SENATE PANEL PASSES BILL TO CHANGE MILITARY LAW

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate panel has approved legislation to overhaul the military justice system in an effort to staunch the growing number of sexual assaults in the armed forces.

Key portions of the bill passed Tuesday by the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee are opposed by senior U.S. military leaders. They say the proposed changes are too drastic and will undermine the ability of commanders to enforce good order and discipline within their units.

But Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the panel's chairwoman and the bill's cosponsor, says aggressive reforms in the military's legal code are needed to counter the rise in sexual assaults within the ranks.

Her bill would remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial.

LEVEES, REMOVABLE WALLS IN PLAN TO PROTECT NYC

NEW YORK (AP) -- Removable flood walls would be set up for much of lower Manhattan, a 15-to-20-foot levee would guard part of Staten Island and gates and levees would shield Brooklyn as part of a nearly $20 billion plan Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed Tuesday to protect New York City from storms and the effects of global warming.

Bloomberg's proposals also include building dunes in Staten Island and the Rockaways, firming up the shoreline with bulkheads in various neighborhoods and considering building a levee and a new "Seaport City" development at the South Street Seaport that would echo nearby Battery Park City.

The mayor also is suggesting giving $1.2 billion in grants to property owners to flood-proof their buildings and $50 million to nursing homes to improve theirs; making hospitals even in rarely flooded areas upgrade their pumps and electrical equipment; and expanding beaches and marshes, among other ideas.

"This plan is incredibly ambitious," Bloomberg said in a speech at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, acknowledging that much of the work would extend beyond the end of his term this year. "This is urgent work, and it must begin now.

"Piece by piece, over many years and even decades, we can build a city that's capable of preparing better, withstanding more and overcoming anything."

Fueled by the city's blow from Superstorm Sandy last fall, the sweeping proposals represent a sizeable step up in scale and urgency for a mayor who has for years emphasized the threat climate change poses to the nation's biggest city, which has 520 miles of coastline.

EXECUTIVES ADMIT THAT TV ISN'T EVERYWHERE YET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- TV was supposed to be everywhere by now - watchable anytime, anywhere, on your smartphone or tablet. But four years into the industry's effort, network executives readily admit: TV isn't everywhere.

The promise of "TV Everywhere" has been a key strategy in the cable and satellite TV industry's fight to retain customers in the face of challenges from online video providers such as Netflix.

With TV Everywhere, customers who pay for packages with hundreds of television channels are supposed to be able to watch them on mobile devices and computers as well for no extra charge. That perk is meant to make pay TV packages seem more worthwhile and keep customers from defecting.

Yet many rights deals still haven't been worked out. More important, audience measurement firms have been slow to count viewing on mobile devices, so advertisers have been reluctant to pay as much for commercials on phones and tablets compared with television sets.

This gap in ad revenue has created a kind of chicken-and-egg scenario. Networks and pay TV providers aren't able to offer as many shows online because they don't want to spend too much for rights without knowing they can make their money back. So, viewers can't reliably find their favorite shows online and don't use the services much.

That also makes TV Everywhere seem inferior to online video services such as Netflix, which has a smaller range of fresh content but makes those shows available on multiple devices, whether inside the home or not. The knowledge that their content is available truly everywhere makes the extra monthly fee of $8 a small price to pay.