NCAA Sues Corbett, Row Officers Over Penn State Fine Legislation

The NCAA has filed a federal lawsuit against Governor Tom Corbett and the treasurer and auditor general of Pennsylvania over legislation aiming to keep the NCAA's $60 million fine against Penn State, related to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, in the state of Pennsylvania.

State Senator Farnese Joins Zarwin Baum

State Senator Lawrence Farnese, D-Philadelphia, has left Haddonfield, N.J.-based Archer & Greiner, where he was of counsel, to join Philadelphia-based Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy as of counsel.

Penn State Defendants Ask for Details on Charges

Three former high-ranking Penn State officials, all accused of covering up abuse allegations against convicted serial child molester Jerry Sandusky, are seeking additional details on the charges they face.

State Senator Farnese Joins Zarwin Baum

State Senator Lawrence Farnese, D-Philadelphia, has left Haddonfield, N.J.-based Archer & Greiner, where he was of counsel, to join Philadelphia-based Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy as of counsel.

Penn State Defendants Ask for Details on Charges

Three former high-ranking Penn State officials, all accused of covering up abuse allegations against convicted serial child molester Jerry Sandusky, are seeking additional details on the charges they face.

State Senator Farnese Joins Zarwin Baum

State Senator Lawrence Farnese, D-Philadelphia, has left Haddonfield, N.J.-based Archer & Greiner, where he was of counsel, to join Philadelphia-based Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy as of counsel.

Sandusky Appeals to State Supreme Court

Convicted serial child sex-abuser Jerry Sandusky has petitioned the state Supreme Court in a bid to overturn his prison sentence.

Penn State Defendants Ask for Details on Charges

Three former high-ranking Penn State officials, all accused of covering up abuse allegations against convicted serial child molester Jerry Sandusky, are seeking additional details on the charges they face.

Couples Sue in State Court Over Pa. Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage is now being challenged on two fronts.

Mine Deal Puts New Scrutiny on China’s State Industries

The Zhongshe mine and two others, in Shanxi Province in northern China, are at the center of unusually public accusations of mismanagement and corruption afflicting one of the nation’s flagship state conglomerates, China Resources. Critics say that the $1.6 billion purchase was vastly overpriced and illegal and that large sums may have been squandered or, as some are claiming, improperly diverted.

Leaked documents about the deal, and a court case in Hong Kong, have shed an unusually harsh light on the usually secretive workings of a major state-owned company. The disputed deal raises a stark question: Are China’s economy and resources held hostage by privileged state corporations and their executives, who can use influence and gain access to easy credit in ways that undermine long-term growth?

The dispute has become a chief exhibit in a debate in China about the wisdom of investing so much of the nation’s money in state-owned companies, especially when China’s economy has slowed. For the Communist Party leadership, the case distills concerns about the grip that state-owned conglomerates exert.

The problems for China Resources began in 2010, when its affiliates as well as a partner state company agreed to pay 9.9 billion renminbi ($1.6 billion) for the three coal mines and related assets, according to documents submitted to a Hong Kong court. The seller was a businessman, Zhang Xinming, a man with a reputation as a swashbuckling gambler, who also gained a 20 percent stake in the new joint venture.

The deal appeared to give China Resources a foothold in the coal industry here in Shanxi, the hub of China’s coal industry for more than a century and close to the energy-hungry cities and factories on the coast. But the company’s monthly business operations statements show that since the mines changed hands in 2010, the mines have not produced any coal.

“Legally speaking, this was a totally abnormal transaction,” said Chen Ruojian, a lawyer with the Duan & Duan law firm in Beijing. Mr. Chen is helping to represent the minority shareholders in Hong Kong, where the subsidiary behind the deal, China Resources Power Holdings, is listed on the stock exchange.

“It’s impossible to understand why they’d do this — pay so much for mines with expired exploration licenses,” he said. “State-owned companies have all sorts of problems, but we think it’s rare to have something as stark as China Resources.”

Political unease over the case grew after two Chinese journalists made accusations of corruption about the deal, and one singled out Song Lin, the chairman of the parent conglomerate, China Resources.

The Web site of People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s newspaper, has reported that the party’s discipline unit has received an accusation of corruption against Mr. Song and other senior executives at China Resources and is processing the complaint. Mr. Song has not been detained or charged with any wrongdoing, judging from the reports on the company’s Web site of his various public appearances. China Resources has denied wrongdoing and has hinted it might take legal action against Chinese journalists who have raised corruption accusations.

China Resources “is a major global player,” said David Zweig, a specialist in Chinese natural resource companies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. If the claims about the coal mines are proved true, he added, “it would show that these companies can be ripped off or tricked. It doesn’t bode well for the globalization or professionalization of these companies.”

China Resources traces its roots to the days of Mao Zedong’s revolution, when it was established in 1938 in Hong Kong to raise money and buy military supplies to support Communist forces.

By 2012 it was China’s 18th-largest state-owned industrial company by sales, with revenue of $52 billion. Its wide-ranging products include medicine and beer, coal and real estate. Its chairman, Mr. Song, holds the same government rank as a vice minister.

The controversy over the coal deal has made China Resources a lightning rod for criticism of all state-owned enterprises, which produce about two-fifths of the nation’s economic output.

Keith Bradsher reported from Zhongshe, China, and Chris Buckley from Hong Kong.

State of the Art: The Moto X From Google, iPhone’s Latest Challenger

The one truly huge, magnificent, radical idea of the iPhone, back when it was introduced in 2007, was to get rid of buttons. Make the whole phone a black rectangular touch screen.

By now, every company and its brother has done that. Everybody’s added voice recognition, GPS and navigation. Everybody’s sharpened up the screens to the point where you need a microscope to tell the difference.

So now what? How do you distinguish your phone from the more than 4,000 other touch-screen phones? (That’s not a joke. There have actually been 3,997 different Android phone models so far. And six iPhones and a motley assortment of Windows and touch-screen BlackBerry phones. Heaven help the landfills.)

With much fanfare, Google proudly presents its answer: the Moto X.

This phone ($200 with contract, 5.1 x 2.6 x 0.4 inches) is the first that Motorola has produced since Google bought it a year ago for $12.5 billion.

By looking at it, you’d never guess that this is the Android phone that Motorola hopes will change everything. Its curved back is plasticky, not classy metal (like the HTC One) or glass (like the iPhone 5). Its comfortably 4.7-inch screen looks great, but it isn’t as big or sharp as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. The phone is plenty fast, but its processor isn’t the latest and greatest.

But the Moto X does offer five features that no phone has offered before.

Feature 1: You can design your own color scheme. You’re offered a choice of 18 colors for the back panel, black or white for the front, and seven colors for the accents (the buttons and ring around the camera lens). The color choices are excellent; the odds of you and your frenemy showing up at a party with an identical Moto X phone are one in 252.

Later this year, you’ll even be able to order a back panel made of real wood — in bamboo, teak, ebony or rosewood. Motorola’s testing shows these beautiful panels to be just as tough as plastic (although more susceptible to termites, I’m guessing).

While you’re online, you can also order color-matched cases and earbuds, specify the wallpaper you want or request an engraved message for the back. For now, only AT&T offers the color choices. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile will offer only black or white until later this year.

You get your customized phone within four days, courtesy of Feature 2: it’s assembled right here in these United States. The components are still made in Asia, but they’re put together in Texas — you can lose less sleep worrying about underpaid Chinese workers.

Feature 3 is the most useful: touchless mode. As with Siri on the iPhone, you can command the phone to dial a number, send a text, open an app, set your alarm, look up a fact on the Web, and so on.

But unlike Siri, you don’t hold down a button to speak. The phone is always listening, even when it’s in your car’s cup holder.

It works remarkably well, as long as you precede your command with the salutation, “O.K., Google Now.” Without ever taking your eyes off the road, you can say, “O.K., Google Now. Give me directions to the Empire State Building.” Or, “O.K., Google Now. Remind me at 8 p.m. to give the dog his pill.” Or, “O.K., Google Now. Make an appointment for Thursday at noon with Bob.”

This truly inspired idea is a leap forward in both safety and convenience. It owes its success to a special chip that does nothing but listen all day long. It does, however, come with fine print.

For example, you have to train the phone to recognize your voice. In a silent room, you have to say “O.K., Google Now” exactly the same way three times.

If you’ve password-protected your phone, this feature loses much of its power. It won’t execute most commands until you first pick it up and unlock it. So much for touchless.

And Android’s voice commands are still no match for Siri. The phone recognizes the basics, like “Wake me at 7:30 a.m,” “Open Angry Birds,” “What’s Google’s stock price?” and “Check the forecast for Memphis on Friday.”

Business Briefing | Legal News: Glaxo to Pay $45 Million to State Over Drug Marketing

With the city going through the bankruptcy process, some extremely valuable and world-class artwork is being eyed by creditors.

Wesley Stace asks: How can two versions of the same song be so different?

Federal Judge Clamps Down on AG, Enjoins State Suit

A federal judge has protected a 2009 settlement in a multidistrict RICO case worth potentially $530 million, by enjoining a similar case brought by the Pennsylvania attorney general in state court.

State Senator Farnese Joins Zarwin Baum

State Senator Lawrence Farnese, D-Philadelphia, has left Haddonfield, N.J.-based Archer & Greiner, where he was of counsel, to join Philadelphia-based Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy as of counsel.

Family Law: U.S. Tax Court Trumps State Family Court

Family law judges and lawyers beware that in assigning the dependency exemption to a noncustodial parent, Form 8332 releasing the exemption must be secured from the custodial parent.

NCAA Sues Corbett, Row Officers Over Penn State Fine Legislation

The NCAA has filed a federal lawsuit against Governor Tom Corbett and the treasurer and auditor general of Pennsylvania over legislation aiming to keep the NCAA's $60 million fine against Penn State, related to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, in the state of Pennsylvania.

Voter ID Case Back On - State Must Correct Its Advertising

Petitioners who challenged Pennsylvania?s new voter ID law are back in court after winning an injunction earlier this month because, they argue, the state is confusing voters by neglecting to correct its ad campaign about the photo identification requirements that will not be enforced for the coming election.

State of the Art: Microsoft Office for the iPhone Is Here. Yawn.

Office for iPhone is big news, but not because the software is earthshaking. No, it’s a big deal primarily because of the politics of the situation — the optics, as public relations people say.

Here is Microsoft — the once-mighty software global overlord, years into its repeated failures to produce a successful smartphone — creating an app that lets you edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on the gadget that defeated it, the iPhone. It’s as if somewhere along the line, Microsoft executives started wearing “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” T-shirts.

Microsoft, of course, doesn’t see it that way. The company reports tiny but measurable upticks in sales of its own Windows Phone (which actually is a terrific phone). So why, then, did Microsoft create Office Mobile for the iPhone?

Here’s a hint: You can’t buy the Office Mobile app outright. It’s free with your paid subscription to Microsoft’s Office 365 plan, which costs $100 a year. It’s a service that lets you download Word, Excel and PowerPoint to up to five Mac or Windows computers.

Since Office 365 arrived, Microsoft has been busily trying to sweeten the offer. Office 365 membership gets you one hour of free phone calls a month using Skype. It also gives you 20 extra gigabytes of storage on the SkyDrive, an online hard drive for backing up or transferring documents. (Nonsubscribers get 7 gigabytes free.)

And now it gets you this app for iPhone (iPhone 4 and later) and iPod Touch (5 or later). That’s why its impressively clunky full name is Office Mobile for Office 365 Subscribers. (Office Mobile is already available on Windows Phones, and doesn’t require any subscription.)

You can run the app on up to five iPhones. If you ever stop paying for your Office 365 membership, the app stops working. Your documents are safe in that case, however. They’re both on your phone (until you delete the app) and on your free SkyDrive.

To use the app, you enter your Office 365 name and password. Once you’ve signed in, you see a list of all the Word, Excel and PowerPoint files that you’ve stashed on your SkyDrive. When you select a document’s name, it rapidly downloads to your phone, and you can work on it without an Internet connection. Next time you’re online, the changes get sent back to the SkyDrive original. You can also use Office Mobile to edit documents that people sent to you as attachments in the iPhone’s Mail app.

But once you tap a document to open it, you quickly discover that this app isn’t anything like the full Microsoft Office — it’s more like the Microsoft Vestibule. It’s extremely stripped down. It offers only the features Microsoft thinks you’ll realistically use on a bus or in the doctor’s office with nothing but your phone in hand.

The miniature Word module, for example, offers comments, outline view, bold/italic/underline/strikethrough styles, font and background colors and highlighting. You type, cut, copy and paste using variations on the iPhone’s standard finger gestures. And when you open a Word document, it jumps to the spot where you were last reading on your computer. Slick.

Notably absent: style sheets (normal, heading 1 and so on). Spelling checker. An undo command. The ability to change the font or insert a graphic. You can make the type bigger or smaller, but you can’t specify a size by number. Layout-intensive documents — lots of boxes, embedded graphics and so on — sometimes don’t come through to the phone fully intact.

The Excel module is by far the most fully featured app. It displays most elements of a spreadsheet, including charts and graphics. You can scroll around with your finger, zoom in or out with two fingers, lock a row or a column so it doesn’t scroll, rotate the phone for a wider view, edit comments, flip into outline view, edit formulas, create graphs, change numbers, sort, find, filter and format text and numbers. If the sheet has multiple pages, you can switch among using bottom edge tabs, exactly as on a computer. There’s an undo command. (Why here, and not in Word?)

Notably absent: you can’t rearrange rows or columns (although you can adjust row heights and column widths), and you can’t insert new ones.

Greece Shuts Down State Broadcaster ERT

Orestis Panagiotou/European Pressphoto AgencyEmployees of the state broadcaster ERT protested at the company's headquarters north of Athens.

ATHENS — In a surprise move, Greece’s conservative-led coalition government shut down the state broadcaster on Tuesday as part of a cost-cutting drive imposed by the country’s foreign creditors, prompting protests from labor unions and the government’s increasingly alienated junior partners, which said they had not been consulted.

Employees of ERT, some of them in tears, sat on the steps of the company's headquarters in Agia Paraskevi on Tuesday.

The government cut the signal of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, known as ERT, just after 11 p.m., about an hour earlier than it had said it would. Earlier in the day, a government spokesman, Simos Kedikoglou, described ERT as a “modern-day scandal” and “a unique case of lack of transparency and waste,” and said it would reopen soon as a “modern state organization” with a fraction of its 2,900 employees.

ERT has not been implicated in corruption scandals any more than any other state organization, and Mr. Kedikoglou’s strong language was broadly seen as the government’s attempt to show creditors that it was boldly and decisively moving to cut waste in the public sector.

Following the broadcast of the spokesman’s remarks on Net, one of ERT’s television channels, the station’s anchors and commentators engaged in a furious live discussion lamenting their fate.

Net’s midday news anchor, Antonis Alafogiorgos, lashed out at the government for accusing the state broadcaster of corruption. “This hypocrisy has to stop,” he said before playing a video from last month showing Mr. Kedikoglou insisting that the state would protect ERT from cutbacks. “None of us want the government to fall,” Mr. Alafogiorgos said, “but these methods are unacceptable.” Echoing other journalists in the live debate, the anchor said his concern was not for his job but for ERT to remain operational. “Mr. Kedikoglou can take my compensation and do what he wants with it,” he said.

Reacting to the news, unions representing the workers crowded outside the broadcaster’s headquarters, north of Athens, and told reporters that they would stage sit-ins to protest the closing of ERT’s five state television channels — three broadcast, one satellite and one cable — and 29 radio stations. (ERT has 2,650 full-time employees and about 250 people on short-term contracts.)

Standing with the protesters, a spokesman for the main leftist opposition party, Syriza, accused the government of “extreme despotism” in closing ERT.

Earlier in the day, the government submitted an emergency bill to Greece’s Parliament — a type of decree that does not require lawmakers’ approval — enabling the merging and abolition of state companies and paving the way for ERT’s closure. The move prompted an angry response by the junior partners in the coalition government — the Socialist Party, known as Pasok, and the more moderate Democratic Left — which accused the dominant conservatives of failing to consult them, an increasingly common complaint.

“The public broadcaster cannot close,” Pasok said in a statement. “A three-party government cannot make decisions without the participation of all party leaders.”

The surprise announcement came a day after representatives of Greece’s troika of foreign lenders — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — returned to Athens for fresh talks on the progress of the country’s economic reform program. A focus of the talks is a Greek pledge to lay off 4,000 civil servants this year, including 2,000 over the summer. Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that the bloated state broadcaster could be a target for the first round of layoffs demanded by the troika.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 11, 2013

An earlier version of this article, as well as the summary and caption, misstated the broadcaster’s name. It is the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, known as ERT, not Net. (Net is the name of one of its television channels.)

State AG Opposes Master in Judicial Retirement Age Case

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office is opposing the request of six plaintiffs challenging the mandatory retirement of judges in the year they turn 70 for the appointment of a special master.