| Businessman gets 3 years in Alaska bribery cases

Businessman-gets-3-years-in-Alaska-bribery-cases ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The oil services executive at the center of a federal investigation of corruption in Alaska politics was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison and fined $750,000.

Bill Allen, 72, testified on behalf of the government in three cases, including the trial of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, whose charges were dismissed earlier this year when the Justice Department admitted it failed to turn over favorable evidence to Stevens defense team.

U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick said Allens fine would have been higher if sentencing guidelines had allowed it. Allens prison sentence was revised downward because of his cooperation with prosecutors from the day he was confronted with evidence against him, and his acceptance of responsibility for the crime.

Mr. Allen did the right thing by way of cooperation, Sedwick said.

However, the money that passed from Allen to state lawmakers harmed all Alaskans and threatened the legislature as an institution, the judge said.

Democracy doesnt work when its corrupted, Sedwick said.

Allens trusted lieutenant, Rick Smith, a former VECO vice president, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and fined $10,000 for his role in bribing lawmakers.

The men pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service in May 2007. Their sentencing was delayed more than two years as they cooperated with federal prosecutors in cases against elected officials.

VECO Corp. was an oil field services company that did millions of dollars in contracting work for oil producers, including project management, engineering, construction and maintenance. When Allen and Smith were charged, VECO employed about 4,000 employees at projects around the world, with about half its business in Alaska.

Stevens was charged with lying on Senate forms about home renovations and gifts he received from wealthy friends. Allen testified he was the source, sending a VECO work crew to help change a modest A-frame cabin in Girdwood into a two-story home with wraparound decks, new electricity and plumbing.

Allens dealings with Stevens did not figure into his sentence. Instead, the terms were calculated on his role in bribing Alaska state lawmakers during petroleum tax deliberations in 2006.

In phone taps and video images made at a hotel room rented by VECO in Juneau, the FBI recorded Allen promising favors to one key lawmaker for pushing favorable legislation and handing cash to another. With Allens testimony, former House Speaker Pete Kott, R-Eagle River, and former state Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, were convicted of accepting bribes. Both have been released from federal prison pending a review by Sedwick as to whether their trials were tainted by prosecutors withholding evidence.

Allen also admitted providing financial benefits to a state senator in exchange for his agreement to perform official acts. During Kotts trial, Allen testified he had hired Ted Stevens son, Ben Stevens, after he graduated from college in 1995 and then kept him on a monthly contract. The contract continued after the younger Stevens was appointed to the state Senate in 2002 and continued until 2006.

Smith testified in the trial of Kohring that Ben Stevens was paid consulting fees of nearly a quarter million dollars when he was a senator but worked only on legislative business on behalf of the company. Ben Stevens has not been charged.

Allen spoke for 13 minutes Wednesday morning.

He said he thought he could do some good pushing tax legislation favorable to oil companies, which could lead to production of fields that were expensive to drill.

The FBI in August 2006 approached him with their plans to prosecute. Agents showed him a videotape of interacting with a legislator in the Juneau hotel room.

I could tell I was half drunk and I didnt like what I looked at, he said.

He said he immediately decided to quit drinking alcohol and to cooperate with federal investigators.

I went over the line, he said.

Allen stepped down as VECO chairman after his plea agreement. The sale of the company to CH2M Hill was completed in 2007.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.var url=location.href;var i=url.indexOf + 1;if{i=url.indexOf + 1;}if{i=url.indexOf;}if{url = url.substring;document.write;if{window.print;}}
MSN Privacy .
Legal © 2009 MSNBC.com - | Businessman gets 3 years in Alaska bribery cases |

| Ohio House speeds tax-cut delay; Senate to slow it

Ohio-House-speeds-tax-cut-delay;-Senate-to-slow-it

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio House is moving quickly toward approving a delay in planned income tax reductions, but the Senate plans to slow it down, study alternatives and possibly propose something else to fill a budget hole.

The Democratic-controlled House planned to vote Wednesday on delaying the final 4.2 percent cut in a five-year, 21 percent reduction. The plan, approved in committee Tuesday on a party-line vote, also includes a 5 percent pay cut for lawmakers that couldnt take effect until January 2011.

The Republican-controlled Senate, however, is in no rush to approve what many of its GOP colleagues in the House deemed a tax increase. While Senate President Bill Harris has expressed an open mind to the idea, senators are studying a range of alternatives, including further budget cuts.

Lawmakers are again back at the budget drawing board to fill a roughly $850 million hole after the Ohio Supreme Court put a hold on Gov. Ted Stricklands plan to put slot machines at the states horse racing tracks.

And some Republican senators are in no mood to move quickly on another budget suggestion by Strickland.

I dont think anyone wants to rush the matter because it was just a few months ago that the governor sold everyone on the idea of slots, which ended up failing, said state Sen. Jon Husted of Kettering. Were not lemmings.

Sen. John Carey, the Wellston Republican who is chairman of the Finance Committee, said the Senate is unlikely to move forward with any proposal until after the Nov. 3 election. If a ballot proposal to build casinos in four cities is approved, the state would see a nominal amount of money come in, slightly altering the budget calculations.

There isnt yet a consensus in the Senate over a single way, or combination of ideas, to address the budget gap.

We havent identified any alternatives that were willing to step up and say, This is the answer at this point, Carey said.

Some ideas include further cuts to an already emaciated budget, while others are thinking up other ways to raise revenue — though lawmakers wouldnt say what they are considering.

Stricklands tax cut delay isnt off the table. Senate leaders have made no definitive public statements criticizing the plan, leaving themselves wiggle room to give the 12 Democrats in the chamber enough votes to pass it.

However, throwing support behind an idea that House Republicans roundly rejected may make it more difficult for the party to attack the idea politically.

While some are worried about the political ramifications of the delay, further cuts would likely have their own consequences. The heads of three top state agencies in terms of budget expenditures painted a dire picture for lawmakers in June, when there was talk of turning to further cuts instead of going with the slot machines.

That situation has presented itself again four months later.

Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Terry Collins said hed likely have to close six prisons. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Doug Lumpkin said about 5,000 children could lose their child care services. Education could also face millions in cuts.

Cutting services that many would consider to be less vital, such as funding for libraries, could provoke a backlash. Initial cuts for libraries proposed by Strickland earlier this year were met with such a forceful lobbying campaign that lawmakers took money from other programs to lessen the library cuts.

- | Ohio House speeds tax-cut delay; Senate to slow it |

| United Tech 3Q profit down 17 percent

United-Tech-3Q-profit-down-17-percent HARTFORD, Conn. -United Technologies Corp. continued to feel the impact of the downturn in aerospace and real estate markets as nearly all its businesses posted declines in the third quarter.
The Hartford-based company said Tuesday that markets are stabilizing, though at lower levels.
The conglomerate that runs jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, Otis elevator, Sikorsky Aircraft and other business, said it earned $1.06 billion, or $1.14 per share, down 17 percent from $1.27 billion, or $1.33 per share, a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $13.38 billion, down 11 percent from $15.09 billion in the the year-ago period.
The latest results beat Wall Street estimates. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.12 per share on revenue of $13.31 billion.
United Technologies expects 2009 earnings to be $4.10 per share, the midpoint of previous guidance of between $4 per share and $4.20.
CEO Louis Chenevert said order rates have substantially stabilized year over year, although at lower levels.
Still, the shape of recovery is still uncertain, he said.
Changes in Carriers businesses — it recently sold its Israeli residential air conditioning subsidiary and acquired an air purification manufacturer among other moves — a strong military backlog and significant repair and servicing business position the company for earnings growth in 2010, Chenevert said.
In addition, United Technologies has begun to see improvement in some Asian economies, notably Chinas, he said.
The 2009 earnings guidance reflects higher restructuring costs of $800 million with one-time gains of about $175 million. Its earlier assumption was for $750 million of restructuring costs and $200 million of gains.
With the exception of Sikorsky Aircraft, which has benefited from increased military sales in the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, operating profit again fell at each of United Technologies businesses.
Carrier, which makes heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment, posted a 26 percent decline in the third quarter. It was the first United Technologies subsidiary to feel the impact of the recession, with business sagging in 2007 as housing markets shattered with the subprime mortgage implosion.
More recently, Carriers refrigerated transportation container business has suffered due to falling orders by the weak shipping industry.
Operating profit at Pratt & Whitney fell by 16 percent and Hamilton Sundstrand, also dependent on the weak aerospace industry, dropped nearly 14 percent in the quarter.
At Otis elevator, which is sensitive to commercial construction, particularly in China, operating profit fell by just 2 percent. Thats an improvement from the second quarter, when Otis posted a 6 percent drop in operating profit.
Shares of United Technologies edged up 28 cents to $65.39 in premarket trading. - | United Tech 3Q profit down 17 percent |

| Facial acupuncture: An alternative to Botox

Facial-acupuncture:-An-alternative-to-Botox Ever since natural childbirth made its way onto my list of accomplishments, I have a new relationship with pain. The injuries of everyday life — scrapes, cuts, burns and bruises — barely elicit more than a wince from me these days. Bikini wax? No sweat. Slicing a finger while chopping garlic? Please. But when the first needle began its short journey from my acupuncturist’s hand to my face, I found myself wondering how tough I really was.

I was a seasoned acupuncture recipient, having willingly — and enthusiastically — accepted the thin needles between my toes, on the top of my head, across my stomach and pretty much everywhere in between for years. Acupuncture had helped soothe my chronic back pain, regulate a wonky menstrual cycle and manage bucketloads of stress. And I didn’t doubt that the ancient Chinese treatment could take on laugh lines and crow’s-feet. So why was my heart beating so fast as the first needle nestled into one of my stubborn forehead wrinkles?

‘I trusted this woman with my face’
I had been tipped off to the wonders of facial acupuncture in 2004, but it had remained on my life’s to-do list — next to bungee jumping and visiting the Great Wall of China — until this summer. And though my stomach was gently flip-flopping with nerves, I was excited to be lying on a table in Beth Hooper’s softly lit office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Hooper and her partner, Laura Kauffmann, are the acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist masterminds behind She Essential Beauty, a Chinese medicine-inspired line of beauty treatments that I had been applying to my parched skin since my son was in utero. I trusted this woman with my face.

The plan was to receive 10 sessions — I squeezed in six — that would focus on the spots that reminded me, every time I looked in the mirror, that I wasn’t 25 anymore. I am 34. And those spots make themselves clearly known as an expanse of wrinkles across my forehead, rapidly deepening lines next to my mouth and two significant dents between my brows — the “mommy lines,” as Hooper, a mother of two, calls them.

I believe in aging gracefully, but I don’t believe in aging without a fight. And if there’s a way to engage in that fight without the synthetic assistance of wrinkle fillers like Restylane and Botox or without undergoing cosmetic surgery, I want to know now — before things start sagging and crinkling up permanently. This is what I told myself as tiny needle after tiny needle was inserted into my face.

“I think it is important for people to know that while it isnt a pain-free treatment, the needles only hurt a little and just on insertion,” explains Hooper. “It is a low-pain treatment.” Having recently subjected my face to more than 30 needles a session, I agree with Hooper’s assessment. There can be a slight pinching feeling when needles are inserted into certain areas of the face — the upper laugh line is particularly tender — but the sensation quickly subsides. And once the ache dissipated I was left with a warm, almost tingly feeling rolling across my cheeks and brow.

Does the pain result in gain?
Though there is still no definitive research on the benefits of facial acupuncture, those tingles could be the result of an increase in qi and xue to the area. When I asked Hooper to tell me more about how it really works, she explained that the needles also cause a “micro-irritation” under the skin, which helps to reduce wrinkles. Even with all that qi, blood and irritation, acupuncture — like most natural therapies — is subtle. This is not a face-lift or a shot of Botox to the brow. After each session, my skin would be notably brighter, but it was difficult to see a clear reduction in the intensity of my wrinkles.

Most facial acupuncturists recommend a series of 10 successive sessions with monthly follow-up sessions for maintenance. My schedule rarely allowed for weekly sessions — I was on the every-other-week plan — but the one time I went two weeks in a row, I noticed that the wrinkles in my forehead, etched there from more than 30 years of brow arching, were lighter, less significant somehow. And my mommy lines were no longer the focal point of my face, seeming to have softened back into that place above my nose.

Facial acupuncture costs around $125-$200 a session and should be administered by an acupuncturist who not only has training in this area, but who has graduated with a master’s degree from an accredited Oriental medicine school and passed the national board examinations. Hooper recommends finding such a practitioner through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. And if you find that acupuncturist, but are still freaked out by the idea of needles in your face, take it slow and begin below the chin. “For people trying for the first time, I’d recommend that they start with body acupuncture and then add facial acupuncture,” she says. “You can also ask the practitioner to use fewer needles in the initial treatment to see how you react.”

For more information about She Essential Beauty, visit www.sheessentialbeauty.com.

Marisa Belger is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience covering health and wellness. She was a founding editor of Lime.com, a multiplatform media company specializing in health, wellness and sustainable living. Marisa also collaborated with Josh Dorfman on “The Lazy Environmentalist” , a comprehensive guide to easy, stylish green living.

Please note: Neither Marisa Belger nor TODAYshow.com has been compensated by the manufacturers or their representatives for her comments or selection of products reviewed in this column.

- | Facial acupuncture: An alternative to Botox |

| Mo woman donates kidney to her neighbor

Mo.-woman-donates-kidney-to-her-neighbor KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Few things can be more neighborly than offering your kidney to a friend. Two Kansas City women have lived next door to each other for 30 years. But Claudine Jackson and Jo Ann Walz really got to know each other after Walz donated her kidney last Thursday to Jackson.

The two had always been friendly, but have grown much closer over the past three years as Walz helped with car rides to dialysis treatments, doctors appointments and the grocery store.

The kind act ended two years of waiting on a national kidney waiting list.

Jackson moved onto Fuller Avenue in south Kansas City in 1977. Walz moved in next door about a year later.

- | Mo woman donates kidney to her neighbor |

| Top 10 best new restaurants in America

Top-10-best-new-restaurants-in-America

var url=location.href;var i=url.indexOf + 1;if{i=url.indexOf + 1;}if{i=url.indexOf;}if{url = url.substring;document.write;if{window.print;}}
MSN Privacy .
Legal © 2009 MSNBC.com - | Top 10 best new restaurants in America |

| White House: No Afghan pullout

White-House:-No-Afghan-pullout WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will not walk away from the flagging war in Afghanistan, the White House declared Monday amid intense administration debate over choices that could help define his presidency in his first year as commander in chief.

The fierce Taliban attack that killed eight American soldiers over the weekend added to the pressure. The assault overwhelmed a remote U.S. outpost where American forces have been stretched thin in battling insurgents, underscoring an appeal from Obamas top Afghanistan commander for as many as 40,000 more troops — and at the same time reminding the nation of the costs of war.

Obamas defense secretary, Robert Gates, appealed for calm — and for time for the president to come to a decision.

Obama may take weeks to decide whether to add more troops, but the idea of pulling out isnt on the table as a way to deal with a war nearing its ninth year, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

I dont think we have the option to leave. Thats quite clear, Gibbs said.

The question of whether to further escalate the conflict after adding 21,000 U.S. troops earlier this year is a major decision facing Obama and senior administration policy advisers this week.

Obama also invited a bipartisan group of congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday to confer about the war. And Obama will meet twice this week with his top national security advisers.

Divided on Afghanistan, Congress takes up a massive defense spending bill this week even before the president settles on a direction for the war.

Taking time to get this right
Defense Secretary Gates said Monday that Obama needs elbow room to make strategy decisions about the war and appealed for calm as the internal Obama White House debate goes increasingly public.

It is important that we take our time to do all we can to get this right, Gates said at an Army conference. In this process, it is imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations — civilians and military alike — provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately.

Gates has not said whether he supports the recommendation of the top commander in Afghanistan to expand the number of U.S. forces by as much as nearly 60 percent. He is holding that request in his desk drawer while Obama sorts through competing recommendations and theories from some of his most trusted advisers.

I believe that the decisions that the president will make for the next stage of the Afghanistan campaign will be among the most important of his presidency, Gates said.

In trying to blunt the impression that the White House and military are at odds, Gates did not name names. But his remarks came days after top Afghan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal bluntly warned in London that Afghan insurgents are gathering strength. Any plan that falls short of stabilizing Afghanistan is probably a shortsighted strategy, the general said.

On Sunday, Obamas national security adviser, retired Gen. James Jones, offered a mild rebuke of McChrystal for his London speech.

It is better for military advice to come up through the chain of command, said Jones.

Hybrid strategy?
At issue is whether U.S. forces should continue to focus on fighting the Taliban and securing the Afghan population, or shift to more narrowly targeting al-Qaida terrorists believed to be hiding in Pakistan with unmanned spy drones and covert operations.

Gates and some other advisers appear to favor a middle path. A hybrid strategy could preserve the essential outline of an Afghan counterinsurgency campaign that McChrystal rebuilt this summer from the disarray of nearly eight years of undermanned combat, while expanding the hunt for al-Qaida next door.

Speaking for the Department of Defense, once the commander in chief makes his decisions, we will salute and execute those decisions faithfully and to the best of our ability, Gates told the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army.

The top three U.S. military officials overseeing the war in Afghanistan favor continuing the current fight against the Taliban, and have concluded they need tens of thousands more U.S. troops beyond the 68,000 already there.

Officials across the Obama administration have acknowledged that the Taliban is far stronger now than in recent years, as underscored by the U.S. deaths in Nuristan province.

The fighting Saturday marked the biggest loss of U.S. life in a single Afghan battle in more than a year. It also raised questions about why U.S. troops remained in the remote outposts after McChrystal said he planned to close down isolated strongholds and focus on more heavily populated areas as part of his new strategy to focus on protecting Afghan civilians.

- | White House: No Afghan pullout |