The Pistons gave up All-Star point guard and former NBA finals MVP Chauncey Billups and top reserve Antonio McDyess.

The trade was confirmed by a basketball official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.

Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg declined to comment, and messages were left for a Nuggets spokesman as well as for an agent representing Billups and McDyess.

The blockbuster deal comes two games into the season for Detroit. The Pistons have been a model of consistency in recent years, but they were determined to change their core following a third straight exit from the Eastern Conference finals last summer.

The Pistons play at Charlotte Monday night. The Bobcats are coached by Larry Brown, who led Billups and the Pistons to the 2004 NBA title and also guided the Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers to a spot in the finals in 2001.

Billups returns to familiar surroundings -- he was born in Denver and played in college at Colorado. McDyess also will be enjoying a homecoming of sorts, having been a Nugget from 1995-97 and 1998-02.

Monday, November 3, 2008
Hansbrough tops AP preseason All-Americans for third straight year
Associated Press

It's no surprise  Tyler Hansbrough  made The Associated Press' preseason All-America team -- this is his record third straight year as its leading vote-getter. For the first time, however, the North Carolina forward was a unanimous selection.

Joining Hansbrough on the team Monday were UCLA guard  Darren Collison, also a repeat from last year's preseason team, Davidson guard  Stephen Curry, Notre Dame forward  Luke Harangody  and Oklahoma forward  Blake Griffin.

Hansbrough, a 6-foot-9 senior and the reigning national player of the year, was placed on all 72 ballots by the same media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Hansbrough missed being a unanimous pick last season by one vote, and he fell seven votes short as a sophomore.

The preseason team was first selected before the 1986-87 season. The last unanimous pick was Duke guard Jason Williams in 2001-02, and the last repeat selection was Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves in 1999-00.

Hansbrough averaged 22.6 points and 10.6 rebounds in leading the Tar Heels to a school-record 36 wins and the Final Four last season. He will miss about two weeks of practice after being diagnosed last week with a stress reaction in his right shin.

"Of course, we are all disappointed for Tyler and our team, but everybody on the roster has a chance to do a little more and play a little better to help make up for the loss of the national player of the year," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

Hansbrough has played in all 108 games in his first three seasons and he did not miss a practice his first two years and only one as a junior.

Hansbrough was a second-team All-America after his sophomore season and was a unanimous pick after last season. He is the first national player of the year to return to school since Shaquille O'Neal at LSU in 1991.

"To no one's surprise Tyler didn't rest on his previous accomplishments," Williams said. "He worked hard in the offseason to become an even better player. He has grown so much as a person and a player throughout his career and it has been a joy to watch."

Curry, who led Davidson's surprising run to the regional finals of last season's NCAA tournament, was second in the voting with 66. Curry averaged 32 points and was 23-of-51 from 3-point range during the tournament run despite seeing defenses aimed at stopping the slender guard. He averaged 25.9 points for the season and his contribution to the team should change some this season with the graduation of point guard Jason Richards, who led the nation in assists.

The 6-8 Harangody, who was named on 58 ballots, was the Big East player of the year last season after averaging 20.4 points and 10.6 rebounds. His inside presence allowed the Fighting Irish to average 79 points, tied for the No. 1 spot in the conference.

Collison, a third-team All-America selection after leading the Bruins to a third straight Final Four appearance last season, received 46 votes. The 6-1 senior averaged 14.5 points and 3.8 assists last season, and he will combine with  Josh Shipp  to give UCLA one of the nation's top backcourts this season.

Griffin, who received 45 votes, surprised many when he decided to return to the Sooners for his sophomore season. The 6-10, 250-pound Griffin averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds last season in leading Oklahoma through a rough Big 12 schedule and into the NCAA tournament.

Arizona State sophomore  James Harden, with 25, was the only other player named on more nine ballots.

Last year's preseason team was Hansbrough, Collison, Roy Hibbert of Georgetown, Chris Lofton of Tennessee and Drew Neitzel of Michigan State. Hibbert was a second-team selection after the season and Lofton was on the third team.

Diana Levine Before The Court This Morning

Posted by Jane Akre
Monday, November 03, 2008 11:03 AM EST

It is an issue that is discussed behind law school doors, but it is an issue that citizens in a democracy need to understand.

NPR, National Public Radio, provides one of the best explanations of the Diana Levine case before the court this morning and if you think some obscure legal notions have nothing to do with you - think again.

Basically the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, will render the final decision on whether corporations that make devices and products we use every day have immunity from prosecution, if those products harm us. 

That is the far reaching implication. Wyeth, the drug company that brought the issue to the high court, says the decision will just affect Wyeth and Levine, a departure from what the company said in its legal brief  to the high court.

Injuryboard has provided extensive coverage of Diana Levine and the issue of federal pre-emption. 

Here are the basics to consider.

John Adams, one of our founding fathers writes in 1774, “Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and clothed like swine and hounds.”

In other words, being able to take a defective product to trial is an important American right. (Adams is also referring to the court system to right any wrong, such as being accused of a crime when you are innocent).

Diana Levine, a Vermont musician lost part of her right arm after a botched drug injection. The drug, Phenergan, is made by Wyeth and nowhere on its label does it say it should not be administered by IV push, a rather forceful way to inject medication. In this case, the IV push punctured the vein and caused her arm to turn gangrenous.

Levine, and her attorneys say that Wyeth should have carried the warning against IV push on its label. 

Her story convinced a Vermont jury that awarded her $6.7 million. Wyeth appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, which upheld the jury award.

Not satisfied, Wyeth took the issue before the court. Many eyes are watching their argument.

Basically, Wyeth says its hands are tied when it comes to any label changes. The Food and Drug Administration must decide on label changes, therefore consumers should not be able to sue under state law.

Even FDA officials of late, as well as medical editors of the New England Journal of Medicine,have stated that the FDA is not capable of guaranteeing the safety of drugs. 

There are too many drugs approved; often drug makers do no disclose all adverse findings in bringing a drug to the FDA to market; and the majority of the post-marketing negative reports are issued to the drug companies, therefore  they  have the better vantage point when it comes to label changes and formulation changes to make drugs and devices safer. 

Even past FDA regulators, such as David Kessler, say that lawsuits are a vital part of the balance of issuing new drugs and consumer safety.   

Vermont and 46 states are urging the court to uphold the Vermont Supreme Court ruling favoring Levine and consumers rights to sue. 

Diana Levine, meanwhile still hasn’t seen a dime. Levine, who still lives in Marshfield, Vermont, survives on Social Security disability and has to play a guitar with the help of her sister strumming the strings. 

Midday & Evening

** until 11-4-08 **

005, 105, 205, 305, 405, 505, 605, 705, 805, 905

308, 318, 328, 338, 348, 358, 368, 378, 388, 398

Monday 11-3-08

910, 264, 263, 600, 378, 281, 624, 489, 888

137, 740, 804, 829, 1026, 1387, 3305, 4807

Bush team rushes environment policy changes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As the U.S.  presidential candidates  sprint toward the finish line, the  Bush administration  is also sprinting to enact  environmental policy changes  before leaving power.

Whether it's getting wolves off the  Endangered Species List, allowing  power plants  to operate near national parks, loosening regulations for  factory farm waste  or making it easier for mountaintop coal-mining operations, these proposed changes have found little favor with environmental groups.

The one change most environmentalists want, a mandatory program to cut climate-warming  greenhouse gas emissions, is not among these so-called "midnight regulations."

Bureaucratic calendars make it virtually impossible that any U.S. across-the-board action will be taken to curb  global warming  in this administration, though bothRepublican John McCain  and  Democrat Barack Obama  have promised to address it if they win Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.

Even some free-market organizations have joined conservation groups to urge a moratorium on last-minute rules proposed by the Interior Department and theEnvironmental Protection Agency, among others.

"The Bush administration has had eight years in office and has issued more regulations than any administration in history," said Eli Lehrer of the  Competitive Enterprise Institute. "At this point, in the current economic climate, it would be especially harmful to push through ill-considered regulations in the final days of the administration."

John Kostyack of the  National Wildlife Federation, which joined Lehrer's group to call for a ban on these last-minute rules, said citizens are cut out of the process, allowing changes in U.S. law that the public opposes, such as rolling back protections under the  Endangered Species Act.

WHAT'S THE RUSH?

The Bush team has urged that these regulations be issued no later than Saturday, so they can be put in effect by the  time President George W. Bush  leaves office on  January 20.

If they are in effect then, it will be hard for the next administration to undo them, and in any case, this may not be the  top priority  for a new president, said Matt Madia of OMB Watch, which monitors the  White House Office of Management and Budget, through which these proposed regulations must pass.

"This is typical," Madia said of the administration's welter of eleventh-hour rules. "It's a natural reaction to knowing that you're almost out of power."

Industry is likely to benefit if Bush's rules on the environment become effective, Madia said.

"Whether it's the electricity industry or the mining industry or the agriculture industry, this is going to remove government restrictions on their activity and in turn they're going to be allowed to pollute more and that ends up harming the public," Madia said in a telephone interview.

What is unusual is the speedy trip some of these environmental measures are taking through the process.

For example, one Interior Department rule that would erode protections for endangered species in favor of mining interests drew more than 300,000 comments from the public, which officials said they planned to review in a week, a pace that Madia called "pretty ludicrous."

Why the rush? Because rules only go into effect 30 to 60 days after they are finalized, and if they are not in effect when the next president takes office, that chief executive can decline to put them into practice -- as Bush did with many rules finalized at the end of the Clinton administration.

White House spokesman  Tony Fratto  denied the Bush team was cramming these regulations through in a hasty push.

Fratto discounted reports "that we're trying to weaken regulations that have a business interest," telling  White House  reporters last week the goal was to avoid the flood of last-minute rules left over from the Clinton team.

There is at least one  Bush administration  environmental proposal that conservation groups welcome: a plan to create what would be the world's largest marine wildlife sanctuary in the  Pacific Ocean. That could go into effect  January 20.

'Tis the season for tricking voters

By DEBORAH HASTINGS –  1 hour ago

In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.

The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.

Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.

Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.

In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.

"He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter," said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. "He totally, totally scared the heck out of her."

In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4," said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake."

Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities."

The Obama campaign and civil rights advocacy groups have signed up millions of new voters for this presidential race. In Ohio alone, some 600,000 have submitted new voter registration cards.

Across the country, many of these first-time voters are young and strong Obama supporters. Many are also black and Hispanic.

Activist groups say it is this fresh crop of ballot-minded citizens that makes some Republicans very nervous. And they say they expect the dirty tricks to get dirtier in final hours before Tuesday.

"Oh, there's plenty of time for things to get ugly," said Zachary Stalberg, president of The Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based government watchdog group that is nonpartisan.

Other reports of intimidation efforts in the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania include leaflets taped to picnic benches at Drexel University, warning students that police would be at the polls on Tuesday to arrest would-be voters with prior criminal offenses.

In his Jewish neighborhood, Stalberg said, fliers were recently left claiming Obama was more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israel, and showed a photograph of him speaking in Germany.

"It shows up between the screen door and the front door in the middle of the night," Stalberg said. "Why couldn't someone knock on the door and hand that to me in the middle of the day? In a sense, it's very smartly done. The message gets through. It's done carefully enough that people might read it."

Such tactics are common, and are often impossible to trace. Robo-calls, in which automated, bogus phone messages are sent over and over, are very hard to trace to their source, say voting advocates. E-mails fall into the same category.

In Nevada, for example, Latino voters said they had received calls from people describing themselves as Obama volunteers, urging them to cast their ballot over the phone.

The calls were reported to Election Protection, a nonprofit advocacy group that runs a hot line for election troubles. The organization does not know who orchestrated them.

"The Voting Rights Act makes it a crime to misled and intimidate voters," said McDonald. "If you can find out who's doing it, those people should be prosecuted. But sometimes it's just difficult to know who's doing what. Some of it's just anonymous."

Trying to mislead voters is nothing new.

"We see this every year," said Jonah Goldman of the advocacy group Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "It all happens around this time when there's too much other stuff going on in the campaigns, and it doesn't get investigated."

In 2006, automated phone calls in the final days leading to the federal election wrongly warned voters they would not be allowed to vote without a photo ID. In Colorado and Virginia, people reported receiving calls that told them their registrations had expired and they would be arrested if they showed up to vote.

The White House contest of 2004 was marked by similar deceptions. In Milwaukee, fliers went up advising people "if you've already voted in any election this year, you can't vote in the presidential election." In Pennsylvania, a letter bearing what appeared to be the McCandless Township seal falsely proclaimed that in order to cut long voting lines, Republicans would cast ballots on Nov. 2 and Democrats would vote on Nov. 3.

E-mail assaults have become increasingly popular this year, keeping pace with the proliferation of blogging and Obama's massive online campaign efforts, according to voting activists.

"It is newer and more furious than it ever has been before," Goldman said.

And Republicans are not exempt. "Part of it is that election campaigns are more online than ever before," said Goldman. "During the primaries, a lot of Web sites went up that seemed to be for (GOP candidate Rudy) Giuliani, but actually were attack sites."

New York City's former mayor and his high-profile colleagues Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney were also targeted in fake Internet sites that featured "quotes" from the candidates espousing support for extreme positions they never endorsed.

VP pick Sarah Palin hoaxed by comedy prank call

18 hours ago

MONTREAL (AFP) — Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin on Saturday was the victim of a prank phone call by a French-Canadian comedian impersonating French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

After Palin realized the call was a hoax, her campaign staff admitted she was "mildly amused."

The prank tag-team from Quebec, "Justiciers masques," who have previously targeted heads of state and celebrities, posted the conversation on their website (www.justiciers.tv).

In the recording, John McCain's running mate enthusiastically takes the fake Sarkozy's call.

"It's so good to hear you, thank you for calling us ... we have such great respect for you, John McCain and I, we love you!" Palin said.

She appeared unfazed by the fake president's thick French accent and some outrageous comments.

At one point the impersonator, comedian Marc Antoine Audette, told the Alaskan governor he is following the US elections closely along with his special American advisor Johnny Hallyday -- a famous French rock'n'roll singer.

When the fake president told Palin his wife Carla Bruni is "hot in bed," the governor chuckled and complimented him for his "beautiful family."

Palin also proffered to continue relations if she reaches the White House.

"We should go hunting together," Palin said.

Palin laughed in response to Audette's comment: "I just love killing those animals ... take away life, that is so fun!"

The governor, who is making a whistle-stop tour through key states in the last weekend before the November 4 election, told the fake president that she is "very confident" about the Republican ticket's chances, and said she thought "the race is tightening" ahead of Tuesday's general election.

"I see you as a president one day, too," said the comedian.

"Maybe in eight years," replied Palin.

The comedy duo have previously used their impersonations to target former French president Jacques Chirac, celebrities Mick Jagger and Britney Spears, and Sarkozy himself.

"This was our most explosive coup so far," comedian Audette told AFP, adding that it was "difficult" for he and his accomplice Sebastien Trudel to get their request for a phone conversation past Palin's entourage and her Secret Service detail.

The McCain campaign later released a statement about the phone call.

"Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie."

U.S. rap label boss dies suddenly

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The head of rap label Def Jam Recordings died suddenly on Saturday, the company said. Shakir Stewart, who was named executive VP of the iconic label in June, committed suicide, according to reports. But no other details were immediately available.

"Shakir was an amazing man in every sense of the word. A truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people that had the privilege of counting him as a friend," Def Jam said in a statement.

Stewart succeeded Jay-Z at the top of the Def Jam ladder, and also retained his duties as senior VP of A&R at sister company Island Def Jam. The Oakland, Calif., native signed such artists as Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and newcomer Karina Pasian.

Def Jam, also home to such artists as Method Man, Nas and Ne-Yo, is a unit of Universal Music Group, the world's biggest record company.

Reuters/Billboard

McCain gets mean

By Rebecca Traister

Nov. 02, 2008 |

It was hard to believe he was actually saying it, but the words were really coming out of his mouth. Arlen Specter's, that is, at an afternoon rally for John McCain in Perkasie, Pa., a small town north of Philadelphia. Specter, the senior senator from Pennsylvania, was talking about his "sense" that Election Day in his state was going to be a rude awakening for Democrats, despite weeks of polls showing Republicans lagging far behind in this former swing state. That's when he let loose with his reason for optimism:

There are a "couple of hidden factors" in this election, said Specter. "The first is that people answer pollsters one way, but in the secrecy of the ballot booth, vote the other way."

Yes. That is what he said, to a chorus of hopeful affirmation. Arlen Specter was openly -- in public, into a microphone -- crossing his fingers, and hoping for racism.

Saturday's rally for John McCain put into perspective the previous two days of Pennsylvania gatherings for his running mate, Sarah Palin. The Palin rallies had been mammoth affairs --  13,000 people in Williamsport  on Thursday night -- shot through with fear, rabid social conservatism and xenophobia. But in comparison to the McCain gathering, the Palin rallies were upbeat, you-go-girl parties, undergirded by adoration for a candidate who looks like the future of the Republican Party, at least to her devoted base, and at which the fervent faith of religious supporters offered a comforting cushion in the face of predicted defeat next week:  It is, after all, in God's hands.

In Perkasie, neither the speakers nor the jeering crowd of about 4,500 were planning to go so gently into that good night. This was a high-test rally, a tougher, meaner event, at which all the pent-up fear about the upcoming election, and the fact that John McCain was not the future, but the imperfect past, of a party possibly in crisis, was getting its loud, often thuggish release.

Specter followed Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, who had blustered about his hunting down of thousands of drug dealers and defrauders of senior citizens, as well as those people who would "go on the Internet and try to touch our children in a way that should never be allowed." It was the same kind of fear-mongering that the Republicans have been doing all over Pennsylvania in these last weeks, but on Saturday it felt more shameless, more swaggering, more exploitative of those Americans perceived as weak -- the old, the very young.

Though the Pennridge Airport hangar was filled with far more men than had assembled for Palin's estrogen-heavy rallies earlier in the week, there were women here too, including former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, who joked that for too long she had been the "only lonely member of the pregnant governor's club," until Palin came along. Swift assured the crowd that they could enjoy a privilege she didn't have in Massachusetts: "You can be responsible for putting John McCain on top," she said.

The rally got its <snip>y swagger back with Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, who managed to work the crowd into an anti-Obama lather with her heavily emphasized assertion that "people are looking for a person they can  trust  to lead America. They want to elect a president who is  proud  of their nation." Everyone able to crack the code on what Linda Lingle is saying here? She then turned to an argument that has mostly been heard on the Democratic side of the political spectrum for many months, imagining what supporters would say to their children and grandchildren down the road, when the little whippersnappers ask them, "What did you do when you had a chance to make a difference? What role did you play in that crucial election?" Surely, Lingle concluded, they would want to be able to say that they "worked every hour in those last few days to do everything [they] could to make sure this election turns out the way we know it should for the people of America."

Introduced by Cindy McCain (the McCains' daughter Meghan was also onstage), South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham played to the crowd of firearms enthusiasts, "The deer are glad you're here!" (Har! Dead deer!) Graham also had great fun at the expense of "the most liberal senator in the United States Senate," giving someone in the crowd the chance to yell, "He's more liberal than the socialists!" Graham then poked at "Joe the Biden," whom he called "the gift that keeps on giving."

By the time McCain began speaking, the crowd was good and riled, booing every time Obama's name was mentioned, and letting out random cries of "Obama sucks" and "He's a socialist!"

McCain worked them up further, talking about how the Illinois senator has recently said that this election has "vindicated his faith in America."

"I haven't been vindicated by anything," said McCain. Instead, he said, "I've been humbled and honored," by his campaign for president. McCain then began unloading on Obama, speculating that his plans to "spread the wealth" mirror foreign socialism, and that "the liberal left wants to try it here." Obama, said McCain, is "running to be redistributionist in chief," he's "running to punish the successful." By the time McCain got to the part about how the Obama campaign's "definition of rich has a way of creeping down," the crowd was thunderous in its booing and stomping and thundersticking.

Citing Obama's "massive new tax increase," and mentioning "higher taxes" as many times as his 20 minutes onstage allowed, McCain went even further, also reminding his admirers that "this is a dangerous year," and compared Obama, as others have, to John F. Kennedy, noting here that he had lived through the Cuban missile crisis, and didn't care to repeat it. "I know how close we came to nuclear war," leered McCain.

Outside after the rally, many of those who had hooted and hollered for McCain tumbled out into the early evening, still buzzing with pro-McCain, and anti-Obama, electricity. The most important message for the Republicans to broadcast, said 66-year-old Andy Roseweir, is "that we shouldn't turn our government over to the left wing," while 67-year-old Diane Jenkins said, "A Christian would never make the statement that someone would 'cling' to their faith." A 12-year-old boy dressed as a monster claimed to be Joe the Plumber a year after Obama's inauguration, and one man, whose name I won't use because he was genuinely confused, told Salon that he'd heard from his co-workers that Obama was raising 250,000 paramilitary troops to enforce his rule once elected.

Of course the crowd was filled with many reasonable, rational, kind people, people who simply prefer John McCain's economic policy, admire his war service, or believe that they are safer during wartime in his hands, but who also respect his opponent and the democratic process through which the choice will be made. After Betty and Bob Hart of New Hope, Pa., extolled the virtues of Sarah Palin and the patriotism of John McCain and worried about Obama's experience, Bob said, "I hope that all of us can recover after the election and be as one country." Would the Harts support a victorious Obama? "Oh, yes," they agreed immediately. "That's our president," said Betty with a warm smile.

But this rally, perhaps so close to the finish line, also brought out the anger in those less sanguine about Tuesday's outcome, those searching for an outlet for their ever-building fears. As he boarded a bus shuttling him back to the Pennridge High School parking lot, Eugene Davis Jr. confessed to being hoarse from shouting. "It was a way of letting off steam," he said. When asked what he was yelling, Davis smiled proudly. "One of the things I was yelling was 'No socialist, not now, not ever!'" he said. "If you heard that, that was me."

-- By Rebecca Traister

Sunday 11-2-08

90X, 701, 222, 158, 888, 405, 609, 607, 457

507, 378, 182, 832, 637, 330, 408

788, 123, 3302, 4805

5555, 8888

7777

The report, citing an NFL source, said that Culpepper is expected to sign the contract Monday.

Culpepper has played nine seasons in the NFL with the Vikings, Dolphins and Raiders. He has thrown 142 career touchdown passes in 92 games.

Culpepper burst onto the scene as a member of the 2000 Vikings, throwing for 33 touchdowns in the regular season. Minnesota finished 11-5 and made the NFC Championship game that season, but Culpepper hasn't had a winning record in any individual season since.

The Lions, though, appear willing to take a chance on Culpepper. Their current starter — Dan Orlovsky — has had his share of issues, throwing for just three touchdowns in six games and providing one of the season's blooper highlights when he took a safety in an Oct. 12 game at Minnesota by running out of the end zone while dropping back to pass.

Detroit is 0-7 and four games out of first place in the NFC North.

Police: Shooter feared trick-or-treater was robber

By MEG KINNARD –  48 minutes ago

SUMTER, S.C. (AP) — An ex-convict who thought he was being robbed gunned down a 12-year-old trick-or-treater, spraying nearly 30 rounds with an assault rifle from inside his home after hearing a knock on the door, police said Saturday.

Quentin Patrick, 22, is accused of killing 12-year-old T.J. Darrisaw on Friday night. T.J.'s 9-year-old brother, Ahmadre Darrisaw, and their father, Freddie Grinnell, were injured but were released after being treated at a hospital.

The family attended a Halloween celebration in downtown Sumter, 45 miles east of Columbia, then stopped at Patrick's house because the porch light was on, police said. Another sibling was with them but wasn't hurt.

Police said at least two of the boys were wearing ghoulish masks when they knocked on the door. The boys' mother and a toddler stayed in the car nearby.

Patrick emptied his AK-47, shooting at least 29 times through his front door, walls and windows after hearing the knock, Police Chief Patty Patterson said.

He told police he had been robbed and shot in the past year.

"He wasn't going to be robbed again, and he wasn't going to be shot again," Patterson said Saturday at a news conference.

She said T.J., a bright young man, suffered multiple wounds, including a fatal shot to his head. No one answered the door at the family's home Saturday.

"This is by far one of the worst tragedies that I have had to personally experience," Patterson said. "It happened basically because kids were out doing what they would normally do on Halloween."

Patrick has been charged with murder, three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill, and one count of assault with intent to kill.

Police said they also charged a 19-year-old in his home, Ericka Patrice Pee, with obstruction of justice when she was caught trying to run away after the shooting with $7,500 in cash. Patterson did not give an explanation for the money.

Pee's 2-year-old daughter was inside during the shooting and is now being cared for by family members.

Patterson said Patrick had multiple drug convictions but police do not believe he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the shooting. Authorities did not know if Patrick or Pee had attorneys. Both are being held without bond.

A man who identified himself as Patrick's brother but declined to give his name said in a call to The Associated Press that he believed Patrick was suffering from post-traumatic stress after a break-in last December. The man's account matched the information police provided.

"We want to let his family know that this is a total tragic accident," he said. "He was trying to protect his family."

Patrick's home is off a busy, two-lane road in Sumter, a city of about 40,000 people. On Saturday, shattered glass still covered the front stoop and about 20 bullet holes peppered the front door and a front-window casement.

The shooting shocked residents of a neighborhood where most people know each other well.

"I just hate it that that little kid got killed. It used to be the quietest place. I knew everybody and everybody knew me," said Vivian Johnson, 81, who lives two doors from Patrick and Pee but said she did not know them.

County Councilman Charles Edens said he lives just a few blocks away and passed the crime scene on his way back from trick-or-treating with his 13-year-old daughter, who was upset by the news.

"It's going to put a dampening on Halloween," Eden said. "I would think twice about going to a door that we don't know who lives behind."

Associated Press Writer Katrina A. Goggins in Columbia contributed to this report.