Grassley seeks answers to USDA's role at egg farms
(AP)
AP - Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley is asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to address accusations that federal workers ignored complaints about conditions at two Iowa farms involved in the recall of salmonella-tainted eggs.
Accused Somali pirate pleads guilty in DC
(AP)
AP - An accused Somali pirate has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy from a November 2008 attack in the Gulf of Aden on a Danish ship carrying cargo from a U.S. company.
Xbox blocks W.Va. gamer over town's name: Fort Gay
(AP)
AP - Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service's code of conduct by publicly declaring he's from Fort Gay — a name the company considered offensive.
AP - Suddenly, the race for Chicago mayor is on. Mayor Richard M. Daley has thrown the competition for the city's top job wide open by announcing he won't run for a seventh term, ending 21 years of token opposition and prompting speculation about who's next in line to lead the nation's third largest city.
AP - Wind-whipped flames swept through at least three Detroit neighborhoods, destroying dozens of homes, including many that were vacant, officials said.
AP - Most of the country will see a colder-than-usual winter while summer and spring will be relatively cool and dry, according to the time-honored, complex calculations of the "Old Farmer's Almanac."
AP - The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy said Wednesday he was determined to go through with his plan to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, despite pressure from the White House, religious leaders and others to call it off.
AP - The FBI on Wednesday was trying to determine whether a passenger staged a bomb hoax that prompted a search of a Thai Airways jetliner at Los Angeles International Airport.
