Student loan, credit card debt keeps piling up
While it’s undeniable that the amount of college loans is soaring, the government isn’t hurting from it. In fact, the government makes money on college loans, according to the 2011 Federal Education Budget Project report.
“The federal government disbursed $112 billion in student loans in 2012. Most of that will be paid back with interest. The interest rates and fees are set high enough that the government makes money,” Federal Education Budget Project Director Jason Delisle said in a New York Times article published Feb. 27, “Putting a Number on Federal Education Spending.”
Colorado court says pot smokers can be fired
Medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but employers in the state can lawfully fire workers who test positive for the drug, even if it was used off duty, according to a court ruling Thursday.
The Colorado Court of Appeals found there is no employment protection for medical marijuana users in the state since the drug remains barred by the federal government.
Mississippi men’s feud looms over ricin probe
The investigation into poisoned letters mailed to President Barack Obama and others has shifted from an Elvis impersonator to his longtime foe, and authorities must now figure out if an online feud between the two men might have escalated into something more sinister.
Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was released from a north Mississippi jail on Tuesday and charges against him were dropped, nearly a week after authorities charged him with sending ricin-laced letters to the president, Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and an 80-year-old Lee County, Miss., Justice Court judge, Sadie Holland.
Rhode Island 10th state to allow gay marriage
Rhode Island is on a path to becoming the 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry after a landmark vote in the state’s Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate passed gay marriage legislation by a comfortable 26-12 margin, following a House vote of approval in January.
Uphill battle for defense team of Boston Marathon bomb suspect
There are photos of the suspect at the bomb scene, video footage of him dropping a knapsack at the site of one of the blasts, and perhaps most incriminating could be the written words of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev himself during questioning in a Boston hospital. A case with evidence like this may be the toughest challenge a lawyer can face: defending someone accused of an act of terror so horrific a nation cries out for swift, severe punishment.
More rain expected for swollen Midwest rivers
More rain on Tuesday was the last thing flood fighters across the Midwest wanted to see, adding more water to swollen rivers that are now expected to remain high into next month.
Floodwaters were rising to record levels along the Illinois River in central Illinois. In Missouri, six small levees north of St. Louis were overtopped by the surging Mississippi River, though mostly farmland was affected.
FBI finds no ricin in suspect home
Investigators haven’t found any ricin in the house of a Mississippi man accused of mailing poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a local judge, according to testimony Monday from an FBI agent.
Court: Marathon suspect charged; details sealed
A court official says the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is facing federal charges and has made an initial court appearance in his hospital room.
Boston bomb suspect hospitalized under heavy guard
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lay hospitalized in serious condition under heavy guard Saturday as people around the city breathed easier and investigators tried to piece together the who and why of the deadly plot.
