News For Wednesday Nov 19, 2008 News For Wednesday Nov 19, 2008

U.S. U.S.

Recused US attorney discussed Siegelman case - Added 4 days ago

A U.S. attorney who recused herself from the corruption case against former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman because of potential political conflicts still closely monitored the case and communicated with prosecutors about...

FBI: Powder sent to Mormon headquarters nontoxic - Added 4 days ago

The FBI says the white powder that spilled onto a mail clerk's hand at the Utah headquarters of the Mormon church is nontoxic. FBI spokesman Juan T. Becerra said Friday that tests came back negative. The powder was in...

Former CEO of Iowa kosher slaughterhouse arrested - Added 4 days ago

!!-- pobj:IACED201-1030081520 -->A former executive of a kosher slaughterhouse that was the site of one of the nation's largest immigration raids was arrested Friday on a bank fraud charge and ordered jailed until at...

500K illegal immigrants defying deportation orders - Added 4 days ago

Zeituni Onyango came to the United States seeking asylum from her native Kenya but was turned down and ordered to leave the country in 2004. Four years later, she is still here. And her nephew is about to become...

Appeals court says tax scofflaw has to pay IRS - Added 4 days ago

Millionaire tax scofflaw Walter Anderson may have to pay more than $200 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, federal appellate judges said Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...

Feds draft indictment against Blackwater guards - Added 4 days ago

More than a year after Blackwater Worldwide security guards opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square, top Justice Department prosecutors are reviewing a draft indictment against six of the contractors, people close to...

Vt. town grows divisible over Pledge of Allegiance - Added 4 days ago

!!-- pobj:VTAP101-1114081232 -->!!-- pobj:VTAP102-1114081232 -->No one is sure when daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance fell by the wayside at Woodbury Elementary School. But efforts to restore them have...

Lungren challenges House GOP leader John Boehner - Added 4 days ago

A conservative lawmaker challenged House GOP Leader John Boehner for his job Friday after Republicans lost at least 20 seats in last week's elections. In entering the race, California Rep. Dan Lungren said Republicans...

Summary of actions Friday by the Supreme Court - Added 4 days ago

The Supreme Court on Friday accepted five appeals for review: _A challenge to a campaign finance law from a conservative group that made a movie critical of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in connection with her...

Group seeks records on missing White House e-mails - Added 4 days ago

How did White House e-mails go missing? A federal appeals court is cool to the idea of forcing the Bush administration to reveal records that might explain what happened. During a half-hour-long argument Friday, the...

Schwarzenegger wants to trim Calif.'s 14 holidays - Added 4 days ago

!!-- pobj:SC101-1113081041 -->!!-- pobj:SC102-1113081059 -->California's generous offering of holidays for state workers _ the equivalent of nearly three work weeks _ is among the items Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is...

Mayor to town folk: You're too stupid to work with - Added 4 days ago

You can't call Bill Beck the mayor of "stupid" town anymore. The former St. Anthony mayor resigned from his post at a city council meeting Wednesday night, but not before telling off the townspeople and his fellow city...

Student's trial delayed in Palin hacking case - Added 4 days ago

!!-- pobj:TNKNN101-1114081422 -->The complexity of a computer crime trumped the need for a speedy trial Friday in the case of the son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker charged with breaking into the e-mail...

Former Interior Dept. official gets probation - Added 4 days ago

A former Interior Department official who pleaded guilty to creating a lucrative post-retirement consulting position for himself received probation from a federal judge on Friday. Jimmy W. Mayberry, 65, of Strawn,...

US appeals court to hear 1964 Klan killings case - Added 4 days ago

A federal appeals court agreed Friday to hear arguments that a reputed Ku Klux Klansman's conviction in the abductions of two black teenagers found slain in 1964 should not have been overturned. James Ford Seale, 73,...

Product recalls: muffin tops - Added 4 days ago

The following recall has been announced: _ Seattle's Favorite Gourmet Cookies & Dessert Co. is recalling orange cranberry and banana nut muffin tops because they contain undeclared milk, which could cause a severe...

THE INFLUENCE GAME: Lobbyists adapt to power shift - Added 4 days ago

Wanted: Democratic congressional aide seeking new career. Must have strong powers of persuasion, excellent connections and good marksmanship. Contact the National Rifle Association's government affairs office for...

Counterterrorism remains top Justice Dept. concern - Added 4 days ago

Keeping the nation safe from terrorists remains the top challenge for the Justice Department as its leaders prepare to hand off the huge agency, which includes the FBI, in the first presidential transition since 9/11. ...

Security focused on protesters more than terror - Added 4 days ago

U.S. intelligence officials say they have no credible information about potential terrorist or criminal attacks against a weekend summit in Washington of world leaders to deal with the global financial crisis. In fact,...

Justice Dept. OKs beer merger with slight hiccup - Added 4 days ago

The Justice Department approved a $52 billion beer buzz Friday, allowing Belgian-based InBev SA to buy out Anheuser-Busch and create the world's largest brewer. But InBev's buzz comes with a slight hiccup: it must sell...

High Court to decide limits on retrials - Added 4 days ago

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide when prosecutors may retry criminal defendants after a jury votes not guilty on some charges, but fails to reach a verdict on others. Federal appeals courts are divided on the...

Texas probe leads to crackdown on dogfighting ring - Added 4 days ago

Law enforcement officials in Texas say they've cracked down on one of the nation's largest dogfighting operations. They filed charges against 55 people and seized more than 100 dogs. The Texas Department of Public...

Ask AP: Space noise, building where hurricanes hit - Added 4 days ago

You may have seen dramatic pictures of the surface of Mars, sent back by some camera-toting space probe. But have you ever wondered what it sounds like up there? A reader curious about efforts to record sound on...

Groups line up for another bailout - Added 4 days ago

It's the last call for a multibillion-dollar bailout from Congress, and business and labor groups are eagerly lining up for their share. With votes scheduled in the Senate next week on a $25 billion emergency loan...

Salvation Army testing plastic at red kettles - Added 4 days ago

It's a true season of change: The Salvation Army is experimenting with a plastic alternative for folks who don't have cash to throw in a holiday red kettle. This season, five bell-ringers in El Paso County, Colo., will...

Bush: Financial system reforms are `essential' - Added 4 days ago

President George W. Bush, in a run-up to an international summit on the economic crisis, said Friday that reforms to improve oversight and transparency of the financial system were essential, but warned against too much...

Mass. settles with Big Dig contractor for $21M - Added 4 days ago

There's been another settlement in the problem-plagued Big Dig highway project in Boston. Modern Continental, one of the massive project's largest contractors, has agreed to pay $21 million in damages and not perform...

SC Gov. Sanford named head of GOP governor group - Added 4 days ago

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is the new chairman of the Republican Governors Association. In a statement released by the group Friday, Sanford said he was honored to be elected by his colleagues. The association...

Bush picks federal prosecutor to oversee bailout - Added 4 days ago

President George W. Bush on Friday picked a federal prosecutor in New York to be a Treasury-based special inspector general to oversee the massive $700 billion financial rescue plan. If confirmed by Senate, Neil...

Democratic source: Obama, Clinton meet in Chicago - Added 4 days ago

President-elect Barack Obama has met in Chicago with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is under consideration for secretary of state. A Democratic official says the two former presidential rivals met Thursday afternoon...

MISSING TITLE - Added 4 days ago

President-elect Barack Obama to meet with vanquished Republican rival John McCain Monday. ...

Tube-side chat? Obama takes radio address online - Added 4 days ago

The traditional White House radio address is going virtual. President-elect Barack Obama is taping Saturday's weekly Democratic address not just for listeners, but for YouTube viewers, his office said Friday. And he...

Big Three carmakers line up for another bailout - Added 4 days ago

All aboard, there may be another bailout train leaving the station on Capitol Hill. Talk of a $25 billion emergency loan package for the Big Three carmakers that could see a vote in a postelection session of Congress...

Texas death row inmate threatens senator again - Added 4 days ago

A death row inmate who allegedly threatened a legislator from a smuggled cell phone last month now has sent a letter threatening the same lawmaker, authorities said. Prison investigators said Thursday that they...

Obituaries in the news - Added 4 days ago

C. Harmon Brown SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ C. Harmon Brown, a pioneer in sports science and medicine who advocated for female athletes, died Tuesday. He was 78. Brown died of cancer, USA Track & Field said in a news...

Gas leaked eyed in Colorado blast that killed 1 - Added 4 days ago

Authorities were trying to determine whether a natural gas leak caused an explosion that leveled a restaurant and a shop, killing one person, injuring at least seven and forcing several downtown blocks to evacuate. At...

Report: Illegal immigrant minors mistreated by US - Added 4 days ago

Federal authorities have compromised the rights and safety of some unaccompanied illegal immigrant children they have detained, and inadequate government guidelines are partly to blame, according to a Texas-based...

Calif. clerks: When does gay-marriage ban begin? - Added 4 days ago

County clerks across California are clamoring for legal advice to resolve confusion about when to begin the gay-marriage ban that voters passed last week in a ballot initiative. At least three same-sex couples have...

US advises EU to tread carefully with Russia - Added 4 days ago

As the European Union prepares to restart talks on cooperation with Russia, the United States is warning that the move could undermine Western attempts to rein in the Kremlin's aggressive foreign policy. The EU...

NY pet cemetery ranked among Taj Mahal, pyramids - Added 5 days ago

A travel guide's list of the best places in the world to be entombed includes a cemetery for animals in a New York City suburb. "Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009" includes the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery with the Taj...

Law enforcement wary about protesters at summit - Added 5 days ago

As world leaders were gathering this weekend for an economic summit, law enforcement authorities were less concerned about international terrorists than about angry protesters _ possibly including people left jobless by...

Analysis: Few upsides for Bush in economic summit - Added 5 days ago

Nine weeks before leaving office, President George W. Bush has little to gain from a weekend summit to rally a coordinated international response to the global economic mess. European leaders seek aggressive financial...

What world leaders want from Washington summit - Added 5 days ago

World leaders are gathering Friday and Saturday in Washington to grapple with the global financial crisis. There are conflicting ideas about how to deal with the problem, what reforms are needed and what should fall...

Correction: Anti-Hispanic bias crimes story - Added 5 days ago

In a Nov. 12 story about anti-Hispanic bias crimes, The Associated Press misidentified the dean at the University of California Davis School of Law. He is Kevin Johnson, not Kevin Brown. ...

Atlantic City mayor faces big job in short term - Added 5 days ago

!!-- pobj:NJATL102-1113081317 -->!!-- pobj:NJATL101-1113081317 -->With $7 billion worth of casino projects on indefinite hold and gambling hall revenue plunging for the second straight year, Atlantic City's new mayor...

Ky. farmers manage solid yields despite weather - Added 5 days ago

Roller-coaster weather that included a soggy spring, hurricane-induced winds and drought had Kentucky grain farmers expecting the worst for this year's harvest. But when combines started rolling, some corn producers...

Coal plants jeopardized over climate - Added 5 days ago

The fate of scores of new coal-burning power plants is now in limbo over whether to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The uncertainty resulted when an Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel on Thursday...

Hot toilet pump prompts jet's emergency landing - Added 5 days ago

An airport official says a Virgin Atlantic jet carrying nearly 350 people has made an emergency landing after crew members felt heat coming from the plane's floor. But Airport Director Jon Rosborough told the Star-News...

Dunwoody to be first female four-star general - Added 5 days ago

From its humble beginning 33 years ago at Fort Sill, Okla., the career of Ann E. Dunwoody is ascending to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general. At a Pentagon promotion ceremony...

VP-elect Biden hopes to be a hands-on No. 2 - Added 5 days ago

Vice President-elect Joe Biden was all smiles Thursday when he paid a courtesy call the man he will succeed, Dick Cheney. But he has insisted he wants to be nothing like him. Biden has called Cheney "the most dangerous...