02/23/2010

Man pleads guilty to plotting al-Qaeda terror attack on New York subways
NEW YORK – A former airport shuttle driver accused of buying beauty supplies to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways pleaded guilty Monday, admitting he agreed to conduct an al-Qaeda-led "martyrdom operation" because of U.S. involvement in his native Afghanistan.

High blood pressure a neglected disease that warrants action in U.S., Institute of Medicine report finds
WASHINGTON – A critical new report declares high blood pressure in the U.S. to be a neglected disease – a term that usually describes mysterious tropical illnesses, not a well-known plague of rich countries.

Older adults' pot use up
MIAMI – In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times , if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.

Car driven by serial killer Ted Bundy is now a tourist attraction in D.C.
WASHINGTON – It may not be the Lincoln Memorial or the Smithsonian, but the tan 1968 Volkswagen Beetle driven by Ted Bundy, one of the most prolific serial killers in history, is now a tourist attraction in the nation's capital.

Researchers hope to take bite out of mosquitoes by breeding wingless females
WASHINGTON – First it was just swatting. Then poison. Then sterilizing males. Is there anything people won't try in the war against mosquitoes?

Ole Miss' Colonel Reb is gone with the wind
The University of Mississippi dumped the mascot, a caricature of a white plantation owner, in a 2003 effort to distance the school from Old South stereotypes. It's been without a mascot ever since. A vote today could change that.

Toyota apologizes for handling of safety issues
The president of Toyota's U.S. operations is apologizing for the company's slow handling of sudden acceleration problems in its vehicles, saying it took too long to confront the issue.

02/22/2010

Obama takes health care bill into his own hands
President Barack Obama issued his own blueprint for a health care overhaul on Monday and laid the groundwork for an aggressive parliamentary maneuver to pass the legislation using only Democratic votes if this week brings no progress toward a bipartisan solution.
Link: Details of the president's proposal

Home-grown terrorism matches threat from abroad, Napolitano says
WASHINGTON – Americans who turn to terrorism and plot against the U.S. are now as big a concern as international terrorists, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday.

02/23/2010

Suit seeks return of donations Stanford made to campaign committees
WASHINGTON – Congressional campaign committees that collected donations from jailed Texas banker R. Allen Stanford and his company will have to answer in court why they think they ought to keep the money.

02/22/2010

Obama seeks uniform education standards for states to get $14 billion in funds
WASHINGTON – In a proposed change to the No Child Left Behind law, the Obama administration would require states to adopt new academic standards to qualify for federal money from a $14 billion program that concentrates on impoverished students, the White House said Sunday.

California considers creating online registry of animal abusers
SAN FRANCISCO – California may soon place animal abusers on the same level as sex offenders by listing them in an online registry, complete with their home addresses and places of employment.

Food labels urged to reduce choking cases
CHICAGO – When 4-year-old Eric Stavros Adler choked to death on a piece of hot dog, his anguished mother said she never dreamed that the popular kids' food could be so dangerous.

Airlines' TB rules called too tough
ATLANTA – Provocative new research suggests international rules that bar potentially infectious tuberculosis patients from flying are too stringent and airline passengers are really at little risk from catching TB from a fellow traveler.

New law that shows credit card costs may lead to shock for some
Your next credit card statement is going to contain an ugly truth: how much that card really costs to use. Now, thanks to a long-awaited law that goes into effect Monday, you'll know that if you pay the minimum on a $3,000 balance with a 14 percent interest rate, it could take you 10 years to pay off.

Mennonite college to end star-spangled ban on national anthem at sports events
GOSHEN, Ind. – For more than a century, there was no playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Goshen College – a small Christian college with ties to the Mennonite Church.

3 Florida girls killed while walking on train bridge
MELBOURNE, Fla. – Three teen girls were joking and taking pictures on a narrow bridge when they were hit by a train, killing them as a friend watched helplessly, police and a witness said Sunday.

02/19/2010

Even stimulus opponents sought funds for Texas
With critics calling the year-old package a colossal waste of money, Democrats have fought back by leveling charges of hypocrisy. Not one Republican voted for the $787 billion plan, but many have tried to wangle funds for the folks back home.
Blog: Trail Blazers
More politics

02/22/2010

Tougher Energy Star standards sought
WASHINGTON – Government data shows that the federal Energy Star program, whose familiar logo adorns products from light bulbs to furnaces, can work a bit like Garrison Keillor's fictional Lake Wobegon, Minn.

02/20/2010

After crash, Iraq war veteran sprang to action with ladder to help 5 get out of building
AUSTIN – Robin De Haven was driving his truck to another job for the glass company he works for when he saw it – a small plane, flying low over a heavily congested area.

At a Glance: Private planes

Ex-mayor Kilpatrick may face jail for missing restitution payment
DETROIT – The prosecutor who forced Kwame Kilpatrick out of the Detroit mayor's office in 2008 said he violated his probation by missing a Friday deadline to make a $79,011 payment toward his $1 million restitution to the city.

02/19/2010

Diabetes drug Avandia hurts heart, reports conclude
Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market.

Since 9/11, little has been done to guard against attacks with small planes
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, cockpit doors were sealed, air marshals were added and airport searches became more aggressive, all to make sure an airliner could never again be used as a weapon. Yet little has been done to guard against attacks with smaller planes.

Wife of pilot in Austin suicide attack expresses sympathy for victims
Rayford Walker, who identified himself as a spokesman for Joseph Stack's family, read a statement from Sheryl Stack while standing in front of a house across the street from the Stack family's burned home.

Dick Armey calls Obama 'shallow,' 'incompetent' in speech at Conservative Political Action Conference
WASHINGTON – Dick Armey, former House majority leader and a force in the Tea Party movement, issued a scathing critique Thursday of President Barack Obama.

02/18/2010

1 year later, results mixed on economic stimulus
WASHINGTON – Did the stimulus work or not? A year after Congress passed President Barack Obama's huge economic revival plan, the results are mixed – and hardly final.

U.S. religious freedom agency criticized for alleged bias
WASHINGTON – Allegations of religious bias are being leveled against a federal body responsible for monitoring international religious freedom.

Officials try to weed out mock pot
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Some industrious marijuana users have seized on an obscure but easily accessible substance that mimics the drug's effects on the brain – creating a popular trade in legal dope that has stymied law enforcement authorities.

02/17/2010

Tiger Woods to break silence with statement Friday at PGA Tour HQ
Woods will speak to a small group of reporters at 11 a.m. Friday from the clubhouse of the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home of the PGA Tour.

02/18/2010

Astronauts treated to view like no other from International Space Station's new observation deck
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In a highly anticipated grand finale to their mission, astronauts opened the shutters on the International Space Station's new observation deck Wednesday and were humbled by "absolutely spectacular" views of Earth from inside the elaborate atrium of windows.

A dangerous commute
3 killed when plane crashes into home

Obama, Dalai Lama to meet, discuss keeping peace with China over Tibet issue
WASHINGTON – Months after he postponed their first meeting in a gesture to China, President Barack Obama will sit down today with the Dalai Lama – two Nobel Peace Prize winners with a mutual interest in coaxing changes from the Chinese and keeping peace in the region.

National Guard soldiers to finally get pay for long tours of duty
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Thousands of National Guard soldiers who served extra-long deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts were supposed to get paid time off when they came home three years ago.

Lawmakers reduce number of earmarks, but their value rises to $15.9 billion
WASHINGTON – Some lawmakers contend they corrupt the process, and President Barack Obama has vowed to sharply reduce them. But Congress devoted nearly $16 billion in earmarks to lawmakers' pet projects in their home states and districts last year – a slight increase over the previous year, although the overall number of earmarks decreased.

Safety commissioner warns of tougher policies on children's products
WASHINGTON – One of the nation's top safety officials is delivering a stern warning to the makers of toys, cribs and other children's products, telling them to put safety first – or face potential fines, lawsuits or other actions.

Conservatives tout 'constitutional' values
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – With polls and recent elections suggesting a possible comeback for Republicans, a group of prominent conservatives unveiled a statement of principles Wednesday called "constitutional conservatism" that they hope will guide a new era of governing.

Program would let high schoolers enter college early
Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th-graders who pass a battery of tests to get a diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college.

U.S. Catholic bishops: Don't remove feeding tubes
CHICAGO – If ever Carol Gaetjens becomes unconscious with no hope of awakening, even if she could live for years in that state, she says she wants her loved ones to discontinue all forms of artificial life support.

The exceptions
Catholic medical institutions are weighing a new directive by U.S. bishops saying that it is not permissible to remove a feeding tube from someone who is unconscious but not dying. There are a few exceptions, including:

Army formulating plans to develop unmanned airship for gathering intelligence
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Army Forces Strategic Command are continuing their multiyear search for a futuristic, self-powered, intelligence-gathering airship.

02/17/2010

Bayh's retirement underscores Congress' inertia
WASHINGTON – The often dysfunctional 111th Congress got a loud wakeup call this week from retiring Sen. Evan Bayh, setting off alarms that moderates and party leaders hope will help them start to make long-sought progress on debt reduction, job creation and even health care.

U.S. backing two new nuclear reactors in effort to promote fuel's use
WASHINGTON – More than $8 billion in new federal loan guarantees to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia could be the first step toward a nuclear renaissance in the United States, three decades after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident halted all new reactor orders.

University of Alabama-Huntsville professor says shooter acted methodically
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A professor who survived a deadly university shooting rampage said Tuesday that the colleague charged in the attack methodically shot her victims in the head until the gun apparently jammed and she was pushed out of the room.

National briefs

Mardi Gras still a hot time despite the cold in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS – Pete Fountain, clarinet in hand and looking dapper in a white tuxedo and fedora trimmed in gold, kicked off Mardi Gras with his "Half Fast Marching Club" the way they have for 50 years: with beads and jazz.

King sculptures ready for shipment
WASHINGTON – Sometime in the next several weeks, if all goes as planned, 159 huge blocks of granite will be loaded aboard ships in the seaport of Xiamen, China, for an 11,000-mile journey to Washington.Bound for a site on the Tidal Basin, the cargo includes one block that bears the likeness of Martin Luther King Jr. and the dreams of generations of African-Americans.

Critics blast script for new JFK miniseries
A new miniseries about John F. Kennedy's presidency that is being prepared by the History channel does not yet have a cast or a premiere date. Not a frame of footage has been shot. It does, however, have prominent critics who want it brought to a halt.

Inherited diseases dwindle as more use genetic testing
Some of mankind's most devastating inherited diseases appear to be declining, and a few have nearly disappeared, because more people are using genetic testing to decide whether to have children.

Protesters steal spotlight at dog show
NEW YORK – A Scottish terrier won America's top dog show Tuesday, and that was pretty predictable. What happened moments before Sadie took the title at Westminster was far more startling.

U.S. ill-prepared for cyberattack, panel warns
WASHINGTON – The United States isn't prepared to respond to an attack on its computer networks that could cripple communications and electrical power systems, a bipartisan group of former government officials said Tuesday.

Federal investigators say Census Bureau wasted $3M on temporary workers
WASHINGTON – Were those pricey Super Bowl ads a waste? Maybe not, but paying $3 million to census employees who didn't do any work surely was.

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