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

U.S. U.S.

Key elements of Senate tax relief package - Added 8 weeks ago

Key components and costs of the Senate tax relief package. Cost estimates are spread over 10 years: Energy incentives _Extends for one or two years and expands production tax credits for wind, refined coal, biomass...

Digital TV transition concerns get technical - Added 8 weeks ago

Even if all goes smoothly, next February's digital television shift is likely to generate hundreds of thousands of complaints from television viewers around the country. A major problem during a test run in Wilmington,...

Horrific football hazing case shakes NM town - Added 8 weeks ago

It was shocking enough when six high school football players were accused of sodomizing six younger teammates with a broomstick during training camp. But the scandal was raised to a whole new level when the coaches were...

Quotes from hearing on financial crisis - Added 8 weeks ago

Some quotes from Tuesday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Bush administration's $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry. ___ "The market turmoil we are experiencing today poses great risk to U.S....

Gulf Coast officials ask Congress for money - Added 8 weeks ago

Gulf Coast officials asked lawmakers on Tuesday for fast federal money for hurricane recovery and a minimum of bureaucratic red tape. Texas is looking at $11.4 billion in damages from Ike, including $16 million in...

Firefighters battle blaze on cargo ship in Miami - Added 8 weeks ago

Firefighters are battling a blaze aboard a cargo ship docked on a waterway in Miami. The fire broke out Tuesday morning aboard the 215-foot-long Mystic, which was loaded with mattresses and vehicles bound for Haiti. ...

Construction workers complain about nude skater - Added 8 weeks ago

Portland Police took a waterfront Lady Godiva down a notch this week. Barely. They were getting calls about a nude skater whizzing past tourists and rush-hour commuters. But you can do that in Oregon, where occasional...

Recalls: Harry Potter bookends, ceiling lights - Added 8 weeks ago

The following recalls have been announced: _ About 36,000 Harry Potter bookends, made in Hong Kong and imported by Giftco Inc., because the paint on the bookends contains high levels of lead, which is toxic if ingested...

Pa. ex-coroner gets probation over 911 password - Added 8 weeks ago

A former county coroner received probation Tuesday for giving newspaper reporters the password to a restricted 911 Web site, and the judge who handed down the sentence accused the journalists of violating their...

Last tree-sitters come down from Calif. redwoods - Added 8 weeks ago

After more than 20 years of protests, the last two people living in the giant redwoods of Northern California were climbing down for good, convinced by the new owners of the forest that the ancient trees would be spared...

Sprinklers douse 2 fires in Las Vegas hotels - Added 8 weeks ago

Guests evacuated three floors of the Bellagio casino resort Tuesday morning after a mattress fire left one man burned and others complaining of smoke inhalation, officials said. Sprinklers contained the 5:50 a.m. fire...

Thai court frees Iranian indicted in US arms case - Added 8 weeks ago

Officials in Thailand have freed a high-ranking Iranian air force officer wanted in San Diego on charges of trying to export U.S. missile parts to Iran. Jamshid Ghassemi, 57, was released after a Thai appellate court...

Lead financial services lawmaker defends trading - Added 8 weeks ago

The top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee struck paydirt on a stock option last year after betting that a Chinese advertising company would jump in value. In a single transaction on Dec. 10, Rep....

Stay or go? 2 paths diverge for NYC mayor - Added 8 weeks ago

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has suddenly managed to make speculation about his future look like a tug of war _ stay four more years and guard the city against financial ruin or leave now and do the same for the nation. In...

Ohio man accused of planting fake pipe bombs - Added 8 weeks ago

Authorities in Ohio are accusing a man of planting fake pipe bombs at two post offices to divert attention while he robbed a bank. The bomb scares on July 29 prompted evacuations in the tiny southern Ohio towns of...

Mom spared death for fire that killed daughter - Added 8 weeks ago

A woman who set her three young daughters on fire, killing one of them, has been sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole in a plea deal that spared her the possibility of the death penalty. Alysha V....

Few truckers, but noisy protest over fuel prices - Added 8 weeks ago

Blame it on the high cost of fuel: Most of the truckers expected at a rally to protest high gas prices couldn't afford to drive to Capitol Hill. More than 200 truckers were expected Tuesday, but fewer than 20 showed in...

House approves Great Lakes compact - Added 8 weeks ago

The House ratified a compact Tuesday to prevent the diversion of water from the Great Lakes, one of the world's largest sources of fresh water. Eight Great Lakes states negotiated the compact after more than four years...

Ex-Pa. lawmaker takes sex-offender fight to court - Added 8 weeks ago

A former state lawmaker who took three sex offenders into his home went to court to challenge zoning officials' decision to bar them. Tom Armstrong, a former tough-on-crime politician who has become interested in...

FDA cracks down on unapproved drugs - Added 8 weeks ago

Federal officials on Tuesday launched a crackdown against several companies that market an eye wash and a widely used skin cream without government approval, saying these prescription medications could pose risks. The...

Bush confident Congress will quickly pass bailout - Added 8 weeks ago

President Bush tried to assure world leaders on Tuesday that he is acting decisively and quickly to contain a U.S. financial crisis that is going global. "I know that many of you here are watching how the United States...

Calif. tribe fears losing land if dam is raised - Added 8 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:CARED501-0618982041 -->The federal government is considering enlarging a dam to boost the state's water supply, which would flood what little land remains above water where a Native American tribe had fished...

Boy, 5, dumped by school bus driver in NYC streets - Added 8 weeks ago

(Stations: Please substitute the following for V1129, slugged Bus Dumps Child, which moved at 9:10 a.m. Eastern time. The new version CORRECTS pronunciation of Bonilla.) NEW YORK (AP) _ A New York City mother wants...

Ex-funeral director pleads in baby remains case - Added 8 weeks ago

A former Pittsburgh-area funeral director has pleaded no contest to storing the corpses of 19 newborn babies in his garage. Under a plea agreement, 64-year-old Robert Winston Jr. of McKeesport also pleaded no contest...

Feds ask to put wolves back on endangered list - Added 8 weeks ago

Federal wildlife officials have asked a judge to put gray wolves in the Northern Rockies back on the endangered species list _ a sharp reversal from the government's prior contention that the animals were thriving. ...

Girl's hand reattached after jump rope accident - Added 8 weeks ago

A 6-year-old girl is recovering after surgeons reattached her left hand, severed when it was caught in a loop of jump rope that had snagged on the axle of her mother's car. Erica Rix underwent 10 hours of surgery after...

Boy, 5, dumped by school bus driver in NYC streets - Added 8 weeks ago

A New York City mother wants to know why her first-grade son was left to wander the streets alone after being dropped off by a school bus driver at the end of the line. School officials say they don't know who put...

Clinton urges protections for taxpayers in bailout - Added 8 weeks ago

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she worries that taxpayers could be left "holding the bag" with plans for a $700 billion government program to stabilize the country's distressed financial markets. Interviewed...

Wreckage believed to be plane missing since 2001 - Added 8 weeks ago

Authorities believe wreckage found on a mountainside in the San Bernardino National Forest is the remains of a plane missing for seven years. The disappearance of 24-year-old pilot Daniel Katz on June 3, 2001, spurred...

NY jury to deliberate cat cruelty case for 2nd day - Added 8 weeks ago

A jury is deciding whether the death of a Sports Illustrated reporter's 8-pound tabby was a tragic accident _ or felonious animal cruelty. Prosecutors say former minor league baseball player Joseph Petcka beat, stomped...

Arkansas official: Children seized were in danger - Added 8 weeks ago

A state official says six girls removed from an evangelical compound over the weekend were taken into custody because they were in immediate danger. "We did make the decision to remove the children that we felt were in...

Former co-defendant testifies against O.J. - Added 8 weeks ago

The first of four former co-defendants who took plea deals after pushing into a cramped hotel room with O.J. Simpson is to tell a Nevada jury more about their six-minute confrontation with two sports memorabilia...

Former US attorney relieved with Ariz. murder case - Added 8 weeks ago

A former U.S. attorney fired in 2006 after clashing with his boss over a death penalty case says he's relieved the Justice Department is no longer seeking to execute the defendant. Federal prosecutors have reached a...

Pa.'s record on juvenile lifers put under scrutiny - Added 8 weeks ago

Pennsylvania is joining several other states in considering whether there are better ways to treat the worst juvenile offenders, rather than locking them up in adult prisons for life. Senate Judiciary Committee...

Ill. Senate passes much-disputed ethics measure - Added 8 weeks ago

The Illinois Senate passed one of the state's more fundamental post-Watergate campaign finance reforms _ a measure supporters say is a small but crucial step toward tamping down Illinois' reputation for "pay to play"...

Boaters idle on swollen rivers in Ike's aftermath - Added 8 weeks ago

Ron Gumm has made the best of 10 days spent with his apartment-like boat docked near here _ taking in museums, scenic drives, eateries and, of course, the Gateway Arch _ but he was eager to head down the Mississippi...

US tries to salvage crumbling NKorean nuke talks - Added 8 weeks ago

Even as North Korea moves to take back hard-won concessions on its nuclear program, the Bush administration is hoping to salvage a crumbling international effort to get the communist state to give up nuclear arms. ...

Senate votes on huge tax break package - Added 8 weeks ago

The Senate is taking up a $100 billion tax bill designed to spur renewable energy investment, give tax breaks to businesses and individuals and protect more than 20 million people from the dreaded alternative minimum...

Calif. toll road hearing focuses on security - Added 8 weeks ago

More than 1,000 people turned out Monday at a public hearing over a proposed toll road that would pass through one of Southern California's most popular parks and nearby a world-class surf break. Until now, the fight...

Neb. college town legislators ban the porch couch - Added 8 weeks ago

Relaxing on the porch in a ratty recliner might not be allowed in Lincoln any longer. The city council voted 5-2 Monday to ban porch couches and other indoor furniture used outside. No one testified against the...

Today in History - Sept. 23 - Added 8 weeks ago

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 23, the 267th day of 2008. There are 99 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: One hundred years ago, on Sept. 23, 1908, one of baseball's most famous blunders occurred in a game...

ACLU: Conn. inmate on hunger strike is force fed - Added 8 weeks ago

State prison officials have begun force feeding an inmate who has been on a yearlong hunger strike, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut said Monday. Bill Coleman is serving an eight-year...

Ex-NYPD officer gets 5 years for stealing handguns - Added 8 weeks ago

A former New York City police officer has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing handguns from a police evidence room and trading them for painkillers. Hubertus Vannes, of Roslyn Heights, N.Y., pleaded...

Washington man gets 27 months in dragging death - Added 8 weeks ago

A man convicted in the dragging death of an Eastern Washington University student has been sentenced to 27 months in prison. Wendell C. Sinn Jr. was sentenced Monday. Last week, the 45-year-old entered an Alford plea...

Computer is last clue in Ark. Democrat's slaying - Added 8 weeks ago

A computer used by the gunman who killed a state Democratic Party chairman is the last clue to be investigated in the search for his motive, authorities said Monday. Timothy Dale Johnson, 50, burst into the Arkansas...

Upbeat professor remembered for Web 'last lecture' - Added 8 weeks ago

A Carnegie Mellon University professor whose "last lecture" of his life's lessons became an Internet sensation was celebrated Monday for challenging people to strive for more than they thought they were capable of,...

Judge won't drop LA obscenity case after mistrial - Added 8 weeks ago

A federal judge has refused to dismiss obscenity charges against an adult film producer after a scandal with the trial judge this summer forced a mistrial. As opening statements were under way at Ira Isaacs' trial in...

Diversity advocate Nancy Hicks Maynard dies at 61 - Added 8 weeks ago

Nancy Hicks Maynard, the first black female reporter at The New York Times who, with her husband, became publisher of the Oakland Tribune and the founder a renowned institute that trains minority journalists, has died....

Gates: Spending for National Guard reaches record - Added 8 weeks ago

Funding for the National Guard has reached a record level amid the largest mobilization of America's citizen soldiers since World War II, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday. With the increased spending, nearly...

Woman whose dogs mauled neighbor gets 15 to life - Added 8 weeks ago

A woman whose dogs viciously attacked and killed her neighbor in the hallway of their apartment building seven years ago was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison. Marjorie Knoller was convicted of...