LOS ANGELES - Investigators are looking into the firebombing of a neuroscientist's car at the University of California at Los Angeles, officials said. The Los Angeles Times reported that the UCLA professor, who researches treatments for schizophrenia, drug addiction and other disorders, was targeted by an anti-animal research group. The March 7 firebombing involved a homemade incendiary device, and took place outside the researcher's home, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. She said the incident will ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - House Democrats are considering a second stimulus plan to help reassure investors and boost U.S. consumer confidence, officials say. The Hill reported Tuesday that some Democrats say they believe that the recently enacted $787 billion economic stimulus plan is just not enough to jump start the economy. The newspaper said among proposals considered Tuesday at a meeting of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee is another spending plan. "We are going to need ... [full story]

SAMSON, Ala. - A gunman shot and killed at least eight people in a small town in southeastern Alabama and one more on the road before he was killed, police said. Others were wounded during the shooting spree, including a police officer, the Dothan Eagle reported. The dead included the wife and child of a sheriff's deputy. The carnage began in Samson, a town of about 2,000 people a few miles north of the Florida ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - A former Alaska state senator was sentenced on a corruption charge for conspiring to bribe another state legislator, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday. A U.S. district judge sentenced John Cowdery to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement, and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine, the department said in a release in Washington. Cowdery pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal ... [full story]

FLORENCE , Ore. - An Oregon casino said a woman won a record-setting $5 million from a $4 bet on a slot machine after less than an hour at the casino. A spokesman for the Three Rivers Casino and Hotel in Florence said the Hillsboro, Ore., woman had been playing the Penny Wheel of Fortune machine, which is networked to a number of machines throughout the West Coast and allows for large payoffs by a ... [full story]

PORTLAND, Ore. - Patients in Oregon who request physician aid in dying under the state's Death With Dignity Act say they are worried about future suffering, researchers say. "Our data suggests that patients who request physician-assisted death do so not because of physical symptoms or their current quality of life," Dr. Linda Ganzini of the Oregon Health & Science University said in a statement. "They often make their requests based on an anticipation of future ... [full story]

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland's mayor says he isn't sure if there are enough votes on the city council to pass a tentative deal that would bring Major League Soccer to Oregon. Mayor Sam Adams told The (Portland) Oregonian that he and one other member of the five-person council are ready to vote yes Wednesday while the other three have yet to commit. "We go into this without an identified third vote," Adams said after the ... [full story]

I have known Rush Limbaugh since his old radio days in Sacramento, before he became a GOP god. I've disagreed with him over the years. Last year I took on his bashing of Republican moderates and criticized Limbaugh and other talk-radio hosts when they were too harsh on not-yet GOP nominee John McCain. I've never apologized and we're still friends. If you've watched cable news in the last week, you've seen how the Limbaugh story ... [full story]

It's a long shot for sure, but the irresponsible spending bill produced by Congress just may come off the tracks this week. If it does, taxpayers will score a rare victory. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was forced last week to postpone a vote on the $410 billion measure, which would keep the federal government operating until the fall, because he didn't have the 60 votes needed to get it passed. Republicans, with the ... [full story]

Better late than never. It took a while, but Americans — or at least some of them — have finally gotten around to talking about the monstrous financial burden that we're leaving our children, our grandchildren and, in all likelihood, our great-grandchildren. Like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who delivered the Republican response to President Obama's address to Congress last month. Addressing the poorly crafted and irresponsible $787 billion Democratic stimulus bill, Jindal said the legislation ... [full story]