angeles Coliseum where he placed 13th in the long jump, first saw Wilson during football and persuaded him to do track instead of baseball.\n"When I first met him, and he wanted to play baseball, I told him don't play baseball, you're coming out for track," Orong said. "You never know when you first get somebody and the special talent they have. With him I knew early. I call it scary talent where the sky's the limit. He's the biggest competitor you'll ever get."\nAfter a couple years of training, Wilson reached the highest plateau in high school track and field. He went to state as a freshman and then won the triple jump title as a sophomore in Las Vegas.\nHe reached a personal best in the triple jump last year when he leaped 17.58 meters (57-8.25) as he won both national championships at the AT&T USA Indoor and Outdoor meets. He had two other marks that gave him the best three in the triple jump by an American in 2007 and he finished the season with a No. 4 world ranking.\n"The United States, by far, is the toughest to make it to the world championships or an Olympic team," he said. "I feel great and real confident. I honestly believe I'm the best jumper in the country and I'm ready to prove it."\nWilson said Orong's advice for the trials is "go and relax."\n"The Olympics are the equivalent of the Super Bowl times a thousand," the Fallon track and field co-head coach told Wilson. "You take the trials and the top three makes it, anything can happen. You have to relax and be you. In track venues, it doesn't get bigger than this. This is the equivalent to a World Cup when you have that many spectators and that many countries. I told him to relax and be him."\nMost of Wilson's family will attend this weekend's trials, and some already have purchased their tickets to Beijing.\n"We're all planning on that. I told them actually last year to plan on going," Wilson said. "I don't take anything for granted but at the same time, I put in the training and the work and that's what I believe will happen."\nOrong said the whole community is excited about Wilson's chance to be the first person from Fallon to compete in the Olympics.\n"You take a kid from here who's going to be on the biggest stage. We made shirts that say 'Why not here? Why not Fallon?' He has a chance of performing on the biggest stage in the world. He's representing everybody"
(05/06/08 7:54pm)
INDIANAPOLIS - The general public might pay little attention to legislative primary elections on Tuesday, but the state parties and the four legislative caucuses did.\nResults in some races help them decide where to distribute money and other resources in the fall. That's especially important in the House, where Democrats have a slim 51-49 advantage in a chamber that's been narrowly divided for years. Republicans rule the Senate 33-17.\nAlthough incumbents rarely lose in primaries, the last two saw surprising upsets of two of Indiana's longest-serving lawmakers — Senate Finance Chairman Larry Borst in 2004 and Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton in 2006.\nLong-term lawmakers such as Sen. Teresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis, and Senate Tax Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, left nothing to chance this year. Both faced their first primary contests since they joined the Senate in 1992, and their challengers were running on discontent over high property tax bills.\n"I've been going door-to-door at least four nights a week since the first of April," said Kenley, who was being challenged by Ken Geesaman of Noblesville. "I've had a vacation from that for a while, but it kind of gets you up there listening to people."\nLubbers also has been campaigning hard in her race against retired federal employee Ken Morgan, who said he was running on anger over skyrocketing property tax bills that hit many people in parts of Marion County that are in Senate District 30.\nThe district has one of 14 contested Senate primaries this year, when 25 seats are on the ballot. It's the highest number of contested primaries in the Republican-ruled chamber in at least a decade and could reflect discontent over taxes and other issues and the fact there are five open seats.\nAll 100 House seats were on the ballot, with 32 contested primaries. That's one fewer than 2006, even though there were nine open seats.\nThis year's open seats guaranteed there will be at least 14 fresh faces in the Legislature, but plenty of incumbents will return after the November election. In the House alone, 34 incumbents — 19 Democrats and 15 Republicans — had no primary opponent, nor did the other party have someone on the ballot for those seats.\nOnly 20 incumbents faced party opposition in the House, while seven of 20 Senate incumbents running faced primary contests.
(05/06/08 5:05pm)
INDIANAPOLIS - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage of driver Sarah Fisher as she awaited the result of her own race, the Indiana Democratic Primary.\nFisher has endorsed Clinton, and the two chatted and laughed as they walked into the driver's garage, where Fisher introduced Clinton to her team and presented her with a racing helmet Tuesday morning.\nClinton declined to predict a primary winner during her 20-minute visit to the garage. She says that would be like trying to predict the Indianapolis 500 winner. She pledged to continue to work hard regardless of the outcome.
(04/28/08 3:53am)
A wildfire that broke out in a popular hiking area blackened the steep slopes of the foothills near Pasadena and forced mandatory evacuations for 300 homes, authorities said Sunday. Two hundred homes around Sierra Madre were evacuated Saturday night and residents from 100 other properties were told to leave Sunday, Elisa Weaver of the Arcadia Fire Department said, as the wildfire continued to burn its way through dense brush. Sierra Madre is about 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles and just east of Pasadena. No homes were damaged, though a small outbuilding used for storing firefighting equipment was destroyed, Weaver said. Weaver said more than 400 firefighters were attacking the 350-acre fire, aided by two helicopters with two water-dropping air tankers on the way. The fire was 5 percent contained and was expected to burn for another two or three days.
(04/27/08 7:37pm)
IU's James Hardy and Tracy Porter spent three seasons together on the field and on Saturday the talented tandem both entered the NFL a pick apart.\nThe New Orleans Saints made cornerback Porter its 40th overall pick Saturday, and before Hardy had a chance to congratulate his buddy, Hardy's name was called, too. He was taken 41st by the Buffalo Bills.\n"He's a great friend," Porter said. "When you have a top corner and a top receiver going at it in practice, it's designed to make each other better. So it was fitting that we went there together."\nIt was a surprise turnabout for the Hoosiers.\nAt IU, Hardy stole most of the headlines and in the workouts leading up to the draft, Hardy again appeared to be at the head of the Hoosiers' class. Some mock drafts projected the 6-foot-6 receiver, who left school a year early, to go late in the first round and most had Hardy graded slightly ahead of Porter.\nBut with no receivers picked in the first round and the Saints in dire need of coverage corners, it was a perfect match.\n"I've always been a Saints fan," said Porter, a Louisiana native. "I love that part of it. The fact that you come from the area, you know that's an advantage because you don't have to relearn everything. I'm here to help them turn the defense around."\nAs Porter celebrated with family and friends in his hometown, he was just as eager to see how his college friend back in Fort Wayne, Ind., would fare.\nIt didn't take long.\nWithin seven minutes of the Saints' call, the Bills picked Hardy.\nThe selections of Porter and Hardy marked the first time since 2002 that any Hoosiers player had been taken in the second round. The last IU player selected in the second round was receiver Antwaan Randle El.\nFor Hardy, it was the culmination of a circuitous journey.\nHe came to IU primarily to play basketball but gave that up after just one season to concentrate on football. Then he had to overcome off-the-field issues during his sophomore season with the Hoosiers, maturing into one of the team's most consistent leaders.\nNow he's starting over in Buffalo, where the Bills looking for a big, strong receiver to help open up the field for speedy Lee Evans.\n"I couldn't stop crying," Hardy told Buffalo reporters on a conference call. "I'm not a very emotional guy, but it's just something that's surreal. ... But at the same time, I'm ready to get to work tomorrow."\nThree other players from Indiana schools also were chosen Saturday.\nPurdue's Dustin Keller went to the New York Jets at No. 30, after Green Bay traded its pick. The Jets wasted no time in selecting the 6-2, 248-pound tight end who is often compared to Dallas Clark because of his speed. The one knock on Keller is that he doesn't block well, an image he hopes to change quickly.\n"There's some people I just have to prove wrong," Keller told Jets' reporters. "It's kind of a motivator more than anything else to me."\nTight end John Carlson was the first Notre Dame player selected, by the Seattle Seahawks with the seventh pick in the second round — No. 38 overall.\nThen the IU players started going quickly.\nPorter was taken by the Saints, Hardy by the Bills and Fighting Irish defensive tackle Trevor Laws went to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 47.\n"You're always anxious because you don't know where you'll end up," Porter said. "But when it happens, it's really a relief"
(04/22/08 3:01am)
Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas is prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.” But Carter warned that there would not be peace if Israel and the U.S. continue to shut out Hamas and its main backer, Syria. The former president spoke in Jerusalem after meeting last week with top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and his deputy in Syria. It capped a nine-day visit to the Mideast aimed at breaking the deadlock between Israel and Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip.
(04/21/08 4:00am)
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton was endorsed Sunday by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, whose owner and publisher, billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, personally funded many of the investigations that led to President Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. It was one of a handful of endorsements the New York senator has received from Pennsylvania newspapers before the state’s primary Tuesday. Most of the state’s major papers have endorsed Barack Obama. In its endorsement, Tribune-Review editors said Obama is too inexperienced to be president and that his recent comments about bitter voters living in small towns showed a lack of respect for middle-class values.
(04/18/08 3:22am)
Authorities in India sealed off the center of their normally frenetic capital Thursday with 15,000 police to protect the Olympic torch relay from anti-China protesters who held their pro-Tibet demonstrations elsewhere in the country. By the time the torchbearers had traversed the shortened New Delhi route of the round-the-world relay, protesters had come nowhere near the Olympic flame, and only a few hundred selected guests had managed to see it at all.
(04/16/08 4:15am)
Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was “deeply ashamed” of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and will work to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood, addressing the toughest issue facing the American church as he began his first papal trip to the United States. Benedict spoke in English on a special Alitalia flight from Rome to Washington, answering questions submitted in advance. “It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” Benedict said. “It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children.”
(04/15/08 2:58am)
Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday he hoped to help open talks between Hamas and U.S. leaders, saying Washington’s policy of not meeting with people it labeled terrorists was counterproductive. Carter angered Israelis with his plans to meet in Syria this week with the leader of the Islamist group, which rules Gaza and is largely responsible for rocket fire against Israeli towns. Hamas has killed some 250 Israelis in suicide bombings and has been blacklisted by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization.
(04/14/08 3:38am)
Democrat Barack Obama on Saturday conceded that comments he made about bitter working class voters who “cling to guns or religion” were ill chosen, as he tried to stem a burst of complaints that he is condescending. “I didn’t say it as well as I should have,” he said at Ball State University. At issue are comments Obama made privately at a fundraiser in San Francisco last Sunday. He explained his troubles winning over working class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions.
(04/04/08 3:50am)
President Bush won NATO’s endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe despite Russian objections. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a “breakthrough agreement” for the military alliance. “Now it is clearly understood in the alliance that the challenges of the 21st century, the threats of the 21st century, make it necessary to have missile defense that can defend the countries of Europe,” Rice told reporters at the NATO summit.
(04/02/08 4:39am)
President Bush said Tuesday he fully supports proposals to put ex-Soviet states Ukraine and Georgian the road toward joining NATO despite French and German qualms it would upset relations with Moscow. Bush’s declaration laid the groundwork for an uncomfortable showdown when leaders of the 26-member military alliance gather in Bucharest, Romania for a summit Wednesday to Friday. France refused to back down under U.S. pressure. “France will not give its green light to the entry of Ukraine and Georgia,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon said. “We are opposed to Georgia and Ukraine’s entry because we think that it is not the correct response to the balance of power in Europe, and between Europe and Russia.”
(04/01/08 2:55am)
The fortified Green Zone came under fresh attack Monday, less than 24 hours after anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his fighters to stand down following a week of clashes with government forces. Al-Sadr’s order stopped short of disarming his fighters and left the militia intact in a blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who flew to the southern oil city of Basra a week ago to personally oversee a crackdown on militia violence.
(04/01/08 2:53am)
The fortified Green Zone came under fresh attack Monday, less than 24 hours after anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his fighters to stand down following a week of clashes with government forces. Al-Sadr’s order stopped short of disarming his fighters and left the militia intact in a blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who flew to the southern oil city of Basra a week ago to personally oversee a crackdown on militia violence.
(04/01/08 2:52am)
The fortified Green Zone came under fresh attack Monday, less than 24 hours after anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his fighters to stand down following a week of clashes with government forces. Al-Sadr’s order stopped short of disarming his fighters and left the militia intact in a blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who flew to the southern oil city of Basra a week ago to personally oversee a crackdown on militia violence.