Tributes from soccer stars flood in for murdered teenage model

By Calvin Palmer

A teenage model who had appeared in Playboy and Cosmopolitan has died after being stabbed at her home in Farnworth, Bolton.
 
Amy Leigh Barnes, 19, was a regular at fashionable nightclubs in the Northwest of England and had dated several soccer players.
 
She was found with fatal stab wounds on Saturday morning and was taken to hospital but died from her injuries.  Detectives believe the stabbing followed a row with her boyfriend.
 
Police in Birmingham arrested a 21-year-old man who was taken to Manchester where he was questioned on suspicion of murder.
 
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a 19-year-old woman in Farnworth.”
 
Barnes was educated at Lords Independent School in Bolton and later studied performing arts at Pendelton College, Salford.
 
She was on the books of the Nemesis Model Agency and had worked on modeling assignments for Nuts, Playboy and Cosmopolitan.
 
She had also dated the Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy, although she was no longer romantically involved with him.
 
Her mother, Kathryn, and stepfather, John Killiner, said in a statement: “We are absolutely distraught and destroyed.  Words cannot express the pain we are in.  We will not rest until justice has been done for our gorgeous daughter.”
 
A Facebook tribute to her features messages of sympathy from other soccer stars, including Fraizer Campbell of Tottenham Hotspur, Phil Jagielka of Everton, Ishmael Miller of West Bromwich Albion, Leroy Lita of Norwich City and Paul Black of Oldham Athletic.
 
The first page of the Facebook tribute contained 900 messages by midday and a second memorial page has been set up – gonetosoon.org.
 
A friend said: “Amy Leigh was the life and soul of the party and she will be deeply missed.  She was very popular and loved going out night after night.
 
“She knew loads of footballers and went on dates with them.  Although she knew lots of people, she never let it go to her head.  It is a tragedy that her life has been so cruelly cut short.”
 
[Based on reports by The Independent and The Times.]

Circuit City files for bankruptcy

By Calvin Palmer

Circuit City, the consumer electronics retailer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and so becomes one of the first big names on Main Street to fall victim of the credit crisis and economic downturn.

That news makes my irritation with the Circuit City TV ad that played repeatedly during the Colts v Steelers game yesterday afternoon pale into insignificance.  It is not just the Circuit City ad.  I get so tired of seeing the same ads played four or five times within the space of a couple of hours.

Circuit City has long trailed behind Best Buy as a retailer of consumer electronics.  I have never particularly found its stores inviting places to visit; the sales staff know little about the products they are selling.  When I have to inform sales staff of the features of a particular model that I am interested in purchasing, it is usually the time when I decide to take my custom elsewhere.

Given my previous experience at Circuit City, it came as no surprise last week when the company announced the closure of 155 stores, laying off 1,300 employees or 17 percent of its workforce.  Last Friday, it announced 700 jobs would go at the corporate headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.
 
In the filing to the US bankruptcy court in Richmond, Circuit City’s chief financial officer Bruce H. Besanko stated: “Without immediate relief, the company is concerned that it will not receive goods for Black Friday and the upcoming holiday season, which could cause irreparable harm to the company and its stakeholders.”
 
The company also announced that it had secured a $1.1 billion credit line, which will allow it to continue to operate.
 
Circuit City said in a statement: “The company plans to continue operating the business without interruption as management focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive corporate restructuring plan.” 

Circuit City has $3.4 billion in assets and $2.3 billion in debts, as well as more than 100,000 creditors such as Hewlett-Packard, Samsung Electronics and Sony.

Its Canadian operations also will be seeking protection under the Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

The company operated 721 stores in 165 US markets on October 31.  The Canadian operatin comprised  770 retail stores and dealer outlets on September 30.

[Based on reports by The New York Times and AFP news agency.]