A big disconnect as ‘fiscal cliff’ clock ticks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans' newfound willingness to consider tax increases to avert the "fiscal cliff" comes with a significant caveat: larger cuts than Democrats seem willing to consider to benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the president's health care overhaul.

President signs whistle-blower bill for US workers

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama signed legislation Tuesday that affords greater protection to federal employees who expose fraud, waste and abuse in government operations.

Suit targets ‘locator’ chips in Texas student IDs

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - To 15-year-old Andrea Hernandez, the tracking microchip embedded in her student ID card is a "mark of the beast," sacrilege to her Christian faith - not to mention how it pinpoints her location, even in the school bathroom.

Former baseball union head Miller dead at 95

NEW YORK (AP) - Marvin Miller was a labor economist who never played a day of organized baseball. He preferred tennis. Yet he transformed the national pastime as surely as Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, television and night games.

Broadway and film producer Martin Richards dies

NEW YORK (AP) - Martin Richards, the Tony Award-winning producer behind such Broadway hits as "On the Twentieth Century," ''Sweeney Todd," and "The Will Rogers Follies," as well as an Academy Award-winning producer of the film "Chicago," has died after battling cancer, his publicist said Tuesday. He was 80.

Despite talk of compromise, fiscal deal elusive

WASHINGTON (AP) - Talk of compromise on a broad budget deal greeted returning lawmakers Monday, but agreement still seemed distant as the White House and congressional Republicans ceded little ground on a key sticking point: whether to raise revenue through higher tax rates or by limiting tax breaks and deductions.

Some GOP lawmakers now flout anti-tax man Norquist

WASHINGTON (AP) - For decades, conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist vowed to drive Republicans out of office if they didn't pledge to oppose tax increases. Many lawmakers signed on.

Cuomo: Sandy cost NY, NYC $32B in damage and loss

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Top political leaders in New York put their heads together Monday on big requests for federal disaster aid as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Superstorm Sandy ran up a bill of $32 billion in the state and the nation's largest city.

FDA halts operations at peanut butter plant

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration halted operations of the country's largest organic peanut butter processor Monday, cracking down on salmonella poisoning for the first time with new enforcement authority the agency gained in a 2011 food safety law.

GOP blocks bill to give hunters more land access

WASHINGTON (AP) - A wide-ranging bill to give hunters and fishermen more access to public lands stalled in the Senate Monday after Republicans said it spends too much money.

US twin astronaut, Russian to spend year in orbit

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A former space shuttle commander whose twin brother is married to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will attempt the longest spaceflight ever by an American.

Transplant doc, Nobel winner Murray dies in Boston

BOSTON (AP) - Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who performed the world's first successful kidney transplant and won a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work, has died at age 93.

Los Angeles Co. team fights costly plastic thefts

INDUSTRY (AP) - The humble milk crate is the focus of a crime that's costing Southern California businesses millions of dollars a year.

All items in ‘12 Days of Christmas’ now top $107K

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Add seven swans, six geese and five golden rings to the list of Christmas gifts that cost more than they did a year ago.

AP IMPACT: Will NYC act to block future surges?

Think Sandy was just a 100-year storm that devastated New York City? Imagine one just as bad, or worse, every three years.

Defense releases photos, texts of Trayvon Martin

Governor moves out of office over TV dispute

Non-citizens could serve as poll workers in California elections

Nation news briefs

NO SIGN KILLING OF 2 KIDS WAS PLANNED: WEST POINT, Utah (AP) - A teenager was arrested Thursday in the deaths of his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 10, at the family home in a Utah subdivision of new houses and tidy lawns, police said.

Boy Scouts OK accepting openly gay boys

YouTube sensation: Philadelphia bicyclist has a cat is his co-pilot

NYPD: Merchant held for ransom, tortured for month

Obama lifts ban on Guantanamo transfers

Boy or Girl?' Gender new challenge for schools

Odd News

COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSTAIN FROM VOTE ON ABSTAINING: YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) - Three members of a Michigan city council have abstained from voting on a measure that would have prevented them from abstaining on future votes.

Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set