Rep. Jackson denies involvement in Illinois Senate seat scandal. Federal authorities confirmed on Wednesday that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was the “Candidate Five” to which Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich implied in a taped conversation was willing to pay to get appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. In the indictment, the governor said a representative for “candidate #5″ was willing to raise $500,000 for his campaign and $1 million if he was appointed to the coveted Senate seat. However, Jackson, in a Wednesday news conference, strongly denied he had promised anything to the governor in secure the seat. Read the rest here.

Retired NBA star denies accidental pill overdose.

A suburban New York police chief calls Isiah Thomas’ claim that his daughter was the focus of an emergency call to their home this past weekend a “cover-up.” Authorities went to the ex-Knicks coach’s Westchester County home early Friday before reportedly taking a 47-year-old man to the hospital to be treated for a sleeping pill overdose. But Thomas, who’d been confirmed as the victim, later told The New York Post there was no overdose and that his daughter had an unspecified medical issue. “My daughter is very down right now,” Thomas is quoted as saying. “None of us are OK.” Harrison Police Chief David Hall, however, says no teenaged girl was involved. “It wasn’t his daughter,” Hall tells The Associated Press. “And why they’re throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand.” He adds: “My cops…know the difference between a 47-year-old Black male and a young, Black female. These people should learn something from Richard Nixon – it’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up.” Cops say no suicide note was found, and are they’re calling the overdose accidental. Thomas, who led the Detroit Pistons to championships, lost his job coaching the Knicks this spring.