Doodle Away

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that people who doodled while listening to a recorded message had a 29 percent better recall of the message's details than people who didn't doodle.

He Does Declare

President Obama announced Friday that he would withdraw combat forces from Iraq by August 2010 and all remaining troops by December 2011.

New Addition To The Break Down

America has been known for it's problem with obesity. But to try and help ourselves, counties in New York and Stamford, Conn. made it a rule that chain restuarants had to post the charts with all the calorie counts of menu items. Now, officials in Suffolk County on Long Island are the latest to adopt a ban on trans fats.

Ecomonially Screwed

At a time where our economy is plummeting selling a house is not the best decision. But in cases like divorce where you're no longer living with that spouse anymore and you need to sell so you can officially seperate things may seem a little harder.

Smoke Without Smoking

Electric cigars, also known as e-cigars, are no joke. There are also e-cigarettes. Paul DiSilvio, the 34-year-old founder of La Casa Grande Tobacco Company, began stocking them in December after stumbling across a description on the Internet. The pitch was: odorless, tobaccoless products that companies claimed offered the experience of smoking without all the hazards. He found the pitch intriguing and decided to run with it.

The Bed-Bug Man

Bed-bug complaints in the city have skyrocketed in recent years. Calls to 311 rose 34 percent, to 9,213, in the past year. Everyone has been calling one man for advice. His name is Louis Sorkin. Mr. Sorkin has been an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History since 1978. He is an expert when it comes to bed bugs.

Former Judges Get Sued

70 juveniles and their families filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against two former judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan. . The two judges already pleaded guilty this month in a scheme that involved their taking kickbacks to put young offenders in privately run detention centers.

Court Denies a Religion It;s Monument

An unusual religion called Summum tried to get their monument reflecting their beliefs, similar to the Ten Commandments, placed in a public park in Utah. Unfortunately for the Summum, the Supreme Court ruled out of their favor. Permanent monuments in public parks are not subject to the free speech analysis that applies to speeches and leaflets in public forums, the court ruled. Instead, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for eight justices, such monuments are “best viewed as a form of government speech.”





http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/washington/26scotus.html?_r=1&ref=us

Guantanamo Detainee Returned To Britian

A Guantanamo detainee, Binyam Mohamed ,30, at the center of a long standoff between the United States and Britain was freed and returned to Britain on Monday after almost seven years in American custody. American officials said that he was part of a conspiracy to detonate a dirty bomb on American soil. But all charges against him were eventually dismissed. Mohamed claims to have been held for 18 months in Morocco where he was also tortured.

12 Iraqi Officers Arrested For Killing Official's Sister

Twelve Iraqi police officers have been arrested for carrying out a string of kidnappings and killings, which also includes the killing of the sister of one of Iraq’s vice presidents. The detained low-level police officers admitted to being involved in the killing of Maysoon al-Hashemi, the sister of Tariq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq’s two vice presidents.

Application For Financial Aid Is Too Much

With more than 100 questions critics say financial aid scares off the very families who need it, preventing some teenagers from going to college.People find it difficult and pay from $80 to $100 dollars just to get help to fill it out.

Private Universities Specialists Earn More Than Presidents

College presidents have recently come under increasing public scrutiny about their compensations, but now so are other university employees who we find out often earn far more. Of the 88 private-college employees who made $1 million or more in the 2007 fiscal year, only 11 were chief executives, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education’s analysis of compensation packages.








http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/education/23pay.html?_r=1&ref=education

Six Arrested, Stolen Guns And Jewelry Recovered

Suffolk police on Saturday arrested six people and recovered four handguns along with jewelry and electronic equipment stolen during a burglary in Mastic. The items were stolen in a burglary Wednesday.

L.I Colleges See Increase In Midyear Transfer Applications

The deepening recession is driving up transfer applications at many Long Island schools, as more and more college students seek cheaper alternatives closer to home.

Suicides In West Point

This winter, the somber mood at the United States Military Academy has been deepened by two recent suicides among the 4,400 cadets — the first since 1999 — as well as two suicide attempts last month. The Army is devastated with a record number of suicides among its members, many of whom have endured long deployments to war zones.

Mobster Wants Freedom

Mobster Anthony Casso, who some compare to the fictional monster Hannibal Lecter, is eager to help close unsolved cases and show the authorities where the bodies are buried (especially if it entails a trip outside the gates). But, as much as he hopes for freedom, or a reduction of his sentence, prosecutors question what his information may be worth and what perils may lie in reopening contact with this antagonist.

Australia Priest Sacked

In Sydney Australia, a rebel priest decided to continue with his duty of led mass Sunday even though he wasn't supposed to. Apparently the priest was caught marrying gay couples and allowing women to preach. In the Catholic religion that is a no-no.

GM And Chrysler Ask Canada For Aid

Auto mobile companies are in trouble. The Canadian units of General Motors Corp and Chrysler are seeking as much as $10 billion in aid from the Canadian and Ontario governments as they fight to survive an industry wide crisis, officials said on Friday. Canada had pledged $4 billion in support at the end of last year.

Hard Choices For Obama

President Obama has been known for slamming high-flying executives traveling in cushy jets at a time of economic turmoil. But now Mr. Obama is in a predicament where he has to now decide whether or not to continue with plans of purchasing a new fleet of 28 Marine One helicopters that will each cost more than the last Air Force One. The situation is the tension between two imperatives of Mr. Obama's nascent presidency, the need to meet the continuing threats of an age of terrorism and the demand for austerity in a period of economic hardship.






http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/us/politics/16chopper.html?scp=18&sq=last%20week%20news&st=cse

Obama Tours To New Blue States

Top billing has been given to states that turned from red to blue in the fall. So far this year, Mr. Obama has made his way around to Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Virginia and Colorado, states that usually voted Republican in presidential elections but that went Democratic in November. President Obama toured a factory that makes wind turbines, listened to the financial worries of voters at town-hall-style meetings and stood atop a dusty road construction site.
The president deviated from his pattern for the first time on Wednesday, appearing in Arizona to present his plan to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Even though Arizona voted for John McCain, Democrats are considering the state to be a ripe target to bring into their column the next time around.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/politics/19memo.html?scp=11&sq=last%20week%20news&st=cse

New Mummies Found

CAIRO – Monday twenty-two ancient Egyptian mummies were unearthed in niches inside a 2,600-year-old tomb during an excavation at the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo.The tomb was located at the bottom of a 36-foot deep shaft, said Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass.

Fireworks destroy Luxury Hotel

BEIJING – An Olympic-style fireworks display put on by China's state-run television broadcaster was the cause of a fire that destroyed a luxury hotel that was part of the network's landmark headquarters in Beijing. The fire left one firefighter dead and a handful of others injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The fire was put out early Tuesday morning after burning for more than five hours.

Bad cash flow for L.I

With the global economic crisis and fearful consumers cutting back on spending, cash registers have slowed all across Long Island in recent months. Now, there are threats of layoffs of police officers and other county workers, park closings and cuts for programs like day care, youth groups and senior centers.

Woman kills husband with SUV

Monday, Maureen Hines, 46, of West Babylon said, before she was sentenced in Riverhead for criminally negligent homicide, that she wished she'd been the one killed the day she drunkenly ran over her husband with a sport utility vehicle before fleeing to New Jersey. "I cannot change anything, but I am sorry with every ounce of my being," she added in a quiet, wavering voice. "I accept whatever sentence you impose." Suffolk County Court Judge C. Randall Hinrichs sentenced Hines to 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison, the maximum for the crime.

One Man Show

Jim Behan, 67, a former U.S marine, stood on West 72nd Street holding up a large sign with the words, “Illegal Immigration — No Order, No Border, No Nation.” He says he gets more than his fair share of nasty comments from passers-by.

New Senator's view on guns

Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, vowed after meeting with the parents of a slain Brooklyn high school senior on Monday that she would lead the fight against gun violence as a senator for all of New York. Ms. Gillibrand said she would work to end illegal gun trafficking and to give young people in cities expanded access to after-school programs. She will also make available job training and other alternatives so joining a gang will be the last thing on their minds.

Number of inmates in California must reduce

In California on Monday, a federal three-judge panel ruled that the California prison system must reduce the number of inmates, currently overcrowded by 55,000, detained within the next three years to maintain a constitutional level of medical and mental health care.

People still scared of peanut butter scare

ATLANTA –Even though familiar brands of peanut butter companies have not been affected by the salmonella outbreak, that has sickened hundreds and led to one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history, shoppers are leaving all jarred peanut butter products. To fight the sales slump, the makers of Jif and Peter Pan have made costly advertising campaign aimed at reassuring shoppers that thier products are safe.

Female suicide bomber kills 24

A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel blew herself up Monday in Colombo,Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan soldiers frisked her at a checkpoint. Twenty troops and eight civilians died. The suspect was pretending to be a war refugee.

Afghans Get Revenge

In Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday two Taliban guerrilla assassins were killed by hundreds of people from around the district of Dara-e-Noor. After a firefight, the wounded Taliban were captured. But instead of turning them over to the authorities, the villagers tied them to a tree and punched and kicked them to death.

When the Groundhog strikes

Staten Island Groundhog Charles G. "Chuck" Hogg attacked Mayor Mike Bloomberg during the morning ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton.The crabby groundhog apparently bit the mayor on his gloved left hand and even drew some blood after not seeing his shadow . The mayor seemed fine after the attack, wrapping his hand and going on with his day. Luckily for Mayor Bloomberg there are no scares of rabies because "Chuck" was raised in captivity and has never been around other animals.




http://www.1010wins.com/pages/3770988.php?contentType=4&contentId=3451487

Sex offender pleads guilty to raping a young boy in public library

A convicted sex offender pleaded guilty Monday to raping a 6-year-old boy at a Massachusetts public library last year while he was on probation. Corey Deen Saunders, 27, entered the plea Monday to child rape and related charges. He was arrested Jan. 30, 2008, after raping a 6 year old boy in thee magazine section of the New Bedford library while the child's mother worked only a few feet away. At the time, Saunders was on probation after serving four years in prison for the attempted rape of a 7-year-old boy.

Federal Government Get Good Marks

Kentucky officials are giving the federal government good marks for its response to a deadly ice storm. Yet, over 300,000 residents remained without power Monday and some areas had yet to see aid workers nearly a week after the storm. Federal authorities insisted they responded as soon as the state asked for help and promised to keep providing whatever aid was necessary.However, Jaime Green, a spokeswoman for the emergency operations center in Lyon County, about 95 miles northwest of Nashville, Tenn, says that they haven't seen FEMA anywhere in their area.