Nationally 3,400 will be out of work

DALLAS – Texas Instruments Inc., which makes chips for cell phones and other gadgets, said Monday that it will cut 3,400 jobs because demand has slackened amid a slowing economy.

The company said it will cut 12 percent of its work force – 1,800 jobs through layoffs and another 1,600 jobs through voluntary retirements and departures. Between those and another round of job cuts announced in October, the company expects annual savings of $700 million.

The job cuts will be completed by the third quarter.

In Tucson, fewer than 20 people are expected to lose their jobs, said Brett Schroer, spokesman for TI’s facility here.

Schroer said the majority of the layoffs will be among support staff, such as information technology and human resources. He did not have exact numbers on Monday.

Schroer also said some employees have taken voluntary retirement.

In October 2007, TI announced it was consolidating manufacturing in Texas, eliminating about 300 jobs at the Tucson facility. That cut left about 300 jobs here.

Schroer said TI is still has a long-term commitment to its Tucson facility, where the company does product design for analog semiconductors.

TI’s job-cut announcement came as the chip maker reported sharp declines in fourth-quarter profit and revenue.

During the quarter the company earned $107 million, or 8 cents per share, compared to $753 million, or 54 cents per share, during the same period of 2007. TI estimated last month that it would earn 10 cents to 16 cents per share.

The latest period includes restructuring charges of 13 cents per share. Excluding those charges, TI earned 21 cents per share, higher than 12 cents per share forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue slid to $2.49 billion from $3.56 billion in 2007 but topped the Wall Street forecast of $2.37 billion. Last month, TI predicted revenue between $2.3 billion and $2.5 billion.

For the first quarter, TI estimated its results would range from a loss of 11 cents a share to a profit of 3 cents per share. Analysts project a profit of 3 cents per share.

“We are realigning our expenses with a global economy that continues to weaken,” said Rich Templeton, chairman and chief executive, in a statement. “By reducing expenses now, we keep TI financially strong and able to invest for future growth.”

By Wire Report, Staff

Gannett Co. Inc. will close the Tucson Citizen on March 21 if it does not find a buyer for the newspaper.

Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett U.S. Community Publishing, made the announcement in a brief meeting with employees Friday.

“The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976, and we deeply regret having to take this step,” Dickey said. “But dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy – particularly in this region – mean it is no longer viable for our partnership with Lee Enterprises Incorporated to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson.”

The Citizen’s average daily circulation has been eroding for more than a decade and now stands at about 17,000 newspapers, compared to the Arizona Daily Star’s 117,000.

The Citizen, an afternoon newspaper that started publication in 1870, operates under a joint operating agreement with the Star, a morning paper owned by Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises Inc.

Print production, distribution, sales and other noneditorial functions for both the Citizen and the Star operate under the name Tucson Newspapers Inc.

Gannett and Lee Enterprises split any profits from TNI equally. Dickey told Citizen employees the paper as its own entity is losing money and the newspaper had become an increasing drain on Gannett operations over the last eight months.

However, through the JOA, Gannett received about $13 million in 2007, TNI President Mike Jameson said. He added that the profit split will be much less in 2009. He did not specify the amount.

Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell said the company was selling “the softer assets” of the Citizen, “the name, the Web site, the url, the contact list, advertising list, contracting list, subscriber list.”

Asked whether Gannett would sell or retain its interest in the JOA, she said “there are discussions going on, but right now, let’s get it sold, and then we can talk about what happens next.”

Dickey declined to announce an asking price or the estimated value of the newspaper.

The Citizen and the Star maintain separate newsrooms and the editorial operations are independent.

The Citizen, which publishes Monday through Saturday, is Arizona’s oldest continually published newspaper. It has 65 full-time and three part-time employees.

Employees who stay with the paper through March 21 if it isn’t sold will receive severance pay of one week for every year of employment, to a maximum of 26 weeks.

Tucson becomes the latest city on the verge of losing its second daily newspaper as the industry suffers from the poor economy, falling retail advertising and circulation declines.

Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, owned by E.W. Scripps Co., was recently put up for sale and could close if a buyer isn’t found soon. Hearst Corp. put Seattle’s oldest newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, up for sale last week and said it would likely close or exist only online if a buyer wasn’t found by March.

Gannett, based in McLean, Va., publishes 85 daily newspapers in the United States, including The Arizona Republic and USA Today, and operates 23 television stations

———

Gannett News Release

Text of Gannett Co, Inc.’s news release on the sale of the Tucson Citizen:

McLEAN, VA – Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) today said it is offering to sell certain assets of the Tucson (Arizona) Citizen. If a sale is not completed by March 21, 2009, Gannett said it will have to close the newspaper.

“The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976 and we deeply regret having to take this step. But dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy – particularly in this region – mean it is no longer viable for our partnership with Lee Enterprises Incorporated to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson,” said Bob Dickey, president of the U.S. Community Publishing division of Gannett. “We applaud the hard work and ongoing efforts of our employees at the newspaper. Their dedication to journalism and to the community of Tucson deserves the highest praise. We hope for a quick and positive response to this offer.”

The Tucson Citizen is an afternoon newspaper that publishes Monday through Saturday. It is one of the two newspapers produced by TNI Partners as part of a joint operating arrangement (JOA) under the Newspaper Preservation Act. The Arizona Daily Star, which is owned by a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises Incorporated, is the second newspaper in the JOA. TNI Partners provides the production, distribution, sales and other non-editorial business functions for both the Citizen and The Star.

Each newspaper maintains a separate newsroom and the editorial operations of the newspapers are entirely independent. Average daily circulation of the Citizen is 19,851, according to the latest Audit Bureaus of Circulation report. Founded in 1870, the Tucson Citizen has been part of a JOA since 1940. Offers should be directed to Robert J. Broadwater, managing director of Broadwater & Associates LLC, at (914) 961-5700 or broadwater@broadwaterllc.com.

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 85 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly 900 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes 17 daily paid-for titles, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, and a network of award-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.

By Wire Report, Staff

In 2008 compared to 2007 filings

Many Tucson residents ended 2008 on a sour financial note as bankruptcy filings spiked in December after a lull in November.

Some 370 persons and businesses in southern Arizona, primarily the metro Tucson area, sought protection from creditors in December – a jump of nearly 71 percent compared with December 2007. That brought the yearly total to 4,186 filings, up 57 percent over 2007.

Filings across Arizona rose 89 percent in December and 81 percent for the year, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix.

The recession, mounting job losses and the credit crunch have strained household budgets, as have such usual culprits such as divorce and large, unexpected medical bills.

“People are finding they don’t have access to credit like the used to,” said Ericka Young of Tailor-Made Budgets in Mesa. “They don’t have a plan and don’t know what to do.”

Chapter 7 filings, which give debtors a fresh financial start after nonexempt assets are sold to pay creditors, account for three in four bankruptcies in the Tucson bankruptcy court, which includes Pima, Pinal, Cochise, Santa Cruz, Graham and Greenlee counties. Nearly two-thirds were in the metro Tucson area.

Those filings jumped 95 percent in December and 57 percent for the full year.

Chapter 13 filings accounted for most of the rest. They’re designed to help people with regular income work out a repayment plan with creditors. Chapter 13 filings increased 14 percent in December and 51 percent for the year.

For many, a key factor that’s biting harder than ever is the depressed real estate market and plunging home equity.

“The big driver now is real estate,” said Tempe bankruptcy attorney Joe Volin.

“Many people own a house worth, say, $180,000, but owe $350,000 with the second mortgage maxed out,” he said. “If anything else goes wrong in their lives, they’re really in a tough spot.”

Many people also are getting dragged down by debts on investment real estate. Owners are finding it harder to modify loans on these properties compared with loans on primary homes.

“Lenders generally aren’t willing to work with investment properties,” said Diane L. Drain, a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney. “I’m hearing from people who never had financial problems before.”

Bankruptcy can help debt-stressed homeowners in some cases. For example, it’s possible to discharge a second home loan yet keep the property.

One scenario where this might make sense, said Volin, involves cases where a property is worth less than the amount owed on the primary mortgage. There wouldn’t be any value to support the second loan, making it unsecured and thus dischargeable in bankruptcy. Yet the homeowner might be able to continue affording payments on the primary loan if the extra debt was gone.

“Ten years ago, this was a rare situation (since home values were rising),” Volin said. “Now I see it virtually every week.”

The state’s abnormally weak real estate market explains why bankruptcy filings here are running at a higher rate than in the U.S. overall.

The 1.06 million consumer filings nationally last year represented an increase of 33 percent over 2007, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute and National Bankruptcy Research Center. U.S. filings in December dropped 15 percent compared with November.

Despite that decrease, the recession and related financial pressures are expected to continue taking a toll across the nation.

By Citizen Staff Report, Wire Report

The Arizona Cardinals will play on television Saturday after all.

After being up against the clock, the team sold the remaining 2,400 seats to meet an NFL-mandated sellout of Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.

After two 24-hour extensions, the NFL had given the team a deadline of 2:30 p.m. Friday to avoid a blackout in the Phoenix area.

Cardinals spokesman Chris Melvin says they started the day with 2,400 tickets remaining and sales have been brisk.

The Cardinal’s Web site reports that there are tickets remaining, including tickets returned from the visiting team’s allotment and club seats that did not count against the blackout numbers.

Club seats start at $164.75 each and are available through Ticketmaster by phone at (800) 745-3000 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. They’re also on sale at the team’s Tempe training facility box office and at the University of Phoenix Stadium box office.

By Wire Report, Staff

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Cal Poly’s Rich Ellerson was hired as Army’s football coach Friday, joining a team that hasn’t had a winning record since 1996.

Ellerson, a graduate of Salpointe Catholic High School and a former University of Arizona defensive assistant, replaces Stan Brock, who was fired Dec. 12 after a pair of 3-9 seasons. This season concluded with a 34-0 loss to Navy.

Under Ellerson, Cal Poly made it to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs four times and was ranked as high as No. 3 this season. He was 56-34 in his eight years at Cal Poly.

Ellerson, along with Arizona defensive coordinator Larry Mac Duff, was instrumental in the development of the UA’s double-eagle flex scheme that helped give rise to the Desert Swarm defenses of the early 1990s.

Ellerson left after the 1995 season to become head coach at Southern Utah, but returned to UA for his second stint as an assistant a year later, serving as defensive coordinator from 1997 to 2000. The Tucson native turns 55 on Thursday.

“I will never receive, nor have I ever received a finer compliment professionally or personally than to be entrusted with the Army football program at this point in its history,” Ellerson said in a statement.

Ellerson grew up with Army football – his father and two brothers were West Point graduates. His brother John was captain of the 1962 team that went 6-4.

“Rich has the experience we need,” West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck said. “An award- and title-winning head coach who runs the option, Rich also has extensive ties to West Point and the Army.”

Athletic director Kevin Anderson said he’s long admired Ellerson’s work with the triple option at Cal Poly.

“One of our primary goals of the search was to find someone capable of turning around our program immediately and we are confident Rich is the perfect individual to accomplish that,” he said.

Brock was fired days after the Black Knights were routed by Navy. Brock, a former New Orleans Saints offensive lineman, was Army’s offensive line coach for three years before replacing Bobby Ross in early 2007.

The past four Army coaches have had losing career records. The last Army head coach with a winning record was former UA head coach Jim Young, who was 51-39-1 from 1983 to 1990.

By Citizen Staff Report, Wire Report

State transportation officials meet in Tucson on Friday to consider an Interstate 10 bypass route west of the city.

Its north end would connect with I-10 near its junction with Interstate 8 in Pinal County. The bypass would cross the Santa Cruz River twice north and east of Ironwood Forest National Monument and then run south through the Avra Valley, just west of the west unit of Saguaro National Park and Pima County’s Tucson Mountain Park.

After skimming the western border of the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation, it would head east through Sahuarita before reconnecting to I-10 near the junction with state Route 83 near Vail.

The estimated cost of such a route is $6 billion to $8 billion. No funding source has been identified.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution opposing the bypass last year.

The meeting is at 9 a.m. at the Mayor and Council Chambers, City Hall, 255 W. Alameda St.

By Citizen Staff Report, Wire Report

What’s new this week: “Battle in Seattle,” “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” “Rachel Getting Married,” “Role Models,” “Soul Men,” “Sukiyaki Western Django”

OPENING THIS WEEK

“Battle in Seattle,” written and directed by Stuart Townsend. Washington Post’s grade: D. Synopsis: Dramatization of the five volatile days of protest that rocked the Northwest city during the 2000 World Trade Organization summit. With Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson and Channing Tatum. Rating: R for language and violence. Length: 98 minutes. Web site: www.battleinseattlemovie.com

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” trying to cash in on the success of the first one. AP’s grade: D+. Synopsis: Zoo animals are stranded again in this animated sequel reuniting voice stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith. Rating: PG for some mild crude humor. Length: 89 minutes. Web site: www.madagascar-themovie.com/index.html

“Rachel Getting Married,” Jonathan Demme directs. AP’s grade: C. Synopsis: An addict (Anne Hathaway) rekindles tension and tragic family memories at her sister’s wedding. Rating: R for language and brief sexuality. Length: 113 minutes. Web site: www.sonyclassics.com/rachelgettingmarried

“Role Models,” from “Wet Hot American Summer” director David Wain. AP’s grade: B. Synopsis: Two adult adolescents (Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott) are sentenced to community service as youth mentors. Rating: R for crude and sexual content, strong language and nudity. Length: 99 minutes. Web site: www.rolemodelsmovie.com

“Soul Men,” featuring Bernie Mac’s final performance. AP’s grade: C. Synopsis: Samuel L. Jackson and Mac are an estranged singing duo reunited for a tribute concert. The late Isaac Hayes co-stars. Rating: R for pervasive language, and sexual content including nudity. Length: 100 minutes. Web site: www.soulmen-movie.com

“Sukiyaki Western Django,” with a brief appearance by Quentin Tarantino. Los Angeles Times’ grade: C-. Synopsis: A gunman is caught up in a deadly battle between two clans in this Japanese take on spaghetti Westerns. Rating: R for strong violence, including a rape. Length: 98 minutes. Web site: www.sukiyakimovie.com

By Wire Report, Staff

Voters fulfilled state officials’ expectations for the presidential election, lining up in droves at numerous polling sites Tuesday.

With about 92 percent of state precincts reporting, about 62 percent of the state’s nearly 3 million registered voters cast a ballot, about a third of them early.

In Tucson, few long lines were reported but voting was steady through most of the day at many polling places.

At Temple Emanu-El, 255 N. Country Club Road, Maurice Grossman, 81, a retired UA art professor, voted for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

“We need a government that will embrace a more moderate view,” said the registered Democrat. “So many of the policies for the last eight years have been extremely far conservative.”

Pima County’s vote counting lagged the rest of the state and about 7 percent of precincts hadn’t been counted as of 1:15 a.m. Wednesday. Nevertheless, about 63 percent of the county’s nearly 500,000 registered voters cast a ballot.

The county has been heavily criticized lately, including by Secretary of State Jan Brewer, about how it conducts elections.

Despite the slow results, county election officials said there were few if any problems Tuesday.

Lines were dying down at several Tucson precincts by late afternoon. But voting inspector Darrell Jolley said about 50 people were lined up outside at the Sabino Road Baptist Church just outside the Tucson at 5:25 a.m., a half-hour before the polls opened. The lines remained for the first hour.

At another polling place on the city’s northeast side, voting inspector Joe Walsh said that by 4:30 p.m., 84 percent of 1,687 eligible voters had either requested early ballots or cast votes on Tuesday.

At polls throughout metro Phoenix, workers were greeted by long lines as early as 5:30 a.m.

By midday, traffic slowed to a trickle at many locations. In Tempe, several Arizona State University students were pleasantly surprised at not having to wait during the lunch hour.

“I was shocked. I walked over here and I figured there’d be a line out the door, around the corner,” said Chelsea Courtney, an ASU freshman. “It was harder to find because of that.”

By Wire Report, Staff

A running update of national election results

Barack Obama has capped off his historic victory with wins in several Western states.

He defeated John McCain in California, Oregon and Washington state — and tossed in New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii and Nevada.

Obama had earlier defeated McCain both in Democratic strongholds in the East and Midwest and also in battleground states that had held the last hopes of a Republican victory.

—

As Democrats take some Senate seats that had been held by Republicans, they’re avoiding any losses of their own seats.

The only Democratic senator who appeared to face a serious challenge, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, has been re-elected, defeating Republican John Kennedy.

Democratic gains came in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado.

And two of those winners were cousins named Udall. Reps. Tom and Mark Udall take over Senate seats that were held by retiring Republicans. Tom Udall takes over for Pete Domenici in New Mexico, while Mark Udall will fill the Colorado seat held by Wayne Allard.

Entering this election, Democrats held control of the Senate by a slim 51-49 margin, counting two independents who vote with them

—

Barack Obama has won Virginia, a state that last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964.

The win came as Obama cemented his lead over John McCain, moving him closer to becoming the nation’s first black president.

He earlier captured other key states that were central to McCain’s hopes, including Ohio and Pennsylvania.

In addition to its choice of Obama, Virginia also turned over the second of its two Senate seats to the Democrats, with Mark Warner defeating Republican former governor Jim Gilmore.

Obama also won in New Mexico, with five electoral votes, while McCain took Mississippi with its six electors.

—

Barack Obama is leading narrowly in some states that represent John McCain’s remaining hopes of winning the presidency.

Obama has already won in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He’s leading narrowly in Florida and has even smaller leads in Virginia and North Carolina.

Obama has 202 electoral votes, out of the 270 needed to be elected. McCain, with the help of 34 electoral votes from Texas, has 114.

Obama’s wins came throughout traditionally Democratic states in the East and Midwest. McCain took states that are normally secure for Republicans.

Democrats, meanwhile, are gaining strength in both houses of Congress.

—

Barack Obama has now added Iowa’s seven electoral votes to his total, as he builds on his commanding lead over John McCain.

Obama now has 202 electoral votes out of the 270 he needs for the nomination.

He earlier won in Pennsylvania and in Ohio — both states that were key to John McCain’s hopes. No Republican has ever been elected president without capturing Ohio.

McCain adds five electoral votes with his victory in Utah. That gives him 75 in all.

Democrats are adding to their Senate majority. Among the Democrats re-elected to Senate seats are Tom Harkin in Iowa and Max Baucus in Montana.

Republican Thad Cochran won re-election in Mississippi.—

Barack Obama has built a commanding lead, capturing another sought-after prize.

He wins Ohio and its 20 electoral votes, giving the Democrat a total of 195 to John McCain’s 70. Obama needs 270 to clinch the nomination.

He’d earlier won in neighboring Pennsylvania. Both states were seen as key to McCain’s victory chances.

Obama also swept the states in the East and Midwest that traditionally go blue.

McCain’s latest wins are in Kansas, North Dakota, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana, with 33 electoral votes in all.

MSNBC is reporting Arizona as “too close to call.”

Democrats have picked up Republican Senate seats in Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire and New Mexico. But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has won re-election to his Senate seat in Kentucky.

Republicans Jeff Sessions in Alabama and Pat Roberts in Kansas were also re-elected.

—–

McCain wins Arkansas, Kansas and North Dakota, according to the Associated Press.

After capturing the sought-after prize of Pennsylvania, Barack Obama has added New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

That gives him a total of 175 electoral votes of the 270 needed to win.

John McCain picks up a win in Wyoming, bringing his electoral vote total to 37.

There have been two more Democratic captures of Republican Senate seats. In New Hampshire, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican John Sununu. In New Mexico, Democrat Tom Udall wins the seat that had been held by Republican Pete Domenici.

Republicans John Barrasso and Michael Enzi captured Wyoming’s two Senate races

Democrat Carl Levin was re-elected to the Senate from Michigan, and Democrat Jack Reed won in Rhode Island, as did Democrat Tim Johnson in South Dakota.

—-

It’s a state that John McCain badly needed to win, but Pennsylvania has gone to Barack Obama. The state’s 21 electoral votes go to the Democrat.

The loss of Pennsylvania narrows the possible paths to victory for McCain.

Obama now leads with 99 electoral votes, to McCain’s 34.

Democrats are picking up another Senate seat from the South: Democrat Kay Hagan has defeated Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina.

Dole had appeared to be headed to re-election, but she’s been hurt by revelations that she’s spent little time in North Carolina in the past year.

Dole is the wife of former GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole.

Earlier, Democrat Mark Warner captured the Virginia Senate seat that had been held by retiring Republican John Warner.

Republicans, meanwhile, have held onto a Senate seat in Oklahoma with the re-election of James Inhofe.

—-

Barack Obama picks up four more electoral votes with a win in New Hampshire.

He now has 82 electoral votes, to John McCain’s 34.

In Arkansas, Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor won re-election by defeating Green Party candidate Rebekah Kennedy.

New Hampshire’s Democratic Gov. John Lynch has been re-elected. Democrat Jack Markell won Delaware’s gubernatorial race, and Democrat Jay Nixon won in Missouri.

Obama is the winner in New Hampshire, New Jersey and Massachusetts — and in his home state of Illinois.

He’s also captured Maryland, Connecticut, Maine and the District of Columbia, as well as running mate Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.

John McCain, meanwhile, has won in South Carolina, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

In all, that gives Obama 78 electoral votes so far. McCain has 34.

Biden is also the winner in his Delaware Senate race. The state’s Democratic governor would appoint a successor if Biden becomes vice president.

Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Richard Durbin of Illinois have held onto their Senate seats, as have Republicans Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Susan Collins of Maine.

—

West Virginia has re-elected its Democratic governor along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller. But in the presidential race, the outcome of the fight for the state’s five electoral votes isn’t yet known.

Rockefeller defeated Republican Jay Wolfe to hold onto his Senate seat.

Gov. Joe Manchin is the winner over Republican challenger Russ Weeks.

John McCain has led recent polls in West Virginia, which went for President Bush in 2000 and 2004.

PRESIDENT

Obama wins Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin

McCain wins Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, Utah, Wyoming

SENATE

Elected:

Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Joe Biden, D-Del.

Susan Collins, R-Maine

Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

John Kerry, D-Mass.

Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.

James Inhofe, R-Okla.

Kay Hagan, D-N.C.

Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Jonn Barrasso, R-Wyo.

Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.

Tim Johnson, D-S.D.

Carl Levin, D-Mich.

Jack Reed, D-R.I.

Tom Udall, D-N.M.

Pat Roberts, R-Kan.

Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Thad Cochran, R-Miss.

Mike Johanns, R-Neb.

Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Tom Harkin, D-Iowa

John Cornyn, R-Texas

Mark Udall, D-Colo.

GOVERNOR

Elected:

John Lynch, D-N.H.

Jack Markell, D-Del.

Jay Nixon, D-Mo.

John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Jon Huntsman, R-Utah

Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont.

Jim Douglas, R-Vt.

Barack’s big win

Obama’s big win

Around the country and around the world, many celebrated the election of Barack Obama to the White House.

Producer: JUDY CARLOCK and DYLAN SMITH/Tucson Citizen

By Wire Report, Staff

The nation votes

The nation votes

Images from around America, as voters lined up to cast ballots and politicians delivered last stump speeches.

Producer: DYLAN SMITH/Tucson Citizen

Related: Obama elected first black president in landslide

Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation’s first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. “Change has come,” he told a jubilant hometown Chicago crowd.

The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states — Ohio, Florida, Iowa and more. He captured Virginia and Indiana, too, the first candidate of his party in 44 years to win either.

Obama’s election capped a meteoric rise — from mere state senator to president-elect in four years.

Spontaneous celebrations erupted from Atlanta to New York and Philadelphia as word of Obama’s victory spread. Supporters filled Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

In his first speech as victor, to well over 100,000 people in Grant Park in Chicago, Obama catalogued the challenges ahead. “The greatest of a lifetime,” he said, “two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.”

He added, “There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.”

McCain called his former rival to concede defeat — and the end of his own 10-year quest for the White House. “The American people have spoken, and spoken clearly,” McCain told disappointed supporters in Arizona.

President Bush added his congratulations from the White House, where his tenure runs out on Jan. 20. “May God bless whoever wins tonight,” he had told dinner guests earlier.

Obama, in his speech, invoked the words of Lincoln, recalled Martin Luther King Jr., and seemed to echo John F. Kennedy.

“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder,” he said.

He and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009. McCain remains in the Senate.

Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, returns to Alaska as governor after a tumultuous debut on the national stage.

He will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession, and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.

The popular vote was close — 51.7 percent to 47 percent with 84 percent of all U.S. precincts tallied — but not the count in the Electoral College, where it mattered most.

There, Obama’s audacious decision to contest McCain in states that hadn’t gone Democratic in years paid rich dividends.

Shortly after 2 a.m. in the East, The Associated Press count showed Obama with 349 electoral votes, well over the 270 needed for victory. McCain had 147 after winning states that comprised the normal Republican base, including Texas and most of the South as well as several in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain west.

By comparison, Bush won the White House twice, and never tallied more than 286 electoral votes.

Four states remained unsettled — Georgia, Missouri and North Carolina. All voted for Bush in 2004.

Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama nationwide, while men leaned his way by a narrow margin. Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004.

The results of the AP survey were based on a preliminary partial sample of nearly 10,000 voters in Election Day polls and in telephone interviews over the past week for early voters. Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months.

In Washington, the Democratic leaders of Congress celebrated.

“It is not a mandate for a party or ideology but a mandate for change,” said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Said Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California: “Tonight the American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America.”

Democrats also acclaimed Senate successes by former Gov. Mark Warner in Virginia, Rep. Tom Udall in New Mexico and Rep. Mark Udall in Colorado. All won seats left open by Republican retirements.

In New Hampshire, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican Sen. John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 race, and Sen. Elizabeth Dole fell to Democrat Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

Biden won a new term in Delaware, a seat he will resign before he is sworn in as vice president.

The Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, survived a scare in Kentucky.

In Georgia, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss hoped to avoid a December runoff. His was one of four races that were uncalled. The others were in Alaska, Minnesota and Oregon, and in each, Republican incumbents hoped to eke out victories.

The Democrats piled up gains in the House, as well.

They defeated eight Republican incumbents, including 22-year veteran Chris Shays in Connecticut, and picked up nine more seats where GOP lawmakers had retired.

At least four Democrats lost their seats, including Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney, turned out of office after admitting to two extramarital affairs while serving his first term in Florida. In Louisiana, Democratic Rep. Don Cazayoux lost the seat he had won in a special election six months ago.

The resurgent Democrats also elected a governor in one of the nation’s traditional bellwether states when Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon won his race.

An estimated 187 million voters were registered, and in an indication of interest in the battle for the White House, 40 million or so had already voted as Election Day dawned.

Obama sought election as one of the youngest presidents, and one of the least experienced in national political affairs.

That wasn’t what set the Illinois senator apart, though — neither from his rivals nor from the other men who had served as president since the nation’s founding more than two centuries ago. A black man, he confronted a previously unbreakable barrier as he campaigned on twin themes of change and hope in uncertain times.

McCain, a prisoner of war during Vietnam, a generation older than his rival at 72, was making his second try for the White House, following his defeat in the battle for the GOP nomination in 2000.

A conservative, he stressed his maverick’s streak. And although a Republican, he did what he could to separate himself from an unpopular president.

For the most part, the two presidential candidates and their running mates, Biden and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, spent weeks campaigning in states that went for Bush four years ago.

McCain and Obama each won contested nominations — the Democrat outdistancing former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton — and promptly set out to claim the mantle of change.

Obama won California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

McCain had Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

He also won at least four of Nebraska’s five electoral votes, with the other one in doubt.

Barack’s big win

Obama’s big win

Around the country and around the world, many celebrated the election of Barack Obama to the White House.

Producer: JUDY CARLOCK and DYLAN SMITH/Tucson Citizen

Slideshow #2

———

RESULTS MAP

Get updated national election results at tucsoncitizen.com/election

LANDSLIDE

Add another electoral landslide to the record books.

There’s no set definition for what constitutes a landslide, but Barack Obama’s resounding electoral victory seems to fit the bill.

Kathleen Thompson Hill and Gerald N. Hill, in their book, “The Facts on File Dictionary of American Politics,” say a landslide can be defined as “exceeding expectations and being somewhat overwhelming.”

With three states yet to be decided, the electoral vote count was 349 for Obama and 147 for Republican John McCain.

President Bush, by contrast, won with just 271 electoral votes in 2000 and 286 in 2004. It takes 270 votes to win the presidency.

A look at past elections that might qualify as landslides:

—Franklin Delano Roosevelt over Alf Landon in 1936, 523 to 8.

—Theodore Roosevelt over Alton Parker in 1904, 336-140.

—Woodrow Wilson over Roosevelt and William Taft in 1912, 435-96.

—Warren Harding over James Cox in 1920, 404-127.

—Herbert Hoover over Alfred Smith in 1928, 444-87.

—Franklin Roosevelt in all four of his elections, with electoral votes of 472, 523, 449 and 432.

—Lyndon Johnson, who carried the tongue-in-cheek nickname “Landslide Lyndon” for his razor-thin 87-vote victory in a Texas Senate race, over Barry Goldwater in 1964, 486-52.

—Richard Nixon over George McGovern in 1972, 520-17.

—Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale in 1984, 525-13.

———

WHERE HE STANDS

A sampling of President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign promises and positions:

————

ABORTION

Favors abortion rights.

AFGHANISTAN

Would add about 7,000 troops to the U.S. force of 32,000, bringing the reinforcements from Iraq. Has threatened unilateral attack on high-value terrorist targets in Pakistan as they become exposed, “if Pakistan cannot or will not act” against them.

CUBA

Ease restrictions on family-related travel and on money Cuban-Americans want to send to their families in Cuba. Open to meeting new Cuban leader Raul Castro without preconditions. Ease trade embargo if Havana “begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change.”

DEATH PENALTY

Supports death penalty for crimes for which the “community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage.” As Illinois lawmaker, wrote bill mandating videotaping of interrogations and confessions in capital cases and sought other changes in system that had produced wrongful convictions.

EDUCATION

An $18 billion plan that would encourage, but not mandate, universal pre-kindergarten. Teacher pay raises tied to, although not based solely on, test scores. An overhaul of No Child Left Behind law to better measure student progress, make more room for subjects such as music and art and be less punitive toward failing schools. A tax credit to pay up to $4,000 of college costs for students who perform 100 hours of community service a year. Obama would pay for part of his plan by ending corporate tax deductions for CEO pay. Has backed away from his proposal to save money by delaying NASA’s moon and Mars missions.

ENERGY-GLOBAL WARMING:

Ten-year, $150 billion fund for biofuels, wind, solar, plug-in hybrids, clean-coal technology and other “climate-friendly” measures. Mandatory reductions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, using a market-based, cap-and-trade system that would increase energy costs. Increase federal fuel economy requirements from 35 mpg to 40 mpg. Now would consider limited expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling. Opposes drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Proposes windfall-profits tax on largest oil companies to pay for energy rebate of up to $1,000. Expand federal requirements for ethanol from 36 million gallons to 60 million gallons a year with increase coming from non-corn sources, and require utilities to produce 25 percent of power from renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass by 2025. $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of advance-technology vehicles; put 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on road by 2015.

FINANCIAL CRISIS

Two-year plan offering $3,000 tax credit to businesses for each new job created and enabling people to withdraw up to 15 percent of their retirement money, to a maximum of $10,000, without penalty, except for the usual taxes. Would temporarily extend an expiring tax break that lets small businesses immediately write off investments of up to $250,000, and sweeten small-business loans at a cost of about $5 billion. Estimated cost of proposals: $60 billion. Now favors mandatory 90-day freeze on some foreclosures. Lobbied fellow lawmakers to support $700 billion rescue plan. Extend unemployment benefits, offer tax credit covering 10 percent of annual mortgage-interest payments for “struggling homeowners.”

GAY MARRIAGE

Opposes constitutional amendment to ban it. Supports civil unions, says states should decide about marriage. Switched positions in 2004 and now supports repeal of Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages and gives states the right to refuse to recognize such marriages.

GUN CONTROL

Voted to leave gun-makers and dealers open to suit. Also, as Illinois state lawmaker, supported ban on all forms of semiautomatic weapons and tighter state restrictions generally on firearms.

HEALTH CARE

Mandatory coverage for children, no mandate for adults. Aim for universal coverage by requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers and by offering coverage similar to that in plan for federal employees. Proposes spending $50 billion on information technology over five years to reduce health care costs over time. Tax Policy Center estimates overall plan’s cost at $1.6 trillion over 10 years.

IMMIGRATION

Voted for 2006 bill offering legal status to illegal immigrants subject to conditions, including English proficiency and payment of back taxes and fines. Voted for border fence.

IRAN

Initially said he would meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions, now says he’s not sure “Ahmadinejad is the right person to meet with right now.” But says direct diplomacy with Iranian leaders would give U.S. more credibility to press for tougher international sanctions. Says he would intensify diplomatic pressure on Tehran before Israel feels the need to take unilateral military action against Iranian nuclear facilities.

IRAQ

Spoke against war at start, opposed troop increase. Voted against one major military spending bill in May 2007; otherwise voted in favor of money to support the war. Says his plan would complete withdrawal of combat troops in 16 months. Initially had said a timetable for completing withdrawal would be irresponsible without knowing what facts he’d face in office.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Would raise payroll tax on wealthiest by applying it to portion of income over $250,000. Now, payroll tax is applied to income up to $102,000. Rules out raising the retirement age for benefits.

STEM CELL RESEARCH

Supports relaxing federal restrictions on financing of embryonic stem cell research.

TAXES

Raise income taxes on families making over $250,000 and individuals making over $200,000. Raise corporate taxes. $80 billion in tax breaks mainly for poor workers and elderly, including tripling Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credit for larger families. Eliminate tax-filing requirement for older workers making under $50,000. A mortgage-interest credit could be used by lower-income homeowners who do not take the mortgage-interest deduction because they do not itemize their taxes. Nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates tax break of $1,118 for the middle 20 percent of taxpayers — those making $37,600 to $66,400.

TRADE

Seek to reopen North American Free Trade Agreement to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards. In 2004 Senate campaign, called for “enforcing existing trade agreements,” not amending them.

By Citizen Staff Report, Wire Report

NEW YORK — Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, said Tuesday it will lay off another 10 percent of the work force in its local newspapers division as advertising revenue continues to plummet during the economic downturn.

The latest reductions, to come by early December, follow a 10 percent cut announced in August. Neither round affects USA Today.

Gannett owns the Tucson Citizen. Interim Editor Jennifer Boice said she doesn’t know much more than what was announced in a letter to all Gannett employees Tuesday by Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing division.

She said she didn’t yet know whether the Citizen would be included with Tucson Newspapers Inc. as one entity or whether the two companies would have to make the 10 percent cut separately. Boice, the senior editor for news, has been running the Citizen since July when Publisher and Editor Michael Chihak retired.

Tucson Newspapers handles all non-news functions for the Citizen and the Arizona Daily Star, including advertising, circulation and printing.

The Citizen has about 70 full-time equivalent employees and TNI has about 670, meaning as many as 74 people may lose their jobs.

Gannett isn’t revealing a specific number to cut, but said all would be involuntary. Some 600 of the 1,000 cuts in the first round were achieved through layoffs.

Newspaper companies including Gannett are seeing ad revenue declines accelerate as the weak economy puts additional pressure on an ad market already suffering from a migration of readers to the Internet.

Gannett said Friday that advertising revenue at its publishing business fell nearly 18 percent during the July-September quarter compared with the same period last year.

“As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse,” Dickey, said in his letter. “Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering.”

Gannett had said Friday it was considering more cuts by year’s end. The layoffs announced Tuesday are part of that; other divisions are likely to see job cuts, too.

Besides the general cuts at local Gannett newspapers, which include The Arizona Republic and the Detroit Free Press, the company in September eliminated 100 management jobs as it consolidated circulation, finance and other operations into four regional groups.

The company also offered voluntary buyouts to about 30 corporate employees last week, on top of reductions of about 45 positions in that division since 2007.

USA Today cut 45 jobs last November.

Publishers of individual newspapers were asked Tuesday to develop local job reduction plans by mid-November to achieve the 10 percent division-wide cut.

“Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions,” Dickey wrote.

Employees who are laid off will be offered as much as 26 weeks of severance pay — one week for each year of service.

“While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times,” Dickey said.

Despite the sharp reduction in ad revenue and the need to cut costs, analysts consider Gannett stronger than many of its peers.

Citi Investment Research analyst Catriona Fallon initiated coverage on three newspaper publishers late Monday and assigned only Gannett a “Buy” rating. Fallon placed a “Sell” rating on The New York Times Co. and The McClatchy Co.

Gannett shares have lost more than 75 percent during the past 52 weeks. Fallon said the company’s broadcast segment, which saw some gains from the Olympics and political advertising, also provides some downside protection to the investment.

Shares in Gannett rose 57 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $9.70 in late afternoon trading.

By Wire Report, Staff

The job-loss rate in the Tucson area is expected to be greater than Arizona’s through 2009, according to a new forecast from the Arizona Department of Commerce.

The metropolitan area is expected to lose about 9,600 jobs, or 2.5 percent of its nonfarm work force, by the end of next year. Most of the job losses are expected this year, with about 2,900 to be lost in 2009.

Slight growth in the natural resources and mining, education and health services and government sectors were the only bright spots in the forecast.

Not surprisingly, the biggest job loss rates are in the financial and construction sectors, at 18 percent and 15.9 percent respectively. Close behind is the information sector, with a 13 percent job loss rate. Those three sectors account for 7,900 of the expected job losses.

The report says the state could lose nearly 2 percent of its nonfarm jobs before the economy begins recovering late next year.

The forecast predicts 34,000 job losses this year and another 13,500 in 2009,, for a total of 47,500 fewer jobs.

The state had about 2.6 million nonfarm jobs in August and the unemployment rate jumped to 5.6 percent.

The Commerce Department report released Thursday makes major revisions to its forecast issued in May. That report estimated just 9,200 nonfarm jobs would be lost in 2008 and 2009.

The gloomy new report says lower consumer spending is expected to create a domino effect in industries such as trade, transportation, leisure and hospitality.

———

On the Net:

Arizona Department of Commerce: www.azcommerce.com/Home

By Wire Report, Staff

KFC to boost security for chicken recipe; oval iPods introduced

The Tucson Airport Authority will roll out a new credit and debit card payment system for its parking lots next month.

The airport will offer promotional rates for EasyPay customers to prompt people to use the system to pay for parking.

The automated system has pay stations near the baggage claim and near the elevator inside the parking garage that will accept credit and debit cards. One of the outgoing lanes also will accept credit or debit card payments.

The $2.4 million project also includes new signage and renaming the airport parking lots.

Parking rates range from $1 per half hour in the hourly lot to $3 per day in the economy lot.

KFC to boost security for chicken recipe

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Pssst. The secret’s out at KFC. Well, sort of.

Colonel Harland Sanders’ handwritten recipe of 11 herbs and spices was removed Tuesday from safekeeping at KFC’s corporate offices for the first time in decades. The temporary relocation is allowing KFC to revamp security around a yellowing sheet of paper that contains one of the country’s most famous corporate secrets.

The Associated Press

Apple revamps line of popular iPods

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off a revamped line of iPods on Tuesday and trumpeted a truce with NBC Universal that means the TV network will begin selling programs again on iTunes.

Investors were less than energized. Apple’s shares fell $6.24, 4 percent, to close at $151.68.

The iPod upgrades Jobs revealed Tuesday in a theater in San Francisco include two slick new Nano models, oval-shaped devices that Jobs said are the thinnest iPods Apple has ever made. They are less than a quarter-inch thick.

The Associated Press

By Citizen Staff Report, Wire Report

Federal and Arizona authorities said Friday they believe they have identified the driver of a sport utility vehicle among 10 survivors of a rural highway crash that killed nine others.

All 19 people crammed into the SUV were believed to be illegal immigrants, 17 of them men. Two women and seven men died in the crash.

The northbound vehicle veered off of state Route 79 on Thursday about 15 miles south of Florence. It slammed into the far bank of a 30-foot dry wash before flipping and landing upside down.

Rescue workers had to remove the dead and injured, all of whom were trapped inside the crushed white Suburban. The survivors were flown to hospitals in Tucson, Scottsdale and Phoenix.

The Guatemalan Consul General in Phoenix, Oscar Padilla, said at least five of the survivors were from El Salvador and three from Mexico, and at least one of the dead was determined to be from Guatemala.

Padilla and his Salvadoran and Mexican counterparts were in Tucson on Friday afternoon to help Pima County Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Parks try to identify the victims and begin the process of notifying relatives.

Parks’ office was performing autopsies. He said identification papers were found on a number of victims’ bodies, “which certainly is going to make the identification process easier.” Names will not be released until relatives of those who died have been told, Parks said.

Pinal County sends most of its forensic work to Tucson or Phoenix. “We have limited forensic capabilities and depend on labs in Tucson and Phoenix for a lot of our work,” said Konstantinos Kalaitzidis, a spokesman for the Pinal County Attorney.

Arizona Department of Public Safety and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials declined to identify the suspected driver.

In a statement, DPS said because all those who died were foreign nationals, “it may be several days before their identities can be officially released after next of kin can be located.”

The large number of passengers led authorities to believe it was a human smuggling operation transporting illegal immigrants. As the investigation continued Friday, driver inattention and speed “appear to be early indicators” of what caused the crash, DPS said.

Increasingly, DPS officers are seeing smugglers driving loads of illegal immigrants along tate Route 79, which runs north-south before ending at the eastern outskirts of metropolitan Phoenix. Also called the Pinal Pioneer Parkway, it parallels Interstate 10 to its west but is much less heavily traveled.

Four of the survivors, all of whom Padilla said were from El Salvador, were listed in good condition on Thursday at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. A hospital spokesman on Friday declined to give a condition update but said all four remained hospitalized.

Two of three survivors taken to University Medical Center in Tucson remained in critical condition, and a third was listed in fair condition after surgery for a leg fracture, spokeswoman Darci Slaten said Friday. Padilla said two of the three at UMC were from Mexico.

Conditions of two other survivors at Maricopa Medical Center and one at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborne Hospital were not released. Padilla said one person at Maricopa Medical Center was from El Salvador and the patient at the Scottsdale hospital from Mexico.

“We’re working very hard on this case,” Padilla said. “It’s a terrible, really terrible situation. If they are Guatemalans, we will do everything possible to repatriate them and return the dead home.”

By Wire Report, Staff