Omaha World-Herald from Omaha, Nebraska • 2

2A RIDAY NOVEMBER 2 2012 main news OMAHA WORLD HERALD CONNECT TODAY IN MIDLANDS Page 7B A roundup of community events ON 0MAHACOM' ind weather tidbits in Almanac Omahacomnancy Click on the calendar for listings of live music the arts family events and more Home Page LOTTERIES POWERBALL Wednesday Oct 31: 1 27 31 45 48 Powerball: 5o jackpot winner Jackpot for Saturday Nov 3: $124 million MEGA MILLIONS Tuesday Oct 30: 5 12 18 29 56 Megaball: 38 Megaplier: 4 No jackpot winner Jackpot for riday Nov 2: $32 million NEBRASKA Pick 5 Thursday Nov 1: 2 5 14 20 34 No jackpot winner Jackpot for riday Nov 2: $82000 MyDaY Thursday Nov 1: 10 29 65 2by2 Thursday Nov 1: red 4 19 white 8 21 Pick 3 Thursday Nov 1: 9 2 4 IOWA Cash Game Thursday Nov 1: 9 10 16 18 27 Hot Lotto Wednesday Oct 31: 17 26 27 30 37 Hot Ball: 17 Pick 3 Thursday Nov 1: midday 2 2 5 evening 2 0 8 Pick 4 Thursday Nov 1: midday 1 1 5 0 evening 7 3 1 1 Omaha Daily Herald founded 1865 Omaha Daily World founded 1885 World Herald 1889 BREAKING Lampooning the latest news By Brad Dickson See Brad's sports commentary on Page 2C or Brad's latest musings go to 0mahacomDickson nonessential personnel in Washington DC were told not to report Which of course included every 7 member of Congress Paul Ryan has been campaigning with his mother The toughest part was when he had to sit her down and explain that he was cutting her Medicare Joe Biden and Bill Clinton have been campaigning together What could possibly go wrong there? I had one Halloween trick or treater who demanded Due to Hurricane Sandy earlier this week that I stick a large sum of money in his bag I said are you suppose to be?" He said retiring OPS superintendent" Talk about wet blankets Late Wednesday the Omaha City Council rushed through a 2 percent trick or treat candy tax The CMA Awards were broadcast Thursday night This is per that federal law that there must be a country music awards show every 72 hours Abortion: Kerrey ischer call each other Continued from Page 1 think exceptions should be made for victims of either rape or incest ischer has thp backing of the largest anti abortion group Nebraska Right to Life She also is being supported by Americans United for Life a Washington DC group that sent out a direct mail piece this week accusing Kerrey of abortion views In addition the Susan Anthony List another anti abortion group has launched $40000 in radio ads against Ker rey in both Omaha and Lincoln Kerrey rejects the idea that support for abortion rights is In fact he argues that opposition to abortion for rape victims is the position in the race a woman is raped the gov ernment is going to prevent her from aborting her pregnancy? There is nothing moderate in that position said Kerrey is a very difficult question for women and I trust women to make ischer said she has always opposed abortion but she ac knowledges that her views have changed over the years When she first ran for the Legislature in 2004 she said she believed exceptions should be made for victims of rape and incest However in 2012 when she filled out the Nebraska Right to Life questionnaire ischer made it clear that she no longer supported those exceptions In staking out that position ischer finds herself at odds with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney who backs the exceptions for rape incest and life of the mother the years I personally reflected on my position on the life issue and reaffirmed my commitment to protect said ischer who noted in a writ ten statement that she believes life begins at conception She also said that if she is then so are two other prominent Nebraska politicians both of whom do not support ex ceptions for rape or incest vic tims: Democratic Sen Ben Nel son and Republican Sen Mike Johanns She called Kerrey the extremist because of his past opposition to the abortion ban views on the issue are the same as Sen and Sen ischer said Kerrey acknowledged that his vote against the ban was unpopular in some quarters but he argued that it was the right thing to do He not ed that the Supreme Court later ruled the ban unconstitutional an unpopular vote in part because it was misunder said Kerrey Su preme Court has ruled explicitly not Contact the writer 402 444 1309 robynntysverowhcom Spanier: Perjury obstruction among charges Continued from Page 1 the new charges as an attempt by Gov Tom Corbett to divert attention from the three year investigation that began while he was attorney general charges are the work of a vindictive and po litically motivated governor working through an unelected attorney general whom he appointed to do his the defense lawyers wrote Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley said the defense state ment like the ranting (USPS 408 280) Published daily except Sunday at the Omaha World Herald Building 1314 Douglas St Omaha NE 68102 1811 402 444 1000 Copyright 2012 Omaha World Herald Periodical postage paid at Omaha Neb and at other mailing offices Basic weekly home delivery subscription rates $426 daily and Sunday $212 Monday Saturday $170 Monday riday $290 riday Saturday and Sunday $214 Sunday Single copy rates are $075 daily and $250 Sunday iftytwo week mail subscription rates in surrounding counties are $15132 daily $11284 Sunday only $26286 daily and Sunday or other rates please contact us at 1 800 234 6942 or CirculationCustomerServiceowhcom Both the weekend and Sunday only home delivery subscriptions include delivery on the following 2012 holidays: New Year's Day 122012 President's Day 2202012 Memorial Day 5282012 Independence Day 742012 Labor Day 932012 Columbus Day 1082012 Veteran's Day 11122012 Thanksgiving 11222012 and 11232012 and Christmas 12252012 The 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Communications 402 444 1493 joellongowhcom DUANE POLODNA Senior Vice President and CO 402 444 1480 duanepolodnaowhcom MIKE REILLY Executive Editor 402 444 1277 mikereillyowhcom SCOTT SEARL Vice President CAO and General Counsel 402 444 1726 scottsearlowhcom DAVID STOREY Advertising Director 402 444 1385 davidstoreyowhcom PHILTOMEK Director of Information Technology 402444 1047 philtomekowh com RICH WARREN Director of Marketing 402 444 1204 richwarrenowhcom November 2 2012 Vol 148 Edition 25 elicia Schmitz packs orders for shipment at the warehouse of Oriental Trading Co which would be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Inc under a purchase agreement being announced today Berkshire: Buffett moved quickly to close deal Continued from Page 1 have had several changes to ownership in the past but OTC has a permanent home with Berkshire Under Berkshire Taylor would remain CEO with no changes in staff or operations as a result of the purchase Ori ental Trading would become part of retail group which includes the Nebraska urniture Mart Borsheims ine Jewelry Pampered Chef and electronics distributor TTI Inc Berkshire did not disclose the purchase price because too small to have a material impact on its finances But the price could be several hundred mil lion dollars Oriental largest shareholder is New York investment company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co along with a number of other financial institutions Oriental Trading founded in 1932 by Harry Watanabe would join the Nebraska urni ture Mart Borsheims Northern Natural Gas Co CBSHome Real Estate and The World Herald as Berkshire owned companies in hometown In 2000 Brentwood Associ ates of Los Angeles bought Oriental Trading from the Wa tanabe family In 2006 the com pany was saddled with $720 mil lion in debt through a $1 billion purchase by Carlyle Group of New York City which ended up with Carlyle owning 68 percent and Brentwood about 24 per cent About 25 individuals or investment companies owned the rest When Sales' dipped in the re cession the company missed a debt payment and filed for bankruptcy protection wiping out the previous stake worth about $300 million The remaining $220 million debt was manageable and has been re duced substantially by Oriental recent earnings The financial institutions that held the remaining debt became the shareholders With the purchase Berkshire would acquire those shares and retire the remaining debt Tay lor said The high debt did not affect the business operations or ex isting customers he said it meant was that the cash flow went to interest payments on the debt Without that debt all the cash we generate can be used to grow the Taylor said The company he said can add volume at its existing facilities: a fulfillment center at 11201 Giles Road in La Vista where customer orders are processed for shipping a call center and other operations at 4206 108th St a call center in remont and its headquarters at 5455 90th St The company will add employ ees as it grows Taylor said some point need to think about of facilities The eight member board of directors which repre sents the shareholders unani mously approved the purchase agreement The shareholders voted Thursday in favor of the deal a good outcome for our Taylor said The purchase happened like this: Taylor 51 and his manage ment team had believed that Oriental Trading was the sort of company Buffett might acquire efficient operations a leading position among direct market ers growth potential strong management advantages over competitors and a long record of profits had to wait for the right Taylor said when the debt was under control and rev enue had been growing Steven Mendlik Oriental chief financial officer and chief operating officer had met Buffett and Marc Ham burg chief financial officer In mid October Mendlik tried to call Hamburg but didn't reach him and instead sent him an email saying that Oriental Trading might be a good fit with Berkshire Within two hours Taylor said phone rings and he an swers it and hears this voice on the other side saying Warren Steve about fell but of his Buffett asked some questions requested Oriental fi nancial information and said he would get back Within a few days Taylor and other executives met at Buf office for about two hours exactly as said Taylor who had heard Buf fett speak but met him moves very quickly very astute He asked a lot of great questions about the busi ness about the competitive landscape about the growth op Buffett asked your Taylor told him a pur chase price and Buffett soon agreed a phenomenal opportuni Taylor said it closes we will have a clean balance sheet with no debt for the first time in 12 years That gives us a lot of flexibility for such as expanding and adding product categories enhancing websites and online technology and taking full advantage of its fulfillment center supply chain and call centers "We have this world class platform built to sell prod ucts Taylor said the appropriate time see opportunities to grow through acquisitions as well Previously when we had all that debt on the balance sheet we were pre cluded from acquisitions That an The ownership changes also were a for the managers and employees he said over The un certainty is removed always concern about who buys the company And do they sup port the growth or does the acquiring company find a way to mess it up and ruin a great brand? we have a permanent home with Berkshire Hatha way that provides us with the stability we need the financial strength to execute our long term strategic plan to grow the Although Oriental employment peaks during De cember it is profitable every month of the year which Taylor said is unusual for a retail com pany due in large part to its diverse customer base which includes teachers non profit groups and businesses as well as individual consumers The company sells more than 40000 different products more than half of them exclusive to Oriental leading Before joining Oriental Trad ing Taylor headed Hewlett Packard global direct sales business and its HPcom web site Before that he was senior vice president of online stores and marketing for Best Buy Co and worked for End Inc the Walt Disney Co and Bain Co In March Taylor appeared on reality show where he posed as a failed entrepreneur hoping to get into the warehouse busi ness He spent a week working at Oriental warehouse operation with his employees who recognize him Afterward he said the expe rience was so valuable that he requires all senior executives to spend time at front line jobs and he initiated a new recogni tion program for excellent em ployees are proud to be based in Taylor said staying in Omaha We love Oma Contact the writer: 402 444 1080 stevejordonowhcom twittercombuffettOWH of a desperate man who just got Curley lawyer Caroline Ro berto said Curley was inno cent of all charges as he has asserted in the past She said that the new documents were being reviewed and that she would have more to say later Schultz also has maintained his innocence his lawyer did not respond to a request for a comment At a press conference Kelly said all three men testified falsely and failed to provide important informa tion and Spanier who was chancel lor of the University of Ne braska Lincoln until he took the job at Penn State in 1995 i was charged with perjury obstruction endangering the welfare of children failure to properly report suspected abuse and conspiracy Curley and Schultz face new charges of endangering the welfare of children ob struction and conspiracy The charges were filed with a suburban Harrisburg dis trict judge whose office said that Curley and Schultz were expected to be arraigned this afternoon and that Spanier was tentatively scheduled to appear Wednesday Monday will mark a year since San arrest Sandusky who spent de cades on the Penn State staff and was defensive coordina tor during two national cham pionship seasons was convict ed in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years He has maintained his innocence and was transferred Wednesday to a maximum security pris on where he is serving a 30 to 60 year sentence Curley 58 the athletic director on leave while he serves out the last year of his contract and Schultz 63 who has retired as vice president for business and finance were charged a year ago with lying to the grand jury and with failing to properly report sus pected child abuse Their trial is set for early January Spanier 64 of State Col lege had been president for 16 years when he was forced out after arrest on November 5 2011 He is still a faculty member but was placed on paid leave Thurs day Prosecutors said Spanier Curley and Schultz knew of complaints involving San dusky showering with boys in 1998 and 2001 essentially turned a blind eye to the serial preda tory acts committed by Jerry Kelly said Spanier has said he had no memory of emails concerning the 1998 complaint made by a mother after Sandusky show ered with her son and only slight recollections of the 2001 complaint by a team assistant who said he stumbled onto Sandusky sexually abusing a boy inside a campus shower The grand jury report indi cates that Curley Schultz and Spanier told Penn law yer they had no documents that addressed Sandusky hav ing inappropriate contact with boys But Schultz did keep a Sandusky file in his office the jury concluded The actions were criticized in a report ordered by Penn State and issued over the summer by former BI Director Louis reeh The report said Spanier Curley Schultz and then coach Joe Paterno concealed activities because they were worried about bad publicity (BmahaMdMd CONTACT WORLD HERALD.