NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Blagojevich’s brother writing book on legal saga

CHICAGO

Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother says he’s writing a book about his own three-year-long legal ordeal that resulted in prosecutors dropping all charges against him.

Robert Blagojevich told The Associated Press on Friday he’s hoping to finish the book by year’s end. It is titled, “How I Survived the Federal Justice System.”

Both brothers initially were tried together. Jurors couldn’t reach a verdict in Robert’s case and convicted the impeached former governor on only one count.

Prosecutors dropped the case against Robert Blagojevich and retried his brother, who was then convicted on several counts including that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat. Rod Blagojevich is serving a 14-year prison term.

Robert Blagojevich insists his brother is innocent.

Guitar museum travels US, searching for a home

PITTSBURGH

Like a rolling stone, a traveling guitar museum is searching for a home.

The National Guitar Museum features ancient stringed instruments from Persia, the first electric guitar, and ultra-modern experiments that would be at home in a sci-fi movie.

But the recession of recent years hasn’t been kind to museums and nonprofits, so the founders decided to go on tour before putting down roots.

The exhibit is scheduled to travel to Virginia, Massachusetts, Idaho and New Jersey over the next three years, and already has been seen in Connecticut, Orlando and Louisville. It’s currently in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Science Center.

The exhibit features a 40-foot version of the famous Gibson Flying V and dozens of other instruments.

Spanish police arrest 4 for offering fake Picasso

MADRID

The Interior Ministry says police have arrested four people for trying to sell a forged Pablo Picasso oil painting for up to $1.5 million.

The canvas, a counterfeit version of a 1964 work called “The bust of Jeune Garcon” was accompanied by false authenticity documents bearing the signatures of Paloma, one of the Spanish painter’s daughters, and a renowned French art expert.

Investigators sought professional advice from museum experts and determined that the real painting, which is slightly different to the offered fake, carries official certification by Maya Widmaier, the Malaga-born painter’s oldest surviving offspring.

The ministry said in a statement Saturday that officers arrested three art brokers involved in the offer for sale and the current owner, a well-known Madrid antiquarian.

Associated Press