Consumers may have cut their spending in this recession, but they're still buying booze from state liquor stores.

MILWAUKEE -- Almost three-quarters of U.S. adults, or nearly 171 million people, read a newspaper -- print or online -- during the past week, according to a new study by Scarborough Research.

Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International will continue to operate the 222-S Laboratory in central Hanford after winning a second contract.

The Tri-Cities, once again, has made national news.

RICHLAND -- When the United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties reviewed its lists of donors and volunteers, one group was absent.

RICHLAND -- Popular Science magazine was impressed enough with a technology developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland to name it one of 2009's best 100 technologies.

The Tri-Cities has gained 3,000 nonfarm jobs over the past year.

Charter Communications Inc. said Tuesday a bankruptcy judge has confirmed its reorganization plan, clearing the way for the nation's fourth-largest cable TV operator to emerge from Chapter 11 in a few weeks.

PORTLAND -- Oregon's unemployment rate has been falling, but that could be partly because some people can't find a job.

NEW YORK -- Internet phone service provider Vonage Holdings Corp. has agreed to pay $3 million to 32 states to settle an investigation into some of its business practices.

WASHINGTON Senate Democrats on Sunday sparred with each other over how to fix the nation's troubled health care system, the moderates threatening to scuttle legislation if their demands weren't met and more liberal members warning their party leaders not to bend.

LOS ANGELES The vampire romance "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sucked up $140.7 million in its first three days and pulled in a total of $258.8 million worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday.

WASHINGTON Lawmakers broke along party lines on a new aspect of the health care debate Sunday as a former National Institutes of Health chief urged women to ignore guidelines that delay the start of breast cancer screenings.

WASHINGTON Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated - beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

SAN FRANCISCO While U.S. newspapers are losing subscribers at a staggering rate, a few dailies stand out because their circulation is rising. But they aren't necessarily selling more copies.

NEW YORK Will it be Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz? Maybe none of the above. The announced shutdown of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in two years creates room for a new queen (or king) of daytime television.

SAN FRANCISCO While U.S. newspapers are losing subscribers at a staggering rate, a few dailies stand out because their circulation is rising. But they aren't necessarily selling more copies.

SEOUL, South Korea Apple Inc's iPhone is coming to South Korea this week, a local carrier announced Sunday, bringing the iconic communications device to one of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone markets.

NEW YORK The flurry of initial public offerings this week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful about where they place their bets.

NEW YORK Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.