Things You Need to Know Today



	November 20, 2009

Packers offensive line in flux
5:40 p.m.

GREEN BAY (AP) - The decision was made during the offseason by Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who’d grown tired of watching what he called ‘‘musical chairs’’ being played on his offensive line for the previous three seasons.

After starting five different line combinations in 2006, six in 2007 and five last season, McCarthy and his staff settled on their starting five after just two preseason games this summer. The idea was to generate some continuity on a line that had been in flux for far too long.

So much for that.

Through nine games, the Packers have started six different line combinations, and the only reason they won’t be using a seventh mix in Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field is because center Scott Wells has been cleared to play after a concussion suffered last weekend against Dallas.

Report: Hershey may launch bid for Cadbury
5:38 p.m.

NEW YORK (AP) - Hershey Co. may make a $17 billion bid for UK candy company Cadbury PLC, topping the recent $16.5 billion hostile offer by Kraft Foods Inc., the Wall Street Journal reports today.

The bid wouldn’t be ready for two weeks and the terms are in flux, the newspaper says people close to the matter have said.

But the people said the charitable trust that controls the company and has complicated Hershey’s merger efforts in the past is now prodding CEO David West to beat Kraft’s offer, the Journal reports.

The offer is expected to include at least $10 billion in cash from Hershey, plus $2 billion in new Hershey shares and another $3 billion to $5 billion in cash from investors in exchange for equity in Hershey.

Judge to rule on City of Pewaukee police services Wednesday
3:42 p.m.

WAUKESHA - The City of Pewaukee Professional Police Local 342 will have its day in court again to try and stop a takeover by the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.

However, that day won’t come until Wednesday, which is one day after the Waukesha County Board is scheduled to vote on the proposal.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Saturday’s Freeman.

Kidnapped Britons say Somali pirates may kill them
3:41 p.m.

LONDON (AP) - A British couple being held hostage by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast today that they fear they will be killed or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom is not paid soon.

Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped by pirates on Oct. 22, who seized their 38-foot yacht - the Lynn Rival.

In an interview with Britain’s Channel 4 news program, the Chandlers are seen surrounded by armed men, some of whom have their guns pointed directly at the retired couple.

‘‘I have no doubt that they will not hesitate to kill us in a week or so from now,’’ Paul Chandler, 59, said in the interview, filmed by a Channel 4 crew on Wednesday.

Britain’s ITN - which produces Channel 4 News - said the Chandlers and their relatives had agreed that the footage, the first of the couple since their capture, could be aired.

Pirates have demanded $7 million to release the Chandlers, but Britain’s government insists it won’t pay ransoms to kidnappers.

Detainees needle Wisconsin troops about Favre
1:25 p.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Detainees at a camp in Baghdad, Iraq have found a way to get under the skin of guard troops from Wisconsin.

And it has to do with football and a painful chapter for some Green Bay Packers fans who consider Brett Favre a traitor for joining the rival Minnesota Vikings.

First Lieutenant Tim Boehnen of New Richmond says the detainees are familiar with Favre and picked up on the troops’ discussion about the quarterback’s performance with the Vikings.

Lt. Col. Tim Donovan says the detainees at Camp Cropper needle the guards about Favre’s success as a Viking.

Boehnen tells WTMJ radio that since soccer is the main sport in Baghdad, it lacks a Vikings fan club.

S.C. lawmakers to take up impeachment
1:24 p.m.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina lawmakers plan to formally consider impeaching Gov. Mark Sanford for the first time next week, the chairman of the committee beginning that work said today.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison told The Associated Press he is appointing an ad-hoc committee of four Republicans and three Democrats who will begin meeting Tuesday. He said he expects to have a resolution to impeach ready before Christmas for the full Judiciary Committee to consider.

Sanford spokesman Ben Fox declined to comment and his lawyers did not immediately respond to questions.

Sanford, a Republican, left the state for five days in June to rendezvous with his Argentine lover. Since he returned and tearfully confessed the affair, he has faced questions about his travel and whether he should be removed from office for misconduct. He has resisted calls to resign.

Bogut out 2 to 4 weeks with leg injury
10:59 a.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will be out for two to four weeks with a left leg injury.

General manager John Hammond said late Thursday that Bogut suffered a leg strain and contusion in Wednesday’s 99-85 win against New Jersey. Bogut scored 21 points and 11 rebounds before leaving the game in late in the fourth quarter.

An MRI revealed the injury on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Bogut, now in his fifth season, is averaging 16.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. The Bucks hope to get shooting guard Michael Redd back in the starting lineup soon.

Milwaukee hosts Charlotte tonight.

Asian carp may have breached electronic barrier
10:58 a.m.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Federal officials say the despised Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent it from invading the Great Lakes and jeopardizing their $7 billion sport fishery.

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineer say today that DNA of the giant carp have been found north of the barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

If correct, that would mean the carp might reach Lake Michigan if they get through a navigational lock. From there, they could spread throughout the Great Lakes and out-compete native species for food.

Asian carp escaped from Southern fish farms in the 1990s and have been migrating up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. They can exceed 4 feet in length and 100 pounds.

6 world powers press Iran on nuclear issue
10:10 a.m.

BRUSSELS (AP) - Representatives of six world powers urged Iran today to accept a U.N. plan aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon, as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned Tehran not to miss the opportunity to resolve the dispute.

An EU official said there was no mention of imposing sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt nuclear enrichment activities at the meeting of senior diplomats from the U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany.

‘‘These things are a matter of timing, and this was not the right time for it,’’ said the official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The talks in Brussels involved political directors - foreign ministry officials below ministerial level. The United States was represented by Undersecretary of State William Burns, and Russia by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

The talks came just a day after a day after President Barack Obama said the six nations will develop a package of serious new punitive measures in coming weeks. He did not give details.

Senate Dems moving ahead on crucial health vote
10:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leaders are looking ahead to a crucial test vote on health care amid indications the rank-and-file will stand together Saturday to give them the support they need.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said today that leaders weren’t assuming anything and were working to bring the caucus together ahead of Saturday’s vote to begin debate on their health overhaul bill.

Two of three moderate holdouts have indicated in recent days that they will vote with fellow Democrats on the procedural vote. And Durbin said that the third, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, has informed Majority Leader Harry Reid how she plans to vote.

Durbin wouldn’t disclose Lincoln’s answer but Democrats are moving ahead with Saturday’s vote.

Proposal would name official Wis. motorcycle
8:54 a.m.

MADISON (AP) - Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson would become the official Wisconsin motorcycle under a bill proposed in the Legislature.

Milwaukee Democratic Rep. Leon Young says the idea came from a family member of Sgt. Jeremy Vrooman, who was killed last year while serving in Iraq.

Young argues in a letter to his colleagues that the long and storied history of Harley-Davidson in Wisconsin makes it appropriate to honor it with the distinction of being the official state motorcycle.

William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson built the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 1903 in Milwaukee. The company was incorporated four years later and remains based in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin doesn’t have an official motorcycle, but it does have an official song, insect, dog, dance, and tartan.

Stocks decline in early trading as dollar rises
8:52 a.m.

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are falling in the early moments of trading as the dollar strengthens further, and after a week of mixed economic reports.

Overseas markets declined.

With little economic news to help sway the market today, the dollar is again pressuring stocks. A disappointing earnings report from computer maker Dell is also weighing on the market.

With investors leaving stocks, Treasury prices are up, pushing yields lower. The three-month T-bill’s yield is hovering near its lowest level of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 29.70, or 0.3 percent, at 10,302.74. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down 4.29, or 0.4 percent, at 1,091.61, while the Nasdaq composite index is down 36.32, or 1.7 percent, at 2,144.06.

Three men arrested in woman's murder
4:37 a.m.

WAUKESHA - A bitter custody battle might have led Kim Smith's ex-boyfriend to call on a longtime friend to arrange for her to be murdered Oct. 1 in her Oconomowoc home, according to local law enforcement officials.