A massive fire fueled by a ruptured gas line roared through a neighborhood south of San Francisco on Thursday leaving at least one dead.

While the policy, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” will not change right away, the ruling reflects others taking aim at discrimination against homosexuals.

Officials are attempting to buy and destroy copies of an Afghan war memoir they say holds intelligence secrets.

Public defenders in Missouri say the budget is interfering with their ability to provide poor defendants with their right to a lawyer.

The pastor, Terry Jones, said at one point that he had canceled his plan. Later he said it was suspended.

Air Force and Navy bases said they would refuse to sell a soon-to-be-released combat-simulation game, Medal of Honor.

The administration has pledged tax credits and subsidies to spur manufacturing but has said the lead must come from the private sector.

The suit, which names 35 schools, argues that California has failed to protect the right to a free education.

Iran plans to release Sarah Shourd, one of the three young American hikers detained and accused of spying last year, Iranian officials said Thursday.

A federal judge in California said Thursday that the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members violates the Constitution, the most recent in a string of court rulings overturning restrictions on the rights of the country's gay men and lesbians.


dont ask dont tell - Law - Barack Obama - Politics - United States

OAKLAND, CALIF. - For those who have long argued that smoking marijuana should not be a crime, a potentially historic turning point is just weeks away.


Cannabis - Drugs - Health - Illegal - Marijuana

The Pentagon says it will design energy-efficient weapons systems -- and the Navy will build a carrier strike group of nuclear ships powered by biofuel.


Carbon footprint - Carbon cycle - Environment - Carbon Management - Carbon Offsets

Visitors to the Mall can power up their computers for the first time, now that outdoor "hotspots" cover the area from Third Street on the east side to 14th Street on the west. The Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art also are connected.



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The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and The Washington Post's On Leadership site jointly produce the Federal Coach, hosted by Tom Fox, director of the partnership's Center for Government Leadership. The goal is to "engage, inspire and learn from you, the federal worker, whether you are a...


United States - Government - Business - Sven-Göran Eriksson - Mark Hughes

Education Department is developing an environmental management system for its Washington area locations that will commit the agency to aggressive goals in regional and local planning, water use and eliminating waste.


Environment - Business - United States - Arts and Entertainment - Business and Economy

Joe Davidson is away. The Federal Diary will resume when he returns.


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Barbara G. Benoski, 90, a high school business teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School in the Alexandria area from 1960 until she retired in the mid-1980s, died Sept. 2 at her home in Fairfax County of congestive heart failure.



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Money to run the San Diego city water program stops in two years, leaving the possibility that pipes and tanks will have no longterm use.

The district's conservative approach to finances appears to be paying off during difficult times.

A lawsuit has been filed challenging an ordinance recently approved by the county’s Board of Supervisors making it easier for growers to open wine-tasting rooms and establish small wineries in unincorporated parts of the region.

Students fall short of testing landmarks

Brent and Kelly King, parents of slain Poway teenager Chelsea King, spoke to The San Diego Union-Tribune Thursday afternoon, hours after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Chelsea’s Law. Question: The passage of Chelsea’s Law stirs up complex emotions for everyone. What were you thinking as the governor signed it?

Saundra “Sandy” Lopez sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of wire fraud. She had faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The only adult entertainment establishment in Imperial Beach will have to comply with new guidelines.

A former Lakeside ranch that played an important role in early San Diego County history will be open for public tours Friday.

A skywriting company will leave a message for San Diego from Chelsea King's family in the Poway skies starting at 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, hours after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs Chelsea's Law.

Terry Jones says he had canceled the event after securing a promise that the Islamic center planned near the World Trade Center site in New York would be moved. But an imam denies promising a relocation.

Just hours after backing down from plans to burn copies of the Koran, an anti-Muslim evangelist backtracked again Thursday by announcing that his tiny Florida church was considering burning the Islamic holy book after all.

The judge plans to issue an injunction preventing the government from barring openly gay service members. The Justice Dept., which defended the policy during the trial, can appeal the decision.

A federal judge in Riverside on Thursday declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional, saying the "don't ask, don't tell" policy violates the 1st Amendment and due process rights of lesbians and gay men.

WASHINGTON — John Boehner is hardly a household name, but President Obama seems set on making him one.

But the president adds that for now, his aide has plenty to do at the White House.

President Obama said Thursday that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel would do a good job as Chicago mayor but is focused on his job at the White House, where there is a long to-do list at the moment.

A U.S. appeals court overturns a Pennsylvania city's law that punishes landlords for renting to illegal immigrants and employers for hiring them. But the matter of who rules on immigration is far from settled.

WASHINGTON — A city may not punish employers who hire illegal immigrants or landlords who rent to them, a U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday, insisting that regulation of immigrants is "clearly within the exclusive domain of the federal government."

Will White House and union ties help or hinder a Democratic Senate candidate against a Republican incumbent?

In the 51 years since Hawaii gained statehood, Democrats have ridden the wave of union endorsements into Congress.

The New Jersey city of Teaneck is across the Hudson from Manhattan, but yet it seems immune to the current debate over the Islamic center. Mohammed Hameeduddin is more concerned about the economy.

Mohammed Hameeduddin is not the first practicing Muslim mayor of a U.S. city. That was Charles Mustafa Bilal, who presided over Kountze, Texas, in the 1990s. Nor is Hameeduddin the first Muslim to become a mayor since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Wayne Smith was elected in Irvington, N.J., in 2002.

Some residents are told to prepare to evacuate in case gusty winds push the blaze toward the city of 100,000.

A Colorado wildfire that has destroyed 170 homes showed no signs of relenting Thursday as wind gusts of more than 40 mph fueled fears that the flames would move east from the Rocky Mountain foothills and into the heart of Boulder, where some residents were warned to be ready to flee.

The appeals court decision doesn't remove uncertainty over the future of the field. At issue is whether federal law bars the use of public funds for experiments involving human embryonic stem cells.

The National Institutes of Health may temporarily resume funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells, an appeals court ruled Thursday — though uncertainty over the future of the field remains, scientists said.