The three Las Vegas hikers faced a life-or-death dilemma: Let the gritty brown water fill up to where they were desperately clinging to a single rope or let go of the rope and fall into the rising water and rocks below.
WASHINGTON — Summoned back from summer break, the House on Tuesday pushed through an emergency $26 billion jobs bill that Democrats said would save 300,000 teachers, police and others from election-year layoffs. President Barack Obama immediately signed it into law.
Clark County Fire Chief Steve Smith announced Tuesday that he is retiring after 31 years with the department.
JUNEAU, Alaska — A plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens and eight others crashed in remote southwest Alaska, killing the longtime Republican lawmaker and four other people, authorities said Tuesday. Ex-NASA chief Sean O’Keefe was also believed to be aboard, but it was unclear whether he was among the dead.
STURGIS, S.D. — Mean machines and burly bikers didn’t draw Amanda White to the world’s largest motorcycle rally. She had her sights set on a bow-tied nerd in an ill-fitting gray plaid suit: Pee-wee Herman. Actor Paul Reubens is reintroducing Pee-wee – his alter ego and 1980s cult character – to fans at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, which is expected to draw more than 500,000 people this week. “I call it my Pee-wee pilgrimage,” said White, who drove 10 hours to the rally.
GENEVA — The World Health Organization declared the swine flu pandemic officially over Tuesday, months after many national authorities started canceling vaccine orders and shutting down hot lines as the disease ebbed from the headlines.
JUNEAU, Alaska — From Playgirl to … politico? That’s right: Levi Johnston’s manager, Tank Jones, is confirming a report that Johnston is planning to run for city office in his hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, as part of a reality TV show. Wasilla is where Sarah Palin got her start in politics, moving up from City Council to mayor before winning election as Alaska’s governor in 2006.