Jopop Pub

It took the Standard & Poor’s 500 index less than two months to drop 10.1 percent to 1,407.22 on Monday from an Oct. 9 high. Such a drop, widely defined as a correction, was the first for the broad market since 2003. About $1.4 trillion in stock-market value melted away in the period, says S&P senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.

But based on history, the drop was overdue.

“That’s a longer period of placid market conditions than we usually have,” says Morningstar equities strategist Paul Larson. “It’s worth remembering that the stock market is a volatile place, and that’s something that was easy to forget in the past three or four years, when volatility was at a low point.”

The decline is halfway to a 20 percent fall, considered the threshold for a bear market. Of the 26 market corrections since 1946, 10 led to bear markets, says Sam Stovall, S&P’s chief investment strategist.

Though the financial sector, down more than 20 percent in the latest correction period, led the decline, consumer discretionary, telecommunications, industrial and material sectors also posted double-digit losses.

But the drop means some stocks now look cheap, as business fundamentals have not necessarily changed, Larson says.

“Investors are best served by buying individual stocks and not really trying to predict the overall market direction,” he adds.

Speaking via phone roughly 2,600 miles away, the voice of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan comes through as rapid-fire as the run-and-shoot offense he operates so well, seemingly breathless.

He’s talking about the excitement level in Hawaii this week as the Warriors prepare to host the Washington Huskies on Saturday night in what many are calling the biggest game in school history.

Win it, and Hawaii will finish the season 12-0 and almost certainly qualify for a BCS bowl for the first time, a berth that would give the school a chance to validate itself as a legitimate college football power.

It’s everything Brennan said he hoped for when he decided to return to Hawaii for his senior season after a junior year in which he led the nation in touchdown passes (58) and passing yards (5,549) and briefly entertained thoughts of entering the NFL draft.

“I set out to be undefeated,” he said this week. “I came back to be a winner my senior year. It wasn’t about records but just about getting 12 victories in the regular season. I’m one week away from that. So it can be what I hoped for if I can get one more victory.”

But maybe Brennan also didn’t want to leave Hawaii because it’s the place where he started over after his college football career was almost derailed before it could get started.

Brennan, a graduate of perennial prep power Mater Dei High in Southern California, signed with Colorado, where he redshirted in 2003. In January 2004, he was accused of entering a female student’s room uninvited (while allegedly drunk) and failing to leave, earning several charges, including sexual assault.

He was convicted of first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree burglary (sexual assault was dropped) and sentenced to seven days in jail and four years probation. He was kicked off the team at Colorado, and after spending the following season at Saddleback (Calif.) Community College, found that his past was hard to escape.

A number of schools that would have been interested in him were scared off by his conviction.

Hawaii coach June Jones offered Brennan a chance to walk on and prove himself, holding out the carrot of leading what has become one of the most prolific passing offenses in college football - the Warriors have been ranked in the top five nationally in passing eight straight seasons.

Brennan took the challenge, as well as the starting job. His 126 touchdown passes are the most in NCAA history.

He has said he has no one to blame but himself for what happened at Colorado, but also that his discretions were exaggerated and shouldn’t have resulted in almost being banished.

“There’s a lot of ways you could look at it,” said Brennan. “It was really weird what I went through at Colorado. It wasn’t until after I went through that and I [came] to Hawaii that every dream I ever had as a kid has come true.”

Brennan’s stats aren’t quite as staggering this season, due in part to missing one game and almost all of another due to injury. He has passed for 33 touchdowns and 3,732 yards, completing 69.9 percent of his passes. He says his ankle is still a little sore following Friday’s win over Boise State, but should be fine by Saturday.

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said the 6-foot-3, 196-pound Brennan “has a wonderful knack for knowing where his people are and he has a unique release that he can almost release it underhand and get it to people, which you don’t really see a lot of.”

Brennan also is aided greatly by a talented group of receivers, led by senior Davone Bess, an Oakland, Calif., native who signed with Oregon State but was let go after being sentenced to a juvenile facility for 15 months for allowing friends to put stolen merchandise in his car. He came to Hawaii in 2005, the same year as Brennan, and Bess has tied an NCAA record with three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

NFL scouts remain somewhat mixed on Brennan, wondering how much of his success is due to the system and team, and how much is him. College coaches know he’s almost impossible to stop.

“The passing game is all about timing and spacing, and their timing and spacing is excellent,” said Fresno State coach Pat Hill, whose team lost to Hawaii 37-30 three weeks ago and also lost to Oregon earlier this year. “And don’t ever underestimate the speed of their receivers. Oregon’s a good football team with very good receivers and Hawaii’s may not be as big … but I felt they were a lot faster, and they could really run. They know what they are doing and Colt has a great release, and it’s very hard to get to them because they get the ball out of there so quickly.”

Just as suddenly as his time in Hawaii has come up, as well. Brennan is hoping now for the perfect ending.

“It’s kind of a crazy story, and I’m sure there’s a lot to be learned from it,” he said of his path to Hawaii. “I’m just trying not to mess things up.”

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com

Man with a golden arm

A look at Heisman Trophy candidate Colt Brennan’s three seasons as starting quarterback for Hawaii:

Year
Team
G
Cmp
Att
Yds
Yds-G
TD
Int

2005
Hawaii (5-7)
12
350
515
4,301
358.4
35
13

2006
Hawaii (11-3)
14
406
559
5,549
396.4
*58
12

2007
Hawaii (11-0)
10
295
422
3,732
373.2
33
14

Career

36
1,051
1,496
13,582
377.3
*126
39

* - NCAA record.

Adam Stern calls Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” “a masterpiece that’s timeless.”

“When you come to the theater, you will be swept up by every visual, aural sensation thrown at you,” Stern said. “When you leave the theater, it’s Tchaikovsky you will take home.”

Stern conducts 35 members of the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra in two performances of Olympic Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” Saturday and Sunday at Bothell’s Northshore Performing Arts Center.

It’s the start of a month of performances by the ballet company at four different venues, including dates with their 19-year performing partner, the Everett Symphony.

The ballet performs with 46 musicians from the Everett Symphony Dec. 8 and 9 at the Everett Civic Auditorium under the baton of Ron Friesen.

Performances in Edmonds and Arlington are to a recorded score by the Netherlands’ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Antal Dorati.

Tchaikovsky created the symphony in 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia. It had instant success and has been performed ever since, on the concert stage as well as with the world’s ballet companies. Olympic Ballet debuted its first full-length “Nutcracker” in 1982.

The fully-staged and -costumed production to tour across Snohomish County includes 100 performers in two casts.

“One of the rewarding things for me as a director is bringing this number of professional guest artists and designers to all the children who are having the experience of their lifetime,” said Olympic’s artistic director, Helen Wilkins.

She calls the two orchestras performing the score an “irreplaceable experience.”

“The audience hears every note; the presence is so different; the cymbals go off, and you’re right there,” she said. But even without a live orchestra, “People appreciate the greatness of the ballet.”

In addition to the corps de ballet performers, guest artists fill solo roles.

Natascha Greenwalt-Murphy, who has danced with the Joffrey Ballet, Spectrum Dance and DASS dance, dances as the Snow Queen, and Carl Massey, also with DASS, dances the Snow King, Nutcracker Prince and Arabian.

Harlequin and Columbine, the mechanical dolls, are danced by Christin Call, who has danced with the Evergreen City Ballet and DASS, and Robert Talamantez, who trained at the School of American Ballet among other companies.

John Yingling, who has played leading roles with Olympic for 15 years, dances Herr Drosselmeier.

In the Grand Pas de Deux, the Sugar Plum Fairy is danced by So Young An, a former dancer with Korean National Ballet, and the Cavalier by Jason Jordan, of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, and Feld Ballet.

Stern said Tchaikovsky was a master of musical picture-painting. The “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” for example, he calls “the embodiment of nature on stage.” Seeing the snow scenes, “literally, you have to abandon any thoughts of being earthbound,” Stern said. “You must be lighter than air, and floating on it. The music embodies that.”

During the Mother Ginger scene, the music is a pile-on of comic moments as the buffoons come out from under the character’s grandmotherly skirts.

It’s all a portrait of the exaggerations of childhood - from a composer who in some ways never grew up, Stern said.

There’s a sailing tempo as Clara goes with her Nutcracker Prince to the Land of Sweets. And the composer maneuvers the plot to different lands - what Stern calls “the diversity party” of dances from Spain, China, Italy, Russia and Arabia.

“Tchaikovsky knew the folk music of these countries; he had spent time in Italy and France,” Stern said, adding that he gave his own country, Russia, the best one.

“You get this raw, vodka-soaked texture from the strings. It is a phenomenal dance.”

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com

Tennis

U.S. Davis Cup captain is quieter than older brother John: The caption for a 1971 Tennis USA group photo identifies John McEnroe as the nation’s seventh-ranked 12-year-old and “at right, younger brother, Patrick, 5.”

“He was already my younger brother at that time,” John said with a bit of amazement, considering how much that label amplified in the years to come.

For better or worse, Patrick has labored in the illustrious shadow of his oldest sibling, John, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and personality few can match. “From his junior days, Patrick got more attention from being John’s brother,” said their father, John McEnroe Sr. “He had to deal with that issue all along. I think he’s done it very, very successfully.”

When the United States plays defending champion Russia from Friday to Sunday in Portland, Patrick McEnroe has a chance to claim one title his brother cannot - captaincy of a Davis Cup title team.

“It would be a huge thing for us,” said Patrick McEnroe, referring to sixth-ranked Andy Roddick, No. 13 James Blake and the top-ranked doubles duo of Bob and Mike Bryan.

With his gifts for backroom politicking and restrained on-court nurturing - and patience, hard work and perseverance - McEnroe, 41, has carved out a notable niche in his seven years as Davis Cup captain. His brother (who played on five title-winning U.S. teams) spent one stormy year at the helm in 2000, which ended in a 5-0 semifinal loss to Spain after he could not convince the best U.S. players to show up.

Few wear as many hats as Patrick McEnroe, whose roles beyond Davis Cup include ESPN tennis commentator, occasional radio and TV talk-show host, husband and father.

ITF officials say there is no evidence Haas was poisoned: There is no evidence to substantiate allegations German player Tommy Haas was poisoned before a Davis Cup match against Russia, International Tennis Federation officials said.

Haas pulled out before his match against Mikhail Youzhny with a suspected stomach virus, and Russia won both reverse singles matches in Moscow on Sept. 23 to beat Germany 3-2 and reach the Davis Cup final against the United States.

German teammate Alexander Waske later said he was told by a Russian who manages numerous athletes that it was poisoning, not a virus.

Olympics

Flame in London might be fueled by rotting plants: The 2012 London Games could feature a low-carbon Olympic flame fueled by rotting plants.

“The Olympic flame is potentially quite an energy consumer,” said David Stubbs, London 2012’s environment project manager

London organizers released a sustainability plan for reducing the carbon footprint of the 2012 Games and making them the “greenest” ever. Natural gas normally fuels the flame, which is lit constantly during the Olympics and subsequent Paralympics and is most commonly fueled by methane.

Auto racing

Labonte gets new crew chief: Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon lost his car chief when Jeff Meendering, 30, joined Petty Enterprises as crew chief for Bobby Labonte.

“The opportunity to lead a team with the winning tradition of the 43 car, and work for a legend in Richard Petty, felt like the perfect fit,” Meendering said.

Soccer

Paez resigns: Richard Paez, 54, resigned as Venezuela’s coach, saying he does not want to be an obstacle in his country’s attempt to qualify for its first World Cup.

Venezuela is in fifth place in South American World Cup qualifying. Four, and possibly five, teams will advance.

Track and field

McKenley dies at 85: Herb McKenley, a Jamaican track legend, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies. He was 85.

McKenley was a member of Jamaica’s 1,600-meter-relay team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1952. He earned silver medals in the 100 meters (1952) and in the 400 (1948).

Seattle Times news services

MIAMI - Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor died Tuesday after he was shot in his home by an apparent intruder, leaving the Washington Redskins in mourning for a teammate who seemed to have reordered his life since becoming a father.
The 24-year-old player died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday.
“It is with deep regret that a young man had to come to his end so soon,” father Pedro Taylor said in a statement on behalf of the family. “Many of his fans loved him because the way he played football. Many of his opponents feared him the way he approached the game. Others misunderstood him, many appreciated him and his family loved him.”
A string of mourners, including Taylor’s father, visited the player’s home and embraced outside. Authorities entered the home, but it was unclear what they were doing.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will honor Taylor’s memory at all games this weekend.
“This is a terrible tragedy involving the loss of a young man who leaves behind many people struggling to understand it,” he said in a statement.
Taylor’s No. 21 will be painted in a grass parking area leading into Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va. In addition, No. 21 will also be painted in front of the Redskins Hall of Fame store.
Fans already began a makeshift memorial by laying flowers on a field near the front entrance to the practice facility. Several people paid respects at Taylor’s parking space.
“This is the worst imaginable tragedy,” Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Sean’s family.”
Redskins teammate Clinton Portis also played with Taylor at the University of Miami. He had sensed a new maturity in his close friend.
“It’s hard to expect a man to grow up overnight,” Portis said. “But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child.”
Two bouquets were left by a palm tree outside a front gate of the home. Beside the mailbox, an untouched newspaper lay with news of Taylor’s shooting.
Taylor’s death comes nearly a year after Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting following an argument at a Denver nightclub on Jan. 1. University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot to death in November 2006 several miles from Taylor’s home in an unsolved killing.
“Sean has been a close friend of mine since our days at the University of Miami,” New York Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma said in a statement. “He was a great teammate and an even greater person. It is so hard for me to fathom that I am not going to be able to pick up the phone to call him.”
Doctors had been encouraged late Monday when Taylor squeezed a nurse’s hand, according to Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins’ vice president of football operations. But family friend Richard Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being taken to the hospital.
“Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something,” Sharpstein said.
Taylor, the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft following an All-American season at Miami, was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging the key femoral artery and causing significant blood loss.
Trauma experts said a serious wound to this large artery, leading from the abdomen through the upper thigh, is among the most difficult to fix and can quickly drain the body of blood. Too long a blood loss prevents oxygen from reaching the brain and vital organs.
“According to a preliminary investigation, it appears that the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder,” Miami-Dade County police said in a statement. “We do not have a subject description at this time.”
The attack came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor’s home. Officers were sent to the home about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor’s girlfriend called 911.
Sharpstein said Taylor’s girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor’s 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor’s girlfriend was injured.
Police found signs of forced entry, but have not determined if they were caused Monday or during the previous burglary.
The shooting happened in the pale yellow house Taylor bought two years ago. In last week’s break-in, police said someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed.
Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Prep in Miami. His father is police chief of Florida City.
A private man with a small inner circle, Taylor rarely granted interviews. But, behind the scenes, Taylor was described as personable and smart.
After Taylor was drafted, problems soon began. Taylor fired his agent, then skipped part of the NFL’s mandatory rookie symposium, drawing a $25,000 fine. Driving home late from a party during the season, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed in court, but by then it had become a months-long distraction for the Redskins.
Taylor also was fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of an opponent during a 2006 playoff game.
Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor’s home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.
Taylor said the end of the assault case was like “a gray cloud” being lifted. It was also around the time that his daughter was born, and teammates noticed a change.
On the field, Taylor’s play was often erratic. Assistant coach Gregg Williams frequently called Taylor the best athlete he’d ever coached, but nearly every big play was mitigated by a blown assignment. Taylor led the NFL in missed tackles in 2006 yet made the Pro Bowl because of his reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.
This year, however, Taylor was allowed to play a true free safety position, using his speed and power to chase down passes and crush would-be receivers. His five interceptions tie for the league lead in the NFC, even though he missed the last two games because of a sprained knee.
“I just take this job very seriously,” Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. “It’s almost like, you play a kid’s game for a king’s ransom. And if you don’t take it serious enough, eventually one day you’re going to say, ‘Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.’
“So I just say, ‘I’m healthy right now, I’m going into my fourth year, and why not do the best that I can?’ And that’s whatever it is, whether it’s eating right or training myself right, whether it’s studying harder, whatever I can do to better myself.”

-

Associated Press Writer Jessica Gresko in Miami and AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Ashburn, Va., contributed to this report.

OLYMPIA - State lawmakers during a special session Thursday will consider helping struggling homeowners by letting households earning up to $57,000 a year defer part of their property tax.

Gov. Christine Gregoire called the special session to reinstate a 1 percent cap on property-tax increases that was recently thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

The governor on Monday outlined a second measure that would let some homeowners who meet income guidelines defer up to 25 percent of their annual property-tax bill, with restrictions. Copies of the legislation weren’t available.

The governor noted the deferral would be temporary. “When the house is sold, the state will be reimbursed,” she said.

Homeowners also would have to pay interest on the deferred tax. The interest would be based on federal rates. Gregoire said people would pay about 7 percent interest currently.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate support the proposal. Their party holds large majorities in both chambers.

But Senate Republican Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, wasn’t impressed with the idea, noting the hefty interest. “I don’t know what it’s going to do for people,” he said. “I’m not particularly fond of deferrals.”

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said the measure could help some people in a bind keep their house. She said the income cap would be high enough to help the middle class.

The cutoff of $57,000 is roughly the current median household income in Washington. The state estimates about 7,500 people would take advantage of the program. Gregoire said local governments would not lose any money because the state would cover the lost revenue.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill first. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said she’s hopeful it will pass. “I think there’ll be widespread support for it,” she said.

Gregoire said she expects the 1 percent cap on property taxes to be reinstated by the Legislature, noting that “there is absolute agreement” among Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate.

Voters in 2001 overwhelmingly approved Initiative 747, a Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that limited increases in property-tax collections to 1 percent a year. The state estimates the cap has saved taxpayers more than $1.6 billion since it was put in place.

Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court overturned I-747. In its 5-4 decision, the court said the tax cap is invalid because people were not fully informed about what they were voting on.

Without a new cap, local governments could begin increasing their annual property-tax collections by as much as 6 percent - the amount the law allowed before I-747.

The court ruling sparked an uproar among Eyman, Republican lawmakers and Dino Rossi, the GOP candidate for governor. They called on Gregoire and the Democrat-controlled Legislature to convene a special session to immediately reinstate the 1 percent cap.

Gregoire has urged local governments to continue heeding the 1 percent cap. The governor said Monday that she decided to call the Legislature into session because a handful of local governments said they planned to take advantage of the Supreme Court decision and raise taxes above the cap.

“I’d hoped that local governments would feel as I did. They couldn’t give me the guarantee, and that was the tipping point,” she said.

Gregoire noted that I-747 was overwhelmingly approved by voters. “So I think the people of the state of Washington made their point,” she said. “I’m not putting my opinion instead of the local governments’. I’m just saying the will of the voters has to be carried out.”

Andrew Garber: 360-943-9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com.

Seattle Times reporter David Postman contributed to this story.

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France - Rampaging youths threw Molotov cocktails and fired buckshot at police in troubled neighborhoods outside Paris on Monday, the second night of violence after two teens were killed in a crash with a police patrol car. Officials said 38 officers were wounded.

Anger focused on police, with residents claiming that officers left the scene of Sunday’s crash without helping the boys - a claim officials cast doubt on but which the police were investigating.

President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed for calm while police braced for more problems, a reminder of the tensions that drove weeks of unrest in 2005 in poor neighborhoods with large minority populations.

Investigators were still trying to piece together what happened in the Sunday afternoon crash in Villiers-le-Bel, a town of public-housing blocks that is home to a mix of Arab, black and white residents in the French capital’s northern suburbs.

Police officials said the teenagers ignored traffic rules and crashed into the police vehicle, and that the motorbike they were riding was unregistered and thus not authorized for use on French roads.

Neither of the boys - ages 15 and 16 - was wearing a helmet as required by law, and the prosecutor’s office said the bike was going at maximum speed.

The internal police-oversight agency opened an inquiry into whether the officers failed to help the teenagers and whether manslaughter charges should be filed, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

An alcohol test showed that neither of the officers had been drinking, and initial inquiries suggested they did not appear to have caused the crash, police said.

The prosecutor, Marie-Therese de Givry, told LCI television the officers called rescue services to the scene.

Villiers-le-Bel was hit by protest Monday for a second night, though the families of the two teenagers called for calm.

A crowd of youths set police barricades on fire and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at officers, who retaliated with tear gas and rubber bullets. In Villiers-le-Bel and surrounding areas, youths set fire to 36 vehicles, the area’s prefecture said.

Youths were seen firing buckshot at police and reporters.

A police-union official said 38 officers were wounded, including three seriously - one of whom had a shoulder wound after a shot from a hunting rifle pierced his bulletproof vest. One reporter also was injured.

Two youths were taken into custody, the prefecture said. Among the buildings targeted by the youths was a library that was set afire.

“The situation is tense, there are a lot of police on the ground to prevent more flare-ups,” said Gaelle James of the Synergie police officers’ union.

In Sunday’s violence, eight people were arrested and 20 police officers were injured, including the town’s police chief, who was beaten in the face after he tried to negotiate with the rioters, police said. One firefighter also was injured.

Also Sunday, witnesses said, police fired rubber pellets at youths. Two police stations were targeted, one with Molotov cocktails. A McDonald’s restaurant was burned, as were about 15 cars and several garbage cans.

Sarkozy, in China on a visit, said: “I want everyone to calm down and let the justice system determine who was responsible.”

Residents drew parallels with the 2005 riots, which were prompted by the deaths of two teens electrocuted in a power substation while hiding from police in a suburb northeast of Paris.

A recent study by the state auditor’s office indicated that money poured into poor French suburbs in recent decades had done little to solve problems vividly exposed by the 2005 riots, including discrimination, unemployment and alienation from mainstream society.

South King County firefighters found a body inside a Des Moines house that was destroyed by fire early Monday.

The fire started in a rambler at 4:20 a.m. in the 1400 block of South 276th Street, said South King Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Donna Conner.

Four people lived at the house, and neighbors told firefighters they were all at home, Conner said. Three occupants were sent to hospitals with injuries from the blaze, and investigators found a fourth person dead inside the home, though they could not confirm it was the fourth resident.

The identification of the body will have to be done by the King County Medical Examiner, Conner said.

The fire also killed two dogs.

The cause of the fire had not been determined, Conner said. The home is considered a total loss.

- Seattle Times staff

NEW YORK - The son of the late New York philanthropist and socialite Brooke Astor has been indicted, along with his lawyer, on charges connected with their handling of her nearly $200 million estate, lawyers and associates of the family said Monday.

The indictment of Astor’s 83-year-old son, Anthony Marshall, and Francis Morrissey Jr. by a New York grand jury will be unsealed today, and the men were told to surrender to the Manhattan district attorney, according to those close to the case.

A lawyer for Morrissey, Michael Ross, said he learned from the DA’s office that his client faces arraignment, but he did not know the exact nature of the charges. A statement from Marshall’s lawyer, Kenneth Warner, will not be issued until today, his office said. The district attorney’s office did not return a call seeking comment Monday night.

Marshall, Astor’s only child, had been her legal guardian when his son, Philip Marshall, 54, went public in 2006 with accusations that the elder Marshall was enriching himself at the expense of Astor’s estate and allowing his grandmother to live in squalor.

Additional accusations, lobbed by family friends, soon cropped up in New York tabloids.

Anthony Marshall denied it, but in 2006 he agreed to step aside as his mother’s guardian. She died in August at age 105.

Astor was the widow of Vincent Astor, a great-great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, who made a fortune in fur trading and New York real estate.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Both are legendary communicators. Both helped build an ethic of empathy, turning the public confession into a rite of passage. Both are world-renowned - one for being a former president, the other for a TV show usually identified just by her first name.

And now, Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are set to square off, in Iowa, campaigning for their favorite candidates.

The looming showdown between Clinton (who arrives here today to campaign for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton) and Winfrey (who appears in two weeks to campaign for Sen. Barack Obama), besides marking a rare collision of talent and fame on the campaign trail, is a sign of just how competitive the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus has become, especially when it comes to attracting women voters.

“They are perfect closers for this campaign that is becoming a nail-biter,” said Donna Brazile, a consultant to Democratic candidate Al Gore in 2000 who is neutral in this race.

Winfrey’s appearance, announced by the Obama campaign Monday, is significant on several fronts. Despite her overwhelming popularity, the talk-show host has never endorsed a presidential candidate before. More importantly, Winfrey - ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful voices in public life, the host of the top-ranked television talk show for more than two decades - is arguably the only person capable of countering Hillary Clinton’s most empathetic surrogate.

The campaign of former Sen. John Edwards, who is in a three-way tie with Clinton and Obama in the caucuses here, is not above sending its own celebrities in search of women voters. The campaign recently dispatched a group of women - ranging from his daughter Cate and abortion-rights activist Kate Michelman to singer Bonnie Raitt - onto the trail, where his campaign frequently boasts of 1,500 named women supporters in Iowa alone.

Clinton has put gender at the center of her candidacy and almost always surrounds herself with women, both prominent and not, on the campaign trail; traveling here Sunday, she put Christie Vilsack, the well-known wife of the former governor, in view of the cameras as she talked to reporters. The campaign announced that today Susan Lynch, the wife of New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, will be among her supporters.

She also has the support of the advocacy group EMILY’s List, which announced a statewide drive to turn out women voters for Clinton. The announcement claimed, in 2004, “more than 80 percent of active Democratic women did not attend” the caucuses, and, so far this year, that same pocket of women - the ones less likely to attend on caucus night - “give the greatest margin of support” to Clinton.

That is in keeping with the Clinton campaign’s view that it will perform well if it can turn out people, particularly women, who did not participate last time or who have never participated before. Still, Obama is running about evenly in Iowa with Clinton among women, according to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. At the national level, Clinton has greater support from women.

Michelle Obama, the candidate’s wife, is also planning swings through Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday, further proof that he is ceding no ground to Clinton when it comes to female voters.

The appearance of the former president comes on the heels of an increasingly heated debate over how much credit Clinton can claim for having served as first lady. In an interview with ABC that was slated to air Monday night, Obama made his most dismissive comments to date about Clinton’s efforts to count those years as “experience.”

“I think the fact of the matter is that Senator Clinton is claiming basically the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency as her own, except for the stuff that didn’t work out, in which case she says she has nothing to do with it,” Obama said.