03/01/2010

Starbucks stuck in crossfire of gun-toting and gun-control groups
Dale Welch recently walked into a Starbucks in Virginia, handgun strapped to his waist, and ordered a banana Frappuccino with a cinnamon bun. He says the firearm drew a double-take from at least one customer, but not a peep from the baristas.

Colleges beef up alcohol-offense notifications to get parents to help curb drinking
At Virginia Tech, where tailgating and raucous apartment complex parties are time-honored rituals, university officials are turning increasingly to Mom and Dad to curb problem underage drinking.

02/28/2010

Obama's first medical checkup as president finds him 'fit for duty'
Navy Capt. Jeffrey Kuhlman said after the 90-minute exam at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., that he saw nothing that would prevent Obama from fulfilling his term as president. According to the White House, Kuhlman recommended that Obama "continue smoking cessation efforts" and modify his exercise regimen to strengthen his leg muscles to overcome occasional pain from chronic tendinitis in his left leg.

03/01/2010

GOP's Kyl says Congress will pass extended jobless benefits
WASHINGTON – Congress will pass legislation aimed at keeping certain jobless benefits, highway and transit money and other government programs funded, Sen. Jon Kyl, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, said Sunday.

FBI probe of unsolved civil rights killings yields many secrets
WASHINGTON – Three years after the FBI pledged to investigate more than 100 unsolved civil rights killings, the agency is ready to close all but a handful. Investigators say they have solved most of the mysteries behind the cases, but few will result in indictments, given the passage of decades, the deaths of prime suspects and the challenge of gathering evidence.

02/27/2010

Killer whales at Florida's SeaWorld perform for first time since trainer's death
More than 2,000 people watched killer whales perform Saturday at SeaWorld for the first time since one of the orcas dragged a trainer to her death underwater in front of horrified spectators three days ago.

02/28/2010

San Francisco considers a crackdown on nuisance Haight crimes
SAN FRANCISCO – In the Tenderloin, not far from tourists at the historic cable car turnaround, the city's incoming police chief was shocked to see open drug dealing.

02/26/2010

Shows to go on at SeaWorld after death
Shamu shows will resume Saturday, but staff at the for-profit parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego won't get back in the water with the hulking ocean predators until SeaWorld and a panel of outside experts complete a top-to-bottom review of how the company handles orcas.

Third blizzard this month smacks East, disrupts air travel
Every form of travel was miserable if not impossible. More than 1,000 flights were canceled, bus service across northern New Jersey was knocked out and roads from Ohio to West Virginia to Maine were closed. State troopers used snowmobiles to reach motorists stranded for hours on an eastern New York highway.

Missed restitution payment could threaten Ex-Detroit mayor's stay in Southlake
The Michigan Court of Appeals agreed to postpone a court hearing scheduled for Friday, but Kwame Kilpatrick still could face arraignment on the charge of violating his probation by missing a $79,011 restitution payment due last week.

02/27/2010

American Red Cross among agencies planning relief efforts
Anita Foster, senior communications officer for the American Red Cross in Dallas, said Saturday that the U.S. agency is in contact with the Chilean Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to determine how best to help those affected by the earthquake in Chile.

02/26/2010

Cows make lousy house guests, Arkansas woman learns
A woman in Murfreesboro recalls the day she came home to find three bovines inside.

02/25/2010

Senate signs off on jobs bill
WASHINGTON – The Senate easily passed a $15 billion jobs bill Wednesday amid hope that the measure could provide a blueprint for other items on President Barack Obama's agenda.

Obama picks Beaumont judge to be U.S. attorney for Collin, Denton, East Texas
The selection of John B. Stevens Jr. gives hope that a political impasse over judicial nominees in Texas may have been broken.

Obama: Bipartisan health deal may not be possible
Obama strongly suggested that Democrats will try to pass a sweeping overhaul without GOP support, by using controversial Senate budget rules that would disallow filibusters.
Opinion: Summit wrapup, analysis
Poll shows less fear on health overhaul
Read more about the president's plan

Whale attacks, kills trainer during Florida SeaWorld show
ORLANDO, Fla. – A killer whale attacked and killed a trainer in front of a horrified audience at a SeaWorld show Wednesday, with witnesses saying the animal involved in two previous deaths dragged the trainer under and thrashed her around violently.

02/24/2010

Toyota CEO apologizing for recall, accidents
Akio Toyoda addressed Congress Wednesday regarding safety lapses that led to widespread recalls for accelerator and brake failures and for a corporate culture that may have made things worse.
Link: Toyota recall information
Link: Toyoda's Wall Street Journal opinion piece
Get autos news, reviews

02/25/2010

Democrats look beyond health care summit
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats are looking beyond the White House health care summit, reckoning that today's session will amount to little more than political theater and focusing instead on a final round of intraparty negotiations likely to determine the fate of President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Obama's health care summit will be televised

02/24/2010

Texas could feel impact of Obama's proposal to review health insurance premiums
The Obama administration's proposal to regulate health insurance premiums would add new supervision to a market in Texas that has largely been free from vigorous oversight.

02/26/2010

SeaWorld says it's keeping orca that killed trainer; shows suspended
ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite calls to free or destroy the animal, SeaWorld said Thursday that it will keep the killer whale that drowned its trainer but will suspend all orca shows while it decides whether to change the way handlers work with the behemoths.

02/24/2010

Lawmaker's attention to logistics emphasizes health care summit's high stakes
WASHINGTON – An intense argument has been raging ahead of Thursday's health care summit: Will President Barack Obama and members of Congress sit around a U-shaped table or a round one?

Documents: Husband of Alabama professor accused of killings made threatening comments about a Harvard professor
BOSTON – The husband of the neuroscientist accused of killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama in Huntsville told a witness he wanted to harm a Harvard professor who was later mailed a pipe bomb in 1993, according to newly released federal documents.

Ole Miss ready to find new mascot
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi students voted Tuesday for the school to pursue a new mascot to replace Colonel Reb, the goateed Southern gent banished from the sidelines nearly seven years ago as the school continued its move away from symbols of the Old South.

Researchers cite influx of plastic in Pacific 'Garbage Patch'
HONOLULU – Researchers say a high concentration of plastic debris is floating in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean.

Military officials oppose quick repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'
WASHINGTON – Top Army and Air Force officers said Tuesday that they would be reluctant to overturn a 17-year policy that prohibits gays from serving openly in the military without more time to ascertain that it won't hurt the services.

Report: Georgia led states in influx of immigrants over for past nine years
ATLANTA – When the Olympic Games came to Atlanta in 1996, a building boom transformed the landscape of downtown and brought with it an influx of Latino immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Democrats may try to circumvent filibuster
WASHINGTON – Democrats and Republicans agree that President Barack Obama's much-touted televised summit Thursday has virtually no chance of breaking the political logjam on health care legislation.

Gun laws become looser under Obama
When President Barack Obama took office, gun rights advocates sounded the alarm, warning that he intended to strip them of their arms and ammunition.

Cheney recovering from mild heart attack
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Dick Cheney is recovering from a mild heart attack – his latest bout in a long battle against heart disease.

Food makers quietly search for alternative to BPA in packaging
Major U.S. food makers are quietly investigating how to rid their containers of bisphenol A, a chemical under scrutiny by federal regulators concerned about links to a range of health problems, including reproductive disorders and cancer.

02/23/2010

Report: Wall Streeters got $20B in bonuses in 2009
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Tuesday that the payouts, coming a year after taxpayers bailed out the financial industry, were about 17 percent higher than the previous year.
Banks report small profit but 'problem' list jumps
Retailers profits rise, but customers hold back
Blog: Economy Watch

Tests show Dick Cheney had fifth heart attack, aide says
An aide to Dick Cheney says tests on the former vice president showed "evidence of a mild heart attack."

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: Recalls won't totally fix gas pedal issues
James Lentz, president of Toyota's U.S. operations, told a congressional panel on Tuesday that electronic systems connected to the gas pedal and fuel line did not contribute to the problem the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.

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.

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