News: Scripps Howard News Service
During WW II, stealth fighters guarded Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In the early days of World War II, while most of the world's attention was focused on Europe and the South Pacific, a small band of scouts began patrolling the reaches of the far-flung Aleutian Islands to spy on invading Japanese forces.
For buyers, restraint replaces indulgence
Long before the turmoil triggered by the credit crisis, the consumer spending malaise gripping the working class had spread to the most affluent.
That's because consumer attitudes have been changing since 2005. Now they are being forged into a new sense of practicality hammered home by tighter credit and higher prices.
Tribes turn to banishment to punish chronic bad guys
ONAMIA, Minn. -- Fed up with a recent spate of chronic lawlessness, tribal lawyers for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe are turning to a tool both new and ancient to rid their community of troublemakers.
Four band members were recently banished from the reservation -- excluded for five years based on myriad assaults and weapons violations.
Bars of trouble: cell phones in jail vex wardens nationwide
People in jail aren't supposed to have cell phones.
But across America, one way or another, they're getting them.
In Maryland, inmate Patrick Albert Byers Jr. used one to arrange the murder of a witness in a homicide case, prosecutors say. He's facing the federal death penalty.
Army suspends desert tortoise relocation after 90 die
The U.S. Army has suspended plans to relocate more than 1,000 desert tortoises from areas around Fort Irwin this fall and next spring because at least 15 percent of the tortoises moved earlier this year have died.
About 90 of the 556 tortoises moved in the spring are dead, mostly as a result of coyote attacks.
Gloom marks the market, a period of capitulation
Some analysts say the market appears to be going through capitulation, a period of heavy selling marked by pervasive gloom, when investors ignore good news and throw out the good with the bad.
Many, but not all, bear markets end in a capitulation. When everyone who wants to sell has gotten out, a modest influx of buyers can lead to big gains.
Bright spot: As economy slides, so do energy prices
Amid those gloomy charts showing the financial turmoil around the world, there is one downward sloping graph that may provide some solace: declining energy prices.
The flip side of slowing economic growth is less demand for oil, natural gas and gasoline. And less demand usually means falling prices.
A glance at some of the bigger parachutes for CEOS
As the stock market's rampage snatched billions from investors' portfolios, the spotlight is now on golden parachutes for the CEOs exiting troubled firms.
Alaskan is a pioneer of back-country unicycling
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In Alaska, backcountry unicycling begins with one name -- George Peck.
Dollar-store entrepreneur opens new Calif. store for $9.98 deals
Even as a teenager, Gary Cino had an eye for a bargain, turning dollars into profits at Southern California swap meets.
As an adult, Cino became one of the nation's pioneering deep-discount retailers.
Candidates silence on immigration irks Latinos
Two presidential debates later, and still no comment from John McCain or Barack Obama on the issue of illegal immigration.
With anxiety over the economy high, immigration has faded from the national stage and become an inconvenient topic for candidates, said Efrain Escobedo, voter engagement director for the nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected Officials, or NALEO.
Fuel increases hit the soil industry
In the insult-added-to-injury department, the hard times have hit rock bottom: Dirt is dirt-cheap no more.
Fuel increases hit the soil industry with a triple whammy, as business owners such as Scott McCaughey of Topsoil Inc. cope with customer delivery, equipment processing and the mound-to-mound hop scotching that no one sees.
Todd Palin's role in the presidential campaign
Since his wife was tapped as John McCain's running mate, Todd Palin has been presented as a macho but modern stay-at-home dad who shuttles the couple's five kids to their activities and once finished a snowmobile race with a broken arm -- a man as comfortable on the oil fields and fishing grounds of Alaska's north shore as he is attending official functions as "first dude."
Man charged with stealing gas cards
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Raleigh police say Dillard Roe Johnson stole gas cards from an engineering company, then hung around gas stations offering motorists fill-ups for $20 a pop. Now police are trying to track down everyone who took advantage of the special offer -- possibly hundreds of people.
Findings of Scripps poll of White House candidate rumors
The following are selected findings from a survey of 1,015 adult residents of the United States conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University's Scripps Research Center by telephone from Sept. 15 through Oct. 2.
Scripps poll: 94 percent have heard way-out Obama, McCain rumors
Ninety-four percent of adult Americans have heard at least one of the ridiculous and false rumors chasing John McCain and Barack Obama on the campaign trail, according to a Scripps poll.
Have you heard that John McCain was brainwashed while a prisoner of war in Vietnam? Or that he's become senile, or fathered a black baby?
High-speed rail may bring prosperity to San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley may have more at stake than the rest of California when voters decide Nov. 4 whether to build a statewide high-speed rail system.
Major Valley cities from Modesto to Bakersfield were bypassed a generation ago when the state built its main north-south highway, Interstate 5. But the rail system would have stations in most of those cities.
County official came face-to-face with Tenn. mall-shooting suspect
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Knox County Commissioner Greg "Lumpy" Lambert, who makes it a point to always be armed, came face-to-face with the man accused of gunning down a store worker at Knoxville Center Mall just before police arrived.
But Lambert, who two years ago used his own gun to thwart a robbery at his car dealership, this time decided not to wield his weapon.
Vegas visitors are cutting back but still having fun
LAS VEGAS -- Jim Erbes came to Las Vegas because of the economy, not despite it.
Many blame economy for increased stress in their lives
The ongoing financial turmoil is roiling the American psyche.
More than eight in 10 Americans blame the economy for much of the stress in their lives, according to a national study released this week by the American Psychological Association.
