Cheryl K. Chumley

Evolution debate stymies Texas on biology book selection

Texas Board of Education members in midnight fiery discussions decided to delay a vote on a biology book that some perceive as politically biased on the notion of evolution.

November 22, 2013

Horror film honcho M. Night Shyamalan: U.S. educators favor whites over blacks

M. Night Shyamalan, the director of “The Sixth Sense” who was once touted as Hollywood’s emerging scare-flick guru, said in a private gathering of education activists that America does well in schooling whites — but not so well in educating blacks.

November 22, 2013

Obama stages private meet with press for Obamacare damage control

President Obama invited several members of the media — notably, the more liberal members — for an off-the-record, behind-the-scenes chance to chat about Obamacare, in what some are describing as a Hail Mary attempt to do some much-needed damage control.

November 22, 2013

Washington permit offices flooded with marijuana applications

Hundreds of hopeful marijuana business operators have flocked to local permitting authorities and filed applications to open pot shops — and that's in just the first week of the enactment of a state law that lets recreational sales and production commence.

November 22, 2013

Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi called ring leader of ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties

Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, has been accused in court documents of being the ring leader of "bunga bunga" sex parties held at his villa — the man behind the order for young women to perform pole dances and strip teases in front of select invited.

November 22, 2013

S.C. charter school bans Christmas carols with religious tone

A music director at one charter school in Rock Hill, S.C., reportedly said students are more than welcome to sing their celebrations of Christmas at upcoming performances – just not those songs that refer to Jesus Christ, or that have overtly religious overtones.

November 22, 2013

Jackie Kennedy’s bloody pink suit to stay hidden until 2103

The pink suit that former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy wore the day her husband was shot 50 years ago — now blood-stained — will stay hidden from public view until at least 2103.

November 22, 2013

FBI scrambles to find Iraqi terrorists living off U.S. welfare

Federal investigators are sifting through the records of thousands of Iraqis who came to the United States as "war refugees" in recent years, trying to discern how many more are like the two they recently arrested: Admitted terrorists who left Iraq for America, accepted public housing and welfare assistance, then continued with their plots to kill.

November 20, 2013

James Woods, the science geek: U.S. future ‘built on dreams’

Actor James Woods, a Hollywood hero for conservatives who's been outspoken against President Obama and his policies, took the Comic-Con stage in New York to speak on what he saw as a more inspirational subject: America's future ability to make great scientific leaps and bounds.

November 20, 2013

McDonald’s goes gourmet? Pilot menu kicks off custom-made burgers

Want guacamole on that burger? McDonald's is making waves in the fast-food market with a proposed change to its 70-year-old model of made-to-order burgers, announcing a custom-made burger pilot program that provides customers with a range of choices, including 20-plus specialty sauces and toppings.

November 20, 2013

Rutgers University bus driver fired after praying over disabled rider

A Rutgers University bus driver who prayed over a disabled and wheelchair-bound girl after she was boarded was subsequently fired.

November 20, 2013

Airline workers in India find $1.2 million in gold bars in plane’s restroom

Workers who were tasked with cleaning out the restroom on a Jet Airways Boeing 737 making a quick stop in India were given one heck of a tip — a stash of gold bars valued at $1.2 million.

November 20, 2013

Bill Maher: Chris Christie is ‘excellent politician’

Chris Christie is an "excellent politician" who could easily win the Republican nod for the White House in 2016, left-leaning comedian Bill Maher told MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell on Tuesday.

November 20, 2013

Billy Graham sent to hospital with respiratory ailment

The Rev. Billy Graham was sent back to the hospital on Wednesday with a respiratory congestion ailment, one of his spokesmen said.

November 20, 2013

Oklahoma professor: Obama’s ‘best president’ because he’s ‘one cool cat’

President Obama may have his faults, and he may have committed a few political mistakes, but all in all he still tops the Best Presidents Ever list, said a professor at Langston University in Oklahoma.

November 20, 2013

Obama’s ‘under God’ omission in Gettysburg Address sparks fire

President Obama's recitation of the Gettysburg Address for a Ken Burns documentary about the famous speech sparked a round of backlash after a local news radio host first noticed and reported a curious omission: He left out the phrase, "under God."

November 20, 2013

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon: New climate treaty needed to escape ‘wrath of a warming planet’

Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, says the international community needs to ramp up its fight against climate change or else prepare to face the "wrath" of the planet.

November 20, 2013

Iran’s ayatollah: Israel’s ‘doomed to extinction’

Right around the time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was heading to Russia for an 11th hour attempt to influence a global deal with Tehran over nuclear development, Iran's top religious leader was emphasizing the fated fall of the Jewish nation.

November 20, 2013

Michelle Obama on President Obama: ‘He’s in the bathroom all the time just singing’

So, aside from golfing and playing basketball, this is how President Obama spends his free time: singing. In the bathroom.

November 20, 2013

Army says GI Janes shouldn’t look too pretty in pictures

Don't use the pretty women — that's the gist of an Army message to public relations people who are in charge of selecting photographs to go with military stories and publications.

November 20, 2013