USA
Democratic Party leaders are giving serious consideration to conducting do-over presidential primaries in Florida and Michigan by using the US Postal Service to distribute and collect ballots. The Democratic National Committee has said, however, that it won't pay for a mail-in primary, which could cost millions of dollars. The DNC stripped the two states of all their convention delegates for holding their primaries too early, but officials in both states want to avoid disenfranchising large numbers of voters.
Ridership on public transportation rose 2.1 percent in 2007 to 10.3 billion trips, the highest level in 50 years, the American Public Transportation Association announced Monday. Light rail (modern streetcars and trolleys) enjoyed the greatest increase: 6.1 percent.
Anti-immigrant activism has fueled a significant rise in hate crimes and hate groups that target Latinos, according to a report released Monday by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It cites FBI statistics showing 819 people were victimized by anti-Latino hate crimes in 2006, 38 percent more than in 2003.
A group of Southern Baptist leaders signed a declaration, released Monday, urging a fight against climate change, which some in the conservative denomination have been skeptical about. Decisionmaking lies with local churches, but declaration signatories called current evidence of global warming "substantial."
National gasoline prices have risen 64 cents during the past year, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations, released Sunday. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular jumped nine cents over the past two weeks to $3.19.
Having secured the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. John McCain of Arizona began a week of cross-country fundraising Monday in St. Louis, with stops in New York and Boston among those to follow. Above, he and wife, Cindy, cheered on the NBA's Phoenix Suns during the team's win over the San Antonio Spurs Sunday.
All 10,000 employees of Alabama's two-year college system have completed ethics training, the largest such undertaking in the system's history, a spokesman said. The training was a response to an ongoing state and federal investigation that has uncovered corruption and nepotism problems.
