USA
Most of Houston may remain without power for another week, utility officials said Tuesday of efforts to restore a degree of normalcy to the nation's fourth-largest city after hurricane Ike. Mayor Bill White has complained that federal authorities are delivering emergency supplies of food, water, and ice too slowly.
A bill to allow offshore drilling in open waters 50 miles from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts was approved by the House Tuesday and now is being considered by the Senate. The measure, which requires the consent of coastal states, also allows natural-gas development, but it disappoints Republicans who've called for drilling much closer to shore.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) of California pledged to veto a state budget deal Tuesday that state lawmakers hammered out 78 days late and said he would veto hundreds of bills legislators might pass this year if they override his budget veto. The Legislature incorporated two of three of the governor's budgeting reform requests, but balked at one that would have restricted their ability to tap state reserves.
The new Women's Professional Soccer League, which debuts next April, allocated its biggest stars Tuesday, including members of the gold medal-winning US Olympic team , to seven teams. The WPS aims to be more fiscally disciplined than a failed women's pro league that folded in 2003 after four years in operation.
The controversial "Trooper-gate" investigation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) ran into a roadblock Tuesday, when state Attorney General Talis Colberg said 13 state employees wouldn't testify unless either the full Senate or the entire Legislature voted to compel testimony. Palin's backers believe she didn't abuse her power in firing an official for refusing to dismiss her former brother-in-law, an Alaska state trooper, and that the investigation is politically motivated.
Barack Obama raised $9 million for his Democratic presidential bid Tuesday night at a reception, dinner, and show starring singer Barbra Streisand in Beverly Hills, Calif. In August, his campaign took in $66 million, a one-month record for a presidential candidate.
To cut down on sleep-related truck crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday recommended the government mandate the use of driver alarm systems.
