Steelers LB gives
Steelers LB gives
$60K to schools
Associated Press
SAGINAW, Mich. — Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley is offering some young people in Michigan the opportunity to play school sports free of charge.
MLive.com reports the former Saginaw High School and Michigan Wolverines player is donating $60,000 to the Saginaw Public Schools’ athletic department. The money is to cover pay-to-play expenses for athletes in the school district for the 2012-13 school year.
The donation is from a foundation set up by Woodley.
The school system instituted pay-to-play fees because of athletic department budget cuts, charging high school students $75 a year to participate.
Donnan charged
in Ponzi scheme
ATLANTA — Former University of Georgia football coach Jim Donnan used his influence to get high-profile college coaches and former players to invest $80 million into a Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday.
Donnan and a business partner convinced investors to put money into a liquidation company that bought and resold appliances and furniture, the SEC said. Donnan and Gregory Crabtree, of Proctorville, Ohio, told investors the business was unique and profitable with huge potential and little risk, said William P. Hicks, associate director of the SEC’s Atlanta office.
The pair raised about $80 million from nearly 100 investors, but only about $12 million of that was used to buy merchandise while the remainder was used to pay false returns or was pocketed by Donnan and Crabtree, the SEC said. Donnan also funneled large sums to family members, according to the SEC.
The company, West Virginia-based GLC Limited, promised returns ranging from 50 percent to nearly four times what investors put in. The individual losses ranged from a few thousand dollars to about $4 million, Hicks said.
Donnan’s attorney has previously acknowledged the former coach was paid lucrative commissions, but he said Donnan believed he was being paid from legitimate profits.
Pettersson leads by
1 shot at Wyndham
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Carl Pettersson shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Wyndham Championship.
David Mathis and Tim Clark were a stroke back, Tom Gillis, Scott Stallings and Troy Matteson shot 64, and Matt Every had a 65 in the final event before the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The top of the leaderboard had a decidedly local flavor. Pettersson went to high school in Greensboro, calls Raleigh home, and both he and Clark played at North Carolina State. Mathis grew up in Winston-Salem, went to Campbell and lives north of Raleigh.