COLUMBUS, OHIO - Maybe, what Ohio needs is David Copperfield, the master of illusion. With a wave of a wand last week, House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, declared school funding fixed and constitutional. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled four times that the funding method was unconstitutional, primarily because of the over-reliance on property taxes. Then the court washed its hands of the long-running case called DeRolph I, II, III and IV in 2003 and left ... [full story]

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - It took roughly 20 minutes to read the names of the 100 service members from the 5th Regimental Combat Team who died in Iraq the past year. A Marine called out each name in a somber voice, followed each time by the single chime of a giant bell. SALUTE - K'Ann Hines, of Ventura and the mother of U. S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Joshua MIichael Hines, one of the 101 ... [full story]

SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico - Vicente Fox may be gone from office, but the former president of Mexico is making sure he won't be forgotten. MEXFOX - Alvaro Castillo, 27, welds the foundation for the presidential library and museum former Mexican President Vicente Fox is building on his family ranch in San Cristobal, Guanajuato. Fox plans to open the first phase of the library and museum on July 2, the anniversary of his historic election to ... [full story]

Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington mocked the bullet-riddled brain of a man he and his squad mates executed April 26 in Hamdaniya, Iraq, a fellow defendant testified during Thursday's hearing for Pennington. In a courtroom at Camp Pendleton, Navy Hospitalman Recruit Melson Bacos also said Pennington couldn't resist a little horseplay with the corpse of Hashim Ibrahim Awad. As Pennington helped put Awad into a body bag, Bacos testified, he played with the victim's hand. ... [full story]