Man's accidental deportation raises immigrants' fears

Two months after questions were raised about the legality of his deportation by U.S. authorities, a Salvadoran man returned from his homeland Tuesday to a tearful reunion with his wife in Miami. His case and others, immigrant rights advocates say, have rekindled fears that authorities are stepping up detentions and deportations. | 11/18/09 16:00:14 By - Alfonso Chardy

A Texas-size technicality: Marriage may be unconstitutional

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for Texas attorney general, says a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously banned all marriages in the state. "You do not have to have a fancy law degree to read this and understand what it plainly says," said Radnofsky. | 11/18/09 15:55:33 By - Dave Montgomery

Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state. | 11/18/09 15:38:03 By - Dave Montgomery

Allegations in Missouri incest case grow more bizarre

The macabre story of the Mohlers took an even darker twist Tuesday — random murder, little girls with knives and a sex slave hidden in the crawl space. The new information comes from search warrants in the Lafayette County case that started explosively enough last week with the arrest of a senior citizen and his four middle-aged sons. All are charged with sex crimes against six children of the Mohler family, based on the allegations of a 26-year-old woman in August. | 11/18/09 14:21:31 By - Donald Bradley

Research funded by oil interests claims icy spills easier to clean

Scientists funded by Shell and six other oil companies say that cleaning up oil spills in Arctic ice is in many respects easier than cleaning it from open water. The researchers' preliminary findings conflict with the conventional wisdom about how spills in Arctic ice would be difficult, if not impossible, to clean up. | 11/18/09 06:48:24 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Obama Web site claims stimulus jobs in non-existent places

The federal Web site that tracks spending from the Obama administration's $787-billion economic stimulus program reports that the program has created thousands of jobs in congressional districts that don't exist. According to the site, California has seven congressional districts more than the 53 it actually has. In South Carolina, the site reported $40.7 million in stimulus spending in seven districts, including the 00 and 25. South Carolina has six House districts. | 11/17/09 20:40:00 By - James Rosen

Black artist's portrait of Jesse Helms 'an honor, an irony'

Rene Dickerson's abstract, brilliantly colored paintings depict joyful scenes of African-American culture. He paints jazz, Motown, beautiful women and scenes of love. Last spring, though, a friend in Washington invited him to lunch at the tony Capitol Hill Club, a social enclave for Republican lawmakers. The friend asked, 'Would you like to paint a portrait of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms?' | 11/17/09 20:10:00 By - Barbara Barrett

Hundreds line up for Thanksgiving bounty from food pantry

Hundreds of people waited hours in the cold outside the Bread of Life food pantry this morning in hopes of securing the makings of a Thanksgiving dinner. | 11/17/09 17:32:39 By - Suzanne Perez Tobias

Digital textbooks pushing out paper in Texas

Texas legislation passed in the spring could put up-to-the-minute instructional content at students' fingertips — either online or in customized printed form — eliminating the mass-market hardback textbook | 11/17/09 16:15:49 By - Shirley Jinkins

Are injuries in the workplace being hidden?

Many company doctors face pressure to conceal workplace injuries - even if it means providing inadequate medical treatment, according to a new study by Congress' watchdog agency.

The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office - spurred by the Observer's stories on hidden injuries in the poultry industry - concludes that safety regulators haven't done enough to ensure the accuracy of worksite injury numbers.

Federal OSHA, which oversees safety in about half the states, said it would follow all of the GAO's recommendations. It's unclear whether the remaining states, including the Carolinas, will adopt them.

"Many of the problems identified in the report are quite alarming, and OSHA will be taking strong enforcement action where we find underreporting," U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Monday.

In a survey of 504 occupational health practitioners - including company doctors and nurses - the GAO found:

More than a third said they were asked to provide insufficient treatment to workers so that job-related injuries did not show up on company injury logs.

More than half said they were pressured by company officials to downplay injuries or illnesses.

More than two-thirds said they knew of employees who feared disciplinary action if they reported injuries. | 11/17/09 16:06:34 By - Ames Alexander and Kerry Hall Singe

Recession causes more families to go without food

The number of U.S. households that are struggling to feed their members jumped by 4 million to 17 million last year, as recession-fueled job losses and increased poverty and unemployment fueled a surge in hunger, a government survey reported Monday. | 11/16/09 18:30:00 By - Tony Pugh

Condits have a new reason they ducked service in a lawsuit

Former California congressman Gary Condit and his family members avoided being served legal papers in 2006 because they feared U.S. deputy marshals were actually reporters on the prowl, Condit's son Chad has now explained. In a handwritten statement filed in federal court, Chad Condit says his family had no idea marshals were trying to serve them legal documents in their long running lawsuit with Baskin-Robbins. | 11/16/09 18:01:00 By - Michael Doyle

Judge won't back down on 'birther' Taitz's $20,000 fine

U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land has directed the U.S. attorney in Georgia to collect $20,000 in sanctions from "birther" attorney Orly Taitz, who let the deadline pass without paying the money. Land issued the fine after calling Taitz's lawsuits questioning Obama's U.S. citizenship "frivolous." | 11/16/09 14:26:02 By - Alan Riquelmy

The End is near? Apocalyptic fantasies fascinate many

Prophecies about the end of the world have been debated by scholars, theologians and religious leaders for a long time. But it’s not just them. Pop culture also has a fascination with end times. Sociologists say the interest in books, movies and lectures on the subject increases with bad times, such as those scarred by hurricanes, famines, tsunamis, war and economic collapse. | 11/16/09 13:18:06 By - Ron Orozco

Gay Rights fight is decades-long in Fort Worth

In the aftermath of a police inspection in June at the Rainbow Lounge gay bar that ended with a patron in the hospital, a panel in Fort Worth recommends other actions, including domestic partner benefits and expanding the city’s health insurance plan to cover gender reassignment procedures, including sex changes. | 11/16/09 13:11:53 By - Anna M. Tinsley