Jessica Chasmar

Hostess bidders win the $400 million pie

Hostess is set to announce that it has picked two investment firms — C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management — as its highest bidders for Twinkies and its other snack cakes. The offer, which could be disclosed as early as Tuesday, would reportedly be for more than $400 million.

January 29, 2013

Gov. Perry proposes returning excess taxes to Texans

In an issue not seen very often, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling to amend the state's constitution, allowing the government to return excess taxes back to the taxpayers.

January 29, 2013

Churches angered by Scouts’ possible lift of gay ban

Some churches have expressed outrage after an announcement by the Boy Scouts of America that it might lift its policy banning gays from the organization.

January 29, 2013

Motor City utopia: Detroit developer plans to create free market island

While the city of Detroit is on the brink of bankruptcy, one developer sees an opportunity that can bring the city back to prosperity. Developer Rodney Lockwood wants Detroit to sell the city's Belle Isle Park for $1 billion to private investors who will then transform it into a utopia free of big government.

January 29, 2013

Obama’s Vegas immigration pitch estimated to cost $1.6 million

President Obama chartered Air Force One from Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas, Tuesday to give a speech on immigration — a 9-hour round trip for a photo-op in Sin City that is expected to cost taxpayers over $1.6 million.

January 29, 2013

Calif. Christian school sued for forcing employees to prove faith

A Christian school in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is facing a legal battle against two former teachers who were fired for failing to prove their faith.

January 29, 2013

Mass. school threatens to suspend 5-year-old for Lego gun

Playtime in school turned problematic for a 5-year-old Massachusetts boy who made a toy gun out of two Legos.

January 29, 2013

Kroft: Obama knows ‘we’re not going to play gotcha with him’

Steve Kroft told Piers Morgan Monday night that the president keeps coming back to "60 Minutes" because "we're not going to go out of our way to make him look bad or stupid."

January 29, 2013

Ariz. bill requires Constitution loyalty oaths for diplomas

A bill making its way through the Arizona State House would require students to take an oath to defend the Constitution in order to receive their high school diplomas.

January 29, 2013

Taco Bell pulls ad after complaints it mocked veggies

Taco Bell has pulled a television ad after receiving complaints that it mocks vegetables and people who eat them.

January 28, 2013

High-dollar Dems, tea party unite against Mitch McConnell

Big Democratic donors, local liberal activists and a left-leaning super PAC in Kentucky are throwing their support behind the tea party against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

January 28, 2013

Immigration reform activists urge Congress to include gay couples

Immigration reform activists are calling on Congress to include gay families under the family reunification provisions of the proposed legislation.

January 28, 2013

Study: Incomes in open-shop states higher, after adjusting for living costs

Claims by union proponents that union-shop states beget higher incomes forget one little detail: the cost of living.

January 28, 2013

Carney has never seen a photo of Obama skeet-shooting

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that he's not aware of how often President Obama goes skeet shooting at Camp David.

January 28, 2013

Ex-lover’s $50M lawsuit against Soros moves forward

The saucy melodrama between billionaire financier George Soros and his decades-younger ex-girlfriend is expected to continue for another season.

January 28, 2013

India gang rape suspect to be tried as a juvenile

A juvenile court ruled Monday that a suspect in last month's gang rape and murder of a New Delhi woman was a juvenile at the time of the attack.

January 28, 2013

Illinois governor allows driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill into law Sunday afternoon in Chicago that grants hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants the right to drive.

January 28, 2013

Welfare checks tied to the school performance of recipients’ kids: Bill

Tennessee Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield has introduced a bill that would cut welfare benefits to recipients whose children are doing poorly in school.

January 28, 2013