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WASHINGTON – The Labor Department is awarding nearly $20 million in grants to religious and community groups to help people released from prison find jobs and make their way back into society. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced the grants in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. The money …

DENVER – Government spending caps suffered back-to-back defeats in Colorado and California over the past two weeks. But whether that means that the American public is turning against the idea of imposing fiscal discipline on politicians remains to be seen. In California last Tuesday, voters rejected by nearly 2-to-1 a …

ESSEX, Md. – Baltimore County (search) fire officials say about 50 second-graders were stung by yellow jackets at Deep Creek Elementary School in Essex this afternoon. Fire department spokesman Elise Armacost (search) says two children had mild allergic reactions to the stings, but no one suffered a serious reaction. Some …

FORT BLISS, Texas – A military jury cleared an Army sergeant Friday of all charges that he abused a detainee at a U.S. detention facility in Afghanistan (search). Sgt. Duane M. Grubb (search), from the Cincinnati-based 377th Military Police Company, is the third soldier from this company to be acquitted …

WASHINGTON – The House moved Wednesday to increase the borrowing authority of the federal program overseeing flood insurance, the second such increase since Hurricane Katrina resulted in an unprecedented number of claims along the Gulf Coast. In a voice vote, the House approved a measure that would allow the National …

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a constitutional challenge to the Bush administration’s military trials for foreign terror suspects, stepping into a high-stakes test of the president’s wartime powers. The court’s intervention is troubling news for the White House, which has been battered by criticism of its …

WASHINGTON – Rep. Jim McDermott asked an appeals court Tuesday to overturn a ruling that he took part in an illegal transaction by providing a taped telephone call to reporters. In arguments that evoked the recent CIA leak case, the appeals court wrestled over whether a federal district court’s 2004 …

British regulators gave the go-ahead Wednesday for Chiron Corp. (search) to resume production of flu vaccine, ending a five-month suspension that caused widespread shortages in the United States. The announcement sent Chiron’s stock soaring almost 10 percent. In October, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (search) (MHRA) barred the …

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) said Tuesday he’s launching a petition drive to place measures on a special election ballot this fall aimed at changing the state’s public pension funds, changing how teachers are paid and revising how political districts are drawn. Schwarzenegger, who has called the election a …

NEW YORK – The “American Idol” (search) fill-in for dropout Mario Vazquez (search) survived the show’s elimination night Wednesday, but his return may not be for long. Nikko Smith (search) endured the Fox show’s dwindling from 12 contestants to 11 by securing enough votes from TV viewers to continue another …