Sinkhole that swallowed Tampa man in bedroom grows deeper

AP

Jeff Bush's family and friends hug outside of the house where a sinkhole swallowed Bush in his bedroom.

SEFFNER, Fla. — Engineers worked gingerly Saturday morning to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.

AP

Jeff Bush

Engineers began doing more tests at 7 a.m. Saturday. Crews with equipment were at the home next door, one of two that has been evacuated. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street. It's unclear how large the sinkhole is, or whether it leads to other caverns and chasms throughout the neighborhood. Experts say the underground of West Central Florida looks similar to Swiss cheese, with the geography lending itself to sinkholes.

PHOTOS: INCREDIBLE FLORIDA SINKHOLES

Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.

"I cannot tell you why it has not collapsed yet," Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, said of the home. He described the earth below as a "very large, very fluid mass."

"This is not your typical sinkhole," said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill. "This is a chasm. For that reason, we're being very deliberate."

Officials delicately addressed another sad reality: Bush was likely dead and the family wanted his body. Merrill, though, said they didn't want to jeopardize any more lives.

"They would like us to go in quickly and locate Mr. Bush," Merrill said. Officials added Saturday morning that a fund had been set up to help the families affected by the sinkhole.

On Saturday, Jeremy Bush — who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened — lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house and wept.

Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Roger called the situation "very complex."

"It's continuing to evolve, and the ground is continuing to collapse," he said.

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's extremely rare for them to swallow a person.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

"You can almost envision a piece of Swiss cheese," Taylor Yarkosky, a sinkhole expert from Brooksville, Fla., said while gesturing to the ground and the sky blue home where the earth opened in Seffner. "Any house in Florida could be in that same situation."

A sinkhole near Orlando grew to 400 feet across in 1981 and devoured five sports cars, most of two businesses, a three-bedroom house and the deep end of an Olympic-size swimming pool.

More than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since the government started keeping track in 1954, according to the state's environmental agency.

The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.

Jeremy Bush said he jumped into the hole but couldn't see his brother and had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy who reached out and pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."

He added: "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him."

A dresser and the TV set had vanished down the hole, along with most of Bush's bed.

A sheriff's deputy who was the first to respond to a frantic 911 call said when he arrived, he saw Jeremy Bush.

Deputy Douglas Duvall said he reached down as if he was "sticking his hand into the floor" to help Jeremy Bush. Duvall said he didn't see anyone else in the hole.

As he pulled Bush out, "everything was sinking," Duvall said.

Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.

Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.

"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.

AP

Engineers talk in front of Jeff Bush's home, where a sinkhole opened up underneath his bedroom and swallowed him Thursday night.

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Coca-Cola paid CEO $21.6 million for 2012

REUTERS

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent at Davos in January

Coca-Cola Co. gave Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent a pay package worth $21.6 million last year, as the world's biggest beverage maker navigated shifting drinking habits in the US and sold more of its drinks overseas.

The compensation is up from the $21.2 million Kent received in 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The bump in pay was mostly the result of Kent's salary of $1.55 million, which was up 15 percent from the previous year. Stock and option awards were about even at $13.1 million. Incentive pay, which is based on formula tied to the company's performance, was unchanged at $6 million. All other compensation came to $963,816 and included costs for use of the company plane, a car and drive and contributions to retirement plans.

In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Coca-Cola noted that the company delivered profit growth in a year "marked by continued uncertainty in the global economy." The Atlanta-based company's profit in 2012 rose 5 percent to $9.02 billion, with global sales volume up 4 percent.

Kent, 60, took the helm as Coca-Cola's top executive in 2008. About a year later, he unveiled a plan to double the company's revenue by 2020, fueled by growth in China, India and other countries where the ranks of middle-class people are growing. At the time, Kent noted that Coca-Cola had to pay attention and react to changes in the world, which he said it hadn't done from 2000 to 2004.

Kent first joined Coca-Cola in 1978 and served in a variety of positions until 1998, when he left to become president and CEO of Efes Beverage Group. He returned to Coca-Cola in May 2005 and was named president of Coca-Cola International in January 2006 and appointed president and chief operating officer of the company in December 2006.

The Associated Press calculation of CEO pay is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonus, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with regulators.

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Space artifacts including Apollo 11 log entry to be auctioned off in NY

A sale of space artifacts, including the so-called Space Magna Carta, is coming to New York.

The Bonhams sale will be held March 25.

The 1975 certificate has a pre-sale estimate of $60,000 to $100,000. It marks the first successful docking of America's Apollo and the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz.

The text, in Russian and English, advocates peace and cooperation.

The astronauts signed the document in space. It includes an illustration of the Apollo and Soyuz locked in orbit.

The certificate is one of four in existence; one is at the Smithsonian.

Another lot features a two-page Apollo 11 log entry.

It describes the computer procedures that allowed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to lift off from the moon. Its presale estimate is $70,000 to $90,000.

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Pistorius' reps say substance found in his bedroom is Testis compositum, an herbal remedy to help with muscle recovery

JOHANNESBURG — Oscar Pistorius' representatives have named the substance found in his bedroom after the shooting death of his girlfriend as Testis compositum, and say it is an herbal remedy used "in aid of muscle recovery."

A product called Testis compositum is also marketed as a sexual enhancer, good for lack of stamina. Some online retailers advertise oral and injectable forms as testosterone boosters.

South African police say they found needles in Pistorius' bedroom along with the substance, which they initially named as testosterone. Prosecutors later withdrew that statement identifying the substance and said it had been sent for laboratory tests.

Pistorius family spokesperson Lunice Johnston said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the athlete's lawyers confirmed that the substance is Testis compositum.

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SI's GOP chief calls it quits

The leader of Staten Island’s powerful Republican Party abruptly announced his resignation today – a surprise move that could hurt the GOP’s chances to win the mayoralty, sources said.

GOP chairman Bob Scamardella cited disagreements with some of the borough’s Republican elected officials – particularly Councilman James Oddo – as reason for his decision to step down.

“My resignation occurs because I have been hamstrung in my ability to function and I want to put an end to recent public displays of party discord,” Scamardella said in a letter to GOP County Committee members.

“I became chairman to insure that volunteers would thrive in an environment where discord is minimized. There, of course, would be some disagreement but Republicans could expect party leaders to do whatever is necessary to end damaging displays of disunity.”

A protege of Staten Island power broker Guy Molinari, Scamardella referred to a “dispute” with an unnamed elected, but it clearly was Oddo. The two have feuded over the borough’s GOP appointment to the city Board of Elections.

“”I have been shut out of the selection process. This places me in a position where I cannot do the job effectively,” Scamardella said.

“To end it, I tried to arrange a private meeting. All to no avail,” he added.

Staten Island is the only borough where there is a Republican congressman and district attorney. And a GOP candidate for mayor would need a strong vote from Richmond County for any chance to capture City Hall – as Rudy Giuiliani and Mike Bloomberg did in the last five elections.

GOP candidates vying for the nomination include former MTA chairman Joe Lhota, billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, Doe founder George McDonald and Manhattan publisher Tom Allon.

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The Onion apologizes for offensive tweet about 9-year-old Best Actress nominee

The Onion is apologizing for calling the 9-year-old star of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" a vulgar and offensive name on Twitter.

During Sunday’s Academy Awards broadcast, the official Onion Twitter account posted a harsh message about Quvenzhané Wallis that has the Twitterverse up in arms.

“Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c--t, right? #Oscars2013,” the tweet read.

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AFP/Getty Images

Best Actress nomineeQuvenzhané Wallis before the start of the Academy Awards.

But users immediately came to Wallis’ defense, slamming the satirical site for the “joke.”

And though The Onion deleted the tweet shortly after posting it, plenty of users managed to get screen shots of the offending message.

CEO Steve Hannah wrote: "It was crude and offensive — not to mention inconsistent with The Onion's commitment to parody and satire, however biting."

Hannah said the offensive tweet was taken down in an hour and the newspaper has "instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures" to ensure it will not happen again.

He said those responsible would be disciplined.

Said Hannah: "Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry."

With AP and Fox News

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Man nearly hacks wife to death with meat cleaver

A meat cleaver-wielding maniac attacked his wife in front of two firefighters who had been trying to break up their fight, officials said.

The man and woman were loudly arguing in front of Fong’s Trading at 74 Canal St. at 10:24 a.m. when two of New York’s Bravest -- stationed across the street at Engine Company 9, Ladder Company 6 -- saw the dispute and tried to break it up, according to FDNY spokesman Jim Long.

That’s when the man pulled out a meat cleaver and and began hacking at his wife, fire sources said.

“He got a couple of good hits in,” Long said. “He hit her several times.”

One of the firefighters tackled the cleaver-wielding man, Long said, as the woman took off, leaving her high-wedge shoes and clumps of bloody hair behind.

The other Bravest chased the injured woman and caught up with her, several blocks away, at 56 East Broadway, Long said. That’s where he flagged down a police car, and she was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

She’s listed in critical condition but is expected to survive her wounds, sources said.

Additional reporting by David K. Li

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Gerard Depardieu gets Russian home address

REUTERS

Gerard Depardieu shows off his passport with residency permit today.

MOSCOW — French actor Gerard Depardieu has a new permanent address in Russia.

Depardieu had sought Russian citizenship as part of his battle against a proposed super tax on millionaires in France. President Vladimir Putin granted him a Russian passport last month, and on Saturday he got it stamped with his address in the provincial city of Saransk.

Saransk is a city of 300,000 about 400 miles east of Moscow, known for its 18th-century churches. Depardieu was registered in an apartment belonging to his friend's relatives.

Showing his knowledge of Russian history, Depardieu likened himself to Yemelyan Pugachev, the chief of a peasant rebellion of the 18th century, saying: "I am like Pugachev: I am a peasant, and I want to be tsar of Saransk," according to Russia Today television.

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Boeing proposes revamping 787's lithium ion batteries so short-circuiting that could lead to fire won't spread

WASHINGTON — Boeing is proposing a long-term fix for the 787 Dreamliner's troubled batteries that will keep them grounded until April at the earliest, congressional officials said Friday.

A Boeing Commercial Airplanes team led by CEO Ray Conner was scheduled to present the plan in a meeting Friday with Michael Huerta, head of the Federal Aviation Administration. The airliners, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced, have not been allowed to fly since mid-January following a battery fire in one plane and a smoking battery in another.

The plan calls for revamping the aircraft's two kinds of lithium ion batteries to ensure that any short-circuiting that could lead to a fire won't spread from one battery cell to the others, officials said. That would be achieved by placing more robust ceramic insulation between each of the battery's eight cells. The aim is to contain not only the short-circuiting, but any thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that leads to progressively hotter temperatures.

REUTERS

Damaged batteries displayed during a news conference on an investigation into the January 7 fire that occurred on a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston.

The additional spacers will enlarge the battery, requiring a bigger battery box to hold the eight cells. That new box would also be more robust, with greater insulation along its sides to prevent any fire from escaping, officials said.

The plan will require testing and partially recertifying the safety of the plane's batteries, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The testing and recertification will take time, with engineers currently estimating completion sometime in April, they said.

It's up to Huerta to decide whether to approve the plan. But Boeing's plan is not a surprise, since the company has kept regulators closely informed, the officials said.

Boeing, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board still have not identified the root cause of a Jan. 7 fire that erupted in an auxiliary power unit battery of a Japan Airlines 787 about a half hour after the plane landed at Boston's Logan International Airport. The safety board is investigating that incident.

Engineers and battery experts gathered by Boeing developed a list of possible causes for the fire and a plan to modify the batteries to address the spread of a fire created by any of those causes, officials said.

After the Jan. 7 fire and an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 in Japan, the FAA and aviation authorities overseas ordered the planes grounded. There are a total of 50 of the planes in the fleets of seven airlines in six countries.

On Thursday, United Airlines cut its six 787s from its flying plans at least until June and postponed its new Denver-to-Tokyo flights as airlines continued to tear up their schedules while the plane is out of service. United is the only US carrier with 787s in its fleet.

Among the many unanswered questions is how the 787 battery problems will affect Boeing's effort to win FAA permission for the planes to make flights that venture further from the nearest airport, such as those that travel over wide expanses of ocean. The FAA has tighter requirements for such flights in twin-engine planes because it wants to make sure the plane can keep flying if it loses an engine or encounters other problems far away from a safe landing.

Until it was grounded, the 787 could fly up to three hours away from the nearest airport. That's far enough for flights between the US and Europe and some flights over the Arctic, for instance. But Boeing wants permission for flights up to 5.5 hours from the nearest airport. Its 777 is already certified for such flights.

Boeing said last month that it was close to submitting a plan for those longer flights.

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Passenger traffic at NY metro area's airports neared all-time high in 2012

NEWARK — Passenger traffic at the New York area's four commercial airports increased in 2012 despite closures caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says traffic at Newark Liberty, La Guardia, John F. Kennedy and Stewart airports rose by 3.3 percent last year compared to 2011.

More than 109 million travelers used the four airports. That's just below the pre-recession record of 110 million set in 2007.

Traffic at JFK Airport reached an all-time high with 49.3 million passengers.

La Guardia experienced a 6.6 percent increase in passengers over 2011, partly due to expanded service offered by Delta and JetBlue Airways. Passenger traffic at Newark increased by about one percent.

Superstorm Sandy cancelled thousands of flights and forced the airports to close. All reopened within days.

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Developer says American Airlines using 'act of war' claim to fend off 9/11 negligence suit

Developer Larry Silverstein is accusing American Airlines of trying to have it both ways over whether or not the Sept. 11 terror attacks were an "act of war."

In court papers filed this morning, Silverstein says the airline and its insurers "repeatedly and explicitly promised Congress, regulators and the American people that they would not use act of war to avoid paying claims" over the deadly hijackings by al Qaeda terrorists.

But after using those assurances to pocket "billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded benefits from a massive federal bailout," Silverstein says American has "reversed course" and is "engaged in a shameful display of cynicism" by invoking an "'act of war' defense" to his negligence suit over the attack on the Twin Towers, which he leased just two months earlier.

Getty Images

The 9/11 Memorial Pool

The Manhattan federal court filing says American is "asserting with breathtaking cynicism a supposed distinction -- but one without a difference -- between an act of war exclusion and an act of war defense."

"This court can and should put an end to this charade," Silverstein lawyer Richard Williamson wrote.

Silverstein claims more than $13 billion in damages, but Judge Alvin Hellerstein has capped his potential recovery at $2.8 billion, representing the "fair market value" of his 99-year lease.

American maintains that Silverstein should't even be able to sue because he collected more than $4 billion in insurance coverage, but Hellerstein rejected that argument last year.

American didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

bruce.golding@nypost.com

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CBS anchor Morrison denies choking wife, apologizes for yelling at Conn. cops

Douglas Healey

WCBS morning anchor Rob Morrison, of Darien Conn., enters Stamford Superior Court today.

Longtime New York anchorman Rob Morrison appeared at Connecticut courthouse today to begin facing charges that he choked his fellow-journalist wife, Ashley, at their tony Darien home — then threatened her in front of cops.

Morrison, 44, adamantly denied the charge of choking his wife Ashley -- but the WCBS-TV anchor said he regretted his conduct to the cops who showed up at their home, which they share with their 7-year-old son.

"I did not choke my wife. I have never laid my hands on my wife," told reporters outside Stamford [Conn.] Superior Court before his arraignment. "I was just as surprised by that particular charge as probably was everyone else whose heard about this story."

"I regret deeply how I acted toward the Darien Police department Saturday night," Morrison said. "I did not show them the respect they deserved. They were there to do a job, they're a fine department, they do a good job protecting the town in which I live and I sincerely apologize to them.

But Morrison — still sporting marks on his nose and upper lip from the fracas with his wife — would not answer questions about where he got his bruises, why his wife had marks on her throat or why cops have been called to his house. He walked off when reporters asked those questions.

Before that, he said, "My wife and I are humbled and overwhelmed by the support we have received from family, friends and colleagues and viewers. I've been on the other side of this and I've heard it before, it's heartening."

Patrick McMullan (right)

Local news anchorman Rob Morrison is bloodied (left) after he allegedly choked his wife, Ashley (right) and she fought back.

"I love my wife more than anything. The past ten years she has been the most important person in my life. She's helped me through some really difficult times personally...it goes without saying more than anything in this world," Morrison said.

"A great man who is no longer with us, at one point in my life told me, tell the truth and fear nothing and that's exactly what I'm going to do when I go in there."

Morrison was arrested Sunday morning, several weeks after Darien police responded to a domestic incident at their home that did not end in charges, sources told The Post.

The newsman was also arrested in 2009 for allegedly assaulting Ashley — an anchor for “CBS MoneyWatch” — at their Upper West Side apartment, a source said.

And New York police said that between 2003 and 2009, cops were called there for seven verbal disputes — none of which led to an arrest.

That sordid track record is worlds away from the handsome Morrison’s public image as a top-notch journalist with two decades of experience.

The ex-Marine spent 10 years at WNBC/Channel 4, hosting the morning show “Today in New York” before joining WCBS in 2009 to anchor the CBS 2 “News This Morning,” as well as “At Noon” with Mary Calvi.

Ashley and Rob Morrison

Sources said Morrison left WNBC in 2008 because his wife suspected him of having an affair with an intern.

For more than a year, he stayed at home, taking care of the couple’s now-7-year-old son and writing a blog for the Huffington Post titled “Daddy Diaries: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Anchorman.”

Ashley Morrison’s mother, Martha Risk, told The Post she was the one who had called the cops on Morrison in the latest incident.

“I’m angry, so angry,” Risk said.

The Indiana woman accused Rob Morrison of repeatedly abusing her daughter.

“This doesn’t shock me. This has gone on for 10 years,” she said.

Asked why Ashley, 40, hadn’t left him, Risk said, “She’s in fear.”

Early Sunday morning, Risk said, she was sleeping at home when her phone rang with “Rob Morrison” on caller ID.

“I’ve gotten many calls from him” over the years, Risk said. “I’m sure he was drunk.”

She phoned Darien cops to report Morrison was choking Ashley, police said.

A source said Morrison told his mother-in-law Ashley was “making bad decisions” and had clocked him in the face, leaving him with a bleeding nose and mouth.

“She struck him in self-defense,” the source said.

Cops arrived at the Morrison residence at 1:30 a.m.

“While being processed [by cops, Rob Morrison] made verbal threats to do his wife additional harm, which was overheard by the arresting officers,” police said.

Morrison was charged with strangulation, threatening and disorderly conduct. Cops released his mug shot, which showed Morrison with a cut nose and bruised lip.

He was released after posting $100,000 bond and is being arraigned today in Stamford court.

Morrison’s lawyer, Robert Skovgaard, said the incident had been overblown.

“The Morrisons are confident that a full review of this matter will show that the allegations have been greatly exaggerated,” he said.

Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast, Larry Celona, Michael Shain, Beth DeFalco and Kevin Sheehan

dan.mangan@nypost.com

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MTA, workers' union contract negotiations stalled for past 3 months

The MTA and its largest workers’ union haven’t been to the bargaining table in over three months, with each side blaming the other for the breakdown in talks.

The 35,000-member strong Transport Workers Union Local 100 — which has been without a contract for over a year — claims the MTA has refused to negotiate since ex-chairman Joseph Lhota quit to run for mayor.

“We have informed the MTA that we are fully prepared to continue bargaining,” the TWU said in a contract update to its members.

“They responded that they won’t be ready to come back to the table until after Gov. Cuomo appoints, and the State Senate confirms, a new chair of the agency.”

Robert Kalfus

Members of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100

It’s unclear when that will be. Cuomo has not named a successor to Lhota.

But MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz called the TWU’s claims “pure fiction.”

An agency official blamed said the TWU refused to schedule time to come to the table.

The MTA has continued contract talks with other workers unions, the official said.

The two sides are at odds over the TWU’s demands for cost-of-living raises.

Meanwhile, the MetroNorth conductors union recently rejected a five year contract that guaranteed raises in the fourth year, according to the TWU’s update to members.

The TWU claims that rejection bolsters its hardline position on raises.

In October, TWU president John Samuelsen told members the MTA was offering 4 percent raises over 5 years, but he rejected it.

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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Latest 'Die Hard' takes top spot at weekend box office

LOS ANGELES — Bruce Willis remains a die-hard at the box office.

Willis' action sequel "A Good Day to Die Hard" debuted as the weekend's top draw with a $25 million debut from Friday to Sunday. The 20th Century Fox release raised its domestic total to $33.2 million since opening Thursday for Valentine's Day to get a jump on the long President's Day weekend.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Universal's comedy "Identity Thief," ran a close second with $23.4 million to lift its haul to $70.7 million.

Debuting at No. 3 with $21.4 million was Relativity Media's romance "Safe Haven," starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel in an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel.

AP

Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney in "A Good Day to Die Hard"

The Weinstein Co. animated adventure "Escape from Planet Earth" opened at No. 4 with $16.1 million.

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Playgrounds to honor Newtown massacre victims being built in communities recovering from Hurricane Sandy

TRENTON, NJ — The state's largest firefighter union is remembering the 26 victims of December's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre in Connecticut by building a playground to honor each one in a community recovering from Superstorm Sandy.

New Jersey and New York will get 10 playgrounds each, and Connecticut will get six. Each playground will link the two tragedies with the shared name Sandy to create memorials for recovery and hope.

One of the playgrounds will honor 6-year-old Catherine Hubbard, who would stretch out her legs to reach up to the clouds after pushing off on her backyard tire swing and was hopping mad about leaving her beloved swing set behind when her family moved across Newtown, Conn., in October, two months before the mass shooting there.

AP

Noah Pozner

Catherine's mom, Jenny Hubbard, said the idea for the playgrounds felt right as soon as she heard it — a playground was the "perfect" memorial for a 6-year-old.

"I immediately could think of Catherine playing and swinging," she said Friday in a telephone interview. "I know that Catherine will be there and she will love that there are kids to play with on that playground. In a way, this is like us giving her back her swing set."

Bill Lavin, president of the Firefighters' Mutual Benevolent Association, a 5,000-member union spearheading the project, said each playground will reflect the personality of the child or teacher for whom it is named. Jack Pinto's will have a football theme because he was a New York Giants fan. Chase Kowalski's will have fitness stations because he competed in children's triathlons. Others, still in the early planning stages, may incorporate a victim's fondness for a particular color, activity or symbol.

Grace McDonald's playground will be decorated with peace signs, which she habitually drew on mirrors and windows when they fogged up. Grace's mom found the outline of one on a window at home shortly after she died and had the glass etched in pink and preserved.

Catherine's playground, to be built on New York's Staten Island, will have a tire swing and be near a beach because of her fondness for sea animals. Her 8-year-old brother, Fred, is the honorary project foreman; he'll be on site with a tool belt supervising as the playground is built by volunteer first responders and members of the community.

Lavin said he's reached out to all 26 families and has heard back from 14, all supportive. He's driven to Connecticut to meet with several families personally. After visiting Noah Pozner's family, he decided Noah's playground should be in New York in the Rockaway section of Queens, where his grandfather lives.

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Month-long school bus strike could end as soon as tonight: sources

The embattled school bus drivers’ union could call off its month-long strike as early as tonight — during a member-wide conference call with top union officials, sources said.

Amid several significant setbacks, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello is expected to tell the 9,000 striking bus drivers, matrons and mechanics that the union will take steps to “live to fight another day,” according to a source close to the union.

Stephen Yang

School buses are parked in a lot in Ridgewood, Queens.

“He wouldn’t be doing this [call] to be telling everyone we’re going to fight this ‘til death,” said the source.

“There’s dissention on the picket lines. They can’t live on what they’re getting paid,” added the source. “People want to go back [to work].”

The work stoppage was launched January 16 in response to the city’s removing long-held job protections for bus workers from contracts that cover 1,100 of the school system’s 6,700 school-age bus routes.

The city said it was eliminating the protections because they were deemed illegal by the state’s highest court, and also to lower the costs of the $1 billion school bus system.

But over the past four weeks, school attendance has gradually returned to nearly normal at all schools except those serving special education students.

This week, bids for the 1,100 routes at the heart of the battle were submitted and opened without incident — many coming in at lower costs compared to current contracts.

This evening’s call comes on the same day that the union garnered political cover for ending the strike from five mayoral candidates — who signed a letter promising to seek other forms of job security for school bus workers if they’re elected.

“We pledge... to revisit the school bus transportation system and contracts and take effective action to insure that the important job security, wages and benefits of your members are protected within the bidding process, while at the same time are fiscally responsible for taxpayers,” reads the letter to the union.

It was signed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, Comptroller John Liu, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and former City Council Member Sal Albanese.

By the time a new mayor takes over, however, Local 1181 would have lost as many as 2,300 positions for drivers, matrons and mechanics on the 1,100 routes that were rebid.

Those contracts are expected to be awarded to bus companies in coming months.

A source involved in bus strike issues said the pledge by mayoral hopefuls would likely be accomplished not by fiddling with contracts between the city and bus companies, but by asking the state legislature to insert job protections for bus workers into state law.

“This is not a serious letter,” the source said. “No one’s talking about undoing any contracts.”

The source also said the letter was organized by the ATU’s International arm — whose president will be on today’s conference call — to put pressure on the local union to get members back to work.

“They [the international] solicited people to sign it,” the source said.

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3 NYers plead guilty in Nazi reparation case

Three people have pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to participating in a scheme that defrauded a Holocaust reparations organization of more than $57 million.

Prosecutors said Moysey and Dora Kucher and Genrikh Kolontyrskiy pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to defraud programs administered by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

The Kuchers are married.

The three Brooklyn residents were arrested in 2011. They're among 22 people who have pleaded guilty in the case.

Court papers say the three conspired to defraud two funds managed by the organization.

Sentencing will be Aug. 8.

Kolontyrskiy faces up to 40 years in prison. The Kuchers each face up to 20 years in prison.

Their lawyers didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

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John Thomas Financial CEO Belesis facing disciplinary action

Tommy Belesis, the founder of Wall Street brokerage firm John Thomas Financial, is facing disciplinary action from the industry’s watchdog.

Belesis disclosed today that he has received a so-called Wells Notice from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory body.

The notice, which was sent to Belesis on Jan. 10, is a warning that Finra’s staff has initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for alleged industry violations, including selling shares held by brokerage before executing client orders.

According to his updated Finra records, Belesis — known for a cameo in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” — is also accused of making “material misrepresentations” to customers about his failure sell their stock as requested. Finra said he “falsified or failed to preserve” records of the order requests.

Angel Chevrestt

Tommy Belesis

Belesis, who has admitted to a checkered past of stealing cars and using drugs, was also accused of “using manipulative, deceptive and/or fraudulent means to artificially inflate the price of the stock,” according to the notice.

Belesis, who was presented the Bronx GOP “Man of the Year Award” by Rudy Giuliani in 2009, didn’t immediately return a request for comment, but Wednesday’s notice on his brokerage record said he “intends to contest and defend these allegations vigorously.”

Belesis and his firm are also being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and FBI agents in New York. The Post exclusively reported on the investigations last week.

Sources told The Post that the Finra investigation centers on America West Resources Inc., a tiny Salt Lake City, Utah-based coal company that JTF helped raise money for in 2011.

At issue is Belesis and JTF’s sale of a stake in America West during a one-day run up in the stock last February, according to several people familiar with the investigation.

The shares hit $1.29 on Feb. 23 before plummeting to 65 cents the following day. The shares now trade below 20 cents.

kwhitehouse@nypost.com

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Career thief accused of burglarizing Anne Frank Center claims he wanted to look at exhibits

Burglar? Try Holocaust aficionado.

A career thief charged with burglarizing the Anne Frank Center last winter is insisting to a Manhattan jury that he had just gone inside because he wanted to look at the exhibits.

Michael James, 53 -- who has 30 theft and drug sale arrests on his rap -- is accused of swiping the executive director's wallet after sneaking into her office, located behind a full-scale display of Frank's bedroom in the Park Place center. He is linked to the burglary by fingerprint and video evidence.

"I knew he didn't want to learn more about Anne Frank, because I saw he was running away!" victim Yvonne Simons told The Post after testifying yesterday.

Umar Abbasi

Michael James.

"Here I am, the head of a tolerance organization, and it's awkward -- because this cannot be tolerated," the Dutch-born Simons said.

James, who has done three prison stints for burglary, robbery and possessing stolen goods, is charged with burglary for going through the unlocked front doors and into Simons' office fifteen minutes before the center opened -- and grand larceny for allegedly using her credit cards.

Additional reporting by Jamie Schram

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Doctor slapped with 55-count indictment for allegedly selling pain killers to drug dealers

A doctor was slapped with a 55-count indictment today on charges he allegedly sold prescriptions of oxycodone and other highly addictive pain killers to drug dealers from his Manhattan and Rockland County offices, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced.

The indictment also charges Dr. David Brizer with illegally possessing controlled substances and underreporting his income by at least $500,000 on his state personal income tax returns for 2011 and 2010.

According to the indictment, Brizer, 60, charged his customers up to $300 each time he sold them illegally sold prescriptions for several millions of dollars worth of pills out of his offices at 48 Burd Street in Nyack and 244 W. 54th St. in Manhattan.

Dr. David Brizer.

“Instead of saving lives, Dr. Brizer used his position to supply drug dealers and feeds a prescription drug epidemic that is devastating families across our state,” Schneiderman said.

“The message is clear – whether you are a doctor or a criminal on the street, my office will prosecute those profiting off the cycle of abuse.”

Brizer is charged with two counts of criminal tax fraud, 34 counts of criminal sale of a prescription of a controlled substance, 15 counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts of offering a false instrument for filing, as well as a scheme to defraud and conspiracy charges. All are felony counts and he faces up to seven years in prison.

Brizer allegedly issued fraudulent prescriptions for fake patient, or those in the names of people who had no knowledge he was doing so.

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