WASHINGTON – A former State Department employee was sentenced today to 12 months of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service for illegally accessing more than 150 confidential passport application files, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division announced.
Dwayne F. Cross, 41, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was sentenced [...]

JUNEAU, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin submitted her federal economic stimulus appropriation bill to legislators today to provide jobs and needed infrastructure improvements in Alaska under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.
Palin is accepting just 55 percent of the available stimulus funds, all for capital projects. This amount includes the funds the state accepted last [...]

Voice of America
The United States had edged Puerto Rico to advance to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.
After trailing most of the game, Team USA needed strong hitting and some luck in the bottom of the ninth inning to overcome a two-run deficit against Puerto Rico. The United States got a break when [...]

WASHINGTON — In his opening statement today, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., said it was “shameful” and “a disgrace” that a number of private corporations who received a portion of the billions in capital infusion through the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) owe back taxes.
Two [...]

WASHINGTON — Raleigh-Cary, N.C., and Austin-Round Rock, Texas, were the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas between 2007 and 2008, according to July 1, 2008, population estimates for the nation’s metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Raleigh-Cary saw its population climb 4.3 percent between July 1, 2007, and July 1, [...]

WASHINGTON –U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., admitted that he added language that allowed for the AIG bonuses.
“I’m the one who has led the fight against excessive executive compensation, often over the objections of many.  I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment but I did so at the request of [...]

Courtesy of ARAcontent
The comfort of your own bed is a precious thing. After a few days of traveling, most of us start missing our favorite pillow, sheets, mattress and even alarm clocks. Familiarity helps make it easier to relax. Even if you travel often and are used to staying in hotels and adjusting to new [...]

PRNewswire-USNewswire
BELLEVUE, Wash., March 17 — A revelation by the Washington Times that President Barack Obama is trying to quietly end the armed pilot program, making air travel more vulnerable to terrorist attack, should outrage travelers, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
“The Washington Times nailed it,” said CCRKBA Chairman [...]

Courtesy of ARAcontent
Despite today’s economic woes, people are still traveling; they are just doing so in a much more budget-minded manner.  Scouring for deals and methods to cut costs while on vacation has never been more important. One budget-friendly trend has emerged as the solution for those who want to travel for less: vacation home [...]

Courtesy of ARAcontent
As medics put him on a stretcher and rushed him to an evacuation helicopter, Sgt. Jeremy Feldbusch, a 23-year-old mortar gunman in the Army’s 3rd Battalion, 75th Regiment, recited the Ranger creed.
“Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight and I will shoulder [...]