Michigan Hires West Virginia's Rodriguez

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez away from his alma mater after failing to bring back one of its own. A man with ties to both the Wolverines and West Virginia might've helped. College football's winningest program ended its coaching search Sunday, nearly a month after it started, by announcing Rodriguez would succeed retiring Lloyd Carr.

Rodriguez was scheduled to be introduced as the Wolverines' coach at a news conference Monday morning.

"I am thrilled to have Rich Rodriguez as Michigan's new coach," athletic director Bill Martin wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Rich brings an exciting brand of football to Michigan Stadium. We welcome the entire Rodriguez family to Ann Arbor."

Former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, who coached Rodriguez when he played for the Mountaineers and was on Bo Schembechler's staff at Michigan, endorsed the move.

"I felt it was a great opportunity for Rich," Nehlen told the AP in a telephone interview from Morgantown, W.Va. "There are not many Michigans around."

Michigan's reputation, though, seemed to take a hit during constant coverage of its first coaching search since hiring Schembechler nearly four decades ago. The school had permission to talk to LSU coach Les Miles, who played for Schembechler and also was an assistant under him, but couldn't bring him back to Ann Arbor. It also talked with Greg Schiano, who decided to stay at Rutgers.

The 44-year-old Rodriguez seems to be much more than a consolation prize.

He built West Virginia into a Big East power, winning the conference championship this year for the fourth time in five seasons and going 60-26 overall.

The 11th-ranked Mountaineers (10-2) will play in their second Bowl Championship Series game in three seasons, but Nehlen doesn't expect Rodriguez to coach them in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.

"He'll be in Ann Arbor to stay," Nehlen told The AP. "It would be too hard for him to coach West Virginia in the bowl game.

"He's got a lot of work right away at Michigan, where he has to assemble a staff and catch up on recruiting."

Rodriguez told the Mountaineers before their practice Sunday afternoon that he was leaving to coach the Wolverines.

West Virginia cornerback Vaughn Rivers said Rodriguez was emotional to the point of tears, but did not elaborate on his decision.

"It's a rough day," Rivers said. "Now we just have to pull together as a team and get ready for a bowl game.

"Coach Rod was a man about it."

Carr announced Nov. 19 he was retiring after 13 seasons as Michigan's head coach following the season, which ends on New Year's Day in the Capital One Bowl against Florida.

Rodriguez's West Virginia contract, which ran through the 2013 season, had a $4 million buyout clause if he left before next September. After several days last year, Rodriguez turned down Alabama's reported six-year, $12 million offer after the Mountaineers gave him a one-year contract extension.

When Michigan lured basketball coach John Beilein away from West Virginia last April, Beilein's contract had a $2.5 million buyout clause. Under an agreement with West Virginia, he agreed to pay $1.5 million to the WVU Foundation.

Michigan spokesman Bruce Madej said he did not know how the school and Rodriguez would handle his buyout.

Freshman Ryan Mallett gained experience this year with the Wolverines, filling in for banged-up Chad Henne, and his father said people shouldn't assume his son is transferring because he might not fit into Rodriguez's offense that features a mobile quarterback.

"I talked to Ryan today and he's going to keep an open mind and is looking forward to hearing what coach Rodriguez's plans are," Jim Mallett told the AP. "So, we'll just have to wait and see."

Mallett's decision might be easier if Terrelle Pryor decides to commit to Rodriguez and the Wolverines.

The star QB from Jeannette, Pa., said he informed Rodriguez that Michigan became one of the five schools he was considering when the coach told him he was going to lead the Wolverines.

"We talked at 10 a.m. this morning and I told him Michigan just got on my list," Pryor told the AP on Sunday night.

Pryor is also considering Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Florida.

After watching Pryor play on tape, Nehlen said he reminds him of Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young.

"If that kid comes, he's probably more important that Rich," Nehlen joked.

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source: hosted.ap.org

Oil Prices Rise in Asian Trading

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose Monday as another winter storm pummeled the United States with snow, sleet and freezing rain - weather conditions that were expected to boost fuel demand.

Around a foot of snow had fallen on parts of the Chicago area, with 10 inches in Vermont. The U.S. National Weather Service on Sunday posted winter storm warnings from Michigan and Indiana all the way to Maine. Meteorologists said 18 inches was possible in northern New England.

The storm came less than a week after an ice storm was blamed for at least 38 deaths, mostly in traffic accidents, in the middle of the country. Thousands of homes and businesses still had no electricity in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

"The market has edged up in response to the winter stormy weather in the U.S.," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

The "storm will stir heating oil use, and these expectations have temporarily overtaken worries about the state of the U.S. economy," he said.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery added 50 cents to $91.77 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.

The contract fell 98 cents to settle at $91.27 a barrel Friday after the U.S. government reported consumer inflation jumped 0.8 percent in November by the largest amount in more than two years.

Energy traders are concerned rising inflation will cut consumers' buying power and reduce demand for gasoline and oil. They also worry that higher inflation means the Federal Reserve will stop cutting interest rates. Many analysts cite the Fed's recent rate-cutting campaign, and its role in depressing the value of the dollar, as a major factor behind oil's rise in November to a record above $99 a barrel.

The movement in oil prices is now being constrained by a split in opinion on the direction that crude futures will take in coming months, Shum said.

"In the near term, pricing should hold relatively stable because we have a stalemate between two camps in the oil market - one camp thinks the U.S. economy will tank next year, possibly go into recession ... and that will hurt crude demand," he said.

"The other camp believes the oil market remains tight and fundamentals will hold up pricing."

Many economists believe U.S. economic growth in the current October-December quarter could fall below 1 percent at an annual rate, sharply below growth of 4.9 percent in the third quarter. The U.S. economy is struggling under the weight of a meltdown in housing, a severe credit crunch and faltering consumer confidence.

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source: hosted.ap.org

Storm Buries Northeast, Causes 3 Deaths

BOSTON (AP) -- A wind-blown brew of snow, sleet and freezing rain cut visibility and iced over highways from the Great Lakes to New England on Sunday, stranding air and road travelers and causing a jetliner to skid off a runway.

At least three traffic deaths have been blamed on the storm.

The National Weather Service posted winter storm warnings from Michigan and Indiana all the way to Maine. Around a foot of snow had fallen on parts of the Chicago area, with 10 inches in Vermont. Meteorologists said that 18 inches was possible in northern New England; more snow was still expected in parts of Michigan.

"Our biggest advice right now is, stay home," said Maine State Police Sgt. Andrew Donovan. Visibility in the blowing snow was less than 200 yards, and in stronger gusts "if there's a car in front of you, you can't even see it," he said.

In Rhode Island, a U.S. Airways Express Flight from Philadelphia carrying 31 passengers and three crew members slid off the runway as it tried to land at T.F. Green Airport, which got nearly 8 inches of snow, the Providence Journal reported on its Web site. No injuries were reported, but the airport had to close its runways for about 2 1/2 hours, spokespeople told the newspaper.

By late afternoon Sunday, AAA Michigan had helped more than 3,000 motorists, most of whom had spun out, gotten stuck in a ditch or couldn't start their vehicles, spokeswoman Nancy Cain said.

Every available plow truck was at work in Vermont, said Reggie Brown, highway department dispatcher in Montpelier. "Everybody's out and running," he said.

Snow depths in some places were uncertain. "They can't tell how much because it's blowing so hard," Brown said.

"I don't mind an inch or two, but this is too much," said Larry Thelen in Ann Arbor, Mich., which got 10.5 inches of snow.

The storm canceled hundreds of flights at airports in Chicago and about 300 flights at Boston's busy Logan International Airport. Flights were also canceled at airports in Portland, Maine; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Manchester, N.H. Few major problems were reported at airports in Philadelphia and New York.

Many churches called off Sunday services because of the hazardous driving conditions.

"I don't want folks to venture out because we're having church and they feel obligated," the Rev. Glenn Mortimer said after calling off services at Wakefield-Lynnfield United Methodist Church in Wakefield, Mass. He noted that some people still hadn't completely dug out from a storm Thursday that dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of Massachusetts.

The storm didn't keep fans away from the New England Patriots vs. New York Jets game at Foxborough, Mass., but they had to shovel off their seats in the stadium. A video of a fire roaring in a fireplace was shown on the scoreboards at both ends of the field.

At Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., strong winds collapsed a fabric dome used for hospitality events before and after games. No one was inside or hurt when the structure fell Sunday morning.

The storm didn't stand in the way of dedicated Christmas shoppers.

"The reason we came out in the storm early, early, is that we knew there would be no lines," Michael McGrath, 48, of Boston, said as he stomped along partly shoveled downtown sidewalks. "It was true. The stores were empty."

Betty Gould and Rocky Castellano drove about 20 miles from Pittsfield, N.H., to Steeplegate Mall in Concord, N.H. Asked whether she considered staying home, Gould said: "Never."

"We like the snow," Gould said. "He thinks he's invincible. He has four-wheel drive, studded tires, the whole bit."

Slippery roads were blamed for two traffic deaths in Michigan and one in Wisconsin.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said the storm at one point blacked out 160,000 customers Sunday, although service had been restored to thousands by Sunday evening. Scattered power failures also were reported in Vermont, state officials said.

The storm came less than a week after an ice storm blamed for at least 38 deaths, mostly in traffic accidents, in the middle of the country. Thousands of homes and businesses still had no electricity in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

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source: ap.org

Turkish Planes Bomb PKK Targets in Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey said dozens of its warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets as deep as 60 miles inside northern Iraq for three hours Sunday, the largest aerial attack in years against the outlawed separatist group. Turkey's military chief said the U.S. gave intelligence and tacit approval for the raid.

An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman. The rebels said two civilians and five rebels were killed.

The U.S. Embassy in Iraq refused to comment Monday on the Turkish general's assertion that American officials had given Turkey permission to enter Iraq's air space.

In the nighttime offensive, the fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and in the Qandil mountains, which straddle the Iraq-Iran border, the Turkish military said in a statement posted on its Web site. It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.

As many as 50 fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes, private NTV television and other media reported. Turkey has recently attacked the area with ground-based artillery and helicopters and there have been some unconfirmed reports of airstrikes by warplanes.

The attack came a month after the United States promised to share intelligence with Turkey to help combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey's military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, said U.S. intelligence was used.

"America gave intelligence," Kanal D television quoted Buyukanit as saying. "But more importantly, America last night opened (the Iraqi) airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to this operation," he said.

"Even if it's winter, even if there's snow, even if they live in caves, we'll find them and hit them," he added, according to the report. "These operations will continue all the time."

On Oct. 31, the U.S. Defense Department said it was assisting the Turks in their efforts to combat the PKK by supplying them with "lots of intelligence." The Pentagon had no further comment Sunday on whether it had a role in the airstrikes.

Journalists were barred from entering the stricken areas, but some managed to sneak into the small village of Qlatooka, in Qandil, where bombs had destroyed a school and some homes.

Mukhlis Khadar, 44, said he and his family were woken by the raids and fled their home as soon as the school was hit.

"We left an unbelievable scene behind us," Khadar said. "When we climbed the rocks of the nearby mountain ... we saw flames of fire burning our village. ... Our house disappeared."

Saoqo Mohammad, a 30-year-old woman said: "We are civilians, with no arms or any relation to the PKK, why do they allow such horrible acts against civilians?"

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Monday that the Iraqi government had expected Turkey to coordinate with it before striking the rebels inside Iraq. He also indicated that the fact Iraqi civilians were killed showed Turkey had not hit the right target.

"What happened yesterday was based maybe on misinformation," he said.

Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan, told AP Television News: "We call on the Turkish army to differentiate between the PKK and the ordinary people. We don't want the conflict between the Turkish troops and the PKK to turn into a conflict between the Turkish forces and the people of Kurdistan."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded the operation and suggested Turkey could stage more attacks on PKK hide-outs in northern Iraq.

"This operation, which was carried out under night conditions, was a success," Erdogan said Sunday. "Our struggle (against the PKK) will continue inside and outside Turkey with the same determination."

The pro-Kurdish news agency Firat, citing the PKK, said two civilians and five PKK rebels were killed. The airstrikes destroyed two schools and a hospital, it said, adding that the hospital had been vacated in anticipation of a Turkish attack.

The Kurdish rebels also said they responded to Turkish raids with anti-aircraft artillery units, Firat reported.

In Iraq, Mohammad Hajj Hammoud, a Foreign Ministry undersecretary, summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad and asked that Ankara end raids "that cause harm to innocent people and affect friendly bilateral relations," the ministry said on its Web site.

The ministry said the raids killed one woman, injured four people and displaced several families.

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in the predominantly Kurdish southeast for more than two decades. There has been intense public pressure on the Turkish government to attack rebel bases across the border as rebel attacks have increased in recent months.

Turkey has massed tens of thousands of troops along its border with northern Iraq in response to a series of attacks by the PKK rebels. In October, parliament voted in favor of authorizing the government to order a cross-border operation against the group.

Turkish forces have periodically shelled across the Iraqi border, and have sometimes carried out "hot pursuits" - limited raids on the Iraqi side that sometimes last only a few hours.

The United States and Iraq have, however, called on Turkey to avoid a major operation, fearing such an offensive could disrupt one of the most tranquil regions in Iraq.

Harsh winter conditions in the rugged terrain of northern Iraq reduce the possibility of a large-scale ground offensive, making more airstrikes against the PKK likelier than attacks using tanks or helicopters. Limited and precise air raids are also less likely to hurt Turkey's alliance with the U.S. and Europe or to affect global oil prices than a protracted land battle.

Turkish news reports said a PKK command center in Qandil was hit.

The mountain is a base for the PKK's leadership council and the group has a network of camps around the mountain. But news reports in the past weeks have suggested that PKK fighters may have dispersed from camps in northern Iraq, worried about a possible attack from Turkey.

Abdullah Ibrahim, a senior official in the Iraqi administrative center of Sangasar, said Turkish warplanes bombarded 10 Kurdish villages, killing one woman and injuring two others. He acknowledged that there were Kurdish rebel bases in the area, but said they were far from the villages that were hit.

"The villagers are now scared and are hiding in nearby caves. They lost all their properties," Ibrahim said.

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Family of strangled inmate sues state prisons department

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — The family of a man beaten and strangled by his prison cellmate have sued the state Corrections Department, saying the agency was negligent when it put both men in the same cell.
The family of Charles Martin also is suing several staff members of the Perry Correctional Institution and inmate Jeffrey Motts, who has been sentenced to death for killing Martin two years ago.
The federal lawsuit contends that both men had asked not to be put in the same cell and Motts had threatened to kill Martin if they were housed together. Motts thought Martin had lied about him, saying Motts had planted a knife in another inmate's bed, prosecutors said at Motts murder trial.
In its answer to the suit, the state Corrections Department denied wrongdoing, saying the agency "was acting in good faith" in the performance of its duties.
During Motts' trial, a national expert in prison management testified that the two should never have been placed in the same cell. James Aiken, who investigated Perry Correctional officials' handling of Motts and Martin, said prison officials should have known the danger but didn't conduct a thorough enough investigation.

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source: aikenstandard.com