Pat Dollard

(Reuters) – The House of Representatives will postpone next week’s vote to repeal President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation due to the shooting of Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said on Saturday. “All legislation currently scheduled to be considered by the House of Representatives next week is being postponed so that [...]

PHOENIX (AP) – Gabrielle Giffords, one of her state’s most high-profile Democrats, seems at first glance to be an unlikely choice of voters in conservative-leaning southern Arizona. But she has managed to remain popular, winning election three times in the Tucson-area congressional district by holding centrist positions, reaching out to constituents and bucking her party’s [...]

JP, Me, and Charlie in the background, in the Valley of Death.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A package addressed to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano exploded on Friday at a postal facility in Washington, D.C. but was quickly extinguished and no one was injured, authorities said. A postal worker was tossing mail into a bin when the package was discovered “popping, smoking and with a brief flash [...]

PHOENIX (AP) — A new website to draw attention to tons of trash discarded along the Arizona-Mexico border has been launched by state officials hoping to stem the flow of refuse left behind by illegal immigrants making their way into the United States. The website, azbordertrash.gov, is also seeking volunteers to participate in cleanup efforts [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent last month, its lowest level in 19 months. That was because more people found jobs, but also because some people gave up on their job searches. The Labor Department says employers added 103,000 jobs in December, an improvement from November’s revised total of 71,000 [...]

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Graphic video footage obtained by the sheriff’s department shows several men sexually assaulting at least 10 profoundly disabled women, some of them in diapers, officials said Thursday. The assaults came to light when an unknown man dumped a bundle of 11 DVDs at the Los Angeles County sheriff’s station in March. [...]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Truckloads of Four Loko and other alcohol-laced energy drinks are being recycled into ethanol and other products after federal authorities told manufacturers the beverages were dangerous and caused users to become “wide-awake drunk.” Wholesalers from Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and other East Coast states started sending cases of the high-alcohol, caffeinated [...]