Veteran L.A. County sheriff's deputy charged with murder

After spending much of his life putting people behind bars, a veteran L.A. County sheriff's deputy stood in handcuffs Thursday, charged with gunning down a former neighbor who apparently got into a fight with his son.

Francisco Gamez, 41, is accused of shooting Armando "Cookie" Casillas, a well-known figure in his blue-collar neighborhood in Sylmar.

Gamez was off duty, sitting in his car, when he allegedly fired two shots on the night of June 17, killing Casillas and narrowly missing a second man, prosecutors said.

Gamez, a 17-year veteran who worked as a detective in West Hollywood, was allegedly furious over a fight between his 20-year-old son and Casillas, 38, prosecutors said. The younger Gamez had called his father to the scene, authorities said.

Casillas was later found by relatives lying near his home, and died later at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

Gamez was removed from duty in July after witnesses and evidence tied the detective to the slaying, authorities said. He was arrested Wednesday and led handcuffed from his San Fernando home by his former co-workers.

On Thursday he was formally charged with murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm from an occupied vehicle. Gamez could face 75 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges.

In court, where he stood handcuffed in a plexiglass cage, sheriff's deputies peeked into the room to gawk at their former colleague. Sheriff Lee Baca described the whole thing as "deeply disturbing."

Gamez is being held on $4-million bail.

On Beaver Street in Sylmar, where the shooting occurred, Casillas' photo sat in a frame in the midst of a makeshift memorial, along with a cross and a potted plant with U.S. and Mexican flags and candles.

"He was a sweetheart, and very generous," said Patsy Telles-Cabrera, who lived across the street from Casillas for years. "He would check in on my parents." She left a box of chocolates at the growing shrine.

"It never should have happened," said one neighbor. "This is a family neighborhood."

sam.quinones@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com

Times staff writer Wesley Lowery contributed to this report.

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Ruckus Wireless prices IPO at high end of range: market source

(Reuters) – WiFi products maker Ruckus Wireless Inc priced its initial public offering at $ 15 per share, the high end of its expected price range, a market source told Reuters.

The company, which is backed by Google Inc‘s Motorola Mobility LLC and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, raised $ 126 million by selling 8.4 million shares.

Ruckus offered 7 million shares while selling shareholders, including Telus Corp, offered 1.4 million shares.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company, which makes wireless LAN products for both indoor and outdoor use, competes with Meru Networks Inc and Aruba Networks Inc.

The company’s customers include Time Warner Cable Inc, Towerstream Corp, Tikona Digital Networks and Bright House Networks.

Goldman Sachs & Co and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters to the offering.

The company’s shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the ticker symbol “RKUS”.

(This story was fixed to correct description of Sequoia Capital to venture capital firm in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Sharanya Hrishikesh and Ashutosh Pandey in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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4 Latin Grammys to Jesse & Joy, Juanes wins too

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mexican brother-sister duo Jesse & Joy and their pop hit "Corre!" ran away with four awards at the 13th Annual Latin Grammys, but Colombian rockero Juanes danced away with the award for best album for "MTV Unplugged" Thursday night.

"What a great joy. Thank God, and all the fans," Juanes said as he dragged Dominican mereguero Juan Luis Guerra, who produced the album, to the stage to accept the mini-gramaphone for best album at the close of the ceremony.

The winner for best new artist, the Mexican DJ trio 3ball MTY, threw down beats with America Sierra and Sky Blu of LMFAO. Pitbull performed "Don't Stop the Party" with dancers in gold spangled bikinis and hot pants. Juanes jammed with legendary guitarist Carlos Santana.

Hosted by actors Cristian De La Fuente and Lucero, the ceremony attracted super-stars from across the world and from dozens of Latin musical genres to the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Just like at a big family party, new faces shared the spotlight with older generations, and traditional styles mixed with electronica and Vegas dancers on stage.

Traditional Mexico met Las Vegas in a colorful number featuring Oaxaca native Lila Downs, Afro-Colombian singer Toto la Momposina and dancers in regional costumes, Carnival masques and skeleton makeup.

Michel Telo, the Brazilian sertanejo or country music singer, performed his hit, "Ai si eu te pego,"with Blue Man Group. Bachata heartthrob Prince Royce sang with veteran Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian. But the applause was also strong for the 1980s hit, "Yo No Te Pido la Luna," a duet between Spaniard Sergio Dalma and Mexican singer Daniela Romo, sporting a short silver hairdo following her bout with breast cancer.

Jesse & Joy also won for best contemporary pop vocal album for "Con Quien se Queda el Perro" and best short video for "Me vow."

"Thanks to people like Juanes and Juan Luis Guerro who have inspired us. Love and peace," Jesse said.

Guerra, who came into the ceremony as the leading nominee with six bids, won producer of the year for Juanes' album "MTV Unplugged."

Guerra performed "En el Cielo No Hay Hospital," which brought the audience to its feet to dance, and for a standing ovation.

Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Don Omar and Uruguayan alt rockers Cuarteto de Nos won two Latin Grammys each.

Downs won best folkloric album for "Pecados y Milagros." Colombian singer Fonseca won for best tropical fusion album, and Los Tucanes de Tijuana won best norteno album for "365 Dias," the narco-corrido band's 32nd album.

Milly Quezada brought home two statuettes, including best contemporary tropical album for "Aqui estoy yo."

"Long live merengue! Long live the Dominican Republic!" she said as she accepted the award. She also thanked Guerra, who helped produce the album.

Cuban-American jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval won three Latin Grammys, two for "Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You)," but said these awards was just exciting as his first.

"The emotion is the same because one puts the same effort into each recording and the fact that the work is received well and respected by the public is very satisfying," he said.

The Latin Grammy celebration kicked off Wednesday with a tribute to Person of the Year winner, Caetano Veloso, one of the founders of the Tropicalismo movement.

The Brazilian singer, composer and activist sang in Spanish and Portuguese before Pitbull and Sensato closed with "Crazy People."

The event was broadcast live on Univision.

Interactive: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/latin-grammys/

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Change Rattles Leading Health-Funding Agency

Major changes erupted at one of the world’s leading health-funding agencies Thursday as it hired a new director, dismissed the inspector general who had clashed with a previous director and announced a new approach to making grants.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Dr. Mark Dybul, who led the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, in 2007.

Dr. Mark Dybul, the Bush administration’s global AIDS czar who was abruptly dismissed when President Obama took office, was named the new executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Dr. Dybul, who was selected over candidates from Canada, Britain and France, was backed by the United States, which donates about a third of the fund’s budget, and by Bill Gates, who helped the fund through a cash crisis earlier this year.

He is respected by many AIDS activists in the United States, though there is some lingering controversy about his time in the Bush administration related to abstinence policies and anti-prostitution pledges imposed by conservative lawmakers as well as concerning strict licensing requirements for generic drugs.

The fund, which is based in Geneva and has given away more than $20 billion since its founding in 2002, has been in crisis for more than a year. Some donors shied away after widely publicized corruption scandals, while others, notably Mr. Gates, said the scandals were exaggerated and increased donations.

Its last executive director, Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, quit in January after the day-to-day management duties of his job were given to a Brazilian banker, Gabriel Jaramillo, who was charged with cutting expenses.

By some accounts, 40 percent of the employees soon left, although Seth Faison, a fund spokesman, said the total number of employees declined by only 8 percent. The fund also dismissed its inspector general, John Parsons, on Thursday, citing unsatisfactory work.

Mr. Parsons and Dr. Kazatchkine had privately clashed. Mr. Parsons’s teams aggressively pursued theft and fraud, and found it in Mali, Mauritania and elsewhere. But the total amount stolen — $10 million to $20 million — was relatively small, and aides to Dr. Kazatchkine said the fund cut off those countries and sought to retrieve the money. The aides claimed that Mr. Parsons, who reported only to the board, went to news outlets and left the impression that the fund was covering up rampant theft.

The fuss scared off some donor countries that were already looking for excuses to cut back on foreign aid because of the global economic crisis.

Mr. Parsons did not return messages left for him Thursday.

Dr. Dybul’s appointment was welcomed by the United Nations AIDS program, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Malaria No More and Results.org, an anti-poverty lobbying group. By contrast, Jamie Love, an American advocate for cheaper AIDS drugs who works in Washington and Geneva, said he expected Dr. Dybul “to protect drug companies.”

The fund also announced a new application process, which it said would be faster and focus more on the hardest-hit countries rather than all 150 that received some help in the past.

In an interview, Dr. Dybul said he felt the fund was “on a strong forward trajectory” after changes were put in place in the last year by Mr. Jaramillo, and now would focus on “hard-nosed implementation of value for money.”

Both the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the fund spend billions, but in different ways.

The fund supports projects proposed by national health ministers and then hires local auditors to make sure the money is not wasted or stolen. Pepfar usually gives grants to American nonprofit groups or medical schools and lets them form partnerships with hospitals or charities in the affected countries.

The conventional wisdom is that the Global Fund’s model is more likely to win the cooperation of government officials but more vulnerable to corruption — and also spends less on salaries and travel for American overseers.

Dr. Kazatchkine said he did not expect Dr. Dybul to “Pepfarize” the Global Fund.

“I hope that, after a year of turbulence, the fund finds the serenity needed to move forward again,” he said.

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McDonald's USA president to step down; successor named

The head of U.S. operations for McDonald's Corp. is on her way out amid the burger chain's efforts to counter intense competition and a string of uncharacteristically sour financial results.

Jan Fields will depart Dec. 1 as president of McDonald's USA, a position she has held for more than two years. She will be replaced by Jeff Stratton, currently McDonald's global chief restaurant officer. Both are 57.

"The time was right for this leadership change," company spokeswoman Lisa McComb said. She called it "a business decision by our senior management team" and said it was "not related to one isolated thing or a short-term viewpoint."

Quiz: How well do you know fast food?

McComb said Fields is "looking forward to spending time with her family and friends."

Most industry analysts doubted that Fields was directly responsible for the company's financial misses, but they believed that top management and directors had lost confidence in her ability to turn around the U.S. division of the world's biggest burger chain.

"There weren't any major alarms, any perception of management problems," said Nima Samadi, a restaurant analyst with IBISWorld. "There's no fire or even that much smoke. This looks more like a preventive measure than anything else, a recognition that McDonald's needs someone more aggressive."

Fields backed efforts to modernize the chain and make its food more healthful. But many of those programs — once considered innovative — have since been copied by competitors, and, worse, consumers' enthusiasm didn't last.

Last month, McDonald's same-store sales tumbled 2.2% in the U.S. and 1.8% globally compared with a year earlier, the company's first such slide in nine years.

The numbers spooked investors already wary over the chain's slumping profits, which fell 3.5% in the third quarter, to $1.45 billion, and sank 4.5% the previous quarter compared with the same periods last year.

Shares slipped 57 cents Thursday to $84.05. The stock has fallen more than 16% so far this year. Before this year, though, it had soared about 60% during Fields' tenure.

Analyst Andy Barish at the brokerage Jefferies & Co. recently said the stock probably would continue its decline as investors question how quickly McDonald's can regain momentum globally and in its U.S. business.

The U.S. region is the company's largest by number of restaurants; Europe is the chain's top region by sales. Five years ago, McDonald's U.S. operations accounted for 60% of the company's operating profit, a percentage that fell to 40% last year.

Analysts doubt that McDonald's can outperform last year's strong sales, which were aided by unseasonably warm weather. They also think the chain's global expansion plans and multibillion-dollar remodeling push may have stretched its cash thin.

Fields, who started out making French fries at McDonald's 35 years ago, rose through the ranks and has been called one of the world's most powerful women on lists compiled by Forbes, Fortune and other financial publications.

In 2010, she replaced Don Thompson as president of U.S. operations. Thompson became McDonald's chief executive five months ago.

Fields was credited with helping to expand McDonald's McCafe premium beverage menu, updating its restaurants, reworking the Happy Meal to be more healthful and disclosing calorie counts at the chain's 14,000 American outlets.

All were "universally successful initiatives" and often the first of their kind in the industry, analyst Samadi said.

In recent months, McDonald's rolled out its popular Monopoly promotion, pumped up Dollar Menu advertising, teased the upcoming return of the McRib and launched new products such as the higher-end Cheddar Bacon Onion sandwich.

But the Oak Brook, Ill., burger behemoth has struggled to overcome the competitive pressures that have emerged since the recession, losing ground to rivals ramping up their efforts to refresh their brands.

Burger King, for instance, unveiled a menu mirroring many of McDonald's more healthful, higher-end options, such as salads, smoothies and wraps. Wendy's, under the leadership of its new chief executive, has taken similar steps.

Coffee and breakfast chains such as Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts have boosted their marketing dollars, threatening to poach customers of McDonald's McCafe line.

Kids meals with toys — a McDonald's mainstay at a premium price — are losing their clout as young families pinch pennies and children turn more to digital games, according to a report this year by research firm NPD Group.

"Kids are so advanced in terms of technology that the premium that comes with a kids meal today isn't as appealing to them as it once was," NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs said.

McDonald's recent efforts to disclose more nutritional data met with mixed reactions from parents and health advocates and have become "a double-edged sword" by making it "more obvious that the food is not that good for you," said Jason Moser, an analyst with the Motley Fool.

The weaknesses have allowed upscale fast-casual brands such as Smashburger and Five Guys Burgers and Fries to draw customers away with promises of sustainably sourced ingredients and more well-rounded meals.

"For a long time, McDonald's was the only one consistently innovating and introducing new products," IBISWorld's Samadi said. "They were far and away ahead of all their competition.

"But that gap is starting to close, and now there's much less differentiation for McDonald's."

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

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L.A. County sheriff's deputy held in fatal off-duty shooting

A veteran Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was arrested Wednesday for allegedly shooting and killing a man in Sylmar while off-duty in June, authorities said.

The deputy, Francisco Gamez, 41, has been with the department for 17 years and was last working as a station detective in West Hollywood.

Law enforcement sources told The Times that the deputy's son got into a dispute with another person. The son, they said, called his father to the scene. The deputy allegedly drove up soon after and exchanged words before opening fire from inside his car, striking one man, the sources said.

He then allegedly drove a short distance before shooting at a second person, added the sources, who asked for anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

That person was not injured, according to authorities.

The other victim, Armando Casillas, 38, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the chest just before midnight on June 17.

---

FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version of this article misspelled the victim's first name as Armondo.

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Neighbors said Gamez and Casillas lived a block apart.

In August, a person who identified himself as the victim's brother commented on the website of the Los Angeles Times, saying he suspected a deputy was responsible.

"We think he is a L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF," the comment stated. "The reason we think he is a Sheriff is that he shouted to my Brother "L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF WHERE YOU FROM" as if the sheriff was in a gang."

The person who wrote the comment could not be reached Wednesday evening.

At the time of the killing, authorities said the victim got into an argument with an unknown person. At some point, the other person left the area only to return and shoot Casillas in a drive-by, authorities said then. Now they are saying that the shooter was not the same person who initially got into the argument.

LAPD officers arrested Gamez on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was booked into the LAPD's 77th Street station Wednesday in lieu of $4-million bail, officials said. He has not been charged.

Casillas' sister said that the family was thankful for the arrest, but that they were not prepared to discuss the events that led to the fatal shooting.

In a statement, Sheriff Lee Baca called the incident "deeply disturbing."

His spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department placed Gamez on leave July 3 after learning from the LAPD about the investigation.

"He's been stripped of all law enforcement power," Whitmore said. "It casts a pall over the scores and scores of deputy sheriffs that every day do their job."

robert.faturechi@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.

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Erdrich wins National Book Award for fiction

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Book Awards on Wednesday honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for "The Round House" to Katherine Boo for her debut work, "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers."

Erdrich, 58, has been a published and highly regarded author for nearly 30 years but had never won a National Book Award until being cited Wednesday for her story, the second of a planned trilogy, about an Ojibwe boy and his quest to avenge his mother's rape. A clearly delighted and surprised Erdrich, who's part Ojibwe, spoke in her tribal tongue and then switched to English as she dedicated her fiction award to "the grace and endurance of native people."

The works of two other winners also centered on young boys — Boo's for nonfiction, and William Alexander's fantasy "Goblin Secrets," for young people's literature. David Ferry won for poetry.

Boo's book, set in a Mumbai slum, is the story of a boy and his harsh and illuminating education in the consequences of crime or perceived crime. The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist currently on staff with The New Yorker, said she was grateful for the chance to live in a world she "didn't know" and for the chance to tell the stories of those otherwise ignored. She praised a fellow nominee and fellow Pulitzer-winning reporter, the late Anthony Shadid, for also believing in stories of those without fame or power.

Boo was chosen from one of the strongest lists of nonfiction books in memory, from the fourth volume of Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson series to Shadid's memoir "House of Stone" and Anne Applebaum's "House of Stone." Finalists in fiction, which in recent years favored lesser known writers, included such established names as Dave Eggers and Junot Diaz. Publishers have been concerned that the National Book Awards have become too insular and are considering changes, including expanding the pool of judges beyond writers.

Winners, chosen by panels of their peers, each will receive $10,000.Judges looked through nearly 1,300 books.

Ferry is a year older than one of the night's honorary recipients, Elmore Leonard. Ferry, 88, won for "Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations," a showcase for his versatile style. He fought back tears as he confided that he thought there was a chance for winning because he "was so much older" than the other nominees. Attempting to find poetry in victory, he called the award a "pre-posthumous" honor.

Alexander quoted fellow fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin in highlighting the importance of stories for shaping kids' imaginations and making the world a larger place than the one they live in.

"We have to remember that," Alexander said.

The ceremony was hosted by commentator-performer Faith Salie and went smoothly even though Superstorm Sandy badly damaged the offices of the award's organizer, the National Book Foundation, whose staffers had to work with limited telephone and mail access.

Honorary prizes were given to Leonard and New York Times publisher and chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.

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I Was Misinformed: The Time She Tried Viagra

I have noticed, in the bragging-rights department, that “he doesn’t need Viagra” has become the female equivalent of the male “and, I swear, she’s a real blonde.” Personally, I do not care a bit. To me, anything that keeps you happy and in the game is a good thing.

But then, I am proud to say, I was among the early, and from what I gather, rare female users.

It happened when the drug was introduced around 1998. I was 50, but after chemotherapy for breast cancer — and later, advanced ovarian cancer — I was, hormonally speaking, pretty much running on fumes. Whether this had diminished my sex drive I did not yet know. One may have Zorba-esque impulses when a cancer diagnosis first comes in; but a treatment that leaves you bald, moon-faced and exhausted knocks that out of your system pretty fast.

But by 1998, the cancer was gone, my hair was back and I was ready to get back in the game. I was talking to an endocrinologist when I brought up Viagra. This was not to deal with the age-related physical changes I knew it would not address, it was more along the feminist lines of equal pay for equal work: if men have this new sex drug, I want this new sex drug.

“I know it’s supposed to work by increasing blood flow,” I told the doctor, “But if that’s true for men, shouldn’t it be true for women, too?”

“You’re the third woman who asked me that this week,” he said.

He wrote me a prescription. I was not seeing anyone, so I understood that I would have to do both parts myself, but that was fine. I have a low drug threshold and figured it might be best the first time to fly solo. My memory of the directions are hazy: I think there was a warning that one might have a facial flush or headaches or drop dead of a heart attack; that you were to take a pill at least an hour before you planned to get lucky, and, as zero hour approached, you were supposed to help things along by thinking beautiful thoughts, kind of like Peter Pan teaching Wendy and the boys how to fly.

But you know how it is: It’s hard to think beautiful thoughts when you’re wondering, “Is it happening? Do I feel anything? Woof, woof? Hello, sailor? Naaah.”

After about an hour, however, I was aware of a dramatic change. I had developed a red flush on my face; I was a hot tomato, though not the kind I had planned. I had also developed a horrible headache. The sex pill had turned into a bad joke: Not now, honey, I have a headache.

I put a cold cloth on my head and went to sleep. But here’s where it got good: When I slept, I dreamed; one of those extraordinary, sensual, swimming in silk sort of things. I woke up dazed and glowing with just one thought: I gotta get this baby out on the highway and see what it can do.

A few months later I am fixed up with a guy, and after a time he is, under the Seinfeldian definition of human relations (Saturday night date assumed) my official boyfriend. He is middle aged, in good health. How to describe our romantic life with the delicacy a family publication requires? Perhaps a line from “Veronika, der Lenz ist da” (“Veronica, Spring Is Here”), a song popularized by the German group the Comedian Harmonists: “Veronika, der Spargel Wächst” (“Veronica, the asparagus are blooming”). On the other hand, sometimes not. And so, one day, I put it out there in the manner of sport:

“Want to drop some Viagra?” I say.

Here we go again, falling into what I am beginning to think is an inevitable pattern: lying there like a lox, or two loxes, waiting for the train to pull into the station. (Yes, I know it’s a mixed metaphor, but at least I didn’t bring in the asparagus.) So there we are, waiting. And then, suddenly, spring comes to Suffolk County. It’s such a presence. I’m wondering if I should ask it if it hit traffic on the L.I.E. We sit there staring.

My reaction is less impressive. I don’t get a headache this time. And romantically, things are more so, but not so much that I feel compelled to try the little blue pills again.

Onward roll the years. I have a new man in my life, who is 63. He does have health problems, for which his doctor prescribes an E.D. drug. I no longer have any interest in them. My curiosity has been satisfied. Plus I am deeply in love, an aphrodisiac yet to be encapsulated in pharmaceuticals.

We take a vacation in mountain Mexico. We pop into a drugstore to pick up sunscreen and spot the whole gang, Cialis, Viagra, Levitra, on a shelf at the checkout counter. No prescription needed in Mexico, the clerk says. We buy all three drugs and return to the hotel. I try some, he tries some. In retrospect, given the altitude and his health, we are lucky we did not kill him. I came across an old photo the other day. He is on the bed, the drugs in their boxes lined up a in a semi-circle around him. He looks a bit dazed and his nose is red.

Looking at the picture, I wonder if he had a cold.

Then I remember: the flush, the damn flush. If I had kids, I suppose I would have to lie about it.

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Looming 'fiscal cliff' bringing Wall Street, Obama back together

NEW YORK — There are growing signs that Wall Street is trying to mend its rocky relationship with a president who castigated them as "fat cats" and ushered through tough new regulations after the financial crisis.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has recently been in contact with the White House and congressional leaders, while Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein publicly called for a new "spirit of compromise and reconciliation." CEOs of 12 major American companies also held a closed-door meeting with President Obama on Wednesday.

The looming "fiscal cliff" is bringing businesses and Obama back together. Both sides are worried that Congress won't strike a deal to avoid the automatic budget cuts and tax increases that economists fear will plunge the nation into a recession early next year.

"He is the president — the election is over," said Kathryn Wylde, president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization that represents major financial firms and other companies. "The Wall Street community wants to unite behind a strong president."

Wall Street might have overwhelmingly supported Mitt Romney's presidential campaign with donations, but executives have been quietly working behind the scenes with administration officials for months, Wylde said.

Quiz: How much do you know about the "fiscal cliff"?

They have been helping build support for raising revenue — higher taxes — as part of a deal that would include spending cuts and entitlement reform. Getting CEOs on board could help provide "political cover" to congressional Republicans who in previous fiscal fights have thwarted deals with Obama.

"That's where their charm is real," said Jeff Connaughton, a former lobbyist and congressional aide who wrote the book "The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins." "If they actually helped soften up the Republicans on being OK with raising revenue, that's where they could pile up some real brownie points with Obama."

Wall Street executives have been reaching out to both sides of the aisle now that the contentious election is over.

In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, Goldman CEO Blankfein urged corporations and the Obama administration to work closer together. He also backed tax increases for wealthy Americans so long as the government is serious about cutting government spending.

Dimon, who has sometimes been a critic of Obama, met with White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew last month. He also has reached out to congressional leaders about preventing a fiscal crisis, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.

As part of that charm offensive, Dimon even called Elizabeth Warren to congratulate her on being elected a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Warren has been a fierce critic of the banking industry, and earlier this year called for Dimon to step down as a New York Federal Reserve board member because of a perceived conflict of interest.

Warren declined to comment on her phone call with Dimon. But she — like others on Capitol Hill on Wednesday — welcomed the Wall Street executives' urgency to resolve the fiscal cliff. "I think they have enormous value to add to the discussions," she said.

CEOs talking about a willingness to accept more taxes is crucial in helping to reduce the overall rancor in Washington, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. When Republicans start talking about additional tax revenue, "We need somebody else to have their back, and the business community is a great place" to do that, he said.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said business leaders can help spur a deal by warning of the economic consequences of allowing the government to go over the fiscal cliff.

"The election's over and the issue is fixing the debt," Alexander said. "They can create an environment in which senators and congressman are willing to take difficult votes on fixing the debt, because it's going to be hard dirty work, very unpopular, once people see the details of it, but it absolutely has to be done."

At the White House on Wednesday, chief executives met with President Obama for more than an hour to discuss topics such as the fiscal cliff. They mostly listened and tried to give the president constructive feedback on issues facing America's biggest businesses, according to participants.

CEOs believe that the uncertainty is hurting the nation's business climate and preventing hiring. They have urged Congress to extend the tax cuts first championed by President George W. Bush. Obama wants to do so for all but the highest income earners.

Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox Corp., said the meeting did not get into specifics such as tax rates. But she noted that any deal would involve working through "some sticky issues."

"This is all about trying to make American business more competitive, trying to have a fair, balanced approach to tax reform, to spending cuts. And the president was very clear that he wants a fair, balanced approach," Burns told reporters after the meeting.

"We were very clear that if we can help him to get to a solution we are absolutely behind him, because going over the cliff is not something that any of us in the room could live with," she said.

andrew.tangel@latimes.com

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

Tangel reported from New York and Puzzanghera from Washington.

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David Petraeus scandal hits White House at awkward time

WASHINGTON— The messy scandal that forced CIA Director David H. Petraeus to resign and sparked a Pentagon investigation of the U.S. war commander in Afghanistan has thrown the Obama administration's national security team into turmoil.

The ripples continued to widen Tuesday as Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ordered an investigation of Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, after the FBI informed the Pentagon that it had uncovered what may be inappropriate emails between Allen and Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Florida socialite and friend of Petraeus, Allen and their wives.

Panetta said he had asked the Senate to place Allen's nomination as supreme allied commander in Europe on hold until the investigation was complete, delaying his shift to a key post overseeing all NATO military operations.

The upheaval comes at an awkward time for the White House, the Pentagon and the intelligence community. The administration faces hearings in Congress this week over the Sept. 11 militant attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, and is debating whether to speed up withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan.

In addition, Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, two of President Obama's most experienced and respected political veterans, are likely to step down early next year. Clinton's intention to leave has been public for more than a year.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama "thinks very highly" of Allen. But Carney said he "wouldn't call it welcome" that a scandal erupted a week after Obama's reelection, when the president had been hoping to focus on a deficit-reduction deal with Congress.

Kelley was home with her children Tuesday evening and refused to see visitors at the family's red-brick mansion on elegant Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, Fla. An SUV was parked in the driveway and fresh flowers sat in a front dining room. TV news crews loitered near the manicured lawn as joggers filed past.

Allen's contacts with Kelley came to light after FBI agents looked into her complaint that she had received anonymous emails warning her to stay away from Petraeus. The sender of the emails used aliases, and the messages included nonpublic information about the travels of Petraeus and other U.S. officials, a senior law enforcement official said. The FBI eventually traced the emails to Paula Broadwell, 40, an officer in the Army Reserve who wrote a fawning 2012 biography of Petraeus.

A review of Broadwell's emails showed she had engaged in an extramarital affair with Petraeus. The case took a new turn in September when she gave the FBI her computer, which turned out to contain several classified documents. Broadwell holds a top-secret clearance, but the discovery raised fresh concerns of a potential security breach. Petraeus denied being the source of the documents, and Broadwell said she did not get them from him.

Broadwell consented to an FBI search of her home in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday night, the official said, adding that no charges would be filed. "This is just running down the final alley, just trying to tie it up."

The initial FBI investigation also uncovered emails between Kelley and Allen, beginning when he was deputy head of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa from 2008 to 2011. Kelley and her husband, Scott, a prominent Tampa doctor, cultivated close social ties with senior officers, sponsoring events for wounded soldiers and galas for commanders and visiting delegations over the years, current and former officials and officers say.

The Kelleys were especially close to Petraeus and his wife, Holly, often attending parties and holiday events at each other's homes when Petraeus headed Central Command from 2008 to 2010. They remained in contact after Petraeus took command of the Afghan war and, when he retired from the military, moved to Washington to take over the CIA in September 2011.

In September of this year, Jill Kelley's twin sister, Natalie Khawam, needed character references to appeal to a judge in Washington over losing custody of her 4-year-old son. Allen and Petraeus composed letters on her behalf.

"My wife, Kathy, and I came to know Natalie when I served at headquarters of U.S. Central Command as the Deputy Commander," Allen wrote on his official letterhead. A copy was obtained by the New York Post. "On multiple occasions we had the privilege of observing her … at command social functions.... She is a dedicated mother, whose only focus is to provide the necessary support, love and care for her son."

A senior U.S. official who is familiar with the investigation said Allen and Kelley "have never been alone together, ever." The official said they had exchanged several hundred mostly short emails over several years, denying reports that the emails filled 20,000 to 30,000 pages.

"She writes flattering emails like, 'You look great on TV,' and Allen writes back, 'Thanks, sweetheart,'" the official said. "Anyone who knows Allen knows he responds to every single email."

Most of the emails were "purely routine," the official said. In some, Kelley offered to host gatherings for Afghan or U.S. officials. Allied countries at Central Command gave her the unofficial title of "honorary ambassador," an unpaid position with no official duties, but Kelley was known to drop "honorary" from her title.

She angered some U.S. officers who complained that she made persistent attempts to forge close personal ties with successive four-star generals by deluging them with emails, a former Central Command aide said, and asking for headquarters staff to help her organize social functions.

The official said Allen, who was in Washington to prepare for his now-delayed confirmation hearings, was cooperating with the Pentagon's investigation. "They'll get a statement from Mrs. Kelley and they'll get a statement from Gen. Allen and that'll be the end of the story, except the smear on his reputation," the official said.

The FBI has referred the case to the Pentagon. That, along with Panetta's decision to allow Allen to continue as commander in Afghanistan pending outcome of the investigation, suggests that officials view the matter as a possible infraction of military rules rather than a violation of criminal law.

In addition to Allen and Petraeus, at least half a dozen senior military officers have come under investigation or been relieved of duty since 2008 over allegations of extramarital affairs, insubordination, improper use of government funds and, in one pending case, sexual assault of subordinates.

The last three U.S. commanders in Afghanistan — Petraeus, Allen and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal — all came under scrutiny for their personal behavior. Obama fired McChrystal in 2010 after a Rolling Stone article portrayed his senior staff as criticizing and making crude jokes about Obama and his top civilian advisors.

On Tuesday, Panetta also demoted Gen. William "Kip" Ward, the former head of the U.S. Africa Command, to three stars in rank and ordered him to repay $82,000 after an investigation found he had used military aircraft for personal travel and had stayed with his wife in lavish resorts at government expense. The inspector general's investigation also found that Ward had accepted dinner and Broadway show tickets from a government contractor.

Petraeus, who has not appeared in public since he resigned Friday, is "a little bit stunned" over how quickly his career unraveled, said Peter Mansoor, his former executive officer in Iraq and now a professor of military history at Ohio State University.

Petraeus called his actions "morally reprehensible," said Mansoor, who has spoken to the former CIA director several times in recent days. "He deeply regretted it. He screwed up big time. He had the best job in the world at the Central Intelligence Agency. He liked it a lot, he had a good relationship with the president, and he threw that all away for this."

david.cloud@latimes.com

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

ken.dilanian@latimes.com

Cloud and Dilanian reported from Washington and Bengali from Tampa.

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