U.S. Government News

WASHINGTON - An advocacy group ranks California, Connecticut and Oregon at the top of a list of states improving energy efficiency to respond to high prices, energy security and global warming.

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON - Nine major U.S. airlines are farming out aircraft maintenance at twice the rate of four years ago and now hire outside contractors for more than 70 percent of major work, the government says. Contractors overseas handled one-quarter of the outsourced maintenance.

Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:

WASHINGTON - A Houston security company has been indicted on charges of defrauding the U.S. government for work done during the Afghanistan war and rebuilding efforts.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge rejected a vigorous defense bid Thursday for a mistrial in the corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens despite finding that prosecutors broke rules requiring them to turn over evidence favorable to the veteran Alaska lawmaker.

WASHINGTON - Judge rejects bid for mistrial, allows Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial to continue.

WASHINGTON - Parents wondering whether to give cold and cough medicines to their kids may not get help from the government anytime soon.

WASHINGTON - Federal officials arrested more than 300 members of a previously lesser known criminal gang during a summer crackdown, twice as many as last year, and arrested nearly 1,400 gang members nationwide, immigration authorities said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - Iran is two years to five years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, the former head of the U.S. weapons-hunting team in Iraq said Wednesday. But David Kay said the U.S. should not consider bombing Iranian nuclear facilities unless the weapon was about to be transferred to a terrorist group.

WASHINGTON - A former USA Today reporter held in contempt for refusing to identify sources for stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks is facing hefty legal fines despite the government's $5.8 million settlement with a former Army scientist once under scrutiny.

WASHINGTON - Several car booster seats do a poor job of positioning children to fit in their seat belts, according to a review by the insurance industry and researchers.

WASHINGTON - No one knows what the Earth will be like in a million years. But a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada must be designed to ensure that people living near it then are exposed to no more than 100 millirems of radiation annually — equivalent to about a half-dozen X-rays.