JetBlue: No second chances for rogue flight attendant Slater

NEW YORK (AP) — Sometimes there’s no going back. JetBlue Airways says that there will be no second exits for famed flight attendant Steven Slater — who captured America’s imagination with his profanity-laced loudspeaker tirade and jump down a plane’s emergency chute, beer in hand. BACKGROUND: Fed-up attendant curses out fliers, exits by emergency slide RESPONSE: Attendant strikes nerve with stressed workers Spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said Saturday that Slater is no longer employed by the airline. She said the airline won’t release further details out of respect for Slater’s privacy. Slater’s lawyer had said…

How to visit Napa Valley for not much money

NAPA, Calif. — No doubt about it, the Napa Valley can be expensive. Hundred-dollar bottle of wine? They’ve got it. Thousand-a-night hotel suite? Right this way. But there are vine values to be found if you know where to look. Want to glide up a mountain by gondola? See avant-garde art in a garden setting? Sip sparkling wine on a verandah with a view? You can — and all for about what you’d pay for an appetizer at a temple of haute cuisine. Here are…

JetBlue: Flight attendant’s big exit was for good

NEW YORK (AP) — Sometimes there’s no going back. JetBlue Airways says that there will be no second exits for famed flight attendant Steven Slater — who captured America’s imagination with his profanity-laced loudspeaker tirade and jump down a plane’s emergency chute, beer in hand. Spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said Saturday that Slater is no longer employed by the airline. She said the airline won’t release further details out of respect for Slater’s privacy. Slater’s lawyer had said he loved flying and wanted to return to work, and Slater’s folk-hero status among tens of thousands …

Sharapova blows past USA’s Capra at windy U.S. Open

NEW YORK (AP) — Maria Sharapova knows the story all too well: An unknown American kid shows up at the U.S. Open, upsets a seeded player, gains some buzz and belief, then gets a shot at Sharapova in the third round. In 2009, that kid was Melanie Oudin, who beat Sharapova en route to the quarterfinals. In 2010, that kid was Beatrice Capra and, well, let’s just say that Sharapova fared a little better this time around. Overwhelmed by the stage, the circumstances, the 25 mph wind that knocked…

Listen Up: Weekend Plugs

Seeking sound advice? USA TODAY’s music critics spotlight spin-worthy current albums bubbling beneath the hyped hits. Richard Thompson, Dream Attic * * *½ GREAT STUFF IN STORAGE Once again, it’s tempting to champion this rocking troubadour as a British Bruce Springsteen— except this time Thompson plays a meaner guitar and lately has been a more inspired songwriter. Thompson wrote a batch of sterling tunes recently and recorded them with a band in front of live audiences — of whom we should be insanely jealous. The result is one of the stronger and most consistent works of his…

Kara DioGuardi won’t return to ‘American Idol’

The makeover of American Idol continues. With two judges already having left the Fox singing competition, the network announced late Friday that a third, Kara DioGuardi, “is stepping down” and will not return for the show’s 10th season. There had been much speculation that DioGuardi, who had been with the show for two seasons, would be leaving. Simon Cowell, an original judge, left Idol after it crowned a ninth winner in May and Ellen DeGeneres announced in July that …

Police question scientist in Miami airport scare

MIAMI (AP) — Investigators on Friday released a scientist detained at Miami International Airport after screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, prompting an evacuation, a senior law enforcement official said. The official told The Associated Press that no charges were filed against the 70-year-old man and he was allowed to continue his trip. The official requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information. The scientist’s name and destination were not released. He is an American citizen and was “very cooperative,”…

Official: Passenger detained in Miami after suspicious package found

MIAMI (AP) — A scientist has been detained at the Miami International Airport after screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, prompting an evacuation, a government official said. The FBI and Miami-Dade police were interviewing the 70-year-old man, the official said Friday. No explosives have been found. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. The man being questioned at the airport is an American citizen, FBI agent Michael Leverock said at a news conference in Miami…

Dems in power could be in peril, poll says

WASHINGTON — Democratic congressional candidates face a political landscape even rockier than those in 1994 and 2006 that ended with election upheavals that changed control of Congress, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. As the fall campaign begins in earnest over Labor Day weekend, dissatisfaction with the nation’s direction is higher and support for the party in power lower than it was in those tumultuous midterms. This time, however, voters are more likely to say their vote reflects opposition to the party in power rather than support for the other side. Republicans are held in the same low regard as when the GOP lost control of Congress four years ago. That could create problems if they do score a net gain of 39 seats to …

VW plans to be No. 1 car seller in the world by 2018

Is Volkswagen out of its mind? The world’s third-biggest car company, revving up a plan to become the very biggest on the planet, will tell you absolutely not. Bases covered. But consider: VW wants to be the world’s biggest by 2018, knocking off Toyota Motor and General Motors, both of which have acknowledged that their supersize has hurt more than helped in many ways. VW wants to fuel its global growth by tripling sales in the U.S. even though key products have yet to prove themselves. Indeed, the Tennessee factory that will build one of those core models — a replacement for the VW Passat midsize sedan — won’t…

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