The Wire: January 26, 2011

Local
8:35 p.m.
Snow slows down Obama's motorcade
Heavy snow and icy roads created hazardous conditions for President Barack Obama Wednesday as he returned to the White House after a trip to Wisconsin.
National
8:27 p.m.
New rules would cut thousands of coal jobs
The Obama administration’s own experts estimate their proposal for protecting streams from coal mining would eliminate thousands of jobs and slash production across much of the country, according to a government document obtained by the Associated Press.
Culture
8:25 p.m.
California city rebuffs objectors of mosque
The City Council voted early Wednesday to allow about 150 Muslim families to build a mosque in Temecula after months of angry debate over the plan that included protests and letter-writing campaigns.
Culture
8:25 p.m.
Culture Briefs
“‘The King’s Speech’ is an extremely well-made film with a seductive human interest plot, very prettily calculated to appeal to the smarter filmgoer and the latent Anglophile. But it perpetrates a gross falsification of history,” writes Christopher Hitchens at Slate.
National
8:25 p.m.
American Scene
A Phoenix radio station has offered a job to Bristol Palin.
National
8:23 p.m.
TWT
Detroit plan would slash schools, cram classrooms
Think wrangling one or two teenagers at home is tough? Some high school teachers in Detroit could end up with as many as 62 students per classroom under a proposal geared at helping balance the district’s budget, which is $327 million in the red.
Editorials
7:20 p.m.
TWT
EDITORIAL: Solar shingles won't save America
Whether it’s “solar shingles” or smart grids, President Obama just can’t imagine a world in which government isn’t deciding how to spend your money. Despite Mr. Obama’s best efforts Tuesday to dress up the classic tax-and-spend agenda as “investment” in the future, merely freezing the current budget maintains a course that only can end in fiscal ruin.
Editorials
7:18 p.m.
TWT
EDITORIAL: Bring back D.C. vouchers
The best message from Tuesday’s State of the Union address came from students sitting in the speaker’s box. Three recipients of D.C. Opportunity Scholarships, which the Obama administration has been euthanizing, attended the speech to ask for the program’s reauthorization. Yesterday, House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut Independent, introduced legislation to give a new lifeline to them and other needy, highly motivated students.
Commentary
7:17 p.m.
TWT
BLOCH: Some Bushies had it coming
The Founders of our country thought that the impulse toward partisanship was a darker side of human nature that needed checks. They called it faction. They wrote about it, especially in the Federalist Papers, and warned of its insidious effect on government and society. They knew that good government resides in following the law, not implementing party or interest-group agendas on the public dime.
Economy
7:17 p.m.
Dow rises above 12,000 but edges lower at midday
The Dow Jones industrial average broke through 12,000 for the first time in two and half years but is trading lower at midday.
Commentary
7:16 p.m.
TWT
CROUSE: Obama: Big government is back, baby
President Obama’s State of the Union address was his best opportunity since his midterm “shellacking” to seriously address the debt and deficit issues that threaten America’s economic stability now and far
World
7:11 p.m.
Briefly
Leader orders seizure of regional bank
Letters
7:10 p.m.
TWT
Bloomberg's bullet ban
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently gave a compassionate appeal against handgun magazines that hold 30 bullets or more, blatantly using the Arizona catastrophe as a platform for his protest. This is an incredible charade.
Letters
7:10 p.m.
TWT
Radical Islam has transformed Turkey
It should come as no surprise that Turkey - while attempting to absolve itself of blame for the aggressive use of a flotilla to deliver supplies to the Hamas enclave in Gaza - is again the hub for a new effort to resupply the terrorist group (“Flotilla report clears Israel; new blockade break planned,” Geopolitics, Monday).
Letters
7:10 p.m.
TWT
American jobs migrate abroad
American businesses are not able to add enough jobs to offset growing unemployment. Americans who once took pride in what they produced know only too well what happened to their jobs. “Made in China” (or other countries) is stamped on just about every product. We do not make much of anything in this country anymore. When Ross Perot used to say, “That giant sucking sound you hear is the sound of American jobs going abroad,” he sure was right. America’s manufacturing is gone. The pending trade agreement with South Korea will contribute to that “giant sucking sound.”
Letters
7:10 p.m.
TWT
FDNY case undermines work ethic
Federal Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Vulcan Society want minorities hired through a quota system instead of achieving the job on merit (“Justice Department undermines FDNY,” Comment & Analysis, Monday). The judge attributed the ruling to the fact that a slightly lower percentage of minorities passed the firefighting entrance exam.
Letters
7:10 p.m.
TWT
Mourning the loss of LaLanne
Anyone with an interest in fitness owes a debt of gratitude to the late Jack LaLanne, the iconic and beloved fitness guru who was ahead of his time in urging Americans to practice good health habits, including the engagement in aerobic exercise, so as to enjoy the euphoria that it can bring.
World
7:08 p.m.
Exiled foes live in fear of Kagame
The four men were once members of the Rwandan president’s inner circle. Now they’ve fled the country and say they fear for their lives even in exile as he steps up efforts to silence their criticism.
World
7:05 p.m.
Tunisia issues an arrest warrant for ousted president
Tunisia’s government issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday for ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and six relatives, accusing him of taking money out of the North African nation illegally.
World
7:03 p.m.
U.S. considers slashing financial aid to Lebanon
The Obama administration is reconsidering how it bankrolls Lebanon after the militant Iranian-backed group Hezbollah won a prominent role in the government of the fragile Mideast state where the U.S. has spent millions promoting a pro-Western agenda.
World
7:02 p.m.
World Scene
Britain on Wednesday overturned some of its most unpopular anti-terrorism measures imposed after the Sept. 11 attacks, but stopped short of ending the contentious practice of ordering suspects not charged with any crime to live under partial house arrest.
Local
6:59 p.m.
D.C. area deals with snow, snarled traffic
Residents in the D.C. area are struggling to cope with the latest wintry blast.
National
6:47 p.m.
Giffords is moved to a rehabilitation facility
Police stood guard as an ambulance took Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from intensive care to a rehabilitation hospital on Wednesday, an encouraging step after doctors upgraded her condition from serious to good and removed a tube from her head to drain fluid.
Politics
6:39 p.m.
Terror color coding to fade to black
The government’s notorious color-coded guide to terrorist threats will soon be fading to black.
Local
6:36 p.m.
D.C. deploying more than 200 trucks to battle snow
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray says there is a full deployment of more than 200 vehicles out treating streets as the region’s first significant snowfall of the winter begins.
Culture
6:21 p.m.
Wal-Mart drops store plan near Va. Civil War site
Under withering opposition from hundreds of historians, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. abruptly abandoned plans Wednesday to build a Supercenter near a hallowed Civil War site where Robert E. Lee first met Ulysses S. Grant on the field of battle in 1864.
Sports
5:39 p.m.
Contador says officials are proposing one-year ban for failed test
Spanish cycling officials want three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador banned for one year for failing a 2010 Tour doping test.
Politics
5:35 p.m.
Political Scene
Top Pentagon officials are defending Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ proposed multibillion-dollar cuts in military spending amid competing congressional demands for both more reductions and sparing weapons programs.
Football
4:14 p.m.
Rodgers calls criticism of Cutler 'disrespectful'
Even as he prepares to play in the Super Bowl, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is aware that Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is having his toughness questioned this week. And Rodgers says the criticism of Cutler is “very inappropriate” and “disrespectful.”
Football
4:03 p.m.
Goodell promises to cut salary to $1 if there's a lockout
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will cut his salary to $1 if there is a work stoppage after the collective bargaining agreement expires in March.
Hockey
3:45 p.m.
Capitals-Sabres game on Feb. 20 moving to 12:30 p.m.
The start time for the Buffalo Sabres home game against the Washington Capitals on Feb. 20 has been moved up to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate television scheduling.
Football
3:25 p.m.
Packers fans welcome Obama to Wisconsin
Crushed when the Green Bay Packers defeated his beloved Chicago Bears to win the NFC championship, President Barack Obama predicted Wednesday that his team will even the score next year.
National
3:15 p.m.
Astronomers claim earliest galaxy yet from Hubble
An international team of astronomers say they’ve glimpsed the earliest galaxy yet, a smudge of light from nearly 13.2 billion years ago — a time when the cosmos was a far lonelier place.
Commentary
3:01 p.m.
TWT
Obama's small oversight
Americans “do big things,” said President Obama during the uplifting finale to his State of the Union address. So does 16-year-old Amy Chyao of Richardson, Texas, who devised a way to use light energy to activate a drug that kills cancer cells. So does Brandon Fisher of Berlin, Pa., founder of a drill-bit manufacturer, who helped rescue the trapped Chilean coal miners last year.
Economy
2:44 p.m.
Fed says economy needs $600B bond-purchase program
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the economy isn’t growing fast enough to lower unemployment and must press ahead with its $600 billion Treasury bond-purchase program.
Politics
2:33 p.m.
After address to nation, Obama heads to Wisconsin
President Obama campaigned vigorously for his revamped economic message Wednesday, warning that other countries have been grasping for first place in the global marketplace as the U.S. fell down on the job.
Commentary
2:08 p.m.
TWT
FIELDS: A new flavor of tea
Rep. Michele Bachmann, founder of the Tea Party caucus in the new Congress, gave more than a response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night. She gave us a look at the new political woman in Washington.
Politics
1:52 p.m.
CBO says this year's budget deficit to hit $1.5T
A continuing weak economy and last month’s bipartisan tax cut legislation will drive the government’s deficit to a record $1.5 trillion this year, a new government estimates predicts. The eye-popping numbers mean the government will continue to borrow 40 cents for every dollar it spends.
World
1:41 p.m.
Tunisia issues international warrant for ousted president
Tunisia’s government issued an international arrest warrant for ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on Wednesday, accusing him of taking money out of the North African nation illegally.
World
1:02 p.m.
Russian president fires police chief after bombing
In the wake of the deadly bombing of Russia’s busiest airport, President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday fired a top official of the country’s transport police and lashed out at “passive” officers who guard the country’s transport centers.
Economy
12:59 p.m.
Toyota recalls 1.7 million vehicles for fuel leaks
Toyota recalled nearly 1.7 million cars worldwide Wednesday for fuel leaks, the latest in a ballooning number of quality problems that could add another dent to its tarnished reputation in the crucial U.S. market.
Editorials
11:49 a.m.
TWT
EDITORIAL: Obama's spaced out speech
President Obama’s announcement on Tuesday that “this is our generation’s Sputnik moment” came across as puzzling. Had al Qaeda sent a suicide bomber into space? But it turned out to be just a clumsy metaphor.
Entertainment
10:37 a.m.
Jimmy Buffett falls off stage at Australia concert
Singer Jimmy Buffett fell off a stage at the end of a concert in Sydney and was rushed to the hospital.
Economy
10:21 a.m.
New-home sales in 2010 fall to lowest in 47 years
Buyers purchased the fewest number of new homes last year on records going back 47 years.
Health
10:06 a.m.
Got foot questions? Experts offer free answers day
Illinois residents with foot-care questions can get free advice during a one-day program a podiatry association is offering.
Health
10:03 a.m.
Maine mental health hospital fined for safety
The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration is fining a Maine mental health hospital $11,700 for failing to provide a safe workplace for its employees.
Health
10:01 a.m.
Union apologizes to Ill. company at Neb. meeting
A union that had opposed a company’s purchase of the Lancaster County nursing home has apologized to the company.
Economy
10:01 a.m.
At Davos forum, call to upgrade China's economy
It may be time to stop referring to China, the world’s second-biggest economy after the U.S., as an emerging nation and focus on creating jobs now that the global recovery appears to have gotten a toehold. That’s what top business leaders, politicians and social activists discussed, among other issues, on the first day of the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
Entertainment
9:53 a.m.
'Skins' viewership plunges for its second airing
The audience for MTV’s racy teen drama “Skins” plunged to 1.6 million Monday night, a drop-off of more than half from its premiere a week earlier, according to Nielsen Co. ratings.
Entertainment
9:50 a.m.
Motley Crue singer due to plead in Vegas DUI case
Motley Crue singer Vince Neil is heading to court on a plea deal that gets him two weeks of jail time, plus two weeks of house arrest for driving drunk last summer near the Las Vegas Strip.