Delta and Northwest airlines announced a $17.7 billion merger Monday night that will create the world's largest carrier -- headquartered in Atlanta with major hubs across the globe, including Asia and Europe.
The mega-airline, which will be called Delta, will have more than $35 billion in combined revenue and about 75,000 employees.
Officials with both airlines said there will be no layoffs of front-line employees nor immediate hub closings.
It is likely that the all-stock deal will unleash a series of other airline mergers that could be even larger, including a possible deal between United and Continental airlines.
"We believe that consolidation in the airline industry is inevitable, and we want to control our future," Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson said in a memo to employees. "Combining our companies creates an airline with the size, scale and global presence to weather economic downturns and compete long-term in the global marketplace."
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| News Sentinel, April 8, 2008
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April 9, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Knoxville, Tennessee newspaper, the
News Sentinel:
Pieces of 8 uncovered by Lady VolsBy DAN FLESER
TAMPA, Fla. -- Tennessee spread its wings and soared to the grandest heights Tuesday night.
"That's what's called the metamorphosis of a basketball team,'' UT assistant coach Dean Lockwood said. "The cocoon broke and the butterfly was in full bloom, colors flying.
Before a crowd of 21,655 at the St. Pete Times Forum and an ESPN national television audience, the Lady Vols emerged as the team they intended to be all along: Defending national champions.
The emphasis was on defending.
The Lady Vols parlayed a ferocious effort into a 64-48 victory over Stanford, winning the program's second consecutive national championship and the eighth overall.
The feeling was fresh for senior Alberta Auguste, who was holding the national championship trophy in her hands afterward in the locker room.
"It's like a new-born baby,'' she said.
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| San Jose Mercury News, April 9, 2008
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April 9, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the
San Jose Mercury News:
Killion: For Stanford, a dream season nonethelessBy ANN KILLION
TAMPA, Fla. -- The best player to wear a Stanford uniform ended her career Tuesday night. Candice Wiggins left the national championship game with 1:13 remaining, was composed on the bench during the waning seconds of Tennessee's 64-48 victory, and was cool and collected at the interview podium.
Until she was asked about how it will feel to be drafted by the WNBA today. Then Wiggins covered her face and broke into tears. Wiggins' exciting future is about to begin. But the end of her sweet Stanford experience was too much to bear.
"We came up short, but that shouldn't kill the journey," Wiggins said. "Our journey was just beautiful. It's why you play the sport of basketball. I couldn't ask for a better senior season."
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| Lawrence Journal-World, April 8, 2008
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April 8, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the Kansas newspaper, the
Lawrence Journal-World:
Keegan: Kansas' best -- everBy TOM KEEGAN
San Antonio -- The shot was in the air as the game clock ticked down to 2.1 seconds. The right guy shot it. Just another big shot in a lifetime full of them for Mario Chalmers, who witnessed a Final Four in the same building in 2004. It misses and it goes down as another near miss for another outstanding Kansas team.
It swished, of course. Kansas dominated the overtime, defeating Memphis, 75-68, Monday night for the national title. Now it can be said: Bill Self''s 2007-2008 Kansas basketball team (in every sense of the word) is the greatest in the history of the storied program.
It didn't come without first dragging such a passionate fan base through agony, because that's just the way it works. Down nine points with less than two minutes remaining, the team with nine lives had one left.
These Self-made champions, authors of cardiac comebacks before but covering so much ground with so little time left, brought Kansas its third NCAA championship and fifth national title, counting 1922 and '23, when the Helms Foundation awarded them the honor in pre-tournament days.
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| The Wichita Eagle, April 8, 2008
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April 8, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in
The Wichita Eagle:
KU beats Memphis for national titleBy SCOTT PASKE
SAN ANTONIO -- It's a leap year, right?
That's always a good sign for the Kansas Jayhawks when a national basketball championship is on the line.
The storied program that won NCAA titles with stars Clyde Lovellette in 1952 and Danny Manning in 1988 found some new heroes rise out of a gloomy situation Monday night at the Alamodome.
It started with Mario Chalmers, who hit a three-pointer that helped KU complete a rally from a nine-point deficit and forced the seventh overtime game in NCAA championship history. Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush took it from there, scoring the first baskets of the extra period that spurred the Jayhawks to a 75-68 victory and set off a confetti-showered celebration in front of 43,257 fans.
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| The Commercial Appeal, April 8, 2008
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April 8, 2008: A Page One column in the Memphis, Tennessee newspaper,
The Commercial Appeal:
HeartbreakBy TOM CHARLIER
SAN ANTONIO -- Right up until the bitter end, they had to believe.
Right up until Kansas guard Sherron Collins sank two late free throws and there was nothing left but the awarding of the trophy, Memphis fans had to believe their Tigers could pull off one more dazzling play, one more escape.
But nothing, surely not Monday night's 75-68 overtime loss in the NCAA Championship Game, could dim the legacy of a Tiger team that already had secured its place in the memories of Memphis fans.
Years from now, those fans will recall Joey Dorsey's blocks and Derrick Rose's drives the same way others conjure images of Larry Finch's jumpers and Keith Lee's dunks.
They'll remember how -- on the weekend of the grim 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination -- some young men united a city.
This, they'll say, was a Tiger team for the ages.
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| The Washington Post, April 8, 2008
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April 8, 2008: An excerpt from a story in
The Washington Post:
2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners By The Associated Press
Public Service: The Washington Post for exposing the mistreatment of wounded veterans at
Walter Reed Hospital.
Breaking News Reporting: The Washington Post staff for its coverage of the
Virginia Tech massacre.
Investigative Reporting: Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune Staff. The Times won for stories on
toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China; the Tribune for exposing
faulty regulation of toys, car seats and cribs.
Explanatory Reporting: Amy Harmon of The New York Times for her examination of the dilemmas and ethical issues that accompany
DNA testing.
Local Reporting: David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for stories on the skirting of tax laws to pad
pensions of county employees.
National Reporting: Jo Becker and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post for their exploration of Vice President
Dick Cheney's influence on national policy.
International Reporting: Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post for his series on
private security contractors in Iraq that operate outside most of the laws governing American forces.
Feature Writing: Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post for chronicling the
violinist Joshua Bell as he played beautiful music in a subway station filled with unheeding commuters.
Commentary: Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post for
columns exploring the nation's complex economic ills.
Criticism:
Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe for his command of the visual arts, from film and photography to painting.
Editorial Writing: No award.
Editorial Cartooning:
Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily for what the judges called his "provocative cartoons."
Photography: Adrees Latif of Reuters for his
photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar.
Feature Photography: Preston Gannaway of the Concord (N.H.) Monitor for her chronicle of a family
coping with a parent's terminal illness.
(See also: Poynter's "Anatomy of a Pulitzer: Q&A with Hull and Priest" by Al Tompkins) _________________________________________________
| The Daily Telegraph, April 7, 2008
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April 7, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the London, England newspaper,
The Daily Telegraph:
Olympic torch relay nearly abandonedBy RICHARD EDWARDS AND DAVID THOMAS
The Olympic torch relay through London was almost abandoned as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police amid ugly and chaotic scenes.
The Daily Telegraph has learnt that organisers, including Chinese officials, discussed "pulling out" of the day-long relay after just a few hours, as police fought running battles with wave after wave of anti-China protesters.
Thirty-seven people were arrested, mostly for breaching the peace and public order offences, in what had officially been described as a "journey of harmony" to celebrate this year's Beijing Olympics. Some of the high-profile sports stars who ran the relay, which was supposed to be a showcase for British sport, branded it "a national disgrace".
Throughout the 31-mile route, campaigners protesting against China's crackdown on pro-independence activists in Tibet and its human rights record, broke from the crowds and charged towards the flame.
(See also: Monday online story about Olympic torch relay in Paris, "Olympic torch extinguished amid Paris protests." ) _______________________________________________
| The Commercial Appeal, April 4, 2008
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April 4, 2008: An excerpt from an
editorial in the Memphis, Tennessee newspaper,
The Commercial Appeal:
Striving to reach the goals MLK setDr. King's death was the stuff of mythology, but he was a real man who still challenges society to change Out of no disrespect for the Christian tradition, a disciple of the late
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. refers to Memphis as if it were Dr. King's Gethsemane, the place where Jesus and his disciples prayed together after the Last Supper.
Reflecting on his experience with King after the passage of 40 years, Jesse Jackson, who was with King when he was assassinated outside his room at the Lorraine Motel on the evening of
April 4, 1968, remembers a weary leader.
He remembers a somber, reflective man who seemed to be more aware than those around him on the eve of his assassination of the dangers that he faced -- so much so that he had to be coaxed into delivering what came to be known as the "mountaintop" speech at Mason Temple.
The speech, the last of his career, foreshadowed his death and was inflected with such pathos that it made men cry.
King's martyrdom in the cause of civil rights was so profound that followers like Jackson, a minister by vocation, instinctively reach for Biblical metaphors to describe what King meant to them.
The mythological dimension, however, only goes so far to explain why we pause every April 4 to remember him.
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| Asheville Citizen-Times, March 28, 2008
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March 28, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the North Carolina newspaper, the
Asheville Citizen-Times:
Presidential campaigns draw crowds in WNCBy JORDAN SCHRADER
A visit today from former President Clinton could mean the Democrats racing for the White House aren't far behind.
If the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton winds through the mountains, it would offer a rare chance for Western North Carolina to be ground zero in presidential politics.
....Some of the presidential candidates who campaigned in Western North Carolina:
Sept. 16, 1896: William Jennings Bryan made a speech in Asheville during his first of three presidential bids. He came shortly after making his "Cross of Gold" speech to oppose the gold standard that secured him the Democratic nomination. He was defeated by William McKinley.
1912: Former President Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning on the Bull Moose ticket, spoke from the back of a train to a crowd at the Southern Railway station. He later lost to Woodrow Wilson.
Sept. 9-10, 1936:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed overnight at the Grove Park Inn before addressing a crowd at McCormick Field. His motorcade drove through the Great Smoky Mountains to Asheville, then through Lake Lure the next day on the way to Charlotte. He would win re-election....
(See also: Poynter's Republican & Democratic Convention History 1856-2008) ______________________________________________
| Asahi Shimbun, March 26, 2008
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March 26, 2008: The Tokyo, Japan newspaper,
Asahi Shimbun, reports on U.S. Major League Baseball's 2008 season opener between Boston and Oakland. Here is an excerpt from an updated story on
The Boston Globe Web site:
Red Sox settle for split after Harden silences batsRamirez's 491st career homer the only offense for Boston By GORDON EDES
TOKYO -- Days before his start against the Red Sox, Oakland pitcher Rich Harden bought an ancient samurai sword. The purchase was purely for recreational purposes -- Harden is a collector -- though given the way the Sox have treated him in the past, any inclination to arm himself was defensible.
Harden didn't need any accessories today. His strong right shoulder, finally healthy after two years of assorted miseries, was sufficient to bend the Sox to his will in a 5-1 Oakland win that sent both teams back across the Pond with a split of this two-game exercise to create some global warming for
Major League Baseball.
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| Die Tageszeitung, March 25, 2008
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March 25, 2008: The Berlin, Germany newspaper,
Die Tageszeitung, reports on the pro-Tibet Olympic torch protest in Greece. Here is an excerpt from a story on the
BBC Web site:
Olympic torch lit despite protest Protesters from media rights group Reporters Without Borders broke through the cordon of 1,000 police officers in Olympia as China's envoy spoke.
Activists had vowed to protest over the violence in and around Tibet.
The torch will now be carried in an around-the-world relay through 20 countries, before arriving in Beijing for the start of the Games on 8 August.
As Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee, spoke ahead of the torch lighting, three men broke into the ceremony venue.
One ran up behind him attempting to display a black flag depicting the Olympic rings made from handcuffs.
The men were from the France-based media rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders, or RSF), which has called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the games.
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| Rocky Mountain News, March 24, 2008
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March 24, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the
Rocky Mountain News:
Bomb kills 4 US soldiers in Baghdad, raising overall US death toll in war to 4,000By ROBERT H. REID (Associated Press)
BAGHDAD -- A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.
The grim milestone came on the same day that rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone, underscoring the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups despite an overall lull in violence.
A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad soldier also was wounded in the roadside bombing, which struck the soldiers' patrol vehicle about 10 p.m. in southern Baghdad, according to a statement.
Identities of those killed were withheld pending notification of relatives.
The 4,000 figure is according to an Associated Press count that includes eight civilians who worked for the Department of Defense.
Last year, the U.S. military deaths spiked along with the Pentagon's "surge" -- the arrival of more than 30,000 extra troops trying to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas. The mission was generally considered a success, but the cost was evident as soldiers pushed into Sunni insurgent strongholds and challenged Shiite militias.
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| Link, March 20, 2008
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March 20, 2008Page One from the Hampton Roads, Virginia newspaper,
Link, which is a publication of
The Virginian-Pilot. The Virginian-Pilot Web site maintains a page honoring Hampton Roads residents who have died serving in Iraq. It is part of their coverage on the
Iraq War.
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| Winston-Salem Journal, March 19, 2008
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March 19, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the
Winston-Salem Journal:
Will it be another five or even more?By The Associated Press
WEST POINT, N.Y. -- A father in the American heartland agonizes as his son prepares for a second tour in Iraq. Baghdad morgue workers wash bodies for burial after a suicide attack. Army cadets study the shifting tactics of Iraqi insurgents for a battle they will inherit.
On the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, these snapshots of gnawing fear, raw violence and youthful resolve raise a single question.
How much longer?
Most likely, the war will go on for years, say many commanders and military analysts. In fact, it's possible to consider this just the midpoint. The U.S. combat role in Iraq could have another five years ahead -- or maybe more, depending on the resilience of the insurgency and the U.S. political will to maintain the fight.
"Four years, optimistically" before the Pentagon can begin a significant troop withdrawal from Iraq, predicted Eric Rosenbach, the executive director of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School, "and more like seven or eight years" until Iraqi forces can handle the bulk of their own security.
What that means depends largely on your vantage point.
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| Diario do Comercio, March 18, 2008
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March 18, 2008
Page One financial news from the Sao Paulo, Brazil newspaper,
Diario do Comercio
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| The Telegraph, March 17, 2008
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March 17, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the Calcutta, India newspaper,
The Telegraph:
Riots roll beyond Tibet(Written with agency reports)March 16: Violence spilled over from Tibet into neighbouring provinces today as Tibetans defied a crackdown and China spoke of a "people's war" to crush the protest.
Protests were reported in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. All are home to Tibetan populations.
The demonstrations came after five days of protests in Lhasa escalated into violence on Friday with Buddhist monks and others torching police cars and shops in the fiercest challenge to Beijing's rule over the region in two decades.
As the government's Monday deadline for the protesters to surrender approached, China lapsed into prose laced with customary pyrotechnics.
"We must wage a people's war to beat splittism and expose and condemn the malicious acts of these hostile forces and expose the hideous face of the Dalai Lama group to the light of day," political and security chiefs in Tibet were quoted as saying.
The details emerging from witness accounts and government statements suggested Beijing was preparing a methodical campaign -- one that if carefully modulated would minimise bloodshed and avoid wrecking Beijing's grand plans for the Olympics.
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| The New York Times, March 13, 2008
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March 13, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in
The New York Times:
Felled by Scandal, Spitzer Says Focus Is on His Family By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI and DANNY HAKIM
Gov.
Eliot Spitzer, whose rise to political power as a fierce enforcer of ethics in public life was undone by revelations of his own involvement with prostitutes, resigned on Wednesday, becoming the first New York governor to leave office amid scandal in nearly a century.
The resignation will be effective on Monday at noon. Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson, a state legislator for 22 years and the heir to a Harlem political dynasty, will be sworn in as New York's 55th governor, making him the state's first black chief executive.
Mr. Spitzer announced he was stepping down at a grim appearance at his Midtown Manhattan office, less than 48 hours after it emerged that he had been intercepted on a federal wiretap confirming plans to meet a call girl from a high-priced prostitution service in Washington, leaving the public stunned and angered and bringing business in the State Capitol to a halt.
With his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, at his side, Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, said he would leave political life to concentrate on healing himself and his family.
"Over the course of my public life, I have insisted -- I believe correctly -- that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct," he said. "I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."
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| The Natchez Democrat, March 12, 2008
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March 12, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the Mississippi newspaper,
The Natchez Democrat:
Obama, McCain win MississippiBy The Associated Press
JACKSON (AP) -- Barack Obama coasted to victory in Mississippi's Democratic primary Tuesday, latest in a string of racially polarized presidential contests across the Deep South and a final tune-up before next month's high-stakes race with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania.
Obama was winning roughly 90 percent of the black vote but only about one-quarter of the white vote, extending a pattern that carried him to victory in earlier primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.
His triumph seemed unlikely to shorten a Democratic marathon expected to last at least six more weeks -- and possibly far longer -- while Republicans and their nominee-in-waiting, Sen. John McCain, turn their attention to the fall campaign.
"Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country," Maggie Williams, Clinton's campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his victory.
"I'm confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified," Obama said as he collected his victory.
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| Apple Daily, March 10, 2008
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March 10, 2008Front page baseball from the Taipei, Taiwan newspaper,
Apple Daily.
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| The News & Observer, March 7, 2008
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March 7, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper,
The News & Observer:
Page One Photo Caption:
This photo -- displaying thoughts Eve Carson scribbled on her palm as part of an art project called 'Why Do You Do What You Do?' -- was taken Monday. 'I want any excuse to work with my classmates (and help them do what they want to do ... because that's what I wanted to do),' she wrote. University of North Carolina student leaders wrote their responses to the question on their palms because hands are symbolic of leadership. 'Carolina, ... the whole world, has lost a lot'By ANNE BLYTHE and CHERYL JOHNSTON SADGROVE
Eve Carson, with her top-notch grades, charisma and drive to help others, led a life bright with possibilities.
What escaped her was time.
Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president found shot to death early Wednesday morning in a quiet, wooded Chapel Hill neighborhood, was only 22. With no ID on her and a scant police description, she was cloaked in anonymity almost a mile from the campus where she was admired by many.
On Thursday, as the somber news spread through Chapel Hill and beyond,
students struggled for words. UNC leaders grappled with grief.
"She had a level of commitment, passion, caring for people, that was extraordinarily rare in a person of any age." said Roger Perry, chairman of the UNC-CH Board of Trustees. "She was a person who, in my mind, was destined for great things. Not only has Carolina lost a lot, humankind, the whole world, has lost a lot."
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| The Plain Dealer, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)
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| Houston Chronicle, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008Houston Chronicle _______________________________________________
| Red Eye, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008Red Eye (Chicago)
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| The Providence Journal, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008The Providence Journal ______________________________________________
| The Burlington Free Press, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008The Burlington Free Press (Vermont)
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| Sun Herald, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the Biloxi, Mississippi newspaper, the
Sun Herald:
Favre makes surprise decisionBy JIM MASHEK
In the end, Brett Favre was on no one's timetable but his own.
The Green Bay Packers' legendary quarterback, the Coast's most celebrated athletic figure ever, has decided to retire.
Few of us saw this one coming.
Favre guided the Packers to within an eyelash of the Super Bowl in his 17th NFL season, a couple of years after his performance dictated maybe it was time to hang 'em up. The former Hancock North Central star, who learned the game from his dad, his high school coach, wanted to keep playing.
So he did.
That's what separates Favre from his peers. He kept playing. Injuries, Father Time, family tragedy, it seemed almost nothing could stop him. Once he succeeded Dan Majkowski as the Packers' quarterback, he never missed a start. Never. That's the record that means the most to him. That's the record that showed how much his teammates could count on him.
That's the record that will pretty much define his career.
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| Journal Sentinel, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008: An excerpt from a
story in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin newspaper, the
Journal Sentinel:
Clock runs out
Retirement surprises Packers, fans Yet Sunday after Sunday, season after season, fans woke up and Brett Favre was still quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Over a 16-year period he wove himself into the fabric of this state like no other athlete, and for the 5,867 days since his arrival Feb. 10, 1992, there was rarely any doubt where he would be on opening day.
Children grew into adults, adults watched their hair turn gray, yet Brett Favre remained the quarterback.
Until Tuesday. . . .
Brett Favre's singular career as the Green Bay Packers' quarterback for 16 seasons officially ended this morning.
The Packers announced the sure first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer's decision a little before 10 a.m., following numerous reports Favre had informed coach Mike McCarthy of his decision on Monday night.
Favre's decision ends one of the most successful eras in Packers history and the 17-year career of one of the NFLÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¢â€Å?Ã,¢s best-ever players ÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¯Ã,¿Ã,Â?€Ãf¯Ã,¿Ã,Â? and probably the greatest player in the teamÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¢â€Å?Ã,¢s storied 89-year history.
During the Favre era, the Packers won their first Super Bowl since the Vince Lombardi era, had the NFLÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¢â€Å?Ã,¢s best record (160-93) and made 11 playoff appearances. He also is the first and only player to win three consecutive NFL Most Valuable Player awards.
He retires holding all of the NFL's major career passing records, including touchdown passes, passing yards and completions, as well as possibly the most impressive individual career record of all: consecutive starts by a quarterback, at 253.
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