Ex-NBA star’s possible challenge to mayor gets lots of abrupt attention.

Nothing electrifies a political town like the abrupt possibility of a high-profile figure entering a race once thought to be locked down by the incumbent.

And so it was in certain circles in Sacramento on Friday as chat sites, cell phones and a great many lunch conversations swirled with the news that former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson is “seriously considering” a challenge to Mayor Heather Fargo in the June mayoral primary.

Suddenly, a campaign that had been shaping up as a dull, by-the-numbers re-coronation of Fargo had become very interesting indeed.

“Everybody’s talking about it,” said Shawn Eldridge, a contractor and midtown activist. “Kevin Johnson has money, he’s articulate and he has power, so this is a real challenge. Fargo’s vulnerable.”

Matt Mahood, president and chief executive officer of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said “virtually everyone I’ve seen today has asked me about it.”

Despite some rumblings about Fargo’s perceived lack of leadership in recent months, no one seemed to think Fargo could be beaten. On Friday, political hobbyists were re-evaluating Sacramento’s political landscape because Johnson has strong name recognition and rumors were circulating that he has significant backing from developers and the business community.

Johnson on Friday issued a written statement through Kris Deutschman, a local political consultant working with him on a pro bono basis. Johnson said he’s been overwhelmed by the “outpouring of support” he’s received since he publicly addressed his interest with Bee columnist Marcos Bretón on Thursday.

“It is a tremendous responsibility which warrants deep and serious consideration,” Johnson said. “I will be making my decision in the next couple of weeks.”

Fargo, who was at a conference in Washington, D.C., was energetic and confident in a phone interview. Fargo said she had heard rumors of Johnson’s interest a few days ago, and welcomes a challenge.

“I’m looking forward to a spirited debate of where we really want to go with this city,” she said. “Campaigns are a way to talk to people about their vision and your vision, and how to bring that all into focus.”

Fargo’s consultant, veteran tough-guy Richie Ross, was a little less delicate. Although he acknowledges Fargo isn’t charismatic, he said she is a seasoned politician with broad-based support and an ability to lead quietly and by consensus.

Up for scrutiny, Ross said, will be Johnson’s record as a property owner and landlord, and the way in which his nonprofit St. HOPE Corp. took over Sacramento High School and turned it into a charter school.

“Kevin is in for the rudest awakening of his life,” Ross said.

In October, The Bee reported that half of Johnson’s properties in Oak Park had been cited for code violations in the past decade. Vacant lots were left fallow, with no firm plans for redevelopment, prompting some residents to demand he sell or move forward.

Ross charged Friday that behind Johnson’s foray into local politics are political consultant David Townsend and Sacramento’s former City Manager Bob Thomas.

The mayor and council ousted Thomas in 2005. Now a consultant, he has an office in Townsend’s midtown firm.

“They blame Fargo and they want to square things,” Ross said.

Townsend has said he commissioned a recent poll gauging voter interest in a Johnson candidacy and found Johnson would win. Townsend said he paid for the poll himself. He declined to release the poll questions or the results Friday.

Johnson’s interest in a possible mayoral bid sets up the prospect of a classic clash between two heavyweight political consultants – Townsend and Ross. Some wonder if Johnson’s gambit shakes other candidates loose.

Assemblyman Dave Jones, believed to be a threat to Fargo, said through a spokesman Friday he’s not running. Some wonder if that pledge will hold.

County Supervisor Roger Dickinson recently announced he’s not interested. City Councilman Rob Fong, sometimes described as Fargo’s heir apparent, said Friday he isn’t entering the fray.

“I support Mayor Fargo, and I think the council and the mayor make a good team,” Fong said.

Two announced candidates, Eldridge and Leonard Padilla, aren’t expected to mount serious challenges.

Barbara O’Connor, a political analyst at California State University, Sacramento, said Fargo has been weakened by a number of factors, including the city’s budget crisis, the failure of some high-profile downtown developments, and the announcement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that it would place the Natomas area in a flood hazard zone, essentially halting construction.

“The city was led to believe by the mayor that the (FEMA construction halt) wouldn’t happen, and it did,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor and Doug Elmets, a local media consultant, agreed Fargo is vulnerable to a well-funded challenge. Fargo, a Democrat, has her base support in neighborhood, preservation and environmental organizations. Johnson, also a Democrat, is likely to get his support from business, the consultants said.

Mahood, the chamber head, wasn’t taking sides Friday, but he stressed Sacramento needs strong leadership. “Having a competitive mayor race where those issues get discussed and where leadership is defined is, in the end, good for the city and the region,” he said.

Bill Camp, executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council – another key source of support for candidates for municipal office – wasn’t showing his cards either. He said his organization would be keenly interested in talking to Fargo and Johnson, if he enters, to gauge their commitment to working families.

“They speak to the city – they set the vision.”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sam Lufti, the manager and companion of troubled pop star Britney Spears, has said the singer suffers from “mental issues” and has seen a psychiatrist, talk show host Barbara Walters revealed on Monday.

On her ABC television show “The View,” veteran broadcast journalist Walters said she spoke with Lufti by phone after he reached out to her.

“He said that Britney is suffering from what he describes as mental issues which are treatable,” Walters said on “The View.” “He said that she has been to a psychiatrist and that she, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment.”

Walters said Lufti has been staying with the singer “constantly” and added that Spears has been having “mood swings, she’s been having trouble sleeping.”

Walters said she did not know whether Lufti was indeed telling the truth.

Spears, 26, has seen her life spin out of control in the past year since her late 2006 divorce from ex-husband Kevin Federline.

She has exhibited bizarre behavior in public, including being photographed not wearing underwear, and she and Federline have waged a bitter legal battle over custody of their sons.

Late last year, Spears lost custody and visitation rights to Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, and was ordered to undergo drug and alcohol counseling and parental coaching.

She has failed on numerous occassions to appear in Los Angeles family court for hearings dealing with her and Federline’s custody issues.

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — Senator Hillary Clinton won Florida’s Democratic presidential primary, according to network and Associated Press projections, in a contest that was largely a popularity poll because no convention delegates were at stake.

Clinton had 48 percent of the vote to 30 percent for Illinois Senator Barack Obama, with 19 percent of precincts reporting. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards had 14 percent.

Florida violated party rules when it moved its voting contest ahead of Feb. 5, the date sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. The DNC allowed four early contests: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

While Obama, Edwards and Clinton agreed last September that they wouldn’t compete for Florida because of the party- imposed penalty, Clinton, a New York senator, last week announced she would press to have Florida’s delegates seated at the Democratic convention in August. Florida is a crucial swing state in the general election.

None of the candidates campaigned in the state, though Obama aired television commercials that ran on cable channels. Clinton attended fund-raisers there and held a rally with supporters tonight in Davie, Florida, after the polls closed.

“I am thrilled to have had this vote of confidence that you have given me today,” Clinton said. “I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure not only are Florida’s Democratic delegates seated, but Florida is in the winning column for the Democrats in 2008.”

Florida’s primary is a “beauty contest,” Obama told reporters on his plane to Kansas today. “None of us campaigned there, so people have no idea what the respective candidates stand for and haven’t had a chance to lift the hood and kick the tires.”

Still, tonight represents a “meaningful and decisive public opinion poll,” said Casey Klofstad, assistant professor of political science at the University of Miami.

“It presents an opportunity for Obama to continue his ascendancy or Clinton to put the brakes on that and regain some of the momentum she had before South Carolina,” Klofstad said.

By REUTERS

NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Yahoo reported a drop in quarterly profit on Tuesday and its shares fell nearly 7 percent as Chief Executive Jerry Yang predicted a tough 2008 amid a weakening U.S. economy.

Yahoo reported a fourth-quarter profit of $205.7 million, or 15 cents per share, down from $268.7 million, or 19 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 8 percent to $1.83 billion a year ago. Excluding payments to advertising partners (OOTC:ADPN) , revenue rose 14 percent to $1.4 billion.

Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings per share of 11 cents on revenue of $1.41 billion excluding traffic acquisition costs, according to Reuters Estimates.

“While we will continue to face headwinds this year, we believe that the moves we are making will help us exit 2008 stronger and more competitive and return to higher levels of operating cash flow growth in 2009,” Yang said in a statement.

Yahoo’s larger share of the display market makes it more vulnerable to any spending pullbacks in a recession. Analysts expect key rival Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) may fare better in a downturn with its dominance of paid search listings, a form of advertising that is viewed as more closely tied to sales.

Yahoo shares fell to $19.40 in extended trading after closing at $20.81 in regular trade.

By VINNEE TONG

Liberty Media Corp.’s John Malone, a longtime business partner of Barry Diller, took action Monday to oust Diller from the board of the IAC/InterActiveCorp Internet conglomerate.

The move is the latest in dueling lawsuits the two sides have filed in Delaware courts, following IAC’s announcement that it would break into five separate publicly traded companies. Liberty says that would rob the media holding company of its shareholder voting power.

Malone’s lawyers sought the removal of seven IAC board members in all, including Diller, his wife the designer Dianne Von Furstenberg, Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Steven Rattner. Liberty proposes they be replaced by three people it named in the court filing.

Three other current IAC board members were not named as targets, including a former Coca-Cola Co. executive, Donald Keough, and retired Army Gen. H Norman Schwarzkopf.

Diller has long controlled Liberty Media’s voting rights in board matters, per a proxy agreement, but Liberty lawyers argue those rights were revoked when Diller decided to pursue the spin-offs without Liberty’s consent. Malone’s lawyers claim such consent is required under the agreement that gives Diller the rights in the first place.

Liberty also said in court papers it would remove Diller as a director of an entity called BDTV, which it argues would take away his power to vote its shares, which constitute roughly half of Liberty’s IAC voting power. About 99 percent of BDTV is owned by Liberty subsidiaries.

An IAC spokeswoman said the company had no comment as of late Monday, although Diller gave a statement to The Wall Street Journal that calls Liberty “insane.”

Malone and Diller joined up in the mid-1990s and have worked together as Diller built IAC’s business. As IAC shares suffered in recent years, the two began to show their differences.

Malone is a cable pioneer and has been chairman of Liberty Media since 1990. A trained engineer, he started his career at Bell Labs/AT&T and rose to become the chief executive of cable company TCI.

Diller started in the mail room at the William Morris Agency after dropping out of UCLA. He is widely known for creating the movie of the week at ABC and creating the Fox Broadcasting Co., and he was previously chief executive of Paramount Pictures.

In November, Diller announced plans for IAC to spin off its HSN home shopping network, Ticketmaster ticketing service, Interval time-share business and LendingTree mortgage referral units.

But in IAC board meetings earlier this month, Malone challenged the breakup plan.

Liberty Media owns about 23 percent of IAC common stock, which is entitled to one vote per share, and all of its outstanding Class B common stock, which carries 10 votes per share. The company thus owns about 30 percent of IAC equity but 62 percent of the voting power of its outstanding stock.

Under the breakup plan approved by IAC directors, each of the spin-off companies would have a single-tier voting structure, with each share of common stock having equal voting power. Liberty’s voting power thus would shrink to about 30 percent in the spin-off companies.

Monday’s lawsuit to oust Diller is the third lawsuit to be filed in the Malone-Diller fight.

In a complaint filed in Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday, attorneys for IAC asked that the spin-off plan and one-tier voting structure be declared proper under IAC’s bylaws and certificate of incorporation.

Liberty responded with its own lawsuit a day later, accusing Diller of staging a “corporate coup” and breaching the agreement that gives him proxy authority to vote Liberty’s stock. According to court papers, Diller intends to vote Liberty’s IAC shares in favor of any spin-off transaction requiring IAC shareholder approval.

The Delaware court could decide Tuesday when to hear a separate motion filed by Liberty lawyers to restrict IAC to conducting ordinary course business.

New York-based IAC owns the Ask.com search engine, Citysearch, Evite and Match.com.

By MICHAEL FALCONE

Representative Dennis J. Kucinich has decided to end his long-shot presidential bid, thinning the Democratic field, and allowing him to focus on a contested race for re-election in his Ohio Congressional district.

In an interview with The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mr. Kucinich said Thursday that he would hold a news conference Friday in Cleveland to announce that he was “transitioning out of the presidential campaign.”

Mr. Kucinich, who campaigned on a strong antiwar message, was never able to gain much traction in the polls. He was excluded from the recent Democratic debates in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina as networks tightened the rules for participation. The televised debates had been the main venue for getting out his campaign’s message.

Mr. Kucinich, a former mayor of Cleveland and a six-term congressman, has a tough primary fight on his hands in Ohio’s 10th Congressional District. Four other Democrats are trying to defeat him on March 4.

One of his rivals, Joe Cimperman, a member of the Cleveland City Council, has been running commercials calling Mr. Kucinich a “part-time congressman” more interested in seeking higher office. And Mr. Kucinich recently posted an “urgent personal appeal” for contributions on his Congressional re-election Web site.

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Kucinich often noted that he was the only Democrat who had voted against authorizing the Iraq war. In Congress he led a drive to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, and this week, promised to do the same against President Bush.

Mr. Kucinich ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. He told The Plain Dealer on Thursday that he would not endorse another Democrat in the presidential primary.

Even When She’s Not Touring, Britney’s Bringing in Big Bucks

Jan. 25, 2008 

Ever get the feeling somebody is making a whole lot of money off Britney Spears besides Britney Spears?

Portfolio magazine estimates the annual value of Britney Spears to the U.S. economy is 110- to 120-million dollars — and that’s when she isn’t even touring.

Portfolio estimates record companies, promoters and licensers make 30- to 40-million dollars because of endorsements, record sales and other business.

It estimates the paparazzi make 4 million dollars from selling photos of the Kentwood native. Celebrity tabloids, web traffic and other media make an estimated 75 million dollars off her in a year. A celebrity tabloid can sell as many as 33 percent more copies if Spears is on the cover.

Her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, pulls in a million dollars a year because of her, and not just the $35,000 a month from spousal and child-support payments. K-Fed reportedly gets $30,000 from nightclubs just to show up.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) — A fire charred the top of two of three wings of the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino on Friday, causing no major injuries but forcing visitors and employees to evacuate, authorities said.

A bit over an hour after it began, the fire was fully contained, according to the fire departments in Las Vegas and Clark County.

Firefighters would remain at the hotel until “the fire is completely knocked out,” said Clark County Fire Chief Steven M. Smith.

That would be at least through the afternoon, he said.

It was mainly an exterior fire, although there might have been slight damage to some rooms, he told CNN after a news conference.

The cause of the fire was unknown. Welders had been working on the roof.

No one was trapped, and there were no reports of major injuries, said Ed Cagalo of the Clark County Fire Department. The 32-floor building was completely evacuated.

The blaze was reported about 11 a.m.

Black smoke and flames poured from the fire, which roared through the building’s exterior stucco and foam until firefighters were able to get on the roof and knock down the flames. 

Most of the damage was to the top floor of the building. Falling debris ignited parts of an exterior ledge four floors below.

“High-rise fires are never easy to fight. As you can see with it being outside, our firefighters actually had to hang out the windows to try and cut the fire off. We directed our fire streams at an angle so we could make contact with the fire. … It wasn’t an easy fire at all,” Smith said. 

He urged motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area.

Earlier, the smoke was visible from more than a mile away, CNN producer Darian Billington said.

Billington said traffic was backed up on the Strip, and crowds of people were gathering to watch the blaze.

“It was horrible, there was fire everywhere,” a hotel worker who watched the flames from a parking lot told CNN affiliate KVBC.

Four U.S. Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters with rescue crews were put on standby at Nellis Air Force Base during the afternoon to assist in any rescue efforts, but were not needed, a Nellis spokeswoman said.

The hotel has more than 3,000 rooms, including 211 penthouse suites, and conference rooms.

The more expensive rooms are on the top floors.

The hotel was built in 1996 for $344 million. It is in the heart of the resort corridor.

The Monte Carlo, a subsidiary of MGM Mirage, has about 3,000 employees.

In 1980, a fire across the street at the MGM Grand Hotel, now Ballys, killed 84 people and injured nearly 700.

By SAUL HANSELL

CBS said Wednesday that it would expand its Internet music service, Last.fm, to allow users to listen to any song on their computers whenever they wanted, up to three times.

The move is expected to give a lift to the idea that music through the Internet can be similar to radio — free and supported by advertising — yet give users a choice of what they want to listen to.

Until now, Last.fm has offered what is known as Internet radio. Users could listen to a series of songs selected by the service on the basis of their musical tastes, but they could not choose individual songs. Under the new arrangement, users who visit the service’s Web site (www.last.fm) can search for and select any of 3.5 million songs to listen to on their computers through technology called streaming. There are limitations: any given song can only be played three times.

What is more, the free music cannot be downloaded to a portable player, like an iPod. Song downloads will be offered through a link to music stores, including Apple’s iTunes and Amazon.com.

Ultimately, Last.fm will offer users the chance to buy a monthly subscription that will allow them to listen to songs as many times as they want.

Quincy Smith, the president of CBS’s Interactive unit, said the company would prefer to offer more free music, but said there was a “healthy tension” over this with the music labels.

“They want a subscription-based service more and they want downloads,” Mr. Smith said. “I want to pay attention to the users, and the first thing the users want is free streaming.”

Indeed, music executives say they are skeptical that services like Last.fm will be a source of significant revenue. Greg Scholl, the chief executive of the Orchard, which handles digital sales for a independent record companies, said that Last.fm and other free services resemble radio, which offers promotion for music, except that the labels receive a small payment.

“In the long run, nominally paid promotion is not necessarily going to support artists and labels,” he said. “We are supporters of what they are doing, but we are watching it very carefully to see that it makes economic sense.”

CBS would not comment on the financial arrangements with the record companies. But people with knowledge of the transaction said the record companies would receive a part of the advertising revenue. Some record labels also received an upfront cash payment, subject to a minimum of a fraction of one cent a play.

Independent artists and labels can also upload their songs to Last.fm, and will receive a portion of the advertising revenue.

The music industry has struggled to find attractive alternatives to illegal music downloading, and some consider free ad-supported services as an answer. Real Networks’s Rhapsody service and Napster have both offered free music on their Web sites for several years, but they have mainly tried to attract customers for subscription services that charge $10 or $15 a month for unlimited listening.

“The challenge with the advertising supported models is driving a large enough audience to drive high adverting rates versus the high cost of the content,” said Chris Allen, the chief operating officer of Napster.

CBS will start promoting the Last.fm service on the Grammy awards program on Feb. 10.

CBS bought Last.fm, which is based in London, last May for $280 million. The service says it has 20 million users worldwide.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears failed on Wednesday in her latest bid to regain the right to see her two young sons after again ducking a court hearing on the issue, Los Angeles court officials said.

Spears, 26, who has either not turned up at numerous hearings or has turned back because of a media crush, was filmed by news media arriving at the Los Angeles court building on time.

But she did not make it to the courtroom where her lawyers and her ex-husband, dancer Kevin Federline, went ahead with proceedings without her, court spokesman Alan Parachini told reporters.

Spears’ lawyer Anne Kiley told family court Commissioner Scott Gordon she did not believe Spears would attend. Kiley gave no explanation and court officials said Spears left the building after about 30 minutes after apparently changing her mind about attending.

After a brief, closed-door hearing Gordon made no change in arrangements which gave Federline sole custody of the couple’s young sons and denied Spears the right to see them, Parachini said. Federline and his lawyers left without commenting.

The troubled pop star, whose personal life has veered out of control in the last 12 months, lost custody of sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, in October but had been allowed to see them three times a week in court-monitored visits.

Those visitation rights were stripped on January 4 after Spears refused to hand back the boys to Federline and reportedly locked herself in a bathroom in a fit of hysterics. That episode ended with her being taken away on a stretcher and hospitalized for two days.

Spears failed in a bid last week to regain her visitation rights after the erratic singer made it to the court house but climbed quickly back into her car and drove off after being mobbed by photographers at the entrance to the building.