Saturday

• In the nation's largest one-day food drive, America's letter carriers will be delivering mail and collecting non-perishable donations for the 17th annual Stamp Out Hunger campaign.

• Comedian Wanda Sykes will be the roaster-in-chief at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. President Obama is expected to play his inaugural role as the presidential pineta. Watch it live on C-SPAN.

• Jacob Zuma as president will be inaugurated as president of South Africa.

• Indians continue to vote in the month-long General election. This round ends next week.

Sunday

• It's her official special day, so be extra nice to your mother. Or else.

• Vice President Joe Biden delivers the commencement address at Syracuse University.

Monday

• The space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 2:01 p.m. ET on its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope for the last time.

• The National Zoo, Defenders of Wildlife and other groups hold a briefing about the plight of amphibians, protections and recovery efforts.

• Lawanda Jackson is scheduled to be sentenced for viewing medical records of celebrities treated at UCLA Medical Center.

The White House official responsible for the Air Force One photo-op over Manhattan has quit, The Associated Press is reporting, citing an unnamed Oval Office official.

Louis Caldera, director of the military office, submitted his resignation today to President Obama, who accepted it, the White House official said. A White House report on the April 27 flyover, which caused fears among New Yorkers of a 9/11-style attack, will be issued later today.

Caldera was Army secretary during the Clinton administration.

WCBS-TV reported that federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and the Statue of Liberty might trigger panic, and ordered that the photo opportunity be kept secret from the public.

The publicity stunt cost taxpayers up to $357,000, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today in apologizing for the incident.

Update at 4:57 p.m. ET: Caldera's resignation is official. In his letter he apologized for the "distraction" that the flyover had become, saying it “has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office," The New York Times reports. Shortly after the April 27 flight he also took responsibility and apologized "for any distress that flight caused."

(The White House today released this photo of the plane flying over the Statue of Liberty on April 27. Below, Louis Caldera in an April 2001 file photo by AP.)

John Demjanjuk, whom German authorities suspect of being a Nazi war criminal, has been ordered to surrender to U.S. Immigration agents so he can be deported to Germany, his son says.

The 89-year-old retired autoworker was served notice today at his home in Seven Hills, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. The order came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block his deportation.

His son did not say how his father would respond, according to The Associated Press, which doesn't say when Demjanjuk must surrender in Cleveland. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported earlier that his lawyer said he would no longer fight deportation.

German authorities have issued an arrest warrant charging him with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder at a death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. Demjanjuk's lawyers are challenging the warrant and appealing a German court ruling that deferred to the U.S. legal system.

On April 14 federal agents carried Demjanjuk, who was in a wheelchair, from his home. But an appeals courts blocked the deportation order later that day and Demjanjuk returned home to appeal further.

(Vera Demjanjuk opens the door for immigration agents serving a surrender order for her husband. Photo by Tony Dejak, AP.)

Drew Peterson was all quips and cool as he entered an Illinois courtroom today to face arraignment on charges he killed his third wife, the Chicago Breaking News Center reports.

"Look at this bling. Look at this nice spiffy outfit," the website quotes Peterson saying as he arrived in Will County court, bedecked in a red jumpsuit. "Three squares a day."

Peterson lawyer Joel Brodsky was equally unmoved by Peterson's arrest Thursday, telling  WGN-TV in Chicago that the case is weak. He even attacked the claim that Kathleen Savio was murdered, as determined by a second autopsy after she was found drowned in an empty bathtub five years ago.

Brodsky said official Will County coroner's records still list the cause of Savio's death as accidental.

Peterson, 55, is also a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

A man is facing bank robbery charges in Kansas City after police say he walked into a bank, ordered the teller to give him all the hundreds, then left his wallet on the counter when he fled, The Kansas City Star reports.

Police say the robber appeared "agitated and nervous," the Star said. The teller gave him $3,129. After he left, the teller and a customer identfied the robber as the man in the driver's license photo in the wallet.

Albert Vincent Perkins, 39, was apprehended 10 hours later in his car -- "presumably without his driver's license," the paper said.

A 24-year-old honor student from Olivet College in central Michigan has confessed to police in Florence, Italy, for the murder of man there, WILX television in Michigan reports.

According to a statement published on the college website, Johnathan Hindenach is a junior art major who had just transferred to Olivet at the beginning of the spring semester, and who was traveling with seven other students and a professor throughout Italy on a 16-day class trip.

The lead investigator in Italy on the case has told the Associated Press that Hindenach ran out of a hotel in Florence on Wednesday night where the group was staying, saying that the other students wanted to kill him. The investigator, Filippo Ferri, also told the Associated Press that Hindenach suffers from psychological problems and that he had consumed alcohol and taken drugs before killing Riccardo Nistri, 62, on Thursday. Police arrested Hindenach on Thursday near the storefront where they discovered Nistri's body.

In an unrelated case, Amanda Knox, an American college student, is on trial in Perugia, Italy, for the 2007 killing of her roommate while she was taking part in an exchange program.

In the Hindenach case, The Olivet College statement indicates the school is working with Rep. Mark Schauer, R-Mich., and the American consulate in Italy to resolve the matter.

(Photo by Lorenzo Galassi, AP)

 President Obama is at the White House kicking off a town-hall-style-meeting with the Latino community that is taking place entirely in Spanish. The event has been set up to give Spanish-speaking Americans a chance to ask questions about the H1N1/swine flu virus, according to the White House. More information about the meeting is available in this White House statement. You can follow overall coverage of White House doings at USA TODAY's The Oval.

(Photo by Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Morgan, the suspect in Wednesday's killing of Wesleyan University student Johanna Justin-Jinich, has been arraigned in Middletown, Conn., where the school is located, and is being held on $15 million bail.

Morgan's father, James Morgan, cried out "Steve!" as sheriff's deputies led the suspect out of the courtroom, The Hartford Courant reports. Stephen Morgan looked back at his father and other family members in the courtroom very briefly before he left, according to the Courant.

Authorities say Morgan wrote, "I think it's OK to kill Jews and go on a killing spree" and, "Kill Johanna. She must Die" in a journal they recovered in his car, The Middletown Press in Connecticut reports.

Justin-Jinich was shot and killed at a book store near campus. Police arrested Morgan Thursday after he saw himself in a newspaper and asked a clerk at a Meriden, Conn., convenience store to contact authorities, the Associated Press reported.

The president is speaking from the White House and outlining his plans to help Americans who are not working continue their educations without losing unemployement benefits. President Obama has announced the formation of a new website, http://www.opportunity.gov, which will help unemployed Americans pursue educational opportunities. Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Biden and a community college professor, will take a lead in this effort, Obama says. The president also is asking each American to commit to one year of some sort of education after high school.

USA TODAY's The Oval puts the president's announcement in context with his overall push to return some balance to the economy.

Mike Butrym believes school officials who oversee Montville High School, where he's a senior, are being too hard on him. The 18-year-old from Towaco, in the Morristown, N.J., area, told The Daily Record that all he did was organize this year's annual "May Madness" contest. The trouble is: the tradition that senior boys at the school invented a few years ago is not a contest between basketball teams. Instead, it's a competition that rates girls at the school based on their looks. Here's what Butrym, now finishing up a week-long suspension, had to say:

"They told me I was disrupting the school environment and crossing the lines of sexual harassment ... I don't think the punishment fit the crime."

In neighboring New York State, school officials are beaming. State Education Commissioner Richard Mills announces that 77% of New York's public school students in grades three through eight earned proficient scores or better on an English assessment test. That's a jump of 9 percentage points over the year before. In the state's second largest city, the jump was particularly striking. The Buffalo News reports kids' scores jumped more than 24 percentage points in three years.

- President Obama will outline plans to help Americans who don't have jobs. The president will explain that people who want to continue their educations will no longer have to give up their unemployment checks. He also will share the news that the Department of Education will press colleges to increase aid packages for people who aren't working.

- Drew Peterson, the former suburban Chicago police sergeant who has been a suspect in the October 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, is due to be arraigned on charges of first-degree murder in the death of his third wife. Kathleen Savio was found dead in an empty bathtub at home in 2004. The arraignment will mark Peterson's first court appearance since his arrest on Thursday.

- Stephen Morgan, accused of stalking and killing a student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., also is due to be arraigned, in Middletown Superior Court. Police arrested Morgan on Thursday at a convenience store in Meriden, Conn., after he reportedly saw his photo in a newspaper and asked a store clerk to contact authorities.

- Pope Benedict XVI visits Jordan, the jumping off point for his first Middle East trip as pontiff. A cleric at the oldest mosque in Amman, the capital, has urged worshipers to show respect for their fellow Christians and welcome the pope.

Winchester's train station is something of a nucleus for this busy, vibrant town as people move through it to and from the heart of Boston, says Clancy Meagher, the photographer. 

We're posting this and other photographs from the My Town series on a U.S. map. Go here and click on the red markers for a fresh glimpse of America.

What does your town look like? Show us. It can be a beautiful sunrise, snarled traffic over the Hudson or kids lazing on a park bench. In other words, anything that you think reflects your town. Here are a few guidelines:

The photo should be current, it should reflect something about your town, and it must be your original work on which you control all the rights. Please submit only one photo.

Please include the name of the town or city and a line or two of description, plus your name, so we can give you a photo credit if your submission is selected. Also include an e-mail address and/or phone number (which we will NOT publish) in case we have any questions.  Send it to OnDeadline@usatoday.com.

Good morning. It's Friday.

The ups and downs of the economy are reflected on the front pages of this morning's papers, with most reserving some room for the news that 10 of the nation's 19 largest banks need almost $75 billion to stay afloat. Papers also published localized stories about how the economy continued to challenge their readers. The Los Angeles Times reports that the chief budget analyst of California's legislature warns the state could run out of cash by July. In Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle warns the budget deficit has climbed to $6.5 million and that layoffs and furloughs are needed, according to The Journal Sentinel. But papers are reflecting financial bright spots across the country too. In San Diego, The Union-Tribune reports that the recession has helped ease the nursing shortage. The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., has published a story detailing how many laid-off workers are finding second careers as substitute teachers. The publisher of The Boston Globe, which recently finished tense negotiations with labor unions to save the paper, says rocky times will likely continue at the storied institution but, for now, no layoffs are planned. In other news, papers reflected the emotion readers have tied to the news that Major League Baseball has suspended Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance. The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., has published stories about the "Dodger blues," while the The Sun of San Bernardino, Calif., shares advice from psychologists on how to break the Ramirez news to children. But, as it is with the economy, all isn't quite so grim in the world of sports. The Washington Post reports that Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, banned from competition for three months after the publication of photos of him smoking marijuana, has returned to the swimming pool.

Coming Friday:

• Most of the 19 banks that underwent government stress tests will hold news conferences to discuss the results.

• Economic reports: April unemployment and March wholesale-trade inventories. Also, Toyota and Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet's company) release their latest quarterly results.

• HIV co-discoverers Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier hold a news conference to issue a global call to action.

• A memorial service for Jack Kemp at Washington National Cathedral. The former Buffalo Bills quarterback, Republican congressman and 1996 vice presidential candidate died of cancer Saturday at age 73.

• Will immigration authorities move to deport alleged Nazi death-camp guard John Demjanjuk, whose bid to stay in the United States was rejected Thursday by a Supreme Court justice?

• Across the Atlantic it's Victory in Europe Day, commemorating the end of World War II. To coincide, the United Nations declared the day a Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War. It's also World Red Cross Red Crescent Day.

• Missouri marks the 125th birthday of native son Harry S. Truman.

Khanzir is unique. He's the only pig in Afghanistan, a Muslim country where pork is illegal. For the past seven years he has lived a bachelor's life amid deer and goats in the Kabul Zoo.

Now, amid visitors' fears over the H1N1 swine flu, his life has become lonelier: he has been put in isolation until zoo officials confirm he's not infected.

"The only reason we moved him was because Afghan people don't have a lot of knowledge about swine flu, and so when they see a pig they get worried and think they will get ill," zoo director Aziz Gul Saqib told the BBC.

Though Khanzir, a gift from China in 2002, is healthy and strong, he has been moved to a large space with lots of windows and fresh air, Saqib said. He expects the quarantine to last only a few days.

The flu scare also has complicated the zoo's search for a mate for Khanzir.

"It is a dangerous and difficult time to get a new pig for our pig," Saqib said.

(Khanzir has lived in the Kabul Zoo for seven years. Photo via the BBC.)

The chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has resigned, effective immediately.

Stephen Friedman notified New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in a letter late today.

Friedman has come under scrutiny because he was a member of the Goldman Sachs board and held a large stake in the firm at the same time it was in line for federal bailout funds. He is the retired chairman of the firm.

Here's Friedman's letter and the Fed's announcement.

A civilian jury has convicted former U.S. soldier Steven Dale Green of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl after he killed her family.

The 23-year-old Green, who had been a private in the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, faced more than a dozen charges, including sexual assault and four counts of murder, stemming from the March 2006 attack in Iraq's "Triangle of Death." The Midland, Texas, resident could be sentenced to death when the penalty phase of the trial begins Monday.

Green's lawyers had asked the federal court jury to consider the "context" of war, saying soldiers lacked leadership and had received little help from the Army to deal with the loss of friends in combat. Five of Green's colleagues died in combat before his rampage.

After killing the teen's family and shooting her in the face several times, Green set her body afire. Afterward, a fellow soldier testified, Green talked about the killings to superiors, other soldiers and civilian friends.

The Army discharged Green before he was charged.

The Associated Press has more.

(Steven Dale Green entering court last week. Photo by Mark Humphrey, AP.)

Ten of the 19 largest U.S. banks need a total of $75 billion in new capital to fortify themselves in case the recession deepens, the Federal Reserve says.

In releasing the results of its "stress test" for banks, the Fed said the financial system is recovering but is not fully recovered.

Here's some of what chairman Ben Bernanke had to say:

These examinations were not tests of solvency; we knew already that all these institutions meet regulatory capital standards. Rather, the assessment program was a forward-looking, "what-if" exercise intended to help supervisors gauge the extent of the additional capital buffer necessary to keep these institutions strongly capitalized and lending, even if the economy performs worse than expected between now and the end of next year.

The results released today should provide considerable comfort to investors and the public. The examiners found that nearly all the banks that were evaluated have enough Tier 1 capital to absorb the higher losses envisioned under the hypothetical adverse scenario. Roughly half the firms, though, need to enhance their capital structure to put greater emphasis on common equity, which provides institutions the best protection during periods of stress. Many of the institutions have already taken actions to bolster their capital buffers and are well-positioned to raise capital from private sources over the next six months. However, our government, through the Treasury Department, stands ready to provide whatever additional capital may be necessary to ensure that our banking system is able to navigate a challenging economic downturn.

Read his full statement.

The New York Times, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times have more background, context and reaction.

Glimmers in retail sales, fewer new jobless claims, banks surviving the stress test, Americans cutting their debt load — all good news for Wall Street, right?

If only.

Seems stocks were undercut by government bonds. As MarketWatch explains, an auction of 30-year Treasury bonds drew a dismal response, raising worries that fading demand for government debt could hike the cost of capital and further dent the economy.

An early rally was tripped up by financial, telephone and technology shares. For the day, the Dow Jones lost 1.2% (102.43 points) to end at 8,409.85; the S&P 500 shed 1.32% (12.14 points) to 907.39; the Nasdaq retreated 2.44% (42.86 points) to 1,716.24; and the Russell 2000 small-cap index slipped 2.41% (12.15 points) to close at 492.94.

“We just came a long way off of the idea of the world coming to an end and at some point we’d be getting a pullback,” Michael Holland, whose Holland & Co. oversees more than $4 billion in assets, told Bloomberg. “The market has been hoping for less uncertainty. It’s not clear if the results of the stress tests are giving us that.”

USA TODAY's Adam Shell looks at whether "sell in May and go away" will hold true.

Update at 5 p.m. ET: Anticipating the release of the government's stress test, Wells Fargo Bank says it will sell $6 billion in stock to bolster its reserves.

Earlier, Morgan Stanley announced it would raise $5 billion by selling stock and debt not backed by the government.

A wildfire that is tearing through California's Santa Barbara County has destroyed dozens of homes and remains essentially out of control, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today.

Firefighers said an exact total was impossible to calculate.

"Wind and smoke inhibit our ability to really get a handle," said Capt. David Sadecki of the Santa Barbara County Fire. "It is difficult to get in and get an accurate assessment."

The forecast calls for strong winds into tomorrow, the Times said.

Some numbers: The Los Angeles Times reports that 13,575 people have been driven from their homes, 1,300 acres have burned and 1,400 firefighters are battling the Jesusita blaze. Ten firefighters have been suffered smoke inhalation, second- or third-degree burns or other injuries, the Times said.

(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

A North Carolina woman who returned an artifact fragment to Italian authorities 25 years after her husband pocketed it in Rome said today she never felt comfortable keeping it, the Associated Press reported.

Janice Johnsen, 52, said her eldest son's death prompted her to do the right thing.

"Whenever I looked at it, I'd feel bad about it,” Greensboro resident Janice Johnsen, 52, told AP. “Then, a little over a year ago, our oldest son was killed suddenly. Since then, we've been struggling with some hard things.”

Johnsen said the terra cotta fragment, the size of a fist, sat on a shelf with their other travel souvenirs. She said she mailed it back anonymously, but put her return address on the package.
   
She told AP she read that historic sites can be ruined by people removing small bits. “I hope they don't think we're horrible people,” she said. “It was a silly thing to do.”

The Italian archaeological office said the piece probably did not come from near the Colosseum as the Johnsens remembered, but "the gesture of returning the piece by the U.S. couple is still important."

Read Italian? Check out Nel Mondo's version of the story, in Italian, here.

With many newspapers in crisis, veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus offers a pungent analysis of the problem in an article titled "Newspaper Narcissism" for the Columbia Journalism Review.It is a hard-hitting view not likely to go down well with his colleagues. Readers: Do you agree or disagree? 

Click here for the full article.

Excerpts:

Editors have paid more attention to what gains them prestige among their journalistic peers than on subjects more related to the everyday lives of readers. For example, education affects everyone, yet I cannot name an outstanding American journalist on this subject. Food is an important subject, yet regular newspaper coverage of agriculture and the products we eat is almost nonexistent unless cases of food poisoning turn up. Did journalists adequately warn of the dangers of subprime mortgages? I don’t think so...

We have turned into a public-relations society. Much of the news Americans get each day was created to serve just that purpose—to be the news of the day. Many of our headlines come from events created by public relations—press conferences, speeches, press releases, canned reports, and, worst of all, snappy comments by “spokesmen” or “experts.” To serve as a counterpoint, we need reporters with expertise....

Today, mainstream print and electronic media want to be neutral, presenting both or all sides as if they were refereeing a game in which only the players—the government and its opponents—can participate. They have increasingly become common carriers, transmitters of other people’s ideas and thoughts, irrespective of import, relevance, and at times even accuracy.

When is the last time you saw a major newspaper or television network set out its own agenda for candidates to take up? At a time when it is most needed, the media, and particularly newspapers, have lost their voices.

Update at 2:15 p.m. ET: Here is an excerpt from Wesleyan University President Michael Roth's blog today regarding the incident:

 As most readers of this blog will know, Wesleyan has suffered an unspeakable loss. Johanna Justin-Jinich was shot to death while at work at the Red and Black Cafe on the corner of William and High Streets. Police have reasons to believe that the alleged gunman, now identified as Stephen Morgan, had known the victim in the past. They also have evidence of his hostility to the Wesleyan community, and to Jews, as expressed in his personal writings.

We are in mourning, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Johanna’s friends and family. My office and our emergency team is also focused on keeping our community safe. We are working closely with the Middletown Police Department, and I am very grateful for their assistance.

Classes are over, and we have canceled all special events. We are deploying additional security and instructing students to remain indoors. We continue to re-assess the safety context with the help of appropriate authorities.

Update at 2:05 p.m. ET: The university has released this photograph taken by a store security camera of the suspect:

Police say a man wanted in a bookstore killing in Connecticut may be targeting Wesleyan University and Jews and have urged students to stay locked in their dorms, the Associated Press reports.

The only synagogue in Middletown, Conn., has also been closed.

Police are looking for 29-year-old Stephen Morgan who they believe disguised himself with a wig and shot a 21-year-old junior in a cafe inside a popular local bookstore.

The victim, Johanna Justin-Jinich, from Colorado, was Jewish. Middletown's police chief says evidence suggests that Morgan "may be focused on the Wesleyan University campus as well as the Jewish community," the AP reports.

Local police would only say that the shooting was not a random act, but a New York City police report shows that Morgan allegedly threatened Justin-Jinich in 2007, when they were attending New York University, the AP reports.

Greg Morgan, the suspect's brother,  tells the AP that his family is "absolutely distraught" and hopes police find him. He says the family wants to be sure "no one else gets hurt."

(Photos from Wesleyan University; photo on right via AP)

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez will be suspended for 50 games for positive drug test, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The newspaper says the suspension is effective beginning with tonight's game.

The Times, which did not name its sources for the report, says the suspension will be announced later today.

The Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals Monday night to set a Major League Baseball record by winning their 13th consecutive game at home to start the season.

Update at 12:20 p.m. ET: The Associated Press now is also carrying the report of the suspension.

(Photo by Lori Shepler, AP)

After two frustrating days, searchers in Missouri have found alive a 3-year-old boy who wandered away from his home in the rugged hills of the Mark Twain National Forest, the Associated Press reports.

Joshua Childers, who slipped away from his family's mobile home near Arcadia in rural southeast Missouri Monday morning, was in remarkably good condition, the AP says.

Donnie Halpin, a search volunteer, found the boy lying on the ground after he spotted stray dogs sniffing at something Wednesday afternoon. Halpin told the AP that he  wasn't sure at first if he was alive and shouted "Hey, Bud." But Joshua "jumped right up and grinned and me," he said.

"I said, 'You ready to go home?' He said, 'Yeah,'" Halpin told AP.

Halpin said Joshua wasn't crying or complaining. "He hung on to me pretty tight," Halpin said. "Outside of a few scratches, he was in really good shape."

(Photo via AP)

The Democratic leadership has reversed course and decided to give newly minted Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter a chairmanship. The move comes one day after the Dems had stripped the 28-year veteran senator of his seniority and relegated him to the status of a junior senator.

The Associated Press, The Politico, CQPolitics and other news outlets report that Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois is turning over to Specter his own chairmanship of the Judiciary committee's subcommittee on crime and drugs. The AP calls the subcommittee, which is responsible for drug sentencing, one of the busiest panels.

The news agency says Durbin's move is designed to placate the Pennsylvania senator "after Democrats failed to honor his 28 years of seniority on committees."

Specter announced he was leaving the GOP, where he was the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, after polls showed he would have trouble winning the Republican primary in Pennsylvania in 2010.

President Obama will speak at 10:35 a.m. ET today to release his 2010 budget. 

We will offer highlights here, but our friends at The Oval will be live-blogging. Click here to follow along.

Update at 11:27 a.m. ET: The president challenged Congress to approve $17 billion in additional spending cuts in the coming budget year, a sum that amounts to less than one-half of one percent of the total federal budget, the Associated Press reports.

Obama said that Americans are tightening their belts in these difficult times and want to know if Washington “is prepared to act with the same sense of responsibility.”

Republicans immediately denounced the proposed cuts as too modest, the AP says.  “The resulting savings are relatively minor compared with the government’s fiscal woes,” said House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, the AP reports.

USA TODAY's William M. Welch has a fascinating story today on how the Pentagon is responding to the eye-opening statistic that more Marines died stateside on motorcycles in 2008 than were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"That was a wake-up call," says Rear Adm. Arthur Johnson, commander of the Naval Safety Center. "It focuses your attention on what your real issues are."

Rather than try to curtail motorcycle riding, the military is pushing training courses on troops who ride, Welch writes. Click here for the full story.

An American man has been arrested in Burma for allegedly swimming across a lake to sneak into the heavily guarded compound of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Associated Press reports.

The man, identified only as John William Yeattaw, was fished out of Inya Lake after returning from a visit to Suu Kyi's home, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reports, according to the AP.

Police in Burma, also known as Myanmar, guard the home from checkpoints and barbed-wire barricades but rarely enter it. After the security breach was detected, neighbors reported that 20 police entered the compound, presumably to search it, the AP reports.

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has been kept under house arrest for more than 13 of the past 19 years.

The newspaper report said the American man had confessed to swimming across the lake Sunday evening, sneaking into Suu Kyi’s residence and then swimming back late Tuesday when he was caught.

The newspaper said the man swam with an empty plastic water jug, presumably to use as a float.

A spokesman from the U.S. Embassy in Yangon said consular officers were “seeking access” to the man as is routine in any case of an American citizen arrested overseas, the AP says.

(Top photo by Khin Maung Win, AP; photo of Suu Kyi by AFP/Getty Images)

"The golden rays of sunrise enrich the beautiful colors of fall in this typical New England village," says Faces of Nature photographer Eric Virkler.

We're posting this and other photographs from the My Town series on a U.S. map. Go here and click on the red markers for a fresh glimpse of America.

What does your town look like? Show us. It can be a beautiful sunrise, snarled traffic over the Hudson or kids lazing on a park bench. In other words, anything that you think reflects your town. Here are a few guidelines:

The photo should be current, it should reflect something about your town and it must be your original work on which you control all the rights. Please submit only one photo.

Please include the name of the town or city and a line or two of description, plus your name, so we can give you a photo credit if your submission is selected. Also include an e-mail address and/or phone number (which we will NOT publish) in case we have any questions.  Send it to OnDeadline@usatoday.com.