CANADA DATA: Canada May housing starts 211,400 saar..

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CANADA DATA: Canada May housing starts 211,400 saar v 243,800 in
April ?As anticipated, the pace of housing starts observed in April was
not sustained in May. In fact, the pace in May was more in line with the
average over the last six months,? said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief
Economist at CMHC?s Market Analysis Centre.

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Sprint rumored to be launching their own NFC mobile wallet

Google Wallet

NFC Times is reporting that Sprint is currently working on their own NFC-based mobile payment system, which would put them at odds with the rest of the US telcos and Google. Until the Samsung Galaxy Nexus appeared at Google Play, Sprint was the only carrier to ship phones with Google Wallet, though it was relatively easy to install on other devices with the proper hardware. If the news we're hearing today is true, Google may be left with no carrier phones supporting their payment services, as it's US only (for now) and the US carriers have opted for alternative systems -- which would require exclusive control of the secure element inside our phones. Sprint, having hired systems provider Sequent Software looks to be developing their "Touch" wallet system and retain complete control over partners, development, and security. The rest of the US carriers have opted to use the Isis payment system

This is turning into a mess. The lure of transaction fees and lucrative partnerships has become so important that everyone is forgetting that we need to use it for them to make money on it. Instead of fighting tooth-and-nail with each other over every penny, they could take one of the existing standards, garner more support from new financial partners, and have a system that works at most every point-of-sale, for most bank cards. Instead, there are a huge group of folks who want to use an NFC-based mobile wallet system, but can't. That's money not being made and not lining the pockets of investors. Everyone needs to get on the same page, pick a system, and put their support behind it so we can use it instead of bitching about it on the Internet. 

I understand the driving force behind innovation in the mobile space is the almighty dollar. I don't like it, but I get it. How about getting it all together and making some, instead of adding another "standard" to the mix?

Source: NFC Times

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Sctyl, Maker of Election Software, Hires Communications Head ...

Sctyl, a Baltimore-based company that makes election technology software, has hired Michelle Shafer to ?lead the communications and government affairs initiatives? for the Sctyl and its newly acquired company, SOE Software.

PRESS RELEASE:

Leading international election technology solutions provider Scytl announced today that Michelle Shafer has joined the company to lead the communications and government affairs initiatives for both Scytl USA and SOE Software. Scytl recently acquired SOE Software and Ms. Shafer will be leading the branding, marketing, government affairs and communications initiatives for Scytl?s U.S. operations.

Ms. Shafer joins Scytl with 20+ years of professional experience with significant management responsibility and a proven track record in corporate communications for technology companies, specifically in the areas of public relations, government affairs, branding, social media and marketing. Shafer possesses 16 years of experience specifically in the election technology industry working with corporate entities and federal, state and local election officials in the development, management and execution of new voting technology initiatives, voter education & outreach programs, voting accessibility efforts, media relations campaigns and pollworker training programs. She possesses hands-on election experience conducting Election Day site support for electronic and optical scan voting systems. Shafer has served as a pollworker in the U.S. and internationally and has significant experience with internet voting and electronic blank ballot delivery systems through her work as a subject matter expert for U.S. Department of Defense contractor CALIBRE Systems during the company?s work for the U.S. Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP). Shafer has served as a New Voting Technology Expert for the OSCE/ODIHR during the Election Assistance Mission to Switzerland for the October 23, 2011 elections and worked for IFES as a Polling Station Advisor for the December 2010 SNAP elections in Kosovo.

?Michelle is an excellent addition to the Scytl team and I am excited to have her on board with us,? said Pere Valles, CEO of Scytl. ?Michelle will be instrumental is helping integrate Scytl?s efforts in the U.S. marketplace. She has significant experience as an election technology subject matter expert both in the U.S. and internationally and as a result, I see her leading a variety of efforts for our company worldwide as we go forward.?

Scytl has expanded its U.S. team with the addition of several new employees working in the areas of sales and customer support in addition to Shafer. Bob Wilks joined Scytl USA as a regional sales manager. Wilks is an experienced technology sales professional with a successful career spanning over a decade in complex selling environments both in the state & local government and business-to-business marketplaces. Mark Rizzo and James Rundlett have joined SOE Software as enterprise business manager and enterprise business analyst, respectively. Rizzo has over 15 years of professional selling experience navigating both public and private sector environments in multiple industries that include healthcare medical devices and technology. Rundlett is a recent graduate from the University of Tampa with a bachelor?s degree in entrepreneurship and joined SOE Software immediately following his graduation, where he is leveraging his education to assist the company?s business development efforts. SOE Software?s new support team members include Mandy McShane and Trish Waters who are both account managers for the company.

?We are very pleased to have both Michelle and Bob with the company in addition to all of the new team members at SOE Software,? said David Campbell, General Manager of Online Voting Solutions for Scytl USA. ?We already have a great team assembled who are making significant inroads in the marketplace and successfully supporting our customers. Now our collective team of Scytl USA and SOE Software will be that much stronger.?

ABOUT SCYTL AND SOE SOFTWARE

Scytl is an international technology company providing innovative election software solutions that include secure online blank ballot delivery and internet voting. Scytl?s groundbreaking election security technology is protected by international patents that enable the company to electronically implement all types of election administration processes in a secure and auditable manner, positioning the company as the worldwide leader in the election technology industry. Scytl?s online blank ballot delivery technology enables military and overseas voters to securely receive electronic ballots while providing election officials with the administrative efficiency to manage the complex overseas voting processes. Scytl?s solutions have been successfully deployed for U.S. overseas and military voters since 2008 as jurisdictions make changes to comply with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and New York, among other jurisdictions are using Scytl?s secure online blank ballot delivery solutions for the upcoming November elections. In January, 2012 Scytl purchased SOE Software, adding to its election product and service offerings. SOE Software is a nationally recognized leader in e-government software solutions that increase productivity and efficiency. Through SOE Software?s web-based Clarity Software Suite, the company assists government offices with web communication, outreach & education and office productivity. SOE Software is based in Tampa, Florida and provides solutions that are time-tested in over 900 city, county and state government offices in 27 states across the U.S. Scytl?s solutions have been successfully used in numerous countries in addition to the United States including Canada, the UK, France, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the UAE, India and Australia. Scytl is based in Barcelona, Spain with its U.S. headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland and offices in Florida, Toronto, New Delhi, Athens, Kiev and Singapore. Scytl is a portfolio company of leading international VC funds Nauta Capital, Balderton Capital and Spinnaker SCR. More information is available at www.scytl.com and www.soesoftware.com .

  1. SCYTL Buys SOE Software
  2. PE Reporting Software Maker iLevel Raises $6 Million
  3. WeedMaps Buys Software Maker MMJMenu
  4. Online Voting Company Scytl Raises $9.2 Million
  5. ?MoFo? Hires New Head of Corporate Life Sciences in Palo Alto

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Fiancee: Vet gave show errant photo by 'mistake'

In this photo provided by NBCUniversal, Timothy Michael Poe appears on "America's Got Talent," on the episode that aired Monday, June 4, 2012. Poe, who claimed he was injured during a grenade blast in Afghanistan, has no military record of his purported combat injuries, the Minnesota National Guard said Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NBC, Virginia Sherwood)

In this photo provided by NBCUniversal, Timothy Michael Poe appears on "America's Got Talent," on the episode that aired Monday, June 4, 2012. Poe, who claimed he was injured during a grenade blast in Afghanistan, has no military record of his purported combat injuries, the Minnesota National Guard said Tuesday, June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NBC, Virginia Sherwood)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? An "America's Got Talent" contestant scrutinized for claims about being injured in Afghanistan made a mistake when he gave the show a photograph of another soldier and passed it off as himself, the man's fianc?e said Thursday.

The NBC series this week and WFAA-TV of Dallas last month used the picture with segments on Timothy Michael Poe, a former Minnesota Army National Guard member who said he suffered a broken back and brain injury in a grenade attack in Afghanistan in 2009. The Guard says military records don't substantiate his claims.

The caption of the original picture on the official military website Defense.gov shows Staff Sgt. Norman Bone serving in Afghanistan in 2006.

Poe has declined multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press this week. But his fiancee, Carrie Morris, said Thursday that Poe accidentally submitted the photo to NBC and the station because he was hurrying and didn't take the time to look at which picture he was sending. She said he probably thought it was the right picture when he sent it to "America's Got Talent" because he already had sent it to WFAA.

Morris said she didn't know where Poe got the picture of Bone but that "he downloads military stuff all the time" and that other people send them pictures as well.

"But I know that it was a mistake on his part. It was an accident. It was a complete accident," Morris said.

Bone declined to comment to The Associated Press when reached on his cellphone Thursday, saying he wanted to consult with legal counsel because he's still on active duty.

NBC referred a call for comment to the show's producer, FremantleMedia North America. In a statement emailed to the AP, FreMantle Media spokesman Neil Schubert apologized to Bone for the photo's misuse. He said it has been removed and won't be used again.

"It was supplied to us by Tim and used on the show in good faith," Schubert said.

WFAA assistant news director Chris Berg also confirmed Poe sent them the picture.

"Today they told our reporter they made a mistake and sent the wrong picture," Berg said by email. "Fiancee told us 'Tim forgets things.'"

Poe, 35, of San Antonio, Texas, told WFAA that he also wounded was while serving in Iraq when his truck got hit by an IED in 2005 ? something the Guard also disputes.

Minnesota Army National Guard spokesman Lt. Col Kevin Olson reiterated Thursday that there were no official records showing Poe ever deployed to Iraq or was injured there. He said Poe reported to Camp Shelby in Mississippi "for pre-mobilization training on Sept. 21, 2005, but ultimately did not deploy."

Military records show Poe served with the Guard from December 2002 through May 2011, as a supply specialist. He was deployed in Kosovo from October 2007 to July 2008, and then served in Afghanistan for about a month in 2009. He was honorably discharged in 2011, because of a physical disability.

Olson said none of the military records that Morris provided to reporters Wednesday backed up Poe's claims of combat injuries. He said other documents indicate Poe suffered the injury that led to his medical retirement while training at Indiana's Camp Atterbury in July 2009, before he deployed to Afghanistan.

"If Mr. Poe has additional information to support his claims, we welcome it, and we will also continue to investigate and if appropriate, pursue a correction to his medical records and status," Olson wrote.

In the "America's Got Talent" episode that aired Monday, Poe told the celebrity judges that he spent 14 years in the military and was injured in Afghanistan.

"I had volunteered for a team to go out and clear buildings and help out with the wounded," Poe said during a taped interview on the show. "There was a guy who comes up with a rocket-propelled grenade. I saw it coming down, and by the time I turned and went to jump on top of my guys, I yelled 'grenade' and the blast had hit me."

It's unclear whether Poe could face any legal action since he is no longer in the military. While a federal law called the Stolen Valor Act allows prosecution of people who make false claims about receiving medals, Poe didn't say anything about medals in the NBC or WFAA segments.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule within a few weeks on whether the law is constitutional.

Associated Press

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Source: Prosecutors have Sandusky letters to victim

Forty prospective jurors were interviewed for the sexual abuse trial of former Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

By Michael Isikoff, NBC News

BELLEFONTE, Pa. ? Prosecutors have obtained multiple incriminating and ?bizarre? letters that former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly wrote to one of his accusers in his sexual abuse trial, a source familiar with the evidence tells NBC News.?

The letters were written to one of the boys Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing, known so far in court documents only as Victim #4, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Prosecutors plan to start their case next week by reading copies of the letters to support the state?s charges that Sandusky repeatedly had improper sexual relations with the boy, the source said.?


Prosecutors declined to comment on the purported letters, the existence of which was first reported Tuesday evening by ABC News.?

According to the indictment handed up against Sandusky, the defendant met the boy through his Second Mile charity and slowly won his trust by giving him gifts and other rewards.

"Victim 4 became a fixture in the Sandusky household, sleeping overnight and accompanying Sandusky to charity functions and Penn State football games,? it said. "?. Usually the persuasion Sandusky employed was accompanied by gifts and opportunities to attend sporting and charity events. He gave Victim 4 dozens of gifts, some purchased and some obtained from various sporting goods vendors such as Nike and Airwalk."?

Related stories

Nine jurors chosen so far in Jerry Sandusky trial

Sandusky accusers must use real identities at trial, judge rules

Second Mile, charity that Sandusky founded, seeks to shut down

Jury selection began Tuesday for the trial of Sandusky, 68, who is charged with 52 counts of abusing 10 boys over 15 years. Some of the abuse is alleged to have taken place at Penn State.?

Sandusky has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook?

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US kills Qaeda number two in drone strike

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'Credit zombie' alive again, with lessons to teach

Bob Miller / for msnbc.com

Judy Rivers of Cullman, Ala. sits in the RV that has been her temporary home for the past two years since the credit system decided she was dead in 2010.

By Bob Sullivan

Judy Rivers isn't dead after all. And, as anyone who's had a maddening run-in with the nation's credit system would agree, her "resurrection" is miraculous.

Some loyal Red Tape readers might recall an August 2010 story we published on Rivers titled, "Hey banks: This woman is alive." ?At the time, Rivers had fallen -- or was pushed -- into a credit system black hole. She was declared dead by someone, rendering her invisible to the nation's lenders and other entities that rely on Social Security numbers for verification. She couldn't open a bank account, write a check, use a credit card, get a loan or an apartment. In many cases, she couldn't even apply for a job.?

She was, by 21st century standards, dead. Or, in perhaps a more-apt description, she had become a credit zombie.

Rivers, who lives in Alabama outside Birmingham, became a mini-celebrity after we published her digital nightmare. ?This woman is alive? was one of our most popular stories, and publications the world over retold Rivers? tale. Even Reader's Digest covered the story.

Her odyssey began in late 2010, when a bank told her its systems said she was dead ? and had been for two years.


?This Social Security Number has been discontinued; the holder of this number was reported dead on August 3, 2008," read a notice she was shown by a bank official. A check of her consumer report obtained from Chex Systems, which the bank had used to obtain that information, confirmed the error. It read, ?number inactivated due to report of death.?? Chex Systems said it received the data directly from the Social Security Administration, but that agency told Rivers that she was alive and well, according to its data.? She had the same experience with every other creditor and credit bureau she talked to. And there she remained for years, stuck in a Catch-22 despite her herculean efforts to find and correct the error.

?

As a result of her experience, Rivers became an advocate of credit zombies everywhere. She met with members of Congress and her state Legislature. She received many offers of help and even a few date proposals. (Side note: No one seems to know what happens if a "living" credit user marries a zombie.) She wrote letters and filed protests with every entity she could think of.?But every time she tried to get a credit report, she got the same response: "Deactivated because of death."

Meanwhile, her life took darker and darker turns. The 50-something woman couldn't get a job because companies couldn't verify her work history or her credit. She couldn't receive unemployment benefits -- or any government benefits -- because she was, well, dead.? One local bank, where she?d deposited money for years, agreed to cash checks for her, but otherwise she lived a pure ?cash existence.? She accepted a friend's offer to let her live?in a small trailer by Smith Lake, about 90 minutes north of Birmingham, while she fought her battle.?

Along the way, she met a host of other credit zombies, who, like her, had been pushed off the grid by the erroneous declaration of the death of their Social Security numbers.? According to the Social Security Administration, about 1,000 people each month are accidentally declared dead and their SSNs listed in the agency?s Death Master File. By some estimates, that means there are nearly half a million credit zombies walking around the U.S. right now.

"I feel very blessed," Rivers said. "My problems are minimal compared to the horror stories I have listened to."

After Rivers' story was published, other zombies sought her out for advice. One woman, from nearby Winston City, Ala., was wheelchair-bound and had stopped receiving her disability checks seven months earlier. She was unable to purchase medicine, and her family had no idea what to do. So Rivers accompanied her to the nearest Social Security office, which discovered the woman had been placed on the Death Master File a year earlier. Rivers eventually helped get her benefits restored.?

"She had been going without for seven months," Rivers said.

Accidental death isn't just for the elderly, however. Rivers also heard from an 18-year-old who had saved thousands of dollars in a bank account for college, and discovered when he tried to withdraw the funds for tuition that it had been frozen because he had been declared dead.? The student had to miss a semester while fixing the problem.

(Out of privacy concerns, Rivers said she couldn't share the identity of the other victims.)

All the while, Rivers kept lobbying for changes that would help victims, speaking with all nine members of Alabama's congressional delegation at some point. She has started work on a book describing the nightmare. She's working on a potential class-action lawsuit against various entities that have denied her and others credit.??

"I don't mind being the poster child for this," she said. "When I speak to people, I am very direct. I just ask them what they are doing to fix this."

But in all that time -- nearly two years -- no one was able to resuscitate her credit, and her digital life. She's sure of this because, under a lawyer's instructions, she has religiously applied for credit at least twice a month since August 2010. She had to steel herself against constant rejection.

"I've been turned down about 40 times," she said.

But two weeks ago, the unthinkable happened.

"I was at a Belk store, and the clerk said, 'Do you want to fill out a credit card application?' I told her it wouldn't do any good. But she gave me a funny look, and said, ?Why don't you try anyway?? It would get me 15 percent off my purchase. So I filled it out. I figured it would be this month's test," Rivers said. "Three minutes later it came back approved and I was in shock.? The clerk looked at me with an expression that said, 'You just made all that up.' She was a little disappointed when I didn't use the card to make the purchase. "

Dizzy with excitement, but also worried about false hope, Rivers marched across the street to a T.J. Maxx and applied for a second card.? Within minutes, she was approved for that one, too.?

?GUESS WHAT? I AM FINALLY LIVING," Rivers wrote in an exuberant email to msnbc.com a few hours later.

Rivers still has no idea how she ended up dead, though it almost certainly has something to do with the Social Security Death Master File.? In part because of her prompting, criticism of the DMF has ramped up in the past two years, and change seems to be in the air. Last fall, Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, introduced the Keeping IDs Safe Act, which would change the way death reporting works. And in February a subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on death record reporting, at which the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General offered critical testimony. ?

One often overlooked element of the problem: Even after the Social Security administration fixes death reporting errors, victims' SSNs often are still available through third-party websites, leaving zombies open to second nightmare: identity theft. "In some cases, these individuals? (personal information) was still available for free viewing on the Internet?on ancestry sites like genealogy.com and familysearch.org?at the time of our report," the inspector general said.

Social Security receives about 2.5 million death reports each year from multiple sources, including funeral homes, government agencies and family members. The inspector general, which says typographical errors are responsible for ?the bulk of the credit zombie problem, says there?s a simple solution: ?forcing Social Security to only accept reports from accredited entities using an electronic system.

"In February 2009, we found that about 98 percent of erroneous death entries on the DMF were death reports from non-state sources," it said. But even electronic reports from states wouldn?t eliminate the problem. "Even if all states were to submit death reports via (electronic death registration), there could still be some erroneous death entries on the (Death Master File).?

With all that Rivers has been through, she's not willing to believe her "death" is over.? Still waiting for proof that she has a valid credit report ? it is in the mail, she hopes. But most important, she's still unemployed. Her biggest problem remains the job application process, which almost always includes a credit check. Even when her SSN is restored, her credit report will be mysteriously empty for several years, and she fears that will still hurt her chances of landing a job.

So while Congress wrestles with solutions, Rivers intends to keep applying pressure for change, and keep working to promote awareness of the problem.

"If you own a Social Security card, this can happen to you," she said.?

RED TAPE WRESTLING TIPS: What to do if you're a credit zombie
If it does happen to you, there's one absurd question you must answer: How do you prove you're alive? Proving you're dead is relatively easy -- a death certificate will do the trick.? But proving you're alive? That will probably require an in-person visit to the Social Security office with a valid ID, such as a driver's license.? Copies of recent utilities bills, paystubs or other credit-related activity could help make the case, too.?

Have the clerk request a correction to the Death Master File, and don't leave the office without some kind of written record about the fix.? You'll probably need to send copies of that record to your bank, other creditors and the nation's credit bureaus.

The Identity Theft Resource Center recommends an additional step: finding the underlying death certificate and filing to have it amended. The certificate should be available from the county clerk or recorders? office where it was initially filed, and should include the name of the informant who reported the death. Contact that informant, the agency says, and have that person sign a State Vital Record Amendment Affidavit Form. Bring that form to the Social Security officer, the Identity Theft Resource Center recommends.

Additional tips and a ?Death Reported in Error? form letter are available from the Identity Theft Resource Center?s website.

*Follow Bob Sullivan on Facebook.
*Follow Bob Sullivan on Twitter.?

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Sandusky child sex abuse trial set to begin in Pa.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) ? Despite his repeated efforts to delay it, Jerry Sandusky's child molestation trial was set to begin with the start of jury selection, as prosecutors and his defense lawyers choose 12 people from the area around Penn State to decide his guilt or innocence.

Sandusky's lawyer said the 68-year-old, who gained fame as defensive coordinator for the university's vaunted football team, where he won two national championships, would be in the courtroom Tuesday for the start of a trial that is expected to last several weeks.

Opening statements are likely to be made Monday, but first the jurors have to be chosen, a process that could pose a monumental challenge in a region thick with Penn State alumni, employees and football fans.

Sandusky is charged with 52 criminal counts for alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years, allegations he has repeatedly denied.

Among the expected witnesses are several young men who contend they were abused by Sandusky. Prosecutors have claimed that Sandusky groomed boys he met through a charity he founded for at-risk youth, then attacked them, in some cases in his own home or inside university athletic facilities.

Among the challenges for jury selection are the extraordinarily heavy news coverage of the scandal and the wide reach of The Second Mile, the youth charity Sandusky founded in 1977.

"It's going to be a very, very difficult chore to pick a jury in that community," said Brian McMonagle, a Philadelphia defense attorney unconnected to the case.

Whether those Penn State ties work to the advantage of the defense or the prosecution remains to be seen.

Prosecutors, though, were so concerned that they asked Judge John Cleland to bring in prospective jurors from another county.

"The life of the university and Centre County are inextricably intertwined, both philosophically and economically," prosecutor Joseph McGettigan wrote. "To ask members of that community to ... insulate themselves from the institution which informs so many aspects of their lives is asking too much."

Cleland rejected the request but said he would reconsider if a jury isn't selected in a reasonable amount of time.

The proceedings will begin with a pool of 200 prospective jurors out of a county of 154,000 people. They will be questioned about their feelings about Sandusky and the case, and about any personal ties to the opposing lawyers or to the defendant, who for more than 30 years ran The Second Mile, which will play a prominent role in the prosecution's case.

The defense opposed bringing in an out-of-town jury.

Edward Schwartz, a jury consultant in Lexington, Mass., said he suspects the defense will try to shape the case in such a way that the jury will take out its frustration about the firing of longtime head coach Joe Paterno in the aftermath of Sandusky's arrest.

There's risk in such a strategy, however. The jury could instead blame Sandusky for "single-handedly bringing down the reputation of an institution they love and they feel an attachment to," Schwartz said.

Paterno was dismissed in November for not acting more decisively in 2001 after a member of his coaching staff reported seeing Sandusky in the locker room showers with a boy. Paterno died of lung cancer in January at age 85.

Stephen Capone, a veteran Pittsburgh-based lawyer, said the judge will probably not automatically disqualify anyone with a Penn State connection. Instead, he said, he suspects Cleland will ask prospective jurors if their ties to the university would prevent them from rendering a fair decision, and those who answer yes will be dismissed.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys will also have a certain number of so-called peremptory challenges, which allow them to remove a potential juror without having to give a reason.

Ultimately, it may be impossible to find a jury that has no connection to Penn State or has never heard of Sandusky. The goal, McMonagle said, will be to find jurors who say they can give Sandusky a fair trial and render their verdict based on the evidence and testimony, not on what they have heard or read.

The nightmare scenario for either side, outside lawyers say, is that a prospective juror will hide his or her true feelings to get on the jury.

"The scariest thing in the world is the reality that some jurors have already formed an opinion and simply won't man up to it," said McMonagle, who has tried many high-profile cases. "They're sitting there like time bombs. That's the fear you always have to endure in a high-publicity case, particularly in a case like this."

On Monday, the judge ruled that Sandusky's alleged victims will have to testify using their real names, and that tweets or other electronic communications by reporters will not be permitted during the trial. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, meanwhile, dashed Sandusky's hopes for a last-minute delay of the trial.

Lawyers for several of the accusers had asked that their clients be allowed to testify under fake names, a rarity in criminal cases.

"Arguably any victim of any crime would prefer not to appear in court, not to be subjected to cross-examination, not to have his or her credibility evaluated by a jury ? not to put his name and reputation at stake," the judge said. "But we ask citizens to do that every day in courts across the nation."

News organizations, including The Associated Press, typically do not identify alleged victims of sex crimes.

Penn State said on a website Monday that the scandal had cost the university $9.6 million as of March 31. That does not include the hiring of two new public relations firms in April for about $2.5 million to help with the fallout from the crisis.

___

AP writer Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pa., contributed to this report.

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