local 1 iatse end the discrimination

local one iatse department heads and officers end the discrimination against women, blacks, spanish and non irish on broadway

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

LATIN EVENTS

Wednesday, September 30th 2009, 4:00 AM

José Luis Perales
Llenas/Getty
José Luis Perales
Paco Peña
Joyner/Getty

TODAY 30

SALSA: Percussionist Ralph Irizarry — who played with Rubén Blades’ Seis del Solar for 14 years — and friends at MILK Lounge, 2056 Second Ave. at 106th St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets $5-$10.

TOMORROW 1

EVENT: The Puerto Rican Freedom Project marks release of “The Freedom Album” with a benefit concert featuring folk singer Roy Brown, cuatro player Yomo Toro, Zon del Barrio and hip-hop acts Siete Nueve and The Welfare Poets, at Taller Boricua’s Multi Arts Space, Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, 1680 Lexington Ave. at 106th St., 8 p.m. Tickets $20.

THEATER: “Paso del Norte” and “Tell Them Not to Kill Me!"— inspired by Mexican writer Juan Rulfo’s short stories and directed by Germán Jaramillo — continue at Theater for the New City, 8 p.m. Through Sunday. Tickets $15.

EXHIBIT: Crossing Bridges/Cruzando Puentes, featuring works from the collective Generation 4 — Vicente Fabre, Luis Leonor, Moses Ros and Reynaldo García Pantaleon — at Taller Boricua, 1680 Lexington Ave. at 106th St. Tuesday to Saturday, through Nov. 7. Free.

GAY: Comic book and graphic novel artists Ivan Vélez (“Tales From the Closet”), Jennifer Camper (“The Juicy Mother: Celebration”), Erika López (“Flaming Iguanas”) and Carlo Quispe (“Killer Heights”) share their work at opening of annual BAAD! BlakTino Performance Series, 841 Barretto St., South Bronx. Free.

FRIDAY 2

HIP HOP: Reggaetón duo Wisin y Yandel at Madison Square Garden, 8 p.m. Tickets $46-$96.

BALLAD: Spanish crooner José Luis Perales at the Beacon Theater, 8 p.m. Tickets $85-$125.

TANGO: Gustavo Santaolalla’s eight-member band, Bajofondo, at the Highline Ballroom, 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. shows. Tickets $25.

GAY: San Francisco-based, New York-born cartoonist and performer Erika López brings her one-woman show, “The Welfare Queen,” to BAAD! 841 Barretto St., South Bronx, part of annual BlakTino Performance Series, 8 p.m. Tickets $15.

FLAMENCO: Alma Flamenca and the Andrea del Conte Danza España dance company tribute to the late dancer and choreographer del Conte at Thalia Spanish Theater, 41-17 Greenpoint Ave., Sunnyside, Queens, 8 p.m. Weekend shows, through Oct. 18. Tickets $25-$30.

THEATER: The Puerto Rico-founded theater company Nueva Escena debuts in New York with “Salsa Gorda,” about the salsero and photographer Daniel Cuevas, 8 p.m. At Pregones Theater, 571-575 Walton Ave., the Bronx. Also tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets $22.

FLAMENCO: Spanish guitar maestro Paco Peña and his Flamenco Dance Company present A Compás! at Town Hall, 8 p.m. Tickets $25-$45.

FILM: Mike Vargas and Moni Pineda’s documentary “Friends We Love,” which follows artists as they reveal what inspires them to create, with music by deejay Moni and performances by The Real Live Show, Sarah White and TK Wonder, at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, 6 p.m. Free.

EXHIBIT: Opening of Guatemalan Regina Jos Galindo’s installation work with one-day-only performance by the artist, 7 p.m., at Exit Art, 10th Ave. at 36th St. Free.

FLAMENCO: Jorge Navarro’s Pasión Flamenca presents “Por Callejeras,” at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, 8 p.m. Tickets $30-$42. Also tomorrow.

BOOKS: Fourth New York Book Fair Expo at Queens Museum of Art. Also tomorrow.

SATURDAY 3

THEATER: David Lamb’s “Plátanos & Collard Greens,” about black-Latino romantic relationships, at French Institute/Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St. between Park and Madison Aves., 8 p.m. Tickets $52.50. Also Oct. 10.

HIP HOP: Venezuelan group Dame Pa’ Matala, with opening by Rebel Diaz band, at the Marian Anderson Theater, Aaron Davis Hall, City College, 150 Convent Ave., 7 p.m. Free.

CHARANGA: José Fajardo y sus Estrellas with guests Sonny Bravo, Eddy Zervigón, Dave Valentín and others at 60 Days of Charanga, Hostos Community College, 7:30 p.m. Tickets $30-$50.

EVENT: Macy’s marks Hispanic Heritage Month with “Encanto Latino,” featuring recipes from chef George Duran of the Food Network show “Ham on the Street,” and table designs by Carolina Buia and Isabel González, authors of “Latin Chic,” at Macy’s Herald Square, The Cellar, 2 p.m. Free.

GAY: Performance artist Bruno Aponte presents Brunegro, his one-man show about queer Dominican Blackness, 8 p.m. at BAAD! 841 Barretto St., South Bronx, part of the annual BlakTino Performance Series. Tickets $15.

MONDAY 5

JAZZ: Gregorio Uribe Big Band, a 16-piece ensemble with a Colombian tint, at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., 8 p.m. Tickets, $15.

EXHIBIT: “Aquí! (Here),” a group exhibition featuring 15 local artists, at the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance gallery, 178 Bennett Ave. at 189th St., third floor. Through Dec. 30, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free.

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Friday, September 25, 2009

Stepsisters Mackenzie Phillips, Chynna Phillips to appear on Oprah together!

Stepsisters Mackenzie Phillips, Chynna Phillips to appear on Oprah together!

Chynna phillips

Mackenzie Phillips shocked everyone by confessing to a decade-long sexual relationship with her father, 60s musician John Phillips.

She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey show this week to talk about the affair and promote her new book, "High on Arrival. "

She was joined by her "One Day at a Time" costar and pal Valerie Bertinelli.

Usmagazine.com has now confirmed that Mac will be back on Oprah's show on Friday.

And she will be joined by her half-sister Chynna Phillips, who, by the way, has a brand new album to promote.

Nope, not making this up.

The buzz is that Mackenzie will appear via satellite on Friday; Chynna will be live in the studio,

Chynna has openly said that she believes her sister. But she also says the news sent her into a depression. "A part of me died when I found out."

Will you watch the show?

Wonder when Mackenzie's stepmom Michelle Phillips will be on Oprah's show to tell her side of the story? She's already denied Mackenzie's allegations and slammed her for soiling her father's legacy.

You know that's gotta be next week's show. This is getting better than Jerry Springer!

More Mackenzie Dish:


Photo: Getty Images

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg Hospitalized

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg Hospitalized

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was taken to the Washington Hospital Center Thursday evening after feeling ill in her Chambers earlier in the day, according to a statement issued by The Supreme Court.

AP

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized Thursday after becoming ill in her office at the court.

A statement from the court said the 76-year-old justice was taken to Washington Hospital Center at 7:45 p.m. EDT as a precaution.

During the day, Ginsburg had received an iron sucrose infusion to treat an iron deficiency that had been discovered in July, the statement said.

About an hour later, she "developed lightheadedness and fatigue," the statement said. She was found to have slightly low blood pressure, which the court said can occur after the type of treatment she had received.

Although an examination found her to be in stable health, she was given fluids and taken to the hospital as a precaution, the court said.

The July evaluation found "that she was in completely normal health with the exception of a low red blood cell count caused by deficiency of iron. Intravenous iron therapy was administered in a standard fashion," the court statement said.

Ginsburg underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in February but returned to work quickly.

Two months after her surgery, Ginsburg told law students at a symposium at Ohio State University that serving on the Supreme Court was "the best and the hardest job I've ever had." She said at the time that she wanted to match the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis, who served for more than two decades and retired at age 82.

After the retirement in January 2006 of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Ginsburg was the only woman on the nine-member court until Sonia Sotomayor joined the court last August.

Nominated by President Bill Clinton, Ginsburg took her seat on the Supreme Court on Aug. 10, 1993. She had been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1980.

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Monday, September 14, 2009

"Norma Rae" Inspiration Dies at 68

RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 14, 2009

"Norma Rae" Inspiration Dies at 68

Crystal Lee Sutton, Crusader for Unions Portrayed by Sally Field, Loses Fight to Brain Cancer in N.C.

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    • Textile factory worker Crystal Lee Sutton pauses during an interview in Los Angeles March 15, 1980. Sutton died Friday in Burlington, N.C., Friday. She was 68. As a representative of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile union, she struggled to organize workers at the J.P. Stevens company. The movie Photo

      Textile factory worker Crystal Lee Sutton pauses during an interview in Los Angeles March 15, 1980. Sutton died Friday in Burlington, N.C., Friday. She was 68. As a representative of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile union, she struggled to organize workers at the J.P. Stevens company. The movie "Norma Rae" was based on her story. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)

AP) Crystal Lee Sutton, whose fight to unionize Southern textile plants with low pay and poor conditions was dramatized in the film "Norma Rae," has died. She was 68.

Sutton died Friday in a hospice after a long battle with brain cancer, her son, Jay Jordan, said Monday.

"She fought it as long as she could and she crossed on over to her new life," he said.

Actress Sally Field portrayed a character based on Sutton in the movie and won a best-actress Academy Award.

Field said in a statement Sutton was "a remarkable woman whose brave struggles have left a lasting impact on this country and without doubt, on me personally. Portraying Crystal Lee Sutton in 'Norma Rae,' however loosely based, not only elevated me as an actress, but as a human being."

In 1973, Sutton was a 33-year-old mother of three earning $2.65 an hour folding towels at J.P. Stevens when a manager fired her for pro-union activity.

In a final act of defiance before police hauled her out, Sutton, who had worked at the plant for 16 years, wrote "UNION" on a piece of cardboard and climbed onto a table on the plant floor. Other employees responded by shutting down their machines.

Union organizers had targeted J.P. Stevens, then the country's second-largest textile manufacturer, because the industry was deeply entwined in Southern culture and spread across the region's small towns. However, North Carolina continues to have one of the lowest percentages of unionized workers in the country.

Bruce Raynor, president of Workers United and executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, worked with Sutton to organize the Stevens plants. In 1974, the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union won the right to represent 3,000 employees at seven Roanoke Rapids plants in northeastern North Carolina.

"Crystal was an amazing symbol of workers standing up in the South against overwhelming odds - and standing up and winning," Raynor said Monday. "The fact that Crystal was a woman in the '70s, leading a struggle of thousands of other textile workers against very powerful, virulently anti-union mill companies, inspired a whole generation of people - of women workers, workers of color and white workers."

Sutton's son said his mother kept a photo of Field in the movie's climactic scene on her living room wall at her home in Burlington, about 20 miles east of Greensboro. But despite what many people think, she got little profit from the movie or an earlier book written about her, he said.

"When they find out she lived very, very modestly, even poorly, in Burlington, they're surprised," he said.

Jordan said his mother spent years as a labor organizer in the 1970s. She later became a certified nursing assistant in 1988 but had not been able to work for several years because of illnesses.

"She never would have been rich. She would have given it to anyone she called the working class poor, people that were deprived," Jordan said.

Sutton donated her letters and papers to Alamance Community College in 2007. She said: "I didn't want them to go to some fancy university; I wanted them to go to a college that served the ordinary folks."
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Sunday, September 13, 2009

Michigan Mom Aimee Louise Sword Faces Trial for Incest With Son She Gave Up for Adoption

Police Say Sword Contacted Son, Now a Teenager, Over the Internet

By SARAH NETTER
Sept. 11, 2009

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A Michigan mother is facing a trial after being accused of having a summer romance with the teenage son she gave up for adoption.

Aimee Louise Sword
Police say Aimee Louise Sword, 35, had a sexual relationship with the son she gave up for adoption after reconnecting with him on the Internet.
(Courtesy Waterford Police Department)

Aimee Louise Sword, 35, who is free on bond after her arrest, was initially charged with three counts of felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct. A judge this week reduced the charges to one count, but police say she is accused of a "very serious crime."

Sword began a sexual relationship with her biological son in the summer of 2008 after reconnecting with him on the Internet, Waterford Township Police Sgt. Scott Good told ABCNews.com.

"She had given the child up early on in life for adoption," he said, adding that Sword's adoption agreement permitted limited contact with the boy.

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Good said police were notified about the alleged incestuous romance in the fall after being contacted by Child Protective Services.

After an investigation that resulted in the three-count warrant, Sword surrendered to police April 24. She was released a short time later on a $3,000 bond.

Sword's lawyer Kenneth Burch told ABCNews.com that his client has pleaded not guilty ahead of the pre-trial date set for Sept. 21.

"Anybody would be distraught and she is because of the allegations she is faced with," he said. "She's meeting this head on."

Burch would not go into detail about Sword or her life, but confirmed she has other children who have since been removed from the house by CPS. There were never any allegations of abuse involving the other children, he said.

Her ex-mother-in-law, before hanging up on ABCNews.com, said that she's "not interested in any interview, anything with my grandchildren."

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CANDIDATES FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY HOW ABOUT THE SCAM AFFECTING WOMEN STAGEHANDS AND THE RANK AND FILE?

District Attorney Candidates Talk Women’s Issues

By Christine Lin
Epoch Times Staff Sep 3, 2009
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Related articles: United States > New York City
District Attorney candidate Leslie Crocker Snyder (D) (Christine Lin/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—Candidates for Manhattan district attorney spoke on women's issues at a forum hosted by the National Organization for Women on Thursday. Here are the candidates:

District Attorney candidate Cyrus Vance Jr. (D) (Christine Lin/The Epoch Times)
District Attorney candidate Richard M. Aborn (Democratic and Working Families Party). (Christine Lin/The Epoch Times)
Leslie Crocker Snyder (D) is a lawyer and former judge. Having worked in the DA's office, she formed the Sex Crimes Prosecution Bureau. She ran for DA in 2005, but lost to incumbent Robert M. Morgenthau by a 16 percent margin.

Cyrus Vance Jr. (D) has the backing of Morgenthau. Vance is a former assistant district attorney in his office and the son of former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who served in the Carter administration.

Richard M. Aborn (Democratic and Working Families Party) is heavily involved in the gun control movement. The Brady Bill, which he supported, set tougher regulations on gun purchases. He has worked as assistant DA under Morgenthau, he focused mainly on street crimes such as homicides.

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Question: Often, rape by someone who the victim knows is treated as a misdemeanor while rape by a stranger is treated as a felony. How will you address the disparity between how the two are prosecuted?

Cy Vance Jr.: There needs to be an attitude shift among prosecutors, to not apply different standards to an acquaintance rape. It’s a matter of training and shift in attitude.

Leslie Cocker Snyder: In the past, assistant DA’s were scattered throughout trial courts and had to answer to different bosses. We need a real unit to be dedicated to addressing rape and sexual assault.

Richard Aborn: We need to work side by side with investigators and victims to develop critical relationships, and have women realize what their legal rights are.

---

Question: NYC is a major entry point for human trafficking, yet Manhattan has not made a single conviction of traffickers. How will the Manhattan DA catch up to other boroughs in this regard?

Cy Vance Jr.:It’s a matter of will and resources. If we have multiple convictions, that’s not progress. Pull the victims out to be witnesses so they can help us build cases.

Leslie Cocker Snyder: The victim is often reluctant to speak to come forth. Police need to speak to prostitutes to see if they have been trafficked. If they cooperate, their prostitution record should be expunged.

Richard Aborn: If we can investigate international white collar crime, then we can investigate sex trafficking. We should work with the NYS police to track trafficking routes.

---

Question: There wouldn’t be prostitution if not for the demand. Would you go after the johns?

Cy Vance Jr.: Yes.

Leslie Cocker Snyder: I would go after the johns especially if the victim is underage. Also will go after the pimps who profit.

Richard Aborn: Some men use travel agents in New York City to book sex tours. The threat of indictment could propel them to work with us.

---

Question: Prosecutors of domestic violence case often do not understand the cultural intricacies that complicate cases. How should we train assistant DA’s?

Cy Vance Jr.: Repeat misdemeanors should be treated as a felony. Manhattan needs a Family Justice Center like Brooklyn and Queens do.

Leslie Cocker Snyder: Every domestic violence case is a homicide waiting to happen. Prosecutors need to be trained in evidence-based prosecution, so that the case can go forth if the victim is unwilling to testify.

Richard Aborn: Training needs to be evidence based. For prevention, women need financial support, transitional housing, and psychological help. Children need early intervention, too.

---

Question: The public lacks information about the DA’s performance. How will you make the office more transparent?

Cy Vance Jr.: Address the disparity in numbers: Police reports on rape are far fewer than hospital records. The NYPD needs to write up the reports if they know about a case.

Leslie Cocker Snyder: Establish a bureau to check the work of prosecutors. Victims need to know where their cases are. A Special Victims Division will keep statistics on each bureau.

Richard Aborn: We need a system to publicly track stats on prosecutions, prevention, and DA spending. Long-term data can be useful in lobbying the State and even Congress in the efficacy of prevention versus incarceration.


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CLOONEY'S GORGEOUS FACE


Clooney, Reitman soar with 'Up in the Air'

Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:25pm EDT
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By Stephen Farber

TELLURIDE, Colo. (Hollywood Reporter) - Cynicism and sentiment have melded magically in movies by some of the best American directors, from Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder to Alexander Payne.

Jason Reitman mined the same territory in "Thank You for Smoking" and his smash hit, "Juno," and it's pleasing to report that he's taken another rewarding journey down this prickly path in his eagerly awaited new film, "Up in the Air."

Boasting one of George Clooney's strongest performances, the film seems like a surefire awards contender, and the buzz will attract a sizable audience, even though some viewers might be startled by the uncompromising finale. The Paramount release arrives later this year.

Reitman and co-writer Sheldon Turner embellish Walter Kirn's acclaimed novel about a man who spends much of his life in the air, traveling around the country to fire people for executives too gutless to do the dirty job themselves. The character is just about as unsavory as the corporate pimp played by Jack Lemmon in Wilder's "The Apartment." When a character begins as such a sleazeball, you know there must be a moral transformation lurking somewhere in the last reel. That redemption never quite arrives for Clooney's Ryan Bingham, which is one of the things that makes "Air" so bracing.

Before the movie plunges into deeper waters, it seduces us with some of the most darkly hilarious moments to grace the screen in years. Clooney's crack comic timing makes the most of Ryan's acrid zingers as he savors a life without the vaguest threat of commitment. Trouble arises when his boss hires a young dynamo, Natalie (Anna Kendrick), who has the idea of cutting costs by instituting a program of firing people over the Internet instead of in person. Ryan sees his footloose lifestyle threatened, but he is forced to take Natalie on a cross-country odyssey to train her in the niceties of delivering bad news deftly. The interplay between the world-weary Ryan and the naive Natalie makes for delicious comedy, and Kendrick plays her role smoothly.

There's also a wonderful performance by Vera Farmiga as Alex, a dynamo who clicks with Ryan because she's also seeking no-strings sex on the run. ("Think of me as you with a vagina," Alex tells Ryan helpfully.)

Eventually, Ryan begins to question the assumptions that have ruled his life. His encounters with Alex and Natalie threaten his complacency. We can't help worrying that the film may take a sentimental turn, but miraculously, it never does. A scene in which Ryan returns home for a family wedding and talks a reluctant groom (well played by Danny McBride) into going through with the nuptials is a beautifully modulated sequence that manages to be poignant without ever falling into slop.

Reitman is a rare director with heart as well as sardonic humor, but he always knows when to pull back. There is only one false note -- a montage sequence near the end in which several of the people fired by Ryan burble about their love for their families -- that simply restates the obvious. But if this tiny gaffe reveals a touch of insecurity on Reitman's part, the rest of the film is perfectly controlled.

The entire cast is splendid. A couple of "Juno" alumni pop up: Jason Bateman is the smarmy boss who makes Ryan look humane, and J.K. Simmons has a single scene that proves just how much a master actor can convey in two or three minutes of screen time. The razor-sharp editing by Dana Glauberman gives the film a breezy momentum even while it's delivering piercing social insights. Holding everything together is Clooney, who bravely exposes the character's ruthlessness while also allowing us to believe in his too-late awakening to the possibilities he's missed. It's rare for a movie to be at once so biting and so moving. If Ryan's future seems bleak, there's something exhilarating about a movie made with such clear-eyed intelligence.

(Editing by DGoodman at Reuters)

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TINA FEY WINS FOR PALIN MIMICRY RANK AND FILE WOMEN LOOSE FOR MIMICRY OF LOCAL ONE'S UNION DEMOCRACY

Fey an Emmy winner for Palin mimicry? You betcha

By SANDY COHEN (AP) – 1 hour ago

LOS ANGELES — Is Tina Fey an Emmy winner? You betcha. Fey received an Emmy Award on Saturday for her impersonation of Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live."

Accepting her trophy for best guest actress in a comedy, Fey thanked "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels and her parents, "who are lifelong Republicans, for their patience."

She was honored at the Creative Arts Primetime Emmys, which recognize technical and other achievements for the 2008-09 season and preceded next weekend's main ceremony. Fey has the chance for more awards: She could repeat last year's win as best actress in a comedy series for "30 Rock," and the show also could again claim top comedy honors.

Justin Timberlake was another "SNL" winner Saturday, honored as best guest actor in a comedy series.

On the drama side, Michael J. Fox won the guest actor award for his turn on "Rescue Me," and Ellen Burstyn was honored as best guest actress for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

"I always wanted one of these," Burstyn said, winning her first Emmy after being nominated five times.

Neither Timberlake nor Fox were on hand to accept.

Kathy Griffin was host of the nearly four-hour ceremony, her trademark outrageous humor intact with risque jokes and filmed bits.

An edited, shorter version of the ceremony will air Friday on E! at 1 p.m. EDT.

The top network winner was HBO with 16 trophies, followed by NBC with 11. Fox and ABC each won eight awards, with CBS, PBS and Cartoon Network each claiming six.

PBS' "Little Dorrit," an adaptation of the Dickens novel, was the most-honored program with four awards. Several shows, including the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and "American Idol," received three creative arts trophies.

Next Sunday's Emmy ceremony, with Neil Patrick Harris as host, will air on CBS.

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Tina Fey is seen backstage at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

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ANNIE LE AND OUR JOBS PENSIONS AND BENEFITS HAVE GONE MISSING

Officials find items possibly related to missing Yale student

September 12, 2009 By MATTHEW CHAYES. AND ANDREW STRICKLER

A sign posted by two

Photo credit: AP Photo/Thomas Cain | A sign posted by two Yale graduate students hangs in front of 10 Amistad Street, while police patrol the entrance to the building in New Haven, Conn., Saturday, Sept 12, 2009. The laboratory at 10 Amistad Street is the last place Annie Le, a Yale graduate student was seen, since her disappearance on the morning of September 8th. (AP Photo/Thomas Cain)

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Authorities Saturday found items that they said could be evidence in the case of a Yale University graduate student who disappeared days before her wedding in Syosset.

The news followed reports by a local newspaper, citing police sources, that bloody clothes and other evidence of a crime scene were found in a ceiling at a Yale building where Annie Le, 24, was last seen on surveillance video Tuesday morning.

Kim Mertz, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, would not directly address those reports at a campus news conference, but confirmed that "items that potentially could be evidence have been seized" and would be tested. "None have yet been associated with Annie Le at this time," she said.

"We are not in the position today to conclude whether this is a missing person's case or whether criminality is involved," Mertz said.

"I will categorically say a body has not been found," she said.

Investigators scoured the university research building Saturday, with dozens of officials going in and out of the lab on Amistad Street and searching it with German shepherds.

A person attending a science conference on campus said the investigation appeared to be concentrated on the lower level - the floor that housed the lab where Le had scheduled a 10 a.m. slot to do some work Tuesday, school officials said. Her roommate reported her missing Tuesday night when she did not return to their apartment.

Police have said that Le's fiance, Jonathan Widawsky of Huntington, a graduate physics student at Columbia University, is not considered a suspect and is cooperating with police.

A representative for North Ritz Club in Syosset, where the couple was to be wed Sunday, said the wedding has been canceled.

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Le used her university ID card to enter the building about 10 a.m. She left her purse, cell phone, credit cards and cash in her office in another Yale building about three blocks away.

Investigators continued reviewing surveillance video, using image enhancement software to see if they had missed the 4-foot-11, 90-pound Le leaving the building. Yale officials said about 70 cameras are mounted outside the building and an adjacent parking structure.

Yale Vice President Linda Lorimer said "there is no reason to believe" Le's disappearance had anything to do with her wedding and implored reporters to respect the families' privacy.

A billboard over I-91 and missing-person posters around campus and at a nearby methadone clinic show pictures of Le, including one of her entering the building on the morning she went missing.

The doctoral student in pharmacology, originally from Placerville, Calif., "has not been seen or heard from by family, co-workers and friends," according to the poster.

Another sign across the street from the lab building Saturday said: "Annie, we hope you are okay!!" It was signed "Yale grad students."

Yale is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Le's whereabouts. Anyone with information can call a 24-hour FBI hotline at 877-503-1950.

- With Alfonso A. Castillo and AP

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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

WAY TO GO DIANE! SARAH SAYS, I WANNA RUN FOR OFFICE!

Diane Sawyer to replace Charles Gibson as anchor of the ABC Evening News

By Cristina Kinon
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Wednesday, September 2nd 2009, 11:58 AM

Diane Sawyer will take over anchoring the ABC Evening News from Charles Gibson, who has decided to retire.
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Diane Sawyer will take over anchoring the ABC Evening News from Charles Gibson, who has decided to retire.

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ABC's "World News" anchor Charlie Gibson is retiring and will be replaced by Diane Sawyer.

"It has not been an easy decision to make," Gibson said in an e-mail to staffers.

"This has been my professional home for almost 35 years. And I love this news department, and all who work in it, to the depths of my soul."

Gibson, 66, replaced former "World News" anchors Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff in 2006. He will step down at the end of the year.

Sawyer, 63, currently anchors "Good Morning America."

ABC News President David Westin said in a separate e-mail to staff Wednesday that after several weeks of discussion, Gibson convinced him the move is what he wants.

"I respect his decision, just as I respect the enormous contribution he has made to ABC News through the years," Westin said.

Gibson revealed that he had originally planned to step down two years ago, "but with Peter [Jennings'] illness, Bob [Woodruff's] injuries, and Elizabeth [Vargas'] pregnancy, the job at 'World News' came open in May of 2006."

When he was asked to step in, Gibson said, "it was an honor to do so."

Of Gibson's replacement, Westin said: "Diane Sawyer is the right person to succeed Charlie and build on what he has accomplished.

"She has an outstanding and varied career in television journalism, beginning with her role as a State Department correspondent and continuing at '60 Minutes,' 'Primetime Live,' and most recently 'Good Morning America.'"

The move makes Sawyer only the second woman to solo anchor an evening newscast. Katie Couric has been at the "CBS Evening News" since Sept. 2006.

During his time at "World News," Gibson covered a wide range of stories, including the violence between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, the Virgina Tech shooting in 2007 and the historic 2008 presidential election.

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