The U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq will create a shortage of helicopters and logistics support that high-level officials worry will hamper the elite U.S. troops who stay behind to train Iraqi forces and to combat terrorist networks, according to experts studying the problem. ...more

March 9, 2009

A growing chorus of critics is demanding the creation of a special commission to "investigate" the Bush administration's alleged abuses of power, especially prosecution of the war on terrorism. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy called for a "truth commission," and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. has introduced legislation to establish a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties. ...more

February 23, 2009

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of five Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth in a major blow to the Bush administration's strategy to keep terror suspects locked up without charges. ...more

November 20, 2008

Responding to criticism from Democrats, campaign aides to Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday defended her practice of billing Alaska taxpayers for more than 300 nights she spent at home during her first year-and-a-half in office. ...more

September 10, 2008

The state of Iowa has suffered Mother Nature's wrath in a way Floridians who suffered through the storms of 2004 and 2005 can relate. After one of the most brutal winters in memory, this spring brought a record number of tornadoes, torrential rain and now a 500-year flood that has left thousands of Iowans homeless. ...more

June 18, 2008

Has Highlands County's economic woes hit bottom and started slowly creeping up? Do we even dare say such things out loud in fear that there will be some kind of jinx? It's hard to say on both counts, but a few smart people believe we might have hit bottom and that we have no where to go but up. We certainly hope that's true. A lot of houses are on the market these days and it seems like in the last month or so, some of them are being sold. That probably has to do with prices falling enough that buyers don't want to miss a good thing, but it's still a good sign. The first sign of an improving economy will be some of those "For Sale" signs being topped off with "Sold" signs. ...more

May 19, 2008