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Dow breaks 13,000 but can't hold gains
NEW YORK - It came and went in a flash each time, a number on a board for mere seconds, but its symbolic power couldn't be dismissed. The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, crossed 13,000 Tuesday for the first time since May 2008.
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Appalachia's aging population on the rise
MT. ORAB, Ohio - It's winter, so Donna Robirds puts on two sweaters in the morning and keeps heavy blankets handy as she sets her thermostat low - 60 at night - and bundles up to keep her utility bill down.
Full story >>
Authorities: Kids tied to bed in Texas home
DAYTON, Texas - The eight children confined in a small, dark bedroom with a piece of plywood over the window included two 2-year-olds tied to a bed and a 5-year-old girl "in a restraint on a filthy mattress," the child welfare worker who discovered them said in a court document.
Full story >>
Justices to review race, preference for college
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is setting an election-season review of racial preference in college admissions, agreeing Tuesday to consider new limits on the contentious issue of affirmative action programs.
Full story >>
Police: Mom was getaway car driver
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A California woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after police say she drove the getaway car for her teenage son who allegedly stabbed a boy.
Full story >>
Man guilty of abducting, raping former neighbor
WEATHERFORD, Texas - A Texas man who abducted his former neighbor and tortured the woman while holding her captive for nearly two weeks was convicted Tuesday.
Full story >>
Former U.S. Rep. Katie Hall of Indiana dies at 73
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Former Indiana U.S. Rep. Katie Hall, a key sponsor of the 1983 legislation that established a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has died. She was 73.
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Wastewater a key issue in N.Y.'s fracking debate
Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. - One of the most contentious issues in the debate over shale gas drilling in New York's share of the Marcellus Shale region - how to handle millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater - remains unsettled. As the state ponders final regulations, environmental advocates say the issue is a glaring gap in preparations.
Full story >>
NEW YORK - It came and went in a flash each time, a number on a board for mere seconds, but its symbolic power couldn't be dismissed. The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, crossed 13,000 Tuesday for the first time since May 2008.
Full story >>
Appalachia's aging population on the rise
MT. ORAB, Ohio - It's winter, so Donna Robirds puts on two sweaters in the morning and keeps heavy blankets handy as she sets her thermostat low - 60 at night - and bundles up to keep her utility bill down.
Full story >>
Authorities: Kids tied to bed in Texas home
DAYTON, Texas - The eight children confined in a small, dark bedroom with a piece of plywood over the window included two 2-year-olds tied to a bed and a 5-year-old girl "in a restraint on a filthy mattress," the child welfare worker who discovered them said in a court document.
Full story >>
Justices to review race, preference for college
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is setting an election-season review of racial preference in college admissions, agreeing Tuesday to consider new limits on the contentious issue of affirmative action programs.
Full story >>
Police: Mom was getaway car driver
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A California woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after police say she drove the getaway car for her teenage son who allegedly stabbed a boy.
Full story >>
Man guilty of abducting, raping former neighbor
WEATHERFORD, Texas - A Texas man who abducted his former neighbor and tortured the woman while holding her captive for nearly two weeks was convicted Tuesday.
Full story >>
Former U.S. Rep. Katie Hall of Indiana dies at 73
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Former Indiana U.S. Rep. Katie Hall, a key sponsor of the 1983 legislation that established a national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has died. She was 73.
Full story >>
Wastewater a key issue in N.Y.'s fracking debate
Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. - One of the most contentious issues in the debate over shale gas drilling in New York's share of the Marcellus Shale region - how to handle millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater - remains unsettled. As the state ponders final regulations, environmental advocates say the issue is a glaring gap in preparations.
Full story >>
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Oil jumps to 9-month high
Associated Press Oil prices jumped to a nine-month high above $105 a barrel Monday after Iran said it halted crude exports to Britain and France in an escalation of a dispute over the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program.
Full story >>
Santorum seizes social issues as Romney demurs
Associated Press STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Philosophical differences between the top two Republican presidential candidates are becoming starker as Rick Santorum drives harder on religious and social issues that Mitt Romney rarely discusses in detail.
Full story >>
Ill. school draws scrutiny over student fines
Associated Press CHICAGO - A sense of order and decorum prevails at Noble Street College Prep as students move quickly through a hallway adorned with banners from dozens of colleges. Everyone wears a school polo shirt neatly tucked into khaki trousers. There's plenty of chatter but no jostling, no cellphones and no dawdling.
Full story >>
For car buyers, it's harder to get a lemon
Associated Press DETROIT - Car shoppers today are less likely to end up with a lemon. In the past five years, global competition has forced automakers to improve the quality and reliability of their vehicles - everything from inexpensive mini-cars to decked-out luxury SUVs.
Full story >>
Hepatitis C deaths up; baby boomers most at risk
Associated Press WASHINGTON - Deaths from liver-destroying hepatitis C are on the rise, and new data shows baby boomers especially should take heed - they are most at risk.
Full story >>
Associated Press Oil prices jumped to a nine-month high above $105 a barrel Monday after Iran said it halted crude exports to Britain and France in an escalation of a dispute over the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program.
Full story >>
Santorum seizes social issues as Romney demurs
Associated Press STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Philosophical differences between the top two Republican presidential candidates are becoming starker as Rick Santorum drives harder on religious and social issues that Mitt Romney rarely discusses in detail.
Full story >>
Ill. school draws scrutiny over student fines
Associated Press CHICAGO - A sense of order and decorum prevails at Noble Street College Prep as students move quickly through a hallway adorned with banners from dozens of colleges. Everyone wears a school polo shirt neatly tucked into khaki trousers. There's plenty of chatter but no jostling, no cellphones and no dawdling.
Full story >>
For car buyers, it's harder to get a lemon
Associated Press DETROIT - Car shoppers today are less likely to end up with a lemon. In the past five years, global competition has forced automakers to improve the quality and reliability of their vehicles - everything from inexpensive mini-cars to decked-out luxury SUVs.
Full story >>
Hepatitis C deaths up; baby boomers most at risk
Associated Press WASHINGTON - Deaths from liver-destroying hepatitis C are on the rise, and new data shows baby boomers especially should take heed - they are most at risk.
Full story >>
People
Sorvino to debut film funded by Pa. taxpayers ALLENTOWN (AP) - Paul Sorvino might finally be over his trouble with "The Trouble with Cali." Armed with $500,000 in taxpayer funding, the first-time director and "Goodfellas" star shot the independent film in northeastern Pennsylvania six years ago. But the project ran short of cash, and politicians in Scranton demanded to know what he did with their investment.
Full story >>
Santorum questions Obama's 'world view,' not his Christianity
WASHINGTON - Rick Santorum on Sunday condemned what he called President Barack Obama's world view that "elevates the Earth above man" and requires insurers to pay for prenatal tests that will encourage more abortions.
Full story >>
Fugitive lived inconspicuous life in U.S.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On the surface, Edward Maher and his wife appeared to enjoy a comfortable middle-class life. They had homes in quiet neighborhoods, drove late-model cars and took occasional weekend trips. They raised two sons.
Full story >>
Bassist from '60s band MC5 dies at 68
LOS ANGELES - Michael Davis, the bassist of influential late 1960s rock band MC5, has died of liver failure, his wife said Saturday. He was 68.
Full story >>
Sex-changing treatment for kids: It's on the rise
CHICAGO - A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Full story >>
Sorvino to debut film funded by Pa. taxpayers ALLENTOWN (AP) - Paul Sorvino might finally be over his trouble with "The Trouble with Cali." Armed with $500,000 in taxpayer funding, the first-time director and "Goodfellas" star shot the independent film in northeastern Pennsylvania six years ago. But the project ran short of cash, and politicians in Scranton demanded to know what he did with their investment.
Full story >>
Santorum questions Obama's 'world view,' not his Christianity
WASHINGTON - Rick Santorum on Sunday condemned what he called President Barack Obama's world view that "elevates the Earth above man" and requires insurers to pay for prenatal tests that will encourage more abortions.
Full story >>
Fugitive lived inconspicuous life in U.S.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On the surface, Edward Maher and his wife appeared to enjoy a comfortable middle-class life. They had homes in quiet neighborhoods, drove late-model cars and took occasional weekend trips. They raised two sons.
Full story >>
Bassist from '60s band MC5 dies at 68
LOS ANGELES - Michael Davis, the bassist of influential late 1960s rock band MC5, has died of liver failure, his wife said Saturday. He was 68.
Full story >>
Sex-changing treatment for kids: It's on the rise
CHICAGO - A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Full story >>
