Sources: Liguori planned as next Tribune CEO

When Tribune Co. emerges from bankruptcy, the new owners plan to name television executive Peter Liguori as the company's chief executive, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Liguori is a former top TV executive at Fox and Discovery. The decision to name him Tribune Co.'s CEO would end months of speculation and usher in a new era for the Chicago-based media company, which owns newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, and television stations.

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday signed off on waivers needed to transfer Tribune Co.'s broadcast properties to the new ownership, the final significant hurdle before the company can emerge from its long-running stay in Chapter 11.

While a date for emergence is not set, the new ownership group controlled by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will likely take the reins by the end of the year. An initial step for the owners will be to appoint a board of directors. It will have final say on who becomes CEO, but sources say the owners have chosen Liguori.

"The decision has been made," one of the sources said.

Los Angeles Times Publisher Eddy Hartenstein has been CEO of Tribune Co. since May 2011. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined to comment.

A former advertising executive who transitioned into television more than two decades ago, Liguori, 52, is credited with turning cable channel FX into a programming powerhouse during his ascent to entertainment chief at News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Discovery Communications Inc., where he helped oversee the rocky launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Liguori is considered by some observers to be a good fit for Tribune Co. and its new owners. While the company's identity is closely connected to publishing, broadcasting is now the headline business and core profit center. One of Liguori's main jobs will be to help maximize TV ratings, advertising dollars and increasingly important affiliate fees for WGN America and Tribune Co.'s 23 local stations, according to industry insiders.

Liguori "is a very, very smart hire for Oaktree and the guys that run the company because I think what Tribune needs more than anything is somebody to kind of build the brands back and make it a true media company, as opposed to just a collection of businesses," said Jeff Shell, London-based president of NBCUniversal International, who worked with Liguori for six years at Fox beginning in 1996. Shell, whose name had once been floated as a candidate for Tribune Co. CEO, spoke recently about his former colleague's potential value as head of Tribune Co.

Liguori is also expected to address the fundamental question of whether Tribune Co. should retain its ownership of newspapers or divest them to focus on the healthier TV business. Revenues for newspapers have been halved in recent years as readership migrates to the digital world.

Liguori, who could not be reached for comment, became president of Fox's FX Networks in 1998, when it was a small basic cable channel airing reruns of everything from "M.A.S.H." to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Elevated to CEO in 2001, he remade FX by offering edgy original programming. Starting with "The Shield" in 2002, Liguori then rolled out "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me," creating first-run successes that redefined FX, and perhaps basic cable, in the process.

"FX was a channel when he took over — a little, tiny cable channel losing a bunch of money," Shell said. "He made it into something big by imagining something different, and I think that's what Tribune needs."

Liguori became president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co. in 2005, where he headed up program development and marketing. Squeezed out in 2009, he then joined Discovery as chief operating officer, where one of his responsibilities was to oversee the nascent joint venture with OWN.

In May 2011, Liguori assumed the dual role as interim CEO of OWN after inaugural head Christina Norman was forced out at the struggling network. That added responsibility evaporated two months later when Winfrey made herself CEO of OWN. Liguori left Discovery in December, and the company eliminated his chief operating officer position.

Liguori has been working since July as a New York-based media consultant for private equity firm Carlyle Group. He is on the boards of Yahoo Inc., MGM Holdings Inc. and Topps Co.

Tribune Co. has been operating under bankruptcy court protection for nearly four years, having buckled under the $13 billion in total debt it took on after its 2007 buyout. The case was prolonged by a drawn-out battle for control among creditors.

With the court having resolved the major ownership questions, the FCC's decision to grant waivers was the last major piece of the puzzle to come together.

The FCC issued the waivers of its so-called cross-ownership rules for Tribune Co. in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, South Florida and Hartford, Conn., where it owns TV stations and newspapers. In Chicago, the company's properties include WGN-Ch. 9.

Getting the waivers "will enable the company to continue moving forward toward emergence from Chapter 11, a process we expect to complete over the course of the next several weeks," Hartenstein, Tribune Co.'s CEO, said in a statement.

Tribune Newspapers reporter Jim Puzzanghera contributed.

rchannick@tribune.com

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Local Hostess plants close as company moves to liquidate

Hostess, the company that makes Twinkies and other sugary snacks, has announced it's going out of business following a worker strike.

Hostess Brands on Friday received a court order for an expedited hearing on its request to
liquidate.

The hearing on liquidation request is scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 19, in bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y.

The bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said it had sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers.

Hostess, which has about $2.5 billion in sales from a long list of iconic consumer brands of snack cakes and breads said it had suspended operations at all of its 33 plants around the United States as it moves to start liquidating assets.

"We'll be selling the brands and as much of the infrastructure as we can," said company spokesman Lance Ignon. "There is value in the brands."

Hostess said a strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that began last week had crippled its ability to produce and deliver products at several facilities, and it had no choice but to give up its effort to emerge intact from bankruptcy court.

The Irving, Texas-based company said the liquidation would mean that most of its 18,500 employees would lose their jobs.

In the Chicago area, Hostess employs about 300 workers making CupCakes, HoHos and Honey Buns in Schiller Park. Hostess also has a bakery in Hodgkins, where 325 workers make Beefsteak, Butternut, Home Pride, Nature’s Pride and Wonder breads.

Hostess spokesman Tom Becker confirmed that Hostess plants have closed, and the local factories in Hodgkins and Schiller Park ran their last production Friday morning. The company also has a plant in Peoria.

Calls to the Hodgkins and Schiller Park plants were not answered.

"I don't think it's a stretch to say there's a lot of sadness today," Becker said, adding that "18,500 people had jobs yesterday and knew they weren't going to have jobs anymore when they woke up today," referring to Hostess' total employee base.

"It's an extremely difficult decision for the company to have to make to shut down but unfortunately without the full involvement of its employees at the bakery, the company was unable to continue."

A statement on the Hostess Brands website begins with "Hostess Brands is closed."

According to Becker, most of the company's employees had approved an 8 percent pay cut for the coming year, but the members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union had voted against the reduction and a change in the pension plan. 

Becker stressed that lingering pension obligations and other expenses felled the company, and not demand for its products.

"Demand was never the issue," Becker said, adding that company revenue for the year-ended May 11 was $2.5 billion. "We have very loyal customers who love our products and continued to buy our products."

Hostess had given employee a deadline to return to work on Thursday, but the union held firm, saying it had already given far more in concessions than workers could bear and that it would not bend further. Union officials blamed mismanagement for the company's woes.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time since 2004, said it had filed a motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York, for permission to shut down and sell assets.

Hostess has 565 distribution centers and 570 bakery outlet stores, as well as the 33 bakeries. Its brands include Wonder, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Drake's, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita, but it is probably best known for Twinkies - basically a cream-filled sponge cake.

"We do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Chief Executive Officer Gregory Rayburn said in a statement. "Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders."

The company said in court filings that it would probably take about a year to wind down. It will need about 3,200 employees to start that process, but only about 200 after the first few months.

Gary Stibel, founder of the New England Consulting Group, said "the jury's still out," on the future of Hostess Brands, adding that the firm may be able to "work something out in the eleventh hour."

"There's a lot of activity going on," said Stibel, who added that his group is involved in the conversations, but not representing Hostess. "Let's just say there are a lot of folks who are going to be working over the weekend."

"This is no different than the fiscal cliff," Stibel said. "You've got different parties with very strong points of view, not coming together."

Stibel said the only thing for certain is that "these brands aren't going anywhere."

Union President Frank Hurt said the company's failure was not the fault of the union but the "result of nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement" and that management was trying to make union workers the scapegoats for a plan by Wall Street investors to sell Hostess.

Hostess said its debtor-in-possession lenders had agreed to allow it to retain access to $75 million to fund the wind-down process.

The company has canceled all orders with its suppliers and said any product in transit would be returned to the shipper.

In its filing with the court, the company said it would have incurred a loss of between $7.5 million and $9.5 million from Nov. 9 to Nov. 19 in lost sales and increased costs.

"These losses and other factors, including increased vendor payment terms contraction, have resulted in a significant weakening of the debtors' cash position and, if continued, would soon result in the debtors completely running out of cash," it said.

Hostess had already reached an agreement on pay and benefit cuts with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, its largest union.

In its January bankruptcy filing, Hostess listed assets of $981.6 million. In a February filing, it assessed the value of its patents, copyrights and other intellectual property at some $134.6 million, although it did not break down the value by brands.

The company's last operating report, filed with the bankruptcy court in late October, listed a net loss of $15.1 million for the four weeks that ended in late September, mostly due to restructuring charges and other expenses.

The case is In re: Hostess Brands Inc., U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-22052.

Tribune reporter Emily Bryson York contributed to this story.

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Smartphones, tablets spark “post-pie” Thanksgiving sales

(Reuters) – Retailers are targeting “post-pie” commerce, the jump in shopping created by the boom in smartphones and tablet computers which Thanksgiving diners grab as they collapse onto the couch after eating turkey and pumpkin pie.

While people relax with family and friends or watch football on TV, they are increasingly shopping online with these mobile gadgets, creating a surge in traffic and purchases that retailers are beginning to target for the first time this year.

“This is a new shoppable moment,” said Steve Yankovich, who heads the mobile business of eBay Inc, operator of the largest online marketplace.

Before the rise of smartphones and tablets, it was socially unacceptable to pull out a laptop after Thanksgiving dinner, or head to a home office to fire up a desktop computer, Yankovich explained.

“With a tablet or smartphone you don’t get that reaction,” he added.

EBay recently surveyed more than 1,000 shoppers in the United States about their holiday shopping plans. Almost two thirds said holiday sales should begin after Thanksgiving dinner and respondents said their meals would end, on average, at 5:23 p.m. EST.

Based on that feedback, eBay plans to launch 20 mobile-only deals through its eBay Mobile application at 5:23 p.m. EST this Thanksgiving. The company plans 20 more at 5:23 p.m. PST for West Coast shoppers.

Other retailers including Toys “R” Us, HSN Inc, Rue La La and ideeli are also targeting mobile shoppers this Thanksgiving in the evening.

“The iPad holiday sales season starts at the point of indigestion while you’re sitting on the couch after Thanksgiving dinner,” said Ben Fischman, chief executive of Rue La La, which specializes in online limited-time fashion sales events known as flash sales.

Post-pie commerce is the latest example of how mobile devices, in particular Apple Inc’s iPad and iPhone, are changing consumer behavior and forcing retailers to adapt quickly.

The holiday shopping season traditionally kicks off with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when shoppers use a day off from work to head to stores.

The following Monday became a big online shopping day known as Cyber Monday because people returned to the office and shopped using their office computers.

Now Thanksgiving is emerging as a big new shopping day online. The value of e-commerce transactions on Turkey Day has surged 128 percent to $ 479 million over the past five years, outpacing the growth of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other big holiday shopping days, according to comScore Inc.

That’s a far cry from the $ 1.25 billion spent online on Cyber Monday last year, but the growth has caught retailers’ attention.

“It’s still a smaller day, but it is growing much faster,” said Andrew Lipsman of comScore. “We’re seeing a lot more talk about Thanksgiving becoming a more important shopping day.”

Several big retailers, including Target Corp, are opening physical stores on Thanksgiving to make sure they don’t lose sales to online rivals.

“Consumers that would rather shop than watch 12 hours of football on Thanksgiving Day should be given the chance to shop,” Marshal Cohen of The NPD Group wrote in a blog on Thursday. “If online is open, why should brick-and-mortar close just to give away those precious shopping hours to the competition?”

Thanksgiving evening is where the action is online. By 3 p.m. EST last year online sales were up about 20 percent compared to the same period in 2010, according to IBM Software Group, a unit of International Business Machines Corp.

But by midnight PST on Thanksgiving 2011, online sales were up 39 percent versus the same period the previous year, IBM data show. Overall, November 2011 online sales rose 15.6 percent compared to the year-earlier period.

“Post-pie shopping this year will be fueled mostly by tablet shoppers, especially iPad users,” said Jay Henderson, global strategy director for IBM’s enterprise marketing management business.

In September and October, the iPad accounted for at least 7.5 percent of all traffic to retailers’ websites, beating out the iPhone with about 6 percent and Android devices at just over 4 percent, IBM data show.

“This is the first time the iPad has shown sustained leadership over all other mobile devices,” Henderson said.

Last Thanksgiving, retailers were surprised by the surge in tablet traffic in the evening. They also did not expect the devices would be used to complete so many purchases, instead expecting them to be browsing devices mostly, according to Steve Tack, chief technology officer for APM Solutions, a unit of Compuware Corp.

“Tablet users are not waiting for Black Friday or Cyber Monday to purchase, they are doing it on Thursday night on the couch in front of the game,” he said. “This is a significant new shopping event.”

This year, retailers are more prepared, he added.

Rue La La will launch an online boutique called “The Holiday Dash” at 8 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving, “specifically to go after the shopper who will be sitting at home after dinner on the couch,” CEO Fischman said.

More than half of Rue La La‘s sales over Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the following weekend will come from mobile devices. Half of those mobile purchases will be on an iPad, he said.

Fischman said the conversion rate on an iPad is close to double the conversion rate on a smart phone, meaning shoppers are more than twice as likely to purchase using the tablet device.

“The tablet offers the luxury of a larger screen with the convenience and portability of the phone,” Fischman said. “It’s the killer e-commerce device.”

Ideeli, a rival to Rue La La, plans a “Think Fast” online sales event at 6 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving to target tablet shoppers. Ideeli usually runs sales at noon every day.

Toys “R” Us, the largest toy retailer, launched a new tablet-optimized website on Tuesday and the company plans to make all its Black Friday deals available online at 8 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving.

HSN, which runs the Home Shopping Network and has traditionally focused on TV sales, on Tuesday unveiled an online holiday gift guide designed for tablet shoppers.

The company plans to send discounted deals to mobile shoppers on Thanksgiving.

“When people are done with the holiday meal and go back into the screen world, we will have great products on sale,” said Jill Braff, executive vice president of Digital Commerce at HSN.

(Reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco; additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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“30 Rock” character Liz Lemon to get her happy ending

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “30 Rock” perpetual unlucky-in-love heroine Liz Lemon is finally getting her happy ending, as NBC invited fans on Thursday to watch her get married this month.

After a string of bad boyfriends and unsuccessful romances, Lemon, played by comedienne Tina Fey, finds her soul mate in budding entrepreneur Criss Chross, who owns an organic gourmet hotdog food truck, played by actor James Marsden on the show.

“Ms. Elizabeth Miervaldis Lemon presents herself to be married to Mr. Crisstopher Rick Chross…But not in a creepy way that perpetuates the idea that brides are virgins and women are property,” NBC said in a mock wedding announcement, true to Lemon‘s feminist principles.

The wedding episode will be aired on November 29, during the Emmy-winning show’s seventh and final season.

While Lemon, 42, has never made it down the aisle before, she has had a couple of doomed engagements in past seasons, including her British boyfriend Wesley Snipes (Michael Sheen), whom she almost settled for before finding love with pilot Carol Burnett (Matt Damon).

The hapless singleton has also endured eventful dates with celebrities such as actor James Franco (along with his Japanese body pillow) and Conan O’Brien.

“30 Rock,” created by Fey and inspired by her stint as head writer for “Saturday Night Live”, follows the day-to-day life of fictional NBC sketch comedy show “TGS with Tracy Jordan,” and also stars Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Well: Learning That Odd Is Normal

A few months ago, I was at home reading a review copy of “Oddly Normal” by my colleague John Schwartz. The book begins with the suicide attempt of John’s then 13-year-old son, Joe, who had recently told his classmates he was gay. It goes on to explain how Joe’s parents struggled with a school system that didn’t always understand their son, and how Joe eventually found the path to self acceptance.

But my plan to read the book was interrupted when my 8th-grade daughter, intrigued by the title, pulled it out of my hands and read the first few pages. She was captivated and decided to read all of it for her next school book report.

Later she wrote about how moved she was by Joe’s story and how she wished she could “give him a hug and tell him that it would all turn out O.K.” The book, she wrote, “is full of life lessons that are extremely important for every young person to understand…. Being an individual is amazing, and no one should hide their true personality. Eventually, Joe learned to be the person he wanted to be, and he realized that everyone is a little odd and different.”

While “Oddly Normal” has been discussed as a great book for parents, I think teenagers will relate to Joe’s struggles and learn a lot from his honesty. You can meet Joe in a new video, in which he talks about himself, his father’s book and life as a gay teen. To learn more about the book, read the recent New York Times Sunday book review “Something to Tell You.”

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Sources: New owners plan Liguori as Tribune CEO

The new owners set to take control of Tribune Co. when it emerges from bankruptcy protection plan to name television executive Peter Liguori as the company's chief executive, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Liguori is a former top TV executive at Fox and Discovery. The decision to name him CEO ends months of speculation and will usher in a new era for the 165-year-old media giant, which owns newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, and television stations.  

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to sign off Friday on waivers needed to transfer Chicago-based Tribune Co.'s broadcast properties to the new ownership, the final significant  hurdle before the company can exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy after four years.

 While a date is not set, the new ownership group controlled by senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JP Morgan Chase, will likely take the reins by the end of the year. The first step for the owners will be to appoint a board of directors. The new board, once constituted, will have the final say on who becomes CEO, but sources say the owners have chosen Liguori.

 "The decision has been made," one of the sources said.

Los Angeles Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein has been CEO of Tribune Co. since May 2011. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined comment.

A former advertising executive who transitioned into television more than two decades ago, Liguori, 52, is credited with turning cable channel FX into a programming powerhouse during his ascent to entertainment chief at News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Discovery Communications Inc., where he helped oversee the rocky launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Liguori is considered by some observers as a good fit for Tribune and its new owners. While the company's identity is closely connected to publishing, broadcasting is now the headline business and core profit center.  One of Liguori's main jobs will be to help maximize ratings, advertising dollars and increasingly important affiliate fees for WGN America and Tribune Co.'s 23 local TV stations, according to industry insiders.

 Liguori "is a very, very smart hire for Oaktree and the guys that run the company because I think what Tribune needs more than anything is somebody to kind of build the brands back and make it a true media company, as opposed to just a collection of businesses," said Jeff Shell, London-based president of NBCUniversal International, who worked with Liguori for six years at Fox beginning in 1996. Shell spoke recently about his former colleague's potential value as CEO of Tribune Co.

Liguori could not immediately be reached for comment.

Liguori became president of Fox's FX Networks in 1998, when it was a small basic cable channel airing reruns of everything from M*A*S*H to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Elevated to CEO in 2001, he remade FX by offering edgy original programming. Starting with "The Shield" in 2002, Liguori rolled out "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me," creating first-run successes that redefined FX, and perhaps basic cable, in the process.

 "FX was a channel, when he took over, a little tiny cable channel losing a bunch of money," Shell said. "He made it into something big by imagining something different, and I think that's what Tribune needs."  

Liguori became president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company in 2005, where he headed up program development and marketing. Squeezed out in 2009, he then joined Discovery as chief operating officer, where one of his responsibilities was to oversee the nascent joint venture with OWN.

In May 2011, Liguori assumed the dual role as interim CEO of OWN after inaugural head Christina Norman was forced out at the struggling network. That added responsibility evaporated two months later when Winfrey made herself CEO of OWN. Liguori left Discovery in December and the company eliminated his COO position. 

Liguori has been working since July as a New York-based media consultant for private equity firm, the Carlyle Group.  He currently serves on the boards of Yahoo, MGM Holdings and Topps.

rchannick@tribune.com | Twitter @RobertChannick

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BP workers charged in Gulf oil spill disaster in 2010

Two men who worked for BP during the 2010 Gulf oil spill disaster have been charged with manslaughter and a third with lying to federal investigators, according to indictments made public Thursday, hours after BP announced it was paying $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government over the disaster.

A federal indictment unsealed in New Orleans claims BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine acted negligently in their supervision of key safety tests performed on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig before the explosion killed 11 workers in April 2010. The indictment says Kaluza and Vidrine failed to phone engineers onshore to alert them of problems in the drilling operation.

Another indictment charges David Rainey, who was BP's vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, on charges of obstruction of Congress and false statements. The indictment claims the former executive lied to federal investigators when they asked him how he calculated a flow rate estimate for BP's blown-out well in the days after the April 2010 disaster.

Before Thursday, the only person charged in the disaster was a former BP engineer who was arrested in April on obstruction of justice charges. He was accused of deleting text messages about the company's response to the spill.

Earlier in the day, BP PLC said it would plead guilty to criminal charges related to the deaths of 11 workers and lying to Congress.

The day of reckoning comes more than two years after the nation's worst offshore oil spill. The figure includes nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines — the biggest criminal penalty in U.S. history — along with payments to certain government entities.

“We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders,” said Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP chairman. “It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims.”

The settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal judge, includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences and about $500 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC accused BP of misleading investors by lowballing the amount of crude spewing from the ruptured well.

London-based BP said in a statement that the settlement would not cover any civil penalties the U.S. government might seek under the Clean Water Act and other laws. Nor does it cover billions of dollars in claims brought by states, businesses and individuals, including fishermen, restaurants and property owners.

A federal judge in New Orleans is weighing a separate, proposed $7.8 billion settlement between BP and more than 100,000 businesses and individuals who say they were harmed by the spill.

BP will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of a ship's officers, one felony count of obstruction of Congress and one misdemeanor count each under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Clean Water Act. The workers' deaths were prosecuted under a provision of the Seaman's Manslaughter Act. The obstruction charge is for lying to Congress about how much oil was spilling.

The penalty will be paid over five years. BP made a profit of $5.5 billion in the most recent quarter. The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the U.S. Justice Department was a $1.2 billion fine imposed on drug maker Pfizer in 2009.

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Stars honor Veloso as Latin Grammys person of year

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Juanes, Juan Luis Guerra, Nelly Furtado and Natalie Cole are among the artists who celebrated Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso at a ceremony honoring him as the Latin Recording Academy‘s Person of the Year.

Veloso’s influence as a composer and activist also was the subject of a video featuring Sting and Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar that was shown at the tribute Wednesday at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Veloso said in the video that he never decided to become a musician, but fate and the circumstances of life in Brazil moved him in that direction.

Considered among the most influential Brazilian artists of modern times, the 70-year-old entertainer has recorded more than 40 albums, and won eight Latin Grammys and two Grammy Awards. With his eponymous 1968 album, Veloso launched a new style of music, tropicalia, that saw his Brazilian musical roots mixed with other contemporary styles, including blues, psychedelic rock and the sounds of the Beatles.

The movement comprised a new generation of artists, including Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and Maria Bethania, who openly expressed political opinion in their music.

In accepting the honor, Veloso said, “It’s too much.”

The Latin Grammy Awards are scheduled to be presented Thursday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The show will be broadcast live on Univision.

___

Online:

www.latingrammy.com

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Ask an Expert: Answers About Alzheimer’s, Part 1

Because of the number of questions, his answers are being split into several parts. The first two, today and Friday, focus on diagnostic issues, including new tests, the role played by genetics and inheritance, causes and policy issues.

Next Wednesday Dr. Doraiswamy will address treatment, patient care and new clinical trials. (Some questions published here have been edited, and not all questions could be answered.)

The doctor’s answers are meant for educational purposes and are not meant to be a substitute for advice from your own doctor. Readers should contact their physician before making health care decisions.

……………………………………

Q. Why can I remember everything about a person except his or her name? — Horick, Texas

A. This is known as the “cook-Cook problem.” It is a result of how our brains are wired to enable predictions of future needs based on relevance and strength of associations. Common words with strong functional associations (for example, a cook who will prepare food) are easier to retrieve than proper names (Mr. Cook). Surveys show that more than 80 percent of normal older people report trouble with names. In reality, most of these individuals could probably recall several hundred names, but it’s the one they forget that causes panic. This helps explain why traditional American Indian names like Sitting Bull, which bring up a vivid image, are probably easier to recall.

Q. My question is not medical per se: Do you believe that people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (or other dementias) should be told about their diagnosis? My mom, who had Alzheimer’s, died in 2008, and this was a very contentious issue separating me and my oldest sister who, alas, had health-care power of attorney. I emphatically believe people have to know that they have dementia. I am curious to know if you have an opinion on this. — Carol, Chicago

A. I believe they should be told since they have a right to know and make plans as well as a right to grieve. There are some situations where it may be appropriate to withhold information, such as when the exact diagnosis is uncertain or when obvious harm (such as suicide) may result. Surveys indicate that most family members would withhold the diagnosis from a loved one, but when asked if they themselves would like to know if they had the illness, most said "yes." This issue is likely to become more contentious as it becomes possible to predict disease more precisely using genetics and brain scans.

Q. “Can you tell me, wait, I forget ...” What are initial signs of Alzheimer’s?

If I place an object (i.e. cellphone, keys) in a different spot than usual, it seems to have disappeared. I’ve been leaving house key outdoors in the lock; forget names of folks I’ve met a few times (once reminded, I recall); almost totally forget titles of movies/books - when reminded, I recall..??.age-first of baby boomers, mother is 100+, has Alzheimers.

What are the initial signs of dementia? Memory loss? hysical affectations? Language dysfunction? I am nearing 65, in good health, but often can’t think of a specific word while speaking or briefly forget how to spell a word while typing.

— Wally Wallace, Ames, Iowa; Technic Alley, Toronto; Maureen64, Calif.; Motmista, Pensacola, Fla.; Canadian Content Only, Toronto; Lulu858; Marie Marley, Kan.; Unknown; Susa Bruce, Brooklyn.

A. The “tip of the tongue” (also called “Teflon brain”) phenomenon becomes more common as we age, perhaps due to chemical changes in the brain’s wiring. This commonly affects recall of names and words, and sometimes where you placed objects. Often, turning your mind to something else will make the information pop up. If what you forgot comes back to you a few hours or days later or comes back readily with a cue, it’s probably benign. Sometimes there is a “feeling of knowing,” but other times your mind can go totally blank — for example, where you parked your car at an airport. “Relax, and call me in the morning” is what memory doctors sometimes call this problem.

If you don’t pay close attention to something because your life is hectic, you’re multitasking, feeling anxiety or it has little emotional relevance, the thought will not register as well in your memory. It’s helpful to stick to a routine (e.g. park your car in the same spot daily) or write things down (e.g. a memo to yourself on your phone about where you left your keys).

If cues don’t help or if memory is forever lost or if things are starting to affect your daily activities frequently, then a medical evaluation is in order. Trouble remembering new information is the classic early problem in Alzheimer’s. In some people early changes can also include mild depression or apathy, and trouble with words, repeating oneself and confusion. Some of the things that suggest a serious memory problem are:

1) Memory getting worse over time, and cues don’t help with recall.

2) Memory problems are affecting your work and functioning, and friends or family members are getting concerned.

3) You have trouble learning new information or doing tasks you know well.

4) Forgetting entire experiences rather than parts of an experience

5) Making up stories to cover up the memory gaps.

Bottom line: if you are concerned, don’t hesitate to get your memory checked.

Q. What is the average risk of someone getting Alzheimer’s? If a sibling has it but parents don’t, what is the risk? What about if a parent or aunt has the disease?

My father, his mother and most of his siblings had Alzheimer’s. My mother’s immediate family had no incidence. She is 86 and pretty sharp. What are the chances I will get it?

My father had Alzheimer’s and my oldest sister has also been diagnosed with the disease. What are the chances of having it since we are obviously genetically predisposed? My memory has always been poor and is definitely getting worse. I’m 65.

— Christine R, Roseland, N.J.; Mitchell McG, Manhattan; Penguinwoman, Toronto; Tosia, New York; Ms. Skeptical, Alexandria, Va.

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Eurozone slides back into recession

The Eurozone is back in a recession, its first in three years, as gross domestic product for the debt-plagued 17-nation bloc contracted 0.1 percent in the third quarter from the earlier quarter.

In the second quarter, the currency collective tightened 0.2 percent, according to the official European Union statistics agency, Eurostat. Two consecutive quarterly slips make a recession.

Compared with a year earlier, GDP is down 0.6 percent. Eurostat said last month that unemployment in the bloc was at a record high of 11.6 percent. Protests and strikes rippled across Europe on Wednesday.

Growth in core countries such as Germany and France couldn't counteract the plunges in long-struggling, austerity-bound nations such as Spain and Italy. Portugal took an especially nasty 0.8 percent dive.

Even countries that had been expanding took a dive, with the Netherlands experiencing a 1.1 percent squeeze and Austria contracting 0.1 percent. Germany saw its growth slow to 0.2 percent in the third quarter from 0.3 percent in the second.

France, however, reversed a string of flat or down quarters with 0.2 percent expansion.

The wider, 27-member European Union escaped recession, its GDP advancing 0.1 percent in the third quarter after tightening 0.2 percent in the second. In Britain., fresh off the Summer Olympics, the economy boomed 1 percent after a 0.4 percent drop.

A separate Eurostat report Thursday showed annual inflation in the euro-currency area down to 2.5 percent in October, from 2.6 percent the previous month.

In a speech Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged governments to avoid tax hikes in favor of spending cuts as a strategy for fiscal consolidation. He also stressed the need for "calm pragmatism going forward.

"It is essential that all parties involved in Europe's large and complex path of reforms stick to their commitments," Draghi said.

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