washington

WASHINGTON - A new government audit shows that the axiomatic connection of the words "military-base closing" with "cost overruns" continues to be justified.

A highly anticipated federal investigation of Chinese drywall is expected to be released Monday, and it could be worth thousands of dollars for affected homeowners.

That's because the report may trigger the availability of federal funds that affected homeowners could use to lessen their losses, according to a spokesman for Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

WASHINGTON - Purple blossoms of midnight salvia and stems of blue chiquita salvia adorn the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House and thousands of other back yards.

State legislation on salvia

Illegal:

Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Virginia

Distribution Regulations:

California, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and Tennessee

WASHINGTON - For most PlayStation 3 users, the criminals they catch and the victims they save are just pixilated simulations on a TV screen.

But some federal officers are using the gaming console to protect children and catch predators in real life.

WASHINGTON - Look for Republicans to continue to press for a measure that would require everyone to list their citizenship status on 2010 census forms.

The Democratic majority in the Senate blocked a GOP amendment Nov. 5 that, its partisans said, would have produced solid numbers on how many undocumented aliens live here.

In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings last week, the spotlight is suddenly on the military's overstressed mental health care system.

Questions are emerging about how a few hundred military mental health counselors are treating thousands and thousands of men and women in the armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Obama administration's new immigration strategy, focusing more on crackdowns on employers than worker deportations, has an early test case in Minnesota.More than 1,200 workers from American Building Maintenance Co. left their jobs last month after immigration agents conducted an audit of the company -- an audit that revealed they were working illegally.

Nine months ago, the Obama administration offered banks $75 billion in taxpayer money to rework troubled mortgages.

WASHINGTON - Anti-abortion Democrats have reignited the national abortion wars with their victory on an amendment to House health-care legislation that would prevent women from obtaining abortions through government-sponsored insurance or any plan that receives government subsidies.