News aggregator
Patriotism theme for Bush family's last White House Christmas
Christmas for first lady Laura Bush will be different when she and President George W. Bush move to Dallas.
Gone will be the almost nightly holiday receptions at the White House and the National Christmas Tree lighting on the Ellipse.
"It might be me doing the cooking," the first lady said Wednesday.
Prairie dogs might get endangered species protection
The black-tailed prairie dog may win the Endangered Species designation that its champions crave.
Love them or hate them, there is no disputing that they once laid claim to some 90 million acres east of the Rockies, and now they've been squeezed into less than 2 million.
Utah GOP senator urged commutation of rapper's sentence
Sen. Orrin Hatch said he urged a presidential commutation of rapper John Forte's 14-year prison sentence on drug dealing charges because the musician is a "genius" who doesn't use drugs.
"He was no risk to society because he was not a drug user," Hatch, a Utah Republican, said Tuesday. "And, frankly, he's a genius."
Man killed by gunfire gives kidney to good friend
Christine Boyd wants to meet all the people whose lives were helped by her son's donated organs after doctors declared him brain dead earlier this month.
Salvation Army finds diamond ring in a kettle
Ring, ring, ring.
Ka-ching!
Last week someone dropped a flawless half-carat diamond ring worth $2,000 into a Salvation Army kettle in Fayette County, Pa.
A thief ditching a hot piece of jewelry? An engaged woman with a finger a size too small? An anonymous donor with a heart of white gold?
Will New Year's Eve help Vegas casinos?
Casinos on the Las Vegas strip have maintained enviably high occupancy rates during this recession by offering deep discounts and unprecedented package deals - an indication that customers are still willing to open their wallets for bargains even in turbulent times.
Minn. teens charged with groping, taunting nursing home residents
The eight high school students had worked together part-time at the Good Samaritan nursing home in Albert Lea, Minn.
And, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday, the girls also laughed together early this year as they spat in frail residents' mouths, poked and groped their breasts and genitals, and at times taunted them until they screamed -- or witnessed those events.
Baseball scout scours Latin America for talent
Rene Gayo is a mountain of a man in many ways, as big as Santa Claus and, to some, no less generous. As the Pirates' director of Latin American scouting, he is empowered to dramatically change people's lives -- exponentially, almost unimaginably -- with a mere handshake.
Florida sweet potato pie and cookie flingers face charges
What started as a Florida grandmother and granddaughter baking cookies ended in a third relative being arrested for alleged battery and bodily harm, according to an arrest affidavit.
California farmers' water practices spur lawsuit
The giant state and federal pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that funnel water to 25 million Californians should be shut down until certain Central Valley farmers retire hundreds of thousands of acres of chemical-laden farmland, according to a lawsuit filed this week by a state water watchdog.
Economy is putting hitch in disposable society
To wring the most wear out of what cash-strapped consumers own, people are visiting auto mechanics, cobblers, tailors and computer-repair experts as they haven't in years.
When autumn arrived, Anita Fagnilli, a tailor at Master Tailors in Upper St. Clair, Pa., for the past 16 years, noticed that regular customers came in with clothes they already owned.
Painting stolen by Nazis takes a trip back to Europe
Just when it seemed its traveling days were over, the much-celebrated Madonna and Child painting by German master Lucas Cranach the Elder has made one more trans-Atlantic flight.
For the next two months, the 16-by-10-inch painting owned by the N.C. Museum of Art will hang in a Viennese museum, not far from where it adorned the office of the Nazi governor of Vienna.
DNA searches to catch criminals spark debate
A dead baby, wrapped in a flannel shirt and plastic bag, then stuffed into a knapsack, had been abandoned in the woods in North Union, Pa., sometime in 2000. As police tell it, the dozen or so girls questioned were perfectly willing to allow a trooper to take a saliva swab from their mouths so a lab could trace the DNA.
Some historians say marriage traditions have been fluid
What is traditional marriage?
That question lies beneath the surface of the Proposition 8 debate. The measure that bans same-sex marriage in California, which is now being challenged in court, defines the union as between a man and a woman. This, supporters argue, is as religious precepts and social customs demand. It is traditional.
Nevada casinos walk financial tightrope
Throughout this downturn, big casinos on the Las Vegas Strip have kept hotel occupancy high by cutting room rates and offering discounts and other promotions.
But this volume-driven strategy has a key weakness.
Arizona cultural adviser hopes for another stint in Iraq
For some people, spending two straight years in Iraq would be a nightmare. For Suzanne Bott of Tucson, Ariz. it's a dream.
She loves it so much she's trying to sign on for a third year.
Bott, 51, a former cultural adviser to Pima County, Ariz., now has a similar role with a U.S. reconstruction team in Nineveh province in northern Iraq.
Humane Society director takes cause to Washington
Few political groups have been as successful in recent years at shaping state policies as the Humane Society of the United States under Wayne Pacelle.
Now that the nation's largest animal rights group has effectively banned the caging of egg-laying hens in California, it is turning its focus to Washington.
Internet taxes ... Ozone hole ... Better science ... More
Thanks to the continuing economic meltdown, don't be surprised if this is the last holiday season when you aren't universally charged sales taxes on your online purchases.
Mexican gold mines look to Arizona for workers
Displaced mine and construction workers who left Mexico to work in United States might consider going home.
Two gold mines in Mexico are looking to recruit from the pool of Arizona's unemployed to work and help train Mexican miners.
Weather Underground site specializes in climate trivia
What was the weather like the day Pearl Harbor was attacked?
