"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Gas explosion in Massachusetts injures eight

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:42 PM PST

An explosion triggered by a gas leak destroyed a building in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, on Friday, injuring at least eight people although none seriously, police said.

Wreck victims on family's first Thanksgiving apart

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 05:36 PM PST

Cars and Trucks are piled on Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco)The children of a Houston-area couple killed during Thursday's massive interstate wreck in Texas say this year was the family's first Thanksgiving apart.

Gas explosion in Mass. levels building, injures eight

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:39 PM PST

An explosion triggered by a gas leak destroyed a building in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, on Friday, injuring at least eight people although none seriously, police said. Springfield Police Captain William Collins said the building, a gentleman's club, exploded at about 5:25 p.m. as the gas company was looking for a leak under the road. "The whole building is completely gone," Collins told Reuters by telephone. "The building was leveled ... there was extensive damage to a building across the street. ...

Congressman-elect writing Elizabeth Smart's memoir

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 02:57 PM PST

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2012 file photo, Elizabeth Smart speaks to reporters regarding her advocacy of child protection and the healing process she has experienced, prior to her presentation at the Child Sexual Abuse Conference, in State College, Pa. Ten years after her kidnapping, Smart is preparing her story of being held captive by a homeless street preacher, her improbable rescue after nine months, and how she advocated for children after the ordeal. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson, File)Ten years after her kidnapping, Elizabeth Smart is preparing her story of being held captive by a homeless street preacher, her improbable rescue after nine months, and how she advocated for children after the ordeal.

Protests greet shoppers at Walmarts nationwide

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:16 PM PST

Striking Walmart workers and supporters protest at a store on Black Friday in Paramount, CaliforniaWal-Mart workers and supporters marched in protest at a number of stores nationwide Thursday and Friday, blasting the wages, benefits and treatment of employees of the world's largest retailer.

Walmart protests draw crowds, shoppers largely unfazed

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:52 PM PST

Dozens of local workers, and hundreds nationally, took advantage of Black Friday crowds and camera crews at major retailers like Walmart to call for wage increases.

Protests greet shoppers at Walmarts nationwide

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 02:44 PM PST

Demonstrators are arrested by police after protesting outside a Walmart store Friday Nov. 23, 2012, in Paramount, Calif. Wal-Mart employees and union supporters are taking part in today's nationwide demonstration for better pay and benefits A union-backed group called OUR Walmart, which includes former and current workers, was staging the demonstrations and walkouts at hundreds of stores on Black Friday, the day when retailers traditionally turn a profit for the year. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)Wal-Mart workers and supporters marched in protest at a number of stores nationwide Thursday and Friday, blasting the wages, benefits and treatment of employees of the world's largest retailer.

Gaza crowds surge at Israel border fence, 1 dead

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:42 PM PST

Smoke rises from the Hamas government building known as Abu Khadra that was destroyed in an Israeli air strike two days ago in Gaza City, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. In Israel, a poll showed that about half of Israelis think their government should have continued its military offensive against Hamas. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)Israeli troops fired on Gazans surging toward Israel's border fence Friday, killing one person but leaving intact the fragile two-day-old cease-fire between Hamas and the Jewish state.

Norway mass killer criticizes prison conditions

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:41 AM PST

FILE This Tuesday May, 29, 2012 file photo shows confessed mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik looking at this own notes as he sits inside court as the trial against him continues in Oslo, Norway. Breivik, who is serving a 21-year sentence for killing 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage last year, has complained that he is being held in inhumane conditions and is being denied freedom of expression, his lawyer said Friday Nov. 9, 2012. "He has written a long complaint that he is being held in a section with particularly high security," Tord Jordet told The Associated Press. "He is today the only one in this ward and the security regime is the strictest in Norway." (AP Photo / Heiko Junge, NTB scanpix, file) NORWAY OUTNorwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik accused prison officers of trying to drive him to suicide in conditions he describes as "a mini Abu Ghraib."

Powerball jackpot builds to $325M for Saturday

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 02:49 PM PST

Michael Arrington, left, buys a Powerball ticket from cashier Lee Heilig, right, on Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at a DeliMart convenience store in Iowa City, Iowa. The jackpot had reached $325 million as of Friday. (AP Photo/Grant Schulte)Black Friday shoppers in many cities briefly detoured into lottery retailers, drawn off task by the prospects of winning a $325 million Powerball jackpot — the fourth-largest in the game's history.

Chambliss move a signal of GOP tax doctrine rebellion?

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:12 PM PST

U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee vice chairman Senator Chambliss leaves after former CIA Director Petraeus testified in WashingtonSen. Saxby Chambliss this week became the latest Republican lawmaker to loosen his ties to Grover Norquist, the anti-tax lobbyist famous for getting elected officials to sign a "taxpayer protection pledge." The rebellion, albeit a modest one, comes as Republicans prepare to negotiate with Democrats and President Barack Obama on a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff - some $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start jolting the economy at the beginning of 2013. ...

2 shot at Walmart in Tallahassee, Fla.

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 12:48 PM PST

Tallahassee police are interviewing witnesses outside of a Walmart where two people were shot.

Sandy dampens mood for many Black Friday shoppers

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:47 PM PST

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y./BROOKLYN, New York (Reuters) - Malls across the United States teemed with shoppers looking for Black Friday bargains, but many in the New York area sat out the madness, too busy coping with the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy. The Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York, just a few miles from New York's JFK airport, is in a part of Long Island that was particularly devastated by the October 29 storm, which destroyed or severely damaged homes in many low-lying areas. ...

Deborah Raffin, Actress and Audio-Book Entrepreneur, dies at 59

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:26 PM PST

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Actress Deborah Raffin, who went on to found a profitable audio-book company, died Wednesday after a battle with leukemia, the Los Angeles Times reports. She was 59. Raffin's brother William told the Times that she had been diagnosed with the disease approximately a year ago. She died at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The Los Angeles native landed early parts in the 1973 film "40 Carats" and in 1975's "Once Is Not Enough," adapted from the steamy Jacqueline Susann novel. ...

Egypt president's moves worry Washington

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:25 PM PST

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi speaks to supporters in front of the presidential palace in CairoMohamad Mursi declared his decisions above the law until a new parliament is elected, sparking diplomatic fears.

Deadly La. oil rig fire claims second victim

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:21 PM PST

In this aerial photograph, a supply vessel moves near an oil rig damaged by an explosion and fire, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La. Four people were transported to a hospital with critical burns and two were missing. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)One of the men burned last week in an explosion and fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico died on Friday of his injuries, an official said, bringing the confirmed death toll from the accident to two. Avelino Tajonera, 49, a welder from the Philippines working on the Black Elk Energy rig, died in a New Orleans hospital on Friday morning, according to a statement from the Philippine Ambassador to the United States. He died shortly after his wife and three children arrived from Manila. ...

2 injured when tree crushes car in Wilmette

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 12:55 PM PST

Two people were taken to the hospital today after a large tree fell on a their car in Wilmette.

Scuba diver, drowned in Fla., was research star

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:53 PM PST

Woman Dies in Dive-Boat MishapA diver from New Mexico who died in a Thanksgiving Day boating accident was a manager at one of the nation's leading research laboratories who was in Florida for a holiday dive trip with her nephew, authorities said Friday.

Mexico arrests suspected murderer on FBI most wanted list

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:49 PM PST

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican federal police have captured suspected murderer, rapist and drug gang member Joe Luis Saenz, one of the 10 most wanted fugitives on the FBI's list, the government said on Friday. Saenz, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in the city of Guadalajara in western Mexico on Thursday following an investigation carried out by the federal police in conjunction with the FBI, the government said in a statement. According to the FBI, Saenz is suspected of shooting and killing two rival gang members in Los Angeles in July 1998. For the FBI's most wanted list, see: www.fbi. ...

Why are Qatar and Iran courting Palestine's rebels?

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST

FILE- In this Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 file photo, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani waves to the crowd as he and and Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, not pictured, arrive for corner-stone laying ceremony of a Qatari funded rehabilitation center in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, Pool, File)The courtship of Hamas between rivals Iran and Qatar has been one of the Middle East's intriguing subplots of the Arab Spring. The bloodshed in Gaza has now sharpened their competition for influence with the Palestinian militant group and the direction it takes in the future.