Powell: Harvard scholar might have reacted quickly

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was mildly critical Tuesday of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., whose angry response to a Cambridge, Mass., police officer touched off a national debate involving President Barack Obama.

Powell, interviewed by CNN's Larry King, criticized the way Gates dealt with Sgt. James Crowley, a white officer who responded to reports of a possible break-in by arresting the black professor at his home on a charge of disorderly conduct. The charge was soon dropped.

Gates "might have waited a while, come outside, talked to the officer, and that might have been the end of it," said Powell, one of the nation's most prominent African …

Pittsburgh Scores with Penderecki

The Pittsburgh Symphony and its music director Lorin Maazelbrought a meaty program to Orchestra Hall Tuesday night.

Brahms First Symphony, occupying the second half of the program,was hardly a novelty. But it was deftly paired with KrzysztofPenderecki's Adagio (Symphony No. 4 for Large Orchestra, 1989). Thecraggy brilliance of Penderecki and the broad, heavy sweep of Brahmsshowed off the orchestra's impressive range.

The Penderecki-Pittsburgh match seems to be a happy one. Theorchestra has played the Adagio earlier this season on tour, and nextweek in Pittsburgh they give the world premiere of the revisededition of the composer's Fifth Symphony.

They were …

Duquesne falls to No. 17 Pittsburgh 80-69

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Duquesne guard T.J. McConnell said before Wednesday night's game against No. 17 Pittsburgh that if the Dukes couldn't rebound against the bigger Panthers, they couldn't win.

He was more right than he even he imagined.

Despite shooting 52 percent from the field and forcing 23 turnovers, the Dukes fell 80-69 to their crosstown rivals in the annual City Game by getting crushed on the glass.

The Panthers outrebounded Dukes 39-15, pulled down 16 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second-chance points to win their 11th straight in the series.

"If you told me before the game that we'd come in here and force 23 turnovers and shoot 52 percent, I'd be …

Video shows Blumenthal correctly stating service

In the same 2008 speech in which he misstated his military service, Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal also correctly said that he "served in the military, during the Vietnam era."

Blumenthal has come under fire for a March 2008 speech at a ceremony in Norwalk.

A video clip from the speech posted by The New York Times shows Blumenthal saying he "served in Vietnam." But a longer version of the video posted by a Republican opponent also shows Blumenthal saying at the beginning of his speech that he "served in the military, during the Vietnam era."

The Democratic attorney general acknowledged on Tuesday that he …

Is Daley Backing - or Elbowing - Hartigan?

He could be the next governor of Illinois.

But with his decision to run for the U.S. Senate in 1996, formerIllinois Attorney General Neil F. Hartigan is passing up his bestchance to win an office that he has wanted for more than 20 years.

Hartigan nearly won the Illinois governorship in 1990. And hewould have been Gov. Edgar's toughest opponent in a '94 rematch. ButHartigan didn't run. With Edgar not expected to seek a third term,Hartigan was a good bet for 1998. Illinois Secretary of State GeorgeH. Ryan is the probable Republican nominee for governor. Hartiganwould have a good chance of beating Ryan.

Why, then, is Mayor Daley's camp promoting Hartigan …

Public Sector ; The department implemented a Teradata data warehouse and associated business intelligence tools to track areas where it could boost its collection of taxes.

Company: State of Iowa Department of Revenue

Annual Return: 1,140%

Project: The department implemented a Teradata data warehouse and associated business intelligence tools to track areas where it could boost its collection of taxes. Prior to the data warehouse, Iowa relied on mainframes with hard-to-combine sources of data. The new system aggregates information from Iowa's 20 systems that handle taxes, human resources and …

Audit: Public shorted on terror prosecutions

Federal prosecutors have spent far less time pursuing terrorism suspects over the past five years than the American people paid for, a new Justice Department audit concludes.

The study released Monday says the government has increased prosecutors' time and other resources devoted to combating health care fraud and drug trafficking.

The audit, which raises questions about how prosecutors around the country allocate their time among top crime-fighting priorities, was issued by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

It comes amid concerns that the FBI is too strapped by counterterrorism cases to fully investigate financial firms that …