Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation Wednesday to adopt a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a major victory to clean-water advocates who sought to reduce the amount of trash clogging landfills, the region’s waterways and the ocean. Egged on by actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and an array of environmental groups, the City Council voted 13 to 1 to phase out plastic bags over the next 12 months at an estimated 7,500 stores. Councilman Bernard Parks cast the lone no vote. "Let’s get the message to Sacramento that it’s time to go statewide," said Councilman Ed Reyes, who has focused on efforts to revitalize the Los Angeles River. Council members quietly backed away from a more controversial plan to also ... Continue reading →

It’s 19 degrees with a brisk wind blowing off Lake Erie as the men of Lacroix Company march across a snow-crusted field in Michigan. “Prepare to load!” shouts Ralph Naveaux, the unit’s commander. Fumbling with frozen hands, the men shove ramrods down the muzzles of their flintlocks. “Aim!” Naveaux yells, and the soldiers point their muskets at an industrial park on the far side of the field. Six triggers click in unison. “Bang,” one of the men says. After a second mock volley, the re-enactors retire to the parking lot of one of the bloodiest battlefields of the War of 1812. On this ground, hundreds of U.S. soldiers died in a defeat so stinging that it spawned a vengeful American battle cry: “Remember the Raisin!” ... Continue reading →

Eyewitness News NEW YORK (WABC) -- Fed up with the Mayor using the East 34th Street Heliport on weekends when it's closed, Ron Sticco started documenting it. "To utilitze that heliport when it's supposed to be closed is just disrespectful," said Sticco. Nearby residents, like the Sticcos, fought for years to get the noisy, fume-choking heliport closed on weekends and weeknights. The court-imposed curfew has been in place for more than a decade. "He's being a little bit hypocritical. If you're concerned about the quality of life of the citizen in this city, like don't smoke a cigarette in Central Park, then don't land a two thousand pound helicopter in front of my apartment with the choking exhaust and intolerable noise when it's closed," added ... Continue reading →

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Legal analysts awaiting a verdict in the John Edwards federal corruption trial say the judge’s interpretation of the law could shape what the jurors might ultimately decide. Although jurors have been weighing the complex and tawdry story of a concealed mistress, an illegitimate child and a cover-up — all financed with money from wealthy friends — the question of guilt or innocence hinges on a single question: Did the money amount to gifts — as Mr. Edwards contends — or illegal and improperly reported campaign contributions, as the government contends? In their deliberations, the jurors are being asked to determine whether the donors gave the money with the “purpose to influence an election.” The phrase prompted a rigorous disagreement between the defense ... Continue reading →

Interactive: Job Gains and Losses 2007-2012 by Carla Uriona, Special to Stateline; Mary Mahling, Special to Stateline; Ben Wieder, Staff Writer Continue reading →

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Florida's local election supervisors on Wednesday sounded skeptical, and even distrustful, of a push by the state to remove thousands of potential non-U.S. citizens from the voting rolls just months before the critical 2012 elections. The supervisors, meeting at their annual summer conference, peppered state election officials with questions about the list of more than 2,600 people who have been identified as being in Florida legally but ineligible to vote. That list was sent to supervisors recently, but state officials have also said there may be as many as 182,000 registered voters who may not be citizens. State election officials want the state's 67 county election offices to reach out to those on the list, determine their citizenship status and remove ... Continue reading →