News For Tuesday Nov 18, 2008 News For Tuesday Nov 18, 2008

U.S. U.S.

Bush welcomes US Ryder Cup team to White House - Added 12 hours ago

President George W. Bush celebrated Monday with American golfers who reclaimed the Ryder Cup for the U.S. Bush held a private picture-taking session in the Oval Office with coach Paul Azinger and seven members of the...

Army chief: Soldiers should get more time at home - Added 13 hours ago

After years of longer and more frequent deployments in the Army, soldiers should get more time at home as long as overall demand for troops overseas holds steady, the Army chief of staff said Monday. Increasing the...

Obama solicits donations for CA wildfire victims - Added 13 hours ago

President-elect Barack Obama is using the fundraising power of his campaign Web site to solicit donations and volunteers for wildfire relief efforts in Southern California. The Barackobama.com home page, no longer...

Nominee for overseer of bailout faces senators - Added 13 hours ago

President George W. Bush's choice to be the federal watchdog over the $700 billion bailout for banks and other financial companies promised Monday to use his experience prosecuting mortgage and securities fraud to keep...

Bush bestows medals on administration members, too - Added 13 hours ago

President George W. Bush brought something unusual to a White House awards ceremony Monday: some surprises. At an East Room ceremony honoring this year's recipients of the National Medals of Arts and National...

Maine man sheds 140 pounds to join the Marines - Added 13 hours ago

Army and Navy recruiters took one look at 330-pound Ulysses Milana and told him to forget about joining. "'You've got to lose weight,'" Milana remembers them saying. But Marine recruiters were willing to work with him...

Man drops 140 pounds in 11 months to join Marines - Added 13 hours ago

!!-- pobj:MELEE101-1116081518 -->Army and Navy recruiters took one look at 330-pound Ulysses Milana and told him to forget about joining. "'You've got to lose weight,'" Milana remembers them saying. But Marine...

Informant: 5 spoke little about attacking Fort Dix - Added 13 hours ago

Five men accused of plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix hardly mentioned the military installation in the months before their arrest, a key government informant testified Monday. Mahmoud Omar, the FBI informant,...

Schwarzenegger convenes global climate summit - Added 13 hours ago

Scientists, environmentalists and government and industry officials from around the world meet this week for a summit on greenhouse gas emissions that their host, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, hopes will highlight the...

Auto bailout: A Washington issue beyond lobbying? - Added 13 hours ago

Judging from the lobbying lineup, legislation to bail out the auto industry should be assured of passage. But it isn't, a case of conventional wisdom seemingly turned on its head as one administration gives way to...

Falling boulders endanger lives at Yosemite - Added 13 hours ago

For a decade, the National Park Service has known that the 3,000-foot granite cliff hanging over a tourist village at Yosemite is susceptible to colossal rockslides like one last month that crushed cabins and sent...

Hunter charged in fatal shooting of girl in home - Added 13 hours ago

!!-- pobj:NYMID103-1117081530 -->!!-- pobj:NYMID102-1117081535 -->!!-- pobj:NYMID101-1117081534 -->A deer hunter has been charged with manslaughter after a bullet he fired killed a toddler inside her grandparents'...

Stalemate dims prospects for $25B auto bailout - Added 13 hours ago

Prospects dimmed Monday for enactment of a $25 billion bailout for the faltering auto industry before year's end, as congressional Democrats and the Bush administration seemed headed for a stalemate. Help for Detroit's...

Top US officer comfortable with Iraq security deal - Added 14 hours ago

The nation's top military officer said Monday it probably would take two to three years for the United States to safely move its forces and equipment out of Iraq. However, fulfilling President-elect Barack Obama's...

Admirals, generals: Repeal 'don't ask, don't tell' - Added 14 hours ago

More than 100 retired generals and admirals called Monday for repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays so they can serve openly, according to a statement obtained by The Associated Press. The...

Man who had ricin in Las Vegas gets federal prison - Added 14 hours ago

A man who made enough ricin to kill hundreds of people _ and kept it with him for a decade as he moved to various Western states _ was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 years in federal prison for possessing the deadly toxin. ...

Former Penn professor pleads guilty to child porn - Added 14 hours ago

A former Ivy League professor pleaded guilty Monday to making child pornography and lying to government officials, charges that stemmed from his relationship with a Brazilian teenager. Lawrence Scott Ward, 66,...

Biden speaks with world leaders - Added 14 hours ago

Vice President-elect Joe Biden spoke with several world leaders by phone Monday. Biden has been reaching out to foreign leaders as he and President-elect Barack Obama prepare to take over the White House in January....

Hill sources: Treasury won't use full bailout - Added 15 hours ago

The outgoing Bush administration has told top lawmakers it does not plan to use at least half of the $700 billion bailout fund that Congress approved this fall to aid the financial industry, congressional officials said...

Heavy lake-effect snow hits Great Lakes states - Added 15 hours ago

!!-- pobj:OHAS101-1117080940 -->A blast of cold wind spread snow along the Great Lakes from Michigan to New York on Monday, dumping 2 feet on this central New York town. Snow doesn't usually fall this early in...

Driver sentenced for throwing axe at motorist - Added 15 hours ago

A driver who threw an axe at another motorist, wounding him, has been sentenced to 37 days in jail. The man, 51, was sentenced Friday in Lancaster County Court for third-degree assault and criminal mischief after...

Motorist accused of throwing wrench at vehicle - Added 15 hours ago

A 32-year-old man was booked and jailed for investigation of reckless endangerment and fourth-degree assault on Friday after allegedly throwing a wrench at another vehicle on a highway. The tool broke a vehicle's...

In bad economy, breaking up is even harder to do - Added 15 hours ago

!!-- pobj:NY394-1112080819 -->!!-- pobj:NY395-1112080819 -->Bonnie Rabin is fond of saying that divorce lawyers are a bit like liquor stores. They're busiest in the really good times, and the really bad. These, of...

Skull with built-in sauna turns heads in Austria - Added 15 hours ago

An oversize skull with a built-in sauna is turning heads in the Austrian capital. The white walk-in structure _ situated near a busy Vienna intersection _ is known as the "Wellness Skull" and also boasts a bathtub and...

Bill would ban sale, forgery of inauguration tix - Added 15 hours ago

The senator overseeing President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony introduced legislation Monday to criminalize scalping tickets to the historic event. House offices swamped with demand were being limited to...

Woman accused of forging her parents' checks again - Added 15 hours ago

A Burlington woman awaiting a court of appeals ruling on an earlier conviction for forging her mother's checks has been arrested for allegedly doing it again. The woman, 43, was sentenced last summer to 15 years in...

More security for US-bound private planes - Added 15 hours ago

Closing what he called the last major vulnerability for bringing a weapon of mass destruction into the U.S., Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced new rules for screening passengers and crew members on...

Competing Democratic, GOP auto bailout plans - Added 15 hours ago

Leading Republicans and Democrats say they agree: Detroit's Big Three auto companies are in desperate straits and should get about $25 billion in government money to keep them from going under. But the two parties are...

Spitzer case prosecutor Michael Garcia leaving job - Added 17 hours ago

A high-profile federal prosecutor _ whose office is investigating Wall Street and who toppled New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer _ told superiors at the Justice Department on Monday that he is leaving his job. As the U.S....

Magnitude-4.1 quake near Palomar Observatory - Added 17 hours ago

A moderate earthquake struck early Monday in a remote area of the Cleveland National Forest in northern San Diego County. There were no reports of damage or injury. The magnitude-4.1 temblor struck at 4:35 a.m. about...

Bush calls Gadhafi to laud claims settlement deal - Added 18 hours ago

President Bush called Libya's Moammar Gadhafi to voice his satisfaction with a $1.5 billion payment that Tripoli made to settle a long-standing dispute over terrorist attacks, including the bombing a Pan Am jet over...

Copy of famed Lincoln letter turns up in Dallas - Added 18 hours ago

A Texas museum hopes a document found in its archives turns out to be an authentic government copy of Abraham Lincoln's eloquent letter consoling a mother thought to have lost five sons in the Civil War. The famed...

Judge orders Hatfill search warrant made public - Added 18 hours ago

A federal judge on Monday ordered the Justice Department to release the information it used to persuade the courts to let it search the home of a former Army scientist who was exonerated in the 2001 anthrax attacks. ...

Young killer pleads guilty to Michigan drug charge - Added 19 hours ago

A man who committed murder at age 11 pleaded guilty to drug possession Monday, less than two years after he was released from juvenile detention for the killing. Nathaniel Abraham, 22, entered his plea to a charge of...

Kennedy back at work in Senate - Added 19 hours ago

Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is fighting a malignant brain tumor, is back at work in the Senate for the first time since July. He met Monday with his staff on Capitol Hill as the Senate returned for a brief session to deal...

Yale to expand academic programs about India - Added 20 hours ago

Yale University will expand its academic programs on the culture and society of India, saying its $75 million plan will make the school a leader in the study of the country and surrounding region. The plan will foster...

Paralyzed Calif. man loses high court appeal - Added 20 hours ago

A paralyzed man who has sued hundreds of businesses over accommodations for the disabled lost his Supreme Court appeal Monday to get out from under a court order requiring special permission to file new lawsuits. Jarek...

Supreme Court meeting Monday - Added 22 hours ago

The Supreme Court is meeting to issue decisions and orders in its last public session before Thanksgiving. The justices are expected to hand down at least one opinion from among the cases they heard near the beginning...

Online degrees appealing option for soldiers - Added 22 hours ago

Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and recovering from a grenade attack, Iraq war veteran Ian Newland wanted to pursue a business degree after his discharge from the Army last year. What he didn't want to...

Obama may have to give up his beloved BlackBerry - Added 22 hours ago

Before he ran for president Barack Obama quit smoking. Now that he's won the job, he may have to break another addiction: Checking his BlackBerry for e-mail. The president's e-mail can be subpoenaed by Congress and...

Big particle collider repairs to cost $21 million - Added 23 hours ago

Fixing the world's largest atom smasher will cost at least 25 million francs ($21 million) and may take until early summer, its operator said Monday. An electrical failure shut down the Large Hadron Collider on Sept....

City dwellers learn ropes of rural life - Added 1 day ago

Flooded country roads. Roving packs of dogs with no owners in sight. Overgrown weeds as far as the eye can see. Leaving Southern California for the sprawling Midwest plains had seemed a no-brainer for Dale and Marilyn...

Obituaries in the news - Added 1 day ago

William Bowron BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ William Bowron, who helped transform Red Diamond Coffee and Tea from a small firm into a national player in the beverage industry, has died. He was 87. Family members said Bowron...

Postal Service investigates boss's VIP mortgage - Added 1 day ago

The Postal Service is investigating whether the nation's postmaster general improperly received a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial Corp., the chairman of the service's governing board said. ...

Wash. farmers fight proposed 30K-head feedlot - Added 1 day ago

Farmers fighting farmers. Over water. In the arid West. Sure, it's a saga many years old, but a new twist is brewing on Washington's rural nonirrigated lands, where fourth-generation farmers plant wheat and pray for...

Father and 14-year-old son write about rare bird - Added 1 day ago

A scholarly article on the white-winged diuca finch lists co-author Spencer P. Hardy's affiliation as Marion W. Cross School. The word "Elementary" was dropped. But to the ornithological world, the age of now...

Ark. game warden killed in helicopter crash - Added 1 day ago

A helicopter crashed in central Arkansas on Sunday, killing a state conservation officer who was patrolling for violators of a ban on deer hunting at night. Sgt. Monty Carmikle, 45, was in the Game and Fish helicopter...

Today in History - Nov. 17 - Added 1 day ago

Today is Monday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2008. There are 44 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 17, 1968, the NBC television network outraged football fans by cutting away from the closing...

Burned-out mobile home residents fear for future - Added 1 day ago

Hundreds of nails that once held together single-story, pastel-colored mobile homes now litter the gutters lining the curving streets. Pipes still spurt water, looking for faucets that aren't there anymore. Toolboxes...

Obituaries in the news - Added 1 day ago

Wolfgang Schmitz VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ Wolfgang Schmitz, a former Austrian finance minister and president of the country's central bank, died Sunday. He was 85. Schmitz died after an illness, his People's Party said...