Post-Earl weekend will be calm and dry for most

After Hurricane Earl blows through eastern New England Saturday morning, the remainder of the weekend should be relatively calm and dry for most of the USA. Farewell, Earl:  Hurricane Earl will move rapidly across coastal New England Saturday, bringing very heavy rain and strong winds to southeastern Massachusetts and the coast of Maine, especially in the morning. More than three inches of rain could drench the region. Coastal flooding will also be a concern. The storm will move into far eastern Canada Saturday afternoon before …

Small gains made in Mideast peace talks

WASHINGTON — They met. They shook hands. And they agreed to meet again. Israelis and Palestinians have embarked on another round of peace talks after two days of stroking and cajoling by the Obama administration — an outcome that experts said is about as good as it gets for now. Before leaving here Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas joined hands literally and figuratively. They condemned this week’s violence against Israelis on the West Bank, set Sept. 14-15 for their next talks and agreed to seek a “framework agreement.” None of the major issues that divide them was solved: the borders of …

Corporate alliances help keep state parks afloat

CUYAMACA RANCHO STATE PARK, Calif. — A visitor has to look closely to find it, but here, in a remote mountain forest of Southern California, is a sign of what’s to come for state parks across the USA: Corporate logos. From California to New York, states are turning to corporations for financial backing as recession and budget woes prompt cuts in public dollars to maintain parks. “In tough times, you should never be complacent,” says Ruth Coleman, …

U.S. government sues Ariz. sheriff in civil rights probe

PHOENIX — An Arizona sheriff has been sued by the U.S. Justice Department for refusing to cooperate with a civil-rights probe into police practices and jail operations. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, is disappointing given that he and his office were cooperating on the federal probe. “I thought we were really close to getting this resolved,” the sheriff said. Arpaio restated his confidence that Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies do not target Hispanic citizens because of their race, and said if the Justice Department had any evidence of racial profiling, they wouldn’t be suing him to get records to prove…

Hurricane Earl to batter North Carolina tonight

KILL DEVIL HILLS — Hurricane Earl is a powerful Category 3 storm packing 125-mph winds, and coastal residents in its path need to take action now, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told reporters Thursday. “This is a day of action,” Fugate said. “Sunny skies in the (North Carolina) Outer Banks will deteriorate throughout the afternoon. For people further north, conditions will deterioate very quickly.” As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the storm was located about 245 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the north at 18 mph. The storm is on track to swipe the North Carolina barrier islands, where many tourists have already evacuated and…

Number of illegal immigrants in USA down

The number of immigrants coming to the USA illegally every year has plummeted — the first significant decline in two decades, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report out today. The total number of illegal immigrants in the country is down from a peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009, the report says. The annual inflow of about 300,000 illegal immigrants from 2007 to 2009 was almost two-thirds smaller than it had been from 2000 to 2005, when it reached an average 850,000 a …

Rape probe against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reopened

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A senior Swedish prosecutor reopened a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday, the latest twist to a puzzling case in which prosecutors of different ranks have overruled each other. Assange has denied the allegations and suggested they are part of a smear campaign by opponents of WikiLeaks — an online whistle-blower that has angered Washington by publishing thousands of leaked documents about U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The case was dismissed last week by Eva Finne, chief prosecutor in Stockholm, who overruled a lower-ranked prosecutor and said there was no reason to suspect that Assange, an Australian citizen, had raped a Swedish woman who had…

HD TV and technology pit NFL stadiums vs. fans’ living rooms

When the NFL kicks off the 2010 season next week, about 1 million fans will turn out to watch games in stadiums across the nation. And in their living rooms, an average of 16 million fans will gather to watch each of the 16 opening-weekend games in what has become the golden age for NFL consumption. That’s because of big-screen, high-definition TVs, surround-sound systems, channels that allow viewers to watch multiple games at the same time and check on players’ stats, and the NFL’s RedZone Channel — a commercial-free, subscription-based channel that cuts to the most exciting game at anytime. Together, such innovations during the past decade — …

Hurricane Earl forces evacuations in North Carolina

Evacuations will begin today in part of North Carolina as Hurricane Earl gathered steam in the Atlantic, threatening East Coast residents and Labor Day weekend travelers. Federal officials warned of more possible evacuations. The storm’s uncertain track and high speed as it moves up the coast may force emergency management planners to issue evacuation orders even if they’re not sure the storm will move on shore, said Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “We do not have a forecasted landfall, but this is a very large storm, and we do…

Gettysburg divided over proposed casino

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — The town where the Civil War’s tide-turning battle was waged is fighting dissension in its own ranks, with even hard-core preservationists split over a proposed casino that would rise near the historic battlefield and be named for the line that divided North and South. It’s the second time in five years that Gettysburg has fought over a plan to build a casino. This time it’s the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino, proposed on a hotel and conference center site within a mile of the southern boundary of Gettysburg National Military Park. “No Casino” and “Pro Casino” signs pepper shop windows in the quaint streets of Gettysburg, where more than a million …

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