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Bizjournals.com - 7 hours ago
The parent company of Ameriquest Mortgage Co. is closing 229 branch offices and laying off about 3,800 workers, effective immediately. Ameriquest has two offices listed in Honolulu. Calls there were answered ...
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Schwarzenegger Hurt in Motorcycle Mishap
01.08.2006, 10:46 PM
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received 15 stitches in his lip Sunday after he and his 12-year-old son were involved in a motorcycle accident near their Los Angeles home, his spokeswoman said.
Schwarzenegger was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle with his son Patrick in the sidecar when another driver backed into the street, spokeswoman Margita Thompson said in a statement.
"The governor was unable to avoid the vehicle in his path and collided with it at a low speed," she said.
Both Schwarzenegger and his son were treated for cuts and bruises at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica and released, Thompson said. Both were wearing helmets at the time, she said.
The other driver was uninjured.
The governor was expected to keep his appointments Monday. No further details were immediately released.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
| Lobbyist's Guilty Plea Sends Shock Waves Through US Congress | |
| Capitol Hill 04 January 2006 |
;">Listen to Robinson report
Although most members of Congress are still away from Washington on a lengthy break, repercussions of the scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff are already being felt on Capitol Hill. Mr. Abramoff's agreement as part of a plea bargain to provide information about his activities, is causing a great deal of anxiety and has prompted many lawmakers to return money from or linked to him.
As Mr. Abramoff entered guilty pleas on conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges in a federal court in Washington, and later in a Florida court, shockwaves were spreading through Congress. 
Jack Abramoff leaves Federal Court in Washington DC
In the months leading up to Mr. Abramoff's court appearances, lawmakers were bracing for the impact, and some two dozen returned money they had received from the former lobbyist or his clients, who included Native American groups.
Among the latest to do so was Republican House Speaker, Dennis Hastert, who announced he would donate $69,000 received from Mr. Abramoff to charity.
Similar announcements came from the former House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, and Congressman Roy Blunt, the Republican acting as temporary House leader while Mr. DeLay fights criminal charges related to campaign financing.
Republican Congressman Bob Ney, who is among at least half a dozen, but possibly as many as 20 members of Congress believed to be the focus of the federal corruption probe, also announced he would return funds.
Also on Wednesday, President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign announced it is donating to charity $6,000 in contributions connected to Mr. Abramoff.
In announcing that decision, White House Spokesman Scott McClellan stressed that Mr. Abramoff's activities touched on Democrats as well as Republicans.
"I think we are taking the appropriate steps in terms of this individual, [it is] similar to what we have done with previous individuals that may have been involved in wrongdoing that have contributed money too," he said. "And I think in terms of others making those decisions, it is up to them, but there are certainly people on both sides of the [political] aisle that ought to take a look at that."
The federal corruption probe involving Mr. Abramoff has sparked calls in both chambers of Congress for a new push to reform laws relating to lobbying.
Efforts have been underway in the Senate and the House to do just that. Speaking in a telephone news conference, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold says lawmakers were aware for some time that the Abramoff affair would highlight the need for changes.
"It is typically the shame factor or the fear factor [when] members of Congress realize that this is hurting their reputation that often leads people to be willing to change the status quo, so I think it will of course put some wind in our sails and help us get the reform that is needed," he said.
In addition to the federal probe into Mr. Abramoff's activities, Senator John McCain has been leading an investigation in a Senate committee looking at activities involving Native American tribes.
The Abramoff guilty pleas have re-focused attention on mechanisms Congress has to deal with corruption by lawmakers.
However, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee has been virtually paralyzed over the past year amid political battles over procedure, and it is unclear how the equivalent committee in the Senate will deal with reverberations from the Abramoff matter.
With Republicans who control Congress worried about the longer-term effects of the scandal leading to mid-term elections next November, the biggest political impact may be felt in the House, which returns to work a few weeks from now.
There, Republicans must decide whether to hold a new leadership election that would formally replace Congressman DeLay whose legal troubles in Texas, and questions raised in the Abramoff investigation, could effectively rule out his return to power in Washington.
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 Former Lobbyist Will Name Names in Capitol Hill Corruption Probe |
Today at 06:57 AM 
Democrats react 
| Pack of Angry Chihuahuas Attack Officer |  |
Email this storyFREMONT, California
A pack of angry Chihuahuas attacked a police officer who was escorting a teenager home following a traffic stop, authorities said. The officer suffered minor injuries including bites to his ankle on Thursday when the five Chihuahuas escaped the 17-year-old boy's home and rushed the officer in the doorway, said Fremont detective Bill Veteran. The teenager had been detained after the traffic incident, Veteran said. The officer was treated at a local hospital and returned to work less than two hours later, Veteran said. It was the third time this month a Fremont officer was bitten by a dog while on duty. Neither of the other officers were seriously injured. And it was the second bizarre incident in as many hours for the Fremont Police Department. Two hours earlier, a homeowner in Niles reported that an intruder broke into her home and added pornography to her computer. The woman said she woke up and was startled to see a stranger typing away on her computer. The intruder fled, but left behind an altered screen saver that featured images of "erotic Indian art," Veteran said. Nothing was reported stolen, and neither the woman nor her nine-year- old daughter was hurt, he said. Fremont is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of San Fransisco.