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WOODLAND PARK, N.J. | A decades-long conflict among residents of this community over what their town should be called has been resolved — for now, at least. The borough of Woodland Park — formerly known as West Paterson — sealed its new name in a referendum on Nov. 3. A final count of provisional ballots last week found voters chose to keep the Woodland Park name by a 32-vote margin.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. | The molesters drank blood, the children said, and hung them from hooks after forcing them to have sex with their parents. They murdered babies, prosecutors told jurors, and snapped photographs as the horror unfolded. Ed Jagels, renowned as one of California’s toughest district attorneys, built his career on the Kern County child molestation cases of the 1980s, putting more than two dozen men and women behind bars to serve decades-long sentences for abusing children.
Glynndana Shevlin awoke Oct. 30 with a runny nose and scratchy throat, worried she might have the flu. But the full-time food and beverage concierge at Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., has no paid sick days, and if her absences stack up, she faces discipline.
Pelosi’s predicament Love her or hate her, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is at the peak of her political power, and she seems to be reveling in the high drama of the moment.
The Colorado parents of three children could wind up in jail after admitting in court they fabricated a story about their son in a runaway balloon to gain publicity for a possible reality TV show.
KAILUA, Hawaii | Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand castles. “It really used to be a beautiful beach,” said the 35-year-old mother of two.
The latest U.S. Defense Department identification of casualties: •Marine Lance Cpl. Justin J. Swanson, 21, of Anaheim, Calif., died Nov. 10 supporting combat in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
MILAN | In a decade-long journey, the Tunisian went from drug pusher on the streets of Milan, to Islamic militant trained in Afghanistan to kill Americans, to potential key witness against Guantanamo Bay detainees. Prosecutors said Lazhar Ben Mohamed Tlil may hold the key to prosecuting Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Italy and may be crucial to U.S. prosecutions, too.
John J. O’Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor, died in Phoenix of complications arising from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 79. John O’Connor, himself a lawyer, was diagnosed with the disease nearly two decades ago. His condition deteriorated markedly in mid-decade. When Justice O’Connor announced her retirement in 2005, she cited the need to care for her husband.
WOODLAND PARK, N.J. | A decades-long conflict among residents of this community over what their town should be called has been resolved — for now, at least. The borough of Woodland Park — formerly known as West Paterson — sealed its new name in a referendum on Nov. 3. A final count of provisional ballots last week found voters chose to keep the Woodland Park name by a 32-vote margin.
For the birds LA MARQUE, Texas | Police say a low-flying pelican distracted a driver, causing him to veer off a road and drive his million-dollar sports car into a salt marsh.
Guests on today’s TV news shows: •ABC’s “This Week,” 9:30 a.m. — Guests: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico | A U.S. agency has overturned its 2003 research that said no health hazards were caused by decades of military exercises on Vieques, a bombing range turned tourist destination off Puerto Rico’s east coast. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry intends to “modify” some of its earlier research on Vieques.
WASHINGTON | The professed 9/11 organizer and four alleged henchmen will be hauled before a civilian court on U.S. soil, barely a thousand yards from the site of the World Trade Center’s twin towers they are accused of destroying. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the decision Friday to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to trial at a Manhattan courthouse.
W ASHINGTON | Facing a daunting array of Asian challenges, President Barack Obama left Thursday on his first major trip to the region, where a surging China and newly assertive Japan are chipping away at America’s standing on diplomacy and trade. Obama took off Thursday for Tokyo on an Asian journey that will add four countries — Japan, China, Singapore and South Korea — to the 16 he’s already visited.
MIAMI | For three years the federal agency in charge of preventing Medicare fraud repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors over three years during the Bush and Obama administrations but didn’t respond to half of them, even after repeated letters, according to records provided to The Associated Press by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley’s office.
Chalk up another national-security threat — this one looming with each excess pound, failing grade and drug bust affecting young adults. An alarming 75 percent of Americans ages 17 to 24 would not qualify for military service today because they are physically unfit, failed to finish high school or have criminal records. So says a new report from an organization of education and military leaders calling for immediate action on the early-education front.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. | The parents accused of pulling a hoax by reporting that their 6-year-old son had floated away aboard a helium balloon have agreed to plead guilty in a deal that could send them both to jail but protect the wife from deportation. Richard Heene will plead guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, said his attorney, David Lane. Heene’s wife, Mayumi, a Japanese citizen who could be deported if convicted of more serious charges, will plead guilty to a lesser charge of false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor.
WASHINGTON | The call came in from Rome, just as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants were scrambling to round up scarce votes to pass their sweeping health overhaul. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, was on the line for Pelosi, calling to discuss adding strict abortion restrictions to the House bill.
WASHINGTON | A group of doctors overseeing Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s medical training discussed concerns about his overly zealous religious views and strange behavior months before the Army major was accused of a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 dead and 29 wounded. Doctors and staff overseeing Hasan’s training viewed him at times as belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith, a military official familiar with several group discussions about Hasan said. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. | It’s been Taylor Swift’s year, and Wednesday was her night as she became the youngest person and the first solo female act in a decade to win the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year award. Swift won all four awards for which she was nominated, making history on a night that included Darius Rucker’s win as new artist.
news.mcclatchy.com headlines
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has proposed a plan to end the state's hotly disputed teacher furloughs and cancel a planned 10 percent reduction in school days.
An 11-year-old Idaho boy fatally shot a black bear on his family's front porch after he said it wouldn't leave.
A sixth member of a family facing multiple child sex abuse charges in western Missouri said he is "devastated" and had "no idea" about the rape allegations against him.
A Baltimore attorney who became a confidant of executed D.C. sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad is writing a book about him.
Walking a fine line: Obama seeks Chinese help on global problems while supporting human rights
About half of Southern Democrats responding to a poll say they were opposed or outraged by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's shout of "You lie!" when President Barack Obama addressed Congress.
As President Barack Obama visits China seeking to balance a seesawing relationship, Chinese-Americans embody the challenges facing the giants of East and West.
President Barack Obama sought a political balance Monday on his first trip to China, seeking help on urgent global problems while weighing if and when to raise concerns over human rights.
Holders of lost savings bonds dating back to World War II say its not nearly as easy to track down the lost money as the U.S. Treasury Department claims in an ongoing lawsuit.
When Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage there was a lot of talk about her distinctive way of talkin', you betcha.
Every lawsuit filed or even threatened under a California law aimed at electing more minorities to local offices - and all of the roughly $4.3 million from settlements so far - can be traced to just two people: a pair of attorneys who worked together writing the statute, The Associated Press has found.
Fingers will be flying when space shuttle Atlantis blasts off Monday: About 100 of NASA's geekiest fans will be on hand, pecking away at iPhones, BlackBerrys, laptops and other Twittering gadgets.
It seemed like a given that Mario Rodas would go to college.
President Barack Obama is in Shanghai, launching a three-day visit to an important global U.S. partner and his first travels ever in China.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who was hailed as a hero this summer for confronting a metal-bar wielding man, is running for governor.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized Monday to thousands of impoverished British children shipped to Australia in past centuries with the promise of a better life, only to suffer abuse and neglect thousands of miles from home.
Hundreds of people lining the main street of an Indiana town on Saturday fell solemnly silent as the white hearse passed. Mourners waited for hours outside a Wisconsin gymnasium to say goodbye to a soldier who once promised to take down Osama bin Laden.
Airport officials in Kansas City say a passenger jet struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff and returned to land safely.
President Barack Obama is steering some tourism trade and international attention to his native Hawaii in a couple of years.
Authorities acted on a tip Sunday and searched a wide area in south-central North Carolina trying to find a 5-year-old girl reported missing by her mother, who has been charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution.
Police say a man who had locked himself and his mother in her Long Island home died after he tussled with officers and was zapped twice with a stun gun.
