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WASHINGTON — The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in two decades — decreasing by 8 percent as the sour economy dried up jobs and increased enforcement made it harder to sneak across the border with Mexico, a new study finds.

Much of the decline comes from a sharp drop-off in illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, Central America and South America attempting to cross the southern border of the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which based its report on an analysis of 2009 census data.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Thousands of people were told to start evacuating a North Carolina island Wednesday morning as Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe the East Coast.

The 800 or so year-round residents of Ocracoke Island were told they do not have to go, but Emergency Services Director Lindsey Mooney said officials hoped they would follow about 5,000 tourists ordered to leave for the mainland from 5 a.m.

“I don’t remember the last time there was a mandatory evacuation order for the island,” Hyde County Commissioner Kenneth Collier said.

More evacuations along the Eastern Seaboard could follow, depending on the path taken by the Category 4 storm, which was whipping across the Caribbean with winds of 135 mph.

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The search for two men who escaped from a private Arizona prison and their accomplice has turned to the vast Yellowstone National Park area after one of the inmates was linked to a double homicide in New Mexico.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Sunday information developed within the past two days indicates Tracy Province, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch may be hiding in portions of the park that span Montana and Wyoming. The agency also said investigators believe Province has separated from McCluskey and Welch.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — If you think you’ve heard it all, follow this tale of a hungry black bear who went for a ride, literally.

Douglas County, Colorado, Sheriff’s deputies early Friday got a call about a honking car and a commotion inside. Perhaps it was teenagers or a thief, they thought as they approached Ralph Story’s 2008 Toyota Corolla.

It turns out it was a thief, albeit the furry variety.

The deputies’ first clue to something unusual was that the car was 125 feet below its normal parking spot in the driveway of the Storys’ Larkspur home, which sits on five acres.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Authorities in Rimrock, Arizona, were searching Monday for a 2-year-old boy who went missing over the weekend while camping with a family that was preparing to adopt him, a spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said.

Syler Newton was last seen shortly after midnight Saturday, sleeping in a tent with the family at the Beaver Creek Campgrounds. About 1:45 a.m. Sunday, the family noticed that he was missing from his sleeping bag.

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — The Utah Department of Workforce Services has moved to fire two employees believed to have created and distributed a list containing personal information of 1,300 purported illegal immigrants, officials said Tuesday.

The agency terminated a temporary worker and issued an “intent to terminate employment” notice to the other, spokesman Dave Lewis said. The latter career employee is on paid administrative leave pending a hearing, he said.

Information from a completed internal review of the data leak will be given to the state’s attorney general Wednesday for possible legal action, the department said.

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CHICAGO — Oprah Winfrey’s charity, The Angel Network, is shutting down as her talk show draws to a close.

The network stopped accepting donations this week and said on its website that it plans to dissolve as soon as its remaining funds are disbursed.

The Angel Network was launched in 1998 with donations from viewers of Oprah’s talk show; its demise stems from Oprah’s decision to end her Chicago-based show in 2011 after 25 years on the air, Angel Network spokeswoman Angela DePaul said.

Full Story at CNN.com

Washington (CNN) — The United States has renewed a travel alert to Mexico, citing increased violence in the country.

The alert, issued Sunday by the State Department, is in effect until August 20 and supersedes an alert issued August 20, 2009.

“Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacan, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua … and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution,” the alert says.

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RIO DE JANEIRO – A Brazilian family has decided to end its legal fight for custody of a 9-year-old boy and will obey a court order to turn him over to his U.S. father, an aide to the family’s lawyer said Wednesday.

“It is certain the family will not pursue any more legal channels,” the aide to lawyer Sergio Tostes said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter.

Tostes, reached by telephone, referred inquiries to his office.

Full Story at NYTimes.com

The bill, introduced by Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, was seen as the opening volley in what Democrats and Republicans expect to be a hard-fought battle. President Obama has pledged to take up the issue early next year; efforts to overhaul the laws during George W. Bush’s presidency failed despite the backing of Mr. Bush and some Republicans.

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Battle-weary troops and their families braced for a wrenching round of new deployments to Afghanistan announced Tuesday by the president, but many said they support the surge as long as it helps to end the eight-year-old conflict.

As President Barack Obama outlined his plan to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan — while pledging to start bringing them home in 2011 — soldiers, Marines and their families interviewed by The Associated Press felt a tangle of fresh concerns and renewed hopes.

“All I ask that man to do, if he is going to send them over there, is not send them over in vain,” said 57-year-old Bill Thomas of Jacksonville, N.C., who watched Obama’s televised speech in his living room, where photos of his three sons in uniform hang over the TV.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in the U.S. Virgin Islands has indicted two ticket agent contractors who worked for Delta Airlines and an airport employee on charges of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S.

The ticket agents, identified as Diana Telemaque, 33, and Felicia Browne, 22, were arrested Thursday along with luggage handler Daniel Confidente.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday in a statement that the two agents allegedly sold tickets to illegal immigrants. All three are accused of helping an unspecified number of migrants bypass customs officials from May 2008 to July 2009.