WASHINGTON -- Patients of a La Plata, Md., medical office are among 250 people whose health insurance information was posted online by the U.S. District Court of Maryland. Attorney Bruce Marcus says the information was erroneously included in documents placed on the federal court system's online database in a case involving investigation of insurance fraud, The Washington Post reported Friday. Marcus's client and another physician are subjects of the federal probe. Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama outlined a new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy boosting troop levels and funding and setting expectations for the countries' leaders. He said 4,000 U.S. troops would be deployed to Afghanistan during the spring to train Afghan security forces, a move that "will fully resource our effort to train and support the Afghan army and police," Obama said Friday before an audience that included military personnel, civilians and diplomats from Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition, ... [full story]

DALLAS -- A Dallas woman told police she blacked out the night she left her 7-month-old son alone in her car until morning when he was found dead. Laheather Wilson said she had downed prescription painkillers and wine shortly before picking the boy up at day care, then failed to summon help for some 15 minutes the next morning after she found him unresponsive in the car. The child, Christian Wilson, was declared dead at the scene. Wilson ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate passed a bill that would expand national community service, creating new groups of volunteers for education, energy, healthcare and veterans. Senators voted 78-20 to pass the measure, named the Sen. Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to honor the Massachusetts Democrat and a key architect of the legislation, The New York Times reported Friday. The legislation would designate Sept. 11, the day in 2001 that terrorists attacked the United States, as a ... [full story]

DALLAS -- Dallas police confirm that one of their officers drew a gun on Houston running back Ryan Moats and his wife outside a hospital emergency room. The couple was headed to see Tamishia Moats' dying mother when an officer pulled their vehicle over for rolling through a red light, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday. "He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," Tamishia Moats told the newspaper. Officer ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Like many other segments of the U.S. economy, political party committees are facing declining revenue and mounting debt, observers say. For this group, in addition to the recession and months of falling stock markets, there was a marathon political campaign that endlessly taxed donors. That makes for a dramatic decline in fundraising for both Democrats and Republicans, The Washington Post says. Combined donations from individuals to the six major party campaign committees have fallen by ... [full story]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley had sought an outright ban on capital punishment in his state but says he will sign tough new restrictions approved by lawmakers. The House of Delegates passed limitations that give Maryland the most stringent evidence requirements of any of the 35 states that permit capital punishment, The Sun newspaper in Baltimore reported Friday. "While it is not the full repeal that we had hoped for, I want to thank the ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- More U.S. troops in Afghanistan and more funds for Pakistan are two key conclusions of a just-completed review of the U.S. strategy for the region. U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday was expected to announce the new strategy, which includes sending an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan and a package that would triple U.S. aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year over five years, CNN reported. The troops, who would be in addition to ... [full story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano erupted twice Thursday, sending a black cloud of ash over the Kenai Peninsula. Officials said commercial airlines were halted nearly all flights in south-central Alaska. Following an initial blast at 8:34 a.m., a huge explosion 50 minutes later sent ash soaring 65,000 feet above sea level, The Anchorage Daily News reported. Alaska Airlines canceled all flights in and out of Anchorage for the rest of the day. Other airlines canceled or ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Shoddy wiring throughout U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan pose great risks for American troops, a top U.S. Army inspector says. Jim Childs, a master electrician and the top civilian expert in an Army safety survey, called the wiring he inspected "some of the worst electrical work I've ever seen." More than half the 30,000 buildings his group checked "failed miserably," he said. "With the buildings the way they are, we're playing Russian roulette," Childs ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Liberal advocacy groups are airing ads urging moderate Democratic lawmakers to get firmly behind U.S. President Barack Obama's budget priorities. The commercials, by non-profit MoveOn.org and Americans United for Change, drew immediate counterattacks by moderate Democrats in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate who accused the advocacy groups of myopia. "The liberal groups need to understand that we are not elected to represent the president," Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., told Thursday's edition ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Mint says it is accepting orders for its 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, the Mint's first coin with readable Braille. The Mint said in a release it is accepting orders for the new coin, which was created to honor the 200th birthday of Louis Braille, who created the tactile writing system readable by the blind, CNN said. Sales of the coin will result in surcharges for the National Federation of the Blind ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles homicide investigators refused to comment on reports they are zeroing in on a man who passed himself off as a member of the Rockefeller clan. The Boston Globe said Thursday investigators would soon appear before a grand jury with their case against Clark Rockefeller in the disappearances of his landlords. Los Angeles County prosecutors told the Globe this week they could not comment since grand jury proceedings in California are secret by ... [full story]