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Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers afraid of the radiation from the company's wireless SmartMeter may soon have a choice: Accept the device as is. Or ask PG&E to turn off the meter's transmitter - and pay higher monthly bills as a result. As much as $20 more per month. (Snip) In a bid to defuse the controversy, the company suggested in November that it might offer customers a way to opt out of the $2.2 billion program. The president of the California Public Utilities Commission ordered PG&E this month to submit its plan by Thursday.

Seth Foster, 23, said he found his family garage in disarray last summer and sent his dog in the building to investigate. Grizz, a blue heeler, returned with the culprit, a young raccoon. As two teenage boys watched, one of them filming its actions with a cell phone, Grizz killed the coon, Foster said. Now, Foster is facing a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty resulting in death, which is punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 25 in Jackson County District Court.

Sounds very credible considering he soon to be single again.

An illegal immigrant was wearing an "I'm hiding from the cops" shirt when he was arrested on child molestation charges, authorities said today William Velasquez Castillo, 27, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Lucedale late Wednesday evening, Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said. Investigators have been searching for Castillo since April 3 when a 10-year-old girl told investigators he molested her in a vehicle in Ocean Springs, Byrd said. Castillo's last known residence was on Derry Street in Ocean Springs, the sheriff added. A warrant was issued for Castillo on April 23 and detectives believe he fled the area shortly...

New York Times Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. appears close to announcing that the paper will begin charging for access to its website, according to people familiar with internal deliberations. After a year of sometimes fraught debate inside the paper, the choice for some time has been between a Wall Street Journal-type pay wall and the metered system adopted by the Financial Times, in which readers can sample a certain number of free articles before being asked to subscribe. The Times seems to have settled on the metered system.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2009 – Retired Army Col. Lewis L. Millett, who earned the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for leading what reportedly was the last major American bayonet charge, died Nov 14. Retired Army Col. Lewis L. Millet wears his Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and other medals earned in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He served as honorary colonel of the 27th Infantry Regiment Association, and was active in veterans events almost to his death Nov. 14, 2009. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Millett, 88, died in Loma...

Gordon Brown was warned last night to raise the retirement age above 65 and introduce NHS charges to tackle the soaring state deficit. In a devastating intervention, the International Monetary Fund called for radical changes to the pension system and spending cuts that go far beyond the plans outlined by the Prime Minister this week. The global watchdog said root and branch changes to public sector spending would be necessary to 'help keep a lid on the debt' and restore financial stability.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – As US newspapers shrivel up and die, an unlikely figure is emerging as their potential savior: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch. The much-villified Australian-born media tycoon is preparing to battle against the practice many hold largely responsible for newspapers' current plight -- the "original sin" of giving away their content for free online. The 78-year-old Murdoch announced this week that the days of free are over. He said he planned to begin charging readers of the websites of News Corp. newspapers "within the next 12 months," testing the scheme "first on some of our stronger ones. "We...

As a key Judiciary subcommittee looks to the 2008 elections to assess the state of voting rights, Republicans will once again try to shine a light on ACORN, the controversial community organization that has drawn criticism and accusations in recent years. Republicans have accused the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now of being little more than a Democratic front-group, and in testimony Thursday a top GOP lawyer will again charge the group with violating campaign finance and Internal Revenue Service law. In testimony to the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Republican National Lawyers Association...

The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases. "It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is...

(IsraelNN.com) The son of a leading Iranian authority accuses the Iranian President of changing his Jewish name. Several Iranian media sources are quoting Mahdi Khazali – the son of a leading supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – as having written in a blog that the president has Jewish roots. So reports the Hebrew-language Omedia website and Radio Free Europe. Khazali, son of Ayatollah Abu Al-Kassam Khazali, says that Ahmadinejad changed his Jewish name on his ID card in order to hide his roots. Khazali the son says that the president hides his Jewish roots by attacking Israel and the...

October 23, 2008 Posted by John at 9:22 PM We noted here and elsewhere the astonishing degree of fraud that has fueled Barack Obama's record fundraising. The ultimate instance of Obama-fraud was achieved by a reader of The Corner: So I went to the Obama website this afternoon and clicked on the "Donate" button. I used my real MasterCard number (but was not asked for the 3 digit security code). Used the following information and it was accepted... First name: Fake Last Name: Donor Address: 1 Dollar To Prove A Point City: Fraudulent State: AL Zip / Post: 33333 Email...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man who was dressed in a squirrel costume was escorted from the Ohio Statehouse steps on Monday morning while Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Mayor Michael Coleman were discussing negative campaigning by Republicans. The squirrel held up a sign that said, "Don't Let Obama + ACORN Steal Ohio." Strickland, Brown and Coleman stood on the Statehouse steps to call for an end to what they called "lying, deceitful ads" by Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, 10TV's Patrick Bell reported. McCain's campaign accuses ACORN, a community activist group that operates nationwide, of perpetrating...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi citizens are taking back their streets from extremists by taking security into their own hands. The Iraqi Security Volunteer program, an Iraqi project funded by the government of Iraq, allows volunteers from local communities to protect their own neighborhoods. The ISVs receive a three-day training program at Coalition Outpost War Eagle where they learn some basic vehicle checks and how to conduct themselves on the streets, as well as weapons training with an AK-47. “When you have local citizens patrolling their own streets, they have a sincere interest in keeping it safe,” said 1st Lt. John Suh,...

A police officer will avoid criminal charges despite admitting he took marijuana from criminal suspects and, with his wife, baked it into brownies. The police department's decision not to pursue a case against former Cpl. Edward Sanchez left a bad taste in the mouth of at least one city official, who vowed to investigate. "If you're a cop and you're arresting people and you're confiscating the marijuana and keeping it yourself, that's bad. That's real bad," said City Councilman Doug Thomas.

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2007 – The Defense Department’s Office of Military Commissions referred a charge today against David Matthew Hicks, an Australian captured in Afghanistan in December 2001. Judge Susan J. Crawford, the convening authority, referred one charge with two specifications of providing military support for terrorism. DoD officials said this is not a capital case. The referral is the first under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Hicks became known as “the Australian Taliban” following his capture. He is being held at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. Under new procedures, Hicks must be arraigned...

SAN JOSE California's attorney general will seek criminal indictments Wednesday against former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and four others involved in the corporate spying scandal, according to news reports. Citing people familiar with the case, The New York Times and BusinessWeek reported that Dunn, Kevin Hunsaker, HP's ousted chief ethics officer, and Ronald DeLia, a Boston-area private investigator, would each face criminal charges. Two other outside investigators Joseph DePante of Melbourne, Fla. and Bryan Wagner of Littleton, Colo. were also being charged, the Times said. They each will face four felony charges: use of false or fraudulent pretenses to...

Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commanding general, 25th Infantry Division, greets the Iraqi Army division commanders for the first time as he takes charge of Multi-National Division - North at Contingency Operating Base Speicher. Department of Defense photo by Army Spc. Michael Pfaff, 133rd MPAD. TIKRIT --Following a year marked by noteworthy successes in growing the size and capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, rebuilding Iraq and providing security for a vast region of the country, the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division on Wednesday transferred control of Multi-National Division North to the Army’s 25th Infantry Division. “Our mission here is...

STOCKTON An assistant youth football coach who rushed onto the field and tackled a boy on the opposing team was charged with misdemeanor child abuse on Thursday and had a bench warrant issued for his arrest after he showed up late for his arraignment. Cory Petero was initially arrested on a felony charge, but prosecutors decided to pursue a less serious misdemeanor charge because the youth wasn't seriously injured and Petero doesn't have a prior criminal record, Deputy District Attorney Xapuri Villapudua said. "The injuries to the child were very minor," said Villapudua, noting that the boy suffered sore ribs...

Police charge terror suspects (Filed: 21/08/2006) Eleven suspects arrested over the alleged airliner bomb plot have been charged as police revealed they have found bomb-making equipment and martyrdom videos. Police arrested 23 after the discovery of the alleged plot Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Tanvir Hussain, Umar Islam, Arafat Waheed Khan, Assad Ali Sarwar, Adam Khatib, Ibrahim Savant and Waheed Aman are all charged with conspiracy to murder and with an offence under section five of the Terrorism Act 2006. Another three suspects have been charged with other offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. Susan Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service...