AP - People rarely pick a fight with Dirty Harry. But Chrysler's "Halftime in America" ad featuring quintessential tough guy Clint Eastwood has generated fierce debate about whether it accurately portrays the country's most economically distressed city or amounts to a campaign ad for President Barack Obama and the auto bailouts.
AP - A Missouri teenager who admitted stabbing, strangling and slitting the throat of a young neighbor girl wrote in her journal on the night of the killing that it was an "ahmazing" and "pretty enjoyable" experience — then headed off to church with a laugh.
AP - About 100 angry parents have marched from a Los Angeles elementary school where two teachers are suspected of molesting students in class to a nearby meeting where administrators are expected to address parents' concerns.
AP - A U.S. judge has ordered the return of a 16th century Italian painting to the heirs of a Jewish man who owned the Baroque work before World War II.
Reuters - Oklahoma's Republican governor announced a plan on Monday to dramatically cut state income tax rates and eventually do away with them altogether, and said the state would pay for the cuts by closing "loopholes."
AP - Targeting Iran's economy, the U.S. ordered tough new penalties Monday to further pinch the country's financial system and encourage Israel to give sanctions more time before any military action against Iran's nuclear program.
AP - A former Marine already accused of killing four homeless men was charged Monday with two new counts of murder in the stabbing deaths of his high school friend's mother and older brother.
Reuters - A federal judge on Monday temporarily halted the scheduled execution of a convicted murderer in Mississippi in order to allow a psychiatrist to evaluate the killer.
AP - Alexis McKenzie's mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife's sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store.
Rescuers in the Philippines dug through rubble with shovels and their bare hands Tuesday after a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, collapsed homes and killed dozens of people.
AP - Former police detective Stephanie Lazarus was either a heartbroken, jilted lover driven to kill her romantic rival, or she was an innocent woman snared in a web of mishandled scientific evidence.
AP - The court martial for a Marine sergeant accused of hazing a fellow Marine who committed suicide in Afghanistan was delayed Monday after the prosecution asked to expand the details of the charges.
Reuters - About 130 municipal employees in Washington, D.C. may have scammed the city by collecting jobless benefits while still at work, officials said on Monday, in the latest controversy to hit the local government.
AP - People rarely pick a fight with Dirty Harry. But Chrysler's "Halftime in America" ad featuring quintessential tough guy Clint Eastwood has generated fierce debate about whether it accurately portrays the country's most economically distressed city or amounts to a campaign ad for President Barack Obama and the auto bailouts.
Reuters - Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist at the center of a U.S. bribery scandal six years ago, said on Monday he does not want to publicly identify former associates because he does not want to see more people hurt.
Reuters - A federal judge has agreed that the man charged with a deadly shooting spree last year that gravely wounded then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has made "measureable progress" in regaining his mental fitness to stand trial.
AP - A federal judge ruled Monday that the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that wounded former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will spend four more months at a federal prison facility where officials are forcibly medicating him.
The city of Topeka has paid $969.67 to settle a lawsuit filed by Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., city spokesman David Bevens confirmed Monday. "The city denies any liability but settled the matter to avoid continued litigation," Bevens said.
AP - Criticism of a Senate campaign ad featuring a young Asian woman talking in broken English about China taking away American jobs grew Monday as some warned it could revive discrimination against Asian-Americans.
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Some would have us believe the president plays a much smaller role in determining what our economy does than most people believe. I think Americans believe the president has a lot of actual power to correct the economy, and that assumption is incorrect. But many chief executives have used the Oval Office to manipulate change and foster growth that isn't specifically empowered to the presidency.
Reuters - Lawyers for Amanda Knox, who was cleared of murder in October by an Italian court, on Monday asked an appeals court there to overturn her slander conviction as well, a spokesman said.
AP - A bill to speed the nation's switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology, and to open U.S. skies to unmanned drone flights within four years, received final congressional approval Monday.
AP - For decades, tourists visiting this popular Adirondack village could gape at the skeletons of soldiers from nearby French and Indian War sites. Then in 1993, a somber reburial ceremony was held to finally put the remains to rest.
AP - A tent city that's among the longest-lived Occupy protest encampments is coming down as part of a new wave of eviction orders against demonstrators aligned with the movement in communities including Miami, Washington and Pittsburgh.
AP - Fisker Automotive, an electric car maker that received a half-billion-dollar loan from the federal government, said Monday that it has laid off workers in Delaware and California.
City commissioners chose local resident Dave Lott as interim city manager at a special meeting Wednesday. The candidates interviewed publicly at the meeting were Lott, Rick Conner, Timothy Peak, Jon Lasserre and W.D. Higginbotham.
PPC managers over the years have always struggled with the right number of keywords to have in their accounts. Should you build out a big inventory of long tail keywords, or keep your campaigns neat and tidy, with fewer terms that account for most of the volume?
Reuters - About 130 Washington DC municipal employees may have scammed the city by collecting jobless benefits while still at work, the District of Columbia said on Monday, in the latest scandal to hit the local government.
Reuters - The IMF's chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, said on Monday it looks like the 'haircut' on Greek private debt will be "very large" as negotiations between bondholders and the government drag on to cut Greece's debt burden.
AP - Gold prices fell Monday as the Greek debt crisis returned to the spotlight, renewing concerns about the impact that Europe's financial troubles could have on the global economy.
The National Association of Broadcasters announced today The Second City will receive the Spirit of Broadcasting Award during the 2012 NAB Show. The Second City's Co-Chairman
AP - Money donated by the nation's most chartable people is starting to catch up with pre-recession giving, thanks in part to some very large bequests from a few donors.
(Reuters) - The state-appointed receiver for Pennsylvania's capital of Harrisburg warned that the city will likely face ongoing budget problems even if it sells its incinerator and parking garages. Receiver David Unkovic, in his 194-page proposal, said he has not yet determined the value of Harrisburg's parking garages, incinerator and other assets. ...
AP - About 90 District of Columbia workers have been suspended and may be fired after officials determined they received unemployment checks while holding city jobs.
AP - A new report shows U.S. casinos and the industries that depend on them made a $125 billion economic splash in 2010 — the equivalent of 1 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product.
Reuters - Vice President Joe Biden warned on Monday that there is no way that China will be able to sustain its current level of economic growth because of what he called its "God-awful" one-child policy.
Reuters - The Federal Reserve should start raising interest rates next year, a top Fed official said on Monday, arguing that many years of near-zero rates will do little to return economic output to pre-recession levels and risks causing "disaster."
Reuters - bolstered by a stronger economic outlook and recent job growth - would win in a match-up against the two leading Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, a poll on Monday showed.
The U.S. Postal Service recently released four $.65 postage stamps honoring “Dogs at Work,” and a Skaneateles German Shepherd named Mittru was honored as one of the four.
GMS Local, an initiative from GroupM focused on local search and local digital strategies, recently conducted a survey of national marketing executives (mostly in the retail sector) about their localization strategies and tactics.
Since 2010, New York City has strived to become a global digital leader. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and commissioner Katherine Oliver announced NYC Digital last July, with the mission to create a better civil society and stronger democracy with the use of technology - engaging, serving and connecting New York.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Experience the newly renovated Grand Pavilion when you stay at the Kansas City Airport Marriott. The hotel in Kansas City, Missouri , recently finished construction ...
Recently, Google announced (and Search Engine Land intensely covered ) what is being described as the most significant revamp to date of their basic search tool.
Reuters - To get an idea of the economic mountain euro zone strugglers Greece and Portugal have to climb, consider this: per million inhabitants, they each filed fewer than eight applications with the European Patent Office in 2010.
AP - The German government says strong demand from outside the eurozone helped the country's industrial orders rise a stronger-than-expected 1.7 percent in December.
Reuters - China's annual economic growth could be cut nearly in half this year if Europe's debt crisis tips the world economy into a recession, putting pressure on Beijing to unveil "significant" fiscal stimulus, the International Monetary Fund said.
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Manchester United's comeback at Chelsea was not just a point saved but a point made to Manchester City that the champions have the spirit to scrap until the last second of the title race. On paper it was a weekend where City broke two points clear at the top after a comfortable 3-0 win over Fulham while their main rivals lost ground with a 3-3 draw at Stamford ...