WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama plans to announce longtime advisers and political foes alike as his picks for top administration jobs at a Monday news conference, nominating one-time political nemesis Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.
Obama’s announcements include members of his national security team and beyond, completing the nominations for one-third of his Cabinet as he moves quickly to assemble the country’s new leadership in times of war and a troubled economy.
His selections include some of his most loyal campaign advisers and notably some who were not, including Democratic primary rival Clinton and President Bush’s defense secretary, Robert Gates, staying in his current post.
Obama also planned to name Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary, according to Democratic officials. He also planned to announce two senior foreign policy positions outside the 15-member Cabinet: campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador and retired Marine General James L. Jones as national security adviser.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says he’s ready for a tough re-election race in 2010, whether it’s against MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews or someone else.
Specter, 78, declined to speculate on whether he would face Matthews, who reportedly met with Pennsylvania Democratic Party leaders last week about a run. But the GOP moderate said he expected challenges from the left and right as he seeks a sixth term.
“I never look over my shoulder, never look behind. Somebody may be gaining on me. I run with blinders. I’ll be prepared, whoever my opponents are,” Specter said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts streaked toward a Sunday afternoon arrival in sunny California, diverted there by stormy weather at the primary landing strip in Florida.
Endeavour was scheduled to touch down at Edwards Air Force Base at 3:25 p.m. CST.
NASA ordered the detour after dangerously high wind and a stormy sky prevented a Florida landing for the space station delivery and repair mission. With the weather at Kennedy Space Center looking no better for Monday, Mission Control opted for its backup landing site.
GENEVA (AP) — Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved Sunday a move to make permanent the country’s pioneering program to give addicts government-authorized heroin.
At the same time, voters rejected a proposal to decriminalize marijuana.
Sixty-eight percent of the 2,264,968 voters casting ballots approved making the heroin program permanent. It has been credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts since it began in 1994.
Some 63.2 percent of voters voted against the marijuana initiative.
On a separate issue, 52 percent of voters approved an initiative to eliminate the statute of limitations on pornographic crimes against children before the age of puberty.
Olivier Borer, 35, a musician from the northern town of Solothurn, said he welcomed the outcome in part because state action was required to help heroin addicts, but he said legalizing marijuana was a bad idea.
“I think it’s very important to help these people, but not to facilitate the using of drugs,” Borer said. “You can just see in the Netherlands how it’s going. People just go there to smoke.”
A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect from noon today to 12 PM Monday.
Winter Storm Warning: Boone , DeKalb , Kane , Lake , Livingston , McHenry
Winter Weather Advisory: Cook , DuPage , Grundy , Iroquois , Kankakee , Kendall , Will
Winter Weather Advisory in Ind.: Jasper , La Porte , Lake , Newton , Porter , Pulaski , Starke
CHICAGO (AP) _ The holiday shopping season got off to a surprisingly solid start, according to data released Saturday by a research firm. But the sales boost during the post-Thanksgiving shopathon came at the expense of profits as the nation’s retailers had to slash prices to attract the crowds in a season that is expected to be the weakest in decades. (more…)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois High School Association state championship football games wrapped up for Classes 5A-8A at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. (more…)
AP — Democratic officials say Obama will nominate Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state Monday.
Wheaton St. Francis kicked off the second day of the state high school football championships today by winning its first football state title 49-35 over Metamora in the Class 5A finale at the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium in Champaign. (more…)
CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — A high school band from south suburban Chicago Heights has been chosen to march in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade in California. (more…)
