Oakland Turns Violent Over Shooting

Protesters angry over a deadly New Year’s Day shooting of a young black man by a transit police officer erupted into violence in downtown Oakland on Wednesday night while investigators struggled to determine what prompted the officer to... 
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Hundreds of Coal Ash Dumps Lack Regulation

The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge across 300 acres of East Tennessee last month was only one of more than 1,300 similar dumps across the United States — most of them unregulated and unmonitored —... 
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Obama Warns Trillion-Dollar Deficit Potential

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday braced Americans for the unparalleled prospect of “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come,” a stark assessment of the budgetary outlook that he said would force his administration... 
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Panetta Chosen as C.I.A. Chief in Surprise Step

WASHINGTON — Leon E. Panetta, a former congressman and White House chief of staff, has been selected by President-elect Barack Obama to head the Central Intelligence Agency. The choice, disclosed Monday by Democratic officials, immediately... 
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Obama’s View on Power Over Detainees Will Be Tested Early

WASHINGTON — Just a month after President-elect Barack Obama takes office, he must tell the Supreme Court where he stands on one of the most aggressive legal claims made by the Bush administration — that the president may order the military... 
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A Focus on Violence by Returning G.I.’s

Maj. Gen. Mark Graham has made mental health a focus in his command. One of his sons, an R.O.T.C. cadet, committed suicide. FORT CARSON, Colo. — For the past several years, as this Army installation in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains... 
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Cabinet Confirmation Hearings Start Next Week

With Congress returning next week, the calendar for confirmation hearings on nominees to President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet is becoming more crowded by the day. If anything, the slate of hearings so far seems to be near the pace set for... 
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Leaning on Jail, City of Immigrants Fills Cells With Its Own

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — Few in this threadbare little mill town gave much thought to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, the maximum-security jail beside the public ball fields at the edge of town. Even when it expanded and added barbed... 
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Downturn Ends Building Boom in New York

Nearly $5 billion in development projects in New York City have been delayed or canceled because of the economic crisis, an extraordinary body blow to an industry that last year provided 130,000 unionized jobs, according to numbers tracked by... 
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Expansion of Clinics Shapes a Bush Legacy

NASHVILLE — Although the number of uninsured and the cost of coverage have ballooned under his watch, President Bush leaves office with a health care legacy in bricks and mortar: he has doubled federal financing for community health centers,... 
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