?Friday, March 13, 2009 Volume 125, No. 35 Price 75¢ Across America Commentary Op-Ed City & Region Action Line Robert L. Johnson

Station sparks battle

TV One, BET founder feud over TV networks

Bobbi Booker Tribune Staff Writer Two of the biggest names of African-American media communications are locked in a war of words over the future of minority-owned television outlets. Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), has applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve plans for a new ?urban? television network. Johnson is joined in his application by Ion Media Networks Inc., which describes itself as ?a network television broadcasting company which owns and operates the largest broadcast television station group in the U.S., as measured by the number of television households ION?s stations serve.? Johnson?s company would own 51 percent of the new venture and Ion 49 percent. The plans for the urban channel have been challenged by TV One Chairman Alfred C. Liggins, who heads the largest multimedia company that primarily targets African- American and urban listeners, viewers, readers and Internet users. TV One told the FCC that Johnson?s plan ?simply would TV One ? Page 6B

SEPTA, union continue talks

Ayana Jones Tribune Staff Writer The Transport Workers Union ocal 234 has announced that hey will not strike when the argaining agreement between EPTA and the TWU expires at idnight on March 14. Local 234 President Willie rown said that they fully ntend to keep negotiating until hey reach an agreement with EPTA. ?Obviously, with the union aking the public decision not o strike, that?s a great relief for

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Falling Star

INSIDE ENTERTAINMENT

Dianne Reeves in town

Chris Brown?s standing takes

on tour for her latest,

a hit; Rihanna?s could, too, 6E ?When You Know,? 8E

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Temporary tax hikes expected in budget

Mayor Nutter to deliver plan to Council next week

Today Partly Cloudy high: 48º low: 32º Eric Mayes Tribune Staff Writer Property and sales tax increases seem inevitable as the city struggles to close a deficit estimated at $1 billion and growing. Mayor Michael Nutter will present his budget and five-year plan to City Council on March 19. It will almost certainly include cuts to a range of services and tax increases. Details have already begun to emerge and Nutter is expected to propose a 17 percent increase in property taxes and a 1 percent increase in the sales tax. Under the mayor?s proposal, the property tax increase would fade out after two years and the sales tax increase would sunset after three. The proposals seem unpopular in Council with some members expressing reluctance to support tax increases. But, the reality of the city?s financial situation will likely force some members to support the mayor. Whether the mayor can muster a majority remains to be seen. It seems likely that the mayor can rely on the support of Council President Anna C. Verna and members Frank DiCicco, William Greenlee, James Kenney and Marian Tasco. They supported him last year when he proposed a series of other cuts that included shutting down 11 branch libraries and seven fire companies. ?I don?t really see any other way out of it,? said Kenney. ?No one wants to do it but we have a 8.9 percent unemployment rate in the city. If we do something different than what the mayor is going to recommend next week, we?re going to have to lay off people. I don?t see how adding firefighters, police officers, sanitation workers and other city workers to the rolls of the unemployment line is going to be good for the economy of the city.? He said the idea was made more palatable by the sunset provisions. ?We bite the bullet, then we come out of it,? he said. ?Hopefully the city the business community and the schools and the community at large,? says SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney. ?A strike has always been disruptive to the entire community, particularly at this time with the economy being what it is, it would have been even worse. We?re happy that has been taken off the agenda at the moment and we?re continuing to negotiate.? Brown noted that the two parties were still far apart on key issues including subcon- SEPTA ? Page 6A Tomorrow Partly Cloudy high: 55º low: 36º Sunday Cloudy high: 56º low: 37º When he presents his budget to City Council on March 19, Mayor Nutter is expected to propose a 17 percent increase in property taxes and a 1 percent increase in the sales tax. The proposals seem unpopular in Council with some members expressing reluctance to support tax increases. ? FILE PHOTO and national economy comes out of it and we get rid of the taxes and go back to our tax reduction policy.? Whether the group that emerged this winter to oppose library closures would oppose this budget was still unclear. That group was made up of two Democrats: Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and Councilman Bill Green. More recently, Blackwell has opposed fees for trash collection. The proposal would have generated $400 million. But Blackwell said it would be too much. She said she could not vote for higher taxes. ?People are afraid of ? more taxes,? Blackwell said. ?I don?t believe they support this and, in the end, I will support them.? Green and the mayor sparred Thursday over a proposal put forth CITY & REGION

Nigerian Female Journalist on a Mission

Fatimah Abdulkareem tours U.S., works to improve media back at home. 1B by Green that would dedicate funding for public libraries. Green introduced legislation that would split the city?s shares of property taxes a dedicated 3.1 mills of that to the library. ?Currently libraries are funded under the general fund. Under this scenario, they would be funded directly by the taxpayers,? he said. ?It?s a completely cost neutral to the taxpayer.? He wants voters to endorse the plan in a referendum. Nutter called the plan irresponsible. ?This is a very irresponsible proposal at this point in time given the critical situation in our finances,? he said. Nutter?s relationship with other Taxes ? Page 6B The Transport Workers Union Local 234 has announced that they will not strike when the bargaining agreement between SEPTA and the TWU expires at midnight on March 14. Local 234 President Willie Brown said that they fully intend to keep negotiating until they reach an agreement with SEPTA. ? FILE PHOTO SPORTS

Taking Their Last Shots

Sixers close out the Spectrum against the Bulls. 1C COMING SUNDAY Women on the Move A Salute to African- American professional women

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Madoff pleads guilty

Jailed immediately for Ponzi scheme, says he?s ?ashamed?

Larry Neumeister and Tom Hays NEW YORK ? Saying he was ?deeply sorry and ashamed,? Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history and was immediately led off to jail in handcuffs to the delight of his seething victims. Madoff, 70, could get up to 150 years in prison when he is sentenced in June. In refusing to let him remain free on bail until then, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin noted that Madoff had the means to flee and an incentive to do so. The plea didn?t satisfy many investors who had hoped Madoff would be forced to name any family members or others who helped him swindle them out of billions of dollars. He pleaded guilty to all 11 charges against him ? with no deal with prosecutors ? meaning he is under no obligation to disclose names and tell authorities where the money went. ?I am actually grateful for this opportunity to publicly comment about my crimes, for which I am deeply sorry and ashamed,? Madoff, speaking softly but firmly, said in his first public comments about his crimes since the scandal broke in early December. DeWitt Baker, an investor who attended the hearing and said he lost more than $1 million with Madoff, called it ?fantastic? that Madoff?s bail was revoked but belittled the apology. ?I don?t think he has a sincere bone in his body,? said Baker, who added that prison time would be too good for Madoff. ?I?d stone him to death.? Madoff did not look at any of the three investors who spoke at the hearing, even when one turned in his direction and tried to address him. The fraud, which prosecutors say may have totaled nearly $65 billion, turned a well-respected investment professional ? he was once chairman of the Nasdaq Exchange ? into a symbol of Wall Street greed amid the economic meltdown. The public fury toward him was so great that he was known to wear a bulletproof vest to court. Madoff pleaded guilty to charges including fraud, perjury and money-laundering. He told the judge that the scheme began in the early 1990s, when the country was in a recession and the market was not doing well. ?While I never promised a specific rate of return to any client, I felt compelled to satisfy my clients? Madoff ? Page 6A

Spend funds wisely, Obama tells states

Darlene Superville WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama implored states to spend their shares of the $787 billion economic stimulus package wisely ? or else. ?If we see money being misspent, we?re going to put a stop to it,? Obama warned a gathering of state officials. ?What you do in the coming weeks, the coming months, over the next couple of years is going to make a huge difference in whether or not the trust the American people have placed in us is justified,? he said, and added: ?I have great confidence in you.? The president said states are on the front lines of what he called the most important task for the short term and the long term: Barack Obama Bernard Madoff Turning around the recession. He also said the American peo- ple are behind what the administration and states are doing Stimulus ? Page 6B The Philadelphia Tribune, a reflection of you. The Philadelphia Tribune

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