"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Notre Dame No. 1 in BCS standings for first time

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 05:38 PM PST

The Irish are atop the BCS standings for the first time in school history and are one win from a national championship berth.

2 reported dead in Wisconsin plane crash

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 03:05 PM PST

Local officials reported that two people have died in the crash of a small plane near the Burlington, Wis., airport, an FAA spokesman said. The airplane is registered to a man in Antioch.

Though bankruptcy looms for Hostess, Twinkies likely to survive

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 02:51 PM PST

Crave a Twinkie? The price is going up fast onlineHostess lovers, relax.The tasty cream-filled golden spongecakes are likely to survive, even though their maker will be sold in bankruptcy court. Hostess Brands Inc., baker of Wonder Bread as well as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's, will be in a New York bankruptcy courtroom Monday to start the process of selling itself.

More celebs help tribes' push for sacred South Dakota land

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 02:09 PM PST

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Ezra Miller, left, who stars in the recently released film "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," and hip hop producer Sol Guy, right. The two are appearing in a documentary-style film with Last Real Indians founder Chase Iron Eyes to try to raise $9 million by the end of November, 2012, to buy back a piece of land in South Dakota that Native American tribes consider sacred. (AP Photos/file)More celebrities are backing an online campaign to raise money so that Native American tribes in South Dakota can purchase land they consider sacred.

Obama: Historic Myanmar visit underscores democratic progress

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 05:02 PM PST

U.S. President Barack Obama, second left, and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, second right, arrive for an official dinner at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)On the eve of his landmark trip to Myanmar, President Barack Obama tried to assure critics that his visit was not a premature reward for a long-isolated nation still easing its way toward democracy.

Jindal: Liking people is key to expanding GOP tent

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST

FILE - This July 27, 2012 file photo shows Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaking in Hot Springs, Ark. The Grand Old Party needs to get with the times. That's according to many Republicans who talked of the party's challenges following the GOP's electoral shellacking. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says the Republican Party needs to go back to basics to attract the broad coalition of voters credited with putting President Barack Obama back in the White House.

Battle over coastal Xmas display goes to LA court

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 01:17 PM PST

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2011 file photo, a man walks past two of the traditional Nativity scenes along Ocean Avenue at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, Calif. Avowed atheist Damon Vix last year won two-thirds of the booths in the annual, city-sponsored lottery to divvy up spaces in the live-sized Nativity display. But he only put up one thing: A sign that read "Religions are all alike - founded on fables and mythologies." Vix left the rest of his allotted spaces empty, and in so doing, upended a Christmas tradition that began in Santa Monica nearly 60 years ago. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, file)Damon Vix didn't have to go to court to push Christmas out of the city of Santa Monica. He just joined the festivities.

US, Britain warn of risks of Israeli ground war

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 02:20 PM PST

Israeli soldiers gather with their armored personnel carriers in a gathering area near the Israel Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. President Barack Obama on Sunday defended Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, but he warned that escalating the offensive with Israeli ground troops could deepen the death toll and undermine any hope of a peace process with the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)The U.S. and Britain on Sunday warned about the risks of Israel expanding its air assault on the Gaza Strip into a ground war, while vigorously defending the Jewish state's right to protect itself against rocket attacks.

Not ready to concede, Fla.'s West to fight defeat in House race

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 02:34 PM PST

Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West speaks at a campaign stop with guests at SCORE South Palm Beach, a resource partner to the U.S. Small Business Administration, in Boca RatonMIAMI (Reuters) - Tea Party-backed Republican U.S. Representative Allen West said he was still not ready to concede defeat on Sunday, almost two weeks after the November 6 election, when the clock ran out on a partial recount in South Florida. Results showing West trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy by 1,900 votes were expected to be turned over to the state Division of Elections to be ratified on Tuesday. West was granted a recount of early ballots in St. Lucie County during the weekend, but officials were unable to complete the process before time ran out at midday on Sunday. ...

Search goes on after oil platform blast; 1 hospitalized man fair

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 01:05 PM PST

Co. looks for worker after oil rig fire in GulfAs crews searched Sunday for a worker still missing after an oil platform explosion and fire, doctors said one of four men burned in the blaze is improving and is now in fair condition.Two remained in ...

Rupert Murdoch's Jewish problem -- and his Egyptian one

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 11:56 AM PST

News Corp Chairman and CEO Murdoch reacts to a point as he takes part in a discussion at the "The Economics and Politics of Immigration" Forum in BostonOne of the pleasures of following Rupert Murdoch's account on Twitter is that the brief notes left there seem to have been written by the man himself.

Public nudity ban eyed in fed-up San Francisco

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 12:45 PM PST

Demonstrators gather at a protest against a proposed nudity ban outside of City Hall in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. San Francisco appears poised to shed part of its image as a city where anything goes, including clothing. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote next week on a law that would ban public nudity. The proposal comes in response to a devoted group of nudists who proudly strut their stuff through the city's Castro District. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)San Francisco may be getting ready to shed its image as a city where anything goes, including clothing.

Medics: Israel strike intended for militants kills 11 Gaza civilians

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 01:11 PM PST

A Palestinian man kisses the hand of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. President Barack Obama on Sunday defended Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, but he warned that escalating the offensive with Israeli ground troops could deepen the death toll and undermine any hope of a peace process with the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)An Israeli missile flattened a two-story house in a residential neighborhood of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, mostly women and children, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel expanded a military offensive to target homes of wanted militants.

In unusual CIA case, FBI detoured from usual path

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 10:36 AM PST

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2012, file photo, Jill Kelley leaves her home in Tampa, Fla. The way the FBI responded to Jill Kelley's complaint about receiving harassing emails, which ultimately unraveled or scarred the careers of ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and Marine Gen. John Allen, is the exception, not the rule. The FBI commonly declines to pursue cyberstalking cases without compelling evidence of serious or imminent harm to an individual, victims of online harassment, advocacy groups and computer crime experts told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)The way the FBI responded to Jill Kelley's complaint about receiving harassing emails, which ultimately unraveled or scarred the careers of ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and Marine Gen. John Allen, is the exception, not the rule.

Republicans say Rice must testify on Benghazi statements

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 10:37 AM PST

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice speaks with the media after Security Council consultations at U.N. headquarters in New YorkWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. lawmakers turned up the heat on Sunday on Susan Rice, saying the U.N. ambassador - seen as a possible nominee to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state - must testify before Congress on her remarks after the September attack that killed the American envoy to Libya. Two influential Senate Republicans, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, did not back down on Sunday from their vow made last week to oppose any attempt by President Barack Obama to put Rice into a Cabinet position that would require Senate confirmation. "She has a lot of explaining to do. ...

Gingrich on Romney’s ‘gifts’ comments: ‘It’s nuts’

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 09:59 AM PST

FILE - This Sept. 24, 2012 file photo shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaking, in Kirkwood, Mo. The Grand Old Party needs to get with the times. That's according to many Republicans who talked of the party's challenges following the GOP's electoral shellacking. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)Like several other prominent Republicans, Newt Gingrich slammed Mitt Romney's assertion in a conference call with donors last week that he lost the 2012 presidential election because of "gifts" President Barack Obama gave to blacks, Hispanics and younger voters during his first term in the White House. "It's nuts," Gingrich told guest host Martha Raddatz [...]

Mag: Norway killer Breivik wrote to German far-right suspect

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 09:25 AM PST

Norwegian mass killer Breivik reacts as he returns after a break to the court room, in Oslo CourthouseBERLIN (Reuters) - Anders Behring Breivik, who slaughtered 77 people in Norway last year, has written to a far-right gang member in Germany charged with helping in a series of racist killings, calling her a hero of national resistance, a German magazine reported. Der Spiegel weekly reproduced on Sunday part of the letter the far-right Breivik sent to Beate Zschaepe, charged this month with involvement in the murders of nine immigrants - including eight from Turkey - and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007. ...

Son of Madoff's accountant kills himself in Ohio

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 10:07 AM PST

The son of Bernard Madoff's longtime accountant, who himself pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the scandal centered on the disgraced financier, has committed suicide in central Ohio, authorities said.Jeremy ...

Obama: Historic Myanmar visit is sign of progress

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 09:40 AM PST

U.S. President Barack Obama, second left, and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, second right, arrive for an official dinner at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)On the eve of his landmark trip to Myanmar, President Barack Obama tried to assure critics that his visit was not a premature reward for a long-isolated nation still easing its way toward democracy.

Sex offender suspected in 1970 Wis. child murder

Posted: 18 Nov 2012 09:18 AM PST

This 1970 handout photo shows Donna Willing. Donna was raped and strangled in 1970. Police have identified Donna's childhood neighbor as the alleged killer: 73-year-old Robert Hill. He's been in prison for other sexual assaults of children. The biological evidence in Donna Willing's case was lost or destroyed, and prosecutors are using Wisconsin's sex offender law to possibly keep him in custody indefinitely. They hope to prove Hill is a sexually violent person during a Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 hearing. (AP Photo/Family Photo via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)Virginia Davis describes says the pain left behind by her 9-year-old sister's 1970 rape and strangulation as being like "a million holes."