This country's response to the president on Iran, nuclear-bound and said to be meddling in Iraq, should be crafted around two words: shouldn't and can't. The United States shouldn't jump into any other military adventure on Iran's account for a host of reasons. Key among them is because diplomacy spills no blood and hasn't been given ample opportunity. But also because this country simply can't. It is stretched too thin in Iraq to do anything ... [full story]

A federal jury convicted former Monroe County, Fla., Attorney of conspiring to obstruct a federal grand jury and witness tampering, Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta Jr. of the Southern District of Florida announced today. After deliberating for approximately two hours, the jury found James T. Hendrick, 59, of Key West, Fla., guilty on one count of conspiracy, one count of obstruction of justice, and two counts ... [full story]

Climate change and soaring population growth across the Southwest threaten to overwhelm the main water source for tens of millions of people, the National Research Council said Wednesday in a major report that synthesized decades of research on the Colorado River basin. The potentially affected areas include San Diego County, which received about 60 percent of its water from the river last year. The region gets most of its remaining water from Northern California rivers, ... [full story]

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recommended Wednesday that a landfill said to be on fire be denied a license to operate, but provided an out to keep it in business. In a letter to William Franks, Stark County's health commissioner, Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski said the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility "is not in substantial compliance with Ohio's environmental laws." The health board is expected to read the letter Thursday at ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's review of a lawsuit next week challenging President Bush's faith-based initiative is more critical to the future of church-state relations than it would first appear, attorneys involved in the case said Wednesday. In the narrowest sense, the case - Hein vs. Freedom from Religion Foundation - is about whether taxpayers have the legal standing to sue the federal government over regional conferences sponsored by the Bush administration to promote its ... [full story]

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]

In a few short minutes prior to a head-on fatal collision between a car and a semi-truck on I-5 south of Salem early Friday morning, at least 18 people called police to report a wrong-way driver on the interstate highway.  Oregon State Police (OSP) dispatch received the first of eight calls within a two-minute period, and Marion County emergency 911 dispatch received at least 10 similar calls, police reported.   A driver traveling the wrong-way on ... [full story]