Government
Firefighters, other Scranton public employee wages suddenly cut to minimum wage
In the midst of a budget struggle, the mayor of Scranton, Pa., can't get an agreement with the City Council. So, recently, he decided to cut the wages of the town's employees to the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, despite the fact they have contracts stating otherwise. This includes firefighters and other public employees.
Obama pushes to extend some Bush-era tax cuts
President Obama is pushing for a one-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for middle class families. But by drawing the line at households that make more than $250,000 a year, he set the stage for another clash with Republicans who favor an extension of tax cuts for wealthier Americans. ...
Forest fires, power outages make nation-wide sweltering heat more troubling
As the country deals with its first persistent heat wave of the summer, storms over the weekend left millions without power and, therefore, air conditioning. It's also made things tougher for firefighters fighting fires throughout the American west....
As Congress debates transportation bill, construction companies wait and hope
The multi-billion dollar transportation bill has run into deadlock and there's no off-ramp in sight. That has America's construction companies, which depend on transportation spending for a large part of their business, watching, reading tea leaves and lobbying heavily for the House and Senate to get their act together and get something passed. Soon....
Congress, Attorney General in stare-down over contempt, executive privilege
The Fast and Furious operation, led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Arizona, has been a political controversy for months. But things got much more heated Wednesday when President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege for not handing the documents over, while Congress moved to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt....
As Toronto prepares for Pam Am Games, some critics decry huge budgets
In just three years time, Toronto will play host to the Pan Am Games -- a sort of mini Olympics. Putting the thing on will cost more than C$1 billion in new facilities and infrastructure, but it's only projected to bring in a few hundred million in revenue. Proponents say the facilities will get a life-time of use. Critics say these specific facilities won't....
Mass. town makes it easier for cops to hand out $20 fines for public profanity
Middleborough, Mass., has had a law against using "unsavory language" in public places for almost 50 years. But up until this week, it took as much as 12 hours of a police officer's time to hand out a single ticket. But that changed this week, and it should now be easier for a police officer to hand out a $20 ticket for swearing....
U.S. attorneys appointed to investigate top secret intelligence leaks
Bowing to increasing pressure from Congress, the Obama administration announced that it had appointed two U.S. attorney to investigate who is behind leaks about top secret U.S. intelligence and military programs. This continues a pattern of aggressively prosecuting leakers under the Obama administration....
Signs of progress in a Spanish town's drive to get U.S. to finish cleaning decades-old nuclear bomb accident
Some 50 years ago, four American nuclear bombs were lost when the bomb carrying them exploded and lost its cargo into the Spanish countryside. Though there was no nuclear explosion, some of the plutonium in the bombs was spread across the town and surrounding area. Most of it was cleaned up, but not all of it....
Florida student bound for Dartmouth, fighting for immigration reform on the way
A student from Miami who graduated as her high school valedictorian, was accepted to Dartmouth and with hopes of becoming a cardio-thoracic surgeon, very nearly lost her opportunity because her parents kept her in the country illegally when she was 4. She won a temporary reprieve, but she's fighting for more for herself and others like her....
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(21 May, 2013 08:58:54)Stop moaning everyone - unbelievable and endless queue of worlds biggest collection of all minded moaning Minnie's -
PUdden N Tane (20 May, 2013 09:40:50)Take her crayons away then put her in the corner. How could anyone even 'think' they are doing right by the picture when they make ...
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Womprat (20 May, 2013 02:50:44)There were no swamp rats. There were Womprats, though.
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Jonathan (20 May, 2013 11:59:28)You're quite right. Sorry about that! Jonathan Kealing PRI.org
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My Other Car's the Tardis (20 May, 2013 11:37:03)I think you dropped a letter in the album's title: "Ela" is "she"--not "he"--in Portuguese.