American, US Airways announce merger

CEOs Doug Parker and Tom Horton speak to the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts about the merger of American Airlines and US Airways in their first network morning interview.

AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, and US Airways Group will merge and keep Chicago O'Hare International Airport as a hub, the companies said Thursday.

The merged airlines, to be called American Airlines, would create the world's largest carrier, edging out Chicago-based United Airlines, assuming the $11 billion merger is approved by regulators and U.S. bankruptcy court, where American filed for Chapter 11 restructuring in 2011. The combination is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year and save $1 billion by 2015.

The merger would likely end a wave of consolidation that has helped put major U.S. airlines on more sound financial footing. The widely expected deal has been more than a year in the making. U.S. fliers would be left with four major airlines, American, United, Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines, which together would control about three-quarters of the U.S. market.

"We think this merger is the best strategic fit for both companies because it cures each other's ills," said Morningstar analyst Basili Alukos in a note to investors Thursday. US Airways, which he says "is essentially a small domestic carrier" gains a network to compete with the largest airlines, while American benefits from US Airways' "lean operating system and better access to the East Coast."

In Chicago, the two have little overlap. American is the No. 2 carrier in the region, with about 27 percent of the market, 500 flights per day and 9,300 Chicago-based employees. O'Hare is American's second-largest hub, after Dallas-Fort Worth, which will be the headquarters for the merged airline. 

By contrast, US Airways flights account for just 2 percent of the seats flying out of Chicago's airports, and the carrier employs 170 here.

The combined airline would be run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker, while American's CEO, Tom Horton, becomes non executive chairman until next year.

The merger was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. American said the combined airline would "have a robust global network and a strong financial foundation. The merger will offer benefits to both airlines' customers, communities, employees, investors and creditors."

American said customers of the merged airline would have access to more choices and increased service across the combined company's larger worldwide network and through an enhanced Oneworld Alliance, of which American Airlines is a founding member. The combined airline will offer more than 6,700 daily flights to 336 destinations in 56 countries.

"Our combined network will provide a significantly more attractive offering to customers, ensuring that we are always able to take them where they want to travel, when they want to go," Parker said. 

However, consumer groups have been critical of the merger before its announcement.

"From a consumer standpoint ... individual traveler or corporate travel department -- there are few benefits to offset the negative impacts of this proposed merger that include reduced competition, higher fares and fees and diminished service to small and mid-size communities," said Business Travel Coalition Chairman Kevin Mitchell.

Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance, said the merger offered "no discernible consumer benefits."

"Antitrust regulations were created to protect consumers, not to facilitate industry consolidation," he said. "The claim that this merger will provide more destinations is hollow. Whatever new cities are added by a future (American Airlines-US Airways) network are subtracted from the current airline alliance network that US Airways enjoys with United. The net effect is that, overall, consumers are left with nothing new and no improvement to the status quo."

Airlines executives said they were not worried about getting antitrust approval from the U.S. Justice Department because the airlines are complementary and overlap on just a dozen of 900 routes.

Industry analyst Jeff Kauffman from Sterne Agee agreed. "The Justice Department could order assets sales if it finds the deal creates a monopoly in any area. We see this as unlikely given there is little overlap of the respective networks," he wrote in a note to clients.

In Chicago, travelers would be largely shielded from the merger's downsides, experts have said. The region's plethora of flights from O'Hare and Midway, as well as the presence of many discount airlines, should hold fares largely in check on most routes after the merger. 

Route changes are most likely on a few overlapping routes from Chicago to US Airways hubs in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C., experts say.

"But most Chicagoans will still have at least four airlines competing for their business on the majority of routes -- and even more on routes such as Chicago to Los Angeles," said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.

Customers can continue to book travel and track and manage flights and frequent-flyer activity through AA.com or USAirways.com and will continue as usual in the AAdvantage and Dividend Miles frequent flyer programs. At first, there are no changes to the frequent-flyer programs of either airline. Eventually, frequent-flyers will be able to earn and redeem miles on a larger network.

The merger is supported by American Airlines' unions, which separately negotiated contracts with US Airways in anticipation of a merger. "With a strong, proven leadership team focused on partnering with frontline employees, improving reliability and customer service, and expanding our network, the new American Airlines will return to a position of industry preeminence," said Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, the American Airlines pilot union.

The new carrier would be 2 percent larger than current No. 1 United Continental Holdings in traffic, as measured by the number of miles flown by paying passengers worldwide.

In a note to employees Thursday, United CEO Jeff Smisek said the newly merged airlines would be a "formidable competitor" but that consolidation is good for the airline industry.

"We, our co-workers, our customers and our shareholders have benefitted from the improved financial health that consolidation has brought to our industry," he wrote. "United is a much stronger carrier today than we were before we merged, and we haven't even finished harvesting all the synergies of our merger. Delta, which is two years ahead of us in the merger process, is performing very well as a result of their merger. I'm encouraged by the successes we've seen in the airline industry in recent years."

The merger of the two airlines does not appear to provide clarity toward American and United Airlines reaching agreement with Chicago about completing the runway expansion project at O'Hare International Airport that has dragged on for eight years.

Officials from both United and American have said the new runways covered under the existing expansion agreement are sufficient to handle demand for the foreseeable future, and there is no justification for the airlines to spend more money on expansion now. 

The two largest airlines serving O'Hare have in the past vigorously opposed the city's financing plans for the expansion, saying the city is taking on too much debt through extensive bonding that would ultimately saddle the carriers with unacceptable costs. As a result, Chicago's plan to build the final runways and construct a massive western passenger terminal complex has been in an indefinite holding pattern.  

In 2011, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood brokered a deal for one new runway, on the south section of the airfield, by offering more in federal funds. Negotiations on completing the O'Hare expansion project, which once totaled $15 billion and was scaled back to less than $8 billion, were suspended until this year, with Chicago officials hoping to nail down an agreement by 2014.  

But no formal negotiations have taken place between the two airlines and the Emanuel administration, sources said.

The prospects for United and American investing in O'Hare expansion in the immediate future appears unlikely. United is focused on smoothing out its recent merger with Continental Airlines. American, whose parent company, AMR, is still working to get out of bankruptcy, will be consumed with its new partnership with US Airways.

In the merged company, Horton would be board chairman through the first annual meeting of shareholders. After that, Parker would take over as chairman. The board would initially be made up of 12 members, three American Airlines representatives, including Tom Horton, four US Airways representatives, including Doug Parker, and five AMR creditor representatives.

Under the merger agreement, US Airways stockholders would receive one share of common stock of the combined airline for each share of US Airways common stock then held. American Airlines stakeholders, including labor unions, would own 72 percent of the merged airline, while US Airways stakeholders would own the rest.

Vicki Bryan, senior high yield bond analyst at Gimme Credit, said in a note to investors Thursday the merger is good news for everybody involved, even fliers after the combined airline gets passed integration issues.

"Under CEO Doug Parker, we expect American will 'straighten up and fly right,' " she wrote.

gkarp@tribune.com

Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch contributed.

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Remains found in burned cabin after standoff with rogue cop

The manhunt for fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner appears to have come to a dramatic and deadly end at a burned-out cabin near Big Bear Lake, Calif. CBS News' Carter Evans reports.

Like many Southern Californians, Los Angeles police officials nervously listened to radio traffic as a shootout unfolded at a Big Bear-area cabin, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Officers swarmed the wood-paneled structure Tuesday after a man thought to be fugitive former cop Christopher Dorner was holed up inside. Sources described an intense firefight, with hundreds of rounds fired in a "constant barrage of gunfire."

"It was horrifying to listen to that firefight and hear those words 'Officer down,' " LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman told reporters Wednesday. "It's the most gut-wrenching experience that you can have as a police officer."

Neiman provided a brief update on the ongoing investigation into Dorner as officials worked to identify a body found in the cabin, which burned to its foundation Tuesday.

Neiman declined to comment on the San Bernardino County part of the investigation, but said Los Angeles police returned to normal operations late Tuesday. Of the 50 or so families assigned protective details because of Dorner's alleged manifesto, only about a dozen were still under watch Wednesday.

"We have some individuals who are still in great fear," he said.

Neiman said the investigation into Dorner's alleged acts would continue until investigators "make sure that we have covered every base."

"We don't just stop a murder case simply because we think the suspect in that case is no longer with us," he said.

The investigation ordered by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck into the handling of Dorner's disciplinary case — an online manifesto attributed to Dorner complained he had been mistreated by the LAPD and vowed revenge — would also continue, Neiman said.

Beck "wants to make sure that the public has the confidence in this police department that we are operating in a transparent manner and the members of this police department are treated fairly." If the inquiry reveals concerns, Neiman said, "we are going to address it. [Beck] is very clear about that."

As for the $1-million reward offered, Neiman said that issue would be handled by the city attorneys involved. He noted that although information received about Dorner on Tuesday was "beneficial," the reward was offered for his arrest and conviction.

“This is an unusual circumstance,” he said.

When asked about the lessons learned from the situation, Neiman replied: "There are going to be many lessons and we're still learning."

"We're still in a fog from all this," he said.

If the body is identified as Dorner’s, the standoff would end a days-long manhunt for the ex-LAPD officer and Navy Reserve lieutenant suspected in a string of shootings following his firing by the Los Angeles Police Department several years ago. Four people — an Irvine couple, a Riverside police officer and a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy — have died allegedly at Dorner’s hands.

Police say Dorner's first victims were the daughter of the retired LAPD official who represented him at his disciplinary hearing and her fiance. Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence were found shot to death Feb. 3 in their car in their condo complex's parking structure.

Days later, officials said, Dorner allegedly attempted to steal a boat in San Diego in a failed bid to escape to Mexico. By Feb. 7, authorities said, he had fled to the Inland Empire. In Corona, police said, he fired at an LAPD officer searching for him at a gas station. About half an later, he allegedly opened fire on two Riverside officers, killing Michael Crain, 34, and injuring his partner.

His burning truck was found near Big Bear later Thursday, prompting hundreds of officers to scour the area and conduct cabin-to-cabin checks. That search was scaled back as authorities found no new signs of the wanted man.

On Tuesday morning, two cleaning service workers entered a cabin in the 1200 block of Club View Drive and ran into a man who they said resembled the fugitive, a law enforcement official said. The cabin was not far from where Dorner's singed truck had been found and where police had been holding news conferences about the manhunt.

The man tied up the women and he took off in a purple Nissan parked near the cabin, the official said. About 12:20 p.m., one of the women broke free and called police.

Nearly half an hour later, officers with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife spotted the stolen vehicle and called for backup, authorities said. The suspect turned down a side road in an attempt to elude the officers but crashed the vehicle, police said.

A short time later, authorities said, the suspect carjacked a light-colored pickup truck and took off, only to be spotted by another Fish and Wildlife officer. A gun battle ensued before Dorner crashed the truck and ran to the cabin.

He later shot two San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies, killing one and seriously injuring the other, authorities said. The injured deputy is expected to survive but it is anticipated he will need several surgeries. The names of the two deputies have not been released.

An intense gun battle ensued as authorities swarmed the cabin, people with knowledge of the situation said, adding hundreds of rounds were fired in just more than an hour.

"There were very few lulls in the gunfire," one person familiar with the investigation said.

Just before 5 p.m., authorities smashed the cabin's windows, pumped in tear gas and called for the suspect to surrender, officials said. They got no response. Then, using a demolition vehicle, they tore down the cabin's walls one by one. When they reached the last wall, they heard a gunshot. Then the cabin burst into flames, officials said.

"There would have been a lot more casualties" if officers had to "assault the cabin and make entry," the source said. "There weren't a lot of options."

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High stakes if Apple e-books antitrust case goes to trial

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the only remaining defendant in the U.S. government's e-books antitrust case, Apple Inc appears headed for a high-stakes trial that could significantly increase the personal computer company's liability in related litigation.

Apple faces a June 3 trial date over civil allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice that it conspired with five publishers to raise the price of e-books and to fight the dominance of Amazon.com Inc.

On Friday, Macmillan became the fifth and final publisher to settle with the government. The Justice Department alleges that Apple came to agreements with each of the publishers meant to ensure that e-book prices at its iBookstore and other retailers would remain higher than those offered by Amazon.com.

At the Apple trial, to be overseen by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan, the Justice Department will seek not monetary damages but a judicial decree that Apple violated antitrust law, court papers said.

Among other things, government lawyers want the judge to issue an order enjoining Apple from engaging in any conduct similar to that alleged in the case. Such a judgment could make Apple vulnerable to steep damages in related litigation.

Apple and the publishers also face a class-action suit filed on behalf of consumers and a similar suit filed by dozens of state attorneys general. Neither suit puts a figure on the exact amount of damages sought.

The Consumer Federation of America estimated in a letter last year to the Senate antitrust subcommittee that e-book price fixing would likely cost consumers more than $200 million in 2012. State and federal antitrust laws allow plaintiffs to recover triple the amount of actual damages established at trial.

If Apple loses against the Justice Department, those plaintiffs would be in a "powerful position" to win their cases, according to Harry First, a professor at New York University School of Law specializing in antitrust.

Under the Clayton Act, an antitrust statute, plaintiffs can use judgments obtained by the U.S. government as evidence against defendants.

If Apple loses, it is unclear whether both the states and the private plaintiffs will be able to seek and recover damages for the same conduct.

By contrast, if Apple were to prevail, it would cause "a lot more trouble" for the plaintiffs in the other cases, First said.

Apple declined to comment. It still may settle with the U.S. government.

In December, Apple and four publishers came to an agreement with European Union regulators over their antitrust probe into e-books. The fifth publisher, Pearson Plc's Penguin group, also under investigation, was not part of the European deal announced in December.

LITTLE TO GAIN

Apple may have little to gain by going to trial in the United States, according to some legal experts.

Under settlements with the Justice Department, the five publishers were required to terminate or not renew deals with Apple and other retailers that the government claimed were anti-competitive.

Apple and the government have less to argue over since those deals have been undone, Daniel Crane, a law professor at the University of Michigan Law School, said.

"What are they fighting over?" he said.

Crane added that Apple may be interested in going to trial to establish an antitrust principle that might help other aspects of its business such as content deals with entertainment companies.

The trial would be a big test for the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, which has sought to enhance its reputation for its trial capabilities under the Obama administration.

The government has been represented by Mark Ryan, who is director of litigation, a new position in the Antitrust Division. Ryan, who began in January 2012, was hired by Joseph Wayland, the former acting assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division.

Last year Wayland cited Ryan in a speech about the Antitrust Division's focus on enhancing its litigation capabilities. Under the Obama administration, the Antitrust Division has scored a number of high-profile trial victories, including a criminal price-fixing case against Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp last year and a successful challenge of H&R Block Inc's acquisition of 2SS Holdings Inc, developer of the TaxACT digital tax preparation business, in 2011.

Apple is represented by lawyers at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. One of the law firm's attorneys who recently made an appearance in the case, Orin Snyder, won a favorable settlement last year for Voom HD Holdings, once a unit of Cablevision, following a trial against Dish Network.

Voom sued Dish for $2.4 billion alleging it violated a 15-year contract to carry a suite of high-definition channels, including those devoted to Kung Fu and video games. Under the settlement, Dish agreed to pay $700 million to Cablevision and AMC Networks, which Cablevision spun off last year.

The case is United States v. Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-02826.

(Reporting by Andrew Longstreth; Editing by Howard Goller and Eric Beech)

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IOC President Rogge to meet with wrestling leader

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — IOC President Jacques Rogge will meet with the head of wrestling's governing body to discuss ways the sport can fight to save its place in the 2020 Olympics.

The IOC executive board removed wrestling from the program of the 2020 Games on Tuesday, cutting it from the list of 26 sports at last year's London Olympics.

The decision, which still must be ratified by the full IOC in September, has been widely criticized by wrestling organizations around the world.

Rogge said Wednesday he's been contacted by Raphael Martinetti, the president of international wrestling federation FILA, and was encouraged by the sport's determination to remain in the games.

"We agreed we would meet at the first opportunity to have discussions," Rogge said at a news conference at the close of a two-day board meeting. "I should say FILA reacted well to this disheartening news for them.

"They vowed to adapt the sport and vowed to fight to be eventually included in the 2020 slot."

Wrestling, which remains on the program for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, still has a chance to stay on the list for 2020 — if it manages to convince the IOC to reverse the board's decision.

Wrestling now joins seven other sports in applying for one opening on the 2020 program: a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and the martial art of wushu.

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

IOC officials said it's possible the board could decide to put forward three sports for consideration, including wrestling.

"The vote of yesterday is not an elimination of wrestling from the Olympic Games," Rogge said. "Wrestling will participate in the games in Rio de Janeiro. To the athletes who train now, I say, 'Continue training for your participation in Rio. Your federation is working for the inclusion in the 2020 Games.'"

Rogge was asked whether Tuesday's decision marked an end to wrestling in the Olympics.

"I cannot look into a crystal ball into the future," he said. "We have established a fair process by which the sport that would not be included in the core has a chance to compete with the seven other sports for the slot on the 2020 Games."

Rogge said he was fully aware of the backlash to the decision against wrestling, a sport which dates back to the ancient Olympics and featured in the inaugural modern games in 1896.

The head of the Russian Olympic Committee said Wednesday he would write to Rogge to appeal the IOC board's decision. Wrestling has been one of Russia's strongest sports: Soviet and Russian wrestlers have won 77 gold medals.

"We knew even before the decision was taken whatever sport would not be included in the core program would lead to criticism from the supporters of that sport," Rogge said.

The board voted after reviewing a report by the IOC program commission that analyzed 39 criteria, including TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board may have included political and sentimental factors.

Modern pentathlon — a five-sport discipline dating back to the 1912 Games — had been widely expected to face removal from the program but lobbied successfully to save its status.

Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former IOC president, is a vice president of the International Modern Pentathlon Union and a member of the IOC board.

FILA said Tuesday it was "greatly astonished" by the decision, adding that the federation "will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC executive board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games."

The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio.

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Report: Tracking system needed to fight fake drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting the problem of fake drugs will require putting medications through a chain of custody like U.S. courts require for evidence in a trial, the Institute of Medicine reported Wednesday.

The call for a national drug tracking system comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors, for the third time in about a year, that it discovered a counterfeit batch of the cancer drug Avastin that lacked the real tumor-killing ingredient.

Fake and substandard drugs have become an increasing concern as U.S. pharmaceutical companies move more of their manufacturing overseas. The risk made headlines in 2008 when U.S. patients died from a contaminated blood thinner imported from China.

The Institute of Medicine report made clear that this is a global problem that requires an international response, with developing countries especially at risk from phony medications. Drug-resistant tuberculosis, for example, is fueled in part by watered-down medications sold in many poor countries.

"There can be nothing worse than for a patient to take a medication that either doesn't work or poisons the patient," said Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor of health law at Georgetown University who led the IOM committee that studied how to combat the growing problem.

A mandatory drug-tracking system could use some form of barcodes or electronic tags to verify that a medication and the ingredients used to make it are authentic at every step, from the manufacturing of the active ingredient all the way to the pharmacy, he said. His committee examined fakes so sophisticated that health experts couldn't tell the difference between the packaging of the FDA-approved product and the look-alike.

"It's unreliable unless you know where it's been and can secure each point in the supply chain," Gostin said.

Patient safety advocates have pushed for that kind of tracking system for years, but attempts to include it in FDA drug-safety legislation last summer failed.

The report also concluded that:

—The World Health Organization should develop an international code of practice that sets guidelines for monitoring, regulation and law enforcement to crack down on fake drugs.

—States should beef up licensing requirements for the wholesalers and distributors who get a drug from its manufacturer to the pharmacy, hospital or doctor's office.

__Internet pharmacies are a particularly weak link, because fraudulent sites can mimic legitimate ones. The report urged wider promotion of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's online accreditation program as a tool to help consumers spot trustworthy sites.

The Institute of Medicine is an independent organization that advises the government on health matters.

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Eric Church leads ACM Awards nominations with 7

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — They don't call him Chief for nothing: Eric Church is the top nominee at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards.

The rising country music star has seven nominations for the April 7 awards show in Las Vegas. Hunter Hayes is next with six, followed by Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert at five apiece.

Swift and Lambert are up for the academy's top honor — entertainer of the year — with Lambert's husband, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. Swift is going for her third straight win in that category.

Shelton and Bryan will co-host the broadcast, to air live on CBS from the MGM Grand.

Along with naming nominees in a series of videos online Wednesday morning, the academy also awarded trophies in the three new artist categories. Jana Kramer is the new female vocalist of the year, Brantley Gilbert is the new male vocalist winner and Florida Georgia Line took new vocal duo or group, as voted by fans. Those three acts will now compete for new artist of the year.

Fans will continue to have a say in that category and entertainer of the year. Fans can vote in those categories beginning March 25 at http://VoteACM.com.

Hayes began an incredible run on the awards show circuit with a nomination for best new artist at the ACMs last year. He didn't win, but has since has been on a streak. He won the Country Music Association's best new artist in November, was tied with Swift as the top-nominated country artist at Sunday's Grammy Awards, where he performed, and now takes center stage in Las Vegas.

"It's amazing. That puts it in perspective," a groggy Hayes said a few minutes after his manager woke him up with the news. "I'm kind of feeling like I'm part of the family now, especially now, with this. That's such an honor, such a huge compliment. This is serious. This is for real. This says that my music's been accepted by this community and it's unbelievable — and that's one of the best feelings in the world."

Church's "Chief" is up for album of the year along with Swift's "Red," Bryan's "tailgates & tanlines," Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" and Little Big Town's "Tornado." Jay Joyce scored a rare double in the category: He produced the Church and Little Big Town albums and will take home a trophy if either wins. He's also up for producer of the year.

"Chief," released in 2011, slipped through a loophole and into the category for the second straight year. Academy rules allow an album to be nominated outside its usual qualification period if it did the bulk of its sales during the next opening. The album reached platinum last year and currently sits at more than 1.3 million copies sold.

That album's inclusion may have cost Zac Brown Band's "Uncaged" a nomination just three days after the band took home the Grammy for best country album. Another potential nominee left off the list was Brad Paisley, who had been nominated every year since 1999.

Church also is up for male vocalist of the year with 2012 winner Shelton, Bryan, Aldean and Toby Keith. Lambert will be going for her fourth straight female vocalist of the year award with Swift, Underwood, Martina McBride and Kacey Musgraves, a newcomer who earned four nominations.

Others with four nominations include Bryan and Little Big Town. That quartet is up for vocal group of the year with Lady Antebellum, which has won the award three straight times, Zac Brown Band, Eli Young Band and The Band Perry.

Surprise 2012 vocal duo winner Thompson Square is nominated in that category again along with Sugarland, Big & Rich, Florida Georgia Line, and Love and Theft.

Church also is nominated in the song and single of the year categories for "Springsteen." Lambert's "Over You," Hayes' "Wanted," Eli Young Band's "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" and Lee Brice's "A Woman Like You" round out the song of the year category.

Lambert, EYB and Hayes join Church in the single of the year category with LBT's "Pontoon." A complete list of nominees is available at the academy's Web site.

___

Online:

http://acmcountry.com

___

Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott .

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Downtown condo market seeing rebound

Downtown Chicago's condo market is on the rebound after many moribund years, as sales volume and pricing improve in a market constrained by a lack of inventory.

It's a rare piece of good news for downtown condo owners as well as for developers pondering projects and trying to line up financing.

With a steady stream of apartment projects delivering in the next two years, the lack of new condo construction could signal opportunities for companies interested in pursuing smaller projects in key neighborhoods because the demand is there. Until those projects materialize, condo owners looking to sell face a better market than they have in several years.

Sales of existing downtown condos rose 31.2 percent last year, to 4,675 units sold, while the median sales price of $300,000 was a gain of about 2.6 percent from 2011, according to data from Appraisal Research Counselors.

Another piece of good news for current condo owners: Of the 65 downtown buildings studied by the firm, the average sales price per square foot of units sold during the second half of last year rose while the number of distressed condo sales in those buildings saw a substantial drop. Distressed sales, which accounted for  28 percent of sales since 2010, fell to 17 percent of sales during the second half of 2012.

In addition, only 1,104 newly constructed condo units remain unsold downtown.

"When we see more transactions occurring, that's a really good indication of demand," said Gail Lissner, a vice president at the firm. "The look of the condo market has changed in terms of unsold inventory."

Lissner's remarks came Tuesday during a lunchtime briefing on the local housing market.

Most of the unsold inventory, more than 500 units, is in the South Loop and the bulk of it is in the newly named and repositioned 500-unit South Loop Luxury by Related.

The three buildings, once called One Museum Park West, 1600 Museum Park and Museum Park Place 2 were taken over by New York-based Related Cos. in July have been renamed the Grant, Adler Place and Harbor View, respectively.

Since December, 40 units there are under contract, according to Related Midwest, which officially launched sales in the project Tuesday.

Other new projects reporting positive sales trends are Park Monroe Phase II, a 48-unit adaptive reuse project with 16 sales and CA3, a 40-unit building with 18 sales.

"These are all great indicators of strong sales," Lissner said. "Price stabilization has occurred in the market. You don't hear people talking about bottoming out. That was so yesterday."

mepodmolik@tribune.com | Twitter @mepodmolik

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Woman dead after falling from SUV; driver arrested after chase

Police say woman's body found on expressway was pushed from SUV. (WGN - Chicago)

By Adam Sege and Kim Geiger




Tribune reporters

11:26 a.m. CST, February 12, 2013

Police are investigating the death of a woman who fell from an SUV that kept on traveling down the Bishop Ford Expressway this morning, eluding officers for five miles until it crashed on an exit ramp at 127th Street in Alsip, authorities said.

The driver was taken into custody, and police said they were investigating whether Jennifer Mitchell, 27, was pushed from the SUV around 154th Street in Dolton shortly before 1 a.m., officials said.

Mitchell was struck by a semi as she lay on the road, according to Master Sgt. Jason LoCoco. The truck driver stopped and was not taken into custody. A second vehicle may have also struck the woman, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Minutes later, a state trooper spotted the SUV on the Tri-State Tollway near 159th Street, Master Sgt. Greg Minx said. The trooper signaled for the driver to pull over but he refused, according to police.  The trooper followed the SUV until it crashed on an exit ramp by 127th Street, some five miles away.

The driver, a 28-year-old man, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, LaCoco said. The driver was taken into police custody but has not been charged. Police said he has not been cooperative.

Mitchell's parents are pastors of the Greater Deliverance Church of God in Christ on the South Side.

Kina Curry, 27, said she was best friends with Mitchell since they were freshmen at Hyde Park High School.  "I know everything about her," Curry said. "She was a loving person, a church-going girl."

Mitchell was a nursing student at Chicago State University, Curry said. She used to work at an M&M factory, but recently quit the job to focus on school. Curry said she last saw Mitchell Saturday morning when the two went to view a Park Forest apartment. Curry is in the market for a new place.
Curry said she heard someone else was driving Mitchell's white SUV. "It's shocking because she never let nobody drive her car, never," Curry said. "That's why I know there's something with that."

asege@tribune.com

Twitter: @AdamSege

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Apple CEO calls Einhorn lawsuit a "sideshow"

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook dubbed David Einhorn's lawsuit against his company a "sideshow" but said on Tuesday the board is carefully considering the star hedge fund manager's proposal to issue preferred stock, calling it "creative."

Waving off claims that Apple is clinging to a "Depression-era" mentality, Cook said the board is in "very active discussions" on how to share more of its $137 billion hoard of cash and marketable securities.

David Einhorn is suing Apple as part of a wider effort to get the iPhone maker to share more of its cash pile, one of the largest in the technology industry. Einhorn wants it to issue perpetual preferred shares that pay dividends to existing shareholders, arguing that such a vehicle would be superior to dividends or share buybacks.

His clash with Apple revolves around a proposed change to its charter that would eliminate the company's ability to issue "blank check" preferred stock at its discretion. Apple is recommending shareholders vote in favor of that at their annual meeting on February 27.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern District of New York, objects to how that charter change is bundled together with two other corporate governance-related proposals in "Proposal 2", in the proxy document for the annual meeting.

While Cook gave Einhorn credit for the idea, the usually calm chief executive seemed to become impatient when discussing the topic. He was dismissive of Einhorn's media and legal blitz - which included the lawsuit as well as multiple television and media interviews - terming last week's episode "bizarre".

Cook, who traded in his usual casual jeans attire for a suit jacket - said the more serious issue here was finding ways to return cash.

"This is a waste of shareholder money and a distraction and not a seminal issue for Apple. That said, I support Prop 2. I am personally going to vote for it," Cook told investors at Goldman Sachs' annual technology industry conference in San Francisco.

The conflict over Prop 2 "is a silly sideshow," he added. Cook said he found it "bizarre that we would find ourselves being sued for doing something good for shareholders."

Apple's share price has tumbled in recent months from a high of just over $700 last September. By late morning on Tuesday, the shares were down around 1.8 percent at $471.40.

Apple stock is a mainstay in many fund managers' portfolios, with research outfit eVestment estimating that 75 percent of U.S. large-cap growth managers had invested more than 5 percent of their portfolios in Apple as of the end of the third quarter of 2012.

But that also piles on the pressure on Apple to give away a bigger portion of its cash pile, pressure that is increasing as the share price declines and its outlook grows murkier.

Cook also touched on Apple's acquisition strategy, saying that the company has looked at more than one large acquisition but each time it didn't pass the company's internal test.

But it could do one in the future, if the technology fits.

"We have the management talent and depth to do it," he said. "We don't feel the pressure to go out and acquire revenue."

Cook, who rarely speaks at length in public, also addressed criticism that Apple's pace of innovation has slowed, saying that product innovation is embedded in its culture.

"It's never been stronger," he said. "There is no better place for innovation. Apple is the center of innovation."

Cook said the company was also trying to appeal to cost-conscious customers. Apple has moved to make the iPhone more affordable without introducing a specific cheaper phone by cutting prices of older models.

"We didn't have enough supply of iPhone 4 after we cut the price," he said. "It surprised us the level of demand for it."

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Claudia Parsons)

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Wrestling body reacts to Olympic rejection

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The governing body of wrestling says the IOC's move to drop the sport is an "aberration" against a founding event of the Olympics.

Known by its French initials FILA, the organization says it is "greatly astonished" by the IOC executive board decision.

FILA says it will take "all necessary measures" to convince IOC members to maintain wrestling's Olympic status when they meet in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September.

Still, FILA President Raphael Martinetti faces criticism when his ruling board meets this weekend in Thailand.

Russian federation leader Mikhail Mamiashvili says FILA is the problem, and Martinetti's tasks include defending "wrestling's place before the IOC."

German official Jannis Zamanduridis says "a piece of the Olympic idea is dying with this decision."

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