AP
LOS ANGELES— Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show” and on the big screen in “Blazing Saddles,” died Thursday. He was 81.

Korman died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said in a statement released by the hospital.

His daughter, Kate Korman, said in the statement that it was a “miracle” that her father had survived the aneurysm at all, and that he had several major operations.

“Tragically, after such a hard fought battle he passed away,” she said.

A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on “The Danny Kaye Show,” appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of “The Carol Burnett Show.”

Burnett and Korman developed into the perfect pair with their burlesques of classic movies such as “Gone With the Wind” and soap operas like “As the World Turns” (their version was called “As the Stomach Turns”).

Another recurring skit featured them as “Ed and Eunice,” a staid married couple who were constantly at odds with the wife’s mother (a young Vickie Lawrence in a gray wig). In “Old Folks at Home,” they were a combative married couple bedeviled by Lawrence as Burnett’s troublesome young sister.

Burnett was devastated by the news, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.

“She loved Harvey very much,” Horejsi said. She said Burnett had not yet made a statement.

Korman revealed the secret to the long-running show’s success in a 2005 interview.

“We were an ensemble, and Carol had the most incredible attitude. I’ve never worked with a star of that magnitude who was willing to give so much away.”

After 10 successful seasons, he left in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. “The Harvey Korman Show” also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

“It takes a certain type of person to be a television star,” he said in that 2005 interview. “I didn’t have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. … Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I’m fine.”

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks’ 1974 Western satire, “Blazing Saddles.”

He also appeared in the Brooks comedies “High Anxiety,” “The History of the World Part I” and “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” as well as two “Pink Panther” moves, “Trail of the Pink Panther” in 1982 and “Curse of the Pink Panther” in 1983.

Korman’s other films included “Gypsy,” “Huckleberry Finn” (as the King), “Herbie Goes Bananas” and “Bud and Lou” (as legendary straightman Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett’s Lou Costello). He also provided the voice of Dictabird in the 1994 live-action feature “The Flintstones.”

In television, Korman guest-starred in dozens of series including “The Donna Reed Show,” “Dr. Kildare,” “Perry Mason,” “The Wild Wild West,” “The Muppet Show,” “The Love Boat,” “The Roseanne Show” and “Burke’s Law.”

In their ’70s, he and Tim Conway, one of his Burnett show co-stars, toured the country with their show “Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again.” They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend.

Harvey Herschel Korman was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Chicago. He left college for service in the U.S. Navy, resuming his studies afterward at the Goodman School of Drama at the Chicago Art Institute. After four years, he decided to try New York.

“For the next 13 years I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway, under or beside Broadway,” he told a reporter in 1971.

He had no luck and had to support himself as a restaurant cashier. Finally, in desperation, he and a friend formed a nightclub comedy act.

“We were fired our first night in a club, between the first and second shows,” he recalled.

After returning to Chicago, Korman decided to try Hollywood, reasoning that “at least I’d feel warm and comfortable while I failed.”

For three years he sold cars and worked as a doorman at a movie theater. Then he landed the job with Kaye.

In 1960 Korman married Donna Elhart and they had two children, Maria and Christopher. They divorced in 1977. Two more children, Katherine and Laura, were born of his 1982 marriage to Deborah Fritz.

In addition to his daughter Kate, he is survived by his wife and the three other children.

All data point to escalating foreclosure numbers through the year

Foreclosures have flooded North County’s housing market, and indicators show that the waters will be rising, not receding through the rest of the year.

Just as April’s sales data was the best in months and provided some encouragement for real estate agents, the month’s huge foreclosure numbers offered more ammunition to housing market bears who see San Diego County’s housing recession dragging on for two or three years.

All indications are that North County will see more foreclosures, not fewer, come up for sale over the next six months:

– Fewer than half of San Diego County variable-rate subprime loans —- where interest rates jump after a set period and typically carry high payments because of a borrower’s poor credit score or low down payment —- have already seen payments escalate, according to a report by the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

– Of all North County foreclosed homes that went back to the bank within the last 120 days, 60 percent have not been listed on the market, according to a North County Times analysis of foreclosure, listing, sales and pending sales data. And there have been more finalized foreclosures —- 1,800 homes —- over the last four months than the previous seven months.

– Notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, have shot up in North County, reaching a peak for this recession of 1,100 in April, according to data from ForeclosureRadar, a California foreclosure tracking service. Notices of default preceed bank-owned foreclosures (widely viewed as the chief culprit of San Diego County’s home price decline) by six months to a year.

The data put foreclosure analysts at odds with real estate agents, who say that a flurry of buyer activity foretell a housing market recovery locally.

“I am more wondering when is this thing going to blow up, and you’re already talking about the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Ramsey Su, an investor and former real estate broker in San Diego. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Small-time investor could lose big

Many housing analysts said they think option-adjustable rate mortgages will further exacerbate the foreclosure problem. The loans allow homeowners to pay less than the interest accrued, meaning the amount owed on the mortgage increases, rather than decreases, with each payment.

Eventually, the mortgage balance becomes so large the lender forces the homeowner to pay all interest and some of the principal each month to start drawing down the balance.

For Diane Goodwin of Oceanside, that move would force her to lose two of her investment properties. And if the market does not improve, she said she could lose her other three homes, including her primary residence, over the next year and a half.

All five properties she owns carry the option mortgages, also known as negative amortization loans.

“Yup, big mistake,” she said. “However, we wouldn’t have any of them except the original house if we didn’t use neg-am, so it was a gamble. And at the time, it seemed like a good one. Obviously, we didn’t know what was going to happen to the market.”

There are 19,200 homes with neg-am, non-suprime loans in San Diego County, according to the Federal Reserve report. All of those loans are known as Alt-A, which indicates a more qualified buyer than subprime loans but less qualified than prime loans. In total, there are about 95,000 non-prime loans in the county, according to the data.

That prevalence has raised concerns among foreclosure analysts that neg-am loans will cause a new tidal wave of bank-owned foreclosures.

“I still haven’t seen a real wumph,” said Ward Hanigan, founder of Innovest, a San Diego-based company that tracks foreclosure statistics and buys bank-owned properties.

Hanigan said he thinks San Diego County’s housing market will decline for two more years before any sort of recovery and that an increase in foreclosures will lead the decline.

Based on that prediction, his company has not invested in foreclosures yet, he said.

A few unknowns will play a significant role over the next year.

For example, Goodwin is desperately trying to get her banks to freeze her mortgage payments to avoid foreclosure. But because she has not missed a payment, she said, they will not talk about such a freeze, known as a loan modification.

If more banks engage in loan modifications, more homeowners and investors like Goodwin might dodge foreclosure.

To help even more families facing foreclosure, the state and federal governments have moved aggressively to pass foreclosure-prevention legislation and have organized networks where homeowners can seek free help in securing loan modifications.

However, much of that legislation will not help Goodwin because she is an investor and politicians have repeatedly said they want to avoid bailing out speculators.

But Goodwin said she does not fit the speculator-investor prototype.

“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t a burden to my family when I get old. It was not to be rich, but to have something so that my kids wouldn’t have to worry about me when I’m 90,” Goodwin said. “So now, instead of being able to retire when I’m 65 or 62-and-a-half, now, realistically, I’ll have to work until I’m 75.”

The negative intangibles

Some unknown factors could increase, instead of reduce, foreclosure numbers. For some housing analysts, the trajectory of the nation’s economy will play the biggest role in foreclosure numbers over the next year.

Housing analysts have said that the primary cause of foreclosures so far has been creative loan products, such as neg-am or subprime loans, that put people into homes they could not really afford.

In contrast, job loss, divorce and death have been the largest foreclosure factors historically. If significant layoffs come —- as some analysts, such as Su, expect —- foreclosure numbers will multiply as traditional home losses combine with evictions brought about by exotic financial instruments and a housing rush from 2000 to 2005.

“I don’t think it would be a linear growth of foreclosures. It would be exponential. It would be catastrophic,” said Su, the San Diego investor. “It would be a situation we have never seen before.”

Some real estate agents, such as Kurt Kinsey of Oceanside, disagree with analysts such as Hanigan. Though Kinsey said he acknowledges there will be more foreclosures through 2008, that does not necessarily mean they will depress home prices.

“It will definitely add pressure to non-distressed sellers, no doubt about it. But most of them (foreclosures) are coming back at price points that are affordable,” Kinsey said. “And from where they started at, they’re starting to come up in price. So if anything, they’re starting to heal some neighborhoods.”

Shadow inventory

Even if foreclosure numbers leveled off next month, it would take a long time to work through the homes already in the foreclosure process.

Notices of default, the first step of the foreclosure process sent out after homeowners start missing payments, are considered a leading indicator of foreclosures.

Hanigan said his statistics show about 50 percent of notices of default are turning into bank-owned foreclosures in San Diego County.

North County has seen notices of default escalate recently, accumulating 4,100 notices in the first four months of the year, according to ForeclosureRadar.

With Hanigan’s 50 percent conversion rate, the notices of default during the first four months of this year will translate into 525 foreclosures per month. During those four months, North County posted an average of 460 foreclosures over the same time period.

And even many of the homes that have completed the foreclosure process have yet to hit the market.

Of the 1,300 North County homes to be seized by banks over the last 120 days, 750 are still not on the market, according to an analysis of ForeclosureRadar data and listing, sales and pending data from Sandicor, a service real estate agents use to post homes for sale.

“I think that the banks are in an analysis paralysis,” said Norm Miller, a real estate professor with University of San Diego’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. “They’re trying to figure out whether to put it on now and bite the bullet or wait because they think we’re at the bottom. But everyone else is thinking the same way and there’s no way to avoid the rash of foreclosures.”

Some housing analysts disagree with Miller, saying that banks are moving the foreclosures as quickly as possible, but that the process of evicting families and readying homes for sale is time-consuming.

Either way, there are plenty of homes to be sold not listed on the market, called by some as “shadow” or “phantom” inventory.

Many analysts look at inventory, the number of homes for sale divided by the number of sales, to determine the relative health of the housing market.

Some analysts, like Miller, think that current inventory numbers —- though high —- are artificially low because of foreclosure properties not on the market and regular homeowners who do not want to sell in a struggling market.

Still, some neighborhoods, especially those along the coast, have exhibited strength in pricing and few foreclosures.

Further, some areas, such as parts of Oceanside and Escondido, have been so wracked by foreclosures that prices have dipped to $160,000 and most analysts do not expect further declines.

“You look at 10 homes for sale, one is aggressively priced and another is priced at the same price as a year-and-a-half ago. … They’re going to be on the market for a long, long, long time,” Miller said. “So this home is close to bottoming out, and the other one is in la-la land with the assumption that real estate never goes down.”

By Danny King

Redbox, the largest U.S. movie-rental kiosk maker, said today that it named former JetBlue Airways chief financial officer John Harvey as its financial chief as the company prepares for an initial public offering.

Harvey, a one-time Ernst & Young accountant, also held finance positions with America West Airlines and Southwest Airlines, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Redbox said today in a statement. With the exception of a one-year stint at SkyWorks Capital, Harvey had been with JetBlue since 1999 and was promoted to chief financial officer in May 2006, according to regulatory filings. Last year, the low-cost carrier boosted revenue 20% to $2.84 billion and had an $18 million profit, compared with a $1 million loss a year earlier.

“Harvey brings to Redbox a proven track record of growing companies, extensive leadership experience and strategic financial skills,” said Redbox CEO Gregg Kaplan in the statement. “We will rely on Harvey to lead our financial team and support our corporate growth strategy.”

Closely held Redbox earlier this month said it would file for an IPO by the end of June. Coinstar, which had split 95% of Redbox’s ownership with McDonald’s, said earlier this month that it paid $5.1 million to boost its stake to 51% from 47.3%, valuing Redbox at about $140 million.

Movie-kiosk operators, which typically charge $1 per DVD, are quickly expanding as chains such as Blockbuster and Movie Gallery are reducing their bricks-and-mortar store count. Redbox more than doubled its kiosks to 7,900 as of March 31 from about 3,000 a year earlier, Coinstar said. The company in February announced agreements with Walgreens and Wal-Mart that will bring its kiosk total to more than 11,000 by the end of next year.

By The Canadian Press

LAS VEGAS — There is bad blood in the main event, star power in the rest of the card and a number of promising newcomers. UFC 84: Ill Will offers up an intriguing mixed martial arts menu Saturday night.

B.J. (The Prodigy) Penn defends his lightweight crown against former champion Sean (The Muscle Shark) Sherk in a bout set against a backdrop of the positive steroids test that cost Sherk his belt. Sherk has denied doping but that hasn’t stopped Penn from pushing Sherk’s buttons in advance of the fight, labelling him a coward and a cheat.

Sherk (35-2-1) is a relentless wrestler who repeatedly smashed through the guard of jiu-jitsu black belt Hermes Franca last time out at UFC 73 in July 2007, when both fighters failed drug tests. Penn (13-4-1) is also a black belt but is considered in a class of his own when it comes to jiu-jitsu. And he showed surprising power in his January win over Joe Stevenson for the vacant title, stunning Stevenson with the second punch of the fight.

“I see both of these guys as having the potential to win this fight, for sure,” said lightweight contender Kenny Florian. “I don’t think it’s one of those fights where there’s a clearcut winner.

“Sherk makes for an interesting matchup against B.J. I think the first two rounds are going to be critical. He needs to be able to put enough pressure on B.J. to really wear on him and B.J. needs to get the job done in the first couple of rounds.”

Sherk, 34, is a workout freak who has gone five rounds in three of his last five UFC fights (including a win over Florian for the vacant title at UFC 64). Penn, 29, has had cardio issues in the past but seems to have got his act together since returning to the 155-pound lightweight division.

Still Sherk is unconvinced that Penn has a new gas tank.

“He says he just woke up one day and decided ‘Hey, I think I’m going to start training harder,”‘ he said. “Maybe he did, maybe he woke up and decided he was going to start training harder but it really is a 24-hour a day, seven-day-a-week commitment. There’s no off time.

“For me, I don’t even take time off my diet. I diet for 14 weeks straight, same crappy food all the time and that’s what it takes to get great cardio and I just don’t think he’s done that. We’ll find out Saturday night but I don’t think it’s going to be as good as he says it is.”

“All I can say is I trained as hard as I could . . .I feel ready,” answers Penn.

Stevenson and Jens Pulver weren’t able to test Sherk’s theory. Neither made it to the third round.

“The way that B.J. fights, I’m not even sure he’s concerned with that (cardio),” said Florian, who could face the winner for the title if he survives Roger Huerta at UFC 87 in August. “He just goes the good old blitzkrieg, as soon as the fight starts.”

Sherk, for his part, has had trouble putting opponents away. That could cost him against Penn, who won’t be giving up many freebies in the cage,

Elsewhere, Tito (The Huntington Beach Bad Boy) Ortiz makes his UFC swan song before heading over to greener pastures elsewhere in the MMA world. UFC president Dana White, who once managed Ortiz, loathes the former light-heavyweight champion and has done him no favours with a farewell date with unbeaten Brazilian Lyoto Machida (12-0).

Ortiz made his feelings known at Friday’s weigh-in when he wore a T-shirt that said “Dana is my Bitch!” White did not attend the weigh-in.

It will be the 21st UFC fight for the 33-year-old Ortiz, who will be mighty motivated to leave the organization on a win. Ortiz (16-5-1) is the bigger man, but is on the downside of his career. Machida, 29, is hitting his prime.

“He’s the new breed of mixed martial arts fighter,” said Florian. “He’s good everywhere. … He poses a lot of problems for Tito Ortiz.

“I think maybe the younger Tito Ortiz, I’d give him more of a chance but right now Tito definitely has his hands full.”

“Lyoto is a very complete fighter,” said fellow Brazilian Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva.

Silva, who sees Ortiz’s chances as 50-50, has his own challenge in Keith (The Dean of Mean) Jardine on Saturday. The former Pride star has lost his last three fights, although admittedly they were to Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell, Dan Henderson and Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic.

At UFC 79 in December, Silva (31-8-1) was unable to handle the reach of the bigger Liddell. Jardine (13-4-1) is also bigger so there will be more of the same Saturday. Plus the Dean of Mean has renowned trainer Greg Jackson in his corner.

“I think he’s going to win and he’s going to shock a lot of people,” said welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who often trains with Jardine.

Another 205-pounder worth watching Saturday is unbeaten Brazilian Thiago Silva, who took down Houston (The Assassin) Alexander at UFC 78. Thiago Silva (11-0) is big and has a mean streak. He’ll be looking to show off his trademark throat-slashing gesture with a win over UFC newcomer Antonio Mendes (14-2) of Brazil.

One-time NFL prospect Shane Carwin (8-0) makes his UFC debut in a heavyweight tilt with Christian Wellisch (9-2). The 33-year-old Carwin, an engineer to Wellisch’s lawyer, is six foot three inches and 260 pounds of lean beef.

“He’s phenomenal. He’s a big monster,” said Jackson. “He boxes well, he wrestles well. You’re going to be real impressed with him.”

Another newcomer is 24-year-old Croatian light-heavyweight Goran Reljic (7-0), who is matched up against Wilson Gouveia (10-4). The six-foot-three Reljic has matinee ideal good looks to go with a purple belt in jiu-jitsu under Roger Gracie. Gouveia, who hold a black belt and is coming off a KO over Jason (The Punisher) Lambert, will test his skills.

Canadian-born middleweight Ivan Salaverry (12-5-1), who now calls Seattle home, faces Rousimar Palhares (16-1) in the Brazilian grappler’s first UFC fight

Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are eagerly anticipating the biggest Featherweight title fight in the history of the sport on June 1, 2008 as “The California Kid” Urijah Faber defends his WEC featherweight title belt against Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver.

The match between the current WEC Champion Faber and former UFC® star Pulver will be broadcast on the Versus network and promises to be an explosive contest between two world-class fighters. The match will be broadcast on June 1 at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT). A preview “WEC Outside the Cage: Faber vs. Pulver” will be broadcast May at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET.

Faber is currently the top-ranked featherweight MMA fighter in the world with a record of 20-1. he earned the WEC Featherweight title in March of 2006 and has successfully defended it four times since then. His most recent victory came when he choked out Jeff Curran in December of 2006 in the fight’s second round. For an exclusive interview with Urijah Faber please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98DUcCzbVY

Jens Pulver has a record of 22-8-1 and was the first lightweight champion in the UFC®. Pulver is undefeated in his last eight fights in the 145 lb division. Pulver has a long history in MMA as well as boxing and all indications are that he takes this fight very seriously.

Also on the card for the June 1 event will be Miguel Angel Torres (33-1) defending his WEC Bantamweight champion belt versus Yoshira Maeda (23-4-2). Another fight that will be on the same card will be WEC Lightweight champ Rob McCullogh who is defending against Kenneth Alexander. Mark Munoz will also fight Chuck Grigsby the same night.

Order your tickets for this great fight at TicketMaster.com

by Andrew Strieber
The 2010 Chevy Camaro is one of the most highly-anticipated new vehicles to come from GM in years. Ever since it was announced, a stream of pics and speculation have fed ever growing excitement for the reborn muscle car’s return. Enthusiasts have already seen virtual road tests, camo-free spy shots, and even videos of the car in action, but now one intrepid spy has managed to take things a step further — they may be a little blurry, but someone captured an example of the 2010 Camaro making its way down the production line.

It’s unclear where or when they were taken, but speculation is these pics are from GM’s Oshawa, Ontario plant where the Camaro will be built. Given that the car is set to launch as a 2010 model (and the assembly line is conspicuously empty) these are almost certainly just preproduction examples, but it’s interesting to see how the hot new coupe will be put together. One surprising thing about the photos is the complete lack of human beings in them — meaning either the plant wasn’t running at the time, or the General’s assembly robots have really come a long way. Also in some shots you can get a good view of the car’s final shape, including the presence of a pretty serious blind spot from the large C-pillar. Then again, with a rumored 400 horsepower coming from either the 6.2-liter LS3 V-8 of the Corvette or the 6.0-liter L76 V-8 powering the Pontiac G8, you shouldn’t have any trouble avoiding people on the freeway.

The all-new 2010 Camaro isn’t set to debut until next year’s Detroit Auto Show in January, and should go on sale midway through next year. Until then, if you happen to catch one out on the road, be sure to snap a photo — you can never have enough spy shots out there

University Commits $10 Million to Provide Funds for Students

SACRAMENTO, May 22, 2008 –OBSNews.com- Drexel University, a Philadelphia-based institution recognized as a leader in higher education innovation, today announced it will open a Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento and establish a $10 million fund for fellowships for students.

The center will begin with five master’s programs in January 2009 and add four more in September 2009. The programs are intended to address the schedule needs of working adults and will be offered at One Capitol Mall in Sacramento.

“We are excited to bridge the miles between our cities with a common vision toward expanding higher education opportunities in California,” said Drexel University President Constantine Papadakis. “We have been drawn by the exciting future of Greater Sacramento, the passion of its community, business and education leaders, and the opportunities available to serve this innovative region.”

The $10 million Sacramento Leaders Fellowship Fund for graduate student support is intended to encourage people to pursue advanced education that a growing innovation economy demands. The fund will be awarded annually based on academic qualifications and need, and to encourage partnerships with area businesses, whose up and coming leaders will be able to obtain the practical education they need to succeed. Fellowships will also be available in amounts up to full tuition and are based on the quality of the student’s undergraduate record and professional experience

“Drexel has seen enormous success in Philadelphia due to its strong partnership with the business and civic community here,” said Papadakis, “and we are looking forward to building equally strong relationships in Northern California.”

Founded in 1891, Drexel is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best national universities in “America’s Best Colleges.” The university, the 16th largest private university in the United States, is widely recognized for its focus on co-operative education and technology.

Beginning in January 2009, the university will offer master’s programs in:

- Business Administration, a program that allows students to continue to work and complete a full MBA program in 24 months. Business Week recently ranked Drexel’s Part-Time MBA as #10 in the nation, the best for job changers, and gave its curriculum an “A+”. The Princeton Review named Drexel’s Entrepreneur program #7 in the nation.

- Engineering Management, a program designed to bring newer engineers to the level of capable, critical-thinking managers.

- Higher Education, a program that prepares students with the practical skills, knowledge, and experience to become professionals and leaders in higher education institutions. In the 2007 edition of the U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Graduate Schools Drexel’s School of Education ranked 16th among the nation’s private colleges and universities.

- Information Systems, a program for tech-savvy professionals who want to move up in their IT career or into one, the MSIS suits anyone who is interested in information systems. U.S. News & World Report ranked Drexel’s College of Information Science and Technology 5th nationally for specialized programs in information systems.

- Library and Information Science, a program for information science professionals, career changers becoming librarians and experienced information professionals seeking the degree to move up in their organizations. Drexel’s specialized programs in digital librarianship were ranked 6th nationally by U.S. News & World Report.

In September 2009, the university will add master’s programs in: Nursing Education & Faculty Role; Nursing Leadership in Health Systems Management; Science of Instruction; and Human Resource Development.

For more information or to attend an information session to learn more about the graduate programs, please visit www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call 888.389.3781.

Drexel’s Sacramento Center will feature state-of-the-art classrooms including wireless access for student laptops and technology support. Students will be linked to all the resources of Drexel’s main campus, including program resources, financial aid, libraries and career assistance. Onsite staff will meet the needs of students and faculty, providing a high level of support throughout the educational process. Drexel will also offer its students the ability to meet and learn from business, civic and community leaders, as it has done with such success in Philadelphia.

“We believe each of these programs will address a need in the Greater Sacramento area,” said Drexel’s Provost Stephen Director. “The region’s high-tech companies can benefit from the technology and business programs, while our nursing master’s programs will benefit health facilities and the education institutions that need faculty to teach nursing students.”

Drexel said it would add programs in the future based on the needs of the region.

The university began exploring opportunities in the Greater Sacramento area in 2007 after University President Dr. Constantine Papadakis was approached by a group of community leaders led by Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, a prominent real estate developer and the founder and owner of Sacramento-based AKT Development.

The Tsakopoulos family, William and Claudia Cummings, Wayne and Mary Prim and their partners have offered Drexel University more than 1,100 acres to build a major undergraduate campus in Placer County. While that offer remains outstanding, Drexel has spent the intervening months only considering how it could best introduce itself to the Sacramento region, and the decision has now been made to lead with the strength of its graduate programs in Sacramento.

“Sacramento is an extraordinary place to bring our innovative approach to education,” said Papadakis. “The opportunities in a fast-growing region like Sacramento are considerable. We view the Sacramento Center for Graduate Studies as the beginning of a long relationship with this region. We will continue to work with local business and community leaders to insure Drexel’s success and increasing presence in this dynamic region.”

By Henry K. Lee

SACRAMENTO — An Amber Alert has been issued for a 3-year-old Sacramento-area boy believed to have been abducted by his father, who is also being sought on suspicion of rape and other charges, authorities said today.

The boy, Aleksandr Olteanu, was taken by his father, David Olteanu, 28, earlier today in Sacramento, according to an alert issued by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Amber Alert signs were posted on electronic freeway signs in the Bay Area.

The boy is described as white, 3 feet tall, weighing 35 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

His father is described as white, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen driving a dark blue, 2007 Chrysler 300 with license plate 6DBR388.

Olteanu is being sought by the Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of domestic violence, rape, false imprisonment and kidnapping. Details of what led to those charges were not immediately available.

Olteanu should be considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.

There was no indication of where Olteanu may be going. He was last seen at 10:30 a.m. in Sacramento.

Anyone with information should call 911.

By MIGUEL HELFT

With its share of the Internet search market in steady decline and its pursuit of an alliance with Yahoo in doubt, Microsoft is taking a new approach to jump-starting its search engine: offering rebates to people who use it to find and buy some products.

Microsoft executives said the program, called Live Search cashback, is part of a plan to come up with new approaches to areas of the search business where they see opportunities to make inroads against Google, the market leader.

The new program focuses on searches for products to be bought online, which Microsoft executives said account for roughly a third of search queries and a majority of search advertising revenue.

“This is a very big part of the $20 billion search market,” said the chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, at an advertising conference run by the company. “Make no mistake, we are about having the best search, having the best results.”

Some innovations in the business model of search, like Live Search cashback, “will help drive that,” he said.

Live Search cashback is essentially a marketing effort by Microsoft to promote its search service, which lags far behind those of Google and Yahoo in popularity. On Wednesday, the research firm comScore reported that Google’s share of all searches in the United States grew once again in April, to 61.6 percent, from 59.8 percent in March.

Google gained at the expense of Yahoo and Microsoft, which experienced declines in search share, Yahoo to 20.4 percent, Microsoft to 9.1 percent.

Google has put marketing dollars into some of its services, but it has managed to dominate in search while spending virtually no money to promote its search engine. Google declined to comment on the Microsoft announcement.

Microsoft said that 700 merchants offering more than 10 million products have agreed to participate in the program. They include Barnesandnoble.com, Circuit City, eBay, Foot Locker, Home Depot and Hewlett-Packard.

“It is a great opportunity for buyers who come to eBay,” said Matt Ackley, vice president for Internet marketing and advertising at eBay. “And it is all about driving demand for our sellers.”

EBay is one of the largest buyers of search advertisements on Google and other search engines. Mr. Ackley said that if Microsoft’s program was effective, eBay might shift some of its advertising dollars to Microsoft from Google.

In most cases, Microsoft will determine the amount of the rebate that shoppers will get. On a Samsung digital camera that costs $90 to $107, rebates range from 2 percent to 5 percent.

“Microsoft’s issue is lack of consumer share,” said Bryan Wiener, the chief executive of 360i, a digital marketing agency that specializes in Internet search. “This is an interesting effort to try to motivate consumers to use Microsoft without cheapening the process.

“Will the incentives be enough?” he said. “Time will tell.”

As part of the program, Microsoft is also unveiling a new business model that allows search marketers to pay for ads only when people buy a product, rather than when they simply click on an ad.

Microsoft said this so-called cost-per-action model would give advertisers more precise returns on their marketing budgets. Google already offers a program that allows advertisers to tailor their bids on keywords based on the number of actions, or conversions, they get.

Microsoft also said that it had integrated Farecast, a travel Web site that Microsoft acquired in April, into Live Search cashback. The Live Search cashback service was built on technology developed by Jellyfish, a start-up that Microsoft acquired in 2007

 By Terri Hardy and Dorothy Korber

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo is calling for the reopening of a police investigation into a Sacramento High School teacher’s report last year that a 17-year-old student told him she was inappropriately touched by Kevin Johnson, then an administrator at the charter school.

He is one of five candidates challenging Fargo in the June 3 election. Johnson’s campaign could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.

Fargo said she spoke to Police Chief Rick Braziel after reading an article in Tuesday’s Bee. The newspaper reported that a draft legal document indicates Johnson made a $230,000 confidential settlement to a Phoenix teenager who claimed he molested her in 1995.

No charges against Johnson were filed in Phoenix or Sacramento.

Last year, Sacramento police investigators found the allegation was without merit because the girl had recanted. Before police were called in, Johnson’s personal attorney and business partner, Kevin Hiestand, questioned the girl.

The 159-page Phoenix police report included a conversation between Hiestand and the Phoenix 16-year-old’s therapist. The therapist had reported the girl’s allegations to authorities.

Sacramento police officials plan to meet with the Sacramento District Attorney’s office next week to discuss the case, according to spokesman Sgt. Matt Young.

However, Young said the investigation “remains closed,” adding that the meeting was not called because investigators feel it should be reopened, but is in response to “the inordinate amount of public and media interest this investigation has brought.”

“We need to put this behind us,” Young said. “We have legitimate investigations we need to look into. We have homicides … we have domestic violence cases that we need to allocate our time to.”

Previously, police officials said detectives spent one day investigating the initial allegation by the student that Johnson touched her breasts before concluding the story had no merit. They talked to three people: Erik Jones, the teacher who made the initial report; the girl’s mother and the girl. According to Braziel, the girl was “disappointed in behavior at the school” and Johnson comforted her in public view by placing his hand on her shoulders.

Johnson is the most serious challenger to Fargo in the mayoral race. But Fargo said Wednesday that her push to reopen the investigation against him is not politically motivated. She said she is particularly concerned about possible witness tampering.

“Kevin Johnson’s campaign may think that it is, but it’s not true,” she said. “I haven’t discussed these allegations at forums or campaign events, and I don’t plan to. But, as mayor of Sacramento, the 2007 investigation happened on my watch - and I think these questions need to be addressed.”