ap 0.1.1

data/spec/ap_spec.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe AP do
+  it "should respond to client" do
+    AP.respond_to?(:client).should be(true)
+    AP.client.is_a?(AP::Client).should be(true)
+  end
+end

data/spec/fixtures/categories-31990.xml

@@ -0,0 +1,529 @@
+<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><title type="text">AP Online Top General Short Headlines</title><id>urn:uuid:8d04ba01-8208-4653-861f-03ced92bb3b7</id><updated>2011-04-23T06:00:39Z</updated><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://developerapi.ap.org/v2/Categories.svc/"/><entry><id>urn:uuid:772cbfbd-eb16-4527-882e-48d4fb21ad35</id><title type="text">Tornado causes injuries at St. Louis airport</title><updated>2011-04-23T05:48:58Z</updated><author><name>JIM SALTER</name></author><author><name>JIM SUHR</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-US-Missouri-Storms/id-p772cbfbdeb164527882e48d4fb21ad35"/><category term="bfc5b8a091c7100480d2a55c96277d3e" label="Property damage" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a6f2c1c887e110048a6e8beae5fd5c07" label="Tornados" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b6503cf08830100482efae2ac3a6923e" label="Power outages" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="88c2a7e08886100487fecb8225d5863e" label="Storms" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="7448dd4882a0100481dddf092526b43e" label="Natural disasters" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="5fc806a87df7100483ebdf092526b43e" label="Weather" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="90321e38899a10048bafcece19677003" label="Air travel disruptions" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="4b19fac87e8710048c388087fc32d30c" label="Emergency management" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="5934f1087e87100487e3df092526b43e" label="Injuries" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a6f2c1c887e110048a6e8beae5fd5c07" label="Tornados" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="31711ec0894b10048983ba0a2b2ca13e" label="Accidents and disasters" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="877cb3c0899a10048abbd56c852d093e" label="Transportation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="cc7a76087e4e10048482df092526b43e" label="Health" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="76fa0084900043b597ba18999956548c" label="Francis Slay" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="dc3e2637fada4249a10777c0c7a46c6a" label="Jay Nixon" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b0fa317082b3100484dbdf092526b43e" label="Maryland" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="ffbc9f5882c4100486f2df092526b43e" label="St. Louis" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="bd8c35d082c4100486d5df092526b43e" label="Missouri" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-US-Missouri-Storms/id-p772cbfbdeb164527882e48d4fb21ad35" rel="bookmark">Tornado causes injuries at St. Louis airport</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/JIM+SALTER">JIM SALTER</a></span> and <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/JIM+SUHR">JIM SUHR</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T05:48:58Z">23 April 2011 05:48+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="38.62727,-90.19789" class="dateline geo">ST. LOUIS</abbr>  (AP) — An apparent tornado tore through a section of the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on Friday, lifting the roof off a concourse, injuring several people and forcing the airport's closure.</p>
+    <p>Planes were diverted to other locations as emergency crews probed the debris for more wounded. Mayor Francis Slay said Lambert would be shut down "indefinitely."</p>
+    <p>The storm lifted the roof off Concourse C and sent plate glass flying everywhere. Four people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after glass shattered as the storm hit, airport spokesman Jeff Lea said. An unspecified number of others were treated at the scene for cuts blamed on flying glass.</p>
+    <p>"We have all hands on deck here," Slay said, noting that responders have included a cadre of workers from the city and county. "This is something we're putting a lot of attention to."</p>
+    <p>Passengers from at least two planes were stranded briefly on the Lambert tarmac because of debris but were later taken away by buses. An Air National Guard facility at the airport was reportedly damaged.</p>
+    <p>The airport's main terminal sustained the most damage. Airport director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said roughly half of that structure's windows were blown out, sending glass and rain into that building. Elsewhere on the property, trees were toppled and power lines downed, further limiting access to the airport even hours after the storm left its destruction.</p>
+    <p>"We're fortunate we didn't have larger (numbers) of injuries," she said.</p>
+    <p>Pieces of twisted metal lay outside the terminal, the remains of a fierce line of storms that struck central and eastern Missouri. Unconfirmed tornadoes were reported in several counties in the St. Louis area, and thousands lost power.</p>
+    <p>Gov. Jay Nixon announced late Friday he had declared a state of emergency, allowing state agencies to assist local jurisdictions with their emergency responses to the storm's aftermath, including the destruction at Lambert.</p>
+    <p>"The state of Missouri is ready to assist at every stage of this emergency to keep Missouri families safe and help communities recover," Nixon said.</p>
+    <p>In the suburbs of Maryland Heights and New Melle, storms caused damage to several dozen homes. There were no immediate reports of major injuries. Some playground equipment in New Melle was left in a twisted heap by the storm that also tore up roofs and ripped off siding.</p>
+    <p>Damage, possibly from a tornado, was also reported at several towns near the airport — Bridgeton, St. Ann, Ferguson and Florissant. Interstate 270 in that area was closed. Trees and power lines were down. A tractor-trailer was sitting on its end.</p>
+    <p>St. Charles County Sheriff's Lt. Craig McGuire said there were early reports of at least 20 homes damaged in the county.</p>
+    <p>"It was pretty wicked," he said.</p>
+    <p>In downtown St. Louis, Busch Stadium officials hurriedly moved Cardinals fans to a safe area as tornado sirens blared. The game with the Cincinnati Reds was delayed for hours but later resumed.</p>
+    <p>The utility company Ameren Missouri reported more than 47,000 power outages, with another 7,000 reported in Illinois.</p>
+    <p>At Lambert, installation and roofing tile was strewn about the inside and outside of one terminal. Large, plate-glass windows were blown out, at times left lying on the exterior walkways. A shuttle was teetering precariously from the top level of a parking garage.</p>
+    <p>Dianna Merrill, 43, a mail carrier from St. Louis, was at Lambert airport waiting to fly to New York with a friend for vacation. She said her flight had been delayed by weather and she was looking out a window hoping her plane would pull up. But the window suddenly exploded.</p>
+    <p>"Glass was blowing everywhere. The ceiling was falling. The glass was hitting us in the face. Hail and rain were coming in. The wind was blowing debris all over the place," she said. "It was like being in a horror movie. Grown men were crying. It was horrible."</p>
+    <p>Merrill said she felt lucky to be alive and that airport workers quickly moved people to stairwells and bathrooms to get them out of harm's way.</p>
+    <p>St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch, who was at the airport when the storm was closing in, said he saw gawkers watching the weather outside as the tornado sirens blared. Moments later, they hastily scrambled inside the building and sought shelter in a restroom.</p>
+    <p>"About the time we came into the building, the doors blew off," he said. "Literally 10 seconds later, it was over. It's amazing to me more people weren't hurt."</p>
+    <p>In Maryland Heights, a police dispatcher said a tornado hit the area, damaging homes and power lines. The dispatcher, who refused to give her name, said several officers were out dealing with reports of gas leaks and downed trees that were blocking roadways.</p>
+    <p>The department said it was unclear if there were any injuries.</p>
+    <p>The city's community center was being opened as a shelter Friday night for residents affected by the storm.</p>
+    <p>"It looks like we probably had a couple touchdowns around Maryland Heights," said Mary Vaughan, director of parks and recreation for the city. "We got some damage. I don't even know all of it."</p>
+    <p>A few residents were already at the center, and she expected more to come in later in the evening.</p>
+    <p>"We have electricity, and everything's fine," Vaughn said. "We have heat and air. We'll be here as long as we need to be."</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Property+damage" rel="tag">Property damage</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Tornados" rel="tag">Tornados</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Power+outages" rel="tag">Power outages</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Storms" rel="tag">Storms</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Natural+disasters" rel="tag">Natural disasters</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Weather" rel="tag">Weather</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Air+travel+disruptions" rel="tag">Air travel disruptions</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Emergency+management" rel="tag">Emergency management</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Injuries" rel="tag">Injuries</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+news" rel="tag">General news</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Accidents+and+disasters" rel="tag">Accidents and disasters</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Transportation" rel="tag">Transportation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+and+politics" rel="tag">Government and politics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Health" rel="tag">Health</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Francis+Slay" rel="tag">Francis Slay</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Jay+Nixon" rel="tag">Jay Nixon</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Maryland" rel="tag">Maryland</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/St.+Louis" rel="tag">St. Louis</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Missouri" rel="tag">Missouri</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">38.62727</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-90.19789</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/772cbfbdeb164527882e48d4fb21ad35/CVI/3ff6a0094ef54c388ba21627f1f39f1e/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:f6014f95-ab7d-4a3c-a334-08c12edfa087</id><title type="text">Dozens killed in bloodiest day of Syria uprising</title><updated>2011-04-23T02:11:16Z</updated><author><name>BASSEM MROUE</name></author><author><name>ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-ML-Syria/id-pf6014f95ab7d4a3ca33408c12edfa087"/><category term="0e8cf338896510048024d56c852d093e" label="Protests and demonstrations" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="2bae705e15fc487fba00746f63b682dc" label="Political and civil unrest" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="39246090896510048077d56c852d093e" label="Rebellions and uprisings" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="db2b5ae0894910048666ba0a2b2ca13e" label="Municipal governments" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d4ebc78085ae10048bef9a5aeba5fb06" label="Freedom of speech" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="008e219885ab10048110ff2260dd383e" label="Human rights and civil liberties" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="7cf243908830100481e9ae2ac3a6923e" label="War and unrest" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d797cff889491004865eba0a2b2ca13e" label="Local governments" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="08680bf085af10048c4f9a5aeba5fb06" label="Social issues" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="75a42fd87df7100483eedf092526b43e" label="Social affairs" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f06c95956d1b4c9b857f736a1fb537f0" label="Bashar Assad" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b1d550d087874a0393ebfa85dab5ea0a" label="Barack Obama" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="2046ccf4585f46f8ad2210a8b4aab04f" label="Jay Carney" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8ad5d707e24f417bbd9bfc9802473b9c" label="William Hague" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="5e508ca881be10048544df092526b43e" label="Damascus" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e09b87d5b10048286c076b8e3055c" label="Syria" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f6c076b8e3055c" label="Middle East" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661dcb387d5b10048282c076b8e3055c" label="Lebanon" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-ML-Syria/id-pf6014f95ab7d4a3ca33408c12edfa087" rel="bookmark">Dozens killed in bloodiest day of Syria uprising</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/BASSEM+MROUE">BASSEM MROUE</a></span> and <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/ELIZABETH+A.+KENNEDY">ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T02:11:16Z">23 April 2011 02:11+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="33.88894,35.49442" class="dateline geo">BEIRUT</abbr>  (AP) — Syrian security forces fired bullets and tear gas Friday at tens of thousands of protesters across the country, killing at least 75 people in the bloodiest day of the monthlong uprising and signaling that the authoritarian regime was prepared to turn more ruthless to put down the revolt against President Bashar Assad.</p>
+    <p>Among the dead were a 70-year-old man and two boys ages 7 and 10, Amnesty International said. In the southern town of Izraa, a man ran carrying the body of a young boy, whose hair was matted with blood from a gaping wound on his head, as another child wept and shouted, "My brother!" Footage of the scene was posted on the protest movement's main Facebook pace.</p>
+    <p>In other towns, protesters scattered for cover from sniper bullets, then dragged corpses through the streets. Mobile phone images showed the bodies lined up on the floor inside buildings.</p>
+    <p>The rallies, most marching out from mosques after Friday's noon Muslim prayers, erupted in towns and cities stretching along the breadth of the country, including in at least two suburbs of the capital, Damascus.</p>
+    <p>The death toll was likely to rise, raising fears that there will be an explosion of violence Saturday as relatives bury their dead in funerals that in the past have turned into new protests. Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria's National Organization for Human Rights, said another 20 people were missing.</p>
+    <p>Friday's toll was double that of the previous deadliest day of the uprising, on April 8, when 37 were killed around the country. The heavier crackdown came after Assad warned a week ago that any further unrest would be considered "sabotage" after he made the gesture of lifting long-hated emergency laws, a step he ratified on Thursday.</p>
+    <p>It was a clear sign that regime was prepared to escalate an already bloody response, with nearly 300 already dead in more than five weeks. Previously, Assad has mixed the crackdown with gestures of reform in a failed attempt to deflate the protests.</p>
+    <p>The bloodshed so far has only served to invigorate protesters whose demands have snowballed from modest reforms to the downfall of the 40-year Assad family dynasty. Each Friday, growing numbers of people in multiple cities have taken to the streets despite the near certainty that they would come under swift attack from security forces and shadowy pro-government gunmen known as "shabiha."</p>
+    <p>"Bullets started flying over our heads like heavy rain," said one witness in Izraa, where police opened fire on protesters marching in front of the mayor's office. The town is located in southern Daraa province where the uprising kicked off in mid-March.</p>
+    <p>In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned the latest use of force by Syria against anti-government demonstrators and said the regime's "outrageous" use of violence against the protesters must "end now."</p>
+    <p>In a statement, Obama said Syria's moves to repeal a decades-old emergency law and allow peaceful demonstrations were not serious in light of Friday's events.</p>
+    <p>He called on Assad to change course and obey the will of his people by giving them what they seek — freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and the ability to choose their leaders.</p>
+    <p>Tens of thousands marched Friday in the Damascus suburbs of Douma and Hajar Aswad, the central cities of Hama and Homs, Latakia and Banias on the coast, the northern cities of Raqqa and Idlib, the northeastern Kurdish region, and in Daraa, witnesses said.</p>
+    <p>It was certainly one of the most robust gatherings to date, but it was difficult to gauge whether turnout was larger than heavy demonstrations a week ago. Because the protests were so quickly and violently dispersed Friday, it appeared that many gatherings were broken up before the masses hit the streets.</p>
+    <p>Amnesty International put the day's death toll at 75, mirroring reports from witnesses to The Associated Press.</p>
+    <p>Friday's witness accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has expelled journalists and restricted access to trouble spots. Witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.</p>
+    <p>As it has stepped up its response, Assad's regime has seemed little affected by mounting international concern over the violence.</p>
+    <p>White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. calls on the Syrian government "to cease and desist from the use of violence against peaceful protesters" and to "follow through on its promises and take action toward the kind of concrete reform that they've promised."</p>
+    <p>In the U.K., Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the "unacceptable killing of demonstrators by the Syrian security forces."</p>
+    <p>"I call on the Syrian security forces to exercise restraint instead of repression, and on the Syrian authorities to respect the Syrian people's right to peaceful protest," Hague said.</p>
+    <p>The protest movement has been the gravest challenge against the autocratic regime led by Assad, who inherited power from his father 11 years ago in one of the most rigidly controlled countries in the Middle East.</p>
+    <p>The uprising in Syria takes its inspiration from the popular revolts that toppled the leaders in Egypt and Tunisia. But Syria is a highly unpredictable country, in part because of its sizable minority population, the loyalty of the country's military and the regime's web of allegiances to powerful forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Shiite powerhouse Iran.</p>
+    <p>Serious, prolonged unrest in Syria would almost inevitably hurt Hezbollah and weaken Iran's influence in the region. But it is not at all clear what would come next if a power vacuum emerges in Syria.</p>
+    <p>The country has multiple sectarian divisions, largely kept in check under Assad's heavy hand and his regime's secular ideology. Most significantly, the majority of the population is Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.</p>
+    <p>Assad has exploited fears of sectarian warfare — so apparent in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon — by blaming the unrest on a "foreign conspiracy" and armed thugs trying to sow sectarian strife.</p>
+    <p>On Friday, the state-run news agency SANA said masked gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on the guards of a government office in Izraa, killing eight bystanders. SANA also said two members of the security forces were killed "by armed criminal groups," one in the Muadamiya district of Damascus, the other in the Baba Amr district of Homs.</p>
+    <p>There was no way to independently confirm the account.</p>
+    <p>U.N. Secretary-General condemned the violence and called for it "to stop immediately," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.</p>
+    <p>The U.N. chief reiterated his call for "an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings" and reminded Syrian authorities of their obligation to respect international human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of the press, Nesirky said.</p>
+    <p>Besides the government crackdown, Assad has been trying to defuse the protests by offering a series of concessions, granting citizenship to thousands among Syria's long-ostracized Kurdish minority, firing local officials, releasing detainees and forming a new government. The recent lifting of emergency laws — which gave authorities almost boundless powers of surveillance and arrest — had been a top demand.</p>
+    <p>But many protesters said the concessions have come too late — and that Assad does not even deserve the credit, because the protest movement is forcing his hand.</p>
+    <p>The true strength of the protest movement is still murky because the uprising is so loosely organized. To be sure, the protests have expanded in numbers and to more parts of the country.</p>
+    <p>But there are no organized, credible opposition leaders who can rally followers on the ground or be considered as a possible successor. No political parties other than the Baath Party are allowed in Syria, and almost all opposition figures have been either jailed or exiled.</p>
+    <p>Still, many young activists are not deterred by the uncertain future.</p>
+    <p>"This is no reason to stick with this alternative for life," said one activist in Banias, asking that his name not be used for fear of reprisals. "Syria has many qualified people who were never given a chance."</p>
+    <p>___</p>
+    <p>Kennedy reported from Cairo. AP Writer Edith Lederer contributed from the United Nations.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
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+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/f6014f95ab7d4a3ca33408c12edfa087/CVI/470884fa594c4786b93c4554727dccfe/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:44788dd1-d187-403f-a983-4d35d1969b78</id><title type="text">McCain wants increased support for Libya's rebels</title><updated>2011-04-23T02:45:33Z</updated><author><name>BEN HUBBARD</name></author><author><name>SEBASTIAN ABBOT</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-ML-Libya/id-p44788dd1d187403fa9834d35d1969b78"/><category term="39246090896510048077d56c852d093e" label="Rebellions and uprisings" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="7cf243908830100481e9ae2ac3a6923e" label="War and unrest" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="db2b5ae0894910048666ba0a2b2ca13e" label="Municipal governments" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="62886ddf8d274d3b80c3206f17153281" label="Armed forces" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="ebf770208985100485c9bc885dbc3010" label="Historic sites" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c13f687dac1004898cba7fa5283c3e" label="Legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8be682c147a04762b8501ee50929fd3d" label="Army" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d797cff889491004865eba0a2b2ca13e" label="Local governments" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3b7438807d7010048477ba7fa5283c3e" label="Military and defense" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="ebf749108985100485c8bc885dbc3010" label="Sightseeing" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="340f76e5585d48759d22db3e71dc80ef" label="Leisure travel" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d3d7a339e8c4488f82f050b5d857f1bf" label="Travel" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3e37e4b87df7100483d5df092526b43e" label="Lifestyle" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="332962a084d11004895b91f43387513e" label="John McCain" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="483ad20be16b4bda89d3871a8387d224" label="Muammar Gaddafi" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="bd82b5f88f0510048c43a55c96277d3e" label="Mike Mullen" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="15ca10c4bec5403a904aaf12d036a734" label="James E. Cartwright" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b1d550d087874a0393ebfa85dab5ea0a" label="Barack Obama" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="2543f27f2e2c455f85001ce1acfd77fd" label="Carter Ham" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="2046ccf4585f46f8ad2210a8b4aab04f" label="Jay Carney" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3a02ed188d5e100489ffa55c96277d3e" label="Nicolas Sarkozy" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b1004828bc076b8e3055c" label="Libya" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f6c076b8e3055c" label="Middle East" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3c4281787e371004883ddf092526b43e" label="Tripoli" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="66188f607d5b100481fac076b8e3055c" label="North Africa" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b1004828ec076b8e3055c" label="Tunisia" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661812607d5b100481f1c076b8e3055c" label="Africa" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-ML-Libya/id-p44788dd1d187403fa9834d35d1969b78" rel="bookmark">McCain wants increased support for Libya's rebels</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/BEN+HUBBARD">BEN HUBBARD</a></span> and <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/SEBASTIAN+ABBOT">SEBASTIAN ABBOT</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T02:45:33Z">23 April 2011 02:45+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="32.11667,20.06667" class="dateline geo">BENGHAZI, Libya</abbr>  (AP) — U.S. Sen. John McCain called for increased military support for Libya's rebels Friday, including weapons, training and stepped-up airstrikes, in a full-throated endorsement of the opposition in its fight to oust Moammar Gadhafi.</p>
+    <p>In the Libyan capital, meanwhile, a senior official said government troops would step back and allow local armed tribesmen to deal with rebels in the besieged city of Misrata.</p>
+    <p>The action came a day after the U.S. began flying armed drones to bolster NATO airstrikes, and having the tribesmen take up the fight could make it harder for the Predators to distinguish them from Misrata's civilians or the rebels.</p>
+    <p>Early Saturday, loud booms were heard in Tripoli, apparently from NATO airstrikes.</p>
+    <p>Reporters were taken to an unpaved plot next to Gadhafi's sprawling Bab Aziziyeh residential compound in Tripoli. They were shown two craters, apparently from missiles that had pierced through thick layers of reinforced concrete, laying bare what looked like a bunker system. Eight narrow military-issue metal crates were stacked next to one of the craters.</p>
+    <p>About two dozen Gadhafi supporters arrived at the scene, waving green flags in support of the Libyan leader.</p>
+    <p>McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the United States and other nations should recognize the opposition's political leadership as the "legitimate voice of the Libyan people." The White House disagreed, saying it was for the Libyan people to decide who their leaders are.</p>
+    <p>McCain also called the rebels "patriots" with no links to al-Qaida, in contrast to what some critics have suggested, and added they should receive Gadhafi assets that were frozen by other countries.</p>
+    <p>The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said in Iraq that although the timing was hard to predict, the eventual ouster of Gadhafi and his family from power "is certain."</p>
+    <p>Rebels in the western city of Misrata raised their tricolor flag atop an eight-story building in celebration after driving pro-government snipers out of the structure Thursday. The battle-scarred building commands a strategic view of the central part of Libya's third-largest city and the key main thoroughfare of Tripoli Street. The snipers had terrorized residents and pinned down rebel fighters.</p>
+    <p>As a result, the number of civilian casualties dropped dramatically Friday for the first time in several weeks, said one rebel who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation.</p>
+    <p>"Spirits are high but the military situation is still unknown," he said. "The rebels easily entered yesterday, so it was clear that the Gadhafi forces quickly withdrew."</p>
+    <p>Although there was less fear about snipers, fighting was still taking place near Misrata's central hospital and the vegetable market, a rebel said.</p>
+    <p>In Tripoli, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said tribal leaders had given the army an ultimatum, saying it must step aside if it cannot retake control of Misrata, which has been besieged by Gadhafi's forces for two months.</p>
+    <p>The tribal leaders would fight the rebels if they don't surrender, Kaim said late Friday night.</p>
+    <p>Asked if that meant troops would get out of the way, he said: "This is how I imagine it would happen." However, he said negotiations between the military and tribal leaders are continuing.</p>
+    <p>Kaim did not say when the military would pull back from Misrata or when the armed tribesmen would move in. "We will leave it for the tribes around Misrata and the Misrata people to deal with the situation in Misrata," Kaim told reporters.</p>
+    <p>Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between rebels and government forces in the city of 300,000. The international community has accused Libyan forces of firing indiscriminately at civilian areas with tanks, rockets and mortars.</p>
+    <p>NATO's air campaign has been largely unable to strike at the government forces because of their proximity to civilians, and the rebels have complained that NATO's strikes have not done enough. McCain also has been critical of the U.S. decision to turn over control of the operation to the military alliance.</p>
+    <p>On Thursday, the U.S. began flying armed drones that are "uniquely suited for urban areas," said U.S. Marine Gen. James Cartwright. The drones can fly lower and counter the pro-Gadhafi forces' tactic of traveling in civilian vehicles that are difficult to distinguish from those of rebel forces. Thursday's first mission, however, was forced to turn back due to poor weather without firing any of its Hellfire missiles, Cartwright said.</p>
+    <p>Kaim denounced the U.S. move as a "dirty game."</p>
+    <p>"This will be another crime against humanity committed by the American administration, and I feel really very sad for President Obama to be involved in such things," he said.</p>
+    <p>At a news conference in the rebels' stronghold of Benghazi ini eastern Libya, McCain said he did not believe that the United States should send in ground troops, but it should be much more involved in the air campaign and "facilitate" the arming and training of the rebels — much as it armed the mujahedeen who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.</p>
+    <p>"We need to urgently step up the NATO air campaign to protect Libyan civilians, especially in Misrata," he said. "We desperately need more close air support and strike assets."</p>
+    <p>McCain applauded the Obama administration's decision to use the drones "so we can better identify Gadhafi's forces as they seek to conceal themselves in civilian areas."</p>
+    <p>McCain urged the use of combat aircraft more suited for engaging targets in urban areas, such as A-10 Thunderbolts, which are anti-tank planes, and AC-130 gunships, outfitted with heavy weaponry, including cannons, rockets and machine guns. Earlier this month, Army Gen. Carter Ham told McCain's Senate committee that recent bad weather and threats from Gadhafi's mobile surface-to-air missile systems hampered efforts to use those aircraft to support friendly ground troops.</p>
+    <p>All nations should recognize the opposition's Transitional National Council as the legitimate voice of the Libyan people, McCain said, and provide it with "every appropriate means of assistance," including "command and control support, battlefield intelligence, training and weapons."</p>
+    <p>White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the administration disagreed with McCain's call for recognition of the rebels' political leadership.</p>
+    <p>"We think it's for the people of Libya to decide who the head of their country is, not for the United States to do that," Carney said aboard Air Force One as President Barack Obama returned to Washington from California.</p>
+    <p>Carney said U.S. officials had been meeting regularly with opposition leaders, including the national council, and would continue to do so to advise them as they try to prepare for a post-Gadhafi Libya.</p>
+    <p>McCain is the highest profile U.S. visitor to meet with the rebels. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has agreed in principle to travel to Benghazi, although the date has not been worked out, a top presidential aide said.</p>
+    <p>The council was encouraged by McCain's visit, said Fathi Baja, the head of the group's political committee. The members asked McCain to press for greater U.S. involvement in the NATO campaign.</p>
+    <p>"The United States started the action strongly. Now people feel that there is some kind of retreat," he said, expressing a common sentiment in Benghazi. "They want the United States to be the leader again."</p>
+    <p>Some in the West have raised the possibility that Islamic militants may be among the rebels, but McCain said he did not see any evidence of that.</p>
+    <p>"I have met these brave fighters and they are not al-Qaida," he said. "To the contrary, they are Libyan patriots who want to liberate their nation.</p>
+    <p>"They are my heroes," he said.</p>
+    <p>However, McCain cautioned that the situation could change if there is a deadlock on the battlefield.</p>
+    <p>"I do worry that if there is a stalemate here, that it could open the door to radical Islamic fundamentalism because of the frustration that thousands and thousands of young people would feel as they are deprived from participating in democracy in the united Libya."</p>
+    <p>Kaim, the Libyan government spokesman, said McCain's visit was another sign that the West is "siding with the rebels," instead of sticking to the U.N. mandate of protecting Libyan civilians.</p>
+    <p>At a news conference in Baghdad, Mullen told reporters that the battle between the rebels and government forces in Libya "has become a much more difficult fight."</p>
+    <p>"I have observed in recent days essentially it is very much stalemate-like in the vicinity of Ajdabiya and Brega" — cities in eastern Libya, which is largely controlled by the rebels. Gadhafi's forces control most of western Libya.</p>
+    <p>He said it was not surprising that "the regime forces have changed their tactics," Mullen said.</p>
+    <p>"The exact outcome of when something is going to happen is very difficult to predict. But I think the eventual outcome is certain," Mullen said, referring to the ouster of Gadhafi and his family.</p>
+    <p>Also Friday, a fourth ship chartered by the International Organization for Migration is leaving Benghazi to evacuate stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians from Misrata.</p>
+    <p>The latest voyage, which will also bring 160 tons of food, medical supplies, tents and mattresses to residents trapped in the city by the fighting, follows three earlier evacuations of more than 3,100 people from Misrata on another IOM-chartered vessel, the Ionian Spirit.</p>
+    <p>In western Libya, rebels consolidated control over the Dhuheiba border crossing they seized a day earlier, following several days of intense fighting with government troops. Libyan government officials had claimed Thursday that government troops had retaken the crossing.</p>
+    <p>However, several tricolor rebel flags fluttered from the crossing Friday, and rebel weapons, including machine guns, were seen in the area. Thousands of Libyans had fled to Tunisia during the fighting, but many were making their way back home Friday.</p>
+    <p>The takeover of the crossing opened an important supply line for the rebels to their stronghold in Libya's western Nafusa mountain area, near the border with Tunisia.</p>
+    <p>___</p>
+    <p>Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Tripoli, Libya, Maggie Michael in Cairo, Pier Paolo Cito in Dhuheiba, Tunisia, Angela Charlton in Paris, Julie Pace aboard Air Force One, and Donna Cassata in Washington contributed to this report.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Rebellions+and+uprisings" rel="tag">Rebellions and uprisings</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/War+and+unrest" rel="tag">War and unrest</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Municipal+governments" rel="tag">Municipal governments</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Armed+forces" rel="tag">Armed forces</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+and+politics" rel="tag">Government and politics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Historic+sites" rel="tag">Historic sites</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legislature" rel="tag">Legislature</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Army" rel="tag">Army</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+news" rel="tag">General news</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Local+governments" rel="tag">Local governments</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Military+and+defense" rel="tag">Military and defense</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Sightseeing" rel="tag">Sightseeing</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Leisure+travel" rel="tag">Leisure travel</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Travel" rel="tag">Travel</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Lifestyle" rel="tag">Lifestyle</a></small>
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+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:0540fbcd-0997-42a4-b735-31d010d1385e</id><title type="text">"Birther" claims force GOP leaders to take a stand</title><updated>2011-04-23T03:26:01Z</updated><author><name>CHARLES BABINGTON</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Obama%20Birthplace/id-p0540fbcd099742a4b73531d010d1385e"/><category term="d0dd3ba888d610048da1ded1ce465303" label="Presidential elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86bcf1d87dac10048964ba7fa5283c3e" label="Public opinion" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86b646d07dac10048932ba7fa5283c3e" label="Political parties" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c1b8807dac10048990ba7fa5283c3e" label="Legislation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="be2e7290894b10048bcfba0a2b2ca13e" label="National elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aee4307dac10048901ba7fa5283c3e" label="Elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="75a42fd87df7100483eedf092526b43e" label="Social affairs" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a858af6888d710048576ba0a2b2ca13e" label="Political organizations" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c13f687dac1004898cba7fa5283c3e" label="Legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b1d550d087874a0393ebfa85dab5ea0a" label="Barack Obama" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a6331b54c46e4ca8b79fa40fada95db5" label="Donald Trump" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="dad6ac35b13c4bdb950d1842ac6daf41" label="John Boehner" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="41e1fecf5fd54d2596dd94dc2d052158" label="Eric Cantor" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3685b136ce304d67bdbc6e585cad91a7" label="Mitt Romney" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="df258ac17bd34a6db2695d11de97a187" label="Rick Santorum" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b51dcec68af346999700ffe2ebaf25bd" label="Haley Barbour" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d133c7e4554446bc8d26ad22a48a434f" label="Tim Pawlenty" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f21c87683d7441018fb56330107519d8" label="George Stephanopoulos" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="0f020451d5604199aed43be139a7ba3b" label="Michele Bachmann" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="62abcba6d25f43c9b4e463e9ab74bd17" label="Sarah Palin" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="c776fb388d38100486b6a55c96277d3e" label="Mike Huckabee" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a4049a089241100486bba55c96277d3e" label="Newt Gingrich" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="0b88666c8cc742748d996de1a38459a9" label="Jan Brewer" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="ee324cc082af10048342df092526b43e" label="Hawaii" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Obama Birthplace/id-p0540fbcd099742a4b73531d010d1385e" rel="bookmark">"Birther" claims force GOP leaders to take a stand</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/CHARLES+BABINGTON">CHARLES BABINGTON</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T03:26:01Z">23 April 2011 03:26+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="38.89511,-77.03637" class="dateline geo">WASHINGTON</abbr>  (AP) — It's the conspiracy theory that won't go away. And it's forcing Republican officials and presidential contenders to pick sides: Do they think Barack Obama was born outside the United States and disqualified to be president?</p>
+    <p>As the Republican candidates tiptoe through the mine field, Democrats are watching. They hope the debate will fire up their liberal base and perhaps tie the eventual GOP nominee to fringe beliefs that swing voters will reject.</p>
+    <p>In recent days several prominent Republicans have distanced themselves, with varying degrees of emphasis, from the false claim that Obama was born in a foreign country. But with a new poll showing that two-thirds of adult Republicans either embrace the claim or are open to it, nearly all these GOP leaders are not calling for a broader effort to stamp out the allegations.</p>
+    <p>"It's a real challenge for the Republican Party and virtually every Republican candidate for president," contends Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. If it's not handled well, he said, all-important independent voters might see Republicans as extreme or irrelevant.</p>
+    <p>Many Americans consider claims of Obama's foreign birth to be preposterous, unworthy of serious debate. Yet the "birther" issue threatens to overshadow the early stages of the GOP effort to choose a presidential nominee for 2012. Real estate mogul Donald Trump has stirred the pot lately, repeatedly saying Obama should provide his original birth certificate.</p>
+    <p>From a political standpoint, it's impossible to dismiss the matter as conspiratorial fantasy, akin to, say, claims that the 1969 moon landing was staged. In the latest New York Times-CBS News poll, 45 percent of adult Republicans said they believe Obama was born in another country, and 22 percent said they don't know. One-third of Republicans said they believe the president is native born.</p>
+    <p>The same poll a year ago found considerably less suspicion among Republicans. A plurality of GOP adults then said Obama was U.S.-born, and 32 percent said they believed he was foreign-born.</p>
+    <p>In the latest poll, about half of all independents said Obama was born in the United States. The other independents were about evenly split between those saying he is foreign-born, and those saying they don't know.</p>
+    <p>Ten percent of Democrats said Obama was born overseas, and 9 percent were unsure.</p>
+    <p>Obama's birth certificate indicates he was born in Hawaii in 1961. Newspaper birth announcements at the time reported the birth, and news organizations' investigations have rebutted the birthers' claims. The Constitution says a president must be a "natural born citizen."</p>
+    <p>Trump's leap to the top tier of potential GOP presidential contenders in recent polls has frustrated party leaders who'd like the birthplace issue to go away.</p>
+    <p>The House's top Republicans —Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor — say they are satisfied that Obama was born in Hawaii. But they have declined to criticize those who state otherwise, and Boehner has said it's not his job to tell Americans what to think.</p>
+    <p>Trump, meanwhile, keeps fueling the fire. Even though many people doubt he will run for president, he has forced other Republicans to take stands.</p>
+    <p>Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania have been the most direct in rejecting the birthers' claims. "I believe the president was born in the United States," Romney told CNBC.</p>
+    <p>Santorum has no doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii, and he "believes this debate distracts us from the real issues," said his spokeswoman, Virginia Davis.</p>
+    <p>Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour accepts the president's word about his birthplace, his staff said.</p>
+    <p>Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told an Iowa audience, "I'm not one to question the authenticity of Barack Obama's birth certificate." He added a little jab: "When you look at his policies, I do question what planet he's from."</p>
+    <p>When ABC's George Stephanopoulos showed a copy of Obama's birth certificate to Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who was ambivalent at first, she said: "Well, then, that should settle it. ... I take the president at his word."</p>
+    <p>Former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave mixed signals in a recent Fox News appearance. She praised Trump for "paying for researchers" to dig into claims of Obama's foreign birth. But she added, "I think that he was born in Hawaii because there was a birth announcement put in the newspaper."</p>
+    <p>Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has dismissed claims that Obama is foreign-born, calling them a distraction. But on a February radio show, Huckabee referred to Obama "having grown up in Kenya," the birthplace of the president's father.</p>
+    <p>Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. A spokesman said Huckabee's statement was simply a mistake.</p>
+    <p>Aides to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said voters have not asked him about the birthplace question and he has not discussed it.</p>
+    <p>The issue has spread to several states where Republican-controlled legislatures have introduced or passed bills requiring presidential candidates, and sometimes others, to prove their citizenship. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, recently vetoed such a bill, calling it "a bridge too far."</p>
+    <p>Democrats think the birthplace issue might fire up liberals, especially minorities, who in many cases have been dispirited by Obama's frequent compromises with conservatives to pass legislation. Blacks who embraced Obama's barrier-breaking election now see some Republicans claiming he has no constitutional right to be president.</p>
+    <p>The New York Times-CBS poll was worded in a way that might have subtly encouraged respondents to say Obama is foreign born. "Some people say Barack Obama was NOT born in the United States," the poll's callers said, but they did not offer counter arguments.</p>
+    <p>Moreover, some pollsters think respondents will seize a chance to call Obama a Muslim or non-citizen to convey something else: a dislike for him or his policies.</p>
+    <p>"Some people who strongly oppose a person or proposition will take virtually any opportunity to express that antipathy," writes Gary Langer, who polls for ABC News.</p>
+    <p>Garin, the Democratic pollster, doesn't buy it in this case. The birthers' claims are so prevalent, especially on conservative TV and radio shows, he said, that poll respondents are likely to say what they truly believe about a much-discussed topic.</p>
+    <p>"There are high- profile people, including Donald Trump and many others in the conservative media, who advocate and validate this point of view each and every day," Garin said. The big question about the birthplace issue, he said, "is the extent to which it drives a wedge within the Republican Party" and turns off independents in November 2012.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Presidential+elections" rel="tag">Presidential elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Public+opinion" rel="tag">Public opinion</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+and+politics" rel="tag">Government and politics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Political+parties" rel="tag">Political parties</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legislation" rel="tag">Legislation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/National+elections" rel="tag">National elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Elections" rel="tag">Elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Social+affairs" rel="tag">Social affairs</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Political+organizations" rel="tag">Political organizations</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legislature" rel="tag">Legislature</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Barack+Obama" rel="tag">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Donald+Trump" rel="tag">Donald Trump</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/John+Boehner" rel="tag">John Boehner</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Eric+Cantor" rel="tag">Eric Cantor</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Mitt+Romney" rel="tag">Mitt Romney</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Rick+Santorum" rel="tag">Rick Santorum</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Haley+Barbour" rel="tag">Haley Barbour</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Tim+Pawlenty" rel="tag">Tim Pawlenty</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/George+Stephanopoulos" rel="tag">George Stephanopoulos</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Michele+Bachmann" rel="tag">Michele Bachmann</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Sarah+Palin" rel="tag">Sarah Palin</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Mike+Huckabee" rel="tag">Mike Huckabee</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Newt+Gingrich" rel="tag">Newt Gingrich</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Jan+Brewer" rel="tag">Jan Brewer</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Hawaii" rel="tag">Hawaii</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">38.89511</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-77.03637</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/0540fbcd099742a4b73531d010d1385e/CVI/a94441eec96242a8be8397be39215f92/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:64db22a7-e778-420a-9b5b-404dc3741472</id><title type="text">Timing of Sen. Ensign resignation raises questions</title><updated>2011-04-23T00:02:36Z</updated><author><name>CRISTINA SILVA</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Ensign-Resignation/id-p64db22a7e778420a9b5b404dc3741472"/><category term="d01217b08729100488a5dd689ee7093e" label="Political ethics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b6559a30872a10048eadd7c656897a02" label="Political corruption" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aee4307dac10048901ba7fa5283c3e" label="Elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c13f687dac1004898cba7fa5283c3e" label="Legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="4984cd553956426b944a4c9a110d2de6" label="State legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="47e306a5efef47df8c198c7d32325f86" label="United States General Election" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d0dd89c888d610048da2ded1ce465303" label="State elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d1720f70883210048576ae2ac3a6923e" label="Criminal investigations" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="bcfcf2d8887010048898eb2e0e616f0b" label="Extramarital affairs" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86b3e5707dac10048922ba7fa5283c3e" label="Primary elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86b32dd87dac1004891dba7fa5283c3e" label="General elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="297d4020b7164b328c5d3f7b084b25c0" label="Special elections" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86bc3e287dac1004895dba7fa5283c3e" label="Political issues" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="4984cd553956426b944a4c9a110d2de6" label="State legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d5a677a889491004863cba0a2b2ca13e" label="State governments" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="06a735407cb61004804eba7fa5283c3e" label="Events" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="17956128897810048ce8d56c852d093e" label="Law and order" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d1720f70883210048576ae2ac3a6923e" label="Criminal investigations" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="48612b807c2b4b93bbbacbf54f547ad5" label="Crime" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="326bd288872b10048ce4dd689ee7093e" label="Sex in society" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="08680bf085af10048c4f9a5aeba5fb06" label="Social issues" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="75a42fd87df7100483eedf092526b43e" label="Social affairs" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d8d8598eafcf4a9896480ea4fe86c24f" label="John Ensign" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="235338294f5b417a928cd64c67728a17" label="Brian Sandoval" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="17605719e5e04774becfc5ad24f8ed84" label="Dean Heller" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="ab0d5a7c012d43e3bfaf3c69e9ace5fc" label="Shelley Berkley" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="bc28690279aa4084a6020404e1cc1a49" label="Sharron Angle" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="7c47e59b764e455681b9476640639a54" label="Barbara Boxer" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8c098cb2fb88411a919d222a1533c322" label="Johnny Isakson" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b1d550d087874a0393ebfa85dab5ea0a" label="Barack Obama" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="11a7894f8b404b81b0f2f352d97eaebe" label="George W. Bush" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8bb89dd082c61004879fdf092526b43e" label="Nevada" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="USA" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Ensign-Resignation/id-p64db22a7e778420a9b5b404dc3741472" rel="bookmark">Timing of Sen. Ensign resignation raises questions</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/CRISTINA+SILVA">CRISTINA SILVA</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T00:02:36Z">23 April 2011 00:02+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="36.17497,-115.13722" class="dateline geo">LAS VEGAS</abbr>  (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Ensign's decision this week to resign marked a mysterious change of heart for the Nevada Republican, raising questions about what an ongoing Senate ethics probe has uncovered while also muddling the field of candidates for congressional seats now held by the GOP headed into a key election year.</p>
+    <p>Leaders of the Senate Ethics Committee noted tersely that Ensign made the proper decision in turning in a letter of resignation amid their unfinished two-year probe of his conduct.</p>
+    <p>Ensign, 53, cited "wear and tear" on himself and his family in his announcement Thursday, which came nearly two years after he acknowledged having had an extramarital affair with a former staffer. The ethics probe has explored Ensign's handling of the affair and whether he tried to illegally cover it up.</p>
+    <p>As recently as last month, Ensign said he would stay in office because he had not violated ethics rules.</p>
+    <p>"If I was concerned about that, I would have resigned, because that would make the most sense, because then it goes away," Ensign said when announcing his retirement from politics after 2012.</p>
+    <p>It's not immediately clear what, if anything, has changed since he made those remarks. An ethics committee official said Friday that neither a vote nor a public hearing had been scheduled in the Ensign investigation prior to his announcement.</p>
+    <p>Ensign's exit protects him from future disciplinary action and questioning. The committee cannot penalize Ensign once he is no longer a senator, and, with the Senate in recess, it is unlikely that the committee will be able to do so before Ensign's May 3 resignation.</p>
+    <p>But Ensign is not entirely in the clear. It is likely the committee will move forward on the months-long investigation by issuing an embarrassing statement regarding the propriety of Ensign's behavior and the panel could even go so far as to recommend a criminal investigation. It would by a damning, but mostly symbolic, gesture because committee members do not have authority over federal investigators.</p>
+    <p>Ensign's looming departure also casts a new sense of urgency over Nevada's closely watched Senate race to replace him. After he announced last month that he would not seek re-election, Democrats hoped to claim the seat to protect their fragile Senate majority.</p>
+    <p>In the meantime, Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval will appoint a successor to serve the remainder of the term through  2012. Sandoval had endorsed Republican Rep. Dean Heller of northern Nevada in the race and is widely expected to name him the incumbent, affording Heller an advantage over Rep. Shelley Berkley, the Democrat's favored candidate.</p>
+    <p>A Heller appointment to the Senate would require an unprecedented special congressional election in Nevada.</p>
+    <p>Because of a quirk of Nevada politics, state leaders are uncertain about how to carry out the never-enforced special election law, which does not allow for a primary. Their decision could decide the political fate of tea party favorite and perennial candidate Sharron Angle, who has been running for Heller's seat and could be closed out of the race if party leaders are allowed to pick their general election contestants.</p>
+    <p>Ensign insisted Thursday he has done nothing wrong. But he said he was shaken by the Senate Ethics Committee decision in February to name a special counsel to look into the matter, after the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission investigated and then dropped their cases.</p>
+    <p>"I was hopeful that, with the closure of these investigations against me, the wear and tear on my family and me would soon be over. This was not the case," he said.</p>
+    <p>Still, the timing of Ensign's announcement remains an enigma given his persistent insistence that he would not give up his seat.</p>
+    <p>Long after party leaders revoked their support for him, Ensign continued to say he would campaign for a third term until the abrupt announcement in March that he would sit the election out.</p>
+    <p>Federal campaign reports showed his fundraising efforts had languished. Ensign, however, cited his desire to protect his family from campaign attacks involving the extramarital affair and said the Senate investigation hadn't influenced his decision.</p>
+    <p>The panel's chairman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and the vice chairman, Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, issued a terse statement Thursday saying the committee had spent 22 months investigating "and will complete its work in a timely fashion."</p>
+    <p>"Senator Ensign has made the appropriate decision," the statement said.</p>
+    <p>Ensign announced in June 2009 that he had an extramarital affair with Cynthia Hampton, a former member of his campaign staff. Amid the scandal, his parents provided the Hamptons with $96,000, described as a gift, and Ensign helped find Doug Hampton, the husband, a lobbying job.</p>
+    <p>Doug Hampton has been indicted for illegally lobbying the senator's staff. Federal law prohibits a former senior Senate aide from lobbying the Senate for one year after terminating employment.</p>
+    <p>Several national and state Republican leaders have said they hope Sandoval will appoint Heller to Ensign's seat.</p>
+    <p>Sandoval declined to discuss his selection process Friday, but said he would name a successor while Ensign was still in office.</p>
+    <p>Berkley and Heller had been evenly matched, with their comparable political credentials and name recognition in Nevada. Wealthy businessman Byron Georgiou is also seeking the Democratic nomination.</p>
+    <p>But choosing Heller or another Republican would give the GOP a clear, albeit slight, advantage of incumbency in a highly competitive seat that could decide which party controls the Senate after next year's elections.</p>
+    <p>It could also shape the line-up of Nevada's four House contests in a year where President Barack Obama's re-election bid could turn out votes for other Democratic candidates.</p>
+    <p>State officials don't know how they would proceed in the event of a special election.</p>
+    <p>"The vacancies that we are talking about don't even exist yet," said Robert Walsh, deputy secretary of state for southern Nevada. "So we are going to use this time to do considerable research in order to have a well-considered legal opinion as to how to proceed."</p>
+    <p>Election lawyer Burt Odelson, who served on George W. Bush's legal team during the 2000 Florida recount, said primary-free general elections are unheard of or very rare.</p>
+    <p>"It's going to be a real headache," he said. "They will have to set the precedent and then someone will sue and it will have to be decided in court."</p>
+    <p>___</p>
+    <p>Associated Press writers Sandra Chereb in Carson City and David Espo in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Political+ethics" rel="tag">Political ethics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Political+corruption" rel="tag">Political corruption</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Elections" rel="tag">Elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legislature" rel="tag">Legislature</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+and+politics" rel="tag">Government and politics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/State+legislature" rel="tag">State legislature</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States+General+Election" rel="tag">United States General Election</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/State+elections" rel="tag">State elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Criminal+investigations" rel="tag">Criminal investigations</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Extramarital+affairs" rel="tag">Extramarital affairs</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Primary+elections" rel="tag">Primary elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+elections" rel="tag">General elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Special+elections" rel="tag">Special elections</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Political+issues" rel="tag">Political issues</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/State+governments" rel="tag">State governments</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Events" rel="tag">Events</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Law+and+order" rel="tag">Law and order</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+news" rel="tag">General news</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Crime" rel="tag">Crime</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Sex+in+society" rel="tag">Sex in society</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Social+issues" rel="tag">Social issues</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Social+affairs" rel="tag">Social affairs</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/John+Ensign" rel="tag">John Ensign</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Brian+Sandoval" rel="tag">Brian Sandoval</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Dean+Heller" rel="tag">Dean Heller</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Shelley+Berkley" rel="tag">Shelley Berkley</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Sharron+Angle" rel="tag">Sharron Angle</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Barbara+Boxer" rel="tag">Barbara Boxer</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Johnny+Isakson" rel="tag">Johnny Isakson</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Barack+Obama" rel="tag">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/George+W.+Bush" rel="tag">George W. Bush</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Nevada" rel="tag">Nevada</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">36.17497</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-115.13722</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/64db22a7e778420a9b5b404dc3741472/CVI/2187ce07f12b4fd8b0f4fd8b0aa3505d/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:0d0c0266-40c6-47a3-8ac2-176d6c389a99</id><title type="text">Michelle Obama's plane flew closer to big jet</title><updated>2011-04-23T00:25:14Z</updated><author><name>JOAN LOWY</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Air%20Traffic%20Controller%20Errors/id-p0d0c026640c647a38ac2176d6c389a99"/><category term="4164307bf72c4da892c50f02799f7a1b" label="Air traffic control" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="e2a8dab88985100485c5bc885dbc3010" label="Air travel" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="877cb3c0899a10048abbd56c852d093e" label="Transportation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d3d7a339e8c4488f82f050b5d857f1bf" label="Travel" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3e37e4b87df7100483d5df092526b43e" label="Lifestyle" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="9533602792124488b2fd56be0bcb43f1" label="Michelle Obama" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b1d550d087874a0393ebfa85dab5ea0a" label="Barack Obama" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="cf78ba6c776f4d33985b208ef1cb438b" label="Jill Biden" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="42fcd5108d2610048a34f7ae5e3ffd3e" label="Joe Biden" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="4f9175fe964c478fb3d502016f72d4ad" label="Randy Babbitt" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="59098738e36f4c2380b01e1482473a7e" label="Ray LaHood" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="788b364882f110048df3df092526b43e" label="District of Columbia" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Air Traffic Controller Errors/id-p0d0c026640c647a38ac2176d6c389a99" rel="bookmark">Michelle Obama's plane flew closer to big jet</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/JOAN+LOWY">JOAN LOWY</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T00:25:14Z">23 April 2011 00:25+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="38.89511,-77.03637" class="dateline geo">WASHINGTON</abbr>  (AP) — A plane carrying first lady Michelle Obama this week came even closer to a big military cargo jet than previously reported, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.</p>
+    <p>The distance between the two planes closed to 2.94 miles before air traffic controllers at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington directed the first lady's plane to abort a landing, the board said in a statement. The Federal Aviation Administration had previously said there was more than three miles between the planes, and had ordered controllers' supervisors to oversee flights carrying the first lady and the vice president. A supervisor was already required to monitors flights with President Barack Obama on board.</p>
+    <p>Obama's plane, a Boeing 737, was considerably smaller than the 200-ton C17 ahead of it. Federal regulations require five miles between planes to avoid dangerous wake turbulence when the plane in the lead is significantly larger than the one trailing.</p>
+    <p>The planes were lined up for their landing approach into Andrews by a controller at a regional radar facility in Warrenton, Va., the board said. The planes were already too close when controllers at Andrews took over.</p>
+    <p>The Andrews controllers immediately ordered the 737 pilot to execute a series of turns to increase its distance from the cargo plane. When the distance continued to narrow, the controllers directed the 737 pilot to abort the landing and circle the airport until the cargo jet cleared the runway.</p>
+    <p>On board the plane with Mrs. Obama was Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.</p>
+    <p>The board also said a Southwest Airlines jet with 142 people aboard came perilously close to a small plane over central Florida last month. The planes, traveling at more than 100 miles per hour, could have closed the short distance within seconds. They were flying at an altitude of about 11,000 feet at the time.</p>
+    <p>The board said previously that a controller at a regional radar facility near Jacksonville asked the Southwest pilot to fly close enough to look into the cockpit window of the smaller plane, a single-engine, four-seat Cirrus SR22. The Cirrus had been out of radio contact for over an hour.</p>
+    <p>Both planes landed safety. The controller has been suspended pending an investigation.</p>
+    <p>Also Friday, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Paul Rinaldi called on the FAA to allow controllers to sleep on breaks during daytime shifts, and to take scheduled naps of as long as two hours during overnight shifts. Rinaldi also endorsed 10 other recommendations for combating fatigue offered by a working group of agency and union officials.</p>
+    <p>"If we are serious about addressing controller fatigue, then every recommendation must be adopted and implemented" Rinaldi said.</p>
+    <p>FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood have ruled out any change in policy to allow controllers to nap during work shifts, even on breaks. That's despite the disclosure since late March of at least five incidents of controllers dozing off at work.</p>
+    <p>Instead, Babbitt has increased by an hour the minimum amount of rest between work shifts. The FAA has also added a second controller on overnight shifts at 27 airports and a radar facility to prevent any more planes from landing without tower assistance because a controller working alone at night has fallen asleep.</p>
+    <p>Planes flew unguided because of a sleeping controller into Washington's Reagan National airport last month and in Reno, Nev., this month.</p>
+    <p>Rinaldi, while appreciative of the changes, said "they barely scratch the surface of the problem."</p>
+    <p>FAA officials declined comment.</p>
+    <p>The FAA has known for decades that controllers work exhausting schedules that can affect their ability to safely manage air traffic. The sleeping incidents, as well as recent errors by controllers, have shaken public confidence in the nation's air traffic system.</p>
+    <p>___</p>
+    <p>Online:</p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="http://www.faa.gov/">www.faa.gov</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a href="http://www.natca.org/">www.natca.org</a>
+    </p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Air+traffic+control" rel="tag">Air traffic control</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Air+travel" rel="tag">Air travel</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+and+politics" rel="tag">Government and politics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Transportation" rel="tag">Transportation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+news" rel="tag">General news</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Travel" rel="tag">Travel</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Lifestyle" rel="tag">Lifestyle</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Michelle+Obama" rel="tag">Michelle Obama</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Barack+Obama" rel="tag">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Jill+Biden" rel="tag">Jill Biden</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Joe+Biden" rel="tag">Joe Biden</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Randy+Babbitt" rel="tag">Randy Babbitt</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Ray+LaHood" rel="tag">Ray LaHood</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/District+of+Columbia" rel="tag">District of Columbia</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">38.89511</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-77.03637</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/0d0c026640c647a38ac2176d6c389a99/CVI/aa019f68d4e54f428b7e7c7abb98e7a0/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:ddcb7145-4dc0-425b-b152-12f48379e2ec</id><title type="text">Wash. considers annual flat fee for electric cars</title><updated>2011-04-23T00:12:15Z</updated><author><name>ROBIN HINDERY</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-US-Electric-Car-Fees/id-pddcb71454dc0425bb15212f48379e2ec"/><category term="a86239008b6d1004897db5b842854103" label="Electric vehicles" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="4984cd553956426b944a4c9a110d2de6" label="State legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="70778cb88b6b10048b5ba385cd5ce603" label="Automotive technology" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="31aacae6c0574eea95fb55d32ee8f04a" label="Hybrid vehicles" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="9a3b8ea888fc10048f96ba0a2b2ca13e" label="State taxes" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="6c941ab5d13b477fa59c5db524a13799" label="Energy and utilities regulation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="71de7d1e0a874734815b977904fbc4ab" label="Automotive industry regulation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="05d47d07374d4b8b9eed7c2792fcca7c" label="Transportation industry regulation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c1f7007dac10048993ba7fa5283c3e" label="Bills" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="221298af24a646ab80f5bd3cc57e080e" label="Car buying" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86aad5207dac100488ecba7fa5283c3e" label="Government and politics" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="9031a908899a10048bafcece19677003" label="Traffic" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c1b8807dac10048990ba7fa5283c3e" label="Legislation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="86c13f687dac1004898cba7fa5283c3e" label="Legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="c94627508b6b10048d79a385cd5ce603" label="Green vehicle technology" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="707877188b6b10048bf4a385cd5ce603" label="Green technology" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="38284d5088e8100485efba0a2b2ca13e" label="Environment" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8783d248894710048286ba0a2b2ca13e" label="Environment and nature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="707877188b6b10048bf4a385cd5ce603" label="Green technology" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="455ef2b87df7100483d8df092526b43e" label="Technology" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="4984cd553956426b944a4c9a110d2de6" label="State legislature" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category 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term="9201129cad434b09a06d4c6c382bc1c5" label="Industry regulation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="9201129cad434b09a06d4c6c382bc1c5" label="Industry regulation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="523699d088e910048f43f8851349f9bd" label="Government regulations" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a7a834c23db0462388096b466da60ab9" label="Automobiles" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3e37e4b87df7100483d5df092526b43e" label="Lifestyle" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="877cb3c0899a10048abbd56c852d093e" label="Transportation" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="9f311450d9c44be681da8eaced062b2b" label="Chris Gregoire" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="d1b53a9713984d5b9c24131b70684dab" label="Nissan Motor" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="08a0a00882c810048942df092526b43e" label="Washington" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="fe016fe882c61004886adf092526b43e" label="Oregon" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-US-Electric-Car-Fees/id-pddcb71454dc0425bb15212f48379e2ec" rel="bookmark">Wash. considers annual flat fee for electric cars</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/ROBIN+HINDERY">ROBIN HINDERY</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T00:12:15Z">23 April 2011 00:12+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="47.03787,-122.9007" class="dateline geo">OLYMPIA, Wash.</abbr>  (AP) — Drivers of electric cars may have left the gas pump behind, but there's one expense they may not be able to shake: paying to maintain the roads.</p>
+    <p>After years of urging residents to buy fuel-efficient cars and giving them tax breaks to do it, Washington state lawmakers are considering a measure to charge them a $100 annual fee — what would be the nation's first electric car fee.</p>
+    <p>State lawmakers grappling with a $5 billion deficit are facing declining gas tax revenue, which means less money to maintain or improve roads.</p>
+    <p>"Electric vehicles put just as much wear and tear on our roads as gas vehicles," said Democratic state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, the bill's lead sponsor. "This simply ensures that they contribute their fair share to the upkeep of our roads."</p>
+    <p>Other states are trying to find solutions to the same problem, as cars become more fuel-efficient and, now, don't use any gas at all.</p>
+    <p>In Oregon, lawmakers are considering a bill to charge drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles based on the number of miles they drive. In Mississippi, lawmakers briefly considered a similar plan. In Texas, significant opposition scuttled an electric vehicle fee.</p>
+    <p>In Washington state, some electric car drivers and lawmakers are against the fee, saying they prefer paying based on how much they actually drive.</p>
+    <p>"The Legislature saw electric vehicles are coming and thought, why not just put a fee on them?" said Dean West, an electric vehicle owner who expects to receive a pre-ordered Leaf — Nissan's new, battery-powered sedan — this summer.</p>
+    <p>"I'm always in favor of a user fee," he said. "The more you use it, the more you pay."</p>
+    <p>Plug In America, a California-based electric car advocacy group, has come out against the proposed flat fee and has urged the state to consider one based on odometer readings that owners would self-report each year.</p>
+    <p>"Electric vehicle drivers certainly want to pay their fair share," said Jay Friedland, the group's legislative director. "The danger you get into is if you treat electric vehicles in some radically different way than you treat the rest."</p>
+    <p>Of course, such use-based fees could end up costing drivers more.</p>
+    <p>Washington's 37.5-cents-per-gallon fuel tax costs the average driver about $200 a year, transportation officials say. That's equivalent to driving roughly 12,000 miles in a vehicle that gets 23 mpg.</p>
+    <p>That tax is added onto the total gasoline purchase, and is not dependent on the price of gas.</p>
+    <p>Supporters say the electric vehicle fee would raise hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to support the state's public highway system.</p>
+    <p>In a report released last month, officials estimated that transportation revenues would decrease $25 million between the current biennium and the 2011-2013 budget period, largely due to dwindling gas tax collections.</p>
+    <p>That decline has coincided with improved vehicle mileage and a drop-off in revenues from the last major round of statewide tax increases, more than five years ago, leaving lawmakers scrambling for solutions, said Sen. Dan Swecker, one of the co-sponsors of proposed fee.</p>
+    <p>"So the question is how do you account for those trends and begin to capture revenue that reflects the actual usage of the road?" said the Republican lawmaker, who estimated he pays about $400 a year in gas taxes for his Toyota Camry. "Our state doesn't change very fast. But we thought the $100 fee was a place to start, so let's start there."</p>
+    <p>Tracy Woodard, Nissan Motor Co.'s director of government affairs for North America, said her company is neutral on electric surcharge legislation being considered in various states. She called for a larger discussion at the federal level of how to deal with reductions in gas tax revenues.</p>
+    <p>"Obviously, we don't like to see barriers put up to getting electric cars on the road," Woodard said. "But we understand people need to pay their fair share for using the roads."</p>
+    <p>An Oregon bill would charge drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles up to 1.43 cents for each mile they drive, beginning with cars from the 2014 model year. It would cost about $172 per year for a car driven 12,000 miles — about the same as the gas tax paid for a vehicle that gets 21 mpg.</p>
+    <p>The measure is scheduled for its next committee vote Monday.</p>
+    <p>Use-based fees have generated their own debate.</p>
+    <p>The Texas Legislature recently put the brakes on an attempt to establish an electric vehicle mileage fee pilot program, after encountering significant opposition. The plan's backers said they hoped to try again in a couple of years.</p>
+    <p>Oregon previously experimented with using GPS devices to monitor and report the number of miles driven inside the state. Privacy advocates denounced it, fearing the government could use them to track drivers.</p>
+    <p>Mississippi lawmakers briefly considered an annual usage-based tax on electric vehicles, but the bill died in committee in February. The tax would have been equal to one-half cent per mile for the total miles traveled during the previous year, as indicated by the vehicle's odometer.</p>
+    <p>In Washington, Haugen said, she supports the idea of a use-based fee but thinks it's too logistically complex to undertake right now. Her bill would automatically expire if the state adopts such an approach in the future.</p>
+    <p>The bill's supporters acknowledge that it sends mixed signals on an emerging market that the state has tried to nurture. Washington currently waives the sales tax on electric vehicles, while the federal government provides an income tax credit of up to $7,500 to buyers.</p>
+    <p>Haugen and others say an electric vehicle fee is one of the few viable solutions to help offset lost gas tax revenues. In the 2010 fiscal year, there were just over 1,300 electric-powered vehicles registered with the Department of Licensing.</p>
+    <p>If passed, the bill would go into effect March 2012 and generate an estimated $376,000 in its first full year — a figure that's expected to rise as more drivers embrace the vehicles.</p>
+    <p>Members of both parties have criticized the bill, saying its projected revenues aren't enough to risk discouraging potential electric car buyers.</p>
+    <p>"I think we need to move aggressively and use any tools available to incentivize and support cleaner energy technologies in our transportation sector," Rep. Dave Upthegrove told fellow members of the House Transportation Committee at an April 14 hearing.</p>
+    <p>The bill has passed the state Senate but has not yet come up for a vote before the full House. Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, a staunch supporter of alternative energy, has not spoken publicly on the measure.</p>
+    <p>Discussion about the measure underscored a larger challenge, lawmakers said. How can lawmakers create a new system to maintain the transportation infrastructure that "makes more sense than what we have today?" Rep. Chris Reykdal asked.</p>
+    <p>___</p>
+    <p>Associated Press writer Jonathan Cooper in Salem, Ore., and AP Auto Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in New York contributed to this report.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Electric+vehicles" rel="tag">Electric vehicles</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/State+legislature" rel="tag">State legislature</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Automotive+technology" rel="tag">Automotive technology</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Hybrid+vehicles" rel="tag">Hybrid vehicles</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/State+taxes" rel="tag">State taxes</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Energy+and+utilities+regulation" rel="tag">Energy and utilities regulation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Automotive+industry+regulation" rel="tag">Automotive industry regulation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Transportation+industry+regulation" rel="tag">Transportation industry regulation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Bills" rel="tag">Bills</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Car+buying" rel="tag">Car buying</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+and+politics" rel="tag">Government and politics</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Traffic" rel="tag">Traffic</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legislation" rel="tag">Legislation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legislature" rel="tag">Legislature</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Green+vehicle+technology" rel="tag">Green vehicle technology</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Green+technology" rel="tag">Green technology</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Environment" rel="tag">Environment</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Environment+and+nature" rel="tag">Environment and nature</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Technology" rel="tag">Technology</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/State+governments" rel="tag">State governments</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Industrial+technology" rel="tag">Industrial technology</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+taxation+and+revenue" rel="tag">Government taxation and revenue</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+finance" rel="tag">Government finance</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+business+and+finance" rel="tag">Government business and finance</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Business" rel="tag">Business</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Industry+regulation" rel="tag">Industry regulation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Government+regulations" rel="tag">Government regulations</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Automobiles" rel="tag">Automobiles</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Lifestyle" rel="tag">Lifestyle</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Transportation" rel="tag">Transportation</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+news" rel="tag">General news</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Chris+Gregoire" rel="tag">Chris Gregoire</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Nissan+Motor" rel="tag">Nissan Motor</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Washington" rel="tag">Washington</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Oregon" rel="tag">Oregon</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">47.03787</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-122.9007</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/ddcb71454dc0425bb15212f48379e2ec/CVI/1f56028c78e446b5bcb66ced98ab51a2/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:dc41ce46-29e3-492a-bfb5-910af9ea2bab</id><title type="text">Judge sends Lohan to jail in necklace theft case</title><updated>2011-04-23T05:40:39Z</updated><author><name>ANTHONY McCARTNEY</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-People-Lindsay%20Lohan/id-pdc41ce4629e3492abfb5910af9ea2bab"/><category term="4626a38a1b52454ca5d01755d14f1dc9" label="Legal proceedings" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="a4887ff2bc6e40d2b2d0c7b0b417503c" label="Celebrity legal affairs" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="aa719a8ade994c3faa014cb52a2f1411" label="Theft" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="48612b807c2b4b93bbbacbf54f547ad5" label="Crime" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b4ed19d87e5c10048565df092526b43e" label="Celebrity" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="17956128897810048ce8d56c852d093e" label="Law and order" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="f25af2d07e4e100484f5df092526b43e" label="General news" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="5b4319707dd310048b23df092526b43e" label="Entertainment" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="16cb0ba3e6d24d97ace39f5a1924669a" label="Arts and entertainment" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="74884b68913c100484cfa55c96277d3e" label="Lindsay Lohan" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="7e0c4a2de0e44c8481a3dbdc650b18d5" label="Michael Lohan" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8345b5f082af10048280df092526b43e" label="Los Angeles" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="789fdd8882af10048263df092526b43e" label="California" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-People-Lindsay Lohan/id-pdc41ce4629e3492abfb5910af9ea2bab" rel="bookmark">Judge sends Lohan to jail in necklace theft case</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/ANTHONY+McCARTNEY">ANTHONY McCARTNEY</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T05:40:39Z">23 April 2011 05:40+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="34.05223,-118.24368" class="dateline geo">LOS ANGELES</abbr>  (AP) — Actress Lindsay Lohan was released from a Los Angeles County jail Friday night, just hours after she was sentenced to 120 days for violating her probation by taking a designer necklace.</p>
+    <p>It was a deja vu day for the starlet, who was admonished by a judge — the fourth she's faced in nearly a year — who said she thought the actress had intentionally taken the $2,500 necklace from an upscale Venice store and shown poor judgment in not trying to return it until police became involved.</p>
+    <p>But by reducing the actress' charge from felony grand theft to a misdemeanor, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner may have set in motion what has become a familiar cycle for Lohan — being sent to jail only to have the sentence cut short due to jail overcrowding.</p>
+    <p>Lohan's attorney Shawn Holley filed a notice of appeal right before court closed, clearing the way for the actress' release on bail.</p>
+    <p>She was freed at 9:21 p.m. local time after posting $75,000 bail, according to the sheriff department's website.</p>
+    <p>Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers, who presented four witnesses who described Lohan's conduct in the jewelry store and with the necklace, said her office would consider appealing the ruling as well. "We believe there was a clear abuse of discretion," she said.</p>
+    <p>Sautner agreed with Meyers that Lohan showed intent to keep the necklace, and said that she thought Lohan's conduct probably warranted a felony.</p>
+    <p>"I see the intent here," Sautner said. "I see a level of brazenness with, 'Let me see what I can get away with here.'"</p>
+    <p>But the judge said felony grand theft cases involving higher-valued goods are often reduced to the misdemeanor level and thought it was appropriate in Lohan's case.</p>
+    <p>"I'm going to give her an opportunity," the judge said.</p>
+    <p>She also said she hoped to give the "Mean Girls" and "Freaky Friday" star a dose of perspective by sentencing her to almost 500 hours of community service, including time at the county morgue and 300 hours at a women's shelter.</p>
+    <p>Lohan did not visibly react to the sentence. She cried earlier in the day when Holley told Sautner that Lohan had been punished enough, and recounted the treatment programs the actress has completed since her first arrest for drunken driving in 2007.</p>
+    <p>Her father, Michael Lohan, put his hands over his face at times Friday and bolted from the courtroom after his daughter was led away by sheriff's personnel.</p>
+    <p>It was the fourth time Lohan has been sentenced to jail, although two of the trips amounted to a few hours. Last summer, she spent 14 days in jail on a 90 day sentence.</p>
+    <p>The actress did not address the court during Friday's hearing, but frequently conferred with Holley and shook her head when witnesses described some of her actions inside the jewelry store, Kamofie &amp; Co.</p>
+    <p>Lohan has been a courthouse fixture since last May when she missed a hearing in her drunken driving case. Since then, two judges have sent her to jail twice and rehab, also twice.</p>
+    <p>She rejected two plea offers to end the necklace case early, including one in which Meyers was seeking six months in jails, the prosecutor said Friday.</p>
+    <p>Meyers' witnesses included two police officers who handled the stolen necklace case, including one who received it from Lohan's assistant after detectives obtained a search warrant — which was never served — to retrieve it from the actress' home. The investigative detective also testified that she verified the actress wore the necklace days after it was taken and was photographed with it by paparazzi.</p>
+    <p>Lohan made three visits within a week to a jewelry store that accused her of stealing the necklace but never purchased anything before leaving with the item, the shop's owner testified.</p>
+    <p>Sofia Kaman said she waited a day to report the necklace stolen because Lohan had told her she would return the next day to purchase a ring. The actress never returned. The first time Kaman saw Lohan since the Jan. 22 store visit was Friday.</p>
+    <p>Kaman says she did not have any agreement with Lohan allowing her to leave the store with the necklace.</p>
+    <p>Lohan was wearing two of her own necklaces when entered the store, and she wore both pieces to court on Friday, taking them off at one point while her attorney cross-examined Kaman.</p>
+    <p>Holley showed Kaman the necklaces and questioned her about why she didn't notice the actress was still wearing the store's necklace, even though Lohan's neck — and by Holley's description, cleavage — were clearly visible.</p>
+    <p>"I wasn't looking at her chest," Kaman said. "I was looking at her face."</p>
+    <p>It is unclear what effect the sentence may have on Lohan's next acting role. Producers of the film "Gotti: Three Generations" announced on Wednesday that Lohan had been cast to play the wife of John Gotti Jr. in the film.</p>
+    <p>She told The Associated Press afterward she didn't think her court case would affect her work.</p>
+    <p>"I think in the past, I had a lot of distractions," she said. "I've learned a lot. I've lived a lot. When I'm on set, it's about the film."</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Legal+proceedings" rel="tag">Legal proceedings</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Celebrity+legal+affairs" rel="tag">Celebrity legal affairs</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Theft" rel="tag">Theft</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Crime" rel="tag">Crime</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Celebrity" rel="tag">Celebrity</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Law+and+order" rel="tag">Law and order</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/General+news" rel="tag">General news</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Entertainment" rel="tag">Entertainment</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Arts+and+entertainment" rel="tag">Arts and entertainment</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Lindsay+Lohan" rel="tag">Lindsay Lohan</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Michael+Lohan" rel="tag">Michael Lohan</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Los+Angeles" rel="tag">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/California" rel="tag">California</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">34.05223</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-118.24368</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/dc41ce4629e3492abfb5910af9ea2bab/CVI/a25afbcdfad84356b8017bfc90a9c0c2/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:9b047795-914f-4260-9e60-02c4f6266c50</id><title type="text">Sony investigating PlayStation Network outage</title><updated>2011-04-23T03:40:58Z</updated><author><name>Associated Press</name><uri>http://www.ap.org</uri></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Sony%20PlayStation-Outage/id-p9b047795914f42609e6002c4f6266c50"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-Sony PlayStation-Outage/id-p9b047795914f42609e6002c4f6266c50" rel="bookmark">Sony investigating PlayStation Network outage</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small> <span class="source-org author vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T03:40:58Z">23 April 2011 03:40+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="34.05223,-118.24368" class="dateline geo">LOS ANGELES</abbr>  (AP) — Sony Corp. is investigating the outage of its PlayStation Network, a system that links gamers in live play worldwide.</p>
+    <p>The company first blogged about the outage Wednesday, and on Thursday said it could take a "full day or two" to get the service back up and running. It did not indicate what it believed to be the cause of the outage.</p>
+    <p>Posts on a PlayStation message board on Friday afternoon indicated the system was still down.</p>
+    <p>Sony representatives did not return messages left seeking comment.</p>
+    <p>The outage comes just after Tuesday's release of the game "Mortal Kombat," which is available on the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360.  It also comes as Amazon.com tries to restore computers used by other major websites as an outage stretched beyond 24 hours.</p>
+  </div>
+  <div />
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">34.05223</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-118.24368</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
+  <img src="http://analytics.apnewsregistry.com/analytics/V2/Image.svc/AP/E/prod/PC/Basic/RWS/api.ap.org/CAI/9b047795914f42609e6002c4f6266c50/CVI/e9cd358140ee42a389c975e4e513e183/AT/A" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
+</div></div></content></entry><entry><id>urn:uuid:470a619f-3ec5-452f-a8c8-209ff7da6113</id><title type="text">Pierce, Allen lead Celtics to 3-0 lead over Knicks</title><updated>2011-04-23T04:56:21Z</updated><author><name>BRIAN MAHONEY</name></author><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-BKN-Celtics-Knicks/id-p470a619f3ec5452fa8c8209ff7da6113"/><category term="6c01c3e08c8010048288a13d9888b73e" label="NBA basketball" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="20d738b87e4e1004889ed0913b2d075c" label="Athlete injuries" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="8ac236880b364893ab37b8e3bf1f561f" label="NBA Playoffs" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="afef0c0eacff48248f96e33aacd2ca03" label="Men's basketball" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="54df6c687df7100483dedf092526b43e" label="Sports" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="694bf6988c801004825fa13d9888b73e" label="Professional basketball" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="1dc78fe87f15100488fbdf092526b43e" label="Basketball" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="6c01c3e08c8010048288a13d9888b73e" label="NBA basketball" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="039d42210158410db74f393deea38897" label="Men's sports" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="afef0c0eacff48248f96e33aacd2ca03" label="Men's basketball" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="1458b5708c871004817aa07ca041d23e" label="Athlete health" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="06a735407cb61004804eba7fa5283c3e" label="Events" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="3d746ad8d1a64c689976c6f8bcd0f93d" label="Paul Pierce" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="09d78834499347b1b45de4b94f802e1b" label="Ray Allen" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b00b363c913f45d7ab436c22931736e9" label="Rajon Rondo" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="bcbdba76281b496583ee80d5ea57722f" label="Doc Rivers" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="2c2426fbc43a43408727a4483844fdde" label="Carmelo Anthony" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="85ade147405a4a6e896d1637c23eb8b2" label="Chauncey Billups" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="64d62320932c4c70b3a02ae950bdcef9" label="Bob Cousy" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="fac3b88a295d42b6b1cd9d4f4bf9580b" label="Larry Bird" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="e47cfd00835546d98a1b28ea47e0e0d7" label="Landry Fields" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="1bbc58f8671648ac89f64cdf3e90f7c1" label="Shaquille O'Neal" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b836d07082c610048807df092526b43e" label="New York City" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="b58f18a082c6100487fbdf092526b43e" label="New York" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c" label="United States" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><category term="661850e07d5b100481f7c076b8e3055c" label="North America" scheme="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc"/><content type="xhtml"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="hnews hentry item">
+  <h4>
+    <a class="url entry-title" href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/Article_2011-04-23-BKN-Celtics-Knicks/id-p470a619f3ec5452fa8c8209ff7da6113" rel="bookmark">Pierce, Allen lead Celtics to 3-0 lead over Knicks</a>
+  </h4>
+  <div>
+    <small>  by <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn" href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Journalists.svc/BRIAN+MAHONEY">BRIAN MAHONEY</a></span>, <span class="source-org vcard"><a class="url org fn" href="http://www.ap.org">Associated Press</a></span><a rel="principles" title="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" href="http://www.ap.org/newsvalues/index.html"><img src="http://api.ap.org/v1/images/principles-book-blue.png " style="border-style:none;" alt="THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES" /></a> - <span class="updated dtstamp" title="2011-04-23T04:56:21Z">23 April 2011 04:56+00:00</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <div class="entry-content">
+    <p>
+      <abbr title="40.71427,-74.00597" class="dateline geo">NEW YORK</abbr>  (AP) — No fantastic finish needed for the Boston Celtics this time.</p>
+    <p>They simply spoiled Madison Square Garden's postseason homecoming party right from the start.</p>
+    <p>Paul Pierce scored 38 points, Ray Allen added 32, and Rajon Rondo had a Celtics' playoff-record 20 assists as Boston beat the New York Knicks 113-96 on Friday night to take a 3-0 in their first-round playoff series.</p>
+    <p>Rondo had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who pulled out two close games in Boston but never trailed in this one, dominating the first playoff game at Madison Square Garden in seven years. They will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon, and no NBA team has ever lost a series after winning the first three games.</p>
+    <p>Boston coach Doc Rivers said he rarely talks to his team about the crowd environment, but the former Knicks player made an exception Friday knowing the stage.</p>
+    <p>"My main concern is this was not entertainment coming in here today. This was a competition and I thought we came with that mentality," Rivers said.</p>
+    <p>After winning the two games in Boston despite trailing in the final half-minute of both, the Celtics scored the first nine points of this one and never really let it get much closer.</p>
+    <p>"You come out and you hit them first. You don't give the crowd a reason to get involved. That was big, when we came out with that run to start the game. We were comfortable from there on out," Pierce said.</p>
+    <p>Carmelo Anthony had 15 points and 11 rebounds but shot 4 for 16 for the Knicks, who were booed as they walked off the court trailing by 23 points after three quarters.</p>
+    <p>"You can't give them that big an opening that they can smell blood," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said.</p>
+    <p>Exactly 10 years to the day since their last home playoff victory, the Knicks were outclassed in the same way they have been so many times in their forgettable decade since.</p>
+    <p>With Chauncey Billups sidelined again with a knee injury, Amare Stoudemire limited by his back spasms and Anthony unable to duplicate his 42-point performance from Game 2, the Knicks lacked the firepower to match the defending Eastern Conference champions.</p>
+    <p>"It's tough knowing that Amare's not 100 percent, Chauncey's not 100 percent and we're just trying to find our way on the fly right now," Anthony said. "That's a tough situation but I think that would be making excuses if I sit here and say that they beat us because we're not at full strength. We've still got guys that have to go out there and play and that is going out there and playing, so I don't want to use that as an excuse."</p>
+    <p>Stoudemire was just 2 for 8 for seven points, admitting he was trying to avoid contact on drives to the basket. He said he wasn't 100 percent and knows he won't be Sunday, either.</p>
+    <p>"I felt good enough to play but I wasn't 100 percent," he said. "I just wanted to show some courage out there for the fans of New York. They deserved it and my teammates, also."</p>
+    <p>Allen, who made the go-ahead 3-pointer in the Celtics' 87-85 victory in Game 1, was 8 for 11 behind the arc and is a sizzling 15 for 20 in the series. Pierce was 6 of 8 from 3-point range as Rondo continuously set up his two All-Star wing players for open shots.</p>
+    <p>Rivers compared his point guard, who shared the Celtics' record with Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, to a catcher calling a perfect game. But Rondo, whose sixth postseason triple-double is four behind Larry Bird's team record, gave credit to the screeners who were freeing up so much space for Allen and Pierce.</p>
+    <p>"I would say our bigs are getting Ray and Paul open," Rondo said. "Ray and Paul made them pay."</p>
+    <p>A sellout crowd filled with celebrities and fans starving to see postseason success could do nothing but admire the execution of the Celtics in an impressive performance after believing they played poorly in the first two games. They matched the 3-0 lead Miami has over Philadelphia, moving closer to an expected second-round showdown.</p>
+    <p>Many fans wore orange shirts or waved orange towels. But the Celtics, who came within one win of an NBA title last season despite having home-court advantage in only one round, shook off the sounds as easily as they swatted away the Knicks.</p>
+    <p>"For us, you know you're in a hostile environment and we've been here before in this situation," Allen said.</p>
+    <p>Stoudemire, who missed the second half of Tuesday's game, won the opening tip but struggled early. He way overshot the basket on his first attempt, missed badly on his next one and was 0 for 3 in the opening period.</p>
+    <p>He warmed up for the second half with a large pad attached to his back, but by then it wouldn't even had mattered if he played well.</p>
+    <p>The Celtics quickly scored the first nine points of the game before struggling Landry Fields got the Knicks on the board with a jumper more than 3 minutes in. Pierce later nailed a 3-pointer to start a 10-0 run that made it 22-5 and Boston turned away every New York rally.</p>
+    <p>Boston finished 14 of 24 (58 percent) from beyond the arc and outrebounded the Knicks 43-33.</p>
+    <p>NOTES: Shaquille O'Neal sat on Boston's bench, showing he's closer to returning from a right calf injury by making the trip to New York. Rivers said O'Neal is working hard but doesn't know if he'll be available for Game 4. ... Pierce tied Tom Heinsohn for 13th place on Boston's career list with his 104th playoff game. He will tie K.C. Jones for 12th on Sunday and could move into the top 10 during this postseason.</p>
+    <p>(This version CORRECTS Celtics 113, Knicks 96. Corrects to 'contact' in 14th paragraph.)</p>
+  </div>
+  <div>
+    <div class="categories">
+      <small>News Topics: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/NBA+basketball" rel="tag">NBA basketball</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Athlete+injuries" rel="tag">Athlete injuries</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/NBA+Playoffs" rel="tag">NBA Playoffs</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Men%27s+basketball" rel="tag">Men's basketball</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Sports" rel="tag">Sports</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Professional+basketball" rel="tag">Professional basketball</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Basketball" rel="tag">Basketball</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Men%27s+sports" rel="tag">Men's sports</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Athlete+health" rel="tag">Athlete health</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Events" rel="tag">Events</a></small>
+    </div>
+    <br />
+    <div class="entities">
+      <small>People, Places and Companies: <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Paul+Pierce" rel="tag">Paul Pierce</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Ray+Allen" rel="tag">Ray Allen</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Rajon+Rondo" rel="tag">Rajon Rondo</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Doc+Rivers" rel="tag">Doc Rivers</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Carmelo+Anthony" rel="tag">Carmelo Anthony</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Chauncey+Billups" rel="tag">Chauncey Billups</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Bob+Cousy" rel="tag">Bob Cousy</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Larry+Bird" rel="tag">Larry Bird</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Landry+Fields" rel="tag">Landry Fields</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/Shaquille+O%27Neal" rel="tag">Shaquille O'Neal</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/New+York+City" rel="tag">New York City</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/New+York" rel="tag">New York</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/United+States" rel="tag">United States</a>, <a href="http://topics.ap.org/v1/Tags.svc/North+America" rel="tag">North America</a></small>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="geo">
+    <small>Lat: <span class="latitude">40.71427</span> Long: <span class="longitude">-74.00597</span></small>
+  </div>
+  <small>Copyright 2011 The <a rel="item-license" href="http://developer.ap.org/api_terms_of_use">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</small>
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+</div></div></content></entry></feed>