THE SHOW: 12/09/2009 - GATECRASHERS TO TAKE THE FIFTH/ School is Lifeline for Hungry Kids / Russell Simmons New Series / Jay Z and Beyonce leaving NYC

Local Buzz:
"NCAA Investigating Tennessee Football Recruiting"

*NEW YORK (AP) – The NCAA is investigating Tennessee's football recruiting practices, including the use of hostesses to attract top players, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The NCAA has met with four prospects and is expected to talk to two more this week, The Times reported.
Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton told the newspaper an investigation was ongoing, but did not provide any details.
Marcus Lattimore, a high school running back, told The Times several hostesses came to a game in South Carolina and brought signs including one that read, "Come to Tennessee."
The hostesses are considered representatives of the university and are not allowed to recruit players off campus. The visits could be considered violations of NCAA rules.

"Rock Slide In Storm Blocks Rural Tennessee Highway"

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A rock slide has blocked a state highway at Suck Creek Mountain in southeast Tennessee and flooded roads have closed schools around Chattanooga.
Tennessee Department of Safety spokesman Mike Browning said in a statement Wednesday that the rock slide closed all lanes of State Route 27 in rural Marion County and local traffic was being rerouted on Highway 283.
The rock slide was at least the fourth in the region to block traffic in recent months.
Hamilton County and Marion County schools were among those closed after storms swept through the region Tuesday night, followed by windy conditions.
In West Tennessee, the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory until noon, until mid-afternoon for Middle Tennessee and until after nightfall in East Tennessee.

"Pursuit Ends In Crash, Suspected Robber Arrested"

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The pursuit of an armed robbery suspect in West Nashville ended in a crash on Charlotte Avenue at Interstate 40.
Metro police are calling the suspect a serial armed robber. One of the pieces of evidence police said was his white Jeep Cherokee they believe was his get away vehicle.
The suspect is believed to have used the Jeep in a number of robberies in the West Nashville area over the past month.
Just before 8 p.m., police said the Nashville Wine and Spirits store on Harding Place was robbed. They said the suspect took beer and cash register drawers. After the robbery, a chase occurred between police and the suspect. The suspect ran into a semi-truck and a passenger car. No was hurt. Police arrested the suspect with minor injuries. The items stolen were recovered at the crash scene.
"We're glad to have him off the streets," said Metro Nashville Police Dept. Captain Harmon Hunsicker. "He has been bringing terror to our community."
The Green Hills Wine Shoppe was robbed on Nov. 28. Metro police believe that man is the same person responsible for Tuesday's robbery.
Police have not released the suspect's name or picture because of pending line-ups.

*KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A house has exploded in western Knox County, leveling the home and blowing two occupants out of bed.
The blast , reported at 3:13 a.m. Wednesday, in the upscale Whittington Creek development was heard for miles.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported two people who were in the house were taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center. Their conditions were not immediately known.
Rural/Metro Fire Capt. Brian Chesney said be believed the two occupants were conscious when they were found in the street. It wasn't clear whether anyone else had been in the house.
Chesney said a buildup of natural gas was the cause of the blast that destroyed the brick home.
There was damage to nearby homes that included windows shattered and garage doors blown off.
Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com

*Michaele and Tareq Salahi plan to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to testify if they are subpoenaed to appear on Capitol Hill about their gate-crashing the White House two weeks ago. The couple said in a statement that members of the House Homeland Security Committee had drawn "premature conclusions" about the November 24th incident. The committee plans to vote today on whether to subpoena the couple to testify.

"TOP GENERAL SAYS AFGHAN PLAN WILL WORK"

*General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U-S forces in Afghanistan, told skeptical members of Congress on Tuesday that he did not get as many troops as he wanted and is working under a schedule he did not recommend, but insisted the Obama administration's new strategy will work. McChrystal believed the Taliban-led insurgency can be defeated because the Afghan people do not want a brutal regime to rule again.

Celeb News:
"BIG BOI: New Solo Disc Complete"

*Big Boi has finally completed his solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, which includes collaborations with T-I, Lil' Jon, Jamie Foxx, Geroge Clinton, Too Short and Gucci Mane. The OutKast member tells Billboard he took his time with the disc because he wanted "to make sure we've got the right avenues and the right brains and mindsets together to get the marketing and promoting behind it. When you work on something for, like, two years and 11 months, it's like your baby." The disc doesn't have a release date yet!

*We told you weeks ago that Beyonce was on the verge of signing a $300 million, 3 year deal with Las Vegas' Wynn casino.
Well now we hear that the deal is all but completed, and if everything goes according to plans it will be announced early next year.
Under the terms of the deal, Beyonce will have to perform two to three times a week at the casino. And that means that her and Jay Z will have to set up a permanent residence in Sin City.
They're not wasting any time doing so, either. According to our insiders, Jay and Beyonce are currently house hunting in Vegas as we speak. They even looked at one 10,000 square foot mansion just down the street from boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Gotta admit, it'll be kinda strange having Jay Z in Vegas instead of New York, but look on the bright side. Now that Jay and Bey are gonna be playing house together, it shouldn't be long before there are a couple of Bonnie and Clydes running around their 10,000 square foot mansion.

*Russell Simmons is developing a reality series for the Oxygen network that will focus on the women in his life. The tentatively titled Russell Simmons Project will follow the female assistants who "manage his business deals...family life, party planning and love life."
Russell says, "Throughout my career I have surrounded myself with people smarter than me. This show will let them shine and provide insight into how we build our empire from the inside out." No word yet on when the show will air.

*On December 9th, 1995, Baltimore city councilman Kweisi Mfume was unanimously elected president and C-E-O of the N-double-A-C-P. Mfume is credited with reforming the association's finances to pay off its considerable debt while pursuing the cause of civil rights advancement for African-Americans. He served as the organization's head for nine years before stepping down in 2004.

Healthy Matters:
"Trial drug may help smokers kick butts"

*The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health, gave Nabi BioPharmaceuticals a $10 million grant to take its anti-nicotine vaccine, NicVAX, to Phase III clinical trials.
According to the National Institutes of Health, in Phase III trials, the treatment is "given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely." It's also the last step before the drug can go before the FDA for approval.
NicVAX is designed to stimulate the immune system to generate antibodies that latch on to nicotine in a smoker's body and actually prevent nicotine from ever entering the brain. The testing began last week. "Nicotine addiction causes nearly a half-million deaths annually in the United States alone. Finding effective treatments that can help people stay off cigarettes has been a real challenge," NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said. "This Phase III trial of a nicotine vaccine offers tremendous hope towards solving this immense public health problem."
MayoClinic.com: Nicotine dependence
Drug experts say nicotine is more difficult to kick than heroin. The American Cancer Society reports that of the 44 million smokers in the United States, 70 percent say they want to quit. About 40 percent do quit each year, but only 4 to 7 percent manage to give up smoking, without help, for good.
"We hope the Phase III trials will get stronger results so that a large percentage of our population can benefit from it," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Ideally, we'd like to see 100 percent of those taking the vaccine stop smoking for good."
Volkow says that what makes NicVAX different from existing anti-smoking therapies is that it helps smokers quit permanently. Relapse is a significant challenge facing smokers, and relapse rates with currently available smoking cessation therapies can be as high as 90 percent in the first year after a smoker quits, Volkow says.
*The NicVAX vaccine prompts the immune system to create antibodies that bind to the nicotine molecules in the blood. The now-larger molecules are prevented by their size from crossing the blood-brain barrier. Trapped outside the brain, the bound nicotine can't reach the receptors that trigger the release of dopamine. No dopamine, no pleasure.
It's believed that a smoker's addiction to nicotine will diminish over time because, as the antibodies created by NicVAX continue to bind to the nicotine, the amount of nicotine reaching the brain will gradually decrease. This lack of feel-good reinforcement reduces the urge to continue smoking.
According to NicVAX maker Nabi, the results of prior trials have been promising, with few side effects. In the Phase II trials, Nabi reported that 30 percent to 35 percent of those given NicVAX were able to remain smoke-free over the long term, compared with only 10 percent of those receiving the placebo.
"In addition, those participants that continued to smoke but showed a high antibody response to NicVAX significantly reduced the number of cigarettes smoked over the full 12-month period from a baseline of 20 cigarettes per day to 10 cigarettes per day," Nabi reported.
The initial Phase III study for NicVAX will enroll approximately 1,000 patients. The primary reason for the study is to see what the abstinence rate is at 12 months: in other words, how many people are actually quitting for good? Study results are anticipated in the third quarter of 2011. According to Volkow, that's when "we can get the vaccine in front of the Food and Drug Administration for approval."
If you're interested in participating in a clinical trial, including NicVAX, click here: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

Good News:
"Las Vegas School is Lifeline for Hungry Kids With Nothing"

*Principal Sherrie Gahn said she was shocked when she first came to Whitney Elementary School seven years ago. "The kids were eating ketchup packets," trying to scrape a meal together. About 75 percent of her 622 students are homeless, or nearly so.

*We're still hoping for a Joedici comeback, but it looks like Devante Swing has seen better days.

"Proverbs 22:1,4~Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.....True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life."