If you've been hoping for snow and you're anywhere north of the Deep South, chances are you've got it. Fully 58.3 percent of the nation is covered with snow, according to the National Weather Service. Just three weeks ago, only 11 percent of the ground was snow-covered. Full Story »
A major winter storm was sweeping through the nation's midsection Thursday, causing flight delays and cancellations and snarling road traffic from Texas to Minnesota. Full Story »
A 9-year-old boy and his father have arrived in Florida from Brazil, marking the end of a five-year custody battle that spanned two continents. Sean Goldman and his father, David Goldman of Tinton Falls, N.J., landed Thursday evening in Orlando on a private jet chartered by NBC. Full Story »
The Senate finally wrapped up its work on its massive health care overhaul bill — at least for the holidays. It took a lot of wrangling to get the vote passed, and now the Senate and the House must hash out a compromise over the next few weeks. Full Story »
The president left for his Hawaiian holiday vacation with a hard-fought victory in his pocket. On a party-line vote, the Senate approved legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system. The bill must be reconciled with the House version, but still, this president has gone further than any of his predecessors on health care. Full Story »
The CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be eligible for compensation of up to $6 million each next year. The pay packages have been blessed by the Treasury Department even though Fannie and Freddie have received more than $100 billion in bailout assistance over the past year. The companies, which provide financing for home mortgages, are still losing money. But regulators said the companies play an essential role in the mortgage business, and executive pay at Fannie and Freddie is significantly lower than it was before the government takeover. Full Story »
The federal Bureau of Prisons says the disgraced financier is being treated at a prison medical center in North Carolina. A lawyer for the 71-year-old Madoff said his client is being treated for dizziness and hypertension. Full Story »
Last-minute shoppers are coming out in force the day before Christmas, but the final word on the holiday season is still uncertain, because the week after Christmas accounts for about 15 percent of sales. Full Story »
The Labor Department said the number of new jobless claims fell to a 452,000 last week, down 28,000 from the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. That's a better performance than the decline to 470,000 that economists had expected. Full Story »
Despite 25 years and billions of dollars spent on cleanup efforts, the Chesapeake Bay remains one of the country's most polluted waterways. With waste of all kinds, each of the almost 17 million people living in the watershed contributes to the pollution. Full Story »
