[U.S.] Tentative Accord Reached to Raise Taxes on Wealthy

Tentative Accord Reached to Raise Taxes on Wealthy
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57561384/reid-still-far-apart-on-fiscal-cliff/
WASHINGTON - Furious last-minute negotiations between the White House and the Senate Republican leadership on Monday secured a tentative agreement to allow tax rates to rise on affluent Americans, but the measure was not going to pass in time for ...

Doctors Expect Clinton to Recover Fully From Blood Clot Near Brain
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/31/3989206/clintons-blood-clot-an-uncommon.html
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's blood clot formed in her head, her doctors said on Monday, a potentially serious condition from which they nonetheless stressed they expect her to fully recover.

Oregon Police: Tour Bus Crash Probe May Take Month
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/survivor-deadly-bus-crash-ejected-18103648
Authorities say it may be a month or more before investigators and prosecutors decide whether to file charges in the crash of a tour bus in Eastern Oregon that killed nine people.

Chief Justice John Roberts stresses frugality in year-end report
http://www.wina.com/Chief-justice-stresses-need-for-judges-funds-despi/11458736?newsId=185280
The Supreme Court finished its most closely examined term in years last June when it narrowly upheld the Affordable Care Act. On the horizon are potentially landmark decisions on affirmative action and same-sex marriage.

Md. gay couples prep for Jan. 1 marriages
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/12/31/maryland-couples-await-midnight-for-states-first-same-sex-marriages/
Kim Hinken, of Edgewater, Md., holds the marriage license she obtained Thursday in Anne Arundel County Circuit in Annapolis, Md., to marry her same-sex partner, Adrianne Eathorne.

North Carolina man accused of stealing meteorites
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57561356-504083/brian-koontz-north-carolina-man-charged-with-theft-of-100-meteorites-report-says/
BREVARD, N.C. - Authorities in southern North Carolina have made one arrest following the theft of 100 meteorites from a science education center and are searching for a second suspect.

US, Europe hope the new year brings better times
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/12/31/168325121/an-abridged-design-history-of-the-ball-and-can-you-name-its-real-shape
NEW YORK (AP) - From teeming Times Square to an Asian capital hosting its first public New Year's Eve countdown in decades, the world looked to the start of 2013 with hope for renewal after a year of economic turmoil, searing violence and natural ...

Conn. AG: State Isn't Liable for School...
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Sandy-Hook-School-Shootings-Connecticut-Liability-Attorney-General-185324722.html
Connecticut's attorney general says he sympathizes with families affected by the deadly Newtown school shooting but the state isn't liable for the harm inflicted.

Should these "dirty dozen" words be banished?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57561312/should-these-dirty-dozen-words-be-banished/
DETROIT Spoiler alert: This story contains words and phrases that some people want to ban from the English language. "Spoiler alert" is among them.

Police: NYC Couple Had 'Terrorist Encyclopedia'
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57561368-504083/nyc-couple-arrested-after-explosive-substance-papers-titled-the-terrorist-encyclopedia-found-in-apartment/
A woman who gave birth under arrest and her boyfriend were facing weapons charges Monday after authorities said they found a substance used to make bombs and papers titled "The Terrorist Encyclopedia" in their apartment in a picturesque Manhattan ...

US state pardons 'Wilmington 10' civil rights activists
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtenOD-4E8Dcb4PgiTjb2ROItKpw?docId=CNG.097fb5282095628bac325b8c9743d228.551
WASHINGTON - North Carolina's outgoing governor pardoned on Monday the Wilmington 10, a group of civil rights activists convicted of firebombing a white-owned grocery store in a black neighborhood 40 years ago.

Lillian Lewis, Wife of Congressman John Lewis, Dies
http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/12/31/rep-john-lewis-wife-lillian-dies/
Mrs. Lewis, who had been ill for a while, passed on Monday at Emory University Hospital. But she had encouraged her husband to move forward with his career.

Mourners lay to rest firefighter ambushed by gunman
http://www.northjersey.com/news/national/Funeral_under_way_for_NY_fireman_killed_in_ambush.html
West Webster firefighter Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, was laid to rest on Monday, after he and fellow firefighter Michael Chiapperini were ambushed and killed while responding to a fire on Dec. 24, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.

Man pleads not guilty to setting homeless woman on fire on Van Nuys bus bench
http://www.komonews.com/news/national/Man-charged-in-burning-of-LA-homeless-woman-185306862.html
Donations are being accepted for the homeless woman known as "Violet," who was set on fire as she slept on a bus bench in Van Nuys.

3 die, 3 injured in Bronx fire
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/die-bronx-blaze-beach-ave-home-article-1.1230189
NEW YORK (AP) -- Fire officials say two adults and a child died and three other people suffered minor injuries in an overnight fire at an apartment building in the Bronx.

How To Catch a Cab on New Year's
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2881847.shtml?cat=1
The ball has dropped, the party is over, and now you're freezing in the street wondering how to get home. Cabs are notoriously difficult to catch on New Year's Eve, but are a necessity for many who have gone out and celebrated a little too much to drive.

Ban on demanding Facebook passwords among new 2013 state laws
http://kgmi.com/Ban-on-demanding-Facebook-passwords-among-new-2013/12989761?newsId=185222
By James B. Kelleher. CHICAGO | Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:12am EST. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Employers in California and Illinois will be prohibited from demanding access to workers' password-protected social networking accounts and teachers in Oregon will ...

Bush family quiet about ex-president's condition
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/30/168306958/president-george-h-w-bush-out-of-intensive-care
HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush's family sought privacy and provided no new details Thursday about his medical condition, a day after his spokesman said he's in intensive care after being hospitalized for treatment of a bronchitis-related ...