Sandy to raise U.S. used-car prices

The estimated 250,000 cars flooded by Superstorm Sandy on the East Coast will drive up used-car prices, even as far away as California.

The supply shortage comes on the heels of an already tightened used-car market in the wake of the recession, when new car sales dried up. Some experts say prices could rise $700 to $1,000 on the typical used car in the short term. Although those effects will be felt most acutely near the flood zone, the increasingly digital and national market for used cars will spread the price shocks widely.

The flood of Sandy-damaged cars further poses the risk that many will wind up in the hands of unscrupulous dealers peddling to unwitting consumers. The vehicles pose both financial and health risks.

"Cars that have been submerged in saltwater, and contaminated by bacteria and various toxins, will soon start to appear all over the country, even in states far from the center of the storm," said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.

Shahan said there were cases of Nissan vehicles flooded by Hurricane Katrina auctioned as "new" as far away as California after that storm.

She urged shoppers to look for signs of flood damage, including engines that hesitate or run roughly, musty interior smells or signs of silt residue or premature rust.

Buyers should also run the vehicle information number through the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System at vehiclehistory.gov. Insurers, salvage pools, auctions and junkyards in all 50 states are required to report all total-loss vehicles to this federal database within 30 days, Shahan said.

For new vehicles or those still within the factory warranty period, shoppers who suspect flood damage should call the manufacturer to ask if they will honor the warranty, which is typically nullified for flooded cars. If the vehicle was registered as a flood vehicle, the manufacturer won't honor the warranty, and the buyer will know there is a problem.

Although properly restored and titled salvage or flooded vehicles can be an "economical option," consumers should understand what they are getting.

"There is always a chance that there will be problems down the road with corrosion or malfunctions in the electrical systems," said Bob Passmore, senior director at the Property Casualty Insurers Assn. of America.

Rising prices caused by the storm might be one reason why consumers would turn to such cheaper options or fall victim to an attractively priced vehicle with hidden flood damage.

Prices are already comparatively high for late-model used cars, according to industry analysts. That's because of the low number of new cars sold in 2009 and 2010, which also slowed the flow of trade-ins into the used-car market. Leases, a major source of used cars, nearly disappeared.

Now the flood of Sandy-damaged cars is putting more pressure on the tight supply of late-model cars. Prices will go up at least 0.5% to 1.5% in December, said Jonathan Banks, an analyst with the National Automobile Dealers Assn. The dealer group said that amounts to a little more than $50 to $175 for the average used vehicle.

Auto information company Edmunds.com has a much higher estimate, saying that used-car prices will climb $700 to $1,000 "in the short term."

The price hikes will be highest on the East Coast but felt nationally, Banks said.

"We have seen a trend for dealers, regardless of where they are located, buying inventory online, and that means that geography is not as important as in the past," he said. "It used to be that dealers would buy cars from a physical auction near their dealership."

Pulling such a huge number of vehicles out of the U.S. fleet will have an effect at the national level, Banks said.

The problem is compounded by at least tens of thousands of new cars that were destroyed both at dealerships and storage yards in parts of New York and New Jersey hit hardest by the storm.

"Many dealers lost a significant amount of inventory. One Honda dealer told me he lost 600 new units," Banks said.

Fisker Automotive Inc., the Anaheim maker of $100,000 plug-in hybrid sports cars, said it lost 338 vehicles, with a retail value of nearly $34 million, at a port storage facility in New Jersey. Toyota Motor Corp. has said it might have lost as many as 4,500 new Toyota, Scion and Lexus vehicles to flooding and storm damage. American Honda Motor Co. said that more than 3,000 new vehicles at its dealers and storage yards suffered flood damage.

All this is going to create problems for consumers in the storm region who need to replace their rides quickly.

"Prices could really shoot up for consumers buying cars right away, because they will run into a severe inventory shortage," Banks said.

The dealers group believes that some replacement buying will start this month but will pick up in December and run through February. Banks expects that about 30% of buyers will purchase new cars and the remainder will choose used cars.

The buying, however, should provide a boost for the economy, said Edmunds.com Chief Economist Lacey Plache.

"Even if 100,000 damaged vehicles are replaced by the end of the year, it could boost auto sales 3% to 4% for the quarter," Plache said. "That has a positive effect on the economy overall."

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com

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Funeral for firefighter: 'We're a brotherhood'

Hundreds of firefighters from Chicago, the suburbs and other locations attend the wake of Herbert Johnson, a Chicago firefighter who was killed while battling a South Side house fire. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)

Led by the slow march of a drum and pipe corps, a fire truck pulled up to a Southwest Side church this morning bearing the flag-draped casket of Capt. Herbert "Herbie" Johnson, a 32-year veteran who died battling an extra-alarm fire.

As firefighters in dress uniforms stood at attention under dark skies, Johnson's casket was brought into St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel past his family and hundreds of friends and colleagues.

"He was a bully for love and life," the Rev. Thomas McCarthy said during the packed funeral. "And for us, his friends, we are so lucky.

"He was there when anyone needed him," he said. "To go into a burning building and not think of yourself, that was Herbie Johnson."

Before the service,  Crestwood Fire Chief Jon Bruce, 48, stood near a line of fire engines that stretched for nearly a block along Western Avenue near the church. "We're a brotherhood," he said.

"He will be missed by many but forgotten by none," said Lt. Rick Colby, 55, of the 19th battalion, who was assigned to the same fire engine as Johnson the day he died. "It's a somber day for all of us."

Looking around at the thousands of firefighters and police, Tom Munizzi said he was not surprised by the show of support.

"Everyone knew Herbie," said Munizzi, 54, also in the 19th battalion. "It shows you how much he was loved."

The somber crowd grew silent as the pipe and drum corps started playing. Purple ribbons were tied to the trees and light poles along the street in front of the church.

As Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined a line of saluting firefighters and police, Johnson's casket, draped in a Chicago flag, was lowered from the fire truck.

A second fire truck, draped in purple ribbons and flowers, bore Johnson's name and the lines, "Loved dearly by all and missed none the less. Captain Herbie Johnson, one of CFD's best."

A day earlier, firefighters crowded into the same Southwest Side church for the wake, some standing outside for nearly an hour.

"Anybody who does our job, we have a mutual respect and connection with," Barrington firefighter Kyle Racina, who never met Johnson, said as he stood outside the visitation. "He made the ultimate sacrifice for the job."

The visitation continued through the afternoon and into the evening as a steady stream of mourners waited in a line that sometimes stretched into the parking lot of the Catholic church at 7740 S. Western Ave. Cars, including police vehicles and firetrucks from all over the Chicago region, packed the neighboring streets, which were backed up with traffic for hours.

Johnson's brother, Ted, who also is a Chicago firefighter, said the tragedy still seems surreal. His family is struggling to deal with the loss but grateful for the outpouring of support from across the country, he said.

"I'm going to have to carry my brother's body to his grave," Johnson said on Wednesday. "But I'm going to have over 4,000 brothers and sisters right there with me."

Inside the chapel Wednesday, a line weaved in and out of the aisles as people chatted, cried and reminisced about Johnson and his large, tightknit family.

Pat Popek laughed as she recalled the time Johnson sported his grammar school basketball jersey at their 25th eighth-grade reunion.

"Believe me, it didn't fit him very well," she said with a smile. "But that was his personality."

A display of photos of Johnson — posing with his touch football team, spending time with his brothers and sisters, and marrying wife Susan — stood beside flowers arranged as firetrucks, footballs and a shamrock.

Johnson's widow greeted well-wishers as she stood next to the dark wooden casket holding the body of her husband who was in his dress uniform with a gold cross beside him. A medal for his heroism in the Fire Department also lay in the casket, which was adorned with pink roses.

"He would want us to celebrate his life, not his death," remarked Johnson's 18-year-old nephew, Thaddeus.

The eldest of eight, Johnson was always the leader in his family growing up, making sure his siblings did their homework and chores and stayed out of harm's way, said family friend John Jurcev, 78.

He enjoyed entertaining those around him and could find the good in a sad situation. Often, he spread his happiness with giant bearhugs, sometimes not realizing his own strength, Jurcev joked.

"He would be crushin' me, but I loved it," he said.

Relatives said they have received cards from schoolchildren from across Chicago. Some were on display inside the chapel.

Many of the notes offered prayers and support. That has meant a lot to Johnson's widow and three children, said Dan McMahon, Johnson's brother-in-law.

"They've helped their spirits get through this tragedy," he said.

Ted Johnson called his brother a great example for the city. It's a risk when firefighters leave for work every day, never knowing if they'll see their families again, he said.

"We'll bring him home," his brother said Wednesday. "It's a great send-off for a true hero."

jmdelgado@tribune.com

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Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year

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NHL, union hold labor talks a 3rd straight day

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL and the players' association return to the bargaining table Thursday, the third straight day the sides are meeting in an effort to end the lockout.

The work stoppage reached its 54th day, and this week is considered critical for the hockey season to be saved. The lockout is threatening to force the second cancellation of an NHL season in seven years.

Even if an agreement is reached soon, it isn't clear if any of this season's games that have been called off through Nov. 30 can be rescheduled. The NHL, however, has said a full 82-game season won't be played.

Owners and players already have bargained for about 13 hours over two days this week at an undisclosed site in New York. Little information about the talks has been disclosed by either side.

Thursday afternoon's talks will mark the fourth time in six days that face-to-face negotiations have taken place after both sides rejected proposals Oct. 18. The lockout, which began Sept. 16 after the collective bargaining agreement expired, has forced the cancellation of 327 regular-season games, including the New Year's Day Winter Classic in Michigan.

A second consecutive day of marathon negotiations took place Wednesday, when the sides spent more than five hours discussing the most contentious issues. Coupled with the more than seven hours they spent negotiating Tuesday, owners and players have been together about 13 hours.

"We do not intend to comment on the substance or subject matter," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said the parties met to "discuss many of the key issues," but did not elaborate.

Those issues include revenue sharing between teams and the "make-whole" provision, which involves the payment of player contracts that are already in effect. There is still much to be done to work out the differences to reach a deal that will allow the already delayed and shortened season to begin.

Along with a handful of team owners, eight players attended Wednesday's talks, five fewer than Tuesday. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and others left New York to try to avoid the impending snowstorm that hit the area, the union said.

In October, the players' association responded to an NHL offer with three of its own, but all of those were quickly dismissed by the league. That led to nearly three weeks without face-to-face discussions, although the parties kept in regular contact by phone.

Both sides have made proposals that included a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues. The NHL has moved toward the players' side in the "make-whole" provision and whose share of the economic pie that money will come from.

Other core economic issues — mainly the split of hockey-related revenue — along with contract lengths, arbitration and free agency also must be agreed upon.

The union accepted a salary cap in the previous labor pact, which wasn't reached until after the entire 2004-05 season was canceled because of a lockout. The union doesn't want to absorb the majority of concessions this time after the NHL had record revenue that exceeded $3 billion last season.

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UK PM warns of witch-hunt against gays in pedophile scandal

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Thursday that speculation about the identity of an unidentified member of his ruling Conservative party accused of sexually abusing children could turn into a witch-hunt against gay people.

Cameron, who leads a troubled two-party coalition, ordered an investigation this week after a victim of child sexual abuse in Wales said a prominent Conservative political figure had abused him during the 1970s.

The claims, which follow the unmasking of late BBC star presenter Jimmy Savile as one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders, have stoked concern that a powerful pedophile ring may have operated in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s.

“I have heard all sorts of names bandied around and what then tends to happen is of course that everyone then sits around and speculates about people, some of whom are alive, some of whom are dead,” Cameron said during an ITV television interview.

“It is very important that anyone who has got any information about any pedophile no matter how high up in the country go to the police,” he said.

Britain’s interior minister warned lawmakers this week that if they named suspected child abusers in parliament they risked jeopardizing future trials.

MPs benefit from “parliamentary privilege” – meaning they can speak inside parliament freely without fear of legal action on a host of legally sensitive issues that might otherwise attract lawsuits.

Reports of child abuse have provoked fevered speculation on the Internet about the identity of the Conservative figure from the era of Margaret Thatcher, prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

When the ITV interviewer passed Cameron a piece of paper with the names of people identified on the Internet as being alleged child abusers, Cameron said:

“There is a danger if we are not careful that this could turn into a sort of witch-hunt particularly against people who are gay.”

“I am worried about the sort of thing you are doing right now – giving me a list of names you have taken off the Internet,” Cameron said.

The BBC aired a program last week in which Steven Messham, one of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse at children’s care homes in Wales over two decades, said he had been sexually abused by a prominent Conservative political figure.

However, the BBC reporter said he could not name the figure because there was “simply not enough evidence to name names”.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Experts raise concerns over superhuman workplace

LONDON (AP) — Performance-boosting drugs, powered prostheses and wearable computers are coming to an office near you — but experts warned in a new report Wednesday that too little thought has been given to the implications of a superhuman workplace.

Academics from Britain's leading institutions say attention needs to be focused on the consequences of technology which may one day allow — or compel — humans to work better, longer and harder. Here's their list of upgrades that might make their way to campuses and cubicles in the next decade:

BRAIN BOOSTERS

Barbara Sahakian, a Cambridge neuropsychology professor, cited research suggesting that 16 percent of U.S. students already use "cognitive enhancers" such as Ritalin to help them handle their course loads. Pilots have long used amphetamines to stay alert. And at least one study has suggested that the drug modafinil could help reduce the number of accidents experienced by shift workers.

But bioethicist Jackie Leach Scully of northern England's Newcastle University worries that the use of such drugs might focus on worker productivity over personal well-being.

"Being more alert for longer doesn't mean that you'll be less stressed by the job," she said. "It means that you'll be exposed to that stress for longer and be more awake while doing it."

WEARABLE COMPUTERS

The researchers also noted so-called "life-logging" devices like Nike Inc.'s distance-tracking shoes or wearable computers such as the eyeglasses being developed by Google Inc. The shoes can record your every step; the eyeglasses everything you see. Nigel Shadbolt, an expert in artificial Intelligence at southern England's University of Southampton, said such devices were as little as 15 years away from being able to record every sight, noise and movement over an entire human life.

So do you accept if your boss gives you one?

"What does that mean for employee accountability?" Shadbolt asked.

BIONIC LIMBS — AND BEYOND

The report also noted bionic limbs like the one used this week by amputee Zac Vawter to climb Chicago's Willis Tower or exoskeletons like the one used earlier this year by partially paralyzed London Marathon participant Claire Lomas. It also touched on the development of therapies aimed at sharpening eyesight or cochlear implants meant to enhance hearing.

Scully said any technology that could help disabled people re-enter the workforce should be welcomed but society needs to keep an eye out for unintended consequences.

"One of the things that we know about technology hitting society is that most of the consequences were not predicted ahead of time and a lot of things that we worry about ahead of time turn out not to be problems at all," she said. "We have very little idea of how these technologies will pan out."

THE PRESSURIZED WORKPLACE

The report was drawn up by scientists from The Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society.

"We're not talking science fiction here," said Genevra Richardson, the King's College law professor who oversaw the report. "These technologies could influence our ability to learn or perform tasks, they could influence our motivation, they could enable us to work in more extreme conditions or in old age, or they could facilitate our return to work after illness or disability .... Their use at work also raises serious ethical, political and economic questions."

Scully said workers may come under pressure to try a new memory-boosting drug or buy the latest wearable computer.

"In the context of a highly pressurized work environment, how free is the choice not to adopt such technologies?" she said.

Union representatives appeared taken aback by some of the experts' predictions. One expressed particular disquiet at the possibility raised by the report that long-distance truck drivers might be asked to take alertness drugs for safety reasons.

"We would be very, very against anything like that," said James Bower, a spokesman for Britain's United Road Transport Union. "We can't have a situation where a driver is told by his boss that he needs to put something in his body."

___

Online:

The report: http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/human-enhancement

Raphael Satter can be reached on: http://raphae.li/twitter

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Songwriter Diane Warren's music optioned for stage

NEW YORK (AP) — The big hooks and soaring melodies of Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren are heading to Broadway.

Tony Award-winning producer Dede Harris tells The Associated Press on Thursday that she has optioned Warren's entire 2,000-song music catalog with an eye to getting her hits into a musical. The creative team and a timeline for the project will be announced at a later date.

A formal announcement was to be made later Thursday.

"We're starting with a blank canvas and the beauty of the development of this process is that we can let our imaginations run wild," Harris said Thursday. "We have so many different songs that we can pull from and create a story from so many of her songs that it's just too early to say."

Warren's writing credits include Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me," Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart," LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" and "I Was Here" for Beyonce.

She's scored multiple Academy Award nominations and has won a Grammy and a Golden Globe award. Warren is the first songwriter in the history of Billboard to have seven hits, all by different artists, on the singles chart at the same time.

Although Harris has her favorite songs, she says she won't insist on their inclusion. "Obviously we want to put in her more popular songs, but we're not going to do it just to do it. It has to work with the story," she said.

Harris, who declined to say how much the catalog cost, has produced such hits as "Hairspray," ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "A Raisin in the Sun." Her recent hits include "One Man, Two Guvnors," ''War Horse" and "Clybourne Park" and she's producing the upcoming "Hands on a Hardbody."

Warren, who also has expressed interest in writing new songs for the project, would be the latest rocker to lend their music to Broadway-bound projects, joining the likes of Sheryl Crow, Glen Ballard, Cyndi Lauper, Dave Stewart and Melissa Etheridge.

___

Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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McDonald's sales drop, first time since 2003

McDonald's Corp. reported its first decline in monthly U.S. same store sales in nine years Thursday, as the chain began to suffer problems plaguing the rest of the fast food industry for several years.

Sales at restaurants open more than a year declined 2.2 percent. Same store sales also declined in Europe, 2.2 percent, and the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, 2.4 percent.

The chain cited lower demand and greater competition for the lower sales. While hamburger competitors Burger King and Wendy’s were walloped by the onset of the recession, both  have changed hands in recent years and launched new menu items that better compete with McDonald’s including expanded breakfast offerings, improved coffee options and more innovative salads.

"Though October's sales results reflect the pervasive challenges of today's global marketplace, I am confident that our strategies and the adjustments we are making in response to the current business headwinds will build sales momentum and drive sustained, profitable growth," McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said. 

Although the decline is historic for the world's largest restaurant chain, which has been on a roll since the beginning of its historic turnaround in 2003, it was not unexpected. Analysts have been tempering expectations and downgrading the stock for months.

To rev up sales, McDonald's has been working to emphasize value in markets around the world.

In the U.S., for example, McDonald's is stepping up advertising for its Dollar Menu after its attempt to market an "Extra Value Menu" for slightly higher prices fell flat. But the company said Thursday that the efforts were offset by "modest consumer demand" and competition.

In particular, McDonald's is facing stiffer competition from longtime rivals Burger King and Wendy's, which are both in the midst of reviving their brands with new ad campaigns and improved menus. Taco Bell, owned by Yum Brands Inc., is also enjoying growth with the help of new offerings such as it Doritos Locos Tacos and higher-end Cantina Bell bowls and burritos.

Stock slipped 0.99 percent in pre-market trades, to $86 in early trading. McDonald's hit an all-time high of $101.74 in February.

Baird analyst David Tarantino maintained an outperform rating on McDonald's, saying in a research note that, "We are cautiously optimistic that better trends can emerge as McDonald's gets past a wall of challenging comparisons in upcoming months."

Tarrantino added that though results "could remain soft" through early 2013, "we see opportunity for better performance to emerge in 2013 as a whole," because of emphasis on value offerings, lower ingredient costs, and reduced currency impact.

eyork@tribune.com | Twitter: @emilyyork

- Reuters contributed to this report

MCD Net Income Quarterly data by YCharts

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U.S. Cellular exiting Chicago market; job cuts planned

Note: Job cut numbers are updated to correct confusion over numbers supplied by U.S. Cellular.

Chicago-based wireless carrier U.S. Cellular said Wednesday that it is selling its Chicago, St. Louis and central Illinois markets, along with three others in the Midwest, to subsidiaries of Sprint Nextel Corp. for $480 million.

The deal, which requires regulatory approval and is expected to close in mid-2013, will transfer PCS spectrum and about 585,000 customers -- just under 10 percent of U.S. Cellular's subscribers -- to Sprint. The markets account for about 11 percent of U.S. Cellular's service revenues.

As part of the transition, about 640 local jobs -- 160 of them in Chicago proper -- will be eliminated over time. Overall losses in the affected markets will number about 980 positions, with approximately 850 of those related to retail stores. U.S. Cellular will be closing its stores in the geographies it's exiting; engineering and business support jobs in areas such as finance and marketing will also be eliminated.

U.S. Cellular, which employed about 8,400 at the end of September, will retain its Chicago headquarters along with 860 jobs there. In the greater Chicago area, the company will have about 1,400 employees after the transition.

The Sprint deal "positions us, I believe, very strongly for the future, and we're going to continue to be headquartered here in Chicago," President and Chief Executive Mary Dillon told the Tribune. "We've been here since 1985."

On a morning conference call, Dillon described the move as getting "stronger by initially getting smaller" and said the decision was "not taken lightly," given the effect on the company's employees.

In the markets that U.S. Cellular is selling to Sprint, "we aren't reaching the rate of profitable customer growth and return on investment we need to operate effectively," Dillon said on a conference call.

In the affected markets, postpaid churn -- a wireless industry figure that measures defections among customers who are on contracts -- was roughly double that of the carrier's other geographies, Dillon said, indicating a "disproportionate share of subscriber losses." She added that because the company entered those markets later than its rivals, it had difficulty gaining share and incurred financial losses. Penetration in the affected markets was 3.9 percent versus a rate of 16.2 percent in other areas, Dillon said.

U.S. Cellular does not offer 4G service in Chicago, lagging rivals such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. In an interview with the Tribune, Dillon acknowledged that launching 4G service requires a step-up in technology investment that did not make sense in markets where penetration is low.

While the company is now getting out of Chicago and other markets, "this move does allow us to get to the next generation of technology in our remaining markets faster," Dillon told the Tribune. The company expects 58 percent of its customers to be covered by 4G LTE by year-end, with the roll-out continuing into next year.

In Illinois, the carrier will continue to service markets including Joliet and Rockford after the Sprint deal closes. After it exits the affected markets, the company will have more than 5.2 million customers in 23 states.

Locally, U.S. Cellular will be transitioning a Bolingbrook customer call center to an existing vendor partner Jan. 1, with that company retaining most of the jobs and employees, Dillon said.

On a conference call with financial analysts, the company said the Sprint deal does not change naming rights on the home field for the White Sox, U.S. Cellular Field.

"We have a long-term relationship with the White Sox," said David Kimbell, chief marketing officer at U.S. Cellular. "Even after this transaction, we're going to have 1,400 associates in Chicago so that relationship (with the White Sox) is not part of that deal and will not be changing."

A U.S. Cellular "consumer experience" center at the ballpark will be staying in place, according to the company. The company operates 116 retail stores in the Chicago area, but the U.S. Cellular Field location is not included in that total because no products are sold there.

Dillon emphasized that the carrier will continue to provide the same level of customer service during the transition period and that its subscribers will experience "no immediate change." The company has created a website, www.uscellularinfo.com, that explains the transaction to consumers.

For now, neither U.S. Cellular nor Sprint are offering details on what the transition will look like for affected customers. Dillon said the company will be keeping an eye on its subscriber base to prevent defections and "making sure our customers are very aware there is no change or impact on them for many months."

Stores will remain open and consumers are encouraged to continue upgrading their devices and redeeming reward points through U.S. Cellular's loyalty program, Dillon said. In addition, she said the company will remain "very competitive and aggressive around the holiday period" when it comes to marketing, even in areas that are being sold to Sprint.

The deal with Sprint does not include U.S. Cellular's network equipment, such as the towers and other infrastructure it has in affected markets. The Chicago-based carrier will keep running its network during a transition period, after which Sprint will notify U.S. Cellular as to when it should shut down those operations.

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Cellular said its third-quarter net income dropped 43 percent, as the company subsidized sales of new smartphones.

U.S. Cellular earned $35.5 million, or 42 cents per share, down from $62.1 million, or 73 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 3 percent to $1.14 billion.

Sprint shares were down 1.8 percent to $5.63 in morning trade. U.S. Cellular Corp. shares were dropping 7.4 percent, to $36.15.

wawong@tribune.com | Twitter @VelocityWong

-- The Associated Press contributed.

USM data by YCharts

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Apple's shares slide 4 percent to five-month low

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