Cheryl K. Chumley

Texas launches probe of school curriculum accused of communist agenda

Texas Board of Education authorities have launched an investigation in the state's school curriculum, based on complaints that approved teachings are actually indoctrinating students with a pro-communist ideology.

March 28, 2013

Guantanamo prisoners file complaint: We want bottled water, not tap

Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay already on a hunger strike have found a new issue to protest: Guards aren't giving them bottled water, but rather forcing them to drink from the tap.

March 28, 2013

Forget executive orders: Obama finds creative means to bypass Congress

Move over executive orders. President Obama has another tool to push policy absent congressional stamp — and it's far less known and controversial. It's called executive action.

March 28, 2013

Oscar Pistorius wins back passport, right to travel overseas

Oscar Pistorius has won back his passport and the right to travel. A judge sided with his attorneys on Thursday, as they argued that the double-amputee Olympian accused of murder in the Valentine's Day shooting of his girlfriend may actually have to enter track events to compete and earn money, The Associated Press reports.

March 28, 2013

Marijuana trade could create billion-dollar potential for cash-strapped states

Tax gurus are predicting Colorado and Washington could see big bucks — millions, or even billions — from revenues collected via their recently approved recreational marijuana laws. And other states are starting to take a second look at the potential.

March 28, 2013

School administration costs soar 700 percent since 1950

The number of administrative positions in schools around the nation has increased by 700 percent over the past six or seven decades, a new study finds.

March 28, 2013

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teen targeted by Taliban for pro-school views, signs $3M book deal

Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who survived a point-blank gun shot from a Taliban militant who opposed her pro-school activism, has signed a book deal.

March 28, 2013

Nelson Mandela in hospital with lung infection

South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, 94, has been hospitalized for treatment for a recurring lung infection.

March 28, 2013

Dozens of residents flee Puget Sound landslide

Dozens of residents in a peaceful Puget Sound setting were forced to evacuate Wednesday after a huge landslide knocked one house over and threatened 33 others.

March 28, 2013

4-year-old found next to dead mom resorted to sugar bag for food

A 4-year-old boy found in an apartment outside New York City eating out of a bag of sugar nearby the body of his deceased and decomposing mother was grossly underweight and possibly neglected, investigators say.

March 28, 2013

Gabby Giffords’ gunman had history of drug use, court docs show

The man who went on a shooting spree in 2011 in Arizona, killing 6 and wounding several — including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — was a past drug user who was polite and cooperative after his arrest, newly released court documents show.

March 27, 2013

Indian tribes seek federal bailout money for casinos

A native-American tribe struggling to keep its Foxwoods Resort Casino in the red is now turning to the U.S. government for a helping hand.

March 27, 2013

Hunters begin boycott of Colorado over new gun laws

All across the country, hunters have joined in a call to boycott Colorado over that state's recent laws to curb gun freedoms.

March 27, 2013

Drone-kill map aims to ‘shock people’ on U.S. policy

A technology worker with Pitch Interactive is using his computer skills to make a political point, with the creation of an interactive graph that shows the kills in Pakistan due to U.S. drones.

March 27, 2013

NBC anchor Jenna Wolfe: I’m gay, I’m pregnant and I’m marrying my partner

It's been a busy week for NBC's Jenna Wolfe.

March 27, 2013

Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweets: Texas to soon turn blue

Texas recently elected tea party favorite Ted Cruz to Senate, but don't count on such results from the traditionally conservative state for much longer, predicts Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

March 27, 2013

Michael Moore on guns: ‘What are these white people so afraid of?’

Michael Moore said "fear and racism" fuels Americans' insistence that the government uphold their Second Amendment rights to own firearms.

March 27, 2013

John Kerry heads home; secretary of state claims successful talks with Afghanistan’s Karzai

Secretary of State John Kerry is headed home following a busy week of mostly clandestine travels that saw him issuing blunt warnings to Iraqi leaders, trying to bridge disputes with Afghanistan’s president, dining with Pakistani military chiefs and heading a soccer ball.

March 27, 2013

Sinkhole fears in Florida: Residents flee, as walls crack

Florida homeowners who live just three miles from where a sinkhole swallowed a sleeping man a month ago have now been evacuated, after the walls of their duplex began to crack and the floor buckled.

March 27, 2013

Harry Potter-esque invisibility cloak moves closer to reality

How very Harry Potter. Researchers say they've taken a step closer toward the invention of a full-body invisibility device that would allow the wearer to move about absent detection, much like the teen wizard did when he donned his magical cloak in the film.

March 27, 2013