Cheryl K. Chumley

Tooth Fairy pay-outs on the rise, as inflation meets poor parenting

So much for the days of a dollar a tooth — or a quarter. Inflation has driven the costs of a Tooth Fairy visit sky-high, and kids nowadays are bragging on the playground about night-time exchanges that leaves them $5 richer.

August 30, 2013

Bashar Assad’s son, 11, taunts U.S. on Facebook: report

A Facebook posting purportedly from Syrian President Bashar Assad’s son, age 11, takes pot-shots at America, taunting the White House to strike.

August 30, 2013

Conjoined twins, 6 weeks old, separated with success

Six-week-old twin boys who were conjoined at birth were successfully separated, and doctors said both are doing well, making full progress toward recovery.

August 30, 2013

North Korea withdraws invite for U.S. envoy

North Korea changed its mind Friday and pulled back an invitation for a U.S. diplomat to visit and discuss the plight and possible release of a Washington man imprisoned, sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

August 30, 2013

Hispanic trends: California, Texas and Florida still home of choice

Hispanics in America are confining themselves to three states — California, Texas and Florida — for the most part, Pew Research Center reported on Thursday.

August 30, 2013

Christian church billboard touts pro-gay message: ‘Jesus had two dads’

A sign outside St. John's Anglican Church in Canada seems to suggest homosexuality is okay because Jesus had two fathers.

August 30, 2013

Ted Nugent’s wife arrested at airport with gun in bag

Ted Nugent’s wife was arrested on Thursday after security officers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport found a gun in her carry-on bag.

August 30, 2013

Syria’s Bashar Assad using prisoners as human shields: report

As the international community, including the United States, wrestles with the idea of entering the Syrian conflict with military force, President Bashar Assad has begun moving inmates to potential target areas to act as human shields, British press reported on Friday.

August 30, 2013

Allen West: ‘Let us never forget’ the Benghazi 4 who died in Libya

A coalition of conservatives have joined together for a social media campaign with one clear goal — to compel the White House and Congress to investigate and reveal the events of Sept. 11, 2012, that left four Americans dead in Benghazi, Libya.

August 30, 2013

Navy: Dolphins, whales will die during new underwater explosive tests

The Navy said in a report on Friday that training and testing for new underwater explosives could kill hundreds of whales and dolphins, and injure tens of thousands more, in the coming five years.

August 30, 2013

Bradley Manning’s attorney: Inmates have accepted ‘her for who she is’

The attorney for Pvt. Bradley Manning, the convicted document leaker who insisted on his way to Fort Leavenworth that he wants to be a woman called Chelsea, said his client is doing well in prison and has already made several friends who have accepted “her for who she is.”

August 30, 2013

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner packs up, among sea of sexual harassment scandals

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s final day has dawned, and he’s expected to pack up and leave his office Friday amid a sea of sexual harassment charges from 18 women, at last count.

August 30, 2013

50 percent of Americans say no to Syria intervention: poll

Fully 50 percent of Americans responding to a new poll from NBC News say they don’t want to get involved in military action in Syria.

August 30, 2013

Yosemite fire: Firefighters get help from 673 inmates to put out blaze

Thousands of firefighters are on scene to battle the 300 square mile blaze at Yosemite National Park — including 673 prison inmates from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

August 30, 2013

Fast-food strikers get boost from NYC comptroller, who calls pay ‘unconscionable’

Fast-food strikers complaining about their minimum-wage pay got a big thumbs-up for their cause on Thursday, as New York City’s leading financial guru, Comptroller John Liu, said yes, they should be paid more.

August 30, 2013

CIA big winner in funding, leaked spy budget documents reveal

When it comes to federal funding of America’s top security and surveillance agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency wins big.

August 30, 2013

Delbert Belton’s family ‘speechless’ as hundreds attend veteran’s funeral

Hundreds of mourners turned out for the funeral services of Delbert “Shortly” Belton, the World War II veteran who was beaten to death as he crossed a parking lot to enter a lodge in Spokane, Wash.

August 30, 2013

‘The Fonz’: I have a dream that America stops shooting illegals

Henry Winkler, best known for his 1970s and '80s portrayal of the character "The Fonz," or "Fonzie," on the sitcom "Happy Days," issued a curious tweet in the hours that followed the March on Washington celebrations in Washington on Wednesday.

August 29, 2013

Islamic leaders in India issue fatwa against cartoons

Islamic clerics in India contend that animated shows make a mockery of what they say are Allah's creations.

August 29, 2013

Outraged Montanans move to oust judge who jailed rapist for 30 days

Montana residents are fuming and on a campaign to oust a state judge who ruled that a teacher who raped a 14-year-old girl — who subsequently killed herself — deserves only 30 days behind bars.

August 29, 2013