WASHINGTON (AP) -- Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that health care reform would have been ``dead on arrival'' if the White House had sent a finished proposal to Congress last year. The secretary also blamed delays in passing the measure on President Barack Obama having to spend ``far too much time talking about what's not in the bill'' and trying to counter ``wild accusations'' by Republicans.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Couples waited in line for hours Wednesday to apply for marriage licenses on the first day same-sex unions became legal in the nation's capital. Cheering erupted from the crowd when the first couple signed in at the city's marriage bureau inside the Moultrie courthouse, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. By the afternoon, more than 100 couples had come to the bureau, and more than 50 had completed their applications. The rest stood in line in the courthouse corridor, checking e-mail, reading newspapers and exchanging stories with other couples.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York Rep. Charles Rangel temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday as he struggled with mounting ethics woes that left his political future uncertain at best.

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder stressed the importance of Black men taking responsibility in their homes during The Alliance of Concerned Men's recent National Roundtable and Town Hall Meeting on Fatherhood and Solutions to Youth Violence.

Like most men his age, Thaine High, 92, takes a number of medicines for his health problems. He used to get the drugs for free from the Department of Veterans Affairs because he has a service-related disability, but things changed when his dementia worsened and he could no longer take his drugs without supervision.
For patients like High who need help with their medicines, Waterford will dispense only drugs that are sealed in individual doses commonly known as blister packs or bubble packs. The VA won't bubble-pack drugs, so Ellena has no choice but to buy her dad's prescriptions through Medicare. She said she's paying $300 to $400 a month for drugs that her dad should be getting for free as a result of his service-related disability.

(AP) -- The odds of obesity appear stacked against Black and Hispanic children starting even before birth, provocative new research suggests.

ROSEMONT, Ill.(AP) -- Malik Shabazz came to the Nation of Islam the way many before him have: through jail. The 47-year-old, now a Houston businessman, did 15 years for embezzling from a former workplace to help feed a cocaine habit. But while incarcerated he was inspired to reform by a movement that embraces Black nationalism.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House called for a "simple up-or-down" vote on health care legislation Sunday as Speaker Nancy Pelosi appealed to House Democrats to get behind President Barack Obama's chief domestic priority even it if threatens their political careers. In voicing support for a simple majority vote, White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle signaled Obama's intention to push the Democratic-crafted bill under Senate rules that would overcome GOP stalling tactics.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- Former career home run king Hank Aaron says Mark McGwire should have a clear conscience after his recent admission he used performance-enhancing drugs as a player.
Aaron said other players still harboring similar secrets also should come clean...

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- A 35-year-old state law is being used as a new weapon by Pierce County authorities in their battle against Tacoma's Hilltop Crips gang.