http://www.annistonstar.com/news/as-news.htm News headlines from The Anniston Star. StarScraper 1.45 Copyright (c)2008 Consolidated Publishing. All rights reserved. http://www.annistonstar.com/rss/images/as-logo_news.gif 14450 http://www.annistonstar.com/news/as-news.htm News en-us 20 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-hdame-8g25x1809.htm Every kid dreams of being famous some day. The allure of fame draws many an imagination to exotic locations like New York or Hollywood. But local residents won't have to travel farther than McClellan Sunday night to see some local youth try and find their own fame. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-hdame-8g25x1809.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-gdmilldrum-8g25x1937.htm What do you call a 10-act play with hundreds of performers? The Alabama Battle of the Brass. It's a major competition for drum and bugle corps nationwide, and it starts at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Paul Snow Stadium at Jacksonville State University. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-gdmilldrum-8g25x1937.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-mfaulk-8g25x1739.htm State health officials are advising against eating spotted bass from Choccolocco Creek in parts of Calhoun and Talladega counties after high levels of mercury were found in the fish. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-mfaulk-8g25x1739.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-hdame-8g25x2501.htm A local restaurant was robbed at gunpoint Thursday night, Anniston police report. At 9:20 p.m., two men, their faces concealed and one of them carrying a small handgun, entered the Wendy's at 1501 Quintard Ave., police said. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-local-0726-hdame-8g25x2501.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-state-0726-0-8g25x2412.htm MONTGOMERY — A federal appeals court has been asked to appoint a special master to investigate e-mails purportedly sent between two jurors in the trial of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, including one calling politicians 'scum.' http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-state-0726-0-8g25x2412.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-state-0726-0-8g25x2440.htm MOBILE — The massive oil spill on the Mississippi River has forced some ship traffic to change course to Mobile, including the Carnival cruise ship Fantasy. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-state-0726-0-8g25x2440.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25x1857.htm NEW ORLEANS — Ships began crawling up the Mississippi River at New Orleans in a tightly controlled procession Friday, two days after a massive oil spill shut down a stretch of one of the nation's most critical commercial arteries. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25x1857.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25v1659.htm WASHINGTON — After weeks of one negative report after another, the economy finally got some news Friday that wasn't half bad. Wall Street, which suffered a stomach-churning drop Thursday, managed a modest gain. Oil prices hit their lowest point since early June, and gas fell to a seven-week low. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25v1659.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25v2023.htm WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama has presented himself to American voters as the candidate of change, but on a weeklong foreign trip that ends today he sounded more like a traditionalist when it comes to foreign policy. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25v2023.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25v2146.htm DENVER — Republican presidential candidate John McCain, ridiculing Barack Obama for 'the audacity of hopelessness' in his policies on Iraq, said Friday that the entire Middle East could have plunged into war had U.S. troops been withdrawn as his rival advocated. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25v2146.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w1432.htm WASHINGTON — Strolling beside the Reflecting Pool with the Lincoln Memorial in the distance, it's easy to overlook a gentle rise in the landscape a few yards to the north. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w1432.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w1538.htm WASHINGTON — The total cost of the Iraq war is approaching the Vietnam War's expense, a congressional report estimates, while spending for military operations after 9/11 has exceeded it. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w1538.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w1622.htm WASHINGTON — Federal health officials are one step closer to finding the cause of a three-month-old salmonella outbreak and are now warning consumers to avoid only Mexican-grown raw jalapeno and Serrano peppers. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w1622.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w2104.htm PITTSBURGH — Randy Pausch said obstacles serve a purpose: They 'give us a chance to show how badly we want something.' Confronted with incurable cancer, he devised a last lecture that became an Internet sensation, a best-selling book and a celebration of a life spent achieving his dreams. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w2104.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w2148.htm Countering the prevailing theory that aging is the accumulation of wear and tear in cells, scientists studying worms have found that aging might be hard-wired, a sort of unintentional sabotage by genes gone wild. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-nation-0726-0-8g25w2148.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-world-0726-0-8g25v2058.htm JERUSALEM — An Israeli newspaper's decision to publish a handwritten prayer left by Barack Obama in the cracks of Jerusalem's Western Wall drew criticism Friday as an invasion of his privacy and his relationship with God. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-world-0726-0-8g25v2058.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-world-0726-0-8g25w1518.htm GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — Salim Ahmed Hamdan might have been only a driver for Osama bin Laden, but the legions of bit players in al-Qaida are what has allowed the terrorist leader to succeed, an FBI agent testified Friday. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-world-0726-0-8g25w1518.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-world-0726-0-8g25w1556.htm MANILA, Philippines — The 346 passengers were cruising at 29,000 feet Friday when an explosive bang shook the Qantas jumbo jet. The plane descended rapidly. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as debris flew through the cabin from a hole that had suddenly appeared in the floor. http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2008/as-world-0726-0-8g25w1556.htm Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:16:20 CDT