U.S. National News

Tight economy forces some to stay home for holiday

Security lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are short Wednesday morning, Nov. 25, 2009. Millions of Americans got an early jump on their Thanksgiving travel Wednesday, with many opting to drive or take trains and buses instead of shelling out more money for flights amid a sour economy still hitting household budgets hard. (AP Photo/Dorie Turner)
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AP
AP - 14 minutes ago

CHICAGO - There's still family, turkey and football, but one Thanksgiving tradition is taking a hit this year. Millions of Americans are spending the holiday at home, saying the poor economy has made it unaffordable to hit the road or board a plane.

  • A general view of the World Trade Center construction site in New York, September 8, 2009. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Files
    Activist group posting 573,000 9/11 pager messages AP - 14 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - An activist group has begun posting 573,000 pager messages purportedly sent on Sept. 11, 2001, from "Second World Trade Center tower collapses" to "I'm ok & love you..xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox."

  • FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 file photo, a piece of Chinese drywall leans against the wall of a home in Davie, Fla. A federal probe of tainted Chinese drywall has broadened because a small number of homeowners are reporting that American-made drywall is causing some of the same problems: a sickening, sulfurous stench and corroded pipes and wiring. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File)
    Drywall investigation expands into US products AP - 1 hour, 57 minutes ago

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A federal probe of tainted Chinese drywall has broadened because a small number of homeowners are reporting that American-made drywall is causing some of the same problems: a sickening, sulfurous stench and corroded pipes and wiring.

  • A nurse holds up a bottle of the vaccine against H1N1 influenza at a hospital in Guanajuato November 25, 2009. Guanajuato has received 23,400 doses and will start with the vaccination programme for patients and workers most at risk on November 26. REUTERS/Mario Armas (MEXICO POLITICS HEALTH)
    CDC: Swine flu vaccine safe; no big problems seen AP - 2 hours, 46 minutes ago

    ATLANTA - There's no evidence that the swine flu vaccine is causing any serious side effects, U.S. health officials said Wednesday, in their first report on the safety of the new vaccine.

  • This image from NASA TV shows the Space Shuttle Atlantis doing it's fly around passing behind the Russian segment of the International Space Station shortly after undocking from the International Space Station early Wednesday Nov. 25, 2009. The Poisk can be seen at right. The shuttle is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday morning. The (AP Photo/NASA)
    Shuttle Atlantis leaves space station, headed home AP - Wed Nov 25, 1:39 PM ET

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station early Wednesday and headed home with one astronaut eager to hold his newborn daughter for the first time and another who's been away from her young son since the summer.

  • Singer Adam Lambert appears on CBS's' 'The Early Show' in New York, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)
    Lambert says he got carried away, but not sorry AP - 2 hours, 15 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - Adam Lambert admits he got carried away with his sexually charged American Music Awards performance, but he's offering no apology.

  • Search crew working to free man stuck in cave AP - 2 hours, 55 minutes ago

    SALT LAKE CITY - Rescuers chipped away with air-powered tools in a narrow tunnel Wednesday to free a man trapped upside down about 150 feet below ground in a popular Utah cave.

  • In this undated photo released by the Cobb County police, Paul Patrick Serdula, is seen. Police say an Atlanta area nurse anesthetist has been charged with molesting and sodomizing anesthetized patients in dental and medical offices, and they say the videotaped abuses could involve 100 or more victims. Serdula, who worked in dental and medical offices across the Atlanta area, was arrested Monday night on child molestation and sodomy charges. (AP Photo/Cobb County Police)
    Ga. nurse anesthetist accused of abusing patients AP - 1 hour, 7 minutes ago

    ATLANTA - A metro Atlanta nurse anesthetist has been charged with molesting and sodomizing anesthetized patients in dental and medical offices, and police say the videotaped abuses could involve 100 or more victims.

  • FILE - In this Saturday March 22, 2008, file photo, the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy makes it's way up the Delaware River near Philadelphia guided by tug boats. The U.S. Navy plans to donate the retired aircraft carrier as a museum or memorial. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek, File)
    Free to good home: Carrier USS John F. Kennedy AP - Wed Nov 25, 3:05 PM ET

    PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Navy plans to give away the retired aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy for a museum or memorial.

  • VIDEO: The effects of climate change on the Himalayan region. Originally filed: 280809. Duration: 01:26.(AFPTV/Greenpeace)
    Curbing global warming saves lives, studies say AP - Wed Nov 25, 3:41 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Cutting global warming pollution would not only make the planet healthier, it would make people healthier too, new research suggests.

  • Colonial-era skull to get military burial in Conn. AP - Wed Nov 25, 11:25 AM ET

    MILFORD, Conn. - A Colonial-era skull believed to belong to a Revolutionary War soldier is set to be reburied in Connecticut with full military honors.

  • In this Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 photo, Immigration attorney Ira Kurzban is shown in his office in Miami. Kurzban co-founded Immigrants List, the nation's first major pro-comprehensive reform PAC. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
    Pro-immigration reform PACS growing in influence AP - Wed Nov 25, 2:00 PM ET

    MIAMI - Two fledgling political action committees that support allowing some illegal immigrants to become citizens are raising more money than their immigration-control counterparts, signaling a possible fundraising shift ahead of next year's congressional races.

  • Kentucky State Police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski shows how 'fed' was written from the bottom up as she answers questions regarding the death of Kentucky census worker Bill Sparkman Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, at the Kentucky State Police Central Forensic Laboratory in Frankfort, Ky. The Kentucky census worker found naked, bound with duct tape and hanging from a tree with 'fed' scrawled on his chest killed himself but staged his death to make it look like a homicide, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Brian Bohannon)
    Authorities: Hanged Ky. census worker killed self AP - Wed Nov 25, 9:37 AM ET

    FRANKFORT, Ky. - When an eastern Kentucky census worker was found naked, bound with duct tape and hanging from a tree with "fed" scrawled on his chest, suspicion fell on the hardscrabble Appalachian area where bad news seems like a way of life.

  • Seth Trumbley, 6, of Colorado Springs, Col., prepares to drop a few coins into a Salvation Army red kettle on Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. The city is one of 30 nationwide to add card readers for donations with credit or debit cards as fewer shoppers carry cash. But so far, most donors continue dropping change or small bills in the kettles. (AP Photo/Kristen Wyatt)
    Salvation Army's iconic kettles now credit ready AP - Wed Nov 25, 2:37 PM ET

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - There could be less jingle in the Salvation's Army's hallmark red kettles this season. The charity is testing kettles that take debit and credit cards.

  • Honolulu police posting DUI mug shots on Internet AP - Wed Nov 25, 3:48 AM ET

    HONOLULU - Mug shots of drunken driving suspects are landing on the Honolulu Police Department's Web site, creating a virtual wall of shame long before suspects get their day in court.

  • In this photo taken Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 Drew Grande, of Manchester, N.H., left, Nicole Wilson, of Providence, R.I., center, and Josh Atwood, of Hampden, Maine, right, participate in a candlelight vigil in front of the Statehouse, in Providence. The vigil, sponsored by several groups that support equal rights for same-sex couples, was meant to draw attention to a failed bill that would have given equal rights to same-sex partners following the death of a partner or loved one. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
    Gay marriage momentum stalls in liberal NY, NJ AP - Wed Nov 25, 1:50 PM ET

    MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - The state-to-state march to legalize gay marriage across the left-leaning Northeast has lost more momentum since a major setback three weeks ago at the ballot box in Maine.

Crimes and Trials News

  • Charles Carnesi, attorney of John "Junior" Gotti, answers questions from reporters outside the Federal Court House in New York in 2008. The jury in alleged New York Mafia boss John Gotti Junior's racketeering and murder trial was sent home Wednesday until next week after failing to reach a verdict in 10 days of deliberations.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Joshua Lott)
    New York Mafia trial jury to break until Tuesday AFP - 31 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (AFP) - The jury in alleged New York Mafia boss John Gotti Junior's racketeering and murder trial was sent home Wednesday until next week after failing to reach a verdict in 10 days of deliberations.

  • Switzerland's top criminal court on Wednesday granted bail to film-maker Roman Polanski, seen here in 2008, saying his offer of 4.5 million dollars and to go under house arrest was enough to prevent his escape.(AFP/File/Abdelhak Senna)
    Swiss court grants Polanski bail AFP - 49 minutes ago

    GENEVA (AFP) - A Swiss court on Wednesday granted Roman Polanski a 4.5 million dollar bail to await a final decision on whether he should be extradited to the United States over a child sex case.

  • A view of the Winterthur prison where Polish-born French director Roman Polanski is being held. Switzerland's top criminal court said it had granted bail to film-maker Roman Polanski, saying his offer of 4.5 million dollars and to go under house arrest was enough to prevent his escape.(AFP/Sebastian Derungs)
    Swiss court grants Roman Polanski bail Reuters - 2 hours, 23 minutes ago

    ZURICH (Reuters) - A Swiss court on Wednesday approved the release of Roman Polanski on bail of 4.5 million Swiss francs ($4.49 million) while the film director fights extradition to the United States over a 1970s child sex case.