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Murder fears for missing Geelong man

Private investigators fear a missing Geelong man who may have been living with the homeless could have been murdered.
Daniel James O'Keeffe, 24, left his parent's home in Highton about 9am on July 15, and his family has not heard from him since.
A police spokesman said investigations were continuing and the possibility Mr O'Keeffe had left to experience life on the streets had not been discounted.
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But private investigator Arthur Athas, who is working on the family's behalf to solve the case, says Mr O'Keeffe was not living as a vagrant and it was possible he had met with foul play.
"We're talking about someone who would be put off by an apple with a bruise on it. He'd throw it in the bin. It's unlikely Daniel could have assimilated with the homeless," Mr Athas said.
"We still don't know what line of inquiry to take, we don't know if it's foul play and we don't know if he's out there of his own accord."
Mr O'Keeffe's parents, Des and Lorraine, sister Loren and girlfriend Susie Mansfield have launched an event on Facebook called All eyes on Daniel, which they hope will lead to his photo being seen across Australia this weekend.
More than 2500 people have agreed to share the photo.
"The time since Daniel disappeared has been very difficult for his family, not knowing where he is or if he is all right," the family said in a statement issued today.
"One thing that's helped to keep us going is the support we've received from the community, and we're hoping that support continues this weekend.
"We want every single person in Australia to see Daniel's picture, and we hope the All eyes on Daniel event will get us closer to that.
"We're hopeful that every day might be the day when Daniel comes home, and we hope that this weekend, with so many people helping to get his picture out there all at once, the right person might just see it."
Mr O'Keeffe's family is encouraging people to print a copy of his image and display it in as many different places as possible, including at work, on their car window, at tram and bus stops or at sporting events.
"They could even leave a poster behind on their train seat in the morning – every little bit helps us to find Daniel," the family said.
Mr Athas said unconfirmed sightings of Mr O'Keeffe had been made from Fairfield to the Dandenongs, but it was frustrating some people waited up to a week before reporting them.
He urged people who thought they had seen Mr O'Keeffe to approach him and if possible ask his name, note as many details as possible and perhaps even take a picture, and then report the sighting.
"We're simply trying to close the gap between unconfirmed sightings that come in days after he was supposed to have been seen and confirmed sightings," Mr Athas said.
"We could be missing out on confirmed sightings because people are taking so long to report them."
Mr O'Keeffe is about 180 centimetres and may have thick stubble. He was last seen wearing a grey-hooded jumper and ugg boots.
Anybody with information about the disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au.

Chic with sheep: Auckland aghast at PR stunt for Rugby World Cup

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, although to whom, and whether they were sober, is not clear: celebrate the Rugby World Cup by running a thousand sheep down Auckland's main street, accompanied by bikini-clad models on quad bikes.

Animal rights advocates were outraged, and many New Zealanders – anticipating the inevitable sheep jokes – cringed. In Auckland, a sophisticated city known for its upmarket restaurants and designer clothing labels, shopkeepers complained that the Pamplona-style stunt would be bad for business.

Now the organisers have bowed to public opinion and cancelled the event, which was part of a programme to promote the best of New Zealand industry, from wine to agriculture. Leon Grice, director of New Zealand 2011, a government agency, said it would be unhelpful to "play out this controversy in front of the world's media and international guests".

The plan was to herd the sheep down Queen Street, Auckland's main shopping thoroughfare, during the build-up to the World Cup final in October. They were to be accompanied by sheepdogs, shearers and scantily clad women. Although animal welfare experts were consulted, the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals warned that it could cause the sheep unnecessary distress.

Commentators ridiculed the idea, with Brian Rudman, a columnist for the New Zealand Herald, writing that it would convey an image of Auckland as "Te Kuiti [a sheep-shearing town] on steroids, the place where the Gucci shop gets mobbed by a flock of live Ugg boots".

The reference to Te Kuiti may have convinced organisers that retreat was the best option. When a similar event was staged in the town in 2009 with 2,000 sheep, some of them made a dash for freedom, leaping over street barriers and knocking a female spectator unconscious.

The World Cup kicks off on 9 September, and New Zealand's eagerness to promote itself to the outside world appears to have prompted some questionable decisions. This week, Telecom New Zealand was forced to withdraw an advertising campaign urging Kiwis to abstain from sex during the tournament and save their energy for cheering on the home team, the All Blacks.

The light-hearted ads – featuring a former All Blacks captain, Sean Fitzpatrick, exhorting people to "abstain for the game" – were condemned as embarrassing and offensive. Alan Gourdie, the chief executive of Telecom, a sponsor of the All-Blacks, apologised for misjudging the public mood, admitting that the feedback had been "overwhelmingly negative".

Former players sue NFL over concussion-related injuries

Seven former players sued the NFL in Philadelphia over the league's handling of concussion-related injuries, the first potential class-action lawsuit of its kind.

The players accuse the league of training players to lead with their heads, failing to properly treat them for concussions and trying to conceal links between football and brain injuries.

The plaintiffs include two-time Super Bowl champion Jim McMahon, who has said he played through five concussions but now frequently walks around "in a daze."

The suit accuses the NFL of negligence and intentional misconduct in its response to the headaches, dizziness and dementia that former players have reported. The suit, filed Wednesday, seeks medical monitoring along with funds to pay for the care of injured players.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league had not seen the lawsuit but would vigorously contest any such claims.

Larry Coben of Philadelphia, an attorney for the former players, said one client might soon lose his home because of his health-related financial problems.

"The big issue, for us, is they were told for decades to lead with their heads," Coben told the Associated Press. "The NFL would never admit that there's any correlation" to later health problems.

Seventy-five retired players sued the NFL last month in Los Angeles, alleging the league has known since the 1920s about the harmful effects of concussions but concealed them from players, coaches, trainers and the public until June 2010. That suit also names helmet-maker Riddell, the NFL's official supplier, as a defendant.

The federal suit filed in Philadelphia, though, is the first to seek class-action status and potentially include anyone who had played in the league and suffered a concussion or head injury.

Pryor vs. NFL: What it may come down to

The Terrelle Pryor Saga has become the Terrelle Pryor Staredown.

The NFL Supplemental Draft previously scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed indefinitely. It’s presumed the league is reviewing a plea from Pryor’s attorney to make the former Ohio State quarterback eligible for the draft. The waiting game isn't helping Pryor get any closer to his goal of playing in an NFL game this fall.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has an important decision on his hands. He knows it's one best made soon, but it's one that can't be rushed. Instead of learning a playbook, Pryor could spend the near future picking a district court in which to further pursue the case. Though neither side wants that, it's in play.

Pryor has retained the services of attorney David Cornwell, who has won in court against the NFL before, most notably getting Ricky Williams reinstated in 2004. Cornwell doesn't come cheap, and he isn't afraid of a little publicity — or a lot.

Though the last ex-Ohio State player to challenge the NFL in court, Maurice Clarett, lost his case, the circumstances are different. Clarett was challenging the NFL's requirement that players wait three years after high school before turning pro. Pryor meets that requirement and must prove he's facing different circumstances than he was in January at the NFL's early-entry deadline for its annual April draft.

The particulars of Pryor's case date to December, when then-Ohio State coach Jim Tressel made Pryor and four other players who committed NCAA violations pledge that they would return to school for their senior seasons if they were allowed to participate in the Sugar Bowl. All five agreed to return and serve five-game suspensions to start 2011, and all five played in the Sugar Bowl. It wasn't until March that it was discovered that Tressel had prior knowledge of the violations, and in late May the longtime coach was forced to resign. Less than a week later Pryor left the team and announced he would be pursuing a pro career.

Why is the NFL so committed to making the proper ruling here, especially at this late stage of training camp and in the case of a player who's not likely to be either a high-round supplemental selection or much of a contributor in the 2011 season?

It's about the rules, sure. But it's also about precedent.

The supplemental draft is designed for players who have some change in their academic standing or an involuntary change in their status with their college teams. Though it's widely assumed that Pryor played his last down for Ohio State in last January's Sugar Bowl, he voluntarily left the team in June.

Earlier this week, Cornwell said he believed Pryor would be ruled eligible for the supplemental draft. He said his client hadn't been declared eligible yet because "the NFL, like many others, was burdened by misunderstanding of the facts."

The NFL's goal is to make sure players don't manipulate or abuse the supplemental draft system, turning it into a situation in which a player can have an argument with his coach or a bad spring practice showing and decide he'd rather be playing in the NFL.

The buzzwords around the initial discussion of Pryor heading to the supplemental draft were "change of circumstance;" if Pryor could prove his circumstances had changed, he'd become eligible for the supplemental draft. The NFL's official stance is that the situations of supplemental nominees are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Below is a look at what Pryor's side probably already presented or remains ready to argue, as well as what Goodell might be thinking if he ultimately rules that Pryor is not eligible.

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Pa. Judge Gets 28 Years in “Kids-for-Cash” Scandal

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Ciaverella of Luzerne Co., Pa., in one of the more shameful displays of judicial digression, got lucrative kickbacks from private juvenile detention centers after sending scores of children there, some who should have not been incarcerated.
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On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik II in Scranton, Pa., sentenced Ciaverella to 28 years in prison in the “kids-for-cash” scandal and ordered him to pay about $1.2 million in restitution. He also ordered him off to prison immediately.

Ciavarella and his co-defendant, Judge Michael Conahan, were charged in the scandal in 2009. They ended up entering a guilty plea, but Judge Kosik rejected it because the defendants did not appear to accept responsibility for their conduct. Ciavarella’s  sentence on Thursday was about four times greater than what he would have gotten under his plea.

As a result of the scandal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed roughly 5,000 convictions Ciavarella issued between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.

Authorities alleged that Ciavarella and fellow judge Michael Conahan took more than $2 million in bribes from the builder of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers. They also extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the facilities’ co-owner.

Authorities said Ciavarella sent children to the private lockups, some as young as 10, and many of them first-time offenders convicted of petty theft and other minor crimes.
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In February, after an 11 day trial in Scranton, a federal jury found Ciavarella guilty on 12 of 39 counts: racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, four counts of honest services mail fraud, and four counts of filing false income tax returns. The jury also found that Ciavarella should forfeit $997,600, the sum he received from Robert Mericle, the developer who built the juvenile detention facilities.

Ciavarella testified at trial, claiming that the payments he received from Mericle were “finders fees” or “honest money” with no connection to Ciavarella’s actions as a judge, and denied that he received payment from Robert Powell, owner of the facilities.

The evidence established that Judge Conahan closed the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Facility when he was chief judge and helped arrange the financing for the private facilities; that Ciavarella, as juvenile court judge, sent juveniles to those facilities; that both men obstructed efforts to question the county’s use of the facilities and their financial relationships with Mericle and Powell; and both judges used bank accounts, straw parties and real estate vacation property to hide and launder payments received from Mericle and Powell.

Mericle and Powell have pleaded guilty pursuant to plea agreements and are awaiting sentencing. Conahan pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in April 2010. He did not testify at trial and has not been sentenced.
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Ciavarella and Conahan resigned from the bench in 2009.

They believe in themselves

The Chicago Bulls finished tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the best home record during the NBA regular season.
United Center is so loud that the Indiana Pacers had a difficult time communicating in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Bulls.
Still, the Pacers, who are a loss from their season ending, say they can win at United Center tonight and force a Game 6 at Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday.
“The first game, I think everybody was unsure what to expect, but when we got out there in Game 1 and played the way we played, we realized that what we did in the regular season was no fluke,” Pacers interim coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re a good basketball team, and we can play with the best.”
The Pacers lost the first two games of the series in Chicago by a total of 11 points.
They blew a double-digit lead in the final three minutes in Game 1 and hung with the Bulls for most of Game 2 despite being without point guard Darren Collison in the second half.
Vogel said they’ve outplayed the Bulls “most of the series” despite being down 3-1.
“That’s what gives us a lot of confidence, knowing the first two games we should have won at least one of them,” Pacers forward Danny Granger said. “Unfortunately we didn’t. We had the opportunity. I’m pretty sure (tonight) we’ll have the opportunity again. We just have to seize the moment this time.”
The teams have met eight times this season. There isn’t much either can do to throw the other off balance. It’s a matter of who can execute their schemes better.
“At this point, there are not many things they haven’t seen,” Vogel said. “You just have to mix up your coverages. This is a chess match. They’re making moves to stop you and you have to make a counter move.”
There’s some uncertainty surrounding how effective Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will be after he sprained his left ankle in the first half of Game 4.
Rose, who is 10-of-40 from the field in the past two games, told Chicago reporters Monday that he’ll “definitely” play and he’ll get a pain-killing shot before the game. He played 32 minutes on his sore ankle after returning to the game Saturday.
Collison was limited in practice Monday to continue resting his sprained left ankle. He said his ankle is about 70 percent healed.
The Pacers have more to worry about than ankle sprains. They have to figure out a way to compete with the Bulls late in the fourth quarter.
The Pacers are a combined 3-of-22 from the field, including 0-of-4 on 3-pointers, with seven turnovers in the final 3 minutes, 21 seconds of the first four games. They’ve been outscored 113-85 in the fourth quarter.
The Pacers committed five turnovers, went 1-of-5 from the field and blew most of a 13-point lead in the final 2:17 Saturday. The difference from the first three games is the Pacers hung on for the victory despite doing a poor job handling the Bulls’ trapping defense.
“We know how to execute,” Vogel said. “A lot of times, getting over the hump and getting that one time where they’re making a run and you have the confidence that we’re going to hold them off, that goes a long way.”

Dolphins GM: Ryan Mallett has a ‘bright future’ in the NFL

Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett has had more than his share of controversy during the pre-draft evaluation process.
At the combine, he was faced with questions about drug use. And just this week, his agents refuted a story that claimed he missed meetings with the Carolina Panthers this month because he was hungover.
But Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland seems impressed with Mallett’s makeup and isn’t allowing the character questions to cloud his judgment.
“Sometimes when there’s information out there, you want to dispel rumors and get as much information that you can with any player out there, and that’s why we went through the process,” Ireland said of Mallett.
“He’s a nice young man, very talented kid, got a bright future.”
Ireland is in the market for a QB, with the Dolphins’ position rotating through Chad Henne, Chad Pennington and Tyler Thigpen last year.
The Dolphins pick 15th in the first round, which might be too high to choose Mallett.
But Ireland said he’s open to trades and expects there to be “quite a bit of movement” in the April 28-30 draft.

Saint Mary’s falls to Gonzaga in WCC basketball tournament final, must hope for NCAA bid on Selection Sunday

That’s because Gonzaga claimed the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by beating the Gaels 75-63 in the championship game Monday at the Orleans Arena.Saint Mary’s (24-8) still has a good chance to earn an at-large bid, but a win over the Bulldogs would have eliminated any trepidation the Gaels might have had.”It is what it is. You can’t control it,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “The only thing we can control is how we play Friday (against Weber State), so that’s the only thing I’m worried about.”In the rubber match of a heated series this season, No. 2 seed Gonzaga (24-9) pulled away late, thanks to good free throw shooting, tight defense and foul trouble for the No. 1 Gaels.Mitchell Young was the first to foul out, exiting at the 6:03 mark. At that point, Gonzaga led 58-53. Rob Jones had to leave soon thereafter, picking up his fifth foul with 5:27 left.All the fouls put Gonzaga into the bonus early, and the Bulldogs made Saint Mary’s pay from the line. They scored 10 of their last 12 from the stripe, burying the Gaels down the stretch.Offensively, Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova delivered typically outstanding performances, but there wasn’t much else to draw from as the Gaels tried to stay in it. McConnell finished with 24 points, and had an ice pack onhis left knee after the game to show for it. Dellavedova had 21, but no other Gael had more than six points.”I’m not sure what changed offensively for us,” Bennett said. “Obviously, playing without Jones is a pretty key part of our deal. Foul trouble affected us, again. Second time in that game it’s been a factor. We needed to get stops and we couldn’t get enough stops. I think that’s the bottom line.”The lack of another option especially reared its head late, and the Bulldogs were able to focus their defensive efforts on McConnell and Dellavedova almost exclusively.”We’ve really been doing a nice job of playing defense down the stretch of these games,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We made it tough to score, and then we finally got a little bit of rhythm on the offensive end.”Gonzaga achieved that balance, with four players finishing in double figures. Steven Gray led the way with 15 points, and Robert Sacre (12), tournament MVP Marquise Carter (11) and Sam Dower (10) all contributed as well.One pivotal play came early in the game. Jones picked up his second foul with 10:31 left in the first half, called for a block instead of the charge he was trying to take. He argued the call, though, and seconds later was hit with a technical foul and, subsequently, his third personal.Gonzaga lost Gray for a stretch as well, as he had to head to the locker room with a cut above his left eye. In true Las Vegas fashion, though, Gray got four stitches in the locker room, covered it up and returned with 7:30 left in the half.Saint Mary’s still has one regular season game left, a 7 p.m. home game on Friday against Weber State. That will be Senior Day for McConnell and Phil Benson.

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