Facebook to add search

Chicago Tribune social media editor Scott Kleinberg discusses the new search feature that Facebook revealed today. (Posted on: Jan. 15, 2013)

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled on Tuesday a feature to help its users search for people and places within the social network, in the company's first major product launch since its May initial public offering.

Speaking to reporters at its Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters, Zuckerberg revealed "graph search," which allows users to sort through only content that has been shared with them -- addressing potential privacy concerns.

Available as a beta or early version to hundreds of thousands of users now, the new feature -- dubbed "graph search" because Facebook refers to its growing content, data and membership as the "social graph" -- will initially let users browse mainly photographs, people, places and members' interests, he added.

Zuckerberg promised users will be able to tailor their searches, such as by specifying music and restaurants that their friends like, or their favorite dentist. The reverse is also possible, such as discovering friends who have an interest in a particular topic.

Facebook may explore ways to earn revenue off of the service in the future, he added.

"You need to be able to ask the query, like, who are my friends in San Francisco," Zuckerberg said. "Graph search is a really big product. It's going to take years and years to index the whole map of the graph and everything we have out there."

"We'll start rolling it out very slowly. We're looking forward to getting it into more people's hands over coming weeks and months."

Critics have long deemed the social network's current search capabilities inadequate. Zuckerberg stressed Facebook was not getting into Internet searches, Google Inc's specialty.

But the news drove shares in Yelp Inc, which focuses on pooling customer reviews of restaurants and other popular services, about 7.1 percent lower. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter argued that recommendations from trusted friends were more valuable than from strangers on the Web.

"The initial focus is on getting users more engaged, so this is making Facebook more useful and sticky," Pachter said. "I don't see a revenue model initially, but think ultimately, search makes user activity even more relevant to advertisers, and allows greater focus."

MAKING MONEY

The world's largest online social network, with more than one billion users, Facebook is moving to regain Wall Street's confidence in the wake of a rocky IPO and concerns about its long-term money-making prospects.

Central to its efforts is devising new ways to make money from users who are migrating to mobile devices. Zuckerberg said the company is working on that front.

Speculation approached fever pitch over the past week about what Facebook planned to reveal in its highest-profile news briefing since its market debut. Guesses had ranged from a long-rumored smartphone to a full Web-search product.

That anticipation, as well as expectations of strong fourth-quarter financial results, helped boost Facebook's stock. Its shares are up more than 15 percent since the start of the year.

On Tuesday, its stock slid 2 percent at $30.30, giving up some of its recent gains.

"The search function on Facebook was basic and as such, a wasted opportunity given Facebook's imperative to strengthen advertising revenues," said Ovum Research analyst Eden Zoller.

Zuckerberg said he could foresee a business in search over time, but analysts advised caution. Facebook has come under fire numerous times for unclear privacy guidelines.

"Facebook graph search will no doubt leverage member data to provide advertisers with more targeted, personalized advertising opportunities going forward. But Facebook needs to tread very carefully here and be mindful of user privacy," Zoller said.

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Golden Globes: Fey, Poehler shine; 'Les Miz,' 'Argo' win big

Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips on the 2013 Golden Globes. (Posted Jan. 14th, 2013)

Hosting the 70th Golden Globes Sunday in Beverly Hills, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler proved it was possible to skewer their Hollywood colleagues without entirely alienating the crowd, as distinct from previous host Ricky Gervais.

Some 20 years after Fey and Poehler first met as improvisers at the Chicago comedy hub i.O. Theater, the pair were relaxed, funny and fully in control as they took in a room filled with the biggest stars of films “that have only been in theaters for two days,” and “the rat-faced people of television.”

Aside from their opening monologue, however, Fey and Poehler popped up only intermittently throughout the NBC broadcast.

The show — which included a rambling and unwieldy speech by lifetime achievement award winner Jodie Foster and a surpise win for “Argo” as best picture and Ben Affleck as best director — could have used their spikey interjections to give a discombobulated night a stronger throughline.

But the co-hosts' bits right at the top were pure gold. Referring to the controversy surrounding the depiction of torture in “Zero Dark Thirty,” Poehler teed up a joke that probably came closest to Gervais-level comedic bite, noting of director Kathryn Bigelow: “I haven't been following the controversy … but when it comes to torture, I trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron,” a line that prompted a shocked laugh from “Zero Dark” star (and best actress winner) Jessica Chastain.

Fey aimed her own zinger toward “Django Unchained” filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (a winner for best screenplay), whom she called “the star of all my sexual nightmares,” and then looked over at “Les Miserables” co-star Anne Hathaway (best actress in a film comedy or musical) and remarked, “I have not seen someone totally alone and abandoned (as Hathaway's ‘Miserables' character, Fantine) since you were onstage with James Franco hosting the Oscars.” Poehler noted a significant absence in the audience Sunday: “Meryl Streep is not here tonight because she has the flu — and I hear she's amazing in it.”

On the red carpet earlier in the night, Fey and Poehler stressed that their own nominations were the least of their concerns, and when their names were announced as nominess, Fey jokingly gritted her teeth with Jennifer Lopez by her side, while Poehler snuggled up to George Clooney. Neither won. The honor went to “Girls” creator and star Lena Dunham, who thanked her fellow nominees “for getting me through middle school.” (“Girls” also won for best comedy television series.) As a follow-up, Fey and Poehler appeared on stage, drinks in hand, disconsolate. “Glad we got you through middle school, Lena,” said Fey, who then directed her attention towards singer Taylor Swift: “You stay away from Michael J. Fox's son,” she instructed. “Or go for it,” added Poehler.

In TV, the big winner was “Homeland,” which was named best drama. The Showtime drama also notched acting wins for stars Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, echoing their Emmy wins. That came as no surprise — unlike Don Cheadle's win (over the likes of Alec Baldwin, Jim Parsons and Louis C.K.) for his role in “House of Lies,” also on Showtime.

In the movie categories, Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”) toppled Streep, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in winning best actress in a comedy or musical, accepting her award with a sly wink at noted awards-season campaigner and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein: “Harvey, thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today.” Best supporting actor honors went to Christoph Waltz as the German bounty hunter in “Django Unchained.”

Former President Bill Clinton made an unexpected appearance to introduce the clips from “Lincoln,” a film that depicts a commander in chief pushing a bill through Congress with the help of some unsavory deal-making. “I wouldn't know anything about that,” joked Clinton. Poehler then followed him onstage and exclaimed, “Oh my God, that's Hillary Clinton's husband!” Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for his performance in “Lincoln,” as well.

Some lighter moments shone: Hilariously, presenters Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell pretended to have seen each of the movies nominated, when clearly they hadn't, a bit that amused most in the audience — with the exception of a stone-faced Tommy Lee Jones. Upon her win, Hathaway clutched her Golden Globe and said, “Thank you for this lovely, blunt object” that she would forevermore use “as a weapon against self-doubt.” (Previous Golden Globe winner Richard Dreyfuss later Tweeted: “Lovely blunt objects make only OK weapons against self-doubt. #goldenglobes #trustme.”)

Michael Haneke, the Austrian filmmaker whose “Amour” won for Best Foreign Film, was awarded the prize by Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I never thought I would get an award in Hollywood from an Austrian,” he said.

Smith (not in attendance) won for best supporting actress in a TV series as the droll dowager countess on the PBS hit “Downton Abbey.”

The best surprise reaction early on had to be from pop star Adele. Winning best original song for the theme to the James Bond film “Skyfall,” she admitted she'd come to the awards with a fellow new mom, both eager for a night out: “We've been (wetting) ourselves laughing,” she said. Wrapping up the night, Poehler announced: “We're going home with Jodie Foster.”

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Facebook shares rise in buildup to mystery event, earnings

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s stock opened on Monday above $ 32 for the first time since July as anticipation about upcoming products and financial results underscored Wall Street’s renewed confidence in the online social network.

Facebook will on Tuesday host its first major press event at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, since its troubled initial public offering in May, triggering a guessing game among technology observers and online blogs about what it could unveil – everything from a smartphone to a search engine.

“There’s a lot of speculation. Nothing to me seems to be that certain,” Jefferies & Co analyst Brian Pitz said.

“If I were to bet, I’d think it was something that was ad-platform related. I’m not convinced on the phone,” said Pitz, citing previous comments by Facebook’s leaders including CEO Mark Zuckerberg that making a smartphone would be the “wrong strategy” for Facebook.

In an email to reporters last week, Facebook invited the media to “come and see what we’re building” without providing details.

Some analysts said the stock’s recent gains – shares are up roughly 17 percent since the start of the year – may have more to do with the company’s upcoming fourth-quarter financial results, slated for January 30.

“The stock is up because they have driven a dramatic increase in the ad load of their mobile app which is giving investors hope that they exceeded expectations,” BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield said.

Shares were down about 1.3 percent to $ 31.30 in mid-afternoon trading.

The world’s No.1 social network with 1 billion users, Facebook became the first U.S. company to debut on stock markets with a value of more than $ 100 billion. Its value subsequently plunged by more than 50 percent on mounting concerns about slowing revenue growth and the challenges of making money as users shift from personal computers to mobile devices.

Facebook surprised Wall Street in the third quarter by announcing that mobile ads accounted for 14 percent of its total ad revenue. Some analysts expect the company to report further growth in its nascent mobile ad business for the fourth quarter.

Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm room, has said that mobile is the “most misunderstood aspect” of Facebook. But he has repeatedly poured cold water on rumors that Facebook would build its own smartphone to compete against Apple Inc’s iPhone and smartphones based on Google Inc’s Android operating system.

During an on-stage interview at a conference in September, Zuckerberg said that he believed search could be a ripe area of growth for Facebook.

“Facebook is really uniquely positioned to answer a lot of the questions that people have,” Zuckerberg said, such as finding a good restaurant or learning more about a job opportunity.

Still, many technology observers believe that Facebook is more likely to improve the search capabilities within Facebook than to develop a full-fledged search engine that indexes all the Web’s content and competes head-on with search leader Google.

Among the other items that technology blogs and analysts speculate might be unveiled on Tuesday were new standalone apps for Apple’s iPad tablet, new features to display video ads and even a new wing of corporate headquarters.

Some cautioned that expectations of a game-changing new product were likely to cause disappointment.

“There’s no way they’re announcing anything that has financial impact, or they wouldn’t do it now, they’d wait two weeks,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, citing Facebook’s upcoming earnings.

“Why would you announce something that has a financial impact during the quiet period?,” he said.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Paul Simao)

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After record turnout, Academy expands voting pool in Doc and Shorts categories

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The Academy has dramatically expanded the potential pool of voters in three categories, looking to increase voter participation just as its first-ever adoption of online voting has apparently led to unexpectedly high turnout.

On Saturday, AMPAS president Hawk Koch sent an email to voters announcing that all 5,856 voting members would be sent screeners of all the nominees in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Live-Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film categories.

The change had actually been adopted by the Board of Governors more than a year ago, at a December 2011 meeting.

Academy rules still require voters in the three categories to see all five nominees before voting, but the rules no longer insist that members to view the films theatrically at special AMPAS screenings.

The third short-film category, Best Documentary Short Subject, is not affected by the new policy, even though the push to expand the pool of voters via screeners began in the Documentary Branch when it changed the doc-feature rules a year ago.

Branch governor Michael Moore told TheWrap he plans to push for changes in the doc-shorts category this year.

The new procedures have the potential to increase the number of voters in those categories from the low hundreds into the thousands. The Academy does not release the numbers of members who vote, but those who’ve participated in the process have long surmised that categories requiring members to attend special voting screenings may only attract a couple hundred voters.

This year’s nomination vote was beset by snags in the transition to online voting, with the Academy first pushing back the deadline for members to request paper ballots, then opting to automatically send ballots to every member who didn’t sign up for the online option regardless of whether they’d requested paper.

The week that ballots were due, AMPAS also pushed back the final deadline for nomination voting by one day, amid rampant speculation and anecdotal evidence that voters were confused by the new procedures.

Many people insisted that the earlier deadline and the different voting procedures would cause members to give up, and thus substantially depress the number of voters who cast ballots.

But according to three Academy sources, voter turnout was in fact the highest number in years in every category.

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Really?: The Claim: Hand Sanitizer Stops Norovirus Spread

Really?

Anahad O’Connor tackles health myths.

THE FACTS

As public health officials struggle to contain a series of viral outbreaks this winter, many people are reaching for bottles of hand sanitizer.

Studies show that alcohol-based sanitizers, particularly those with 60 percent ethanol or more, can reduce microbial counts on contaminated hands and reduce the spread of some strains of the flu. But against norovirus, the severe gastrointestinal illness gripping many parts of the country, they may be useless.

Some viruses, like influenza, are coated in lipids, “envelopes” that alcohol can rupture. But non-enveloped viruses, like norovirus, are generally not affected.

Bleach is effective against norovirus, and can be used to decontaminate countertops and surfaces. And for people, the best strategy may be washing hands with plain old soap and water.

In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied 91 long-term care facilities. During the winter of 2006-07, they identified 73 outbreaks, 29 of which were confirmed to be norovirus.

The facilities where staff members used alcohol-based sanitizers, were six times more likely to have an outbreak of norovirus than the facilities where the staff preferred using soap and water.

The C.D.C. says that as a means of preventing norovirus infection, alcohol-based sanitizers can be used “in addition” to hand washing, never as a substitute.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Hand sanitizers can reduce the spread of some viruses, like the flu. But against norovirus they are largely ineffective; better to use soap and water.

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Grounded 787 Dreamliner leaks fuel in tests by Japanese airline

The FAA stepped in Friday to assure the public that Boeing's new 787 "Dreamliner" is safe to fly. The AP spoke with Kevin Hiatt, Flight Safety Foundation CEO & President, who says mechanical issues with new aircrafts are not uncommon. (Jan. 11)

Tokyo—

Japan Airlines Co (JAL) said on Sunday that a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet undergoing checks in Tokyo following a fuel leak at Boston airport last week had leaked fuel during tests earlier in the day.

An open valve on the aircraft caused fuel to leak from a nozzle on the left wing used to remove fuel, a company spokeswoman said. The jet is out of service after spilling about 40 gallons of fuel onto the airport taxiway in Boston due to a separate valve-related problem.

In Boston, a different valve on the plane opened, causing fuel to flow from the center tank to the left main tank. When that tank filled up, it overflowed into a surge tank and out through a vent. The spill happened as the plane was taxiing for takeoff on a flight to Tokyo on January 8. It made the flight about four hours later.

The causes of both incidents are unknown, the JAL spokeswoman added. There is no timetable for the plane to return to service.

On Friday, the U.S. government ordered a wide-ranging review of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, citing concern over a battery that caught fire on January 7, also on a JAL plane in Boston, and other problems. The government and Boeing insisted the passenger jet remained safe to fly.

The 787 represents the boldest bet Boeing has made on a new plane in more than a decade, and because the aircraft required billions to develop, much of the company's financial performance is riding on its success. Boeing is trying to double production to 10 jets a month this year to cash in on nearly 800 orders.

The eight airlines that operate the 50 jets delivered so far have expressed support for it, saying the mishaps are teething problems common with most new airplanes, and the 787's fuel savings make it an important addition to their fleets. JAL and local rival All Nippon Airways Co fly 24 Dreamliners.

The review follows a slew of incidents that have focused intense scrutiny on the new plane. While many of the issues that have dogged the 787 are typically considered routine, their occurrence in quick succession on an aircraft that incorporates major new technology and has not seen wide use yet has sparked concerns about safety.

In December, a 787 operated by United Airlines and bound from Houston to Newark, New Jersey, was forced to land in New Orleans after a warning light in the cockpit indicated a generator had failed.

Boeing later said a faulty circuit board produced in Mexico and supplied by UTC Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies , had produced a false reading in the cockpit. A UTC Aerospace spokesman declined to comment.

Also in December, two other 787s suffered problems with electrical panels. The fire on January 7 started when a lithium-ion battery used in an auxiliary power system ignited while the plane was parked at the gate. It burned for about 40 minutes before firefighters put the flames out, and smoke entered the cabin. Passengers and crew had already left the aircraft.

On December 5, U.S. regulators said there was a manufacturing fault in 787 fuel lines and advised operators to make extra inspections to guard against engine failures.

Last week, the plane had seven reported incidents, ranging from the fire to a cracked cockpit window.

(Reporting by James Topham in Tokyo and Alwyn Scott in Seattle; Editing by Jeremy Laurence, Catherine Evans and Dale Hudson)

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Johnson’s tweet about Trestman landing NFL job creates buzz in football circles

Marc Trestman remains the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, at least for now.

Former NFL head coach Jimmy Johnson got the football world — north and south of the border — buzzing Friday when he strongly suggested Trestman was heading to Chicago to become the Bears‘ head coach.

“Looks like 2 of my guys getting NFL jobs..Chud Cleveland and my QB coach at U Trestman to Chicago,” tweeted Johnson, now working as an NFL analyst with Fox.

An Alouettes spokesman said the CFL club had no comment about Johnson’s tweet while the Bears didn’t immediately comment publicly either.

Trestman interviewed with both Cleveland and Chicago but according to numerous reports the Bears continue to speak to potential coaching candidates and haven’t decided on a coach. The Browns are expected to unveil Rob Chudzinski as their new head coach Friday.

The Bears missed the NFL playoffs despite posting a 10-6 record and fired Lovie Smith after nine seasons as head coach.

Trestman, 56, has spent the last five seasons with Montreal, guiding the Alouettes to two Grey Cup victories in three appearances.

His coaching resume includes time in the NFL as an offensive co-ordinator, quarterback or running back coach with Minnesota (twice), Cleveland, San Francisco, Detroit, Arizona, Oakland, and Miami.

Trestman also coached in the NCAA with Johnson at Miami as well as North Carolina State.

Trestman is regarded as a quarterback guru and has a background with Chicago starter Jay Cutler and backup Jason Campbell, helping both in their respective pre-draft preparations.

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Singer Randy Travis charged with drunken driving in crash

DALLAS (Reuters) – Grammy-winning country music singer Randy Travis had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the state’s legal limit when he was arrested last summer after a Texas state trooper found him lying naked on a road after crashing his car, authorities said.

Travis, 53, was charged on Wednesday with driving while intoxicated for the August 7 incident near his hometown of Tioga, about 60 miles north of Dallas, in which he also threatened to shoot and kill state troopers while he was being transported to jail, Grayson County prosecutors said.

Travis had a blood alcohol level of more than 0.15 percent, or nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08 in Texas, authorities said in the statement issued on Thursday.

The misdemeanor charge carries up to two years in jail and a $ 4,000 fine if he is convicted.

Travis has not been charged for the threats to troopers, which remain under investigation and could be considered retaliation, a third-degree felony, the statement said.

Prosecutors and lawyers representing Travis have been actively negotiating a resolution, Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown said in the statement, apparently hinting at a possible plea deal.

“The filing of this charge allows us to get the case into court, in order to finalize the case as soon as we can,” Brown said, noting that it took some time to complete blood alcohol tests needed by the state and defense attorneys.

In addition to winning multiple Grammy awards, Travis also has appeared in movies and television shows.

The August crash and drunken driving charge is the latest in a series of law enforcement incidents involving Travis, who is known for “Forever and Ever, Amen” and other songs.

Travis pleaded not guilty in December to assaulting a man in a church parking lot in the Dallas suburb of Plano last August. Police said Travis intervened in a dispute between a woman he was with and her estranged husband. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum $ 500 fine. Trial is set for March 11.

He was also arrested last February on suspicion of drunken driving while sitting in his car in the parking lot of another North Texas church.

(Editing by David Bailey and Will Dunham)

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City Room: Cuomo Declares Public Health Emergency Over Flu Outbreak

With the nation in the grip of a severe influenza outbreak that has seen deaths reach epidemic levels, New York State declared a public health emergency on Saturday, making access to vaccines more easily available.

There have been nearly 20,000 cases of flu reported across the state so far this season, officials said. Last season, 4,400 positive laboratory tests were reported.

“We are experiencing the worst flu season since at least 2009, and influenza activity in New York State is widespread, with cases reported in all 57 counties and all five boroughs of New York City,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement.

Under the order, pharmacists will be allowed to administer flu vaccinations to patients between 6 months and 18 years old, temporarily suspending a state law that prohibits pharmacists from administering immunizations to children.

While children and older people tend to be the most likely to become seriously ill from the flu, Mr. Cuomo urged all New Yorkers to get vaccinated.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that deaths from the flu had reached epidemic levels, with at least 20 children having died nationwide. Officials cautioned that deaths from pneumonia and the flu typically reach epidemic levels for a week or two every year. The severity of the outbreak will be determined by how long the death toll remains high or if it climbs higher.

There was some evidence that caseloads may be peaking, federal officials said on Friday.

In New York City, public health officials announced on Thursday that flu-related illnesses had reached epidemic levels, and they joined the chorus of authorities urging people to get vaccinated.

“It’s a bad year,” the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve got lots of flu, it’s mainly type AH3N2, which tends to be a little more severe. So we’re seeing plenty of cases of flu and plenty of people sick with flu. Our message for any people who are listening to this is it’s still not too late to get your flu shot.”

There has been a spike in the number of people going to emergency rooms over the past two weeks with flulike symptoms – including fever, fatigue and coughing – Dr. Farley said.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mr. Cuomo made a public display of getting shots this past week.

In a briefing with reporters on Friday, officials from the C.D.C. said that this year’s vaccine was effective in 62 percent of cases.

As officials have stepped up their efforts encouraging vaccinations, there have been scattered reports of shortages. But officials said plenty of the vaccine was available.

According to the C.D.C., makers of the flu vaccine produced about 135 million doses for this year. As of early this month, 128 million doses had been distributed. While that would not be enough for every American, only 37 percent of the population get a flu shot each year.

Federal health officials said they would be happy if that number rose to 50 percent, which would mean that there would be more than enough vaccine for anyone who wanted to be immunized.

Two other diseases – norovirus and whooping cough – are also widespread this winter and are contributing to the number of people getting sick.

The flu can resemble a cold, though the symptoms come on more rapidly and are more severe.

A version of this article appeared in print on 01/13/2013, on page A21 of the NewYork edition with the headline: New York Declares Health Emergency.

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Illinois' 'fracking' future fractured

Thousands of landowners downstate have sold their rights to drill for oil and natural gas for upfront fees ranging from $50 to $350 per acre, plus a cut of the profits.

Others are fighting to prevent the drilling out of fear that they could be exposed to drinking water contamination, earthquakes, toxic gases and industrialization.

In the middle of this battle are Illinois legislators who have yet to pass laws to deal with horizontal hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. The issue is expected to be taken up again this year.

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing has opened up vast reserves of natural gas deposits in the U.S. that until now were impossible to tap. The drilling technique uses pressurized sand, water and chemicals to crack open layers of rock that trap such fuels hundreds or thousands of feet below ground.

The stampede to unleash such fuels has been compared to the Gold Rush of the 1840s. And in addition to the money being made by landowners in selling drilling rights, the fracking rush has brought jobs to other parts of the country.

"Other states have found the way to find the sweet spot to protect the environment and bring jobs; we should not miss that boat," said Tom Wolf, executive director of the Energy Council at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

For people desperate for jobs, a shale gas boom downstate can't come soon enough. Many counties are dealing with unemployment rates that top 10 percent.

Proponents of fracking hope to inject new life into areas of the state where a once-vibrant coal industry has declined precipitously. At the same time, there's a fear drilling will never begin unless the companies that want to extract the gas know what regulatory risks they face.

"If legislation doesn't pass at some point this year, from the state's perspective the risk is that the industry might invest elsewhere in other states that have more favorable conditions to invest in and develop these sorts of wells," said Leonard Kurfirst, a partner at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP in Chicago who practices environmental law, chemical product liability litigation and regulatory compliance.

The state has laws to deal with gas and oil wells, but those regulations date to 1983 — before modern horizontal drilling techniques were used.

Without meaningful regulation, some landowners are learning that their property rights don't necessarily extend to what's buried beneath the surface. Some have found that their mineral rights were sold years before or that if enough neighbors give permission to drill, they can be forced to join them. Others, who want to test their drinking water for the presence of fracking chemicals, are learning they could be denied access to such information if companies claim it's proprietary.

Commonly referred to as the New Albany shale play, the gas lies in the Illinois basin, a 60,000-square-mile area that encompasses parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates New Albany holds 11 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, approximately enough to meet the needs of about 5 million households for 30 years, according to the American Gas Association.

Hydraulic fracturing has been around for more than 60 years, but the modern methods that have led to the shale gas boom were not used until the turn of this century. Unlike vertical wells of the past, modern horizontal wells vastly multiply the exploitable area of a well and involve more chemicals and water.

According to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, about 250,000 gallons might be used to frack a vertical well compared with as much as 5 million gallons to frack a horizontal well.

Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment (SAFE) is one of several organizations and environmental groups that want a moratorium on fracking in Illinois until a task force looks into the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing and recommends what kinds of regulations need to be in place.

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is among those opposed to SAFE's proposal, which is similar to what New York state adopted with a four-year-old moratorium that has stalled natural gas development efforts.

"There is no energy source that is perfect for the environment or the economy. If there was, we would be using it," Wolf said.

Without regulations in place, a tacit moratorium already exists, Wolf said, explaining that drillers won't go forward with wells only to learn later that they face environmental regulations, new taxes or other unexpected hurdles.

The chamber released a study last month from David Loomis, a professor of economics at Illinois State University and director of the Center for Renewable Energy, estimating that downstate fracking could create 1,000 to 47,000 direct and indirect jobs depending on how many wells were drilled and what level of local resources were used.

Opponents countered that such jobs studies tend to be overly optimistic and don't take into account harmful environmental and quality-of-life issues that could come with fracking.

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