Paulson turns to Goldman to unclog credit markets

By Chris Taylor (AP)

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson turned to a familiar source when he picked a director for the government\'s $700 billion bailout program: his former Wall Street firm, Goldman Sachs.

Neel Kashkari, a former Goldman executive who has worked with Paulson at the department since July 2006, was chosen Monday as the interim head of the government\'s unprecedented effort to unclog the credit markets.

Kashkari, who was a vice president in Goldman\'s San Francisco office before joining the department, is one of four former executives from the firm now working feverishly to resolve...

By M. Spencer Green (AP)

R. Kelly has won a $3.4 million award against his former tour promoter and is asking a Los Angeles judge to help him collect.

R. Kelly Touring, which represents the singer, filed court documents on Monday seeking a judge\'s confirmation of the award granted against Georgia-based Rowe Entertainment last month.

Kelly\'s company claimed that Rowe Entertainment and owner Leonard Rowe failed to pay him in full for shows scheduled for late last year and early 2008.

An arbitrator agreed with Kelly\'s claims. Documents show Rowe disputed the arbitration, but did not offer an...

By Paul Sancya (AP)

Like many NFL players, Kyle Orton seems to love playing the Detroit Lions. Orton set career highs in passing yards, completions and quarterback rating while throwing two touchdowns to lead the Chicago Bears to a 34-7 win over Detroit on Sunday.

He was 24-of-34 for 334 yards and had a 121.4 rating, improving to 3-0 against the Lions.

Chicago (3-2) broke a first-place tie with the Green Bay Packers, who lost at home to Atlanta, to lead the lackluster NFC North with about one-third of the season completed.

The Lions (0-4) look like the might have trouble winning a game any...

By Paul Sancya (AP)

Like many NFL players, Kyle Orton seems to love playing the Detroit Lions.

Orton set career highs in passing yards, completions and quarterback rating while throwing two touchdowns to lead the Chicago Bears to a 34-7 win over Detroit on Sunday.

He was 24-of-34 for 334 yards and had a 121.4 rating, improving to 3-0 against the Lions.

Chicago (3-2) broke a first-place tie with the Green Bay Packers, who lost at home to Atlanta, to lead the lackluster NFC North with about one-third of the season completed.

By Matt Ludtke (AP)

Aaron Rodgers played hurt and played hard. But he was upstaged by Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons.

Atlanta\'s rookie quarterback turned in another sharp performance, completing 16 of 26 passes for 194 yards, two touchdowns and an interception as the Falcons pounced on the banged-up Green Bay Packers for a 27-24 victory at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White caught eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, while Michael Turner ran for 121 yards and a touchdown as the new-look Falcons (3-2) earned their first road win of the season.

By Mark J. Terrill (AP)

Janet Jackson has postponed three more shows because of an undisclosed illness.

Her publicist said in an e-mail late Saturday that Jackson was postponing a Saturday show in Greensboro, N.C., one on Sunday in Atlanta and a third on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale.

A statement from Jackson said she arrived in Greensboro, N.C., hoping to perform there Saturday, but a local doctor advised that she not perform after it became \"evident\" she was not fully recovered.

Representatives for the 42-year-old singer say she became \"suddenly ill\" and was hospitalized Monday night in...

By Carlos Osorio (AP)

The NCAA football season has kicked off and AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo will blog with the latest news, observations and opinions all the way through to the BCS.

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SATURDAY, Oct. 4:

Quick hits from around the nation

_ Explain this score: Virginia 31, Maryland 0. The Terps were coming off wins over California and Clemson. The Cavaliers had lost to Duke and looked awful doing it. Go figure.

_ My apologies to the ACC and Pac-10, conferences I rated BEHIND the Big East when the season started. The latest examples of how bad the Big East has been...

By Reinhold Matay (AP)

The NCAA football season has kicked off and AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo will blog with the latest news, observations and opinions all the way through to the BCS.

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SATURDAY, Oct. 4:

Maybe this will be Pittsburgh\'s breakout season after all.

The Panthers were a trendy pick for up-and-coming teams before the season. They promptly devastated their pumped up fans and lost all their buzz-worthy appeal by falling over themselves in an opening day loss at home to Bowling Green.

Wins over Buffalo, Iowa and Syracuse _ none particularly impressive _ did...

By W.A. Harewood (AP)

Tyler Perry unveiled a new multimillion-dollar TV and film studio Saturday on 30 acres in southwest Atlanta.

His renewed commitment to the city came after he once flirted with departing. Perry said he had considered leaving Atlanta for good after neighbors complained about noise and traffic at his old studio in a neighborhood close to downtown.

\"Even though it was a studio there for 15 years, there was a lot of resistance in everything I was doing,\" Perry said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press earlier in the week. \"I was thinking about leaving at one...

By Rainier Ehrhardt (AP)

Helio Castroneves was back behind the wheel Saturday, a day after the two-time Indy 500 winner pleaded not guilty on tax evasion charges.

Out on $10 million bail after he was indicted on charges of conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, the \"Dancing with the Stars\" champion was in suburban Atlanta for the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Not only was he back on track, but he was back in the winner\'s circle, as well.

Castroneves and teammate Ryan...

By Rainier Ehrhardt (AP)

Helio Castroneves was back behind the wheel Saturday, a day after the two-time Indy 500 winner pleaded not guilty on tax evasion charges.

Out on $10 million bail after he was indicted on charges of conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, the \"Dancing with the Stars\" champion was in suburban Atlanta for the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Not only was he back on track, but he was back in the winner\'s circle, as well.

Castroneves and teammate Ryan...

By John Amis (AP)

Jaybo Shaw kept it simple in his first start for Georgia Tech: Pass to Demaryius Thomas and hand it off to Jonathan Dwyer.

Shaw had 230 yards passing on nine completions, all to Thomas, Dwyer ran for a career-best 159 yards and Georgia Tech shut out Duke 27-0 on Saturday.

Shaw had a 2-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter and completed an 88-yard touchdown pass to Thomas later in the period.

Shaw, a freshman, made his first start as Josh Nesbitt was held out with a hamstring injury. Shaw, sticking with Thomas, finished 9-for-13 with a...

By Tom Strattman (AP)

Race car driver and \"Dancing With The Stars\" winner Helio Castroneves pleaded not guilty Friday to federal tax evasion charges and declared outside the courtroom that he would treat the case like a race against the Internal Revenue Service.

\"I\'m a race car driver,\" the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner told reporters. \"This is a very difficult situation. I\'ll be strong and I\'ll win this race.\"

Castroneves, 33, spoke after his release on $10 million bail following a court appearance in which he was shackled in handcuffs and leg chains and was visibly weeping into a wad...

By Tom Strattman (AP)

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and TV \"Dancing With The Stars\" champion Helio Castroneves pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he used offshore accounts to evade U.S. taxes on more than $5 million in income.

The 33-year-old race car driver, who appeared in court in handcuffs and leg chains, was ordered released on $10 million bail. His lawyer, Mark Seiden, said Castroneves would depart later in the afternoon for a weekend race in Atlanta.

\"We would enter a plea of not guilty,\" said Seiden, standing alongside a visibly shaken and frowning Castroneves.

Terms of...

By RICK WILKING (AP)

Who\'s running for president, anyway?

More than 70 million people watched Thursday\'s vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on television, far more than the audience for the first contest featuring the top of the tickets.

That would make it the second most-watched political debate ever, behind only the 80.6 million people who watched President Jimmy Carter and challenger Ronald Reagan in their only 1980 encounter, according to Nielsen Media Research.

When John McCain and Barack Obama met in their first debate on Sept. 26, Nielsen recorded 52.4...

By Tom Strattman (AP)

Race car driver and \"Dancing With The Stars\" winner Helio Castroneves pleaded not guilty Friday to federal tax evasion charges and declared outside the courtroom that he would treat the case like a race against the Internal Revenue Service.

\"I\'m a race car driver,\" the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner told reporters. \"This is a very difficult situation. I\'ll be strong and I\'ll win this race.\"

Castroneves, 33, spoke after his release on $10 million bail following a court appearance in which he was shackled in handcuffs and leg chains and was visibly weeping into a wad...

By Tom Strattman (AP)

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves (EHL\'-ee-oh kas-troh-NEH\'-vehz) has pleaded not guilty to using offshore accounts to evade taxes on more than $5 million in income.

The 33-year-old appeared in Miami federal court on Friday in handcuffs and leg chains. He was released on $10 million bail.

His lawyer, Mark Seiden, said Castroneves would depart Friday for a weekend race in Atlanta. He will be allowed to travel in the U.S. for work, but cannot leave the country.

A grand jury indicted Castroneves on charges of conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion....

By (AP)

The economy isn\'t the only thing that\'s sagging _ so are faces, breasts and bellies as would-be cosmetic surgery patients increasingly opt against costly nips and tucks because of tough financial times.

Anecdotal reports and a recent unscientific survey from an industry trade group suggest many cosmetic surgeons have been seeing a drop-off in costly operations, some by as much as 30 percent or more.

Diane Lawyer, a software company manager in Atlanta, said belt-tightening has made her put off getting her eyes done, a procedure that would cost a few thousand...

By John Bazemore (AP)

While war raged in his homeland, Zaza Pachulia ached from afar.

He was a Georgian stuck in American Georgia, unable to return to his native country after the Russians invaded over the summer.

\"My mom, cousins, grandparents, friends ... they\'re all back there,\" said Pachulia, the Atlanta Hawks\' rugged center. \"It\'s especially tough when you live in a country like Georgia. It\'s a small country. Everybody knows you.\"

When someone asked how his loved ones were doing, he shot back: \"The whole country is my family.\"

Imagine his anguish as he watched the...

By Ric Francis (AP)

It\'s a movie genre you don\'t hear much about in Hollywood: the right-wing comedy. For that matter, it\'s not much of a genre at all.

But it\'s exactly what conservative producer-director-screenwriter David Zucker created with \"An American Carol.\" The gag-filled liberal lampoon stars Kevin Farley, brother of the late Chris Farley, as a scruffy Michael Moore clone named Michael Malone, an infamous documentary filmmaker leading a slapstick campaign to abolish the Fourth of July.

\"I didn\'t tell anyone, not even my brother John, I had this part,\" said Farley, sitting in a...

By Paul Sancya (AP)

The U.S. government has been sending fewer Iraqis to Michigan because of its struggling economy, though some expect the refugees will make their way here anyway, costing the cash-strapped state more in the long run.

Michigan is one of the nation\'s top destinations for Iraqi refugees, having received about 3,000 of the 13,823 Iraqi refugees allowed into the country between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008, based on U.S.. State Department figures obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Now the state only can take refugees who have a close relative such as a parent, child or...

By (AP)

Heading into the final weekend of the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry was feeling good about his chances of winning the White House.

The Democratic nominee thought he had bested President Bush in their three prime-time debates. He also felt he\'d convinced Americans his military and foreign affairs experience left him better equipped to end the Iraqi war.

Then Osama bin Laden weighed in with the most recent \"October surprise\" to land with a thud on a presidential campaign.

Kerry believes bin Laden cost him the presidency by issuing a videotape that criticized...

By Don Ryan (AP)

The NCAA football season has kicked off and AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo will blog with the latest news, observations and opinions all the way through to the BCS.

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WEDNESDAY, Oct. 1:

Another thought on USC

A reader e-mailed me and suggested that USC\'s offense has not been the same since Norm Chow left. Others have put forth that idea, especially after last year\'s spotty offensive performances by the Trojans in the middle of the season, so it\'s not exactly a unique theory.

But it did get me to thinking about how disturbing the Trojans\' loss...