U.S.

Chinese Firm Buys Massachusetts Tech Company

1:01pm December 12, 2012

by Curt Nickisch

On Tuesday, a federal bankruptcy judge gave the nod to a Chinese firm to buy a Massachusetts technology company. The company, A123 Systems, makes batteries for electric cars, but some in Congress are fighting to block the deal.

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Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, speaks Tuesday as Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., listen during a news conference on Capitol Hill calling for no reduction in the Medicare and Med

Democrats Draw Line On Medicaid Cuts

8:15am December 12, 2012

by Julie Rovner

Democrats are worried that cuts to the program will go beyond the impact on the people it serves. It will also affect the Affordable Care Act, which calls for expanding Medicaid to as many as 16 million more people. The states are watching closely because the federal government has promised it will pay most of those additional costs.

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NHL Lockout Leaves Fans Out In The Cold

7:44am December 12, 2012

by Frank Deford

Hockey fans are living their lives, going about their business, but their days are a little paler. Commentator Frank Deford says fans deserve a little sympathy when their sport is taken from them.

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A customer shops for nectarines at a farmers market in San Francisco.

Farm Bill Becomes Fodder In 'Fiscal Cliff' Wrangling

5:58am December 12, 2012

by Brian Naylor

Farm-state lawmakers are urging leaders to include a farm bill as part of any budget deal to avert year-end tax increases and spending cuts. But others argue that Congress shouldn't toss the farm bill into a giant package because it would very likely stifle debate and amendments.

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Superstorm Sandy caused massive beach erosion and damage to the Jersey shore. Some people say the beach restoration work, which will largely be paid for with federal tax dollars, will mostly help to protect expensive homes for the wealthy — people who h

National

N.J. Spars Over Free Beach Access Post-Sandy

5:58am December 12, 2012

by David Schaper

Federal taxpayers will pay the lion's share of the restoration for the Jersey shore damage caused by Sandy. But since most of those who will benefit are private landowners on the shore, one N.J. lawmaker wants to prohibit the shore towns from charging access fees to their public beaches.

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Clark Porter was 17 when he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for robbing a downtown post office at gunpoint. He spent 15 years in prison and today helps some of the toughest ex-offenders turn their lives around.

National

In Freedom, Ex-Felon Becomes Probation Counselor

9:34pm December 11, 2012

by Julie Bierach

The federal probation office in St. Louis has one of the biggest caseloads of violent offenders in the country — and one of the lowest recidivism rates. That's in part because of a former felon who knows how to keep ex-offenders from returning to prison.

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These gas masks were reconditioned at the Edgewood Arsenal for civilian defense use during World War II. Later, in the 1950s and '60s, the arsenal near the Chesapeake Bay was used for secret chemical weapons testing run by the U.S. Army.

National

'Operation Delirium:' Psychochemicals And Cold War

1:13pm December 11, 2012

In his article for The New Yorker, journalist Raffi Khatchadourian tells the story of a secret program that tested nerve gas, LSD and other drugs on 5,000 American soldiers throughout the 1950s and '60s.

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The Feds Can Tell Ernest Hemingway's Cats What To Do; Here's Why

11:06am December 11, 2012

by Mark Memmott

Cats descended from one given to the writer live at the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West. A visitor filed a complaint with the law. Now, judges have said the U.S. Department of Agriculture can regulate those felines. Yes, Hemingway's cats are a federal case. It's a long story.

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Detroit Tries To Stave Off State Takeover Of Finances

10:55am December 11, 2012

by Quinn Klinefelter

If the mayor and City Council can't agree on a plan to reduce the budget deficit, state officials are poised to take away their power over Detroit's purse strings. The mayor and the council blame each other for the impasse. And with the deficit deepening, residents' frustration continues to mount.

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Feds Say 'No' To Partial Medicaid Expansion

10:55am December 11, 2012

by Julie Rovner

In the Supreme Court's Affordable Care Act ruling this summer, it decided that states' plans for expansion of the Medicaid program should be optional. That led governors to ask if they could expand the program in part but still receive federal funding. The administration has said no.

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