Los Angeles Police Department chief William Bratton foresees the drop in crime rate LA enjoyed in 2008 to continue in 2009. Bratton particularly pinpointed to expected drops in violence and theft incidents. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

With the Feb. 17 date to convert to digital transmission of television broadcast fast approaching, more Americans joined the rush to secure the $40 coupon to purchase digital converter boxes. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Transportation Security Administration employees are complaining of skin ailments due to the use of formaldehyde on their new blue uniforms. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has set April 7 as the date for the special election to fill the U.S. House seat of incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. The field of potential candidates for the seat include state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz and Cook County commissioner Mike Quigley. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Newly-elected lawmakers will be sworn into office on Tuesday, when the new 111th Congress convenes. Included in the ceremony is Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who has yet to officially resign, but not Democrat Al Franken, winner of the Minnesota recount, and Roland Burris, who was appointed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

A 18-year-old in Jackson, Ohio was injured when the 4-year-old boy he was babysitting shot him with a shotgun after he accidentally stepped on the boy's foot. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden will travel to Southwest Asia this week as the outgoing chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee together with other lawmakers. He makes the trip less than two weeks before he is sworn into office. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Police said on Monday they have only begun searching for Adam Herrman, who disappeared a decade ago when he was about 12 years old. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

First Lady Laura Bush has agreed to share intimate details of her eight-year stay in the White House in a book to be published by Scribner. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

A Central Oregon couple has died in an apparent murder-suicide leaving their baby inside their locked bedroom and three other children on their own for two days until a neighbor learned what happened. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Authorities from Port Angeles, Pierce County, Tacoma and the Washington State Patrol on Monday found in a dump site the body of a baby boy killed and thrown away by his mother. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

U.S. President George Bush will sign on Tuesday at the White House a declaration designating three areas of the Pacific Ocean as national monuments and protected marine sanctuaries. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

U.S. President George Bush on Monday ordered the State and Defense departments to immediately fly heavy equipment to Sudan, needed by African Union and United Nations peacekeepers in the Darfur region. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

American diplomats and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday inaugurated America's largest foreign diplomatic headquarters as the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq opened on Monday. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Leon Panetta, a former California congressman and Chief of Staff to former President Bill Clinton, has been named to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Many of the major automakers reported Monday large declines in December U.S. auto sales, closing out what has been one of the worst years for the industry in decades. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

U.S. markets pulled back in the second trading day of the year after 16 commercial banks saw their earnings forecast cut. The telecom sector also slumped on an analyst downgrade of Verizon and AT&T. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

The Minnesota Canvassing Board has named Democrat Al Franken the winner of the U.S. Senate race recount on Monday. But the battle for the nearly 3 million ballots cast in the race between Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman is far from over as Coleman is expected to challenge the results in court. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

The FBI announced a hiring blitz on Monday to fill 2,100 vacancies in jobs that range from clerical to security and also announced it will hire 850 new agents this year, U.S. citizenship and the ability to pass a background check and obtain Top Security clearance are required for all positions. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Washington Post Managing Editor Philip Bennett announced Monday that he is stepping down this week after four years in the paper's No. 2 slot and 11 years with the newspaper; he will work on a project at the newspaper while deciding what he will do next. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

As the economic crisis leaves more people struggling to pay bill, doctors are urging people not to cut down on medical care in preference to paying for other things such as food, electricity or the rent or mortgage. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Construction spending in the United States contracted less than anticipated in November as the number of commercial and government projects increased while residential real estate projects dwindled, according to a report released Monday. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Controversial former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Boyette Bell died Monday at age 90; a member of President Jimmy Carter's cabinet, Bell is credited, by former U.N. Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andy Young, with integrating Atlanta schools in an academically sound manner. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Higher interest rate on housing loans beyond $625,000 at 7 percent is hampering the refinancing of jumbo mortgages. Lending rates on 30-year fixed loans has climbed up, while interest for smaller loans has even gone down to 5.28 percent this week. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved

Even if more Americans will tighten their belt in 2009, it will still be slim picking for diet marketers because of the many alternative, but less costly ways available for people to lose weight without spending too much or sacrificing food quality. Article © AHN - All Rights Reserved