Kodak in $525 million patent deal, eyes bankruptcy end

(Reuters) – Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $ 525 million, a key step to bringing the photography pioneer out of bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.

The deal for the 1,100 patents allows Kodak to fulfill a condition for securing $ 830 million in financing.

The patent deal was reached with a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, and which includes some of the world’s biggest technology companies, which will license or acquire the patents.

Those companies are Adobe Systems Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Fujifilm, Google Inc, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, HTC Corp, Microsoft Corp, Research In Motion Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Shutterfly Inc, according to court documents.

Kodak still must sell its personalized and document-imaging businesses as part of the financing package, and also has to resolve its UK pension obligation.

Kodak said the patent deal puts it on a path to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2013.

“Our progress has accelerated over the past several weeks as we prepare to emerge as a strong, sustainable company,” said Antonio Perez, chairman and chief executive of the Rochester, New York-based company.

The patent portfolio was expected to be a major asset for Kodak when it filed for bankruptcy in January. An outside firm had estimated the patents could be worth as much as $ 2.6 billion.

Kodak’s patents hit the market as intellectual property values have soared and technology companies have plowed money into patent-related litigation.

For example, last year Nortel Networks sold 6,000 wireless patents in a bankruptcy auction for $ 4.5 billion and earlier this year Google spent $ 12.5 billion for patent-rich Motorola Mobility.

But Kodak’s patent auction dragged on beyond the initial expectation that it would be wrapped up in August. One patent specialist blamed those early, overly optimistic valuations, which he said encouraged Kodak’s team to set their sights too high.

“Unfortunately (Kodak management) was misled into thinking it was worth billions of dollars and it wasn’t,” said Alex Poltorak, chairman of General Patent Corp, a patent licensing firm. “I think they sold them at a very good price.”

He said after Google acquired Motorola, the search engine company no longer needed patents at any price, deflating the intellectual property market.

Kodak traces its roots to the 19th century and invented the handheld camera. But it has been unable to successfully shift to digital imaging.

It will likely be a different company when it exits bankruptcy, out of the consumer business and focused instead on providing products and services to the commercial imaging market.

The patent sale is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The Kodak bankruptcy case is in Re: Eastman Kodak Co. et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Nick Zieminski,; John Wallace and Peter Galloway)

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Leah Remini sued by former managers over “Family Tools” commissions

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Leah Remini‘s new TV gig is already giving her a headache, months before it even starts. Former “King of Queens” star Remini is being sued by her former managers, the Collective Management Group, which claims that it’s owed $ 67,000 in commissions relating to her upcoming ABC comedy “Family Tools,” which debuts May 1.

In a complaint filed with Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, the Collective says that it entered into an agreement with the actress in November 2011 that guaranteed the company 10 percent of the earnings that emerged from projects that Remini “discussed, negotiated, contemplated, or procured/booked during Plaintiff’s representation of Remini,” regardless of whether the income was earned after she and the Collective parted ways.

According to the lawsuit, that would include the $ 1 million that it says Remini will earn for the first season of “Family Tools.” (The suit allows that it isn’t owed commission on a $ 330,000 talent holding fee that Remini received from ABC prior to officially being booked on the show.)

Remini, pictured above wearing the self-satisfied smirk of someone who just might stiff her former managers out of their commission, terminated her agreement with the Collective “without warning or justification” in October, the suit says.

Alleging breach of oral contract among other charges, the suit is asking for an order stipulating that it’s owed the $ 67,000, plus unspecified damages, interest and court costs.

Remini’s agent has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)

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Officials Confront Skepticism Over Health Law

On its face, the low-key discussion around a conference table in Miami last month did not appear to have national implications. Eight men and women, including a diner owner, a chef and a real estate agent, answered questions about why they had no health insurance and what might persuade them to buy it.

But this focus group, along with nine others held around the country in November, was an important tool for advocates coming up with a campaign to educate Americans about the new health care law. The participants were among millions of uninsured people who stand to benefit from the law. With incomes below 400 percent of the poverty level, or $92,200 for a family of four this year, the focus group members will qualify for federal subsidies to help cover the cost of private insurance starting in 2014.

The sessions confirmed a daunting reality: Many of those the law is supposed to help have no idea what it could do for them. In the Miami focus group, a few participants knew only that they could face a fine if they did not buy coverage.

“It’s another forced bill,” said Christopher Pena, 24, who works in customer service.

There lies the challenge for Enroll America, a nonprofit group formed last year to get the word out to the uninsured and encourage them get coverage, providing help along the way. With the election over and the law almost certain to survive, the group is honing its fund-raising and testing strategies for persuading people to sign up for health insurance — a process that will begin in less than a year.

Starting next October, people will be able to shop for coverage, or find out if they are eligible for Medicaid, through online markets known as insurance exchanges.

“Our job is to convey to them that there is help coming that they didn’t know about,” said Rachel Klein, Enroll America’s executive director.

The group has raised only about $6 million so far — but financial backers include some major players in the medical industry: insurers like Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield, associations representing both brand name and generic drug manufacturers, hospitals and the Catholic Health Association. Insurance companies generally opposed the law before its passage in 2010 but now have a stake in its success.

Over the next two years, the group hopes to raise as much as $100 million for advertising, social media and other outreach efforts. “There are so many different groups that can play some role in this: hospitals, community health centers, pharmacies, tax preparers,” said Ron Pollack, chairman of Enroll America’s board. “Our job has got to be to try to galvanize each of those sectors, so there is a wide variety of ways people potentially can hear about this.”

Although the campaign will be national, the group will devote more resources to some states than to others. About half of the nation’s uninsured population lives in six states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York and Texas. Of those, states whose leaders remain opposed to the health care law, like Texas, will probably get the most attention, Mr. Pollack said.

At the same time, Enroll America will coordinate with states, many of which are planning their own outreach and enrollment efforts, and with the Obama administration.

The Department of Health and Human Services has already awarded a $3.1 million contract to Weber Shandwick, a public relations firm, to plan a national education campaign for next year. It plans to seek proposals soon for a larger contract with a public relations firm that would help with the actual campaign, officials there said. Although the campaign has yet to take shape, an administration official confirmed that President Obama will play a role as it moves forward.

Republicans in Congress have already criticized the administration for spending taxpayer money to promote the law. Last month, Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, who leads the Ways and Means Committee, subpoenaed Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, seeking information on “public relations campaigns, advertisements, polling, message testing, and similar services.”

In addition to holding focus groups in Miami, Philadelphia, San Antonio and Columbus, Ohio, Enroll America commissioned a nationwide survey to help hone its message. The survey, conducted in September and October by Lake Research Partners, a Democratic polling group, found that the vast majority of uninsured people are unaware of the new coverage options provided by the law.

They are also skeptical. Many who participated in the focus groups or survey reported bad experiences trying to get health insurance, and doubted that the law would provide coverage that was both affordable and comprehensive.

“It’s two major mountains that need to be climbed,” Mr. Pollack said. “People are unaware of the benefits that could be provided to them, and they have to overcome skepticism, based on their past experiences with trying to obtain insurance.”

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Chicago electric bills set to rise $1 a month next year

In the new year Chicago area residents can expect to pay about $1 more per month on average to have ComEd deliver electricity to their homes.

The new rates, approved Wednesday by the Illinois Commerce Commission, affect all 3.7 million residential electricity customers in ComEd's service territory, including those who have switched to other suppliers. ComEd, which owns the wires that flow into homes, delivers electricity and is responsible for fixing outages regardless of which company supplies the power.

The rate "update" is the second under a law enacted in 2011 that changed the way electricity delivery rates are determined. Rather than intensely debated court-like proceedings, electric rates are now set according to a fill-in-the blank formula. The formula devised by the ICC in May, however, has been controversial. ComEd has taken the regulators to court over 12 items that amount to $100 million per year for the utility.

For now, ComEd must use the formula.

Consumers saw lower bills through 2012 with thhe first electricity rates set under the law. Despite Wednesday's hike, customer bills remain lower than they were before the Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act was passed. That law allows ComEd to charge customers to modernize the electric grid and recover those costs each year.

ComEd will file for another rate update in May to take effect in January 2014.

Separately, the ICC approved an electricity procurement plan by the Illinois Power Agency -- the government agency that procures electricity on behalf of ComEd and Ameren for  customers who continue to have their electricity both supplied and delivered by their legacy utility -- that has it not purchasing additional power in the New Year. The agency said that with about 1.5 million residential electricity customers recently fleeing for alternative electricity suppliers,  it has enough power on hand to serve the customers who remain.

At the same time, the plan helps a so-called clean coal plant slated for Morgan County, Ill. clear a major financial hurdle by requiring the state's electric utilities to purchase electricity from the power plant for 20 years. The federally-backed FutureGen project, long stalled, would mean retrofitting a coal plant in Merdosia in order to largely prevent carbon dioxide and other pollutants from entering the atmosphere. The plant is not expected to generate electricity until 2017 but its backers needed to prove the plant would have customers ready to purchase the electricity in order to receive government approval to move forward with preliminary design, pre-construction and engineering work.  

jwernau@tribune.com

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Field Museum to cut staff, may reduce hours of operation

Battered by the recession and a high debt load, the Field Museum on Tuesday announced plans to cut staff, overhaul its operations and limit the scope of its research.

A comprehensive plan being drawn up by museum officials also could include changes to its hours of operation and the admission price for special exhibits. Staff reductions would be aimed at curators and scientists, according to museum officials.

"This may turn out to involve shrinking certain areas of inquiry," said John Rowe, chairman of the museum's board of trustees.

The Field Museum is both an international research institution and a vital cultural attraction for residents and tourists, drawing about 1.3 million visitors in 2011.

The natural history museum is home to Sue, the best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex in the world and a Chicago icon. In the bowels of the museum and all around the world, Field scientists also are discovering new plants and animals—more than 200 last year alone—along with preserving rain forests and studying artifacts.

That complex, dual mission comes at a price, however, one that has grown increasingly difficult to cover amid the persistent economic downturn.

The cost-cutting plan announced Tuesday comes on the heels of a previous effort that included reducing operating costs by $5 million, mostly through staff cuts. Those measures were not enough to shore up an institution that in the past decade has doubled its bond debt and run multiple operating deficits amid flat revenues and shrinking government subsidies.

In April, the museum tapped former University of Oregon president Richard Lariviere to become president and CEO. Lariviere, who started in October, said he wants to use the cost-cutting measures as an opportunity to refocus the museum's mission.

"If we wrestle these issues to the ground successfully, our future is rosy," he said during a meeting with the Tribune's editorial board.

The effort will take shape between now and July 1, with input from the museum's staff and board members, who signed off on the approach Monday. The goal is to trim another $5 million in costs and, during the next few years, add $100 million to the museum's endowment.

Although the price of special exhibits may rise slightly, Lariviere said the average museum patron should feel little or no change in the short term. Over the long run, he said, the museum will rely more on its own collection, use technology to enhance its interaction with visitors and be more selective in choosing special exhibits it brings in from the outside.

Though the recession contributed significantly to the museum's financial struggles, its debt load is also to blame. The museum has more $170 million in outstanding bonds, which is "very high" compared with the Field's endowment of about $300 million, Lariviere said.

Those bonds cost the Field more than $7 million a year out of an operating budget of less than $70 million. The debt — along with the operating losses that the museum has seen in the past decade — has drawn the attention of Moody's Investors Service, which described the museum's finances as "imbalanced."

The high debt load means the museum is not able to borrow any more money, which affects its ability to shore up operations.

"Our credit cards are maxed out," Lariviere said.

He also suggested that it's possible the museum would seek to restructure its debt, taking advantage of historically low interest rates.

Despite the financial pressures, Lariviere said the museum benefits from a healthy endowment fund and loyal donors.

He and other museum officials outlined the broad strokes of their plan to staff members Tuesday. Those include shrinking its museum's staff and overhauling its management structure, he said.

Currently the museum is organized much like a university, with researchers divided into academic departments. Under Lariviere's plan, that structure would be simplified into four broad areas: science and education, programming, fundraising and operations.

He views those changes as a chance to better leverage the Field's world-renowned scientific collections to shed light on some of the most pressing questions of the day. Among them: climate change.

"Those kinds of climatological shifts, those kinds of questions related to the environment, are going to be one of the sweet spots of the museum going forward," Lariviere said.

The idea is to monetize the museum's one-of-a-kind collection while relying less on bringing in exhibitions from other institutions, which costs more money. "We've got to find a way to get more bang out of the exhibits," Lariviere said.

Museum officials said they also expect to cut research staff as they seek to narrow the scope of its mission, in part because support staffing already has been reduced.

Those cuts have been so drastic that Lariviere said it's now more of a crisis when a housekeeping staffer calls in sick than when a curator does.

With operational staff cut to the bone, Rowe said, "We have to get (savings) out of focusing our scientific work, but not eliminating it, out of reprioritizing our exhibitions and making certain that we are doing the right thing."

However, he acknowledged, those moves are likely to stir controversy inside the museum. "Over the next five months, we've got to come up with a more descriptive, positive agenda."

hgillers@tribune.com

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Nielsen to buy Arbitron for about $1.26B

NEW YORK (AP) — Nielsen, the dominant source of TV ratings, on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy Arbitron for about $ 1.26 billion to expand into radio measurement.

Arbitron pays 70,000 people to carry around gadgets that register what stations they’re listening to. Since Nielsen also collects cash register data, CEO David Calhoun said buying Arbitron will let Nielsen be a one-stop shop for advertisers who want to know how the radio advertising they buy affects product sales.

The acquisition will let Nielsen expand the amount of media consumption it tracks by about 2 hours per person per day to 7 hours, Calhoun said in an interview.

“You don’t find many mediums that allow for that kind of increase,” Calhoun said.

Arbitron’s operations are mainly in the U.S., while Nielsen operates globally. Calhoun said another major driver for the deal is that Nielsen wants to spread Arbitron’s tracking technology to other countries.

Evercore Partners analyst Douglas Arthur said Nielsen doesn’t need traditional radio measurement to grow, but Arbitron seemed like a willing seller, and it will be a “nice complementary but not ‘must have’ platform.”

Nielsen Holdings N.V. said it will pay $ 48 per share, which is a 26 percent premium to Arbitron’s Monday closing price of $ 38.04. Shares of Arbitron, which is based in Columbia, Md., jumped $ 8.99, or 23.6 percent, to close at $ 47.03.

Nielsen, which went public in January 2011, has headquarters in the Netherlands and New York. Its stock added $ 1.30, or 4.4 percent, to close at $ 30.92.

Nielsen said it expects the deal to add about 13 cents per share to its adjusted earnings a year after closing and about 19 cents per share to adjusted earnings two years after closing.

Abitron’s chief operating officer, Sean Creamer, is set to take over as CEO from William Kerr on Jan. 1. Calhoun said he hoped Creamer would remain with Nielsen after the deal closes.

Nielsen said it has a financing commitment for the transaction.

Nielsen was the prime source of audience ratings in the early days of radio, thanks to a device similar to Arbitron’s People Meter. The Audimeter was attached to the radio set. The company’s focus shifted to TV measurement in the 1950s.

On Monday, Nielsen announced a deal with Twitter to measure how much U.S. TV watchers tweet about the shows they’re watching. The “Nielsen Twitter TV Rating” will debut in the fall.

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“Zero Dark Thirty” won’t be “Hurt Locker” at the Box Office

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Kathryn Bigelow‘s Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” hits theaters Wednesday, and when it comes to the box office, this isn’t going to be “Hurt Locker.”

That was Bigelow’s last film, a gritty Iraq war drama that upset “Avatar” for Oscar’s Best Picture in 2009 but took in just $ 17 million domestically. “Zero Dark Thirty” could well top $ 100 million, say industry analysts – and if the awards season breaks the right way for the Oscar Best Picture front-runner, it could go higher than that.

“ZDT” and this year’s winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, “Amour,” are making limited debuts Wednesday, while the Barbra Streisand-Seth Rogen comedy “Guilt Trip” and a 3D re-release of “Monsters Inc.” go into wide release.

Six more movies will roll out on Friday, including Judd Apatow‘s “This Is 40″ and the Tom Cruise starrer “Jack Reacher,” in what Hollywood is hoping will be a very busy pre-holiday week at the box office.

In the course of detailing the killing of Bin Laden, “ZDT” is an examination of the nation’s war on terror, its prosecution and its effect on America’s collective psyche, and that will help, not hurt, the film at the box office, Exhibitor Relations Senior analyst Jeff Bock told TheWrap.

“This movie is about the biggest American war story since Pearl Harbor,” Bock said. “The American people are at a place now where they are ready to look back and really think about what we’ve been through.

“This movie, particularly if it keeps getting awards buzz, is going to be talked about everywhere, and if you want to have an opinion, you’re going to have to see it.”

Despite all the newcomers arriving Wednesday and Friday, Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” is expected to continue dominating. It took in about $ 7 million Monday – on the heels of its $ 85 million debut weekend – and should cross the $ 100 million mark Tuesday

Sony Classic is rolling out “Amour,” Michael Haneke‘s dark and unsparing look at old age and death, at two theaters in New York and one in L.A. The French-language film was recently named the best film of 2012 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, giving it an important boost during a season in which its chances outside the Oscar foreign-language category hinge on getting Academy voters to see it.

That honor stopped an awards run by “Zero Dark Thirty,” which Sony is rolling out on five screens. The intense tale had won the top award with the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review, the Boston Film Critics Society and the New York Film Critics Online.

“ZDT” was produced by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures for about $ 45 million.

Sony’s plan is to go wide with it release on January 11 after the Academy Award nominations.

Beside the film itself and director Bigelow, her producing partner Mark Boal is a good bet for an Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, as is Jessica Chastain in the Best Actress category. All of those earned Golden Globes nominations in those categories.

The gritty and gripping tale is a critical favorite – it has a 97.7 percent rating at Movie Review Intelligence – but a lightning rod for political criticism, from both the left and right of the political spectrum. Some critics have charged the film is an apology for U.S. interrogation tactics that included waterboarding, while others say it’s intended to boost the image of President Obama.

“Our agenda isn’t a partisan agenda – it’s an agenda of trying to look behind the scenes at what went down,” screenwriter Boal told TheWrap earlier. “Hopefully art or cinema can present a point of view that’s a little above the political fray, but that doesn’t mean the political narrative doesn’t try to assert itself and pull you back in.”

“Amour” is a co-production between companies in Austria, France and Germany. It is Austria’s entry and a favorite in Oscar’s Best Foreign Language category, and it has a shot at a Best Picture nomination, too.

Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva star as Anne and George, an elderly couple who are retired music teachers and have a daughter (Isabelle Huppert) living abroad. The story, which Haneke wrote and directed based on a similar experience in his own family, focuses on what happens when Anne suffers a stroke.

It was nominated in six categories at the recent European Film Awards and won four, including Best Film and Best Director. The L.A. Film Critics named the 85-year-old Riva co-Best Actress (with Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”), and she has an outside shot an Oscar nomination in that category.

“Guilt Trip” is Streisand’s first film foray since “Little Fockers,” which debuted around the same time of year in 2010 for Universal – and her first starring role since 1996′s “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”

“Little Fockers,” a sequel to “Meet the Fockers,” opened to $ 30 million and went on to make $ 148 million. Distributor Paramount will be happy if the PG13-rated “Guilt Trip,” which will be on about 2,300 screens, can match half that debut.” The analysts are looking for it to wind up around $ 12 million.

It’s one of three Paramount releases this week; the Tom Cruise thriller “Jack Reacher” and concert film “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away” debut Friday.

“They all play to distinctly different demographics, Paramount’s head of distribution Don Harris told TheWrap, “so other than being really busy, we don’t have any problem with these three all in the marketplace.”

What could provide some tough competition is Judd Apatow‘s R-rated comedy “This Is 40,” which Universal is rolling out on roughly 2,900 screens Friday.

Disney will have its 3D version of its 2001 animated hit “Monsters Inc.” in 2,400 theaters. It will be the third 3D re-release of a Disney film this year. The first two did unspectacular but solid business, particularly when you consider the only cost to the studio is the 3D conversion and marketing.

A 3D version of “Beauty and the Beast” debuted to $ 17 million in July and went on to make $ 47 million. In September, a converted “Finding Nemo” took in $ 16 million in its first week and wound up at $ 41 million.

Between “The Hobbit,” the holdover kids holiday film “Rise of the “Monsters Inc.” and a very crowded marketplace, “Monster Inc.” will have a tough time matching those numbers.

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Attackers in Pakistan Kill Anti-Polio Workers

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A Pakistani mother mourned her daughter, who was killed on Tuesday in an attack on health workers participating in a drive to eradicate polio from Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gunmen shot dead five female health workers who were immunizing children against polio on Tuesday, causing the Pakistani government to suspend vaccinations in two cities and dealing a fresh setback to an eradication campaign dogged by Taliban resistance in a country that is one of the disease’s last global strongholds.

“It is a blow, no doubt,” said Shahnaz Wazir Ali, an adviser on polio to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. “Never before have female health workers been targeted like this in Pakistan. Clearly there will have to be more and better arrangements for security.”

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but most suspicion focused on the Pakistani Taliban, which has previously blocked polio vaccinators and complained that the United States is using the program as a cover for espionage.

The killings were a serious reversal for the multibillion-dollar global polio immunization effort, which over the past quarter century has reduced the number of endemic countries from 120 to just three: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

Nonetheless, United Nations officials insisted that the drive would be revived after a period for investigation and regrouping, as it had been after previous attacks on vaccinators here, in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Pakistan has made solid gains against polio, with 56 new recorded cases of the diseases in 2012, compared with 192 at the same point last year, according to the government. Worldwide, cases of death and paralysis from polio have been reduced to less than 1,000 last year, from 350,000 worldwide in 1988.

But the campaign here has been deeply shaken by Taliban threats and intimidation, though several officials said Tuesday that they had never seen such a focused and deadly attack before.

Insurgents have long been suspicious of polio vaccinators, seeing them as potential spies. But that greatly intensified after the C.I.A. used a vaccination team headed by a local doctor, Shakil Afridi, to visit Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, reportedly in an attempt to obtain DNA proof that the Bin Laden family was there before an American commando raid on it in May 2011.

In North Waziristan, one prominent warlord has banned polio vaccinations until the United States ceases drone strikes in the area.

Most new infections in Pakistan occur in the tribal belt and adjoining Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province — some of the most remote areas of the country, and also those with the strongest militant presence. People fleeing fighting in those areas have also spread the disease to Karachi, the country’s largest city, where the disease has been making a worrisome comeback in recent years.

After Tuesday’s attacks, witnesses described violence that was both disciplined and well coordinated. Five attacks occurred within an hour in different Karachi neighborhoods. In several cases, the killers traveled in pairs on motorcycle, opening fire on female health workers as they administered polio drops or moved between houses in crowded neighborhoods.

Of the five victims, three were teenagers, and some had been shot in the head, a senior government official said. Two male health workers were also wounded by gunfire; early reports incorrectly stated that one of them had died, the official said.

In Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, gunmen opened fire on two sisters participating in the polio vaccination program, killing one of them. It was unclear whether that shooting was directly linked to the Karachi attacks.

In remote parts of the northwest, the Taliban threat is exacerbated by the government’s crumbling writ. In Bannu, on the edge of the tribal belt, one polio worker, Noor Khan, said he quit work on Tuesday once news of the attacks in Karachi and Peshawar filtered in.

“We were told to stop immediately,” he said by phone.

Still, the Pakistani government has engaged considerable political and financial capital in fighting polio. President Asif Ali Zardari and his daughter Aseefa have been at the forefront of immunization drives. With the help of international donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they have mounted a huge vaccination campaign aimed at up to 35 million children younger than 5, usually in three-day bursts that can involve 225,000 health workers.

The plan seeks to have every child in Pakistan immunized at least four times per year, although in the hardest-hit areas one child could be reached as many as 12 times in a year.

Declan Walsh reported from Islamabad, and Donald G. McNeil Jr. from New York. Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad, and Zia ur-Rehman from Karachi, Pakistan.

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Property purchase near McCormick gets OK

Convention officials on Tuesday took a step toward acquiring properties north of McCormick Place for the potential development of hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority board approved the purchase of a parcel at 2101 S. Indiana Ave. for $5.1 million, with closing expected by year-end. A two-story building on the 23,126-square-foot property is now leased to operators of a methadone clinic.

The property is on the same block as a contested 1.23-acre parcel at 230 E. Cermak Rd., owned since 2005 by Olde Prairie Block Owner LLC. The company, led by developers Pamela Gleichman, Karl Norberg and Gunnar Falk, is fighting in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to retain that parcel as well as the entire block immediately to the east, at 330 E. Cermak, which it has owned since 1998 and hopes to develop as a convention hotel, a smaller boutique hotel and restaurants.

If Olde Prairie fails to show its plan is financially plausible at a hearing Dec. 27, Judge Jack Schmetterer has said he will dismiss it, opening the door for lender CenterPoint Properties Trust to take over the parcels and put them up for auction. Olde Prairie has been in default since early 2009.

Jim Reilly, CEO of the authority, the state-city agency that owns McCormick Place, declined to comment on whether the authority would pursue the Olde Prairie Block properties if they become available.

The authority, commonly known as McPier, has been in talks with DePaul University about the possibility of building an arena for men's basketball near McCormick Place, but Reilly said the purchase of the South Indiana parcel is an independent move aimed at ensuring the authority has room to develop such add-ons as more hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. DePaul, whose Blue Demons play at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, also has been in talks with the owners of the United Center.

Meanwhile, speculation has resurfaced about building a casino near McCormick Place, with questions about whether the Olde Prairie blocks would be considered. Reilly said he thinks they are too close to the exhibit halls. Convention officials have said a casino on the convention campus or its immediate vicinity could pull trade show attendees away from the show floor.

McPier's latest acquisition will add to a nearby parcel it already owns at 2100 S. Prairie Ave.

"Ultimately, our goal is to develop a more vibrant and interesting neighborhood for McCormick Place," Reilly said.

McPier will purchase the parcel on South Indiana from RZR Equities LLC, Noah LLC and Hinsdale 111 LLC.

A financial restructuring approved by the Illinois General Assembly in 2010 gave the authority additional borrowing capacity for expansion projects. McPier will use proceeds from expansion bonds to fund the purchase.

kbergen@tribune.com

Twitter @kathy_bergen

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22 face charges in NIU student's fraternity hazing death

Nearly two dozen members of a Northern Illinois University fraternity were charged with hazing crimes Monday after a student died following excessive drinking at a party last month.

On the night before his death, freshman David Bogenberger went from room to room in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, answering a series of questions in exchange for vodka and other liquor over a two-hour period, authorities said.

It was a part of an annual ritual known as "parents' night," an alcohol-infused party in which senior members of the fraternity and associated sororities are assigned as mentors to new members. Bogenberger, a 19-year-old finance major from Palatine, had recently pledged the house in an effort to make friends at his father's alma mater.

"He wanted to be liked. He wanted to be accepted," said Peter R. Coladarci, the Bogenberger family attorney. "It's a classic case of a kid who just wants to fit in with the group."

Bogenberger's efforts to fit in proved fatal, as he was found dead in a fraternity house bed the next morning. Subsequent tests found his blood alcohol content was about five times the legal limit for driving of 0.08 percent at the time of his death, authorities said.

NIU regularly approves parents' night parties, but police say fraternity leaders intentionally kept the event a secret from campus officials so they could serve liquor without oversight. Registered gatherings typically include inspections to ensure that university rules are being followed.

The alleged deceit led to criminal charges against 22 members of the fraternity, which ceased operation shortly after Bogenberger's Nov. 2 death.

DeKalb County authorities have charged five fraternity leaders with felony hazing in connection with the incident, authorities said. Seventeen others face misdemeanor charges.

"They knowingly planned this event and did not seek to register it because of the kind of event they were going to provide, because of the amount of alcohol that was to be consumed," DeKalb Police Department Lt. Jason Leverton said.

Charged with felony hazing are the fraternity's president, Alexander M. Jandick, 21, of Naperville; its vice president, James P. Harvey, 21, of DeKalb; pledge adviser Omar Salameh, 21, of DeKalb; secretary Patrick W. Merrill, 19, of DeKalb; and event planner Steven A. Libert, 20, of Naperville, authorities said.

Felony hazing carries a possible prison sentence of one to three years, though probation is an option. The misdemeanor hazing charge carries a penalty of up to 364 days in jail, with probation as an option.

In a statement released through DeKalb authorities, Bogenberger's family it still was grappling with his death and a future without him. The family also acknowledged concern for the families of those charged Monday.

"We have no desire for revenge. Rather, we hope that some significant change will come from David's death," the statement read. "Alcohol poisoning claims far too many young, healthy lives. We must realize that young people can and do die in hazing rituals. Alcohol-involved hazing and initiation must end."

One of the fraternity officers called the Bogenberger family in Florida over the weekend to express his regret, Coladarci said. The student -- who Coladarci believes was among those charged -- gave his account of the evening and acknowledged errors in judgment, the attorney said.

The family believes the charges were necessary to prevent future hazing incidents, Coladarci said. He declined to discuss possible punishments, only saying the family is not seeking "an eye for an eye" and does not want to see any "harm" done to those charged.

"These kind of hazing incidents are commonplace on college campuses, and I think these kids don't understand that you can die from it," he said. "This is a national health epidemic, which must be addressed."

A spokesman for the Pi Kappa Alpha headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., did not respond to requests for comment.

NIU has placed temporary sanctions against the fraternity, meaning that it cannot operate as a student organization, NIU spokesman Paul Palian said. The fraternity faces disciplinary charges that could lead to permanent sanctions.

NIU also announced disciplinary charges Monday against 31 fraternity members. The charges stem from violations of the student code of conduct regarding hazing and alcohol consumption.

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