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• "I never made up any investor. I never made up Paul Abrams. I never made up any of this," Sprecher said in a brief interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.
• But two months after the "death," Sprecher's lawyer, Ronald Russo, said he has concluded that Abrams and the three other investors in the musical were indeed works of stagecraft, propped up by forged documents and bogus correspondence.
• ___

• ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Without his favorite target, Sam Bradford seemed lost. The top pick of the 2010 draft completed a measly seven passes.
• The St. Louis Rams defense was there to pick him up -- by continually knocking down Kevin Kolb.
• The Rams (3-2) totaled nine sacks, their most since 1998, in a 17-3 victory Thursday night that ended the Arizona Cardinals' early unbeaten run.
• "They've played great all year," Bradford said. "They've kept us in a lot of games. Fortunately, we were able to make the big play in the fourth quarter to go up two scores, but all the credit tonight to our defense."
• Danny Amendola made a spectacular one-handed grab for a 44-yard gain on an underthrown ball that set up Bradford's touchdown pass to Lance Kendricks' on the Rams' opening drive.
• ___

• OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Nearly three dozen states have failed to meet conditions of a 2006 federal law that requires them to join a nationwide program to track sex offenders, including five states that have completely given up on the effort because of persistent doubts about how it works and how much it costs.
• The states, including some of the nation's largest, stand to lose millions of dollars in government grants for law enforcement, but some have concluded that honoring the law would be far more expensive than simply living without the money.
• "The requirements would have been a huge expense," said Doris Smith, who oversees grant programs at the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Lawmakers weren't willing to spend that much, even though the state will lose

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