MESA, ARIZ. – Phoenix city officials are considering eliminating some 500 jobs, closing public pools for an additional two months each year, and reducing the hours of city museums and community centers to combat a $67.1 million projected shortfall in revenues this year.
In Tucson, Ariz., officials are reducing employee travel, equipment purchases, and hiring to [...]

Time travel could be a reality within just three months, Russian mathematicians have claimed.
They believe an experiment nuclear scientists plan to carry out in underground tunnels in Geneva in May could create a rift in the fabric of the universe.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) hopes its "atom-smashing" tests – which aim to [...]

Australians planning to cruise around the Hawaiian Islands in coming months will find it harder to get a cabin, and could end up paying more than they expected.
The biggest operator, Norwegian Cruise Line, says it will withdraw the 2000-passenger Pride of Aloha from service there in May.
The announcement follows the departure from Hawaii earlier this [...]

LAUGHLIN – The water was still and reflected the night stars like a giant mirror.
It was August 1976, and four college students had set out into the Maine wilderness for a fishing trip on a lake surrounded by dense forest.
Then one of them spotted a white, round sphere hovering above the water, its surface moving [...]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Some Wyoming legislators are trying to prevent more than $2 million in annual tax revenue from slipping away by pushing a bill that would tax oil and gas companies for helium extraction.
The House gave preliminary approval to the bill on Thursday. It will need two more House approvals before going to [...]

HONOLULU — Calling all romantics ~ this is certain to bring music to your ears! The Hawaii Romance Festival has teamed up with Pleasant Holidays to offer visitors a chance to experience Hawaii at its romantic best with a special travel package combining airfare, hotel accommodations, hotel transfers, lei greeting, and tickets to select Hawaii [...]

Barack Obama racked up another victory Tuesday night, defeating Hillary Clinton by a wide margin in the Wisconsin Democratic primary while also proving he can win big in a primary-style election in a state with a small minority population.
Meanwhile, John McCain won both the Wisconsin and Washington Republican presidential primaries, besting longshot rival Mike Huckabee. [...]

When families told Park City Mountain Resort (www.pcmr.com) they didn’t like leaving their little skiers and snowboarders in big ski school classes (how could the instructors teach the kids anything if they were constantly counting heads?), the Utah resort initiated a Signature Five Program, which guarantees no more than five kids in a class (the [...]

The secret history of spies in space is about be revealed.
The new documentary "Astrospies" will delve into the U.S. Air Force’s Cold War-era space reconnaissance program and its Soviet Union counterpart during a Tuesday edition of the series NOVA on the Public Broadcasting System.
"We used to have a joke in the program," said former astronaut [...]

Sen. Barack Obama’s triumph over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in yesterday’s Virginia primary, driven by overwhelming black support and an ability to attract whites and independents, suggests that he could be the candidate best positioned to carry the state for the Democrats in November for the first time in 44 years.
On the GOP side, the [...]

SEWARD, Alaska — There are thousands of glaciers in Alaska, and seeing some up close will surely be a highlight of any trip you might be planning to the 49th state this summer. You can see glaciers from the deck of a ship, paddling in a canoe, by floatplane or helicopter, or by driving and [...]

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has charged six detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials said Monday they’ll seek the death penalty in what would be the first capital trials under the terrorism-era military tribunal system.
"These charges allege a long term, highly sophisticated, organized plan by [...]

Think Wisconsin, or the rest of the country for that matter, can do without hunters and anglers? Think again.
Going strictly by the numbers, a robustly titled report released in late December — and supplemented by state rankings on revenues, participation and employment — indicated local and national economies would take a serious hit if foes [...]

NEW YORK – The electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The decision effectively suspended executions there because Nebraska is the only state that still relies solely on electrocution, which was once the dominant form of execution in the United States.
"The evidence here shows that electrocution inflicts intense pain [...]

HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) – A sick German astronaut has delayed by 24 hours a spacewalk that had been set for Sunday to attach the European-made Columbus laboratory to the orbiting International Space Station, a NASA spokesman said.
Just after the shuttle Atlantis docked with the ISS, mission chief John Shannon told reporters German astronaut Hans Schlagel, [...]