Old Yankee Stadium in shadow of new park, sits out first Yankee WS since ?23

As the No. 4 elevated train pulls into the 161st Street station in the Bronx, it passes by the original Yankee Stadium. Hardly a rider notices. The home to exactly 100 World Series games and nine clinchers for the Yankees stands ignored, just across the street from its glitzy, new US$1.5 billion replacement. "I did the first few times I came. I thought about then," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in an interview with The Associated Press before Game 1 of the Series. "Once I'm here, I don't anymore. Destined to be taken down piece by piece, the 86-year-old Yankee Stadium is a shell of itself, wrapped in scaffolding, construction netting and a blue plywood wall at street level. Take a sliver of a peek into the park from the 4 train, peer through a hole in the fence on River Avenue or look inside from the plaza across 161st Street and you'll see the place has been stripped of its memories. The nearly 56,000 blue seats are gone, leaving tiers of exposed concrete. The padding that covered the right-field wall where little Jeffrey Maier reached over and coaxed a flyball into a home run for Derek Jeter in the 1996 American League championship series is gone, too. The mound where Mariano Rivera saved 15 playoff games. Flattened. The perfectly manicured lawn has been cut up. All that's left is a mound of dirt piled high near the visiting dugout, weeds growing wildly. The batter's eye black area in centre field where Reggie Jackson sent one of his three home runs bouncing in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, is faded and greying. And the soaring yellow foul poles have been toppled. "It is sad when you think about everything that's gone on over there, but this is everything we had hoped for," Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte said. "When we built this new stadium we hoped to be able to bring a World Series here."

Tapout founder Charles 'Mask' Lewis dies in Ferrari crash

Charles Lewis Jr., a.k.a "Mask," founder of the Tapout brand of mixed martial arts apparel label, has died in a Newport Beach car accident, reports our L.A. Now compatriot Ari B. Bloomekatz.

Although Newport Police would not release the name of the car crash victim pending notification of next of kin, press representatives of the San Bernardino County-based company confirmed Lewis had passed away on Monday evening, with the following statement:

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we must regretfully confirm the passing of our beloved friend, brother and co-founder Charles 'Mask' Lewis following a car accident that occurred last night. We are currently in the process of setting up a memorial service in his honor and will release more details as they become available.

Many thanks to all for the outpouring of blessings and well-wishing during this incredibly difficult time.

I first met the San Bernardino native and his Tapout brethren -- who go by the names SkySkrape (real name unknown) and Punkass (a.k.a. Earl Caldwell) at an MMA expo in Long Beach last August as part of my Image section cover story about the boom in MMA apparel.

I spent several hours with him after that, each time walking away impressed how much he seemed to be genuinely grateful for each fan, clasping their hands in his, mugging for photos, hoisting toddlers on his broad shoulders for snapshots.

He seemed to be afraid of disappointing them. If initial reports are correct -- that he was racing his Ferrari against a Porsche before he died Wednesday about 1 a.m. -- his passing will have done just that, shuffling off this mortal coil as flamboyantly as he strode through it.

He was always quick with an analogy. I remember something he said when I asked about the future potential of MMA brands: “If this is the Yellow Brick Road and Oz is in the distance, we’re still trying to go up the path to find the Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Lion."

But even in my brief encounter with him, I could see something deeper and more meaningful behind the face paint and floppy camo hat. At one point before I left the Tapout compound in Grand Terrace last August, Lewis sat across from me in the conference room. After a question about the spiritual undertones of the sport -- the good vs. evil, the abundance of crosses and crusader imagery -- he leaned forward, flashed a wide Chesire Cat smile, and whispered almost conspiratorially. "We all want to feel like we're David taking on Goliath." For a brief instant, I had met the man behind the Mask.

It's a shame that so many MMA fans will mourn the passing of the outsized gentle giant with the drill-sergeant demeanor and and so few will have had the rare privilege to see the man beneath it.

Rape victim reveal

It happen 25 years ago and she ( Jennifer Thompson-Cannino) attested that Ronald Cotton raped her in Burlington. She picked him out of a lineup, identified him in court and rejoiced when he was sentenced to life plus 50 years.

In Winston-Salem, she rebuilt her life, assuaging her memories of the rape with her belief that justice had worked and she'd ensured that the rapist would rot in prison. In 1995, DNA testing proved that another man had raped Thompson-Cannino, and Cotton was exonerated and released after 11 years in prison. He was overjoyed and Thompson-Cannino was devastated. Eventually, together, they began working to reform the justice system that failed them both so miserably.

This is the compelling story that Thompson-Cannino and Cotton tell with the help of writer Erin Torneo in their new book, Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption. A 60 Minutes segment in which Thompson-Cannino and Cotton talk about the book is scheduled to run tonight. Their story should challenge more people to insist on criminal-justice reform.

In Winston-Salem, the Deborah Sykes murder case and the Jill Marker beating case have underscored the need for that. DNA testing exonerated Darryl Hunt in Sykes' murder and implicated another man, and Thomson-Cannino has often spoken out with Hunt for justice. "Certainly, Forsyth County has been slower to reform than any other North Carolina county that I've seen," she said last week, speaking of the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office and the Winston-Salem Police Department. "We're slow to admit that we've failed, and to put changes in place that would lessen the failure rate," said Thompson-Cannino....Read More

Obama seeks higher taxes on rich to pay for plan

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is asking Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy and cut Medicare costs to provide health care for the uninsured while making the just-enacted $400 tax cut for most workers permanent.

In a budget blueprint easily exceeding $3 trillion for 2010, Obama proposes setting aside $634 billion over the next decade to expand government subsidized health coverage - a little more than half the money needed to ensure that every American gets medical care.

Obama is also expected to ask Congress for an additional $75 billion to cover the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September.

The disclosures came from three administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the budget won't be made public until Thursday.

All told, the deficit for the ongoing 2009 budget year would reach $1.75 trillion, up from a $1.5 trillion estimate revealed just days ago by the White House. The increase seems to reflect concerns that more money may be needed to rescue banks and other companies.

Obama's budget proposal would effectively raise income taxes and curb tax deductions on couples making more than $250,000 a year, beginning in 2011. By not extending former President George W. Bush's tax cuts for such wealthier filers, Obama would allow the marginal rate on household incomes above $250,000 to rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, said an administration official. Individuals making more than $200,000 would pay the higher rate.

The plan also contains a contentious proposal to raise hundreds of billions of dollars by auctioning off permits to exceed carbon emissions caps Obama wants to impose on users of fossil fuels to address global warming. Some of the revenues from the pollution permits would be used to extend the "Making Work Pay" tax credit of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples beyond 2010 as provided in the just-passed economic stimulus bill.

About half of what officials characterized as a $634 billion "down payment" toward health care coverage for every American would come from cuts in Medicare. That is sure to incite battles with doctors, hospitals, health insurance companies and drug manufacturers.

Some of the Medicare savings would come from scaling back payments to private insurance plans that serve older Americans, which many analysts believe to be inflated. Other proposals include charging upper-income beneficiaries a higher premium for Medicare's prescription drug coverage.

To raise the other half, Obama wants to reduce the rate by which wealthier people can cut their taxes through deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, local taxes and other expenses to 28 cents on the dollar, rather than the 35 cents they can claim now. Even more money would be raised if the top rate reverts to 39.6 percent as Obama wants.

That proposal is deeply controversial, particularly with colleges and nonprofit institutions that depend on wealthy donors and with lawmakers representing high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey.

And Obama's promise to phase out direct payments to farming operations with revenues above $500,000 a year is sure to cause concerns among rural Democrats.

Even after all those difficult choices - cutting about $2 trillion from the deficit over 10 years, administration officials say - Obama's budget still would leave the federal government heavily in the red, with deficits remaining above $500 billion over the second half of the decade.

The budget deficit for 2010 would hit $1.2 trillion and gradually ease to $533 billion by 2013, administration officials say. That's about 3 percent of the size of the economy, a level the administration says it can maintain through the second half of the decade.

"I think they make pretty good progress the first five (years) given where we are," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D. "Then they kind of are stuck at 3 percent of GDP."

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, called Obama's proposal to tax the wealthy to finance health care reform a starting point. But he wants to also examine taxing as people's income some of health insurance benefits provided by employers - an idea rejected by Obama in last year's presidential campaign.

Obama's $634 billion head start on health care could easily double as lawmakers flesh out details in coming months on how to provide medical coverage to all of the 48 million Americans now uninsured while also trying to slow increases in health care costs. Those costs now total $2.4 trillion a year and keep rising even as the economy is shrinking.

Independent experts say providing coverage for all could easily cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years, a figure the Obama administration does not dispute.

But the administration also is demanding that any further costs be offset with tax hikes or further spending cuts under stricter pay-as-you-go budget rules.

Budget documents provided to The Associated Press show that Obama will not lay out a detailed blueprint for a health care overhaul, but a set of broad policy principles and some specific ideas for how to raise a big chunk of the money.

The principles include guaranteeing people a choice of insurance plans and doctors and continuing employer-based coverage. Americans also should be able to take their health care benefits with them when they change jobs, an administration official said.

The budget plan also recommends a long-term fix to update the alternative minimum tax for inflation. That could add $150 billion to the deficit by 2013, according to congressional estimates. The AMT was originally designed to make sure the wealthy paid at least some taxes, but it threatens to ensnare some 24 million middle- to upper-income taxpayers next year.

The budget would freeze the estate tax at current levels rather than allowing it to permanently expire next year. That would exempt individuals' estates of $3.5 million or less from the 45 percent estate tax rate, with a $7 million exemption for couples.

Obama is also expected to seek about $534 billion for the Defense Department, administration officials said, an increase over this year's base figure of $513 billion.

Neither figure includes the full cost of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Octuplets

Maybe you heard about the "octuplets mom" who delivered 8 babies a couple of weeks ago. She is very blessed and all in all she now have 14 kids. But a lot of people were concerned if she can raise them all with the kind of living that she have. Will she be able to provide all the needs and wants of all her kids? This is the hanging question that everyone has been waiting for. I also heard in the news yesterday that she will spend over 1.8 million dollars on the diapers alone. Wow! that's expensive and very nerve racking for a parent like her. We just wish her and include her in our prayers that she can survive all of this and that the resources will be available for them all the time.

A US Airways jet crashed

A US Airways jet crashed Thursday in the Hudson River in New York City after a flock of birds struck its engines, but everyone aboard survived.

Passengers were sent fleeing into the icy, 35 degree, waters when the Airbus 320 went down shortly after takeoff near 48th Street in Manhattan.

Two of the jet's engines were hit by a flock of birds, according to government officials. The Federal Aviation Administration said everyone on board survived and was off the plane.

Two of the jet's engines were hit by a flock of birds, according to government officials.

There were eyewitness reports the plane may have flown into a flock of birds," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. "Right now we don't have any indication this was anything other than an accident."

An air traffic controllers union official said the pilot reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after takeoff and was headed for an emergency landing in New Jersey when he ditched into the Hudson River.

National Air Traffic Controllers Union spokesman Doug Church says the plane reported the bird striked about 30 to 45 seconds after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport and asked to return to the ground. As the controller began to turn the aircraft, the pilot radioed that he saw an airport below him and asked what it was.

Church said the controller in Westbury, N.Y., replied, "That's Teterboro." The pilot asked to land there. The last transmission between the pilot and controller was the controller's order to divert to Teterboro, N.J., for an emergency landing.

Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of US Airways Group, would not speculate on what caused the incident, but said at a press conference that the company will fully cooperate with investigators.

Most of the passengers were held at the New York City ferry terminal at 42nd Street after the crash, though at least two were taken away on stretchers. The New York City Fire Department said 78 people were injured, but the extent of the injuries wasn't immediately known.

Flight 1549 had just taken off from New York's LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Thursday when it went down. The flight had 150 passengers and five crew — two pilots and three flight attendants —on board, and was heading to Charlotte, N.C., said Parker, who was leaving for New York.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows but remained completely intact. Rescue crews opened the door and pulled passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats — including commuter ferries — surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

Passengers could be seen standing on the wings of the jet floating in the water immediately after the crash.

A number of Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. employees were on board the flight.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Eshet said three employees of the San Francisco-based bank were on US Airways Flight 1549, and all are safe.

At Charlotte-based Bank of America, spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie said the nation's largest bank was confirming the whereabouts of its employees and working with authorities to gather more information.

The U.S. Coast Guard said they are assessing the fuel situation on the plane, and working with several other agencies on a plan to salvage the plane.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said terrorism wasn't suspected.

"There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident," Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. "We continue to closely monitor the situation which at present is focused on search and rescue."

Witnesses said the plane's pilot appeared to guide the plane down.

"I see a commercial airliner coming down, looking like it's landing right in the water," said Bob Read, who saw it from his office at the television newsmagazine "Inside Edition." "This looked like a controlled descent."

New York City firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard were responding to the crash.

"I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water," said Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson. "All the boats have sort of circled the area."

A team of US Airways employee volunteers are helping the passengers and crew who were affected, Parker said.

22 wounded in GenSan blast

MANILA, Philippines--(UPDATE) An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in General Santos City on New Year's Eve, wounding at least 22 people, an army spokesperson has said.

The IED exploded at Oval Plaza, General Santos City, South Cotabato at around 9:10 p.m. Thursday, said Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr. The victims were taken to different hospitals in General Santos City for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said that the explosion happened at around 9:20 p.m. and was caused by a hand grenade and not an IED.

Police also said that the explosion had injured 23 persons.

Both the PNP and military said that they have not identified any suspects behind the bombing as investigations are still ongoing.

Security forces have been on heightened alert for possible attacks by Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels who have been locked in intense battles with troops since August.

A grenade attack Tuesday on a police outpost in General Santos wounded a policeman and two other people.

The same day, a suspected militant transporting an improvised explosive device was killed when it went off at a police checkpoint near the town of Esperanza, also on Mindanao island.

SAD NEWS

Bride-to-be swept away by sneaker wave on Oregon Coast

12:52 PM MST on Thursday, December 4, 2008

By TERESA BLACKMAN, kgw.com Staff

NEWKOWIN, Ore. -- A young woman from the Philippines who had just moved to Oregon to join her fiancé was swept away by a huge wave just one week before her wedding day.

Scott Napper, 45, of Silverton, and his fiancé, Leafil Alforque, 22, were visiting Neskowin Beach last weekend when their lives were suddenly torn apart.

Proposal Rock, along Neskowin Beach.

Napper planned to formally ask for Alforque’s hand in marriage on Proposal Rock. Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson said the couple was walking along the beach and had just reached the famous landmark when all of the sudden, a sneaker wave slammed against them and swept the 93-pound woman into the ocean.

The couple was already set to wed on December 6th, but Napper had never formally proposed with a ring. This was supposed to be that special day.

Instead, he watched in horror as Alforque was pulled out to sea by the strong current. Napper told authoriteis that he saw his bride-to-be pop up briefly about 30 feet away, and then she was gone. Rescuers reached the area quickly and searched the surging waters, but found nothing.

Sheriff Anderson said the water was only 53 degrees and very turbulent. He said marine deputies and firefighters scanned the ocean from the beach and a Coast Guard helicopter was also called to the scene, but had to turn back due to heavy fog.

No one saw any sign of Alfoque again.

“The water can take people and items a long distance in a short period time. It’s all according to what the current is doing that day,” Anderson said.

The couple had met on the Internet and dated for two years before deciding to wed. They had met in person before she moved to Oregon and this was her first trip to the coast. No foul play was suspected, Anderson said.

He added that swimmers have drowned at Neskowin Beach before, but it’s not necessarily recognized as a dangerous beach.

“It’s just the sneaker waves, they can come up just about anywhere,” he said.

Six days after her disappearance, a small group of searchers were still scanning the water from the beach, in hopes of finding Alfoque‘s body.

“Now it’s just hoping that the ocean gives her back and for the family to have some closure,” Anderson said.

Indian commandos storm besieged Jewish center

MUMBAI, India (AP) - Masked Indian commandos dropped from helicopters Friday onto the roof of a Jewish center in Mumbai where suspected Muslim militants were holed up, possibly with hostages, as sharpshooters kept up a steady stream of fire at the five-story building.

The assault came as commandos freed nearly two dozen captives from the nearby Oberoi hotel as they searched the building for attackers still holed up more than a day after a chain of attacks across India's financial center by the militants left at least 119 people dead.

Security officials insisted their operations, which had been going on for nearly two days, were almost over.

"It's just a matter of a few hours that we'll be able to wrap up things," Lt. Gen. N. Thamburaj told reporters.

The commando attack on the headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch was punctuated by gunshots and explosions from within the building as forces cleared it floor by floor, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

Hundreds of onlookers, many with binoculars, crowded onto roofs and in narrow alleys of south Mumbai, trying to catch a glimpse of the dramatic commando assault.

It was not immediately clear if there were hostages in the building or their fate.

At the Oberoi hotel, at least 25 captives were rushed out and loaded into waiting cars, buses and ambulances.

The group, many clutching passports, included at least two Americans, a Briton, two Japanese nationals and several Indians.

Some carried luggage with Canadian flags, and two women were dressed in black abayas, traditional Muslim women's garments. The group included one man dressed in chef's uniform who was holding a small baby.

"I didn't see anything. I just heard loud blasts," said a man who smiled and waved to reporters. He said he was British, but declined to identify himself. "I was in my room. I didn't get out till an hour ago."

The well-coordinated strikes by small bands of gunmen starting Wednesday night left the city shell-shocked, but the sporadic gunfire and explosions at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels dwindled overnight.

Southern California battles devastating wildfires

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern Californians endured a third day of devastation Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires torched hundreds of mobile homes and mansions, forced thousands of people to flee and shut down major freeways.

No deaths were reported, but the Los Angeles police chief said he feared authorities might find bodies among the 500 burned dwellings in a devastated mobile home park that housed many senior citizens.

"We have almost total devastation here in the mobile park," Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said. "I can't even read the street names because the street signs are melting."

The series of fires has injured at least 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes from coastal Santa Barbara to inland Riverside County, on the other side of the Los Angeles area. Smoke blanketed the nation's second-largest city and its suburbs Saturday, reducing the afternoon sun to a pale orange disk.

As night fell, a fire hopscotched through the winding lanes of modern subdivisions in Orange and Riverside counties, destroying more than 50 homes, some of them apparently mansions.

A blaze in the Sylmar community in the hillsides above Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley destroyed the mobile homes, nine single-family homes and several other buildings before growing to more than 8,000 acres - more than 12 square miles. It was only 20 percent contained Saturday.

It sent residents fleeing in the dark Saturday morning as notorious Santa Ana winds topping 75 mph torched cars, bone-dry brush and much of Oakridge Mobile Home Park. The blaze, whose cause was under investigation, threatened at least 1,000 structures, city Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Kelley said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles. Fire officials estimated 10,000 people were under orders to evacuate, including residents of the mobile home park.

At an evacuation center, Lucretia Romero, 65, wore a string of pearls and clutched the purse and jacket she snatched as firefighters shouted at them to flee hours earlier.

Her daughter, Lisa, 42, wore a bloodstained shirt and pants. A helicopter dropping water on their home caused the entryway ceiling to collapse. Debris scratched her forehead and gave her a black eye.

They were optimistic that their home of 30 years survived because firefighters were there when they left. But the family cat, Doris, was missing.

Lucretia Romero said she saw smoke above the hills beyond the front door and then, within an hour, saw that a canyon across from her home was red with flame.

"They would drop water, the water would squash the flames and then two minutes later the flames would come back," she said. Firefighters soon banged on the door and gave them 10 minutes to evacuate.

Flames swept across the park and scorched cypress trees, Ruda said. Firefighters had to flee, grabbing some residents and leaving hoses melted into the concrete.

Ruda produced a burned U.S. flag on a broken stick as a sign of hope and bravery for firefighters. "The home that this flag was flying from is gone," he said.

Police Chief William Bratton said cars were found in the debris at the park, raising concerns that bodies might be found. Crews were waiting for the ground to cool before bringing in search dogs, he said.

The Santa Anas - dry winds that typically blow through Southern California between October and February - tossed embers ahead of flames, jumping two interstate highways and sparking new flare-ups. Walls of flame raced up ridge lines covered in sun-baked brush and surrounded high-power transmission line towers.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said power lines were down in places, and he asked residents to conserve power to help avoid possible blackouts.

Shortly after midnight, the Sylmar fire burned to the edge of the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus, knocking out power and forcing officials to evacuate two dozen critical patients.

The shifting winds caused the fire to move uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains, downhill toward homes and sometimes skip across canyons. It also jumped across Interstates 5 and 210, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut down portions of both freeways and some connecting roads.

And as many as 54 homes were damaged or destroyed in a fire in Orange and Riverside counties, officials said. About 2,000 acres - more than 3 square miles - were charred, with more than 12,000 people in 4,500 dwellings ordered to evacuate in Anaheim alone.

An unknown number of apartments burned in the Cascades complex in Anaheim Hills, which has nearly 300 units. Firefighters said seven buildings of the large complex were gutted.

Devin Nathanson, 27, had put down a deposit on an apartment there and planned to move in Saturday. Instead, he watched from the road as it burned to the ground.

"At least none of my stuff was inside yet," he said.

Palm trees lining the entrance to the complex were ablaze, and two firefighters manned hoses at the swimming pool and sprayed water on the leasing center. The roof caved in with a loud bang.

A dozen buildings burned in the Riverside County town of Corona. Four city firefighters were slightly injured when the fast-moving flames swept over their fire engine, said Christy Romero, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

Winds began to decrease in the afternoon and were expected to drop further overnight, but humidity was expected to remain low.

The night before in Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, 111 homes burned to the ground Thursday in the wealthy, star-studded community of Montecito.

About 800 firefighters continued to battle the blaze in the enclave, said Santa Barbara city fire spokesman John Ahlman.

Several multimillion-dollar homes and a small Christian college were damaged in Montecito, a town of 14,000 that has attracted celebrities such as Rob Lowe, Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas and Oprah Winfrey.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. At least 13 people were injured.

OBAMA TURNS TO BUILDING PRESIDENCY

AP - 2 hours, 43 minutes ago

AP - His storied election behind him and weighty problems in his face, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to the task of building an administration in times of crisis as Americans and the world absorbed his history-shattering achievement as the first black leader ascending to the presidency.

Reuters – U.S. President-elect Senator Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia (2nd R) and Sasha …

Barack Obama’s sweeping victory as president of the United States sends him to the White House to face what may be the worst national financial crisis since the time of Franklin Roosevelt’s election in 1932.

Obama won on his own terms, strategically and symbolically. He rolled up a series of contested states, from Colorado to Virginia, long out of Democratic reach. And his victory reflected the accuracy of his vision of a reshaped country. Racism, much discussed, turned out to be a footnote, and African-American turnout was not unusually high. Instead, Obama drew his strength from an array of racially mixed, growing areas around cities like Orlando, Washington, Indianapolis, and Columbus on his way to at least 334 electoral votes.

“Even as we celebrate tonight we know that the challenges tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime: two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century,” Obama told a crowd of more than 100,000 in Chicago’s Grant Park.

The assembled crowd had been strangely silent through the evening, even as Obama shut the door for McCain by winning New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and even after his victory in Ohio pointed toward a landslide, seemingly unwilling to accept or believe the impending victory.

Only at 11:00 p.m., when CNN declared that Obama had surpassed 270 electoral votes, did the crowd roar in approval.

"This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance to make that change," Obama said, standing between two bulletproof glass walls.

McCain, speaking in a somber concession speech outside the Phoenix hotel where he married his wife, declared that he had done what he could.

"I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election," he said.

Calling Obama "my president," McCain vowed to work with him to help repair a nation facing profound challenges at home and abroad.

"These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face," McCain said.

After booing Obama's name and offering a few jeers, the crowd came to recognize the history in the evening when McCain paid tribute to the nation's first black president by recalling his own favorite commander-in-chief.

ELECTION UPDATE

Obama leads McCain as early vote tallies arrive

AP - 11 minutes ago

AP - Barack Obama, seeking to become the first black president, moved ahead of Republican John McCain Tuesday night in the race for the White House in a country clamoring for change. Fellow Democrats picked up a Virginia Senate seat and elected a Missouri governor.

• Slideshow: Election '08

Everyone is waiting on who is going to win and will take over the White House.

ELECTION 2008

In the final stretches of their campaigns, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain visited several hotly-contested states. (Left, Doug Mills/NYT; right, Stephen Crowley/NYT)

In last days, Obama and McCain focus on swing states

On the last Sunday before the election, the presidential candidates and their running mates kept up a relentless pace by visiting states their respective parties had lost in 2004.

Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee who is trailing in national polls, was making appearances in two states that voted Democratic in 2004, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, where he will hold his final town hall. On Monday, he will visit five swing states — starting with a midnight rally in Florida then Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada — along with a stop in Tennessee before flying home to Arizona for Election Day.

"Now let me give you a little straight talk about the state of the race today," McCain said hoarsely at a morning rally at Strath Haven High School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. "There's just two days left. We're a couple of points behind in Pennsylvania. The pundits have written us off, just like they've done before."

Then his voice cleared: "My friends, the Mac is back!"

Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, spent Sunday speaking at rallies in the largest cities in the hotly contested state of Ohio, with Bruce Springsteen taking the stage Sunday evening in Cleveland to warm up the crowd. On Monday, he will visit three states that voted Republican in 2004, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, before heading home to Chicago. Read more.

THE TALK OF THE TOWN

Here's the video clip of the recent Obama and Mccain presidential debate.




YOU DECIDE

Gov't eyes plan to take ownership stakes in banks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told international leaders on Sunday that isolationism and protectionism could worsen the spreading financial crisis. With a new trading week dawning, U.S. lawmakers urged quick action by the Bush administration on measures to make direct purchases of bank stock to help unlock lending.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said an administration proposal to inject federal money directly into certain banks, in effect partially nationalizing the banking system, "is gaining steam."

"I am hopeful that tomorrow, the Treasury will announce that they're doing it. And they have to do it quickly ... markets are waiting," Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

The administration has not indicated when it would announce its next steps.

(AP) President Bush makes a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House after meeting with G7... Full Image

Democrats also are lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to bring lawmakers back to Capitol Hill after the Nov. 4 election to work on a second economic relief plan. The idea is "give the middle class and the average citizen the same kind of relief that we try to give the financial sector," said Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Top Democrats are suggesting a $150 billion measure that would extend jobless benefits, provide more money for food stamps and finance some construction projects, such as rebuilding bridges and roads. It would also include either a tax rebate or tax cut.

Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the second-ranking House Republican, said he would help on a plan "that makes sense" but is not laden with huge public works projects or bailouts for states that overspent on social programs.

In another step aimed at easing the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve on Sunday approved the $12.2 billion acquisition of troubled Wachovia Corp. (WB) by Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) Wachovia is the latest in a string of major banks and financial institutions that have been felled by the financial crisis. The Fed action was expected.

As the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held their annual meetings over the weekend, Paulson warned the bank's policy-setting committee of the dangers of "inward-looking policies."

(AP) From left, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, Canadian Finance Minister, James... Full Image

"Although we in the United States are taking many extraordinary measures to ease the crisis, we are not pursuing policies that would limit the flow of goods, services or capital, as such measures would only intensify the risks of a prolonged crisis," Paulson said.

Meanwhile, the World Bank pledged to protect poor and vulnerable countries and nations with rapidly developing economies. Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens, who heads the bank's policy-setting committee, said the bank and the IMF will draw on the full range of their resources to help these countries.

Bank President Robert Zoellick told reporters the financial crisis "has been a manmade catastrophe. The actions and responses to overcome it lie in our hands."

Jittery investors awaited the reopening of stock markets - the Dow Jones industrial average just completed its worst week ever, plummeting more than 18 percent - and hoped for bold, coordinated international steps to address the crisis.

At a Paris meeting of European leaders Sunday, countries that use the euro agreed to temporarily guarantee bank refinancing to ease the credit crunch. French President Nicolas Sarkozy it would apply in 15 countries through the end of 2009 and was "not a gift to banks."

The United States has not yet gone that far. But President Bush met at the White House with top global financial leaders on Saturday in a display of unity and said afterward that they had agreed to general principles to combat the crisis. Bush, who had spoken about the crisis for 22 of the past 27 days, went biking at a state park in Maryland on Sunday morning and then kept to a private schedule the rest of the day.

Paulson has indicated the administration will use part of the recent $700 billion bailout Bush signed Oct. 3 to have the government take ownership stakes in banks. The plan has wide support on Capitol Hill, although Democrats pressed for quicker action in spelling out specifics.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., sounded a cautionary note. "That has to be very, very carefully done," he said. "We are a capitalistic system and we don't want to move away with nationalizing the banking system. So that anything that's done has to be done on a temporary basis."

This plan and other Paulson moves were supported by three former treasury secretaries.

"This is bigger than the private sector can fix by itself," said James A. Baker III, who served under President Reagan. Robert Rubin, treasury secretary under President Clinton and now an adviser to Barack Obama, said it was important "to be highly, highly proactive."

Lawrence Summers, also a Clinton treasury secretary, said, "Any time you have a problem with trust, you've got to deal with it in a very aggressive way."

The Debate Starts Here

The University of Mississippi community is pleased to host the first presidential debate of 2008 on September 26. Foreign policy and national security issues will be the focus of the 8:00 p.m. (CDT) debate, and several related events showcase the university’s institutes and centers that are working to find solutions to this country’s challenges.

This is Ole Miss, and the debate starts here.

Visit other election year debate sites:

• October 2: Washington University in St. Louis (Vice Presidential)
• October 7: Belmont University (Presidential)
• October 15: Hofstra University (Presidential)