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AP sources: Woods likely to play Masters

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:25:46 +0000

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods intends to remain out of golf at least until the Masters, two people with knowledge of his plans told The Associated Press. Woods has been practicing at Isleworth near his Orlando home the last two weeks, and swing coach Hank Haney flew there during the weekend to work with him. That led to speculation Thursday he was close to playing again. The two people, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because only Woods is supposed to release such information, say he is likely to play first at Augusta National in April. Woods twice …

Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:15:04 +0000

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district to reinstate the dance it canceled. The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn’t host the April 2 prom. “Somebody said, ‘Thanks for ruining my senior year.’” McMillen said of her reluctant return Thursday to Itawamba Agricultural High School in …

Sen. Reid’s wife hospitalized in auto crash

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:41 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s wife remained hospitalized Friday with serious injuries suffered when a tractor-trailer rear-ended the minivan she and their daughter were riding in on a suburban Virginia interstate, officials said. Landra Reid, 69, suffered a broken back and neck in Thursday’s crash, but her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Mrs. Reid and their daughter, Lana Barringer, 49, were taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. The daughter was released Thursday night, hospital spokesman Tony Raker said. Mrs. Reid was in serious condition, but Reid aides said she was …

Judge mulls $657M for WTC responders

THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:59:52 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — A settlement that could pay up to $657.5 million to more than 10,000 ground zero rescue and recovery workers sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center goes before a judge Friday, and he has said he favored a settlement but planned to analyze it carefully to make sure it was fair. Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the proposal “fair and reasonable,” a sentiment echoed by one of the negotiators of the deal that was announced Thursday night after years of fighting in court. The settlement agreed upon by lawyers representing the city, construction companies and …

Exports nominee tied to 2 watch list firms

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:09 +0000

President Obama’s pick to oversee export controls at the Commerce Department is a trade lawyer whose recent clients include two companies on a government watch list and a shipping business that agreed to pay millions of dollars last year to resolve a federal probe into shipments to Iran, Sudan and Syria. All three companies have had recent interests before the government office that Eric Hirschhorn would oversee if he is confirmed as undersecretary of commerce for industry and security. Under Mr. Obama’s ethics rules, appointees are prohibited from working on matters involving recent clients unless they obtain a special waiver. …

Obama urges China to cut currency

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:09 +0000

President Obama is stepping up pressure on China to stop fueling the world’s biggest trade imbalance by artificially depressing the value of its currency, and Beijing is signaling it may soon heed those pleas. Under political pressure to address burgeoning job losses that many blame in part on China and its aggressive exports policy, Mr. Obama on Thursday reminded the Asian giant that it pledged last year at the Group of 20 economic summit to pare its lopsided trade surplus with the U.S. Allowing the Chinese yuan, also known as the renminbi, to rise against the dollar in response to …

With ban, GOP calls duel on earmarks

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:08 +0000

In a move to break with the GOP’s big-spending past, House Republicans voted Thursday to ban their members this year from requesting earmarks, the pork-barrel spending that directs money to pet projects in home districts. The Republicans, who passed the moratorium by voice vote in a closed-door meeting, said they have now put pressure on the rest of Congress – Republicans in the Senate, and Democrats in both chambers – to follow their lead. “Today, House Republicans took an important step toward showing the American people we’re serious about reform by adopting an immediate, unilateral ban on all earmarks,” said …

Ex-chief regrets D.C. fire merger with EMS

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:07 +0000

The former D.C. fire chief tasked with merging his firefighting and emergency medical services divisions to improve a beleaguered ambulance service now says the department should be divided, in large part because the “culture” of the historically white fire service makes employees indifferent to treating needy city residents. Adrian H. Thompson, who led the department from July 2002 through December 2006 and took the initial steps to merge the responsibilities of the department’s civilian EMS work force with its uniformed firefighters, said he no longer thinks the plan can work. “It’s not working,” Mr. Thompson said in an interview with …

Immigrant rights advocates, poised to rally, pressure Obama

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:05 +0000

Immigrant rights groups say President Obama has bought himself some breathing space after a tense meeting Thursday, but that the White House will have to show real progress on an immigration bill by March 21 when tens of thousands of immigrant rights marchers are scheduled to rally in Washington. Mr. Obama met Thursday with immigrant rights activists, then later met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and with Sens. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, and Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, who are working on a bipartisan bill to legitimize the status of the 11 million illegal immigrants now in the …

Pay raise sought for bilingual fed workers

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:04 +0000

A key member of Congress says federal workers should be paid more for using their bilingual skills at work, and he’s introduced a bill to boost those folks’ pay by 5 percent. Rep. Michael M. Honda, California Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said those bilingual workers deserve to be rewarded for their extra skills – something the government doesn’t regularly do right now. “I understand the difficulties that immigrants face communicating in English while they acquire fluency,” Mr. Honda said. “The bill addresses these challenges by promoting the use of bilingual skills throughout the federal …