Popular antibiotic may raise risk of sudden death. 5/17/12 - A new study finds that a widely used antibiotic, azithromycin, may increase the likelihood of sudden death in adults, especially those who have heart disease or are at high risk for it. More

Doubt cast on the "good" in good cholesterol. 5/17/12 - The name alone sounds so encouraging: HDL, the “good cholesterol.” The more of it in your blood, the lower your risk of heart disease. So bringing up HDL levels has got to be good for health. Or so the theory went. More

Professionals find new (healthy) way to network. 5/17/12 - The latest fitness trend, dubbed "sweatworking," lets professionals combine their exercise requirements with the business of the day. "Sweatworking is the new golf," said Tom Manella, vice president of personal training for Life Time.... More

Study finds coffee drinkers live longer, whether caf or decaf. 5/17/12 - One of life's simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a.... More

Paralyzed woman uses her mind to control robot arm. 5/17/12 - Two people who are virtually paralyzed from the neck down have learned to manipulate a robotic arm with just their thoughts, using it to reach out and grab objects. One of them, a woman, was able to retrieve a bottle containing coffee.... More

NY Senate passes bill to monitor those who care for disabled. 5/17/12 - The New York State Senate unanimously passed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s legislation to protect developmentally disabled and mentally ill New Yorkers on Wednesday, but some high-profile advocates have been unnerved by what they perceive.... More

It's official: whites now account for less than half of U.S. births. 5/17/12 - After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States. More

Will labor force dropouts ever come back? 5/16/12 - As we’ve discussed before, the number of Americans in the labor force — that is, the people who either have jobs or are actively looking for work — has been dwindling in recent years. Some of that’s been due to ordinary.... More

Army opens jobs in combat battalions to women to better reflect.... 5/16/12 - Female soldiers this week are moving into new jobs in once all-male units as the Army breaks down formal barriers in recognition of what has already happened in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More

Gay prosecutor is denied Virginia judgeship despite bipartisan support. 5/16/12 - Virginia’s Republican-controlled House rejected the judicial nomination of a gay Richmond prosecutor early Tuesday morning, plunging the critical swing state into the middle of the national debate about the civil rights of gay.... More

New drug trial seeks to stop Alzheimer's before it starts. 5/1/12 - In a clinical trial that could lead to treatments that prevent Alzheimer’s, people who are genetically guaranteed to develop the disease — but who do not yet have any symptoms — will for the first time be given a drug intended to.... More

Needy states use housing-aid cash to plug budgets. 5/16/12 - Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to provide a little relief to the nation’s struggling homeowners is being diverted to plug state budget gaps. More

Brown proposes four-day week for CA state workers. 5/15/12 - Gov. Jerry Brown proposed significant cuts to state courts and state worker pay - including reducing state employees' workweek to four days - to help close a $15.7 billion gap between revenue and expenses for California's fiscal year.... More

Recession generation has adulthood on hold. 5/15/12 - Alyssa Kjellberg still can't believe it. Two years beyond college, her career path has led only to jobs at a greenhouse, a hotel front desk, an aunt's office and a seasonal landscaping company -- all paying less than $12 an hour. More

Caesarians are cost-effective in poor countries, study finds. 5/15/12 - With many countries chronically short of surgeons, should laymen be trained in emergency surgery? It is one of the trickier questions in global health. More

A once-unthinkable choice for amputees. 5/15/12 - Five years ago, on a muggy August morning in Hicksville, N.Y., Ann Kornhauser was out walking her golden retriever when bones in her left foot suddenly cracked. Ms. Kornhauser, then in her late 50s, soon learned why: doctors.... More

Watching TV linked to poor diet in students. 5/15/12 - A national survey of more than 12,000 students in grades 5 to 10 has found that television viewing is associated not only with unhealthy snacking while watching, but also with unhealthy eating at all times. More

Despite knowing dangers, teens still text and drive. 5/14/12 - Virtually all teenagers agree that texting while driving is dangerous but nearly half admit they have done it anyway, according to a new nationwide survey released on Monday. More

New wedding app connects guests before the big day. 5/14/12 - Planning a wedding? A new web app lets the bride and groom-to-be create a social website that connects guests with each other before the big day. Called Weduary, the web app provides a simple way of creating a modern-looking wedding website, and allows the couple to invite guests using.... More

Job news is good for many 2012 college grads. 5/14/12 - Economics major Zachary Hanson graduates this month from the University of Minnesota. But he's not sweating a job search -- he's had a job offer since October. "I'm incredibly happy where I am," said Hanson, who majored in political.... More

Unions that divide: churches split over gay marriage. 5/14/12 - At a black Pentecostal church in Raleigh, N.C., the Rev. Patrick Wooden entered the sanctuary on Sunday to a standing ovation, exulting that God’s “high hand” had led voters last week to pass a statewide amendment banning.... More

So eager for grandchildren, they're paying the egg-freezing clinic. 5/14/12 - At the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, a popular destination for women hoping to preserve their fertility by freezing their eggs, Dr. William Schoolcraft, the founder and medical director, has started to notice something.... More

Turning manufacturing into women's work. 5/13/12 - Lori and Traci Tapani say people thought they were crazy when they left careers in accounting and finance to help run the small metal fabrication business their father had founded. Manufacturing was dirty and dull, went the stereotype.... More

Same sex marriage prompts conservatives to mobilize. 5/13/12 - President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage is energizing Christian conservative support for Mitt Romney in a way that the likely GOP nominee has so far not been able to do on his own, according to religious leaders and.... More

Mortgage shy, ranks of buyers dwindling. 5/13/12 - Whether bruised by the housing crash or battered by the economy, more people are taking a pass on homeownership. The percentage of homeowners in Minnesota has fallen to its lowest level in almost 20 years, as demand grows for rental.... More

Students make gains in testing on science. 5/13/12 - American eighth graders have made modest gains in national science testing, with Hispanic and black students narrowing the gap between them and their white and Asian peers, the federal government reported Thursday. More

A generation is hobbled by college debt. 5/13/12 - Kelsey Griffith graduates on Sunday from Ohio Northern University. To start paying off her $120,000 in student debt, she is already working two restaurant jobs and will soon give up her apartment here to live with her parents. Her.... More

On parenting: work-life balance and Mother's Day. 5/12/12 - I was sitting on my deck with my father the other day when I realized I was learning something about my dearly departed grandma that I never really knew — or maybe it was something that I just didn’t really care about until I.... More

Obama's stance on gay marriage mobilizes Christian conservatives. 5/12/12 - President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage is energizing Christian conservative support for Mitt Romney in a way that the likely GOP nominee has so far not been able to do on his own, according to religious leaders and.... More

In North Carolina, beliefs clash on marriage law. 5/12/12 - North Carolina is as good a place as any and possibly better than most to explore the often contradictory sentiments at the heart of the same-sex marriage debate. More

Addiction diagnoses may rise under guideline changes. 5/12/12 - In what could prove to be one of their most far-reaching decisions, psychiatrists and other specialists who are rewriting the manual that serves as the nation’s arbiter of mental illness have agreed to revise the definition of.... More

Habitat for Humanity tries big approach to housing. 5/12/12 - John D. Gray, 92, got wind about three years ago, near the bottom of the Great Recession, that Habitat for Humanity was doing something pretty interesting here in Oregon’s largest city. More

How to run your (not small) company off a laptop. 5/11/12 - It won’t be long before you’ll be able to run a global corporation from an iPad. Amazon announced an agreement Friday with SAP that enables companies to store their data in the Amazon Web Services cloud, and run SAP’s business applications remotely, using A.W.S. servers accessed over the.... More

10-year study shows defibrillators improve patient mortality. 5/11/12 - St. Jude Medical on Thursday announced results of a 10-year follow-up study that showed patients with a basic, shock-only defibrillator lived longer than heart patients without such a device. More

Fed leader: jobless rate could prove stubborn. 5/11/12 - The country could be facing a protracted battle with elevated unemployment, Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said Thursday. More

Argentina first in world to remove barriers to people changing genders. 5/11/12 - Activists say Argentina now leads the world in transgender rights after giving people the freedom to change their legal and physical gender identity simply because they want to, without having to undergo judicial, psychiatric and.... More

FDA advisory panel backs preventive use of H.I.V. drug. 5/11/12 - A drug already used to treat H.I.V. infection should also be approved to prevent it, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday. More

Brookings study looks at what's made in America. A Brookings study has looked at manufacturing in metro areas across the country, concluding that what is made in America varies widely by region. The report suggests that state and local leaders must take the lead to help manufacturing thrive.... More

Pew study on economic mobility: where you live matters. 5/10/12 - A new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts finds economic mobility differs significantly across the United States. The report finds Americans are more likely to move up the economic ladder if they live in the northeast. More

Job-creating foreign investment in U.S. lags. 5/10/12 - Foreign investment in the United States is ebbing and beefing it up is critical for economic growth as each job at a foreign company's U.S. unit supports three others, the Organization for International Investment said on Thursday. More

Postal Service will keep rural post offices open, but reduce hours. 5/10/12 - Bending to strong public opposition, the nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday backed off a plan to close thousands of rural post offices after May 15 and proposed keeping them open, but with shorter operating hours. More

Trustees of California all-male college try to block allowing women. 5/10/12 - Deep Springs College, the tiny but prestigious school and ranch north of Death Valley, plans to admit female students for the first time in its 95-year history. But opponents of co-education sought to block the change Wednesday. More

From Obama, a watershed move, risky and inevitable. 5/10/12 - President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage on Wednesday was by any measure a watershed. A sitting United States president took sides in what many people consider the last civil rights movement, providing the most powerful.... More

Minors see online alcohol ads, buy alcohol. 5/9/12 - Alcohol is far too attractive and easy to obtain online for kids, says Dr. David Jernigan, director of Johns Hopkins’ Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Jernigan wrote a commentary for the Archive of Pediatrics & Adolescent.... More

Idealistic moms save San Francisco elementary school. 5/9/12 - ix years ago, they were idealistic new moms living on Potrero Hill and embarking on an unlikely quest: saving their neighborhood school, Daniel Webster Elementary, from closure by the San Francisco school board. More

Washington U law school will offer online Master's program. 5/9/12 - The law school of Washington University announced Tuesday that it would offer, entirely online, a master’s degree in United States law intended for lawyers practicing overseas, in partnership with 2tor, an education technology.... More

Gay on TV: it's all in the family. 5/9/12 - On “Glee” this spring, a transgender character named Unique is competing in a sing-off. On “Grey’s Anatomy,” Arizona and Callie are adjusting to married life, having been pronounced “wife and wife” last year. More

North Carolina voters ban same-sex marriage. 5/9/12 - As expected, North Carolinians voted in large numbers on Tuesday for an amendment that would ban same-sex marriages, partnerships and civil unions, becoming the 30th state in the country and the last in the South to include a.... More

Study predicts 42% of Americans will be obese in 2030. 5/8/12 - In 2030, 42 percent of American adults will be obese, and about one-quarter of that group will be severely obese, a condition that shortens life and incurs large medical expenses, a new study predicts. More

Biden comments on same-sex marriage expose internal White House divisions. 5/8/12 - When asked about his views on same-sex marriage, Vice President Biden said he is “absolutely comfortable” with men marrying men and women marrying women. The answer is apparently not as simple for President Obama. More

Johns Hopkins engineering students create devices to help keep babies.... 5/8/12 - Johns Hopkins University engineering students unveiled devices Monday that they hope will lower the number of still births and deaths from fever-related illnesses in developing countries. More

Harder for Americans to get health insurance, report says. 5/8/12 - Americans in almost every state are finding it harder to get basic health services, according to a report released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Access to healthcare from 2000 to 2010 has declined in 42 states, especially for the uninsured the study found. More

Training immune system to fight cancer comes of age. 5/8/12 - More than 100 years after researchers first explored the potential to harness the body's immune system to fight cancer, the field's leading doctors see the concept finally proving itself on a large scale in the next year or two. More

New evidence says hypnosis and accupuncture may work for quitting smoking. 5/7/12 - Acupuncture and hypnosis are touted as drug-free ways to help smokers kick the habit, and there is some evidence that they work, according to a new research review. There are still plenty of questions — including exactly how effective the alternative therapies might be, and how they measure.... More

LG to launch Google TV in U.S. in late May. 5/7/12 - LG Electronics Inc., the world's No.2 TV maker, plans to launch Internet-enabled TV based on Google's platform in the United States in the week of May 21, as the South Korean firm seeks to gain a larger share of the emerging Internet.... More

Foreclosed houses become homes for indoor marijuana farms. 5/7/12 - On a suburban block with six family homes, palm trees and views of the surrounding green hills, nothing at 110 Windsor Court stood out. Its occupants, who had moved into the foreclosed house a few years earlier, were quiet types. More

A scramble as Biden backs same-sex marriage. 5/7/12 - Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Sunday that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriages and was heartened by their growing acceptance across the country, a position that moves well beyond the “evolving”.... More

A work-life tool-kit for the organization. 5/7/12 - Set goals, measure results and hold people accountable for their record on advancing women. Tie executive promotion and compensation to meeting diversity goals. Regular reports to the board on progress—both the company's record as well as individual leaders' performance—in meeting goals. More

Asleep at daycare and in deadly peril. 5/6/12 - Robert Fletcher vividly remembers the call that changed his family forever. It was a May morning four years ago -- just a few hours after his wife, Amanda, had dropped off their infant son for his second day at a new day care. Now.... More

The truth about flame retardants. 5/6/12 - The average American baby is born with 10 fingers, 10 toes and the highest recorded levels of flame retardants among infants in the world. The toxic chemicals are present in nearly every home, packed into couches, chairs and many other.... More

The frequent fliers who flew too much. 5/6/12 - There are frequent fliers, and then there are people like Steven Rothstein and Jacques Vroom. Both men bought tickets that gave them unlimited first-class travel for life on American Airlines. It was almost like owning a fleet of.... More

Studies tie abnormal protein buildup to dementia. 5/6/12 - “If there’s something to be done, I want to be in on the ground floor,” said Elizabeth, 67, a woman participating in studies of frontotemporal degeneration at the University of California, San Francisco. More

When illness makes a spouse a stranger. 5/6/12 - By 2006, Michael French — a smart, good-natured, hardworking man — had become someone his wife, Ruth, felt she hardly knew. Infuriated, she considered divorce. But in 2007, she found out what was wrong. More

Arizona bans funding to Planned Parenthood in abortion fight. 5/5/12 - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill banning abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving money through the state, her office said in a statement. More

Marriage measure puts national focus on North Carolina. 5/5/12 - With voting already underway for Tuesday's primary in this moderate Southern state, the discourse has been dominated not by candidates, but by a bitterly contested measure known as Amendment 1. More

Vocation or exploration? Pondering the purpose of college. 5/5/12 - OUR oldest son is finishing up his junior year in high school, and we’re already overwhelmed by what I’ve been calling the college challenge — trying to figure out what college he can get into and what we can afford. More

Discrepancies on medical bills can leave a credit stain. 5/5/12 - When Ray White’s son was about 9 years old, he struck a tree branch while riding his bike. Within minutes, an ambulance whisked him off to the emergency room. The boy recovered, but many months and phone calls later, Mr. White’s.... More

Reasons abound for ebb in job growth. 5/5/12 - The nation’s employers are creating jobs at less than half the pace they were when this year began, according to a government report released Friday. The addition of just 115,000 jobs in April was disappointing, but economists urged.... More

Study finds teenage girls are using better birth control. 5/4/12 - More teenage girls now use the best kinds of birth control, a new government study says. About 60 percent of teenage girls who have sex use the most effective kinds of contraception, including the pill and the patch. More

Unemployment down to 8.1% but jobs number weak. 5/4/12 - U.S. employers decreased hiring for the second straight month in April but the unemployment rate still fell to 8.1 percent, giving mixed messages about the economy's strength ahead of President Barack Obama's November re-election bid. More

Employers asking job seekers for W2s. 5/4/12 - In a weak job market, employers have been asking job applicants for a lot of new information about themselves including, in some cases, their social media passwords. More

A real girl, 14, takes a stand against flawless faces in magazines. 5/4/12 - In Julia Bluhm’s ballet class, girls arrived and often declared that they were having a fat day. Or that their skin was pimply or blemished. Or that they looked disgusting. When she hears complaints in her middle school, where she is.... More

Four years later, race is still an issue with some voters. 5/4/12 - Stuebenville, Ohio is the land of die-hard Democrats — mill workers, coal miners and union members. They have voted party line for generations, forming a reliable constituency for just about any Democrat who decides to run for office.... More

U.S. chose better path to recovery. 5/4/12 - Last summer, things looked bad on both sides of the Atlantic. There were fears of double-dip recessions, and stubbornly high unemployment rates. Stock markets swooned. Now, the pictures appear very different. More

Social Security statements now available online. 5/3/12 - The Social Security Administration is now providing workers with online statements of the estimated benefits they will get when they retire, replacing the paper ones the agency used to mail out. More

U.S. applications for unemployment aid drop sharply, a good sign before.... 5/3/12 - The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in nearly a year. The figure was a hopeful sign one day before the government releases the April jobs report. More

Colleges leave applicants waiting. 5/3/12 - As colleges expand their wait lists, more applicants are being left in limbo. Some students might not find out if they've been accepted to a university until midsummer. More

Harvard and MIT team up to offer free online courses. 5/3/12 - In what is shaping up as an academic Battle of the Titans — one that offers vast new learning opportunities for students around the world — Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday announced a new nonprofit partnership, known as edX, to offer free online courses.... More

U.S. lags in global measure of premature births. 5/3/12 - Fifteen million babies are born prematurely each year, and the United States fared badly in the first country-by-country global comparison of premature births, which was released Wednesday by the World Health Organization and other.... More

Teachers, no more friending your students in New York City. 5/2/12 - New York City teachers will have to resist hitting the "Add Friend" button on their students' Facebook pages. Thanks to a new list of guidelines released by the Education Department on Tuesday, public school teachers may no longer.... More

Calls for mortgage assistance get louder in D.C. 5/2/12 - Pressure is mounting on a key federal regulator to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce loan principal amounts for struggling homeowners, after disclosures that a plan to do that was scuttled even though it was aimed at saving.... More

Senators to Postal Service: don't close post offices untill after Congress.... 5/2/12 - Four senators are pushing the U.S. Postal Service to hold off on closing post offices and distribution centers until after Congress passes long-awaited legislation to revamp the struggling mail carrier. More

Complacency and concern as St. Louis faces vulnerability to deadly storms. 5/2/12 - More than just about any city in the United States, St. Louis and its surrounding area are routinely beset by thunderstorms and tornadoes, hail and flash floods. The metropolitan area has seen more tornado-related deaths than anywhere.... More

Unemployment hits record high in Euro-zone. 5/2/12 - Unemployment in the euro zone rose to a new high in March, according to data released Wednesday, which is likely to intensify calls for an easing of the region’s austerity drive. More

U.S. home ownership rate at 15-year low 5/1/12 - High foreclosure rates and a strong rental market pushed the homeownership rate in the U.S. to a 15-year low, even as projections for the housing market grew brighter. More

More babies being born addicted to painkillers. 5/1/12 - An increased reliance on prescription painkillers and the resulting addiction has now shown up in the most vulnerable patients -- America's newborns, according to a report published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical.... More

Home loan demand rises, but credit standards remain tight. 5/1/12 - The housing market may be showing flickers of recovery, but don't count on lenders to make it any easier for borrowers. While banks are seeing stronger demand for home loans, they're not loosening up their tight credit requirements,.... More

Man strips at Denver airport to protest TSA. 5/1/12 - Businessman John E. Brennan said he is so sick of being harassed by the TSA when he travels that he stripped down to his birthday suit at Portland International Airport on Tuesday night in protest. More

Should young athletes be screened for heart risk? 5/1/12 - Should high school athletes be screened for heart trouble before taking to the practice field? Once thought to be exceedingly rare, sudden cardiac death is far more prevalent among young athletes than previously believed, recent.... More

Business spending on airfare, hotels grew in 2011 – but not food. 4/30/12 - Spending on business travel continued to grow in 2011 and the biggest chunk of that money went to airfare and lodging costs, according to a new study. More

Report: domestic violence rises in sluggish economy. 4/30/12 - Police are encountering more domestic violence related to the sluggish economy, a national survey of law enforcement agencies finds. More

Employers focus on engaging workers to keep them. 4/30/12 - When Minnesota Bank and Trust opened in Edina, Minn., in 2008, CEO Kate Kelly was determined to make it a place people wanted to work. So she appointed three volunteers to the employee event committee, set a budget and waited to see.... More

Obesity-linked diabetes in children resists treatment. 4/30/12 - Obesity and the form of diabetes linked to it are taking an even worse toll on America’s youths than medical experts had realized. As obesity rates in children have climbed, so has the incidence of Type 2 diabetes, and a new study.... More

A look at how far we've come on race – and yet must go. 4/29/12 - It has been a rough few days for race and sports in Boston. But in the outrage over the detestable behavior of Bruins fans, it’s easy to forget how much worse it once was. More

Use of antipsychotic drugs raises alarm. 4/29/12 - Rosanne Murphy was growing more agitated as she sank deeper into Alzheimer’s disease. Unable to bathe, dress, or feed herself, she would call her daughter in a panic many nights at bedtime, not remembering where she was. More

For some boomers, delaying retirement isn't worth it. 4/29/12 - Four months into retirement, Jim Guenther has no regrets. An accountant, he carefully calculated how much money he and his younger wife -- who is still working -- would need when he called it a career in January, a couple of days.... More

Push for tough state immigration laws could spread if Court upholds.... 4/29/12 - Emboldened by signals that the U.S. Supreme Court may uphold parts of Arizona's immigration law, legislators and activists across the country say they are gearing up to push for similar get-tough measures in their states. More

In hopeful sign, health spending is flattening out. 4/29/12 - The growth of health spending has slowed substantially in the last few years, surprising experts and offering some fuel for optimism about the federal government’s long-term fiscal performance. More

Lehman Bros. pay report brings calls for reform. 4/28/12 - Calls for reforming Wall Street pay packages reverberated across Washington and the financial district following the disclosure that 50 Lehman Bros. employees were awarded nearly $700 million in the year before the investment bank.... More

House approves student loan plan despite veto threat. 4/28/12 - Ignoring a veto threat, the House approved a Republican-backed plan Friday to keep subsidized student-loan interest rates lower for another year by paying for the extension with roughly $6 billion from a preventive-care fund.... More

Fewer illegals stopped for traffic violations will be deported. 4/28/12 - Fewer illegal immigrants stopped by police for minor traffic violations would be held for deportation under changes announced Friday to a federal fingerprinting program, Department of Homeland Security officials said. More

FDA sends warning letters to marketers of "workout boosters." 4/28/12 - The Food and Drug Administration warned marketers of dietary supplements this week that certain popular “workout boosters” could increase people’s blood pressure, potentially causing shortness of breath or heart attacks. More

Cancer Society gives new guidelines to survivors. 4/27/12 - The American Cancer Society is recommending that cancer survivors exercise more and improve their diets to help prevent the disease from coming back. The cancer society on Thursday released new guidelines, saying there's now enough.... More

In an age of pink slime and mad cow disease, are young kids ready to read.... 4/27/12 - It’s not a good month for burgers. Enter a ready-made alternative, and a ready-made controversy: A new children’s picture book published this week called “Vegan Is Love: Having Heart and Taking Action.” More

If health care law is upheld, millions could receive rebates. 4/27/12 - If the health care law is upheld, consumers and businesses will receive about $1.3 billion by this August from insurance plans that failed to meet a new standard in the 2010 health-care law, according to estimates released Thursday by the independent Kaiser Family Foundation. More

Study finds thinking can undermine religious faith. 4/27/12 - Scientists have revealed one of the reasons why some folks are less religious than others: They think more analytically, rather than going with their gut. And thinking analytically can cause religious belief to wane — for skeptics.... More

Daily activity tied to lower Alzheimer's risk. 4/27/12 - Higher levels of daily physical activity are associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests. The report, in the April 24 issue of Neurology, included 716 people, average age 82, without cognitive impairment. More

20 years later, fewer taking kids to work. 4/26/12 - When Loyola University Health System first began hosting children for the Take Our Daughters to Work Day 13 years ago, the demand was so great, said Terri Lee, who leads the hospital's program, that she had to turn children away. More

Number of biracial babies soars over past decade. 4/26/12 - The number of mixed-race babies has soared over the past decade, new census data show, a result of more interracial couples and a cultural shift in how many parents identify their children in a multiracial society. More

U.S. unemployment aid requests near 3-month high. 4/26/12 - The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits remained stuck near a three-month high last week, a sign that hiring has likely slowed since winter. More

Chasing fees, banks court low-income customers. 4/26/12 - When David Wegner went looking for a checking account in January, he was peppered with offers for low-end financial products, including a prepaid debit card with numerous fees, a short-term emergency loan with steep charges, money.... More

Two House Democrats lose in primaries after opposing health law. 4/26/12 - The defeat of two conservative House Democrats by more liberal opponents in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary illustrates the strong hold the new health care law still has over committed Democratic voters and foreshadows an even more.... More

Despite federal guidelines, older men still being screened for prostate.... 4/25/12 - Many men 75 years and older, who are far more likely to be harmed than helped by prostate cancer screening, continue to be tested for the disease, despite federal guidelines strongly advising against the practice. More

Marines moving women toward the front lines 4/25/12 - The Marine Corps, the most male of the armed services, is taking its first steps toward integrating women into war-fighting units, starting with its infantry officer school at Quantico, Va., and ground combat battalions that had once.... More

Fierce debate on Arizona immigration law on eve of Supreme Court hearing. 4/25/12 - A day before the Supreme Court was to hear arguments on an Arizona statute that expanded the immigration enforcement powers of local police, the author of the law defended it in a Senate hearing under sharp questioning from Democrats,.... More

Without reforms, U.S. retirees face dwindling funds. 4/25/12 - Aging baby boomers got some jolting news on Monday when the U.S. government said the Social Security retirement program is on track to go bankrupt three years earlier than expected if reforms are not made. More

Mad Cow Disease found in California; no human threat seen. 4/25/12 - U.S. authorities reported the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years on Tuesday and quickly assured consumers and global importers that meat from the California dairy cow did not enter the food chain. More

Social Security grows less secure. 4/24/12 - Social Security is rushing even faster toward insolvency, driven by retiring baby boomers, a weak economy and politicians' reluctance to take painful action to fix the huge retirement and disability program. More

Netflix posts first net loss since 2005 4/24/12 - Netflix Inc. reported its first net loss since 2005 during the first quarter and raised investors' concerns about its future subscriber growth, sending its shares tumbling in after-hours trading. More

Large doses of Vitamin C lowers blood pressure, study finds. 4/24/12 - Large doses of Vitamin C may moderately reduce blood pressure, Johns Hopkins researchers have found. But the scientists don't recommend people start taking large amounts of the vitamin. More

Federal jobless benefits to end in high unemployment states. 4/24/12 - As of this week, California no longer qualifies for the federal program that provides up to 20 weeks of jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed in high-unemployment states. More

A surprising risk for toddlers on playground slides. 4/24/12 - Last spring, Katie Dickman of Dunkirk, Md., was at the playground with her 18-month-old toddler, Hannah, when the little girl asked to ride down a twisting slide. Ms. Dickman accompanied her daughter, carefully keeping the child on.... More

Insurers alter cost formula, and patients pay more. 4/24/12 - Despite a landmark settlement that was expected to increase coverage for out-of-network care, the nation’s largest health insurers have been switching to a new payment method that in most cases significantly increases the cost to.... More

College class of 2012 finding a weak labor market. 4/23/12 -The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work. A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge. More

Schools find active kids make smarter students. 4/23/12 - When students at Meadowview Elementary in Farmington, MN needed to improve their reading scores last fall, they were turned over to physical education teacher Joe McCarthy. Each morning for months, McCarthy had the students spend 15.... More

Clean teeth found to protect against heart disease. 4/23/12 - Older adults who get thorough dental cleanings may be somewhat less likely to have a heart attack or stroke than their peers who are less careful about oral hygiene, a new study suggests. More

Health records lost, stolen or revealed online. 4/23/12 - Almost a decade after a new law went into effect to strengthen health privacy protections, the number of breaches of patient records and databases across the U.S. suggests that personal health information is not as private or secure.... More

Colleges grow their wait lists, leaving more students in limbo. 4/23/12 - After months in limbo, Morgan Lundblad recently opened her long-awaited email from Harvard University to find only more uncertainty. She had been wait-listed. The senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School had applied to a dozen of the.... More

After the bailout, few fans but no fix for Fannie and Freddie. 4/23/12 - In considering how to fix the ailing U.S. housing market, Republicans and Democrats in Washington have found a rare point of agreement: they would prefer life without failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. More

Justices to rule on role of the states in immigration. 4/23/12 - When Georgia passed a law last year authorizing the local police to question and detain illegal immigrants, Darvin Eason felt the impact immediately on his farms here in south Georgia. More

In July, hundreds of thousands may lose Internet due to hacker. 4/22/12 - For computer users, a few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer. Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising.... More

Obama, courting youth vote, sets student-loan push. 4/22/12 - President Barack Obama will use a tour of election battleground states next week to push Congress to prevent interest rates on federal student loans from doubling, a move that could appeal to middle-class and younger voters crucial to.... More

Growth vs. inflation debate sharpens. 4/22/12 - Two key central bank meetings and a string of big data releases in the coming week should sharpen the debate over slowing growth and rising inflation risks, and may shake the markets out of the doldrums which followed a bumper first.... More

New illegal drugs appear in runup to Olympics. 4/22/12 - During an informative and entertaining address to an anti-doping conference last month, German researcher Mario Thevis referred to "80, 90, 100" new performance-enhancing drugs for which no tests yet exist. More

In customer service consulting, Disney's small world is growing. 4/22/12 - Maryland teachers were instructed to engage children by crouching and speaking to them at eye level. Chevrolet dealers were taught to think in theater metaphors: onstage, where smiles greet potential buyers, and offstage, where sales.... More

Employees, too, want a say in boss's pay. 2/21/12 - FINALLY, the shareholders are stirring. Here and there this proxy season, executive pay is coming under attack from the people who actually own public companies, which is to say, stockholders. At Citigroup last week, a $15 million.... More

After four-month surge, gas prices may be coming down. 4/21/12 - The worst appears to be over. Gasoline prices are going down. After a four-month surge pushed gasoline to nearly $4 per gallon in early April, drivers, politicians and economists worried that prices might soar past all-time highs,.... More

Vacant houses not always empty. 4/21/12 - Krish Maharaj has fled from a charging dog and held court with drugged-out tenants on his rounds, inspecting hundreds of metro-area homes in foreclosure or delinquency. But none of that prepared him for a visit last month to a house.... More

Apps become key to mobile advertising. 4/21/12 - Ads within smartphone applications such as the popular puzzle game Angry Birds are turning into a key driver for mobile advertising, as apps become the main distribution method for media on mobile phones, according to a report. More

When pineapple races hare, students lose, say critics of standardized.... 4/21/12 - A reading passage included this week in one of New York’s standardized English tests has become the talk of the eighth grade, with students walking around saying, “Pineapples don’t have sleeves,” as if it were the code for.... More

U.S. woman becomes hero for battered wives in China. 4/21/12 - Her head was ringing from the blows. Once, twice, three times, her husband slammed her face into the living room floor. Kim Lee tried to twist her tall but skinny frame out from under his 91-kilogram (200-pound) body, scraping her elbows and knees on the carpet. More

With classroom breakfasts comes a concern about obesity. 4/20/12 - It is an innovative, intuitive and increasingly common way to ensure that food reaches the mouths of hungry children from low-income families: give out free breakfast in the classroom at the start of each school day. More

As women grow older, daughter becomes the favorite. 4/20/12 - A study of cellphone calls and text messages finds that as women age, their focus shifts from their husband to their adult daughter. More

What early polls are showing about Obama/Romney race. 4/20/12 - While each survey has a different overall result, there are areas of consensus among them that point to the candidates' main strengths and weaknesses, and the nature of the November electorate. More

Vitamin C found to lower blood pressure. 4/20/12 - The idea that vitamin C might help lower blood pressure got a bit of a boost with the publication on Monday of a study showing a modest reduction in blood pressure readings associated with consumption of vitamin C supplements. More

Mystery disease kills 19, sickens 171 others in Vietnam 4/20/12 - Vietnam has asked international health experts to help investigate a mystery illness that has killed 19 people and sickened 171 others in an impoverished district in central Vietnam, an official said Friday. More

Can you make yourself smarter? 4/20/12 - Psychologists have long regarded intelligence as coming in two flavors: crystallized intelligence, the treasure trove of stored-up information and how-to knowledge (the sort of thing tested on “Jeopardy!” More

WorldatWork's Alliance for Work-Life Progress announces 2012 Work-Life.... 4/19/12 - WorldatWork's Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP) announced the recipients of its 2012 Work-Life Innovative Excellence Award at an awards gala held April 17 in Scottsdale, Ariz. This year's honorees are: Prudential Financial and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). More

Medical drug thefts double. 4/19/12 - The number of reported drug thefts at Minnesota hospitals and nursing homes has more than doubled since 2005, according to a coalition of law enforcement and health officials created after a series of alarming incidents last year. More

Child handcuffed after tantrum: what's wrong with this picture? 4/19/12 - Just as Fairfax County schools is considering major changes to its much-maligned disciplinary policies, a story about a Georgia 6-year-old suggests that zero-tolerance policies remain entrenched across the country — and can lead to.... More

Breast cancer categories offer promise for treatment. 4/19/12 - Researchers have found a way to classify breast cancer tumors into 10 distinct categories ranging from very treatable to extremely aggressive, a major step on the way to the long-sought goal of precisely targeting therapies for.... More

Flying through airport lines. 4/19/12 - MORE than 10 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks completely altered the airport experience, travelers have a variety of options that will shorten wait times at security and immigration. But speedier processing has some.... More

In Arizona, immigrants make plans in shadows. 4/19/12 - Miguel Guerra has a wife, three children and a house. He has a car, but no driver’s license. He has business cards, but no immigration papers. He got into the habit of keeping his cellphone close when he drives so he can quickly.... More

Is the boss spying on you? Cyber-spying on the rise. 4/18/12 - hen Linda Trottman’s husband landed a promotion at his company, a co-worker congratulated her on it a few days later. Trottman says she hadn’t even realized her colleague monitored her husband’s profile on LinkedIn, a.... More

Does exercise make you overeat? 4/18/12 - Exercise may change your desire to eat, two recent studies show, by altering how certain parts of your brain respond to the sight of food. More

In poll, many link weather extremes to climate change. 4/18/12 - Scientists may hesitate to link some of the weather extremes of recent years to global warming — but the public, it seems, is already there. A poll due for release on Wednesday shows that a large majority of Americans believe that.... More

Link between food "deserts" and obesity not found. 4/18/12 - It has become an article of faith among some policy makers and advocates, including Michelle Obama, that poor urban neighborhoods are food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. But two new studies have found something.... More

Study says Mom's caffeine not linked to baby's sleep problems. 4/18/12 - A baby's sleep may not suffer just because its mother likes a daily cup or two of coffee, according to a Brazilian study based on nearly 900 new mothers. More

Child injury deaths fell 30% in decade, but deaths rose. 4/17/12 - Death rates from unintentional injuries of children from birth to age 19 fell by nearly 30% in the United States from 2000 through 2009, largely because of a 41% drop in deaths in car crashes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. More

In Illinois, deep cuts loom as state tries to save Medicaid. 4/17/12 - The list of medicines Jason Carrington must take every day to treat his multiple sclerosis and related symptoms is long: Copaxone injections to prevent relapses, primidone to control tremors, Seroquel to stabilize his mood,.... More

For Carroll Academy students, home is not always a haven. 4/17/12 - Summer was already pregnant, by a longtime boyfriend, a former Carroll Academy student who is now 21. His only job since high school was a short stint at the drive-in restaurant Sonic. More

Anti-poverty tax program offers some relief, though temporary. 4/17/12 - Karen Spain spent several long months before receiving her tax refund this year in a state of suspended panic. The rent was three months late. Her car’s brakes were shot. And she could no longer afford to pay her electricity bill. More

Taxes push some Americans to renounce citizenship. 4/17/12 - Last year, almost 1,800 people renounced their U.S. citizenship or handing in their Green Cards. That's a record number since the Internal Revenue Service began publishing a list of those who renounced in 1998. More

For most, choice of stay-at-home motherhood is far from a luxury. 4/16/12 - How Jeanine Maez reacted to being unemployed in 2004 was a revelation, even to herself: she decided not to look for a new job in favor of staying home full time with her five children, the youngest of whom, a son, is 11. More

Google founder says web freedom facing greatest threat. 4/16/12 - The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the Internet's creation are facing their greatest-ever threat, the co-founder of Google Sergey Brin said in an interview published by Britain's Guardian newspaper on.... More

Gold glitters for North American mining students. 4/16/12 - When Travis Howard started his degree at the Colorado School of Mines four years ago he decided to pursue a double major in mechanical engineering and metallurgy to give himself the best chance of landing a high-paying job when he.... More

Daring to cut off Amazon. 4/16/12 - Randall White’s bold move to take his 1,800 children’s books away from the greatest retailing success of the Internet era is more evidence of the extraordinary tumult within the book world over one simple question: who gets to.... More

Many U.S. immigrants' children seek American dream abroad. 4/16/12 - Samir N. Kapadia seemed to be on the rise in Washington, moving from an internship on Capitol Hill to jobs at a major foundation and a consulting firm. Yet his days, he felt, had become routine. More

Families of frail seniors call sensors a godsend. 4/16/12 - When 80-year-old Paul Marrs arises each morning, nine sensors in his Belle Plaine senior apartment begin tracking his activity and dispatching an array of data to a computer in Mendota Heights -- did he go back to bed, use the toilet,.... More

Healthcare pricing still a struggle for consumers. 4/15/12 - Californians are still struggling to get straight answers about the cost of common medical procedures despite state efforts aimed at lifting the veil on medical pricing. More

Medicare moves to tie doctors' pay to quality of care. 4/15/12 - Twenty-thousand physicians in four Midwest states received a glimpse into their financial future last month. Landing in their e-mail inboxes were links to reports from Medicare showing the amount their patients cost on average as well as the quality of the care they provided. More

In wake of Rosen comments, both sides show disrespect for women. 4/15/12 - Here we go again. Welcome to yet another round of the Mommy Wars. In one corner, we have the challenger: Mitt Romney’s campaign, which went on the offensive Thursday over comments made by Hilary Rosen, More

Stores and more for breast-feeding moms. 4/15/12 - Twenty-five or so years ago, Wendy Haldeman, a nurse and lactation consultant, was standing in a Toys “R” Us parking lot when a female acquaintance ran up, yanked up her shirt and cried out, in reference to one of her exposed.... More

Employers can't be forced to post union notices, judge rules. 4/14/12 - Employers can’t be required by the National Labor Relations Board to post notices informing workers of their rights to form a union, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled. “There is not a single trace of statutory text that indicates Congress intended for the board to proactively.... More

Graying America gets wired to cut health care costs. 4/14/12 - Baby boomers wired to their iPads and smart phones are giving U.S. health experts some new ideas about ways to cut the soaring costs of medical care in graying America. More

Perceptions of cancer care may not match reality. 4/14/12 - In a new study, the impressions of breast cancer patients about the quality of care they received often differed from medical definitions of quality -- in part because the patients were judging their experiences by a different set of standards. More

In California, economic split pits east against west. 4/14/12 - For decades, California has been seen nationally and by its own residents as a state divided into north and south, urbane tree-huggers versus car-obsessed beach hoppers. But the more meaningful division, it turns out, may be between.... More

Forecast: today's storms "life-threatening." 4/14/12 - Tornado sirens sounded across Oklahoma City hours before dawn Saturday as the nation's midsection braced for what forecasters cautioned could be a day of "life-threatening" storms, with the most dangerous weather expected to develop.... More

Insurance group says car design hinders use of child car seats. 4/14/12 - Child safety seats are difficult to properly install in cars, according to an insurance industry research group, because of the design of most passenger seats. More

Insurance group says car design hinders use of child car seats. 4/14/12 - Child safety seats are difficult to properly install in cars, according to an insurance industry research group, because of the design of most passenger seats. More

Prom cost rises to $1K + 4/13/12 - If you have a teenager nearing prom age, hopefully you've got good credit. Between dresses, flowers, limo rides, and hairdos, the average family with a teenager is expected to plunk down a whopping $1,078 on prom this year, up from.... More

Apple rejects e-book collusion charge. 4/13/12 - Apple Inc has rejected the U.S. Justice Department's allegations that it colluded with publishers over electronic book pricing, calling the charges "simply not true." More

As more in the U.S. use only cellphones, landline rules frustrate telecoms. 4/13/12 - Telecom companies are pressing to be freed from the obligation of providing low-cost fixed-line telephone service to homes, a move critics say will leave Americans with less reliable or more expensive options. More

New report: companies should give employees a hand. 4/13/12 - A report issued Thursday by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) says if employers don't want their best talent to slip out the door for good, they need to fortify their employee retention and recognition programs. More

Whistle-blower claiming visa fraud keeps his job, but not his work. 4/13/12 - It has been 17 months since Jack B. Palmer first made a quiet complaint through internal channels at Infosys, the giant Indian outsourcing company he works for, saying he suspected some managers were committing visa fraud. More

States seek to curb costly drug prices for patients.. 4/13/12 - The hemophilia drug that saves 7-year-old William Addison from uncontrolled bleeding costs $100,000 a year. His family’s insurance pays virtually all of it. But his mother, Victoria Kuhn, says she is terrified that the insurance.... More

Treasury faulted in effort to relieve homeowners. 4/12/12 - A fund to support homeowners in the communities hit hardest by the collapse of the housing bubble has disbursed just 3 percent of its budget and aided only 30,640 homeowners in the two years since its creation, according to a report released on Thursday by a federal watchdog office. More

New teen trend: fewer pregnancies, more cohabitation. 4/12/12 - Kelly Musick, professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University, says, “The context of teen childbearing has changed dramatically over the last several decades. In the past, women typically married and started their families at a younger age, so teen childbearing was fairly.... More

Foreclosures reach lowest quarterly level since 2007. 4/12/12 - Foreclosure filings fell during the first quarter of 2012 to their lowest levels since the housing market began its collapse nearly five years ago, according to new data from the firm RealtyTrac. More

U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly rise last week. 4/12/12 - New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to their highest level since January, a development that could raise fears the labor market recovery was stalling after job creation slowed in March. More

Cut in e-book pricing by Amazon is set to shake rivals. 4/12/12 - The government’s decision to pursue major publishers on antitrust charges has put the Internet retailer Amazon in a powerful position: the nation’s largest bookseller may now get to decide how much an e-book will cost, and the.... More

Teen birthrates fall to historic lows in U.S. 4/11/12 - Teen births fell again in the United States to historic lows, according to a new government report. The U.S. teen birth rate declined 9 percent from 2009 to 2010, falling to 34.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19, its lowest point.... More

Maryland passes bills banning employers from seeking online passwords. 4/11/12 - Maryland recently gave a big "dislike" to employers asking for social media passwords, becoming the first state to pass a bill banning the practice. The state Senate and House last week passed their versions of the bill that prohibits.... More

Moderate exercise, conception linked. 4/11/12 - Among women trying to get pregnant, moderate exercise is tied to more success, according to a new study. However, with exception of overweight and obese women, women who exercise vigorously take a longer time to conceive. More

Doubts cast on costly food intolerance testing. 4/11/12 - According to one lab that tests for "toxic food syndrome," eating green peppers may cause bloating or lethargy. Lemons might trigger headaches. Other common foods like corn, soy, egg whites, whey and chicken "may act like a poison in.... More

Fuel to burn: now what? 4/11/12 - THE reversal of fortune in America’s energy supplies in recent years holds the promise of abundant and cheaper fuel, and it could have profound effects on what people drive, domestic manufacturing and America’s foreign policy. More

As lenders recover, they're again dealing credit to risky clients. 4/11/12 - Annette Alejandro just emerged from bankruptcy and doesn’t have a job, and her car was repossessed last year. Still, after spending her days job hunting, she returns to her apartment in Brooklyn where, in disbelief, she sorts.... More

Can gay couples divorce if the state doesn't recognize gay marriage? 4/10/12 - When Jessica Port showed up in court Friday to pursue a divorce, she first stopped to consult with her lawyer. Then she crossed the room to hug her ex, chatting happily until it was time to be seated. More

U.S. wireless carriers create database to fight phone theft. 4/10/12 - U.S. wireless carriers representing 90 percent of subscribers will on Tuesday announce the creation of a database of unique cell phone IDs to help prevent theft and reactivation of stolen or lost devices, which often contain sensitive.... More

Food stamps helped reduce poverty rate, study finds. 4/10/12 - A new study by the Agriculture Department has found that food stamps, one of the country’s largest social safety net programs, reduced the poverty rate substantially during the recent recession. More

Raising the floor on pay. 4/10/12 - As the nation’s economy slowly recovers and income inequality emerges as a crucial issue in the presidential campaign, lawmakers are facing growing pressure to raise the minimum wage, which was last increased at the federal level to.... More

For the elderly, emergency rooms of their own. 4/10/12 - An emergency room, one specifically designed for the elderly, is part of a growing trend of hospitals’ trying to cater to the medical needs and sensibilities of aging baby boomers and their parents. Mount Sinai opened its geriatric.... More

The good life: why we don't want to retire. 4/9/12 - A former CEO enrolled in clown school. A corporate communications executive started a photography business. A high school science teacher became an outdoors guide. And a lifelong accountant wanted to work at Disneyworld. More

Tightening the lid on pain prescriptions. 4/9/12 - It was the type of conversation that Dr. Claire Trescott dreads: telling physicians that they are not cutting it. But the large health care system here that Dr. Trescott helps manage has placed controls on how painkillers are.... More

Federal funds to train the jobless are drying up. 4/9/12 - With the economy slowly reviving, an executive from Atlas Van Lines recently visited Louisville, Ky., with good news: the company wanted to hire more than 100 truck drivers ahead of the summer moving season. More

Pregnancy not as easy for older women as it may seem. 4/9/12 - Middle-aged Hollywood stars and their newborns may make it seem like a fountain of youth has been discovered for women's fertility. But researchers at Yale University School of Medicine say these stars may be giving women the wrong perception. More

Study finds link between autism and obesity during pregnancy. 4/9/12 - Pregnant women might now have one more good reason to watch their diet and exercise: A new study links autism and developmental delays in young children to metabolic conditions, like obesity and diabetes, in their mothers. More

More churches embracing technology. 4/8/12 - The glow in the auditorium at Willow Creek, and at churches across Chicago, this Easter Sunday will come in part from smartphones and tablets as congregants become increasingly comfortable with using their electronic devices in the.... More

Will baby boomers bail out of stocks as they prepare to retire? 4/8/12 - For the last 40 years or so, many baby boomers have saved and invested diligently for their retirement. Now they may face a much different challenge: finding buyers for the mutual funds, individual stocks and other assets they'll need.... More

Trying to find a measure for how well colleges do. 4/8/12 - How well does a college teach, and what do its students learn? Rankings based on the credentials of entering freshmen are not hard to find, but how can students, parents and policy makers assess how well a college builds on that.... More

In executive pay, a rich game of thrones. 4/8/12 - IS any C.E.O. worth $1 million a day? That’s roughly $42,000 an hour. Or $700 a minute. Or $12 a second. Think of it this way: In the time it took to read those words, you could’ve pocketed $100. Finish this article and — well,.... More

Welfare limits left poor adrift as recession hit. 4/8/12 - Perhaps no law in the past generation has drawn more praise than the drive to “end welfare as we know it,” which joined the late-’90s economic boom to send caseloads plunging, employment rates rising and officials of both parties.... More

Alternative climate and evolution teaching bill awaits Tennessee.... 4/7/12 - Tennessee is poised to adopt a law that would allow public schoolteachers to challenge climate change and evolution in their classrooms without fear of sanction, according to educators and civil libertarians in the state. More

For black parents, slayings revive "the talk.." 4/7/12 - The fatal shootings of Kendrec McDade in Pasadena and a black teen in Florida renew the painful generations-old discussion about the need to swallow one's anger and pride when dealing with the police. More

Higher gas prices cause less public anger this time. 4/7/12 - Gas prices have soared about 15% in the last six months, hitting $3.94 a gallon on average nationwide, and $4.29 in California. The mood of motorists? Meh. More

Court upends 9-year fight on housing mentally ill. 4/7/12 - A federal appeals court, ruling on procedural grounds, struck down on Friday a judge’s order that New York State transfer thousands of mentally ill adults in New York City from institutional group homes into their own homes and.... More

Disappointing jobs report sends futures lower. 4/7/12 - Stock futures closed lower on Friday in brief, holiday-thinned trading after a much weaker-than-expected report on U.S. job growth for March. More

Jobless rate down, but falls short of predictions. 4/6/12 - U.S. payrolls rose far less than expected in March, keeping the door open for further monetary policy support from the Federal Reserve, even as the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.2 percent. More

Google pulls plug on partnership with independent bookstores. 4/6/12 - The nation's independent bookstores got another bit of bad news Thursday: Google Inc.is closing the books on them. The Mountain View, Calif., search company said it is ending a program that enabled hundreds of independent booksellers.... More

Jobs Act doesn't mean wild west for companies. 4/6/12 - Any U.S. corporate executives who think they can use the Jobs Act's relaxed rules for public listing to cut corners on accounting and disclosure may want to think again. More

The mystery of the flying laptop. 4/6/12 - Standing in line at security at San Francisco International Airport not long ago, family in tow, I dutifully pulled the laptop out of my bag and placed it in a separate bin for its solo trip through the X-ray machine. I also had an.... More

Scientists link gene mutation to autism risk. 4/5/12 - Teams of scientists working independently have for the first time identified several gene mutations that they agree sharply increase the chances that a child will develop autism. They have found further evidence that the risk increases.... More

New Jersey's Christie leaning on tax subsidies to lure jobs. 4/5/12 - Panasonic received $102.4 million in tax credits to move its headquarters nine miles within New Jersey. Goya Foods picked up $81.9 million in credits to build offices and a warehouse in Jersey City, two miles from its current complex..... More

Food inflation back on agenda as prices rise. 4//5/12 - Global food prices rose in March for a third successive month, driven by gains in grains and vegetable oils, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Thursday, putting food inflation firmly back on the economic.... More

Job claims fall to lowest since 2008 4/5/12 - The number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in nearly four years last week, according to a government report that showed ongoing healing in the labor market. More

How stress makes it easier to catch the common cold. 4/5/12 - A new study has revealed that people who are stressed are much more likely to catch the common cold, Time Magazine reported. The stress hormone cortisol – which is released during periods of anxiety – temporarily suppresses the.... More

Study on kids' playtime with parents: does it miss the point? 4/4/12 - Confession: I am the parent of a preschool-age child, and I do not play outside with him each day. I am hardly alone. According to a study released online Monday by the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 49% of 3-.... More

Hiring at U.S. workplaces jumps in March. 4/4/12 - U.S. job market conditions in March reached their best level since August 2008, with Gallup's Job Creation Index now at +18, up from +14 in February. This four-percentage-point increase is the largest one-month jump in the index that.... More

Bumbo review: what to know before placing your infant in it. 4/4/12 - At least 45 infants have fallen out of Bumbos on elevated surfaces—including 17 who fractured their skulls—since a 2007 recall of the product. After that recall, the Bumbo was re-released with new on-product warnings. More

Apartment vacancy falls to decade low. 4/4/12 - The Apartment vacancy rate in the first quarter fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, and rents posted their biggest jump in four years, as Americans eschewed home ownership and renting retained its popularity, according to.... More

Medicine spending rose to $320 billion last year. 4/4/12 - A raft of new medicines pushed spending on drugs modestly higher last year, but the gains were curbed by weak prescription use as Americans avoided doctor visits, according to a report released on Wednesday. More

Fewer doctor visits; more trips to the emergency room. 4/4/12 - Patients cut back on prescription drugs and doctor visits last year, a sign that many Americans are still struggling to pay for health care despite the economic recovery, according to a study released Wednesday by a health industry research group. More

Doctor panels recommend fewer tests for patients. 4/4/12 - In a move likely to alter treatment standards in hospitals and doctors’ offices nationwide, a group of nine medical specialty boards plans to recommend on Wednesday that doctors perform 45 common tests and procedures less often, and.... More

Where housing once boomed, recovery lags. 4/3/12 - Half a decade has passed since crowds of lunchtime workers regularly packed the Fish Market restaurant, a popular fixture of this southern Maryland crossroads known by the lighthouse on its roof. More

White House and FDA often at odds. 4/3/12 - Nancy-Ann DeParle, the whip-smart and sometimes caustic White House deputy chief of staff, picked up The Wall Street Journal one summer day in 2010 and got an unwelcome shock. The Food and Drug Administration was proposing as part of.... More

Happiness is tops in Denmark, lowest in Togo, study finds. 4/3/12 - In the widest such survey, Gallup has asked people to rate their lives from 0 to 10. It found huge differences in global happiness: More than a third of Europeans ranked themselves an 8 or higher. Less than 5% said so in sub-Saharan.... More

Americans may be fatter than we think, says study. 4/3/12 - As if the nation's weight problems were not daunting enough, a new study has found that the body mass index, the 180-year-old formula used to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy weight, may be incorrectly classifying about half.... More

U.S. CEO pay climbs as stock market goes up. 4/3/12 - The take-home pay of U.S. chief executives grew at least 10 percent in 2011, propelled largely by a stock market rally, according to consultants' estimates. More

Study finds some early breast cancers are over-diagnosed. 4/3/12 - A study in Norway estimates that between 15 and 25 percent of breast cancers found by mammograms wouldn't have caused any problems during a woman's lifetime, but these tumors were being treated anyway. More

U.S. CEO pay climbs as stock market goes up. 4/3/12 - The take-home pay of U.S. chief executives grew at least 10 percent in 2011, propelled largely by a stock market rally, according to consultants' estimates. More

Study: airline performance at all-time high. 4/2/12 - When it comes to on-time performance, baggage handling, and fewer customer complaints and overbooked flights, U.S. airlines are performing at their highest level in at least 22 years, according to a study released today. More

If justices kill health care law, California may just revive it. 4/2/12 - Even if the whole health care law is scrapped nationally, many of its consumer protections, such as guaranteed coverage for children, are expected to survive in California. But a massive expansion of coverage for the poor and the.... More

To enroll more minority students, colleges work around courts. 4/2/12 - With its decision to take up racial preferences in admissions at public colleges, the Supreme Court has touched off a national guessing game about how far it might move against affirmative action and how profoundly colleges might.... More

Apple's chief puts stamp on labor issues. 4/2/12 - A day after Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, toured a Chinese factory where the company’s products are made, an audit commissioned by Apple criticized the long hours and dangerous working conditions at plants run by.... More

Race, tragedy polarizes the nation. 4/2/12 - Once again, a river of protest raged through Sanford, FL this weekend to demand justice in the name of an unarmed black teenager shot dead. It gathered strength in front of the historic Crooms Academy, the first high school for black.... More

Restaurants fear rising fuel costs could jeopardize recovery. 4/01/12 - Two years after getting back on their feet, metro Atlanta restaurateurs are increasingly worried that rising commodities prices — especially gasoline — could end their industry’s tenuous return to good health. More

Signs of Supreme Court activism worry some Reagan administration lawyers. 4/01/12 - When the incoming Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. came before the Senate for confirmation seven years ago, President Reagan's solicitor general gave him a warm endorsement as a "careful, modest" judge. More

Puberty before age 10: a new normal? 4/01/12 - One day last year when her daughter, Ainsley, was 9, Tracee Sioux pulled her out of her elementary school in Fort Collins, Colo., and drove her an hour south, to Longmont, in hopes of finding a satisfying reason that Ainsley began.... More

The human voice, as game changer. 4/01/12 - Vlad Sejnoha is talking to the TV again. O.K., maybe you’ve done that, too. But here’s the weird thing: His TV is listening. “Dragon TV,” Mr. Sejnoha says to the screen, “find movies with Meryl Streep.” Up pops a list of.... More

After grad job slump, big hiring is back. 4/01/12 - Sean Chua expected the hunt for his first job after college to be tough. After all, he watched his brother struggle to find a position when he graduated back in 2008. But his fears were unwarranted. More

Dogs on the job drive down workplace stress. 3/31/12 - Employers looking to ramp up productivity in these dog-eat-dog times might consider letting their staff bring Fido to the office, a scientific study published Friday suggests. Dogs at work can not only bring down stress levels among.... More

Hoodie evolves into a symbol of protest. 3/31/12 - Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Knowles has an array of hoodies hanging in his dorm room closet, scattered among his suits, dress shirts and ties. But the moment he walks out in a hoodie, he said, he is no longer just a Northwestern.... More

Obama proposes new rule for immigrant families. 3/31/12 - The Obama administration is proposing to make it easier for illegal immigrants who are immediate family members of American citizens to apply for permanent residency, a move that could affect as many as 1 million of the estimated 11.... More

Two sides to the labor story in China. 3/31/12 - The shorter workweeks and higher pay that Apple’s biggest contract manufacturer, Foxconn, has promised would mean fundamental changes to factory work in China — assuming enough workers can be found in the first place. More

Now at risk, the health law gives insurers pause. 3/31/12 - As the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the federal health care law, one option that had seemed unthinkable to its designers and supporters now seems at least possible: that the court could strike down the entire law. More

Analysis: U.S. Jobs Act could help the least flashy startups. 3/31/12 - Much of the talk around the Jobs Act has centered on the technology sector, but the biggest impact could land on far more prosaic ventures, investors and analysts say. More

Diagnoses of autism on the rise. 3/30/12 - One child out of 88 is believed to have autism or a related disorder, an increase in the rate attributed largely to wider screening. Advocacy groups seized on the new number as further evidence that autism research and services should.... More

Illinois starts selling lottery tickets online as jackpot soars. 3/30/12 - With a record $540 million Mega Millions jackpot in play, Illinois picked the right week to become the first state in the nation to sell lottery tickets online. Others are watching closely to see if the new approach pays off and.... More

California state colleges weigh asking students if they're gay. 3/30/12 - California's state colleges and universities are laying plans to ask students about their sexual orientation next year on application or enrollment forms, becoming the largest group of schools in the country to do so. The move has.... More

Another perfect college acceptance year at Urban Prep. 3/30/12 - For the third year in a row, every senior at Urban Prep Academy, the only all-African-American, all-male charter high school in Chicago, has been accepted to college, the school's leaders said. More

More dental patients turn to hospital emergency rooms. 3/30/12 - Meredith Postlewaite's mouth throbbed constantly, but self-employed and without dental insurance, she had few options. "I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. ... I was living on Tylenol and Advil," said the 27-year-old landscaper. More

Apple, Foxconn, set new standards for Chinese workers. 3/30/12 - Apple Inc and its main contract manufacturing Foxconn agreed to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business.... More

Feedback from students becomes a campus staple, but some go further. 3/30/12 - Every other Monday, right before class ends, Muhammad Zaman, a Boston University biomedical engineering professor, hands out a one-page form asking students to anonymously rate him and the course on a scale of one to five. More

New U.S. unemployment claims fall to four-year low. 3/29/12 - New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell to a fresh four-year low last week, according to a government report that showed ongoing healing in the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000, the lowest level since April 2008,.... More

Study finds California women still lag behind men in key categories. 3/29/12 - California women have made significant strides in recent years, obtaining college and graduate degrees at a higher rate than men, for instance, but they still lag their male counterparts when it comes to leadership roles, earning.... More

On day 3, justices weigh what-ifs in health care ruling. 3/29/12 - The day after the Supreme Court suggested that President Obama’s health care law might be in danger of being held unconstitutional, the justices on Wednesday turned their attention to the practical consequences and political.... More

Academic helped Obama build case for mandate in health care law. 3/29/12 - After Massachusetts, California came calling. So did Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin and Wyoming. They all wanted Jonathan Gruber, a numbers wizard at M.I.T., to help them figure out how to fix their health.... More

Oklahoma court strikes down ultrasound abortion law. 3/28/12 - An Oklahoma County judge has permanently blocked a state law that requires women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before the abortion. District Judge Brian Dixon handed down an order Wednesday ruling that the law is unconstitutional and.... More

Female condoms prevent new HIV infections. 3/28/12 - A female condom program was highly effective in preventing HIV infections, according to a new economic analysis by researchers in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The analysis, published in the journal AIDS and Behavior, found the DC Females Condom program, a public-private.... More

JOBS bill clears Congress despite warnings. 3/28/12 - Congress gave final approval to a popular, but controversial, bill that aims to make it easier for small businesses to access investment capital, sending President Obama one of his top job-creation priorities in a rare burst of.... More

Contingency plans are few if court strikes down insurance requirement. 3/28/12 - If the court invalidates the insurance requirement, the White House and a divided Congress would be left to pick up the pieces.Their first steps toward finding alternatives to reduce the number of uninsured in the country More

In court, sharp questions on health care law's mandate. 3/28/12 - With the fate of President Obama’s health care law hanging in the balance, a lawyer for the administration faced a barrage of skeptical questions on Tuesday from four of the Supreme Court’s more conservative justices, suggesting.... More

Bad bosses can hurt in a multitude of ways. 3/28/12 - A bad boss can make your work life miserable. But new research shows that a bad boss can also hurt your family life, your health and your personal morale. We read a Washington Post story on bad bosses and all of the Daily Circuit.... More

Employees reveal top impact of workplace stress. 3/27/12 - More than half of employees say workplace stress makes it difficult to focus on tasks, according to a survey by ComPsych Corporation. Another 21 percent say stress causes them to commit errors or miss deadlines and more than 15 percent say stress causes conflict with coworkers and superiors..... More

Hotel rate increases in February set new record. 3/27/12 - Hotel rates in North America jumped more than 7% for both business and leisure travelers in February, marking the biggest year-over-year increase on record, according to data released Monday. Hotel rates for business travelers jumped.... More

Surgery for diabetes may be better than standard treatment. 3/27/12 - Two studies have found that weight-loss operations worked much better than the standard therapies for Type 2 diabetes in obese and overweight people whose blood sugar was out of control. More

U.S. agency seeks tougher consumer privacy rules. 3/27/12 - The government’s chief consumer protection agency said on Monday that it intended to take direct aim at the vast industry that has grown up around the buying and selling of information about American consumers. More

For justices, a matter of framing the core issue on health care. 3/27/12 - The Supreme Court on Tuesday hears arguments on the central question in the constitutional challenges to President Obama’s health care overhaul law. How it answers the question depends in large part on how the justices decide to frame the core issue. More

A new path for cardiac care. 3/26/12 - The first time John Mulloy had a completely blocked coronary artery -- 10 years ago -- he needed coronary bypass surgery to restore blood flow and his health. It took him years to recover. But when it was recently discovered that.... More

Fee change is planned for airlines. 3/26/12 - A legislative proposal to increase the airline security tax is disappointing and shortsighted, an airline trade group said last week, claiming the higher fee could severely hurt the industry as it rebounds from the recession. More

Bernanke: U.S. needs faster growth to soothe unemployment. 3/26/12 - The U.S. economy needs to grow more quickly if it is to produce enough jobs to bring down the unemployment rate further, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday. More

In health care case, lawyers train for three-day marathon. 3/26/12 - The three days of Supreme Court arguments that start Monday on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law will be a legal marathon, and the lawyers involved have been training. Last week, there were so many of the.... More

Health Act arguments open with obstacle from 1867. 3/26/12 - The Supreme Court on Monday starts three days of hearings on the constitutionality of the 2010 health care overhaul law, an epic clash that could recast the very structure of American government. But it begins with a 90-minute.... More

Caring for elderly parents leaves many unprepared. 3/26/12 - Last July, Julie Baldocchi's mother had a massive stroke and was paralyzed. Baldocchi suddenly had to become a family caregiver, something that she wasn't prepared for. "I was flying by the seat of my pants," says Baldocchi, an.... More

Florida killing raises questions about "stand your ground" law. 3/25/12 - It has been called "obscene," "stupid" and the "right-to-commit-murder law." It has also been credited with protecting people like Sarah McKinley, a young widow who killed a knife-wielding man after he broke into her Oklahoma home. More

An emergency room story to make anyone ill. 3/25/12 - The story of 11-year-old Ella Moser's $5,000 tummy ache begins in October, when her Studio City parents called their pediatrician one night and were advised to go to an emergency room, just to be safe. Ella's father, John Moser, was mindful of the fact that emergency room costs can be sky high.... More

Text to driver: that's my space. 3/25/12 - Anybody who has ever hunted for a parking space along a city street or in a shopping mall garage knows how the choreography is supposed to work. Driver seeking a precious spot crawls along, sees someone climbing into a car, then pumps.... More

Suicides highlight failure of veteran's support system. 3/25/12 - Francis Guilfoyle, a 55-year-old homeless veteran, drove his 1985 Toyota Camry to the Department of Veterans Affairs campus in Menlo Park early in the morning of Dec. 3, took a stepladder and a rope out of the car, threw the rope over.... More

Team Party activists defy rain to rip Obama Health Care law. 3/25/12 - Several hundred rain-soaked Tea Party activists rallied on Saturday to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law after arguments next week. More

Less driving, more fuel efficiency, help Americans cut gas use. 3/24/12 - Americans have pumped less gas every week for the past year. During those 52 weeks, gasoline consumption dropped by 4.2 billion gallons, or 3 percent, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse. The decline is longer than a 51-week slide.... More

Implications are far-reaching in states' challenge of health care law. 3/24/12 - A major issue in the Supreme Court battle over the new health care law is whether Congress can force states to make a huge expansion of Medicaid, to add millions of low-income people to the rolls. More

Gay marriage effort attracts a novel group of donors. 3/24/12 - On a warm Friday afternoon three years ago, Rob Reiner, the director, arrived for lunch at the Beverly Hills estate of David Geffen, the entertainment mogul. Mr. Reiner and his political adviser, Chad H. Griffin, had spent six months.... More

More firms adopting flexible work spaces. 3/24/12 - Sande Golgart, the Seattle-based regional vice president of Regus,a global provider of flexible work spaces for businesses, says numerous companies are finding ways to offer employees options. They allow people to work wherever,.... More

Big science zooms in on new cure for baldness. 3/23/12 - In mice and men, baldness is a scourge that cries out for a cure. Fortunately, a far-flung group of American researchers is on it — and on Wednesday reported progress on this front in the very sober journal Science Translational.... More

Obama health care law faces high court hearing. 3/23/12 - President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul faces its biggest court test next week, capping a legal battle that could reshape the powers of the U.S. government, redefine medical care for most Americans and transform the 2012 election.... More

Black residents in Florida city say they're often harassed by police. 3/23/12 - The slaying of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black 17-year-old, by a neighborhood watch volunteer has prompted a federal investigation and, on Thursday, the temporary ouster of the city's police chief. More

No backing down on women's right to compete. 3/23/12 - PARIS — Are sports a human right? Is it a right to head out the door in running shoes or bare feet and work up a sweat; a right to shoot on goal or drive to the basket in pursuit of personal fitness, fulfillment and, lest one forget.... More

U.S. inches toward goal of energy independence. 3/23/12 - The desolate stretch of West Texas desert known as the Permian Basin is still the lonely domain of scurrying roadrunners by day and howling coyotes by night. But the roar of scores of new oil rigs and the distinctive acrid fumes of.... More

Challenge to gay marriage fails in New Hampshire 3/22/12 - An attempt to repeal New Hampshire’s same-sex marriage law failed on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, with members of the Republican-dominated chamber voting 211-116 to kill the bill. More

California struggling to provide quake early warning system. 3/22/12 - Japan has one. So do Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey and Romania. But California has struggled to develop and deploy an earthquake warning system that would give cities seconds of crucial time to prepare for the impact of a massive earthquake. More

As cars are kept longer, 200,000 is the new 100,000. 3/22/12 - HOW far can a modern car really go? Given the increasing age of vehicles on American roads, we may be on the verge of finding out. As a stubborn recession made drivers wary of new purchases for several years, the average age of.... More

Justices ruling expands rights of accused in plea bargains. 3/22/12 - Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to effective lawyers during plea negotiations, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a pair of 5-to-4 decisions that vastly expanded judges’ supervision of the criminal justice system. More

New York faults "needless risk" in care of the disabled. 3/22/12 - Nearly 300,000 disabled and mentally ill New Yorkers face a “needless risk of harm” because of conflicting regulations, a lack of oversight and even disagreements over what constitutes abuse, according to a draft state report.... More

Analysis: U.S. job gains hint at more spending and hiring. 3/22/12 - A recent acceleration in U.S. job growth could create a virtuous cycle, lining the pockets of more Americans, leading to more spending, faster growth and further hiring. The pickup isn't enough on its own to guarantee a robust.... More

Obama health care not yet resonating with the public. 3/21/12 - As President Obama and his allies gear up to defend the landmark healthcare law he signed two years ago, they confront an unforgiving math problem: Just a tiny fraction of Americans has experienced a major benefit from the law. More

Study links daily doses of aspirin to reduced cancer risk. 3/21/12 - Taking aspirin every day may significantly reduce the risk of many cancers and prevent tumors from spreading, according to two new studies published on Tuesday. More

Generic drugs prove resistant to damage suits. 3/21/12 - Debbie Schork, a deli worker at a supermarket in Indiana, had to have her hand amputated after an emergency room nurse injected her with an anti-nausea drug, causing gangrene. She sued the manufacturer named in the hospital’s.... More

Electric car revolution faces increasing headwinds. 3/21/12 - Scott Kluth has a love-hate relationship with his new Fisker Karma luxury electric sedan. The 34-year-old car lover bought the plug-in hybrid electric Karma in December for $107,850, but five days later the car's battery died as he.... More

Getting your company on the right work-life balance path. 3/21/12 - The pursuit of work-life balance has been a hot topic for businesses and organizations over the last couple of decades. The prevailing wisdom is simple: If an employee spends too much time engrossed in work, and too little time.... More

For 2nd year, a sharp drop in law school entrance tests. 3/20/12 - Legal diplomas are apparently losing luster. The organization behind the Law School Admission Test reported that the number of tests it administered this year dropped by more than 16 percent, the largest decline in more than a decade. More

Women prescribed more drugs than men, but don't always take them. 3/20/12 - Women are prescribed more medications than men are, but they’re less likely than men to use those medications as prescribed. And even though they are prescribed more drugs, those prescriptions may not be ideally suited to the way women’s bodies process medications. More

House Republicans to propose dramatic reshaping of tax code. 3/20/12 - House Republicans on Tuesday will propose a dramatic reshuffling of the tax code, suggesting collapsing individual tax brackets into two brackets with lower tax rates and slashing the top corporate tax rate. More

At heart of health law clash, a 1942 case of a farmer's wheat. 3/20/12 - If the Obama administration persuades the Supreme Court to uphold its health care overhaul law, it will be in large part thanks to a 70-year-old precedent involving an Ohio farmer named Roscoe C. Filburn. More

Appeals court rules tobacco warnings constitutional. 3/20/12 - A U.S. law requiring large graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertising does not violate the free speech rights of tobacco companies, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. More

Housing start permits jump to highest since 2008. 3/20/12 - Housing starts fell in February, but permits for future construction jumped to their highest level since October 2008, according to a government report on Tuesday that showed steady improvement in the housing market. More

Fake pot sending young people to hospitals. 3/19/12 - An increasing number of teens and young adults are turning to synthetic marijuana compounds with nicknames such as "K2," "Spice" and "Mr. Smiley" in search of a legal high. But as several new case reports point out, more and more.... More

Health care law activitists ready for Supreme Court hearings. 3/19/12 - When the Supreme Court holds three days of hearings on the constitutionality of the law next week, supporters and opponents will be reaching for broader political targets. Expect demonstrators to brandish placards reading “Hands off.... More

Racial lens used to cull curriculum in Arizona. 3/19/12 - Like the lead character, Danny, in "Mexican White Boy," Ana is a Mexican-American whose family does not have much, is being raised by her mother and has a father who spent time in jail. On Jan. 1, it became illegal to teach the book.... More

Gender gap persists in cost of health insurance. 3/19/12 - Women still pay more than men for the same health insurance coverage, according to new research and data from online brokers. The new health care law will prohibit such “gender rating,” starting in 2014. More

Our workplace: how three companies innovate. 3/18/12 - The reshaping of the modern workplace also involves new approaches to innovation. Here, executives at Google, General Electric and DreamWorks Animation summarize their companies’ paths to creativity. More

Seller-financed contracts skyrocket, but so do gripes. 3/18/12 - An alternative financing form, contracts for deeds are becoming increasingly popular among people who might not otherwise qualify for a mortgage. But buyers need to be cautious of their terms. More

Women slip behind as economy recovers. 3/18/12 - As job creation improves the outlook for men, women are smarting from cuts and old stereotypes. For women in the middle class, the economic recovery is turning out to be a reversal of fortune. Women held onto their jobs so much.... More

In new office designs, room to roam and think. 3/18/12 - MARTHA CHOE’S ideal working space is not her private office, nice though it is, but rather a long, narrow table in the vast atrium of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters here. More

Ex-Rutgers student could face ten years or more for hate crime. 3/17/12 - Former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi could face more than 10 years in prison following his conviction Friday for hate crimes, invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence, and a host of other charges related to his spying on his gay.... More

Texas sues Obama administration in abortion dispute. 3/17/12 - The Texas attorney general on Friday sued the Obama administration to challenge its decision to shut down a women's health program over a dispute centered on the state's withholding of funds to clinics that provide abortions. More

Jump in gas prices is hurting economic recovery, report says. 3/17/12 - As politicians squabble over energy policy and question whether to tap America's strategic oil reserves, two new reports showed how the recent jump in pump prices is starting to hurt the economic recovery. More

Birth control mandate to apply to self-insuring religious groups. 3/17/12 - The Obama administration took another step on Friday to enforce a federal mandate for health insurance coverage of contraceptives, announcing how the new requirement would apply to the many Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and.... More

Onslaught of customer surveys is fraying patience. 3/17/12 - A commercial transaction, in its simplest form, involves a customer paying for goods or services. But these days, that is just the first step. Businesses want your opinion of them, too, and their requests for feedback, like relentless.... More

U.S. lags behind others in work-life balance 3/16/12 - In the middle of an economic and jobs crisis, why should any politician or executive focus on a "soft" issue like work-life policy? Because there are some very real costs associated with inflexible workplaces. More

Survey finds teachers don't trust state tests. 3/16/12 - Despite years of rhetoric from lawmakers and education reformers about the importance of tying teacher pay to student test scores, fewer teachers now believe the move will keep good teachers in the classroom. More

What effects the health care law has had and what's to come. 3/16/12 - Two years after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, some provisions have taken effect, while others still have two years to wait. In a recent poll by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, two in.... More

Study links work stress with overeating. 3/16/12 - Work can be a real burden for some people. They feel overwhelmingly exhausted and cynical toward their workplace environment, and believe their efforts are not valued. In other words, they are burned out. A new study in the American.... More

No funding for abortion clinics so government will shut down Texas health.... 3/16/12 - The Obama Administration on Thursday said it would begin shutting down a program that provides health care for more than 100,000 low-income women in Texas because the state will not allow funding for clinics that provide abortion.... More

Weekly unemployment benefits applications drop, matching four-year low. 3/15/12 -Fewer people sought unemployment benefits last week, adding to signs that the job market is strengthening. Applications for unemployment aid dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That matches a four-year low reached last month. The four-week.... More

Key to a happy marriage: more listening, less talking. 3/15/12 - While no one could reasonably expect to always follow all 106 rules in Harriet Lerner's new book, "Marriage Rules: A Manual for the Married and the Coupled Up" (Gotham), the clinical psychologist suggests mastering one or two. More

U.S. backs anti-smoking campaign. 3/15/12 - For the first time, the federal government will directly attack the nation’s tobacco addiction with a series of advertisements highlighting the grisly toll of smoking, a campaign that federal health officials hope will renew the.... More

New York lawmakers vote to limit public pensions. 3/15/12 - New York's lawmakers on Thursday morning approved a hard-fought measure to cut the retirement benefits for future public employees in New York City and across the state, dealing a defeat to labor unions at the end of a dramatic.... More

Women figure anew in Senate's latest battle. 3/15/12 - With emotions still raw from the fight over President Obama’s contraception mandate, Senate Democrats are beginning a push to renew the Violence Against Women Act, the once broadly bipartisan 1994 legislation that now faces fierce.... More

Three in ten workers say workplace not psychologically safe. 3/14/12 - Companies around the globe have work to do to improve worker satisfaction because only three in 10 employees say their workplace is psychologically safe and healthy, according to a new poll. More

In rare bipartisan moment, U.S. Senate ready to pass overhaul of highway,.... 3/14/12 - In a rare display of deal-making between Republicans and Democrats in a bitterly partisan election year, the Senate was poised to pass an overhaul of highway and transit programs that would give states more flexibility in how they.... More

New interest in hacking as threat to security. 3/14/12 - During the five-month period between October and February, there were 86 reported attacks on computer systems in the United States that control critical infrastructure, factories and databases, according to the Department of Homeland.... More

Rising sea levels seen as threat to coastal U.S. 3/14/12 - About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research. More

Muddled economic picture muddles the political one as well. 3/14/12 - The final major economic turning point of President Obama’s first term seems to have arrived. The question is which way the economy will turn. Job growth has picked up nicely in the last few months, raising the prospect that the.... More

Inside the challenge to Obama's health care law. 3/14/12 - A little over a year ago, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was on a mission. Along with a group of like-minded officials from other states, she was determined to be the first to test President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law at.... More

Congress remains deeply unpopular, poll finds. 3/13/12 - Congress remains deeply unpopular with the American public, but Democrats continue to fare better than Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Despite weeks of fiery debate on Capitol Hill regarding reproductive.... More

Student loans seen as next 'debt bomb' for U.S. 3/13/12 - Bankruptcy lawyers have a frightening message for America: They’re seeing the telltale signs of a student loan debt bubble that is placing increased financial pressure on families struggling with their children’s mounting debt..... More

Voters blame Obama for gas prices; experts say not so fast. 3/13/12 - How much does the president have to do with the price of gasoline? A lot, say American voters. According to oil experts and economists, not so much — at least in the short term. More

All red meat is bad for you, study says. 3/13/12 - Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study that examined the eating habits and health of more than 110,000 adults for more than 20.... More

No more excuses! Google and Intuit help small businesses get online. 3/13/12 - Small-business owners who have put off getting a website, you are running out of excuses. According to Google, 97% of Americans turn to the Web to find local products and services, and yet here in California, only 38% of small.... More

New rules aim to ease state-run health insurance exchanges. 3/13/12 - In the face of mounting resistance from Republican state leaders and other critics, the Obama administration moved Monday to ease development of state-based insurance exchanges, a key feature of the new healthcare law. More

States are given guidelines for health law's 'exchanges.' 3/13/12 - Fifty million people in America lack health insurance and the law says most of them must soon be provided coverage. But how to deliver? The Obama administration Monday finalized an ambitious blueprint for new state-based markets that will offer consumers one-stop shopping along the lines of.... More

Stress eats holes in your brain. 3/13/12 - After her husband passed away, Sandi Bond Chapman said she "could feel it immediately." "For a year, I couldn't think," said Chapman, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas. "I.... More

Young arms and curveballs: a scientific twist. 3/12/12 - For decades, it has been an article of faith for parents of young pitchers: Do not let them throw curveballs. The reason was simple. Contorting elbows — all in the service of ever more competitive baseball at ever younger ages —.... More

More fake drugs showing up in U.S. cities. 3/12/12 - As drug counterfeiters step up their sales of bogus medicines, global health regulators have few protections in place to prevent them from reaching patients, and new laws aimed at addressing the problem could be years away. More

Credit unions, banks grabbing a share of payday loan dollars. 3/12/12 - Payday loans, for years a fixture in poor, working-class neighborhoods, are increasingly being offered by local banks and employee credit unions — triggering concerns by consumer groups that more Americans will be trapped in.... More

Oil imports down, domestic production highest since 2003. 3/12/12 - Against the backdrop of gasoline prices rising at the pump in an election year, a new Obama administration report cites “significant progress” in reducing foreign oil imports and increasing domestic oil and gas production. More

Failure of artificial hips has doctors rethinking the option. 3/12/12 - Terri Wagner-Morley was so hopeful about her new right hip. It would ease her chronic arthritis pain, allow her to exercise, even help her lose a little weight. She had a DePuy metal-on-metal ASR hip implanted in 2008 and, at first,.... More

Blunt, honest talk helps a school district drive toward success. 3/12/12 - For years, Rockville High School, Rockville, MD, has sent the children of doctors, lawyers and high-ranking government officials on to top-notch universities. But for Principal Debra Munk, one story stands out: a black student, a.... More

Labor unions rethinking their role in politics. 3/11/12 - As top union leaders gather in Florida on Tuesday to determine labor's political strategy this year, the influential AFL-CIO appears poised to endorse President Obama's reelection — despite some lingering dissatisfaction with his.... More

Immigration decreases, but tensions remain high. 3/11/12 - The impact of steep declines in the number of migrants illegally crossing the border with Mexico in recent years has rippled across Arizona and other border states, with federal and local law enforcement seeing big drops in crime.... More

Prisons rethink isolation, saving money, lives and sanity. 3/11/12 - The heat was suffocating, and the inmates locked alone in cells in Unit 32, the state’s super-maximum-security prison, wiped away sweat as they lay on concrete slab beds. More

Immune system tricked to accept donor organs: study. 3/11/12 - Scientists have found a way to trick the immune system into accepting organs from a mismatched, unrelated organ donor, a finding that could help patients avoid a lifetime of drugs to prevent rejection of the donated organ. More

Americans save by retiring closer to home. 3/11/12 - When Harvey and Cora Alter decided to move away from Washington, D.C. for their retirement, friends were surprised to hear where they were going. The Alters weren't even crossing a state line. More

Health care exchange rules to be set by Obama administration. 3/10/12 - The Obama administration is about to carry out a major provision of the new health care law by issuing standards for health insurance exchanges, the markets where consumers and small businesses will be able to buy coverage from competing private plans. More

Many firms missing out on health care tax credit. 3/10/12 - As small-business owners sharpen their pencils this tax season, they may be overlooking a little break tucked away in IRS Form 8941. A relatively new tax credit is available to certain small businesses and charities to help offset the.... More

Government to cut Texas womens' health funds in abortion dispute. 3/10/12 - The federal government will withdraw funding for a Texas program providing more than 100,000 poor women with birth control and other health services because Planned Parenthood clinics are not allowed to participate, a U.S. Health and.... More

Senate backs phased retirement for federal employees. 3/9/12 - Federal employees could phase into retirement by switching to part-time work while collecting a partial annuity, under language approved by the Senate on Thursday as part of a transportation bill. More

Obama unveils new foreclosure measures to resuscitate housing market. President Obama has begun embracing housing policies that administration officials earlier thought unwise or unworkable as he embarks on his most aggressive push to address the nation’s foreclosure crisis and depressed real estate market.... More

Breaks to get up and move good for health, says study. 3/9/12 - Taking a break to walk every 20 minutes instead of staying seated for hours helps reduce the body's levels of glucose and insulin after eating, according to a study — the latest to highlight the hazards of long periods of inactivity. More

Banks foreclosing on churches in record numbers. 3/9/12 - Banks are foreclosing on America's churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data. More

Payrolls up solidly, jobless rate at 8.3 percent. 3/9/12 - Employment grew solidly for a third straight month in February, a sign the economic recovery was broadening and in less need of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. More

Illegal immigrants get scholarships while aid bill idles. 3/9/12 - Among all the numbers that populate Nataly Lopez’s life — including phone digits, addresses, pass codes and friends’ ages — there is one that she never forgets: the cost of a semester’s tuition at Baruch College, where she is.... More

House set to vote on jobs bill aimed at small businesses. 3/8/12 - The House is expected to vote Thursday on a jobs bill that would mark rare agreement between the Obama administration and House Republicans. The proposal called the JOBS Act, short for "Jump-starting Our Business Startups," comprises.... More

Public schools putting empty classroom seats up for sale abroad. 3/8/12 - U.S. schools are wooing well-off families in China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia and dozens of other countries, seeking teenagers who speak decent English, have a sense of adventure - and are willing to pay as much as $30,000 for a.... More

Cost of gene sequencing falls, raising hopes for medical advances. 3/8/12 - In Silicon Valley, the line between computing and biology has begun to blur in a way that could have enormous consequences for human longevity. Bill Banyai, an optical physicist at Complete Genomics, has helped make that happen. More

Teacher survey finds morale is at a low point. 3/8/12 - The slump in the economy, coupled with the acrimonious discourse over how much weight test results and seniority should be given in determining a teacher’s worth, have conspired to bring morale among the nation’s teachers to its lowest point in more than 20 years, according to a survey of.... More

Abortion fight in Texas means women losing options for health care. 3/8/12 - Leticia Parra, a mother of five scraping by on income from her husband’s sporadic construction jobs, relied on the Planned Parenthood clinic in San Carlos, an impoverished town in South Texas, for breast cancer screenings, free birth.... More

Alcohol in movies linked to binge drinking in teens, study says. 3/7/12 - Binge drinking can be a serious health problem for teens: Studies show that kids who consume alcohol during adolescence are more likely to develop drinking problems as adults, among other risks. But what prompts teens to hit the bottle.... More

Shifting gears on drivers' education. 3/7/12 - Learning disabilities don't automatically have to block young adults from being taught to drive. They just redefine the way it's done. David Hastings, 22, has Asperger's and is enrolled in a special driving education program run.... More

Big sky, bright sun and melanoma. 3/7/12 - Along with an increase in white-collar workers seeking outdoor recreation on weekends, the use of tanning beds is viewed as a reason that Idaho consistently has one of the highest rates of melanoma deaths in the country. More

College hunt starts earlier at new breed of schools. 3/7/12 - At Avenues, a for-profit school scheduled to open this fall in Chelsea, college counseling will begin with students in ninth grade. Similarly, Léman Manhattan, a for-profit school downtown, starts the formal college search process.... More

New service lets you fly through airport security. 3/6/12 - After a nearly 10-hour flight from Paris, a bleary-eyed Maureen Chatelain arrived Monday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with a connecting flight to catch. Instead of standing in line at Customs and Border Protection, she.... More

Digital records may not cut health costs, study cautions. 3/6/12 - Computerized patient records are unlikely to cut health care costs and may actually encourage doctors to order expensive tests more often, a study published on Monday concludes. More

Black students face more discipline, says study. 3/6/12 - More than 70% of students involved in school-related arrests or cases referred to law enforcement were Hispanic or African-American, according to a report to be released Tuesday by the Education Department that raises questions about.... More

Preschoolers in surgery for a mouthful of cavities. 3/6/12 - In the surgical wing of the Center for Pediatric Dentistry at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Devon Koester, 2 ½ years old, was resting last month in his mother’s arms as an anesthesiologist held a bubble-gum-scented mask over his.... More

Worker confidence reaches highest level in nine months. 3/5/12 - The Randstad Employee Confidence Index increased for the second consecutive month in February, rising 1.5 points to 53.9. This marks the highest level of employee confidence recorded since May of last year, with employees feeling more confident in their personal employment situations and the.... More

Study highlights importance of top performers, and flaws in performance.... 3/5/12 - Companies large and small are notoriously bad at identifying top performers and rewarding them properly. Equally problematic is the failure of managers to set clear performance guidelines, which leads to the.... More

In age of dual incomes, alimony payers prod states to update laws. 3/5/12 - In the waning days of this year’s legislative session, Florida lawmakers and advocacy groups are pushing to overhaul the state’s alimony law in a bid to better reflect today’s marriages and make the system less burdensome for the.... More

Finding your book interrupted -- by the tablet you're reading it on. 3/5/12 - Can you concentrate on Flaubert when Facebook is only a swipe away, or give your true devotion to Mr. Darcy while Twitter beckons? People who read e-books on tablets like the iPad are realizing that while a book in print or on a.... More

To stressed-out American mothers, try being French. 3/5/12 - It wasn’t that long ago that American parents were gripped with Tiger Mother anxiety. Did we overpraise our kids in the name of promoting self-esteem? Were we forfeiting an Ivy League future for them if we didn’t force them to.... More

Caregiver grief includes feelings of relief, guilt, shame. 3/5/12 - A heart-shaped silver balloon floats in a corner of the small bedroom where Claire Findley died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in mid-January, only a week after her family celebrated her 60th birthday. More

YouTube is mirror, mirror on the wall. 3/4/12 - The young girl shows off her big koala hat and forms playful hearts with her fingers as she drops the question on YouTube: "Am I pretty or ugly?" "A lot of people call me ugly, and I think I am ugly. I think I'm ugly and fat," she.... More

Falling incomes rip a hole in the middle class. 3/4/12 - A business degree and a decade of negotiating information technology contracts didn't prepare Denise Sjoberg for workdays changing diapers, comforting crying toddlers and negotiating nap times. But then, she's not the only middle-class.... More

Addressing the skills gap; how to get people trained now. 3/4/12 - Growing up in rural Georgia, Mason Jones didn’t do well in school – or, as he puts it, “I barely got out of high school”. His big plan after graduation was to go to work for the tractor trailer manufacturer on the assembly line.... More

Gay marriage backers find success emphasizing love and family. 3/4/12 - Proponents of gay marriage, who traditionally frame the cause as a matter of equality and civil rights, are increasingly invoking something else: family. And the tactic seems to be working. In February three state legislatures passed.... More

Does couples therapy work? 3/4/12 - We've all had that horrible experience: you throw a party or invite a couple over for dinner, and they start fighting, right there in front of you — the character assassination, the barely controlled anger, the neurotic transference.... More

When living in limbo avoids living on the street. 3/4/12 - Forced by the harsh realities of the real estate market, lenders are increasingly likely to allow defaulting owners to remain in their homes — a change in attitude and strategy that is helping to buoy some neighborhoods while further.... More

Work, money, leading cause of American's stress. 3/3/12 - Work, money and the economy are the biggest cause of Americans' stress, according to research recently released by the American Psychological Association (APA). And, the majority of Americans don't seem to realize how big an impact.... More

Gay Idaho Senator quits Senate but will keep pushing gay rights. 3/3/12 - Lawmakers next door in Washington State just voted to legalize same-sex marriage. But in Idaho, they will not allow a bill to be formally filed that would protect gay people from basic forms of discrimination in areas like education,.... More

The latest in bulk buying? Houses. 3/3/12 - When Vena Jones-Cox entered the foyer of the once-grand Colonial-style home in downtown Columbus, Ohio, she stepped onto a wood floor that was so moldy and mushy that it actually wiggled. As Cox proceeded down the basement stairs, they.... More

States slash birth control subsidies as federal debate rages. 3/3/12 - Even as a national debate rages over contraception insurance, tens of thousands of low-income women and teenagers across the United States have lost access to subsidized birth control as states slash and restructure family planning funds. More

Tornadoes kill at least 28 in Midwest and South. 3/3/12 - Powerful tornadoes raked across a wide swath of the Midwest and South on Friday, killing at least 28 people in four states and bringing the death toll to at least 41 from a week of deadly late-winter storms. More

In Maryland, same sex marriage bill signed into law. 3/2/12 - Amid cheers and camera flashes from a crush of onlookers, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed into law Thursday his bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland — legislation that raises his national profile and, advocates say, gives.... More

Factories doing better in mid-America, surveys show. 3/2/12 - Factories in America's heartland appear to be outperforming their counterparts in other parts of the country, according to two widely read barometers of manufacturing activity. While a national survey of manufacturers showed a slight.... More

Workers' comp rates could go up as claims grow costlier. 3/2/12 - The cost of workers’ compensation insurance for Massachusetts employers could rise dramatically later this year if rates proposed by insurers are approved by state regulators. The Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts, which represents companies that write.... More

Where the jobs are, the training may not be. 3/2/12 - As state funding has dwindled, public colleges have raised tuition and are now resorting to even more desperate measures — cutting training for jobs the economy needs most. More

Poll finds divisions over birth control coverage. 3/2/12 - The close divide in a Senate vote Thursday over whether employers can refuse insurance coverage for contraception mirrors a sharp partisan divide among the public, according to a national poll and interviews with women around the country. More

Workplaces aren't family-friendly. 3/1/12 - In America, working women who become mothers must choose either their jobs or parenting, or an obstacle-strewn mix of both. Technology-assisted, later-than-ever motherhood fits neatly with an inflexible work culture that already.... More

Bank of America considers checking account fee revamp. 3/1/12 - Bank of America Corp is planning to introduce a monthly fee for its customers holding checking accounts unless they agree to bank online, buy more products or maintain certain balances, the Wall Street Journal said. More

Debate over sick leave intensifies. 3/1/12 - Thomas Erb is ticked about the possibility he'll be forced to hand employees even more paid sick time. He fears lapses in productivity at his 30-employee clock-making firm, Electric Time Co., from possible increases in unscheduled.... More

Accenture research finds professionals dissatisfied, but won't leave jobs. 3/1/12 - New global research from Accenture, titled "The Path Forward," has found that despite being dissatisfied with their jobs, the majority of professionals plan to stay with their current employers. More

Work-life balance makes work safer. 3/1/12 - Achieving work-life balance may be more important to your job than previously thought, according to new research. In fact, it appears to have a significant impact on how safe you are at work, new research shows. More

Take precautions when protecting the workplace. 2/29/12 - A recent Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics’ publication on Workplace Violence reported more than 572,000 nonfatal violent crimes – rape, robbery or assault – occurred while people were at work or on duty in 2009. That same year, 521 homicides in the workplace were also.... More

Leap year babies party hearty on their infrequent birthdays. 2/29/12 - Are you celebrating your birthday today -- leap day? Chances are you've been asked more than a few times, and will be asked again, why it shows up on the calendar only once every four years. But even the most basic explanation -- that.... More

Factor in transportation costs and 'affordable' housing isn't that.... 2/29/12 - If you’re not spending a bundle on housing costs but still feel pinched, you probably don’t live close to your job. The Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology says many places that appear affordable really aren’t once you factor in transportation costs. More

Safety alerts cite cholesterol drugs' side effects. 2/29/12 - Federal health officials on Tuesday added new safety alerts to the prescribing information for statins, the cholesterol-reducing medications that are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, citing rare risks of memory.... More

U.S. delays rule on rearview car cameras. 2/29/12 - Safety regulators will not complete the details of a rule mandating rearview cameras on all passenger vehicles until the end of the year, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Congressional leaders on Tuesday. More

Arizona bill would let parents peek at kids' texts. 2/28/12 - If you’re a teenager in Arizona, this might merit an OMG. Right now, parents can check with their cellphone provider to find out what numbers their teenagers are texting. But they can’t read the messages without either taking.... More

Number of deportation cases drops by nearly a third, says report. 2/28/12 - The number of deportation cases filed by federal immigration officials dropped by nearly a third in the first three months of the fiscal year, according to a report by the Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. More

Wealthy, motivated by greed, more likely to cheat, says study. 2/28/12 - The rich really are different from the rest of us, scientists have found — they are more apt to commit unethical acts because they are more motivated by greed. People driving expensive cars were more likely than other motorists to.... More

U.S. rules set for cameras at car's rear. 2/28/12 - On average, two children die and about 50 are injured every week when someone accidentally backs over them in a vehicle, according to KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit group that pushed the government to begin tracking such tragedies. And.... More

Remote eye in the sky keeping tabs on V.A. hospital patients. 2/27/12 - Katie McQuillan was a little worried about her patient. His heart rhythm was abnormal and his magnesium levels too low. She was afraid he might take a sudden -- and possibly fatal -- turn for the worse. McQuillan, an intensive care.... More

Smoking out facts about e-cigarettes. 2/27/12 - Sheila Brewers smoked for 48 years, making it an extremely hard habit to break. "I've tried so many times. I even accomplished three months, and I never stopped wanting a cigarette," Brewers said. That was until she tried electronic.... More

Doctors brushing up on their bedside manners. 2/27/12 - Dr. Melissa Neisen takes a seat next to her radiology patient, Susan Jesso, and leans close. With expressive hands, Neisen calmly describes the diagnostic procedure she just completed to check Jesso's kidney dialysis capability. More

Overweight and obese kids may miss more school. 2/27/12 - Children who are overweight or obese may miss more days of school than their normal-weight peers, a study finds. A study published online recently in the International Journal of Obesity looked at absenteeism rates among 1,387.... More

After release of ratings, a focus on 'top' teachers." 2/27/12 - One was a scion of the family behind the celebrated Italian bakery, Arthur Avenue Bread, and has since been promoted to assistant principal. Another, a San Francisco transplant, was in her first job at the front of a classroom and.... More

Bucking gender expectations: for kids it's relatively common. 2/26/12 - Children whose behavior doesn't conform to gender expectations -- girls who swing swords and play with trucks, boys who tend to dolls and are drawn to high heels and frilly dresses -- are only rarely tipping their hand about their.... More

Vets fight for jobs they left behind. 2/26/12 - Michael Schutz came back to Truman, Minn., after being deployed to Kuwait with the Navy and expected to strap on his gun belt, refasten his badge and slide back into the police cruiser for the city, where he had worked full time as a.... More

G.O.P. weighs cost of union battle. 2/26/12 - With fresh memories of rancor in Wisconsin and other states, Republicans move slowly on right to work. The bitter struggle over union power sweeping through the Midwest is poised to descend on St. Paul, if Republican legislators.... More

Prisoners care for inmates with dementia. 2/26/12 - Secel Montgomery Sr. stabbed a woman in the stomach, chest and throat so fiercely that he lost count of the wounds he inflicted. In the nearly 25 years he has been serving a life sentence, he has gotten into fights, threatened a.... More

Obama's health care plan focuses on treatment, care. 2/25/12 - The Obama administration's plan to fight Alzheimer's disease aims to harness the nation's expertise to find real treatments by 2025 and improve the care and treatment of the 5.1 million Americans already afflicted with the.... More

Rents keep rising, even as housing prices fall. 2/25/12 - The housing market remains a potent drag on the economy as home prices continue to slip, foreclosed homes fill some neighborhoods and millions of construction workers scramble for jobs. But one group is sitting pretty: landlords. More

Why are Harvard graduates in the mailroom? 2/25/12 - In their book “Freakonomics,” Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt explain, among other things, the odd economic behavior that guides many drug dealers. In one gang they described, the typical street-corner guy made less than.... More

In a new ritual, many find solace online. 2/25/12 - In the days after his mother, Dorothy, died last month, Paul Cebar went sorting through the keepsakes she had accumulated in 83 years of life. He had in mind a particular memento, one he dimly remembered from childhood, a slide viewer.... More

Rents keep rising, even as housing prices fall. 2/25/12 - The housing market remains a potent drag on the economy as home prices continue to slip, foreclosed homes fill some neighborhoods and millions of construction workers scramble for jobs. But one group is sitting pretty: landlords. More

U.S. grads get older, shifting workplace trends. 2/24/12 - Americans 60 or older are more likely than ever to have college degrees, helping redefine work and retirement as educated baby boomers swell the senior population at rates faster than young adults earn diplomas, say new Census figures. More

Virginia lawmakers backtrack on conception bill. 2/24/12 - Republican lawmakers in Virginia changed course on another piece of conservative legislation on Thursday, with the State Senate voting to suspend consideration of a bill that would define life as beginning at conception. More

Facebook postings can be sign of teenage depression. 2/24/12 - Specialists in adolescent medicine and mental health experts say that dark postings on Facebook should not be hastily dismissed because they can serve as signs of depression and an early warning system for timely intervention. More

Business spending raises U.S. bank hopes. 2/24/12 - Two-and-a-half years after the official end of the recession, businesses are starting to invest cash again, prompting bankers to hope they might start borrowing, too. More

For boomers, it's a new era of 'work till you drop.' 2/24/12 - When Paula Symons joined the U.S. workforce in 1972, typewriters in her office clacked nonstop, people answered the telephones and the hot new technology revolutionizing communication was the fax machine. More

Despite his opposition to women's issues, Santorum is gaining with women. 2/24/12 - Over the past several weeks, Republicans have watched squeamishly as presidential contender Rick Santorum has waded into multiple controversies that risk alienating half the 2012 electorate: women. But in fact, Santorum has grown more.... More

Maryland to be 8th state to approve gay marriage. 2/24/12 - The Maryland Senate passed a gay marriage bill Thursday by a 25-22 vote, sending it to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who sponsored the bill and is likely to sign it soon. Maryland would become the eighth state to allow same sex couples to.... More

A shift from nursing homes to managed care at home. 2/24/12 - Faced with soaring health care costs and shrinking Medicare and Medicaid financing, nursing home operators are closing some facilities and embracing an emerging model of care that allows many elderly patients to remain in their homes.... More

Google allows "do-not-track" button in browser to protect consumer data. 2/23/12 - Google will allow a “do-not- track” button to be embedded in its Web browser, letting users restrict the amount of data that can be collected about them. The world’s most popular search engine will join with other Web companies.... More

Judge rules Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. 2/23/12 - A judge on Wednesday declared the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and ordered the federal government to ignore the statute and provide health benefits to the wife of a lesbian federal court employee. The ruling by the U.... More

White House unveils plan to protect online privacy. 2/23/12 - The White House on Thursday proposed a "bill of rights" that would give consumers greater online privacy protection and could eventually give the government greater powers to police Internet firms such as Google Inc and Facebook. More

Jobless claims hold steady at four-year low 2/23/12 - New claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged last week, holding at the lowest level since the early days of the 2007-2009 recession and giving a fresh sign the battered labor market is healing. More

Obama's plan offers tax breaks for manufacturers, raises taxes for other.... 2/23/12 - The Obama administration, seeking to promote domestic manufacturing without increasing the federal deficit, proposed Wednesday to offset new tax breaks for manufacturers by raising taxes on a wide range of other companies. More

Gas prices stretching to $4.00 a gallon 2/22/12 - "Gas prices are outrageous." Catherine Bell, a 66-year-old Social Security Administration retiree, was not happy Tuesday as she filled up her Chrysler at a Howard Street BP Amoco gas station in Baltimore. "You'll see when you get to.... More

Shipments from abroad to help ease shortage of two cancer drugs. 2/22/12 - Dire shortages of two critical cancer drugs — shortfalls that have threatened the lives and care of thousands of patients — should be resolved within weeks, federal drug officials said. More

Judges take up race as a factor in college entry. 2/22/12 - In a 2003 decision that the majority said it expected would last for 25 years, the Supreme Court allowed public colleges and universities to take account of race in admission decisions. On Tuesday, the court signaled that it might end.... More

Obama will ask Congress to cut Corporate tax rate. 2/22/12 - President Obama will ask Congress to scrub the corporate tax code of dozens of loopholes and subsidies to reduce the top rate to 28 percent, down from 35 percent, while giving preferences to manufacturers that would set their maximum.... More

Supreme Court will consider challenge to affirmative action at University.... 2/21/12 - The Supreme Court will once again confront the issue of race in university admissions in a case brought by a white student denied a spot at the flagship campus of the University of Texas. More

Gas price spike could slow economy, say experts. 2/21/12 - The unseasonably warm weather isn't the only sign of an early spring. Roiled by the specter of Iranian oil cutoffs, gas prices are rising at a record pace, crossing the $4-a-gallon threshold in some parts of the country, and.... More

Despite skepticism, Illinois push begins for gay marriage. 2/21/12 - Less than a year since civil unions became legal in Illinois, a push to give same-sex couples the right to marry has emerged at the state Capitol with the support of high-profile public figures but also much skepticism that gay.... More

Workouts may not be the best time for a snack. 2/21/12 - A few weeks ago, a friend showed up for a run with a CamelBak — one of those humplike backpacks with a tube that allows you to sip liquid — and a belt containing food to eat along the way. Every 20 minutes or so as we ran, he.... More

Catholic hospitals expand, religious strings attached. 2/21/12 - As Roman Catholic leaders and government officials clash over the proper role of religion and reproductive health, shifts in health care economics are magnifying the tension. Financially stronger Catholic-sponsored medical centers are.... More

Higher crime, fewer charges on Indian land. 2/21/12 - Indian reservations across the United States have grappled for years with chronic rates of crime higher than all but a handful of the nation’s most violent cities. But the Justice Department, which is responsible for prosecuting the.... More

San Diego tackles pensions, U.S. looks on. 2/20/12 - The numbers released by the city's leading pension hawk were meant to shock: a retired assistant city attorney with an annual pension of $307,758; a chief librarian receiving $234,091; an 80% increase in the last two years in the number of retired city employees with pensions of more than $100.... More

FDA to probe safety of inhalable caffeine, sold as dietary supplement. 2/20/12 - U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement. More

For unhappy consumers, social media are mighty sword. 2/20/12 - Rob Shields takes his consumer gripes straight to the public, in 140 characters or less. A frustrated Twitter post about a flight delay to Minneapolis last week despite "crystal clear skies" prompted an instant apology from Delta Air.... More

Sex change treatment for kids on the rise. 2/20/12 - A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics. More

Florida set for new spending cuts on colleges. 2/20/12 - Florida lawmakers contend that education is essential to high-wage jobs in the state, but the Legislature is again expected to slash millions of dollars from the budget for higher education and may usher in another round of tuition.... More

States try to fix quirks in teacher evaluations. 2/10/12 - Steve Ball, executive principal at the East Literature Magnet School in Nashville, arrived at an English class unannounced one day this month and spent 60 minutes taking copious notes as he watched the teacher introduce and explain.... More

Trial highlights alcohol abuse at colleges, universities. 2/19/12 - There's little question that George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia student on trial for murder, had a problem with alcohol. He had been arrested twice for drinking-related infractions, one of them violent, in his early.... More

Retirement optimism stifled by economic realities. 2/19/12 - a report to be released Monday by Wells Fargo, those surveyed estimate they'll need $1 million to enjoy retirement. On average, they're about 10 percent of the way there. Many acknowledge a lurking fear their savings won't be enough.... More

Job interviewing, to the extreme. 2/19/12 - Danielle Bemoras showed up for her job interview with a social networking company prepared for some tough questions. Instead, she found herself in the middle of a psychology experiment. More

Pump prices, already high, are on track to hit $4.25 a gallon. 2/19/12 - Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year. At $3.53 a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say they could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April. "You're going to see a lot more.... More

With billions in grant money, leverage to curb smoking. 2/19/12 - Despite polls showing overwhelming public support and endorsements from celebrities like Lance Armstrong, efforts to establish a statewide smoking ban in the workplace have fallen flat in recent sessions of the Texas Legislature. But.... More

Maryland House approves same-sex marriage. 2/18/12 - A bill that would legalize same-sex marriage squeaked through the House of Delegates on Friday night with just one vote above the minimum needed for passage, putting Maryland on the cusp of becoming the eighth state to allow such.... More

Obama's slogan: looking to replace hope and change. 2/18/12 - Winning The Future. Greater Together. We Don't Quit. They may not be official but those are all phrases that could in one form or another be candidates to become President Barack Obama's re-election slogan. More

Study: cell phones make people selfish. 2/18/12 - People become self-absorbed when they're on their cell phones. A new study reveals that people get selfish when they’re on their cell phones. Anyone with a cell phone-addicted spouse—who sits on the couch texting while you wash.... More

Tax cut extension passes; everyone claims a win. 2/18/12 - With each party claiming that it had pocketed an election-year victory, Congress on Friday voted to extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Obama, ending a contentious policy fight that.... More

For women under 30, most births occur out of wedlock. 2/18/12 - It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal. After steadily rising for five decades, the share of children born to unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to American women under 30 occur.... More

Congress will auction public airwaves to pay for benefits. 2/17/12 - The need for revenue to partly cover the extension of the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits has pushed Congress to embrace a generational shift in the country’s media landscape: the auction of public airwaves now.... More

Abuse cases put Los Angeles schools under fire. 2/17/12 - The arrest of a public school teacher here early this month came with plenty of vivid details, thanks to hundreds of photographs that the police say show the teacher covering the eyes and mouths of children with tape and allowing.... More

Gay marriage, passed, awaits veto by Christie. 2/17/12 - The New Jersey Assembly approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage on Thursday, setting up a confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie, who promised a swift veto and defied the Legislature to put the issue before voters instead. More

Gay marriage: a tough sell withblacks in Maryland 2/16/12 - As a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland hurtles toward a vote in the legislature this week, a coalition lobbying for its passage has focused much of its efforts on a group of Democrats who could potentially scuttle its.... More

Deaths rise among youngest drivers. 2/16/12 - A report from a national road safety group highlights what could be a troubling trend among young drivers: an increase in fatalities among 16- and 17-year-old drivers after several years of declines in that age group. More

New analysis makes case for higher ranking for U.S. schools. 2/16/12 - Maybe U.S. schools are not as bad as you might think. The idea that U.S. public schools are falling behind the rest of the world is widely accepted, but a new analysis of international data suggests that using rankings to sort global.... More

Interraccial marriage in U.S. hits new high: one in 12. 2/16/12 - Interracial marriages in the U.S. have climbed to 4.8 million — a record 1 in 12 — as a steady flow of new Asian and Hispanic immigrants expands the pool of prospective spouses. Blacks are now substantially more likely than before.... More

GM records its highest profit ever. 2/16/12 - General Motors earned its highest profit ever last year. The 103-year-old company made $7.6 billion in 2011, up 62 percent from 2010. Full-year revenue rose 11 percent to $105 billion. North America led the way with a $7.2 billion.... More

Oklahoma Senate overwhelmingly approves anti-abortion "personhood" bill. 2/15/12 - The Oklahoma Senate has overwhelmingly approved an anti-abortion “personhood” bill that declares life begins at conception, despite objections from the medical community that the bill could have dire unintended consequences. More

How one-minute intervals can improve our health. 2/15/12 - While many of us wonder just how much exercise we really need in order to gain health and fitness, a group of scientists in Canada are turning that issue on its head and asking, how little exercise do we need? The emerging and.... More

Severe morning sickness linked to pre-term births. 2/15/12 - In some women, morning sickness might be an indicator of more serious later-pregnancy complications, including preterm delivery, a new study says. In the study, women who reported nausea and vomiting in pregnancy that interfered with.... More

Virginia House passes restrictive anti-abortion bill. 2/15/12 - A Republican supermajority has muscled two of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in years through the Virginia House, including one that would all but outlaw the procedure in the state by declaring that the rights of persons.... More

White House proposes $5 billion in grants to encourage overhauling the.... 2/15/12 - The Obama administration will propose a $5 billion competitive grant program to encourage states to overhaul the teaching profession, federal education officials said Tuesday, using its Race to the Top school improvement competition.... More

Poll finds support for birth control coverage and gay unions. 2/15/12 - Despite the deep divide between some religious leaders and government officials over contraceptives, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll found most voters support the new federal directive that health insurance plans provide coverage for birth control. More

Deal would extend jobless benefits, prevent Medicare cut. 2/15/12 - One day after House Republican leaders made a major concession on the payroll tax cut, congressional negotiators struck a tentative deal that also would extend long-term unemployment benefits and prevent drastic reductions in doctors'.... More

Stress and sleep affects weight loss, says study. 2/14/12 - A new Kaiser Permanente study published in the International Journal of Obesity shows that inadequate sleep and high stress levels can substantially reduce one's chances of losing weight. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and.... More

Braille under siege as blind turn to smartphones. 2/14/12 - Like a lot of smartphone users, Rolando Terrazas, 19, uses his iPhone for email, text messages and finding a decent coffee shop. But Terrazas' phone also sometimes serves as his eyes: When he waves a bill under its camera, for.... More

Workaholism: maybe not such a bad thing. 2/14/12 - Elizabeth Valenzuela, a managing partner at a law firm in Sherman Oaks, has been an attorney for 26 years but sounds like a fresh law school grad when she talks about her work. More

The increasingly male face of caregiving. 2/14/12 - Men's role in tending to loved ones with Alzheimer's, dementia soars amid evolving views on gender roles, longer lives. Doug Wyman will get up early Tuesday to make breakfast for his wife, Barbara: coffee, oatmeal and fresh fruit..... More

New Jersey Senate votes to legalize gay marriage. 2/14/12 - The New Jersey State Senate voted on Monday to legalize same-sex marriage, a significant shift in support from two years ago, when a similar measure failed. The governor has said he will veto the measure if the State Assembly passes.... More

About one-third of patients told by doctors to exercise. 2/13/12 - If there is a magic "pill" in medicine, it is exercise. Working out regularly is associated with a broad spectrum of health improvements, including cardiac, bone, brain and lungs. But a new study shows that only one in three U.S. adults is asked about his or her exercise habits by a physician.... More

About one-third of patients told by doctors to exercise.

GE to hire 5,000 U.S. veterans, investing in plants. 2/13/12 - General Electric plans to hire 5,000 U.S. military veterans over the next five years and to invest $580 million to expand its aviation footprint in the United States this year. More

Marriage out of reach for many in low-income bracket. 2/13/12 - Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, but you don't see many of those on the streets these days. No, marriage isn't going away, but it is changing, not because love has gone out of fashion, but because economic.... More

New childcare app provides updates for parents. 2/13/12 - Returning to work after having a baby used to be a new parent's first lesson in letting go. Not anymore. New baby-tracking websites and phone applications are the latest tools for parents to keep tabs on their baby's every waking and.... More

Mooresville's shining example (it's not just about the laptops). 2/13/12 - Sixty educators from across the nation roamed the halls and ringed the rooms of East Mooresville Intermediate School, searching for the secret formula. They found it in Erin Holsinger’s fifth-grade math class. More

Even critics of safety net increasingly depend on it. 2/12/12 - Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government. More

Hostility in the air at workplaces this Valentine's Day. 2/11/12 - Experts at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. released a cautionary essay this week that warned managers to be on the lookout for workplace hostility. The firm, which helps displaced workers make the transition to reemployment, said.... More

Little-known brain disease rips apart lives. 2/11/12 - When Stu Bryant began acting rude and impulsive, his family was baffled. Then they learned he had frontotemporal disease, which strips away self-restraint and the ability to decipher social situations. More

Supply of a cancer drug may run out within weeks. 2/11/12 - A crucial medicine to treat childhood leukemia is in such short supply that hospitals across the country may exhaust their stores within the next two weeks, leaving hundreds and perhaps thousands of children at risk of dying from a.... More

Rule shift on birth control is concession to Obama allies. 2/11/12 - For the White House, the decision announced Friday to soften a rule requiring religious-affiliated organizations to pay for insurance plans that offer free birth control was never really driven by a desire to mollify Roman Catholic.... More

Obama budget bets higher taxes on rich, other concerns, will trump the.... 2/11/12 - President Obama will lay out a budget blueprint on Monday that amounts to an election-year bet that a plan for higher taxes on the rich and more spending on popular programs like infrastructure and manufacturing will trump concerns over the deficit. More

White House to announce changes to contraceptives rule. 2/10/12 - The White House is planning to announce changes in plans to implement its rule on contraceptives today, officials familiar with the decision confirm. The changes have to do with putting the onus on insurance companies to provide.... More

Friends can have benefits for marriage, study finds. 2/10/12 - What if Ricky Ricardo didn't love Lucy? Unthinkable as that might be, new research by two professors from the University of Maryland School of Social Work suggests that the secret to a long and happy marriage might live nearby, like.... More

Education gap grows between rich and poor, studies say. 2/10/12 - Education was historically considered a great equalizer in American society, capable of lifting less advantaged children and improving their chances for success as adults. But a body of recently published scholarship suggests that the.... More

Mortgage settlement is also housing relief package. 2/10/12 - The landmark $25-billion settlement between major banks and state and federal governments is aimed at doing more than just helping people who lost their homes through improper foreclosures. It's an attempt to fix the biggest weak spot.... More

Pentagon rules catching up with reality of women in combat. 2/9/12 - Pentagon rules are catching up a bit with reality after a decade when women in the U.S. military have served, fought and died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. On Thursday, the Pentagon is recommending to Congress that women.... More

New plan to cut the fat of the military. 2/9/12 - Obese Americans in the military are a national security hazard and first lady Michelle Obama wants to see that change. Obama, who has spearheaded ahealthy eating and fitness program for children for two years, will lend her voice on.... More

Youths are watching, but less often on TV. 2/9/12 - Television is America’s No. 1 pastime, with an average of four hours and 39 minutes consumed by every person every day. But more and more young people are tuning in elsewhere. Americans ages 12 to 34 are spending less time in front.... More

Obama advisors offer rosier jobs outlook. 2/9/12 - Drawing on a string of improved economic data, advisers to President Obama have updated their forecasts in recent days and now project that the economy will create two million jobs this year if stimulus measures are extended, which could reduce the unemployment rate to about 8 percent by.... More

States negotiate $26 billion deal for homeowners. 2/9/12 - After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by.... More

Court strikes down ban on gay marriage in California. 2/8/12 - A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday threw out a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage passed in 2008, upholding a lower court’s ruling that the ban, known as Proposition 8, violated the constitutional rights of gay men and.... More

The downward mobility of America's middle class. 2/8/12 - January's increase in hiring is good news, but it masks a bigger and more disturbing story -- the continuing downward mobility of the American middle class. Most of the new jobs being created are in the lower-wage sectors of the.... More

Obama tries to ease ire on contraception rule. 2/8/12 - Facing vocal opposition from religious leaders and an escalating political fight, the White House sought on Tuesday to ease mounting objections to a new administration rule that would require health insurance plans — including those.... More

In data deluge, multitaskers go to multiscreens. 2/8/12 - Workers in the digital era can feel at times as if they are playing a video game, battling the barrage of e-mails and instant messages, juggling documents, Web sites and online calendars. To cope, people have become swift with the.... More

Clinics tied to 1-800-GET-THIN temporarily stop lap-band surgery. 2/8/12 - Two outpatient clinics affiliated with the 1-800-GET-THIN marketing company have temporarily halted Lap-Band weight-loss surgeries, less than one week after Allergan Inc. said it would stop selling the device to companies affiliated.... More

Student debt pushing more toward bankruptcy, say lawyers. 2/8/12 - Student loan debt is pushing an increasing number of young people and their parents toward bankruptcy, according to a survey released Tuesday. More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys say they've seen a notable jump in the number.... More

Coworker support reduces workplace stress, ups productivity. 2/7/12 - The demand to improve productivity has created a workplace environment of intense competition and increased stress for many. Paradoxically, these conditions often stymie organizational efforts to become more efficient and effective. More

Average U.S. gas prices hover at record levels. 2/7/12 - Last month turned out to be the most expensive January ever at U.S. gasoline pumps, boosted by growing economic strength. January is typically a month of falling gasoline prices because fuel demand falters in the slower travel weeks.... More

Court ruling expected today on gay marriage ban. 2/7/12 - A federal appeals court is expected to decide Tuesday whether California's ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal Constitution, a ruling that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court next year. More

Fallout from fatigue syndrome retraction is wide. 2/7/12 - When scientists reported in 2009 that a little-known mouse retrovirus was present in a large number of people with chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting a possible cause of the condition, the news made international headlines. For.... More

School linked to abuse claims will replace entire faculty. 2/7/12 - The entire faculty at Miramonte Elementary School, where two teachers were arrested last week on accusations of child sexual abuse, will be replaced by new teachers this week, the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent.... More

New Obama plan to help math, science teacher prep. 2/7/12 - President Barack Obama will announce on Tuesday a new plan to prepare math and science teachers when he hosts the second White House Science Fair. More

Half of employees globally open to working abroad. 2/6/12 - Nearly half of workers around the world would consider moving to another country for the right job, a pay rise and other incentives such as trips home and language training, according to a new survey released on Monday. More

For some black women, economy and willingness to aid family strains.... 2/6/12 - The Great Recession carried special pain for black women like Jane Ladson. She had always been the one her family turned to when they needed help, and she didn’t hesitate to give it. She helped pay for weddings and rent. She made.... More

Obama holds edge over Romney in general election matchup, poll finds. 2/6/12 - Boosted by improved public confidence in his economic stewardship, President Obama for the first time holds a clear edge over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general-election matchup, according to a new.... More

Same-sex marriage features unlikely champion. 2/6/12 - Behind the scenes, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has long been an advocate for same-sex marriage. Now, he’s going public. Blankfein, the chief of Goldman Sachs who has become a lightning rod for Wall Street critics, might seem an.... More

Deal is closer for a U.S. plan on mortgage relief. 2/6/12 - With a deadline looming on Monday for state officials to sign onto a landmark multibillion-dollar settlement to address foreclosure abuses, the Obama administration is close to winning support from a crucial state that would significantly expand the breadth of the deal. More

Four ways to ease the stress load for your employees. 2/6/12 - Research shows that employees who thrive – people who are highly energized, and aware of how to avoid burnout – are more effective than their counterparts. But what helps a person thrive, even in stressful workplaces? Academics.... More

Helping your parents stay out of the nuirsing home. 2/6/12 - Your parents say they couldn't bear to lose their independence. Their hearts are set on staying in their own home for the rest of their days. And you understand. It's what you'd like for them too. But they're not as young as they used.... More

Schools try to add more male teachers. 2/5/12 - Doug Sayles and his buddies routinely get together to play poker, go golfing and grill outside when the weather is nice. Sometimes conversation drifts toward the Twins or the Vikings. But more often, it's the latest concepts in.... More

Better jobs trend begins to hit home for workers. 2/5/12 - Java Coleman was transferred to Ohio last year after Nestle decided to shutter its health care products plant in St. Louis Park, displacing more than 200 workers. It was a tough transition: Coleman commuted to Minnesota on weekends to.... More

Top nine heart-healthy foods. 2/5/12 - With heart disease the number one killer of both men and women in this country, you would think a cure that could dramatically reduce these deaths would be big news. And yet the most effective remedy is so simple that most people can't.... More

A chance to see disabilities as assets. 2/5/12 - MANY people know of Berkeley, Calif., as the birthplace, in the 1960’s, of the Free Speech Movement. Fewer people know that Berkeley also played a major role in the disability rights movement. It was here, also in the ’60s, that Ed.... More

Seeking an end to hazing deaths. 2/5/12 - It was a half-time show worthy of the Super Bowl, when Florida A&M's legendary band, the Marching 100, took the field for a college football game last November. Just hours later, 26-year-old drum major Robert Champion lay dying in the.... More

Economy adds more jobs, but are they good jobs? 2/4/12 - Wall Street cheered the latest jobs report Friday, sending all the major stock indexes sharply higher after the government reported that the economy added a much better-than-expected 243,000 new jobs. But new jobs alone won’t get the.... More

Economists surprised by marketwide hiring. 2/4/12 - Lori Lund's two-year quest for a job has been a maddening tale of near-misses. Johnson & Johnson, Land O' Lakes and Kraft offered her positions, only to rescind after deciding to reduce their workforces. But Lund charged on, getting.... More

Tax break increases deficit, but may have a silver lining. 2/4/12 - A corporate tax break for buyers of computers, engines and other equipment is proving surprisingly popular, depriving the federal government of tens of billions of dollars in expected revenue and increasing the amount it will need to.... More

Komen Foundation revises funding policy. 2/3/12 - The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation announced Friday that it would revise a new policy that barred the organization from funding Planned Parenthood, a move that had thrust the breast cancer foundation into a national controversy.... More

White House offers plan to lure jobs to America. 2/3/12 - In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for a wide-ranging package of policies to help create American manufacturing jobs, including trade enforcement measures, business tax breaks and worker training programs. n many.... More

New study doubles estimate of global malaria deaths. 2/3/12 - The number of people who die annually of malaria is roughly double the current estimate, with a huge overlooked death toll in adults who, according to conventional teaching, rarely die of the tropical disease. That’s the conclusion.... More

Calories count, but not where they come from. 2/3/12 - Sticking to diets with strict proportions of fat, carbs and protein may not be more effective for people who want to lose weight and fat mass than simply cutting back on calories, according to a new comparison of four diets. More

Outcry grows fiercer after funding cut by cancer group. 2/3/2 - The nation’s leading breast cancer advocacy organization confronted the growing furor Thursday over its decision to largely end its decades-long partnership with Planned Parenthood, with rising dissension in its own ranks and a.... More

U.S. added 243,000 jobs last month; rate is 8.3%. 2/3/12 - The United States economy gained momentum in January, adding 243,000 jobs, the second straight month of better-than-expected gains. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, giving a cause for optimism as the economy shapes up as the.... More

Path is found for the spread of Alzheimer's. 2/2/12 - Alzheimer’s disease seems to spread like an infection from brain cell to brain cell, two new studies in mice have found. But instead of viruses or bacteria, what is being spread is a distorted protein known as tau. More

Pfizer birth control pills recall raises risk of unwanted pregnancy. 2/2/12 - A manufacturing mix-up by Pfizer Inc. is leaving women at risk of unwanted pregnancies. The world's largest drug maker, led to some packets being distributed with the pills out of order. That means a patient could have unknowingly.... More

Washington State senate passes gay marriage bill. 2/2/12 - In the end, it wasn't even close. After more than a decade of laying the ground work and fretting that the votes would be just out of reach, state Sen. Ed Murray watched Wednesday night as the Senate easily passed legislation that.... More

Company banned in effort to protect foreign students from exploitation. 2/2/12 - Signaling a sharp change of course in the country’s largest international cultural exchange program, the State Department has banned a leading sponsor company from bringing foreign students to the United States for summer jobs and will add new restrictions to protect students from labor abuse.... More

Uproar as breast cancer group ends partnership with Planned Parenthood. 2/2/12 - Pink ribbons have for decades been a symbol of resolve and compassion in the face of the deadly disease of breast cancer. Now, that nearly ubiquitous icon has many women seeing red. More

Challenger: job cuts increased in January. 2/2/12 - The U.S. job market stumbled out of the gates in 2012 -- at least according to one report. Planned job cuts for the month of January totaled 53,486, according to a report from outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas..... More

U.S. deficits are on the decline, says Congress' budget arm. 2/1/12 - The U.S. economy will remain sluggish for the next few years, with unemployment high, but budget deficits are starting to come down, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday in its latest formal outlook. More

Battle to end teacher seniority in Minnesota begins. 2/1/12 - Parents, teachers and education activists squared off at the Capitol Tuesday over a Republican proposal that would transform the way Minnesota school districts conduct teacher layoffs by scrapping seniority, the sacred tenet of most teachers unions. More

Will Lifeline guarantee high-speed Internet access for all? 2/1/12 - Life, liberty and high-speed Internet access for all? Under the Lifeline program, low-income Americans were guaranteed affordable access to basic phone services for the last 25 years. Soon, the program might also help subsidize their.... More

Psychologists debate social media's role in suicide interventions. 2/1/12 - In her sophomore year at Lake Forest College, Sam Sekulich had reached a breaking point. On top of the pressure she felt from classes and student clubs, she was fighting with her parents and not consistently taking medication for her.... More

Susan B. Komen charity severs ties with Planned Parenthood. 2/1/12 - In what looks to be a break between two organizations dedicated to women's health, a national breast cancer awareness group said it would stop providing funds to Planned Parenthood centers for breast cancer examinations and other breast health services. More

Breast cancer surgery rules are called unclear. 2/1/12 - Nearly half of women who had lumpectomies for breast cancer had second operations they may not have needed because surgeons have been unable to agree on guidelines for the most common operation for breast cancer, a new study finds. More

Number of asset-poor Americans rising. 1/31/12 - Luz Pagan, 45, has been working as a part-time cashier at a discount store in downtown Chicago for nearly three years, her requests to become a full-time employee with benefits having gone nowhere. More

Study: far fewer blacks in ghettos, white enclaves extinct. 1/31/12 - A study by two economics professors found that residential segregation in urban America has been curtailed significantly over the past 40 years, although they caution that fair housing isn't the same as equal opportunity. More

Savings rate hits highest level in four months as incomes rise. 1/31/12 - Consumers had more money in their pockets in December, but instead of spending it all they tucked away some of it in their savings. Personal incomes rose $61.3 billion, or 0.5%, to $13.1 trillion in December from November, the highest month-to-month jump in nearly a year, according to the.... More

Nurseries urged to look for drug-addicted babies. 1/31/12 - The surge in addictions to prescription painkillers that has swept the country in recent years is also showing up in maternity wards. Doctors report an increase in babies born addicted to opioids or benzodiazepines. More

Many with rheumatoid arthritis are inactive, despite benefits of exercise. 1/30/12 - Regular exercise can be beneficial to people with rheumatoid arthritis, but a study finds that two out of five people with the disease may not be active at all. The study, released Thursday in the journal Arthritis Care & Research,.... More

How much change would Washington State's gay marriage bill really mean? 1/30/12 - Under a proposed same-sex-marriage law in Washington state, most gay couples now registered as domestic partners would have two years to convert the relationship to marriage — or the state would do it for them. More

Couples who argue together stay together. 1/30/12 - When Bob Gubrud heard about a survey saying that arguing with your spouse at least once a week makes for stronger, longer marriages, he chuckled as he quipped sarcastically, "That must mean that our marriage is fantastic, because.... More

Ruling on contraception draws battle lines at Catholic colleges. 1/30/12 - Bridgette Dunlap, a Fordham University law student, knew that the school’s health plan had to pay for birth control pills, in keeping with New York state law. What she did not find out until she was in an examining room, “in the.... More

Food stamp bills seek to restrict junk food. 1/30/12 - Ronda Storms is a Republican state senator from Florida. She is also a mom who buys the groceries for her family of four. A few months ago, Storms, 46, started noticing that some fellow shoppers were using federal food stamp money to.... More

Building a bridge to a lonely colleague. 1/29/12 - IT’S lonely at the top, or so it is said. But in fact it doesn’t matter where a person is in the office hierarchy — employees at all levels become lonely, even when other workers are all around them. More

Workplace wellness programs help cut healthcare costs. The real motivator for Americans to get fit at work isn't smaller jeans - it's a bigger bank balance. Employees enrolled in workplace wellness programs report reduced personal healthcare costs, most commonly because of fitness center discounts.... More

Ritalin gone wrong. 1/29/12 - Three million children in this country take drugs for problems in focusing. Toward the end of last year, many of their parents were deeply alarmed because there was a shortage of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall that they considered.... More

For Ford, three years of profit in a row. 1/28/12 - The Ford Motor Company reported its third consecutive full-year profit on Friday and its largest in 13 years, ensuring its hourly workers one of the biggest profit-sharing bonuses in the company’s history. More

Caffeine alters estrogen levels in younger women. 1/28/12 - Your daily dose of caffeine may tinker with more than just your energy levels. A new study of women ages 18 to 44 found that drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages can alter levels of estrogen. But the impact varies by race. More

New York airports account for half of all flight delays. 1/28/12 - Delays are a fact of life at New York’s three main airports. Each day, thousands of passengers are stuck on planes at the airports — Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International — sitting in line behind a dozen other.... More

A blog as therapy for teenagers. 1/28/12 - In the days before the instantly pinged “OMG Where R U?,” the first words many teenagers composed during their fretful moments were “Dear Diary.” After several paragraphs of spewing onto paper adolescent angst about cafeteria.... More

Vitamins: what to take, what to skip. 1/28/12 - Vitamins and minerals are essential to any diet, and research suggests they may help prevent cancer and heart disease, not to mention other health problems. But reality check: Many studies have been conducted on vitamin-containing.... More

Exercise may boost mood for some chronically ill. 1/27/12 - Working out regularly may brighten the mood of people with chronic health problems like cancer, heart disease and back pain, according to the first sweeping look at previous research. But it's no miracle cure: On average, six people.... More

President Obama warns colleges about rising tuition. 1/27/12 - Reporting from Ann Arbor, Mich., and Washington— President Obama embraced the idea of federal action to restrain the rapidly increasing cost of higher education, giving a boost to a long-simmering policy idea that has gained steam.... More

U.S. seems to have largely escaped winter. 1/27/12 - The temperature in Minneapolis didn't fall to zero degrees this winter until Jan. 12. On Jan. 5., the daytime high in Rapid City, S.D. (a record-setting 71 degrees), was higher than in balmy Miami (69 degrees). And just a couple of.... More

Fed signals that a full recovery is years away. 1/26/12 - The Federal Reserve, declaring that the economy would need help for years to come, said Wednesday it would extend by 18 months the period that it plans to hold down interest rates in an effort to spur growth. More

In China, human costs are built into an iPad. 1/26/12 - The explosion ripped through Building A5 on a Friday evening last May, an eruption of fire and noise that twisted metal pipes as if they were discarded straws. When workers in the cafeteria ran outside, they saw black smoke pouring.... More

Today's college freshman hitting the books harder, study says. 1/26/12 - This year's college freshmen are more studious than their counterparts of the past few years, says an annual survey released today on their high school academic habits. More of them took notes in class, did homework and took more demanding coursework as high school seniors, and fewer said they.... More

Washington is America's most literate city, again. 1/26/12 - Say what you want about the nation's capital, but the folks in Washington can read. For the second year in a row, Washington tops an annual list of American's most literate cities. The four highest ranked cities, including Seattle, Minneapolis and Atlanta, are the same as in 2010. More

AWLP to recognize employers with effective work-life initiatives. 1/26/12 - WorldatWork's Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP) announces a unique mark of excellence to recognize organizational success in work-life effectiveness. The new AWLP Work-Life Seal of Distinction will be awarded to employers who demonstrate leadership in workplace practices that help.... More

USDA issues new rules for school lunches. 1/25/12 - School meals will have to offer fruits and vegetables to students every day under standards issued by the United States Department of Agriculture on Wednesday. The meal programs, which feed about 32 million students in public and.... More

Grief could join list of treatable disorders. 1/25/12 - When does a broken heart become a diagnosis? In a bitter skirmish over the definition of depression, a new report contends that a proposed change to the diagnosis would characterize grieving as a disorder and greatly increase the number of people treated for it. More

Christy wants NJ voters to decide on gay marriage. 1/25/12 - Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said Tuesday that he would veto a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, and he challenged the State Legislature instead to put the issue on the ballot for voters to decide. Democrats, who control the.... More

Obama speech makes pitch for economic fairness. 1/25/12 - President Obama pledged on Tuesday night to use government power to balance the scale between America’s rich and the rest of the public, trying to present an election-year choice between continued leadership toward an economy.... More

Liberal Arts education lends an edge in down economy. 1/25/12 - America’s public school teachers are seeing their generations-old tenure protections weakened as states seek flexibility to fire incompetent teachers, and a few states have essentially nullified tenure altogether, according to an.... More

States weaken tenure for teachers. 1/25/12 - America’s public school teachers are seeing their generations-old tenure protections weakened as states seek flexibility to fire incompetent teachers, and a few states have essentially nullified tenure altogether, according to an.... More

Personal finance stress affecting employee performance, says SHRM survey. 1/25/12 - A survey of employer-sponsored financial education initiatives shows that U.S. workers' money worries are impacting their work performance and retirement savings plans.The survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).... More

Appeals court: Minnesota gay marriage case will get trial. 1/24/12 - A lawsuit seeking to legalize gay marriage in Minnesota will go to trial after a state Court of Appeals ruling on Monday overturned the suit's dismissal by a Hennepin County judge. "We have achieved a great victory today," said Peter.... More

Job search not working out for vast majority of teens. 1/24/12 - Anjelica Pickett, 17, has been searching for a job for about a year. Despite making as many as five applications in a day during that time, Pickett, now a freshman at Truman College, said she's scored only one interview, with a.... More

Men struggle for rape awareness. 1/24/12 - Keith Smith was 14 when he was raped by a driver who picked him up after a hockey team meeting. He had hitchhiked home, which is why, for decades, he continued to blame himself for the assault. When the driver barreled past.... More

Political push moves a deal on mortgages inches closer. 1/24/12 - About one million homeowners facing foreclosure could have their mortgage burden cut by about $20,000 each as part of a long-awaited deal taking shape among state attorneys general, federal officials and the nation’s largest.... More

With DNA testing, suddenly they are family. 1/24/12 - Growing up, Khrys Vaughan always believed that she had inherited her looks and mannerisms from her father, and that her appreciation for tradition and old-fashioned gentility stemmed from her parents’ Southern roots. But those.... More

House members call for probe into lap-band safety, marketing. 1/24/12 - Members of Congress are calling for an investigation into the 1-800-GET-THIN weight-loss surgery marketing campaign and the safety and effectiveness of the Lap-Band device. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and two other House.... More

Ethical warning looming in U.S. workplaces. 1/23/12 - If you ever reported something bad at work and got trouble in return, you are not alone. Last year, nearly 8.8 million Americans felt the sting of workplace retaliation — a 33% increase in negative payback from the year before. That.... More

LA PD trying to reduce its costly crashes. 1/23/12 - LAPD officers are involved in an average of one traffic crash a day — they cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year and in some cases result in serious injury or death to other drivers. More

Mandatory elementary school recess in Chicago's plan 1/23/12 - The Chicago Public School system for the first time has spelled out exactly what it wants the next school year’s longer day to look like. It ensures recess for all elementary students, according to guidelines being presented to.... More

Companies see growth, but few new jobs. 1/23/12 - Few U.S. companies plan to step up hiring in the next six months although they do expect the economy to be a bit stronger this year, according to a poll released on Monday. More

Marijuana-based prescription drug looks toward FDA's approval. 1/23/12 - A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according.... More

More lockouts, as companies battle unions. 1/23/12 - America’s unionized workers, buffeted by layoffs and stagnating wages, face another phenomenon that is increasingly throwing them on the defensive: lockouts. From the Cooper Tire factory in Findlay, Ohio, to a country club in.... More

For small business, loan well is still dry. One by one, three banks put the kibosh on Michael Kelner's plans to expand Hardcoat Inc., a decades-old St. Louis Park company that puts protective finishes on aluminum. One of them had him see two loan officers, he said, before packing him off.... More

As price of oil soars, users shiver and cross their fingers. 1/22/12 - When David Harris built his 2,000-square-foot hilltop home nine years ago, he wanted to put in natural gas, but the utility wouldn’t run a line to his house. Like many people here, he was stuck using heating oil. Mr. Harris added a.... More

The iEconomy; how the U.S. lost out on iPhone work. 1/22/12 - When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president. But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with.... More

Obama to draw an economic line in State of the Union. 1/22/12 - President Obama will use his election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday to argue that it is government’s role to promote a prosperous and equitable society, drawing a stark contrast between the parties in a time of deep.... More

More than 24,000 employees split a $100 million payout. 1/21/12 - A London shopworkers union says that an employment tribunal has awarded nearly 68 million pounds (over $100 million) in compensation to 24,000 former Woolworths employees. The Usdaw union said Friday that it had won the compensation after successfully arguing that the bankrupt retailer’s.... More

Non-profits provided work during recession. 1/21/12 - There were two recessions during the first decade of the century, but it didn’t hinder the growth of the nonprofit job market, a new study revealed. The nonprofit sector grew by an average pace of 2.1 percent a year between 2000 and 2010, during a period when for-profit jobs declined.... More

Economists cheer higher home sales in 2011. 1/21/12 - Home sales in December reached their highest pace in nearly a year. The gain coincided with other signs that the troubled housing market improved at the end of last year. Analysts cautioned that sales remain historically low and that it will take years for the home market to return to full.... More

Illinois considering cellphone ban for most drivers. 1/21/12 - Two years after imposing a texting ban on Illinois drivers, state lawmakers are considering whether it's time to hang up the cellphones altogether. More

Online protesters win - for now - as Congress postpones bill targeting.... 1/21/12 - Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics.... More

Blacks face bias in bankruptcy, study suggests. 1/21/12 - Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to wind up in the more onerous and costly form of consumer bankruptcy as they try to dig out from their debts, a new study has found. The disparity persisted even when the researchers.... More

A specialists' debate on autism has many worried observers. 1/21/12 - A debate among medical professionals over how to define autism has spilled over into the public domain, stirring anger and fear among many parents and advocates of those with the neurological disorder, even as some argue that the.... More

Study hints that statins might fight breast cancer. 1/20/12 - Amid hints that statins -- cholesterol-lowering drugs -- might also play a role in preventing or treating certain types of cancer, new research sheds some light on how these drugs may help stop breast cancer in its tracks among certain women. More

Vitamin D may lower risk of depression in kids. 1/20/12 - Children with low levels of vitamin D may be at higher risk of depression, the Daily Mail reported. Scientists found that children with the highest levels of vitamin D had a 10 percent lower risk of developing depression, according to.... More

Feds target web downloads. 1/20/12 - In what federal authorities on Thursday called one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought, the Justice Department and the FBI seized the website Megaupload and charged seven people connected with it with running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy. More

Boston to launch website to track residents' weight loss. 1/20/12 - When Mayor Thomas M. Menino promised Tuesday night to help Boston residents collectively “shed a million pounds this year,” he was serious. The Boston Public Health Commission will launch a citywide campaign this spring, inviting residents to log in to a website where they can record their.... More

New autism study may exclude many, study suggests. Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the rising rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and may make it harder for many people who would no longer meet the criteria to get health, educational and social services, a.... More

Survey: decline in activities leading to HIV/Aids. 1/19/12 - Fewer Americans are engaging in behaviors that raise their risk for HIV/AIDS, primarily because both men and women are changing their sexual activities, according to a new federal report. More

Homophobia starts in grade school, teachers do little. 1/19/12 - Clare Davidson-Sherman, the adopted daughter of Karen Davidson-Fisher, has "several mommies" -- her biological one, her adoptive mother's former partner who has joint custody, and now Davidson-Fisher's legal wife. The 8-year-old has.... More

The 100 Best Companies to Work For 1/19/12 - To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America; 280 firms participated in this year's survey. More

Google named Best Place to Work in America. 1/19/12 - Google has a new weapon in the intense war for engineering talent in Silicon Valley: The search giant on Thursday was named by Fortune magazine as the best place to work in America. Google capped a year when it hired about 7,000 people, the most intense growth spurt in the search giant's.... More

First-time jobless claims in U.S. reach lowest level in almost four years. 1/19/12 - Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, easing concern that post-holiday firings were on the rise. Jobless claims plunged by 50,000 to 352,000 in the week ended Jan. 14, the lowest level.... More

Consumer prices flat for second straight month. 1/19/12 - Consumer prices were unchanged last month, the latest sign that inflation remains tame. Lower gas prices offset rising costs for food, medical care and housing. The Labor Department says the consumer price index was flat in December for the second straight month. Excluding volatile food and.... More

Anti-smoking efforts often fall short. 1/18/12 - Seven out of 10 smokers say they'd like to quit, and many may already be struggling to stick to their resolution to make 2012 a smoke-free year. If quitting were easy, after all, chances are good that nearly 20% of adults wouldn't.... More

Websites going black to protest anti-piracy bills in Congress. 1/18/12 - What would the world be like without the Internet? Fire up your browser and see what you can't do. In the first strike of its kind, hundreds of popular sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing were scheduled to temporarily shut.... More

Websites going black to protest anti-piracy bills in

Obesity in U.S. plateauing at 'unacceptably high rate.' 1/18/12 - America's obesity epidemic is proving to be as stubborn as those maddening love handles and shows no sign of reversing course. Overall, 35.7 percents of adults and 16.9 percent of children were obese in 2009-2010, echoing results.... More

Parties confident of extending payroll tax cut. 1/18/12 - With both parties largely in agreement on a yearlong extension of President Obama’s payroll tax cut, the fight in Congress over the coming weeks will boil down to how to pay for it, and Democrats appeared to hold the advantage as members of the House returned to Washington on Tuesday. Senior.... More

Young, in love, and sharing everything, including a password. 1/18/12 - Young couples have long signaled their devotion to each other by various means — the gift of a letterman jacket, or an exchange of class rings or ID bracelets. Best friends share locker combinations. The digital era has given rise.... More

Money flows to G.O.P. backers of gay marriage. 1/18/12 - Gay rights advocates from Wall Street to Hollywood poured donations into the coffers of four little-known Republican state senators after the lawmakers provided the decisive votes for same-sex marriage in New York last June, according.... More

Supreme Court lets tipped employees sue for more pay. 1/17/12 - The Supreme Court will allow bartenders and servers who make part of their money from tips file lawsuits for more money when they do work that doesn't involve tips. The high court refused to hear an appeal from Applebee's International, which wanted to overturn a lower court ruling. More

Moms: bring breast-feeding back to Sesame Street. 1/17/12 - Every so often something happens to reignite the debate over nursing in public and this time the breast-feeding controversy takes a turn down Sesame Street. More than 7,000 people have signed a petition at www. thepetitionsite.com to.... More

Lipreading skills help babies talk. 1/17/12 - Babies don't learn to talk just from hearing sounds. New research suggests they're lip readers, too. It happens during that magical stage when a baby's babbling gradually changes from gibberish into syllables and eventually into that.... More

Learning to be lean. 1/17/12 - As one of the many outgrowths of the sweeping federal health care law, health insurers and employers must now pay the cost of screening children for obesity and providing them with appropriate counseling. With about one in three.... More

Young U.S citizens in Mexico brave risks to attend school in U.S. 1/17/12 - Weekday mornings at 5, when the lights on distant hillsides across the border still twinkle in the blackness, Martha, a high school senior, begins her arduous three-hour commute to school. She groggily unlocks the security gate.... More

With bill, Washington State shifts its views on gay marriage. 1/17/12 - The bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Washington State is notable not just for the boldness of its ambition or for the fact that it was proposed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat whose last memorable remarks on the.... More

Work-life balance tougher for couples with similar jobs. 1/16/12 - Couples with similar jobs are more likely to have trouble finding a good work-life balance than those in different lines of work, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Bedfordshire in England questioned 291 academic workers whose partners had jobs in education and 350.... More

Employers hope to curb health costs with nicotine tests. 1/16/12 - A growing number of employers throughout the nation are seeking to curb health costs by testing new job applicants for nicotine use. Those who test positive will not be hired, and health insurance companies may charge a higher premium for current employees who acknowledge that they smoke or.... More

Chicago parents' fight for integration failed, but paved way for change. 1/16/12 - It was a pivotal moment for Chicago’s racially separate and unequal Chicago Public Schools system. But for then 12-year-old Tony Burroughs, the three-week sit-in by African-American parents and students at Burnside Elementary School.... More

Daycare centers adapt to round-the-clock demand. 1/16/12 - Dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes) was long over, teeth were brushed, and a rousing game of Monopoly had come to a close. It was 9 p.m., and the children nestled into bed under blankets emblazoned with superheroes. The tranquil.... More

Study of retail workers finds $9.50 hourly pay. 1/16/12 - Retail workers in New York City earn a median of $9.50 an hour, most are part-time or temporary, and just 3 in 10 receive health insurance through their jobs, according to a new study of the city’s larger retailers. Retail workers in New York City earn a median of $9.50 an hour, most are.... More

Canada's tightening immigration policy may be felt in U.S. 1/16/12 - For years, Canada has had one of the most generous immigration policies in the world, welcoming tens of thousands of asylum applicants who claim to be fleeing persecution in their homelands. But Canada's Conservative government has.... More

What will cost more, less in 2012. 1/15/12 - Falling prices don't always garner as much attention as rising ones, but some items will cost consumers less in 2012. Natural gas prices, for one. CenterPoint Energy's residential billing rate for January is the lowest it has been in.... More

Digitizing health records, before it was cool. 1/15/12 - THE push to move the nation from paper to electronic health records is serious business. That’s why a first look at the campus of Epic Systems comes as something of a jolt. A treehouse for meetings? A two-story spiral slide just.... More

Among the wealthiest one percent, many variations. 1/15/12 - Adam Katz is happy to talk to reporters when he is promoting his business, a charter flight company based on Long Island called Talon Air. But when the subject was his position as one of America’s top earners, he balked. Seated at a.... More

Auto industry goes on U.S. hiring binge. 1/14/12 - German automakers are going on a U.S. hiring binge this year. Daimler Trucks North America, the U.S. truck division of Mercedes-Benz, said it will hire 1,100 workers this year as it adds a second shift and ramps up production at its.... More

U.S. survey finds respondents' stress levels far from ideal. News flash: Americans are stressed out. On a scale of 1 to 10, residents of eight U.S. metropolitan areas told psychologists they rated their level of stress as 5.2, according to survey results released Wednesday. That may not sound so terrible.... More

Downgrade of debt ratings underscores Europe's woes. 1/14/12 - Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit ratings of France, Italy and seven other European countries on Friday, a move that may have more symbolic than fundamental financial impact but served as a reminder that Europe’s economic.... More

For many Latinos, racial identity is more culture than color. 1/14/12 - Every decade, the Census Bureau spends billions of dollars and deploys hundreds of thousands of workers to get an accurate portrait of the American population. Among the questions on the census form is one about race, with 15 choices,.... More

Unemployment benefit applications jump to 399,000. 1/13/12 - The number of people applying for weekly unemployment benefits spiked last week, largely because companies let go of thousands of workers after the holiday season. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications jumped by 24,000.... More

Internet addiction affects brain like a drink or drug problem. 1/13/12 - Researchers compared brain scans of young people with "internet addiction disorder" with their peers and found damage to the white matter fibres connecting emotional processing, attention and decision making parts. Similar.... More

Inside the Fed in 2006: a coming crisis, and banter. 1/13/12 - As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers. As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal.... More

Synthetic windpipe is used to replace cancerous one. 1/13/12 - Surgeons in Sweden have replaced the cancerous windpipe of a Maryland man with one made in a laboratory and seeded with the man’s cells. The windpipe, or trachea, made from minuscule plastic fibers and covered in stem cells taken.... More

In Canada, marriages of foreign gays are now invalid. 1/13/12 - The Canadian government is abruptly arguing that the same-sex marriages of many foreigners who wed in Canada are not valid, a move that stunned the gay community and could affect thousands of couples. Same-sex couples have been marrying in their thousands in Canada, and lenient rules on.... More

Frequent red meat eaters at higher risk of stroke. 1/12/12 - A high-protein diet might benefit health in some ways, but depending on what kind of protein a person consumes, it could raise their stroke risk too, suggests a large new study that finds eating lots of red meat ups the likelihood of.... More

Study finds no better odds using three embryos in IVF. 1/12/12 - A new study of fertility treatment found that women who get three or more embryos have no better odds of having a baby than those who get just two embryos. They also have a greater chance of risky multiple births. More

Stressed? Call Mom, researchers conclude. 1/12/12 - Moms feed us, read to us, clap the loudest, cry the hardest, sit front row at recorder recitals, write notes in our lunchboxes and promise that the hole in our hearts after a break-up won’t stay there forever. So maybe it just makes sense that the sound of our moms’ voices triggers a.... More

New rock-solid ride for wheelchair-bound drivers. 1/12/12 - If you were hoping to find a way to make the Honda Element even uglier -- I found your dream car on display at the Detroit auto show. The MV-1 (it stands for “Mobility Vehicle – One”) from the Vehicle Production Group looks like.... More

Survey finds rising perception of class tension. 1/12/12 - Conflict between rich and poor now eclipses racial strain and friction between immigrants and the native-born as the greatest source of tension in American society, according to a survey released Wednesday. More

Religious groups given freer hand on employment. 1/12/12 - In what may be its most significant religious liberty decision in two decades, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time recognized a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws, saying that churches and.... More

As USA grays, elder abuse and need for shelters grow. 1/11/12 - They're weak, physically or mentally disabled or both, and often at the mercy of people they depend on the most: relatives and caretakers. They're the nation's fast-growing elderly population, and many are prime targets for abuse —.... More

Pot smoke not as damaging as previously thought. 1/11/12 - Occasional marijuana use does not appear to have long-term adverse effects on lung function, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers from the University of Alabama at.... More

National satisfaction up slightly at start of 2012. 1/11/12 - Eighteen percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States today, a slight improvement from the latter half of 2011, when satisfaction levels ranged from 11% to 16%. Though improved, the current.... More

Nearly one-third of middle class suffer downward mobility, says Pew study.. 1/11/12 - Nearly one third of Americans who were raised in the middle class dropped down the economic ladder as adults -- and that's before the Great Recession hit. "Being raised in the middle class is not a guarantee that you'll have that same status as an adult," said Erin Currier, project manager at.... More

Stress is the new normal for Americans. 1/11/12 - Americans' stress is down for the first time in five years and at its lowest point since 2007, finds an audit of self-reported stress to be released today. The USA's average stress level in 2011 was 5.2 on a 10-point scale, down from.... More

The perils of traveling while sick. 1/10/12 - Pat Conroy is a road warrior, rarely getting sick as he travels three to five days per week for his job as head of Deloitte's consumer products division. He works out regularly when on the road and tries to eat right. It doesn't.... More

Study finds daily aspirin may cause internal bleeding. 1/10/12 - A daily aspirin may not be worth the risk for people with no previous heart condition. A study of more than 100,000 people by St. George's, University of London, found that an aspirin a day could reduce heart risks by 10 percent. But.... More

Google introduces new, revamped version of its search engine. 1/10/12 - In a move that is certain to sharpen its rivalry with Facebook, Google on Tuesday is introducing a revamped version of its ubiquitous search engine that will dive deeply into the company's fledgling social network, Google+, to find content that is relevant to a particular user. More

When injuries to the brain tear at hearts. 1/10/12 - At a crowded vigil on Sunday night in Tucson, Representative Gabrielle Giffords held her husband’s hand as she stepped up to the lectern to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It had been one year since a shooting at a Tucson.... More

Nicotine patches, gum, don't prevent relapse, study finds. 1/10/12 - Smokers who count on nicotine patches or gum to help them quit may want to reconsider: A new study finds that these and other nicotine replacement products aren't effective at preventing former smokers from relapsing in real-world.... More

The downs and ups of driving in Los Angeles. 1/9/12 - The southwest border of Beverly Hills runs along Whitworth Drive. In some ways, it is impossible to distinguish where that city ends and this sprawling one begins. The houses are not drastically different and the lawns are manicured on.... More

Obama's immigration proposal gives hope to some in limbo. 1/9/12 - Like many other spouses of undocumented immigrants, Gina Pope constantly worries that her husband suddenly could be deported and that she would be left to raise their two children by herself. Pope, a U.S. citizen, wants to apply for.... More

The best – and worst run – cities in America. 1/9/12 - Many qualities separate the best-run and worst-run cities. But perhaps the most important is access to jobs. The economies of the best-run cities fall into two categories. They either have a booming industry or are near other major.... More

Private sector gets job skills; public gets the bill. 1/8/12 - Some of Caterpillar’s newest factory workers are training inside a former carpet warehouse here in the heart of tobacco country. In classrooms, they click through online tutorials and study blueprints emblazoned with the company’s.... More

Young, obese and having surgery. 1/8/12 - Though Shani Gofman had been teased for being fat since the fourth grade, she had learned to deal with it. She was a B student and in the drama club at school. She had good friends and a boyfriend she had met through Facebook. She even.... More

New sibling rivalry: caring for parents. 1/8/12 - As Americans live longer, boomer kids face years of dealing with their parents' issues -- and one another. Three times a month, Laurie Efron makes the two-plus-hour drive from Golden Valley to Winnebago, Minn., to see her dad in a.... More

Tweak in a rule will ease path to green card. 1/7/12 - Obama administration officials announced on Friday they are proposing a fix to a Catch-22 in immigration law that could spare hundreds of thousands of American citizens from prolonged separations from illegal immigrant spouses and children. More

Labor Board supports class action for workers. 1/7/12 - The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Friday that employers could not prevent workers from filing work-related group or class actions, essentially banning employment agreements at many companies that require workers to pursue all.... More

Laid off, with retirement almost in sight. 1/7/12 - Achieving financial security in retirement is hard enough for most working Americans. But for those who lost their jobs just as the finish line was within sight, the whole notion may now seem out of reach. Older unemployed people face.... More

Latest job news is good, but not good enough. 1/7/12 - Is it finally over, this ghastly jobless recovery that has hurt so many Americans? That's the tempting question after Friday's report that the economy added 200,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent. That's.... More

Americans make up half the world's richest 1%. 1/7/12 - The United States holds a disproportionate amount of the world's rich people. It only takes $34,000 a year, after taxes, to be among the richest 1% in the world. That's for each person living under the same roof, including children..... More

Report finds most hospital errors go unreported. 1/6/12 - Hospital employees recognize and report only one out of seven errors, accidents and other events that harm Medicare patients while they are hospitalized, federal investigators say in a new report. Yet even after hospitals investigate preventable injuries and infections that have been reported,.... More

Physically attractive members of Congress get more TV coverage. 1/6/12 - Maybe looks aren’t everything, but new research suggests that more physically attractive members of Congress get more coverage on network television. Two Israeli professors concluded that members whom a student survey judged to be.... More

Teen fad diets can lead to weight gain later. 1/6/12 - Researchers at the University of Minnesota followed local students over a decade and found that those who tried risky diets in their adolescent years were likely to gain more weight by their 20s. Their findings, reported in the latest Journal of Adolescent Health, show that students who tried.... More

Forecast: 2012 worst year for gas prices. 1/6/12 - To the dismay of drivers across the country, 2011 went down in the record books as having the most expensive gasoline average ever, $3.513 for the year, 72 cents per gallon higher than 2010?s yearly average, according to GasBuddy. Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy’s senior petroleum analyst, projects.... More

Grads, these majors more likely to get you a job. 1/6/12 - Hey college students, do you want a job? Then you may not want to study architecture or the arts. A new analysis of government data finds that recent college graduates with degrees in fields such as health and education have much lower.... More

U.S. unemployment falls to 8.5% as jobs gain. 1/6/12 - U.S. employers added more workers to payrolls than forecast in December and the jobless rate declined to an almost three-year low, showing that the labor market gained momentum heading into 2012. The 200,000 increase followed a revised.... More

New immigration rule to help citizen relatives. 1/6/12 - The Obama administration plans a rule change to help reduce the time illegal immigrant spouses and children are separated from citizen relatives while they try to win legal status in the United States, a senior administration official.... More

Employee confidence rises in 4th quarter 2011. 1/5/12 - Coming off the heels of November's decline in unemployment to 8.6 percent, employee(1) optimism related to the job market, company outlook and pay raises increased in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Glassdoor(R) quarterly Employment Confidence Survey(2) of 2,572 U.S. adults aged.... More

Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs. Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. “Movin’ on up,” George Jefferson-style, is not only a sitcom song but a civil.... More

Credit-card rates rise to four-year high. 1/5/12 - Credit card rates have risen to a four-year high—this, at a time when the Fed is practically begging banks to lug away free money. Does that mean that card companies are making out like bandits? And where can card customers expect.... More

Private sector hiring ramps up in December. 1/5/12 - Private-sector companies significantly ramped up their hiring in December, according to a report issued Thursday. The private sector added a seasonally adjusted 325,000 jobs during the month, up from 204,000 in November,.... More

Gay couple's names to appear on birth certificate. 1/5/12 - An Iowa judge has ordered the Department of Public Health to issue a new birth certificate listing both members of a same-sex marriage as legal parents of a 2-year-old girl, The Des Moines Register reports. Polk County District Judge Eliza Ovrom issued the order in a ruling in a lawsuit brought.... More

The 23 best countries for work-life balance (we're number 23). 1/5/12 - With the lowest child-poverty rate among developed nations, Denmark was named the best country for work-life balance in a 2011 report from the OECD. All three Scandinavian countries -- Denmark, Sweden, and Norway -- finished in the top seven in the ranking. So famous for their generous social.... More

Romney wins Iowa nail-biter. 1/4/12 - In the closest finish in the history of the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney edged out Rick Santorum by eight votes in the first battle for the Republican presidential nomination. A distant fifth-place finish apparently ended the.... More

When 'being yourself' at work spells disaster. 1/4/12 - Russ Eisenstat's research has led him to believe that people who do not feel forced to compartmentalize, people who are "able to bring their whole selves to the job and can connect what they do at work to a meaningful larger purpose" are happier -- and that the companies who employ such people.... More

Hard times waning as recovery may bring bonuses to South Dakota. 1/4/12 - When South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard proposed his $4 billion budget last month, the Republican included something unthinkable in most capitols in recent years: across-the-board bonuses for state workers. As some governors continue to wage war on public employee unions and four states.... More

Forecasters see spending pinch in 2012. 1/3/12 - American consumers are running out of tricks. As the weak economy has trudged on, they have leaned on credit cards to pay for holiday gifts, many bought at discounts. They are dipping into savings to cover spikes in gas, food and rent..... More

Campaign 2012 lends new urgency to economic debates 1/3/12 - Instead of trivialities, this presidential contest is likely to hinge on major philosophical questions about the size and scope of government, as both sides sort through fallout from the recession. Deeply divided, angry and unsettled,.... More

Auto industry: a year of solid gains and more to come. 1/3/12 - As December waned, carmakers were on pace — for the second year in a row — to add more than one million sales in the United States. Analysts from LMC Automotive are projecting sales for 2011 to total 12.7 million, a 9.5 percent.... More

Nowhere to go, patients linger in hospitals at high cost. 1/3/12 - Hundreds of patients have been languishing for months or even years in New York City hospitals, despite being well enough to be sent home or to nursing centers for less-expensive care, because they are illegal immigrants or lack.... More

Study finds link between physical activity and school performance. Physical education may be disappearing from some schools, but a study finds that kids who engage in sports or physical activity may do better academically. Researchers analyzed 14 studies (most from the U.S.) looking at the relationship between.... More

In Iowa, with 5.7% unemployment, it's not the top issue. 1/3/12 - If there is one state where the economy might not be issue No. 1, it's Iowa. That's because the first state to begin presidential candidate selection has emerged relatively unscathed from the housing bubble and financial crisis that.... More

Workplace perks aren't what they used to be. 1/2/12 - Pet insurance, at-your-desk meditation services, jewelry discounts and funeral planning — from the quirky to the somber, workplaces are providing a range of unique benefits in 2012. The options come as many firms try to placate.... More

1st civil unions take place in Delaware. 1/2/12 - More than 400 people, including a U.S. senator, witnessed the first same-sex civil union in Delaware on New Year's Day. Lawyers Lisa Goodman and Drewry Fennell were joined in the union by the Rev. Patricia Downing, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Wilmington, where the Sunday afternoon.... More

America's best high schools. 1/2/12 - Kimberly Lynch, a redhead with freckles, had a keen interest in sunblock. So much so that she spent the past year developing a new method to test the effectiveness of sunscreens and recently submitted the results to a medical journal..... More

Volkswagen to improve work-life balance. 1/2/12 - To fight the burnout syndrome at work, German automobile company Volkswagen AG has taken a bold move to limit email functionality of some company smartphones after work hours. Every day after 6:30 p.m., employees’ Blackberry.... More

Incorporating happiness into the workplace. 1/1/12 - Rarely do we associate the words "happiness" and "work." They're an unlikely pairing, like "squirrel" and "yummy" or "Kardashian" and "admirable." But because it's the new year and I'm feeling peppy and optimistic, let's connect those.... More

The year of the multitaskers' revenge. 1/1/12 - It's a far different work world today than it was even 10 years ago. Technology and the economy have converged to create a set of priorities and preoccupations that are unique to our times. Here are just a few workplace and employment.... More

In D.C., large rewards in teacher pay. 1/1/12 - During her first six years of teaching in this city’s struggling schools, Tiffany Johnson got a series of small raises that brought her annual salary to $63,000, from about $50,000. This year, her seventh, Ms. Johnson earns $87,000..... More

Can foreign tourists help the U.S. economy? 1/1/12 - Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over. The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle's Space Needle,.... More

Washington now has $9 minimum wage. 1/1/12 - Washington on Sunday became the first state to mandate a $9-an-hour minimum wage, weekend media reports say. Washington’s minimum reached $9.04 an hour for 2012 from $8.67 previously, as the state raised the wage floor in line with inflation, Reuters reported. A total of 10 states tie their.... More

World welcomes 2012 with cheers, celebrations. 1/1/12 - Throngs of revelers gathered around Times Square in New York City early Sunday to ring in the New Year amid cheers, glittering confetti and fireworks in one of many festivities worldwide. Crowds erupted in cheers, kissed and hugged as.... More

NYC, world, bid adieu to a tough 2011. 1/1/12 - From New Zealand to New York, the world eagerly welcomed a new year Sunday with confetti-filled celebrations, glittering fireworks displays and star-studded festivities. For one night, at least, revelers gathered and hoped for a better.... More

New Year's Eve celebrations usher in 2012 around the world. 12/31/11 - Millions of revellers across the world are celebrating the end of 2011 and the start of 2012. In New Zealand a firework display off Auckland's Sky Tower at midnight (1100 GMT) saw in the new year. In Australia a spectacular fireworks.... More

Sex education goes directly to youths via text. 12/31/11 - While heading to class last year, Stephanie Cisneros, a Denver-area high school junior, was arguing with a friend about ways that sexually transmitted diseases might be passed along. Ms. Cisneros knew she could resolve the dispute in.... More

The world's most innovative companies. 12/30/11 - It was a fitting way to wrap up the first day of IBM's (IBM ) innovation-themed leadership forum, held in Rome in early April. Guests were treated to small group tours of the Vatican Museum, including Michelangelo's frescoes in the.... More

Cities with the best economies in America. 12/30/11 - It turns out “Don’t Mess With Texas,” is more than just a slogan. At least judging by the state’s ability to rebound from the Great Recession, and its dominance over the rankings in a new report highlighting the.... More

Best big U.S. companies for LGBT employees. 12/30/11 - Chevron, Bank of America and AT&T all got top marks as the best workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees, according to a recent survey by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in Washington, D.C., the.... More

Factory jobs gain, but wages retreat. 12/30/11 - Manufacturers are hiring again in America, softening a long slide in factory employment. But for a new generation of blue-collar workers, even those protected by unions, the price of employment is likely to be lower wages stretching.... More

Instead of work, younger women head to school. 12/29/11 - Workers are dropping out of the labor force in droves, and they are mostly women. In fact, many are young women. But they are not dropping out forever; instead, these young women seem to be postponing their working lives to get more.... More

What to do with your old cellphones and computers 12/29/11 - If this holiday season was all about upgrading for you -- upgrading to a better computer, phone or camera -- then it's time to think about what to do with your old gadgets. The good news is you have options. The bad news is you may.... More

Abortion, immigration among new laws for 2012. 12/29/11 - Girls seeking abortions in New Hampshire must first tell their parents or a judge, some employers in Alabama must verify new workers' U.S. residency, and California students will be the first in the country to receive mandatory.... More

'Nurse-in' supports public breastfeeding. 12/29/11 - A mother who says she was harassed and humiliated by employees while breastfeeding her baby at a Target store in Texas last month prompted a nationwide "nurse-in" on Wednesday to show support for the public practice. Michelle Hickman.... More

Economists are a bit more optimistic. 12/28/11 - Economists are a bit more optimistic about the U.S. economy as 2011 comes to a close. But only a bit. A CNNMoney survey of 20 top economists finds their fear of the economy falling into a new recession has retreated in the last three.... More

The hormone surge of middle childhood. 12/28/11 - Viewed superficially, the part of youth that the psychologist Jean Piaget called middle childhood looks tame and uneventful, a quiet patch of road on the otherwise hairpin highway to adulthood. Said to begin around 5 or 6, when.... More

Online merchants home in on imbibing consumers. 12/28/11 - After enjoying a few drinks, some people go dancing. Others order food. And for some, it’s time to shop online. “I have my account linked to my phone, so it’s really easy,” said Tiffany Whitten, of Dayton, Ohio, whose most.... More

The high cost of failing artificial hips. 12/28/11 - The most widespread medical implant failure in decades — involving thousands of all-metal artificial hips that need to be replaced prematurely — has entered the money phase. Medical and legal experts estimate the hip failures may.... More

Work-life issues: who will take action? 12/27/11 - Sit on the sidelines of a child’s soccer or baseball game and you will see both men and women handling work issues from their cellphone or iPads while cheering from the bleachers. Today, the workplace goes wherever we go, and these parents are trying to juggle it all.Have employers come to.... More

Pediatricians issue a call to aid children facing "toxic stress." 12/27/11 - The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday issued a technical report linking "toxic stress" in childhood to a lifetime of mental, intellectual and physical ills. An accompanying technical report reviews in particular detail the.... More

Sears to close 100-120 Kmart, Sears stores. 12/27/11 - Just two weeks after Gov. Pat Quinn signed tax-break legislation aimed at keeping Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. from leaving Illinois, the retailer announced it would shut down between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores.... More

IQ can increase with education. 12/27/11 - Children who have more schooling may see their IQ improve, Norwegian researchers have found. "There is good evidence to support the notion that schooling does make you 'smarter' in some general relevant way as measured by IQ tests,".... More

Women beat men to jobs in Japan's "mancession." 12/27/11 - Three times a week, Seiya Ogawa bikes to an unemployment center in Kadoma, home to Panasonic Corp., looking for work to help pay for his son’s final year at college. “At this point, I’m willing to take any job,” said the.... More

Study: work stress can increase stroke risk. 12/27/11 - Think your stressful job is bad for your health? For 10 percent of you, that might be the case -- particularly when it comes to stroke risk. A new study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine shows that.... More

New poll shows many think millennials aren't hard workers. 12/26/11 - The co-workers of 20-somethings are less than impressed with the younger generation's work ethic, according to a new poll. The poll of 637 working Americans was conducted last month on behalf of Workplace Options, a Raleigh, N.C.-based consulting firm. More

Housing bust hits home for cities. 12/26/11 - The nation's housing crisis is 5 years old, but the worst of the reckoning for local governments might only now be at hand. Because of the time it often takes for property assessments to reflect falling home values, the bust that began in 2007 has just begun to ravage tax revenue in.... More

Hospital testing unusual PTSD treatment. 12/26/11 - Researchers at the Naval Medical Center San Diego believe that something as seemingly simple as injections of an anesthetic given to women during childbirth may be effective in alleviating the symptoms associated with PTSD. Early.... More

The haves' children are healthier than the have-not's. 12/25/11 - Every Monday, Sycamore Valley Elementary in Danville challenges its students to run a “Smile Mile” together after school. Some parents even run with their children. Photos of the student joggers’ grinning faces are posted in.... More

Snowstorm reportedly holds of 50,000 UPS packages. 12/24/11 - Instead of presents, there might be IOUs under some Christmas trees in Colorado on Sunday. This week's snow storm has delayed the delivery of some 50,000 UPS packages into the Denver area, CNN affiliate KUSA reported, citing a.... More

An uneven job recovery among the states. 12/24/11 - Figures released this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that employment fell in five states over the last year. In only two states are there now more jobs than there were when employment peaked before the recession and.... More

Wage floor to be raised in 8 states in new year. 12/24/11 - Eight states will ring in the New Year with a higher minimum wage, under state laws that require wage floors to keep apace with inflation. San Francisco, one of the few cities that sets its own minimum wage above the federal level, is also raising wages for the lowest-paid workers in the new.... More

VW banning most after hours work e-mails. 12/25/11 - On a national holiday, when most of us are enjoying being at home instead of at work, it’s nice to see a work/life balance story coming out of Germany. According to the BBC, car maker Volkswagen has agreed to stop sending email to.... More

Black women joining American military at disproportionate rate. 12/23/11 - The women who serve in today’s military differ from the men who serve in a number of ways. Compared with their male counterparts, a greater share of military women are black and a smaller share are married. Also, women veterans of the post-9/11 era are less likely than men to have served in.... More

Congress set to end payroll tax fight. 12/23/11 - The last partisan standoff of the year could come to a close Friday morning as Congress is set to approve a short-term extension of President Obama's payroll tax cut. Lawmakers are not being called back to the Capitol for the vote..... More

In treating disabled, potent drugs and few rules. 12/23/11 - Something was happening to Katie Strignano. After she was moved into a state-run group home, the 26-year-old woman, who is severely mentally retarded, started gaining weight, drooling, breaking out in pimples and pulling out her hair.... More

Last chance to do some good for charity, tax return. 12/23/11 - This season, Americans are spending $465 billion, according to the National Retail Federation, a staggering amount that is almost equivalent to the gross domestic product of Pakistan. A good portion of that is on gifts. Sunday, of course, is the climactic day of giving, as everything from.... More

Medicare spending growth rising slower, but enrollment will rise. 12/23/11 - Throughout Medicare’s 46-year-old history, monitoring the cost of the government health plan for the elderly has been a bit like the old joke: No one asked if spending would jump. They only asked how high. But in early 2010, the.... More

U.S. Labor Board limits rights to fair elections. 12/22/11 - In a 2-1 vote, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a final rule on union elections. The rule will shorten the time employees may learn about union membership before an election, grant the NLRB and its hearing officers significant latitude to decide election issues, and.... More

Squatters say foreclosed homes beat homeless shelters. 12/22/11 - They may lack heat and a consistent water supply, but the vacant dwellings aren't as 'depressing,' as one New York mother puts it. Advocates say the number of squatters nationwide is rising. In New York, slips of paper are pasted to.... More

Save your elite flier status while you can. 12/22/11 - IT’S crunch time for top-tier frequent fliers. On Jan. 1, miles that count toward elite status automatically reset to zero on most airlines. That means fliers who weren’t able to collect enough miles or trip segments to maintain.... More

2012 - Virtual desktops are all the rage. 12/22/11 - As budgets are locked in for 2012 it's time to aggressively expand server virtualization, and for those who have been held back by cost, to consider virtual desktops. It just makes sense to continue consolidation of servers. Most of the largest businesses already have but the lower tiers have.... More

Common traits of long and happy marriages. 12/22/11 - Most of us know that there are no magic tricks to building a solid and happy marriage. As a psychotherapist, I'm asked on a daily basis to provide as many secrets as I can to help couples become more successful at it. This month, the.... More

Is fear of divorce keeping young couples from marriage? 12/22/11 - Marriage, it is sometimes argued, is a feminist institution, put in place to offer legal protection to women from being abandoned by men who wish to sow their seed in ever greener pastures. It’s a slightly antique (and misandrous).... More

Signs point to economy's rise, but experts see a false dawn. 12/22/11 - As the fourth quarter draws to a close, a spate of unexpectedly good economic data suggests that it will have some of the fastest and strongest economic growth since the recovery started in 2009, causing a surge in the stock market.... More

Payroll tax drama leaves Americans at a loss. 12/22/11 - As Americans watch yet another political drama play out on Capitol Hill — this time over whether to extend the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits — they have a question for Congress: Can't you all just get along? For once?.... More

The high cost of eldercare. 12/22/11 - My dad has been experiencing some fairly serious age-related health issues, so I took some time off to come home and help out for a few days. Unfortunately, he’s at a point where my mom can’t care for him entirely on her own, so.... More

Payroll tax hike looms as Congress heads home. 12/21/11 - The House is gone, mostly. The Senate vows not to return. And President Obama is home while his family vacations in Hawaii, hoping for some kind of agreement between the two that he can sign. That was the uneasy state of play in.... More

Seeing terror risk, U.S. asks that some flu facts not be published. 12/21/11 - For the first time ever, a government advisory board is asking scientific journals not to publish details of certain biomedical experiments, for fear that the information could be used by terrorists to create deadly viruses and touch.... More

Unemployment fell in 43 states in November. 12/21/11 - Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, the most number of states to report such declines in eight years. The falling state rates reflect the brightening jobs picture nationally. The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in November to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. The.... More

Meet the future of consulting 12/21/11 - It's a chilly but bright winter day in Manhattan, and sunlight streams into the sparsely decorated, industrial-chic offices of PSFK on Bond Street. The elevator opens directly onto the polished, hardwood floor of the company's open.... More

Heart attacks, other emergencies, spike during holidays. 12/20/11 - Steven Polevoi, MD, has seen it all. During his 23-year career, the medical director of the UCSF Emergency Department has done everything from treat traumatic injuries to deliver babies. While medical emergencies occur throughout the.... More

The envelope please: eight high school seniors blog their college searches. 12/20/11 - One attends a Minnesota public high school and dreams of becoming a veterinarian. But she won’t be studying at Cornell University or the University of California, Davis, at least as an undergraduate. She crossed those schools off.... More

After drugs and dark times, helping others to stand back up. 12/20/11 - The taste of cocaine and the slow-motion sensation of breaking the law were all too familiar, but the thrill was long gone. Antonio Lambert was not a young hoodlum anymore but a family man with a career, and here he was last fall,.... More

Teens as young as 14 engaging in group sex, says study. 12/20/11 - A study of girls at Massachusetts health clinics found that one in 13 said they had participated in group sex -- and that the behavior was strongly associated with pornography and child abuse. Although the study, published by the.... More

Co-creation is today's most accepted model for innovation. 12/20/11 - The latest approaches to innovation have evolved into what we call “innovation co-creation (ICC),” where all the relevant stakeholders are participating across the value chain. And this approach is not just about a one-sided.... More

First 11 months of 2011 were safest on record for air travel. 12/19/11 - If you suffer from a fear of flying, here's something that might calm your nerves: The first 11 months of 2011 were the safest period for commercial air travel on record. The global accident rate for January through November was 22% better than the same time last year and marked the safest.... More

Which is America's best city? 12/19/11 - Ask most people which city they would most want to live in and usually their answers would be shaped by such realities as proximity to their jobs and what they can afford. But suppose you could choose to live anywhere you wanted.... More

Dual degrees – the road not taken. 12/19/11 - After a sex abuse scandal rippled through the Catholic Church, Boston College’s Carroll School of Management wanted to make a positive change. The school introduced a dual-degree program that coupled an MBA with a master’s in.... More

Big health plans steering members away from Walgreen. 12/19/11 - As Walgreen Co. gets closer to leaving Express Scripts Inc.'s pharmacy-benefit network on Jan. 1, big health plans are steering members toward other drugstores to make sure their medication is still covered. More

MIT expands its free online course offerings. 12/19/11 - While students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pay thousands of dollars for courses, the university will announce a new program on Monday allowing anyone anywhere to take M.I.T. courses online free of charge — and for the first time earn official certificates for demonstrating.... More

Nearly 1 in 3 will be arrested by age 23, says study. 12/19/11 - Nearly one in three people will be arrested by the time they are 23, a study to be published today in Pediatrics found. "Arrest is a pretty common experience," says Robert Brame, a criminologist at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and principal author of the study. More

Brief, intense exercise lowers blood sugar, study finds. 12/18/11 - Lack of time is a common reason cited for not exercising, but new research suggests that several short intensive workouts a week may help lower blood sugar levels similarly to longer, more regular exercise regimens. The small, new study found that 30 minutes of high-intensity exercise a week.... More

Obama to let states decide benefit levels under health law. 12/17/11 - Seeking to defuse a potential showdown over a key part of the new healthcare law, the Obama administration moved Friday to let states, rather than the federal government, define which medical benefits insurance companies will have to offer consumers starting in 2014. More

Senate okays short-term extension of payroll tax cut. 12/17/11 - Senators racing for the exits after a year of bitter battles passed legislation Saturday that would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for just two months, setting the stage for the next fight until.... More

In a sign of labor recovery, more workers are quitting. 12/17/11 - THE number of Americans quitting their jobs has begun to rise, albeit from a very low level. That is a tentative sign that labor market mobility, which plunged during the 2007-9 recession, has started to recover. The Labor Department.... More

Gingrich push on health care appears at odds with G.O.P. 12/16/11 - Shortly before the passage of President Obama’s stimulus bill in 2009, Newt Gingrich’s political committee put out a video of Mr. Gingrich denouncing it as a “big politician, big bureaucracy, pork-laden bill.” But at the same.... More

Poor lifestyles harming U.S. heart health. 12/16/11 - Americans' heart health is in a woeful state, says this year's report card from the American Heart Association. And it's largely because people just aren't taking care of themselves. In the past three or so decades, women have upped their calorie consumption by 22 percent and men by 10.... More

Congress receives failing marks on fixing U.S. economy in year of gridlock. 12/16/11 - Congress is ending what may be its least productive year on record after government shutdown threats, the collapse of debt-reduction talks and little action to fix the worst U.S. economy since the Great Depression. Just 62 bills were signed into law through November this year. More

Disaster losses hit record levels in 2011 12/16/11 - The disasters that plagued the globe this year will send 2011 into the record books as the most costly year for catastrophes on record. Japan's powerful tsunami, earthquakes in New Zealand, floods in Thailand and a series of severe tornadoes in the U.S. all contributed to $350 billion in.... More

Congress reaches tentative deal to avoid government shutdown. 12/16/11 - Weary of one last round of brinkmanship before the holidays, Congress reached a tentative deal late Thursday on a $1-trillion spending bill that would avert a government shutdown as both parties continued to discuss extending.... More

Like Ivies, Berkeley to increase aid to attract middle-class students. 12/15/11 - The University of California, Berkeley, announced Wednesday that it would offer far more financial aid to middle-class students starting next fall, with families earning up to $140,000 a year expected to contribute no more than 15.... More

As doctors use more devices, potential for distraction grows. 12/15/11 - Hospitals and doctors’ offices, hoping to curb medical error, have invested heavily to put computers, smartphones and other devices into the hands of medical staff for instant access to patient data, drug information and case.... More

Survey says nearly one in five women have been sexually assaulted. 12/15/11 - An exhaustive government survey of rape and domestic violence released on Wednesday affirmed that sexual violence against women remains endemic in the United States and in some instances may be far more common than previously thought. More

Jobless caught in grim vigil. 12/15/11 - Minnesota legislative assistant Christina Hughes lost her job at the State Capitol a year ago. Since then, she's taken the bar exam, used her 401(k) to pay bills and attended countless job fairs while applying for jobs nonstop. Still.... More

Failure rate of U.S. schools overstated. 12/15/11 - When the Obama administration was seeking to drum up support for its education initiatives last spring, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Congress that the federal law known as No Child Left Behind would label 82 percent of all the nation’s public schools as failing this year..... More

Wage protection planned for home care workers. 12/15/11 - The Obama administration will propose new regulations on Thursday to give the nation’s roughly two million home-care workers minimum wage and overtime protections after those workers had long been exempted from coverage, according to a White House official who would not be named. More

Teen drinking, smoking, continues to decline, but pot use is up. 12/15/11 - Fewer teens drink and smoke cigarettes than in any time in the last 30 years, but the widespread availability of medical marijuana appears to be fueling a rise in pot use, health experts said Wednesday. More

Half of U.S. poor or low-income 12/15/11 - Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income. More

Aid for childcare drops when it's needed most. 12/14/11 - With states under pressure to cut their budgets and federal stimulus money gone, low-income working parents are facing a paradox. Just when they have to work longer hours to make ends meet, they are losing access to the thing they.... More

Those with health insurance rate their own health higher. 12/14/11 - Americans aged 18 to 64 with health insurance rate their overall health far more positively than those without coverage. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans younger than 65 with health insurance rate their health as either "excellent" or "very good," compared with 36% of those in the same age group.... More

Where are Mr. or Ms. right? Matrimony suffers a slump, report shows. 12/14/11 - Is it a hiccup or a long-term bear market for marriage? A new report shows that the share of American adults who are married dropped to a record low in 2009-2010 — to just a smidgen over half of population 18 and older. And the age.... More

What nail-polish sales tell us about the economy. 12/14/11 - Economics is all about consumption. People either spend money now or they use financial instruments — like bonds, stocks and savings accounts — so they can spend more later. A healthy economy is largely a result of a reasonable.... More

U.S. urges ban on texting, talking while driving. 12/14/11 - Ren Bishop is one of many American drivers who texts, tweets and talks on her cellphone while she’s behind the wheel — and thinks it should be up to drivers to use their discretion when it comes to safety. Though she admits.... More

Poor mental health harming productivity, report says. 12/13/11 - One in five workers suffers from a mental illness such as depression or anxiety and these conditions increasingly affect productivity in the workplace as many struggle to cope, a report by the OECD said on Monday. Policymakers need.... More

Alabama is nation's worst for homeless kids. 12/13/11 - A new report by an advocacy group says Alabama is worst in the nation for child homelessness. The study released Tuesday by the National Center on Family Homelessness ranks the state No. 50 nationally for the well-being of homeless kids. More

Profits and questions at online charter schools. 12/13/11 - By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School is failing. Nearly 60 percent of its students are behind grade level in math. Nearly 50 percent trail in reading. A third do not graduate on time. And hundreds of.... More

Are you better off than Mom and Dad? 12/13/11 - Are young people better off than their parents? At least when it comes to income, the answer depends on gender. New research shows today's young women make $1.17 for every $1 their moms earned back in 1980. Young men, however, are.... More

How long should we help the unemployed? 12/13/11 - If Congress doesn't extend unemployment benefits in the next few weeks, millions of jobless Americans will find themselves without a vital safety net in 2012. That's a good thing, some economists say. Lawmakers must decide by the end of the year whether to once again extend the deadline to.... More

The best undergraduate B-schools of 2011. 12/13/11 - When Justin Jensen started getting serious about his college search in 2008, he had a nearly impossible list of things he was looking for in a school. He wanted a program that had a "heavy emphasis" on international experience,.... More

Part-time work is best answer for moms, says study. 12/13/11 - Can part-time work increase the chances of full-time happiness for modern moms? So suggests a new study published by the American Psychological Association. Both part-time working moms and full-time working moms reported better health and fewer symptoms of depression than stay-at-home moms. More

LGBT employees welcome at big banks and law firms, says report. 12/12/11 - The corporate world – especially at law firms and big banks –- is a much better place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees than it was a decade ago, according to a new report from LGBT advocacy group Human Rights.... More

Hospital will test new approach to end-of-life care. 12/12/11 - Aided by a $9.6 million grant from a Minnesota foundation, Minneapolis' Abbott Northwestern Hospital will test a new approach to end-of-life care for hundreds of Twin Cities patients with Alzheimer's disease, heart failure and late-stage cancer. More

Lawmakers seek passenger advocate after strip search at airport. 12/12/11 - Two New York lawmakers have called for a passenger advocate at airports to immediately act on complaints by passengers over security screenings. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and state Sen. Michael Gianaris of Queens want the.... More

Obama winning climate debate as China listens. 12/12/11 - The U.S., long accused of blocking progress in international climate talks, is winning a two-decade old debate about how to curtail global warming. More

San Francisco becomes first U.S. city to top $10 minimum wage. 12/12/11 - David Frias works two minimum-wage jobs to squeak by in one of the most expensive cities in America. Come New Year's Day, he'll have a few more coins in his pocket as San Francisco makes history by becoming the first city in the nation to scale a $10 minimum wage. More

Jobless benefits: what's at stake? 12/12/11 - Millions of unemployed Americans are anxiously waiting for Congress to take up the extension of federal unemployment benefits. If lawmakers don't act, the checks could stop coming as soon as January. More

PepsiCo to pay for employee surgeries at Hopkins in novel arrangement. 12/11/11 - PepsiCo has signed a deal that allows employees and dependents across the nation to get certain surgeries at Johns Hopkins Hospital — a cutting-edge arrangement that could grow in popularity as companies look to provide better health care and contain costs. More

Goodbye textbooks, hello iPad. 12/11/11 - A technology shift is under way. The PC’s promise to transform how learning happens in the classroom is being realized by Apple’s iPad. Students and teachers in grade school through higher education are using the iPad to augment.... More

For anchorwomen, family is part of the job. 12/11/11 - When Megyn Kelly was starting out in television, a prominent TV newswoman told her, “You’re going to need to choose: you can either have a family or you can be a major anchor.” More

New fathers attend daddy boot camp. 12/09/11 - One by one, an army of expectant dads files into Steve Venable's classroom at Northside Hospital near Atlanta, hoping to gain some wisdom from the ex-Marine-turned-"daddy boot camp" instructor. More

How a family of six lives on $50,000 a year. 12/09/11 - Devin Datus, 39, and his wife, Michelle, 36, are raising four kids, ages 9 to 18, in Utah on his military salary. His wife is a full-time student and stay-at-home mom. More

White House taking new steps to help small business start-ups. 12/09/11 - In its latest executive action, the White House announced new steps Thursday to spur start-up businesses and help them access $2 billion in resources. More

New drug combo slows metastatic breast cancer growth. 12/08/11 - A new combination of treatments can help battle some forms of metastatic breast cancer and slow down the spread of the disease, according to two separate studies. More

School drops gender-specific yearbook attire. 12/08/11 - After a two-year court battle, students in a Mississipi school district will wear a cap and gown for their senior yearbook instead of gender-specific attire, The Clarion-Ledger reports. More

New York, California governors press tax hike on rich. 12/08/11 - In the space of a few days this week, the Democratic governors of California and New York have backed a bet that voters will embrace the idea of raising taxes on the rich to solve their states’ budget woes. More

Jobless claims drop to nine-month low. 12/08/11 - The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits fell to a nine-month low, signaling a bright spot in the tough employment environment. More

Newer economies add more high tech freedom at work. 12/07/11 - Employees in fast-growing economies have more freedom over the technology they use for work than their counterparts in developed countries, and are more likely to see corporate provision of devices as a perk, according to a study. More

Obama promotes gay rights around the world. 12/07/11 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton challenged nations around the world Tuesday to recognize that "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights," building on an order by President Barack Obama directing all U.S..... More

Night shift work may raise diabetes risk. 12/07/11 - Women whose jobs require them to rotate through day and night shifts may be increasing their diabetes risk, especially if they maintain that schedule over a long period of time, a new study of nurses suggests. More

Anti-abortion groups are split on legal tactics. 12/06/11 - A widening and emotional rift over legal tactics has split the anti-abortion movement, with its longtime leaders facing a Tea Party-like insurrection from many grass-roots activists who are impatient with the pace of change. More

Hospice care, once chiefly a charitable cause, has become a growth.... 12/06/11 - Aunt Midge wasn't really dying, but putting her in hospice care, with free, Medicare-paid hospice visits from a nurse and chaplain, plus an extra weekly bath, sounded like a deal too good to pass up. More

Nearly 75% of women want to breastfeed as long as possible, says study. 12/05/11 - New and expecting parents in the United States are doing all they can to ensure a healthy future for their children - including breastfeeding their babies for as long as they are able, according to the Philips Mother & Child Care.... More

Cuts to first-class mail will slow delivery in 2012. 12/05/11 - Unprecedented cuts by the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service will slow first-class delivery next spring and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day. More

Texting of sexual images by minors not as common as previously thought. 12/05/11 - One in 10 children ages 10 to 17 has used a cellphone to send or receive sexually suggestive images, but only 1 in 100 has sent images considered graphic enough to violate child pornography laws, a new study found. More

Studies show some mental illnesses in children can be triggered by.... 12/05/11 - Cases of children suddenly exhibiting obsessive-compulsive disorder after strep has led to studies that reinforce the belief that some mental illnesses can be triggered by an immune response. More

If troubled kids aren't bipolar, then what is troubling them? 12/04/11 - Experts struggle to identify the causes and proper treatment of children with outbursts. Powerful psychotropic drugs may not be the answer. More

How the food industry eats your kid's lunch. 12/04/11 - An increasingly cozy alliance between companies that manufacture processed foods and companies that serve the meals is making students — a captive market — fat and sick More

Some Asians decline to identify race on college applications. 12/04/11 - When applying to Harvard, Lanya Olmstead, ethnically half white and half Taiwanese, checked only one box for her race: white. More

Facebook to hire thousands of employees next year. 12/03/11 - Facebook has said it plans to hire thousands of employees over the next year and add an engineering team to its office in New York. More

Young savers are already socking away thousands for retirement. 12/03/11 - One day I saw my dad trading on eTrade. It looked interesting so I wanted to do it. I had always saved my allowance money and birthday money, and the first thing I bought was Apple stock -- when shares were only $100. More

Payroll gains improve in U.S. 12/03/11 - Payroll gains in the U.S. improved last month, while an increase in the number of Americans leaving the workforce helped push the jobless rate down to 8.6 percent, the lowest level since March 2009. More

Unemployment rate falls to lowest since 2009. 12/02/11 - The U.S. unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than 2½ years. More people out of work either found jobs or gave up looking and were no longer counted as unemployed. More

A skills shortage or unrealistic expectations? 12/02/11 - Peter Cappelli says companies are the culprits. In almost no cases are they looking for people right out of school who need training – the affordable candidates. Instead they're looking for candidates with three to five years of.... More

Obama to vie for Arizona as Latino numbers rise. 12/02/11 - Given the openly hostile environment, Mr. Obama would seem to have little chance of winning Arizona’s 11 electoral votes in 2012. More

Older people are larger portion of U.S. population, census finds. 12/02/11 - Elderly people are now a greater portion of the population than at any time since the government began keeping track, with those age 65 and older rising to 13 percent of the population over the past decade, the Census Bureau said. More

For jobless, little hope of restoring a lifestyle. 12/02/11 - People across the working spectrum suffered job losses in recent years: bricklayers and bookkeepers as well as workers in manufacturing and marketing. More

The cost of caregiving to the U.S. economy. 12/02/11 - Not only is caregiving a reality for a substantial number of employees, but this special class of worker is forced to miss an average of 6.6 days of work per year because of caregiving responsibilities. More

Student's death turns spotlight on hazing. 12/01/11 - Before they even arrive at Florida A&M University here, the freshmen who are hand-picked for the famous marching band know all about the hazing, an unsanctioned tradition that goes back decades. More

The best – and worst – run schools in the U.S. 12/01/11 - For the second year, 24/7 Wall St. has reviewed data on financial health, standard of living and government services by state to determine how well each is managed. Based on this data, 24/7 Wall St. ranked the 50 from best to worst..... More

Dads are doing more but moms are more stressed. 12/01/11 - A study of 500 dual-earner families finds that fathers and mothers are spending roughly equal amounts of time doing paid and unpaid work, but mothers are spending nine more hours a week multitasking. More

Vacation study reveals wide work-life disparity across five continents. 12/01/11 - On the whole, European workers enjoy considerably more vacation time, as measured by days given and days taken, than their peers elsewhere. The average employed European earns 25-30 vacation days in a given year, and, with some exceptions, tends to use them all. More

Line grows long for free meals at U.S. schools. 11/30/11 - Millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the.... More

Has Facebook become a social utility? 11/30/11 - Facebook's astonishing growth and power has made it the General Electric of the social Web, a network that can force rules and associations upon its users. More

Flexible work hours can be a tough sell. 11/30/11 - One of the questions I most often hear from readers seeking work/life balance is “How do I get my manager to give me flexibility?” More

Flexible working is the future, finds UK's Vodafone. 11/30/11 - Traditional working hours are coming to an end as the line between work life and personal life is becoming blurred. More

Are your employees ready for retirement? 11/29/11 - Around 75% of small business owners feel that America is hitting a retirement crisis because so many people are simply unprepared, according to Nationwide Financials. At the same time, only 20% of business owners say they provide 401(k) or other self-funded retirement plans for their workers. More

Employee engagement nearing all-time low. 11/29/11 - A recent Gallup survey shows that some 71% of American workers are not engaged in their current positions, with 19% of the workforce "actively disengaged." More

More kindergartners in many states are skipping vaccinations. 11/29/11 - A rising number of parents in more than half of states are opting out of school shots for their kids. And in more than half a dozen states, more than 1 in 20 public school kindergartners do not get all the vaccines required for attendance, an Associated Press analysis found. More

As public sector sheds jobs, blacks hit hardest. 11/29/11 - Don Buckley lost his job driving a Chicago Transit Authority bus almost two years ago and has been looking for work ever since, even as other municipal bus drivers around the country are being laid off. More

Retirement rules of thumb don't always apply. 11/29/11 - You may have celebrated the new year in 2000 more worried about whether your computer would work than whether you'd have enough for retirement. After all, you'd been saving diligently, and returns from stocks and bonds were spectacular. More

What to do when you hate your job. 11/29/11 - Few of us make it down the career garden path without eventually landing in a job we absolutely HATE. But then what? More

As the rich-poor gap widens, so does debate about what it means. 11/29/11 - Fewer than 50 miles separate the poorest city of its size in the U.S. from the prosperous suburbs of Philadelphia, a corridor of wealth with few rivals. There's an $80,000 difference between the average household incomes. The poverty rates — Reading's is above 40% — don't even compare. More

With blocks, educators go back to basics. 11/28/11 - Huddled together on the reading rug of a prekindergarten classroom on the Upper West Side, three budding builders assembled a multilayered church with a Gothic arch. More

Pregnancy discrimination lingers in workplaces. 11/28/11 - By now, most employers know enough about the law and gender discrimination to at least avoid the appearance of bias against women, researcher Cynthia Calvert says. More

Sex harassment neither gone nor forgotten. 11/28/11 - Sexual harassment in the workplace is so last century -- or so it seemed until the Herman Cain scandal made national headlines of the sort this hot-potato issue hasn't seen in years. More

Fliers must turn off devices, but it's not clear why. 11/28/11 - Millions of Americans who got on a plane over the Thanksgiving holiday heard the admonition: "Please power down your electronic devices for takeoff." More

70% of middle, high school students experience "slut bashing" or other.... 11/28/11 - By eighth grade, girls have already started to monitor the sexual conduct of other girls, according to researchers, and 70 percent of students have experienced some kind of non-physical sexual harassment, including sexual rumor spreading, also known as "slut bashing." More

U.S., Europe, face another recession, report warns. 11/28/11 - The United States and others must "be prepared to face the worst" as Europe slides toward another recession, according to a gloomy warning from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. More

Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value. 11/26/11 - A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding,.... More

Gender issues still linger in the workplace. 11/27/11 - One doesn't have to look far to find that women still have not achieved equal footing with men. Not to pick on her, but our own governor, Mary Fallin - the state's first female governor - recently appointed a 45- member committee to study economic development and job creation, and for some.... More

Employee frustration cited as workplace's silent killer. 11/27/11 - The authors of a new book on employee engagement say that being receptive to the needs of workers is critical during tough economic times, partly to ensure productive employees don’t fly the coop. More

Odd perks help retain employees at companies. 11/26/11 - When it comes to work, it takes more than a steady paycheck to keep workers happy. A recent employee satisfaction survey found that a fun culture was the key to attracting employees. More

UK public sector strike warning sparks union anger. 11/26/11 - The leader of one of Britain's biggest unions has hit back after government warnings over Wednesday's planned public sector strike. The strike over pensions could involve as many as two million people. More

Main Street's turn: small business Saturday. 11/26/11 - Black Friday is over, but 89 million consumers plan to "shop small" on Small Business Saturday, according to a survey by American Express. More

Environmental programs fall victim to budget cuts. 11/26/11 - When lightning ignited a wildfire near Idaho's Sun Valley in 2007, environmental regulators used monitoring gear to gauge the health effects for those breathing in the Sawtooth Mountains' smoky, mile-high air. That equipment sits idle today More

In times of health, insurance seemed optional. Before I became seriously ill, I was skeptical about modern medicine. I saw the treatments as expensive, painful and not always effective. The simple advice of eating right and getting exercise seemed to cure any ailment that I had. More

How to make the case for a pay raise 11/26/11 - So you’ve been keeping your head down, working as hard as you can — glad, you tell yourself, that you even have a job. But you’ve been doing that for several years now. More

Global health fund runs out of money, halts new programs. 11/25/11 - The world's biggest financier in the fight against three killer diseases says it has run out of money to pay for new grant programs for the next two years — a situation likely to hit poor AIDS patients around the world. More

Support builds for a plan to rein in Medicare costs. 11/25/11 - Though it reached no agreement, the special Congressional committee on deficit reduction built a case for major structural changes in Medicare. More

In New York, Mexicans lag in education. 11/25/11 - About 41 percent of all Mexicans between ages 16 and 19 in the city have dropped out of school, according to census data. More

Work-Life balance is so yesterday! 11/24/11 - Forget the term work life balance – tomorrow’s world is all about ‘work life blending.’ More

Vote on unionizing in-home daycare providers raises questions. 11/24/11 - Gov. Mark Dayton touched off the flurry of activity last week with an executive order calling for providers to vote on whether to be represented by a union in "meet and confer" talks with the state. Republicans immediately said the Democratic governor had overstepped his authority and.... More

Vote on unionizing in-home daycare providers raises questions. 11/24/11 - Gov. Mark Dayton touched off the flurry of activity last week with an executive order calling for providers to vote on whether to be represented by a union in "meet and confer" talks with the state. Republicans immediately said the Democratic governor had overstepped his authority and.... More

Child abuse reports spike after Sandusky arrest. 11/23/11 - In Pennsylvania, calls jumped from about 460 to almost 1,000 per day after the news of abuse allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. More

For many, turkey without all the trimmings. 11/23/11 - (AP) Some are holding potluck dinners instead of springing for the entire feast. Others are staying home rather than flying. And a few are skipping the turkey altogether.On this the fourth Thanksgiving since the economy sank, prices for everything from airline flights to groceries are.... More

Food banks ask donors for healthier fare. 11/23/11 - The season of giving has started, with schools, churches and businesses kicking off food drives that have become annual holiday traditions. But many food banks are asking donors to think twice before dropping ramen noodles and frosted cereals in donation barrels. More

Holiday workers stack shifts to make ends meet. 11/23/11 - Randee Fosburgh will begin her day at 4:30 a.m., opening the Hickory Farms temporary kiosk that sells meat and cheese gifts. She will finish her shifts at the Piercing Pagoda jewelry store at 8 p.m., and she will sell gourmet desserts at PinkaBella Cupcakes in between. More

Tips to take stress out of big-city business trips. 11/22/11 - Art Manask feels increasing stress as he prepares to leave for a business trip to New York, Boston or Chicago. "The reason is congestion and traffic," says the Los Angeles-based consultant in the hospitality industry who has spent 100 nights away from home this year. More

Screening still a pain at airports, fliers say. 11/22/11 - The lines will still be long and the screening still invasive at airport checkpoints this Thanksgiving. While the government has made some changes to security procedures, many passengers and travel executives contend that the moves do not go far enough. More

Separating you and me? 4.74 degrees. 11/22/11 - Scientists have discovered that the average number of acquaintances separating any two people in the world is not six but 4.74. More

A blow to pinstripe aspirations. 11/22/11 - Being young on Wall Street once meant having it all: style, smarts and too much money to spend wisely. Now, twenty-somethings in the finance industry are losing both cash and cachet. More

Teaching good sex. 11/22/11 - “First base, second base, third base, home run,” Al Vernacchio ticked off the classic baseball terms for sex acts. In its breadth, depth and frank embrace of sexuality, this sex-ed class may well be the only one of its kind in the United States. More

Learning to play the game to get into college. 11/22/11 - There is rarely a minute when Nathaly Lopera, a high school senior, isn’t working to improve herself. Some nights, she has so many activities that she does not get home until 10 p.m.; often she’s up past midnight studying. More

A hard turn: better health on the highway. 11/22/11 - After driving hundreds of miles, the last thing Roy Williams, a truck driver from Denton, Tex., wanted to do was exercise. After a day trapped in the cab, stopping only to gorge on greasy fare at truck stops, who could think of.... More

"Chemobrain" found to be cancer therapy side-effect. 11/21/11 - The condition referred to by patients as "chemobrain" has been noted by many cancer patients, and now a Stanford University study validates their experiences and previous studies. Memory or cognitive problems following chemotherapy are real, the study concludes. More

Thanksgiving travel costs on the rise. 11/21/11 - The average airfare for travel Wednesday to Sunday to the 10 most popular U.S. destinations has jumped 11% over last year, an analysis shows. More

Deficit-cutting committee members set to throw in the towel. 11/21/11 - The Republican and Democratic leaders of a 12-member congressional "super committee" are set to declare defeat in a joint statement to be released after three months of talks failed to bridge deep divides over taxes and spending. More

Cost of having kids now $226,920 11/21/11 - The cost of raising a child has risen over $60K since 2000. Families squeezed by the economy are opting to wait, but tell Christine Romans that biological factors play a role as well. More

Democrats urge Obama to protect contraceptive coverage in health plans. 11/20/11 - A dispute has erupted between President Obama and Democrats in Congress over a proposal to broaden the exemption from new rules that require health insurance plans to cover contraceptives for women free of charge. More

Redefining the union boss. 11/20/11 - Sandy Pope is the first woman to run for the presidency of the Teamsters, against the powerful, three-term incumbent, James P. Hoffa. More

Study finds fetuses do best in a consistent environment. 11/20/11 - As a fetus grows, it's constantly getting messages from its mother. It's not just hearing her heartbeat and whatever music she might play to her belly; it also gets chemical signals through the placenta. If the mother is depressed, says a new study, that affects how the baby develops after.... More

Wisconsin's Walker at heart of emotional worker's rights battle. 11/20/11 - Veterans of Wisconsin's year of political turmoil and recall like to say that this is what democracy looks like. In the Capitol rotunda one day last week, Chris Reeder stamped out a beat with his sandaled feet and led a rousing chorus of "Roll Out the Recall," while joyful demonstrators.... More

Fitness key to fighting dangers of stress. 11/18/11 - Paul Hanft was 45 pounds overweight, generally unhappy, drinking excessively, taking mild anti-depressants, and on medications to lower his cholesterol. Like many others, he struggled with finding the time and energy to change his inactive lifestyle. More

Panel finds climate change behind some extreme weather. 11/19/11 - At least some of the weather extremes being seen around the world are consequences of human-induced climate change and can be expected to worsen in coming decades, a United Nations panel reported on Friday. More

Near poor: older, married, suburban and struggling. 11/19/11 - They drive cars, but seldom new ones. They earn paychecks, but not big ones. Many own homes. Most pay taxes. Half are married, and nearly half live in the suburbs. None are poor, but many describe themselves as barely scraping by. More

Employees petition Best Buy, Target, to push back Black Friday openings. 11/18/11 - With one week to go before Black Friday, a Target employee has racked up 181,000 signatures asking the retailer to abandon its plans to open at midnight, according to the online petition site Change.org More

The oldest old: reaching 90 more likely than ever. 11/18/11 - The rolls of America's oldest old are surging: Nearly 2 million now are 90 or over, nearly triple their numbers of just three decades ago. More

U.S. policy shift gives illegal immigrants hope of staying. 11/18/11 - More than 1,700 illegal immigrants facing deportation proceedings in Minnesota have new hope of remaining in the United States, the result of a federal order issued on Thursday that directs immigration authorities to focus on the most dangerous individuals rather than those with minor.... More

Births drop for third year in bad economy. 11/18/11 - The economy may well be the best form of birth control. U.S. births dropped for the third straight year -- especially for young mothers -- and experts think money worries are the reason. More

Who owns employees' Twitter accounts? 11/17/11 - A mobile phone review site called PhoneDog says that one of its former employee’s Twitter accounts is worth $42,500 per month, and it wants it back. More

Would-be engineers study hardest, says study. 11/17/11 - Business majors spend less time on course work than other college students, but they devote more hours to non-school duties, like earning money and caring for family members. In contrast, engineering students spend the most time studying and the least on outside demands. More

As new graduates return to nest, economy feels their pain. 11/17/11 - Like most of her friends, Hollis Romanelli graduated from college last May and promptly moved back in with her parents. As a result, she didn’t pay rent — or a broker’s fee or renters’ insurance, for that matter. She also didn’t buy a bed, desk, couch, doormat, mop or new crockery.... More

U.S. to review all deportation cases. 11/17/11 - Homeland Security wants to allow severely overburdened immigration judges to focus on those deporting foreigners who committed serious crimes or pose national security risks. More

After CT scans, more surgeries, more costs; are they unnecessary? 11/17/11 - Findings suggest doctors may detect small changes in the arteries on CT scans that lead them to do more invasive, potentially unnecessary, surgeries. More

Women more likely to suffer 'broken heart' syndrome, says study. 11/17/11 - It happens when a big shock, even a good one like winning the lottery, triggers a rush of adrenaline and other stress hormones that cause the heart’s main pumping chamber to balloon suddenly and not work right. More

Key employees believe in the success of their employers. 11/16/11 - Nearly all employees surveyed indicate they will either increase or maintain contributions to their employer's nonqualified deferred compensation plan in the coming year; 78% of those planning to increase contributions said they believe in the success of their employer, an increase of 14%.... More

Justices unlikely to have last word on health care. 11/16/11 - President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul divided the nation from the day he signed it into law, and that seems unlikely to change no matter how the Supreme Court rules on its constitutionality. More

Congress blocks new rules on school lunches. 11/16/11 - In a victory for the makers of frozen pizzas, tomato paste and French fries, Congress on Monday blocked rules proposed by the Agriculture Department that would have overhauled the nation’s school lunch program. More

11 states seek relief from 'No Child' provisions, in return for raising.... 11/16/11 - Eleven states applied for waivers exempting them from key provisions of the No Child Left Behind law by the federal government’s first deadline, promising in return to adopt higher standards and carry out other elements of the Obama administration’s school improvement agenda, the.... More

New Catalyst study links more women leaders to greater corporate social.... 11/16/11 - A new study conducted by researchers at Catalyst and Harvard Business School (HBS) suggests that what’s good for women is good for business and also for society as a whole. More

Many Americans not financially ready to be a caregiver, says study. 11/15/11 - Many Americans say they are not financially prepared to be a caregiver for an elderly loved one, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive. More

Two decades after Anita Hill: how workplaces are handling sexual.... 11/15/11 - Sexual misconduct allegations against GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain have put a spotlight on secret settlements, which many businesses are turning to in sexual harassment cases. More

For gay, lesbian workers, Canadian workplaces pulse with change. 11/15/11 - Donna Renn began her career in the military — and in the closet. But today, the 50-year-old IT business analyst for TD is the poster girl for coming out in the workplace. During the five years she served in the Canadian Forces, Renn was terrified someone would find out she was a lesbian..... More

Immigration from Mexico in fast retreat, data show. 11/15/11 - Census figures show that fewer people are leaving and many are returning as a lack of jobs in the U.S. and tighter border enforcement dissuade many who might have entered illegally. More

Hearing loss affects one in five Americans, study finds. 11/15/11 - If you think hearing loss is just an inevitable part of aging, think again. More than 48 million Americans over age 12 have trouble hearing in one or both ears, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. And the way we listen to music is partly to blame. More

Calming schools by focusing on well-being of troubled students 11/15/11 - Mark Ossenheimer, principal of the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx, threw out a name to add to the list of teenagers in trouble. Several teachers and a social worker seated around a table in the school’s cramped administrative offices nodded in agreement. More

Bishops open 'religious liberty' drive. 11/15/11 - The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops opened a new front in their fight against abortion and same-sex marriage on Monday, recasting their opposition as a struggle for “religious liberty” against a government and a culture that are infringing on the church’s rights. More

Whatever Court rules, major changes in health care likely to last. 11/15/11 - No matter what the Supreme Court decides about the constitutionality of the federal law adopted last year, health care in America has changed in ways that will not be easily undone. More

Anti-bullying programs likely ineffective, says Cornell psychologist. 11/14/11 - Thousands of schools have instituted anti-bullying programs, and yet the effectiveness of most programs are untested and are not likely to be successful given our limited knowledge about bullying. More

Red tape hampers care for those who are poor, disabled. 11/14/11 - M.C. Kim had four heart attacks in as many years. Each time, he left the hospital not knowing why his heart had failed. When he tried to enter a cardiac rehabilitation program to learn how to reduce the odds of having more heart trouble, the Medicare office told him to call Medicaid. The.... More

Atheists in U.S. military seek official recognition. 11/14/11 - A small but growing movement complains of religious bias and seeks the same status as Christians, Jews and Muslims. More

Recruiting veterans, Columbia finds an impressive applicant pool. 11/14/11 - Two years ago, in an effort to attract more veterans to Columbia, Curtis Rodgers, a dean of admissions, began recruiting at military bases. Almost immediately he noticed differences between the Marines and the typical 18-year-old Ivy League applicant. More

Israel takes gender fight to buses, billboards. 11/14/11 - The women turned heads as they got on Jerusalem's number 56 bus. Startled ultra-Orthodox Jewish men looked away as the group mounted a challenge to growing gender segregation in the holy city by boarding the public vehicle from the front door and sitting in its first rows. More

Hispanics reviving faded towns on the plains. 11/14/11 - Change can be unsettling in a small town. But not long ago in this quiet farming community, with its familiar skyline of grain elevators and church steeples, the owner of a new restaurant decided to acknowledge the community’s diversity by adding some less traditional items to her menu..... More

Health law puts focus on limits of Federal power. 11/14/11 - If the federal government can require people to purchase health insurance, what else can it force them to do? More to the point, what can’t the government compel citizens to do? More

Jobs benefits for vets break Senate divide. 11-11-11 - The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved provisions from President Obama's jobs plan that found rare bipartisan appeal, including a proposal to give companies tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans. More

Experts say more children should get cholesterol tested. 11-11-11 - More children should be screened for high cholesterol before puberty, beyond those with a family history of problems, according to wide-ranging new guidelines expected from government-appointed experts who are trying to prevent heart disease later in life. More

For the first time, majority of new moms getting paid leave. 11-11-11 - The number of new mothers receiving paid maternity leave has climbed to a majority for the first time, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday, but the news drew tepid reactions from advocates because the benefit remains largely unavailable to younger and less-educated women. More

Heavy drinkers get liver transplants in French study, raising ethical.... 11/10/11 - Some gravely ill alcoholics who need a liver transplant shouldn't have to prove they can stay sober for six months to get one, doctors say in a study that could intensify the debate over whether those who destroy their organs by drinking deserve new ones. More

Aging well through exercise. 11/10/11 - Is physical frailty inevitable as we grow older? That question preoccupies scientists and the middle-aged, particularly when they become the same people. Until recently, the evidence was disheartening. More

India's more perfect union 11/10/11 - This summer, Maruti Suzuki, the largest car manufacturer in India, geared up to release the newest model of its bestselling car, the Suzuki Swift, only to find that its production lines had slowed to a crawl. More

Are older Americans better off? 11/10/11 - The Pew Research Center says they are better off than they used to be, especially relative to the young. The Census Bureau says children are doing better than we thought, but older people are doing worse, especially because of medical costs. More

Health law survives test in court of appeals. 11/09/11 - A federal appeals court in Washington upheld the Obama administration’s health care law on Tuesday in a decision written by a prominent conservative jurist. More

Elections may signal a pause in conservative trend. 11/09/11 - Ohio overturns a law affecting public employee unions while Mississippi votes down a stringent antiabortion measure. Arizona recalls state Senate President Russell Pearce, architect of the controversial immigration law. More

New drugs fuel wave of violence and death. 11/09/11 - A small town in Oklahoma is grieving for two college students who died after using synthetic drugs this spring. In the past year, more than 20 deaths have been linked to the use of products sold under such innocuous names as bath salts, plant food, herbal incense and research chemicals. More

Poll finds U.S. voters deeply torn. 11/08/11 - A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found an electorate that is convinced the country's economic structures favor an affluent elite and is still deeply torn as to whether President Barack Obama or any of his leading Republican rivals can pull the nation out of decline. More

Young men suffer worst as economy staggers. 11/08/11 - Few groups were hit harder by the recession than young men, like Cody Preston and Justin Randol, 25-year-old high-school buddies who didn't go to college. More

Bill Clinton lays out his prescription for America's future. Bill Clinton’s new book, “Back to Work,” is really several books in one slender volume. It’s a lucid one-man rebuttal of the Tea Party’s anti-government agenda. More

A tool to quit smoking has some unlikely critics. 11/08/11 - If you want a truly frustrating job in public health, try getting people to stop smoking. Even when researchers combine counseling and encouragement with nicotine patches and gum, few smokers quit. More

First time divorce rate tied to education, race. 11/03/11 - New research from the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling Green State University shows there is substantial variation in the first-time divorce rate when it is broken down by race and education. But, there is also evidence that a college degree has a protective.... More

Census data show wealth gap is widest ever. 11/07/11 - The wealth gap between younger and older Americans has stretched to the widest on record, worsened by a prolonged economic downturn that has wiped out job opportunities for young adults and saddled them with housing and college debt. More

Washington area schools confront the 'gifted gap.' 11/06/11 - The budding scholars in Alexandria’s gifted ­classes are bright and curious enough to make any teacher beam, but these days they’re also an emblem of what the school system calls one of its greatest failures: a lack of diversity among the academic elite. More

Preaching the virtue of spanking, even as deaths fuel the debate. 11/07/11 - The pastoral mood in the hills of Tennessee offered a stark contrast to the storm raging around the country over the Pearls’ teachings on child discipline, which advocate systematic use of “the rod” to teach toddlers to submit to authority. More

Study finds widespread sexual harassment of students in grades 7 thru 12. 11/07/11 - Nearly half of 7th to 12th graders experienced sexual harassment in the last school year, according to a study scheduled for release on Monday, with 87 percent of those who have been harassed reporting negative effects such as absenteeism, poor sleep and stomachaches. More

A hidden toll as states shift to contract workers. 11/7/11 - Like many states and local governments struggling to cut costs, Michigan hopes to replace some government employees with contract workers who will do the same job for less. More

Poor sleep in pregnancy tied to pre-term birth. 11/06/11 - Few women sleep great throughout pregnancy. But a new study shows that poor sleep should be of more concern to doctors and women than is currently recognized because it may be a factor in premature birth. More

Ohio voters look set to dump Republicans' anti-union law. 11/06/11 - An aggressive Republican drive to weaken the labor rights of government workers appears to have crested, at least in Ohio, where voters are expected to throw out a far-reaching anti-union law this week. More

Are we there yet? When families fly. 11/06/11For families, the costs and inconveniences of air travel are compounded. At a time when resorts, cruise lines and tour operators are courting junior guests as if they were celebrity V.I.P.’s, flying with children has become an increasingly costly, “Survivor”-like ordeal. More

Silicon Valley wows educators, and woos them. 11/05/11 - Three times over the last two years, school officials from Little Falls, Minn., have escaped the winter cold for two-day trips to Silicon Valley. Their destination: the headquarters of Apple. More

Top aide to a CEO: her husband. 11/05/11 - Acquaintances say the intensely private Mr. Mark Rometty deserves tremendous credit for pursuing a career that gave him the time and flexibility to support his wife’s ascension to the pinnacle of global business — as, for that matter, do the vast majority of C.E.O. spouses of both genders.... More

Women who stop hormone therapy risk hip fractures, says study. 11/04/11 - A significant rise in hip fractures among women is one result of the decade-long slide in the popularity of hormone replacement therapy, researchers report in a new study. More

Senate blocks $60 billion infrastructure plan, another part of Obama's.... 11/04/11 - The Senate shot down another piece of President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill Thursday, as a stalemated Congress goes through the motions of attempting legislation to spur economic growth largely as a mechanism to allow each party to blame the other for the failure to act. More

College is cheaper than you think. 11/04/11 - The College Board released its annual report on the cost of college last week, and guess what? It’s going up. Again. Cue the headlines: “College Costs Reach New Highs”; “Public College Costs Surge 8.3 Percent”; “College Tuition Is Out of Control.” More

Bleak picture of poverty is off the mark, experts say. 11/04/11 - When the Census Bureau said in September that the number of poor Americans had soared by 10 million to rates rarely seen in four decades, commentators called the report “shocking” and “bleak.” Most poverty experts would add another description: “flawed.” More

Report shows a mere 80,000 jobs added in October. 11/04/11 - The United States had another month of mediocre job growth in October, the Labor Department reported Friday. Employers added 80,000 jobs on net, slightly less than what economists had expected. More

Marijuana law doesn't affect teens' use. 11/03/11 - Questions on the impact of medical marijuana laws on teenagers' illicit use of the drug have been raised repeatedly by public health officials. One study suggests that allowing marijuana to be sold for medical purposes doesn't harm teens. More

Mayo study unlocking the secrets to aging? 11/03/11 - In a potentially fundamental advance, researchers have opened up a novel approach to combating the effects of aging with the discovery that a special category of cells, known as senescent cells, are bad actors that promote the aging of the tissues. More

With an app, your next date could be around the corner. 11/03/11 - Christina Wang has her date-night routine down pat. She combs her hair, fixes her makeup and then checks her phone, hoping to find Mr. Right, who might just happen to be nearby, right now. More

Fed lowers its forecast for growth, but takes no steps. 11/03/11 - The Federal Reserve significantly reduced its forecast of economic growth through 2013, acknowledging that it had once again overestimated the nation’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. More

Biggest public firms paid little U.S. tax, study says. 11/03/11 - Warren E. Buffett, take note. It is not just a few wealthy individuals paying unusually low taxes to the federal government. Corporate America is not far behind. More

Planned layoffs dropped 63% last month. 11/02/11 - There is a flicker of good news on the jobs front: Planned layoffs dropped 63 percent to 42,759 in October from the prior month. There is, of course, a catch. That drop comes after planned layoffs hit a 28-month high in September, according to outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray &.... More

Consumer fury forcing banks to kill debit fees. 11/02/11 - Score one for consumers. Bank of America on Tuesday became the latest in a series of the nation's biggest banks to respond to a consumer uproar by dropping fees they'd only recently implemented on debit cards. The nation's top debit card issuer cited consumer feedback in dropping plans to add.... More

Exercise could counter the effects of the 'obesity gene.' 11/02/11 - Having a so-called obesity gene doesn't necessarily doom you to being fat, a study finds — if you stay active. A meta-analysis that included 45 studies of 218,166 adults looked at the effect physical activity had on being saddled with a gene associated with fat mass and obesity, otherwise.... More

A few drinks a week may raise breast cancer risk. 11/02/11 - Some women who drink to their health may want to reconsider. A new study shows that women who routinely have even small amounts of alcohol, as few as three drinks a week, have an elevated risk of breast cancer. More

Cancer screening: how can a test be bad? 10/31/2011 - This month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said there's no evidence that routine PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing saves lives. For the vast majority of men, the panel said, it may cause more harm than good. And last Monday, a study by Dartmouth College cast fresh doubt on.... More

Hotels piling on hidden fees. 10/31/2011 - Thinking of taking a dip in the pool while on vacation? Even if you choose not to, you could get charged $40 just for having the option. Following in the footsteps of the airlines, hotels are piling on a slew of hidden fees for services that used to be free. More

Home prices may be heading for triple dip. 10/31/2011 - According to Fiserv, a financial analytics company, home values are expected to fall another 3.6 percent by next June, pushing them to a new low of 35 percent below the peak reached in early 2006 and marking a triple dip in prices. More

World population grows by a billion in just 12 years. 10/31/2011 - It took only a dozen years for humanity to add another billion people to the planet, reaching the milestone of 7 billion Monday — give or take a few months. More