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Conn. Senate passes campaign finance laws
Nov 30 2005 11:52PM (CT)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The state Senate on Wednesday approved some of the most sweeping changes in campaign finance laws in the country, including tight restrictions on contributions and a voluntary, publicly funded election system.
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Engineers confirm levee shortcomings
Nov 30 2005 11:47PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Government engineers performing sonar tests at the site of a major levee failure confirmed that steel reinforcements barely went more than half as deep as they were supposed to, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official said Wednesday.
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Wildfire forces evacuation in New Mexico
Nov 30 2005 11:42PM (CT)
FLOYD, N.M. (AP) - A wind-driven grass fire sparked Wednesday on a military bombing range in eastern New Mexico destroyed two buildings, charred 27,000 acres and forced dozens of people to evacuate this small farming community.
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Nagin urges Katrina evacuees to come home
Nov 30 2005 11:20PM (CT)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said his city will never be totally safe from hurricanes, no matter how much its levees are strengthened, but he urged Hurricane Katrina evacuees Wednesday night to come home anyway.
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Justices refuse clemency for Crips founder
Nov 30 2005 11:17PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to halt the scheduled execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang founder who became an anti-gang activist while in prison and whose supporters claim has redeemed himself.
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Gardena official urges probe of company
Nov 30 2005 10:45PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Consumer advocates and a government official Wednesday called for prosecutors to investigate the financing of a failed insurance company that left the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena near bankruptcy, saddled with more than $20 million in debt.
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Hurricane victims light Rockefeller tree
Nov 30 2005 10:40PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg, singer Harry Connick Jr. and children displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita set the 30,000 colored lights on this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree aglow at a ceremony Wednesday evening.
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Former Walt Disney Co. exec. dies at 89
Nov 30 2005 10:37PM (CT)
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - E. Cardon "Card" Walker, who helped create Walt Disney World and expand the company's theme parks around the world, has died. He was 89.
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Storm nears hurricane strength in Atlantic
Nov 30 2005 10:23PM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - The Atlantic hurricane season officially ended Wednesday, but Tropical Storm Epsilon could still cause dangerous surf conditions in Bermuda as it nears hurricane strength, forecasters said.
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Ill. pharmacists withhold emergency pill
Nov 30 2005 9:39PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Walgreen Co. said it has put four Illinois pharmacists in the St. Louis area on unpaid leave for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception in violation of a state rule.
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Co. recalls kid's necklaces, zipper pulls
Nov 30 2005 9:31PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A California company is voluntarily recalling about 6 million children's necklaces and zipper pulls that pose a serious risk of lead poisoning, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.
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States restrict use of autopsy photos
Nov 30 2005 9:29PM (CT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Connie Ayres lost her 16-year-old daughter in a car crash in 1996. The next year she learned that a county morgue was using the autopsy photos in a slide show to help fight drunken driving.
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Judge rules in Indiana House prayer suit
Nov 30 2005 9:26PM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Indiana House from opening its sessions with specifically Christian prayers, ruling that such prayers amount to "an official endorsement of the Christian religion."
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Schwarzenegger names Dem chief of staff
Nov 30 2005 9:15PM (CT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday took the first step to shaking up his administration after his resounding special election failure, appointing a longtime Democratic activist as his chief of staff.
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Wis. judge sentences 'Dr. Chaos' to prison
Nov 30 2005 9:13PM (CT)
MILWAUKEE (AP) - A man who called himself "Dr. Chaos" online was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in federal prison for hacking into computers and causing power failures in northeastern Wisconsin.
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Fla. response plan to be national model
Nov 30 2005 9:07PM (CT)
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - A Florida plan for quick, coordinated police response to child abductions _ developed after the 2004 killing of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia _ is being taken nationwide.
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Judge lets 10 Colo. convictions stand
Nov 30 2005 8:54PM (CT)
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) - A judge has ruled that the convictions of 10 people will stand even though transcripts from each case have not been completed by a court reporter who said breast cancer interfered with her work.
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Aspiring NYC dancer with secret life slain
Nov 30 2005 8:46PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Catherine Woods came to the big city from Ohio with dreams of making it big on Broadway. Instead, she wound up working as a topless dancer under the stage name "Ava" _ a secret that came out only after she was stabbed to death in her apartment last weekend.
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RNC chairman questions Democrats on Iraq
Nov 30 2005 8:12PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The head of the Republican National Committee accused Democrats of trying to exploit the Iraq war for political gain at home _ the latest attempt to turn mounting criticism away from President Bush.
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Ill. treasurer enters race for governor
Nov 30 2005 7:55PM (CT)
CICERO, Ill. (AP) - Republican state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka entered the race for governor Wednesday, saying she believes she is the candidate who can "take out" Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2006.
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U.N. asks record $4.7 billion for 2006 aid
Nov 30 2005 7:31PM (CT)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations appealed Wednesday for a record $4.7 billion to ease major humanitarian crises around the world in 2006, with about a third slated for Sudan and the conflict in its Darfur region.
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Fort Campbell soldier charged in shooting
Nov 30 2005 7:17PM (CT)
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - A soldier accused of opening fire on fellow soldiers six weeks ago has been charged with attempted murder, Fort Campbell officials said Wednesday. No one was wounded.
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N.C. inmate hopes he's not number 1,000
Nov 30 2005 7:09PM (CT)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A killer on North Carolina's death row worried Wednesday about becoming a macabre footnote to history _ the 1,000th person executed in the U.S. since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.
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Wis. lawmaker gets jail in corruption case
Nov 30 2005 6:33PM (CT)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - One of five state lawmakers arrested in a corruption probe that sullied Wisconsin's clean-government image was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail for using state employees to run his political campaign.
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Calif. aqueduct may get $4.3B in upgrades
Nov 30 2005 6:14PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - City utility officials have approved a $4.3 billion rebuilding of the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct to better protect against earthquakes and terror attacks.
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Hundreds of questions await 9/11 jury pool
Nov 30 2005 5:57PM (CT)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Lawyers representing Zacarias Moussaoui want to ask potential jurors more than 300 questions _ including their opinions of high-profile FBI investigations and their response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 _ as part of the selection process for his trial.
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Texas foreclosures offered to refugees
Nov 30 2005 5:28PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Nurses, police officers, firefighters and other public servants who came to Houston because of Hurricane Katrina will be offered a year of rent-free living in 68 foreclosed houses and condominiums.
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Family of slain black woman to get $2M
Nov 30 2005 5:13PM (CT)
YORK, Pa. (AP) - Relatives of a black woman shot to death in an attack by a mob of whites during a week of racial violence in York in 1969 will receive $2 million from the city under a tentative settlement, according to a published report.
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Ex-fugitive pleads guilty in Vegas heist
Nov 30 2005 4:01PM (CT)
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A former armored car driver who turned herself in after more than a decade in hiding pleaded guilty Wednesday in a $2.9 million heist on the Las Vegas Strip.
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N.H. GOP tries to block phone subpoena
Nov 30 2005 3:35PM (CT)
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New Hampshire's Republican Party is fighting a subpoena from federal prosecutors for documents from the party's own investigation of a plot to jam Democratic phone lines on Election Day 2002.
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Drivers in fatal head-on accident cousins
Nov 30 2005 3:35PM (CT)
DINGESS, W.Va. (AP) - A teacher's aide driving home from work was killed after her car was hit head-on by a pickup truck driven by her cousin.
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Current, former Chicago workers join suit
Nov 30 2005 3:32PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - City workers with no political connections were passed over for promotions, denied profitable overtime and punished with unpleasant jobs, according to plaintiffs who joined a long-running civil lawsuit against the city of Chicago.
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Heart study pioneer Dr. Dawber dies at 92
Nov 30 2005 3:12PM (CT)
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) - Dr. Thomas Royle Dawber, who transformed the medical world's understanding of heart disease as director of the Framingham Heart Study, one of the most important research projects of the 20th century, has died at 92.
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Kan. abortion doctor not to blame in death
Nov 30 2005 2:34PM (CT)
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - An abortion doctor who has been the target of protests for years wasn't responsible for the death of a mentally retarded Texas woman who received a late-term abortion at his clinic, state regulators concluded.
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Hasidic Jews run top camera retailer
Nov 30 2005 1:46PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Every morning except Saturday, the buses stop at a bustling corner of Manhattan, and bearded men in dark suits and felt hats, some clutching prayer books and speaking Yiddish, step onto the sidewalk and disappear into a brick building.
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Pacifist group experienced in war zones
Nov 30 2005 12:57PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - Four Christian peace activists taken hostage in Iraq belong to a group that has spent more than 15 years walking into some of world's hottest war zones, usually armed only with notes explaining that they aren't there to convert anyone.
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Pennsylvania Sept. 11 memorial redesigned
Nov 30 2005 12:26PM (CT)
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Designers of a Flight 93 memorial have made a bowl-shaped piece of land its centerpiece, replacing a crescent-shape design that some critics had said was a symbol honoring terrorists, officials announced Wednesday.
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Boston homicides match 10-year high
Nov 30 2005 12:05PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - A pair of shooting deaths brought the number of homicides in Boston this year to 66, matching a 10-year high in a city that had made strides in curbing violent crime.
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Crews restore power after Plains blizzard
Nov 30 2005 11:52AM (CT)
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Power company crews were making progress in turning the lights back on Wednesday for thousands of customers who were blacked out in the Dakotas by this week's blizzard, and most highways had been reopened.
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Calif. high school coach suspended
Nov 30 2005 9:43AM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An assistant high school football coach was suspended for at least a year after he was caught on videotape moving a field marker to help his team win, school officials said.
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Hurricane season ends today
Nov 30 2005 7:51AM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - The victims of the busiest and costliest Atlantic hurricane season on record may be comforted now that it's finally ending Wednesday: No hurricane has been known to hit the United States between December and May.
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Toll taker accused in counterfeit scheme
Nov 30 2005 7:20AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll taker was arrested on suspicion that he accepted dozens of counterfeit $100 bills and provided real change to an accomplice, authorities said.
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Feds: Marriage scam included phony photos
Nov 30 2005 7:11AM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Federal authorities say a sophisticated marriage scam in southern California charged foreigners seeking citizenship $60,000 for a mate, and even provided fake wedding photographs, fake tax returns and love letters.
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Teen pleads guilty to role in shootings
Nov 30 2005 5:30AM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A tribal chairman says his son admits using the Internet inappropriately but does not accept responsibility for the shootings on an Indian reservation last March that left 10 dead.
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La. mall pulls plug on Christmas display
Nov 30 2005 4:33AM (CT)
METAIRIE, La. (AP) - It's no ordinary holiday season in the Gulf Coast this year, so Frank Evans built an unconventional holiday display at a suburban New Orleans shopping mall to match.
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Atlanta looks to abandoned railroad tracks
Nov 30 2005 3:38AM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - The sprawling metropolis always has given park proponents a headache. Founded as a railroad hub, the city has no ocean, no mountains and no major body of water to serve as a built-in foundation for a park system.
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Blaze in home near fire station kills two
Nov 30 2005 3:38AM (CT)
SULPHUR SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - A fire in a home just four houses away from a volunteer fire station killed two young children, authorities said.
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Woman carrying teen groom's child indicted
Nov 30 2005 3:36AM (CT)
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A 37-year-old woman who married a 15-year-old boy was indicted Tuesday on charges of child molestation, statutory rape and enticing a child for indecent purposes.
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Fridges, coffee pots lose favor in schools
Nov 30 2005 3:29AM (CT)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Teachers in budget-stressed schools are accustomed to shelling out for paper, glue and pencils. But the staff here wasn't ready for this: a new fee for having coffee makers, microwaves and refrigerators in classrooms and offices.
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Man gets up to four years in fatal fire
Nov 30 2005 12:54AM (CT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A handyman whose basement pot farm resulted in a smoky fire that killed two firefighters was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months to four years in prison.
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Former president's son may run for senate
Nov 30 2005 12:53AM (CT)
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The son of former President Jimmy Carter has launched a Web site soliciting donations for a possible run for U.S. Senate.
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