Peanut Butter News

Full Story at NBC Olympics.com

VANCOUVER — After she won silver in the 1,000-meter race late in these 2010 Vancouver Games, short-track speedskater Katherine Reutter met the press with an American flag draped over her light-blue warm-up jacket.

The flag wasn’t going anywhere and neither was the big smile on her face.

“I have a lot of pride to have done this for my country,” she said. “The USA can honestly say we went to the Olympics and we came back victorious.”

The 2010 U.S. Olympic team put on a performance for the history books. When they gave out the final medals Sunday, the Americans — for the first time since the 1932 Games in Lake Placid — stood atop the overall medals table, with 37.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — A close relative of a missing Southern California family fears they may have been kidnapped.

“My gut feeling is telling me that they are being held against their will in some way,” said Michael McStay, brother of Joseph McStay. “That’s my personal opinion. That’s what I think.”

Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their two children, Gianna, 4, and Joseph, 3, have not been seen or heard from since February 4. Concerned relatives contacted authorities, who then conducted a welfare check of the family’s home on February 15, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said.

Full Story at ABC News.go.com

A suburban Philadelphia school district accused of secretly switching on laptop computer webcams inside students’ homes says it never used webcam images to monitor or discipline students and believes one of its administrators has been “unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked.”

The Lower Merion School District, in response to a suit filed by a student, has acknowledged that webcams were remotely activated 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing, lost or stolen laptops — which the district noted would include “a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus.”

Full Story at CNN.com

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (CNN) — In a tightly controlled televised statement, golfer Tiger Woods gave an apology Friday for his “irresponsible and selfish” behavior, which he said included infidelity.

“I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you,” said the golfer, dressed in a blue shirt and a blazer. “For all that I have done, I am so sorry. …

“I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.”

Read the text and watch the full apology

Full Story at msnbc.com

DALLAS – Gov. Rick Perry and other top Texas officials on Tuesday announced a legal challenge to the federal government’s finding that greenhouse gases are dangerous to people, claiming the ruling was based on flawed science.

The EPA in December issued an “endangerment” finding about carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, setting the stage for future rules restricting such emissions.

Texas — the which leads the nation in greenhouse gas emissions and is frequently at odds with the EPA — announced it has asked a federal appeals court to review the endangerment finding

Full Story at msnbc.com

PHOENIX – A malnourished Phoenix girl was locked in a bathroom without running water for two months, beaten with metal rods and forced to exercise until exhaustion because her father said she had stolen food and cheated on a home-school test, police say.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The mid-Atlantic region continued digging out Monday from the weekend’s record blizzard, but snow-weary residents learned of a new winter storm due in the area on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning, with predictions of another 10 to 20 inches of snow, for northern Virginia and eastern Maryland, including the District of Columbia, beginning Tuesday afternoon and continuing through Wednesday.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The father of American figure skating icon Nancy Kerrigan is dead and her brother is behind bars, accused of assault and battery against 70-year old Daniel Kerrigan, according to Massachusetts authorities.

Daniel Kerrigan died Sunday after being taken by emergency personnel from his family home in Stoneham, Massachusetts, to a hospital, authorities said. His son Mark, 45, was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an alleged assault.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — With phone lines down and communication cut, Haitians living in America are “sick with worry” and scrambling for information about loved ones who experienced Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake on the island nation.

“At this point it looks like it’s worse than we all imagined and we still don’t know specifics because of the down power lines,” Gepsi Metellus said Wednesday. She is the executive director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center in Miami, Florida, which provides services to Haitians in South Florida ranging from help with taxes to how to navigate the American school system.

Full Story at CNN.com

CNN) — A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck off the shore of Northern California, leaving thousands of households without power.

The quake, which ran about 13.5 miles deep, hit offshore at 4:27 p.m. (7:27 p.m. ET) Saturday, about 33 miles from the coastal city of Eureka, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Full Story at msnbc.com

SAN ANTONIO – The car belonging to an Arizona mother who allegedly told her ex-boyfriend she’d killed their 8-month-old son was found Tuesday in Texas, but the baby remained missing, an FBI spokesman said.

Gabriel Johnson was last seen in San Antonio with his 23-year-old mother, Elizabeth Johnson of Tempe, Ariz. Authorities say Johnson spent Dec. 22-27 at two motels there.

Full Story at CNN.com

Thousands stuffed the bleachers on both sides of a California high school football field Monday night to remember a beloved teacher who was slain in Mexico a few days ago.

Grieving family members, friends and residents of El Monte, California, waved glowsticks in the air and listened to heartfelt stories about how Augustin Roberto “Bobby” Salcedo was a devoted family man and an inspirational educator. They heard, too, that he was a practical jokester who made people laugh.