Mystery meat

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – A diner at a T.G.I. Friday’s in upstate New York says he got a little something extra with his broccoli – a severed snake head.

Jack Pendleton says he was at the restaurant in Clifton Park on Sunday when he spotted something gray mixed in with his vegetables. He realized it was a snake head the size of his thumb, with part of the spine still attached.

Pendleton says he snapped a photo with his cell phone camera and called the waiter over. He says he has no plans to sue.

A spokeswoman for the Carrollton, Texas, chain says it’s investigating. It wasn’t immediately known what kind of snake it was.

Pendleton and his girlfriend weren’t charged for their meals.

Pendeleton

Many recipients will have to repay funds at tax time

WASHINGTON – About 52 million Social Security recipients started receiving $250 economic recovery checks Thursday, including many who will have to repay the money at tax time next year – either through a smaller refund or a larger tax bill.

The payments were meant to provide a boost to people who don’t qualify for President Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit, which pays individuals up to $400 and couples up to $800.

Taxpayers are ineligible to keep both the full tax credit and the stimulus payment. However, stimulus payments will go to many people who also are earning the credit through jobs that provide taxable income. Those people will have the $250 payment deducted from their tax credit next spring, when they file their returns for the 2009 tax year.

Stimulus payments are slated to go to people who receive Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, railroad retirement benefits or veteran’s benefits. In all, a little more than $13 billion will be distributed.

“There’s going to be millions of individuals who receive Social Security benefits and will be receiving the Making Work Pay credit,” said Christina Martin Firvida, director of economic security for the AARP.

About 17 percent of U.S. residents 65 and older are in the labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Internal Revenue Service issued tax withholding tables in February designed to distribute the new tax credit by increasing workers’ pay a few dollars a week. However, the tables could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars more than they are entitled to under the credit, money that the IRS will recoup at tax time next year.

At-risk taxpayers include married couples in which both spouses work, workers with more than one job, as well as Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income.

The IRS says it is planning an outreach campaign to help educate people about the tax implications of stimulus payments and the new tax credit.

“For a lot of taxpayers, these payments will be a loan, not a gift,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. “That wasn’t made clear in the way the program was sold to the American people.”

Sluggish rebound could make effort to reform health, other administrative goals difficult to push through Congress

Copies of President Obama's fiscal 2010 federal budget books.

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s budget, unveiled with fanfare on Thursday, fails to deal with his biggest money problems.

A molasses-slow economic recovery will make it hard to find the huge sums he’ll need to reach his biggest goals – fixing health care, confronting climate change and overhauling the tax system – without much deeper cuts than he’s proposing in other programs.

Obama faces not only fiscal obstacles but political ones, too.

The White House’s exercise in fiscal discipline this week amounts to micro-cutting – proposals that would trim half of 1 percent of the overall budget – and don’t address the sacrosanct entitlements of Social Security and Medicare. His effort found a scant $17 billion in potential savings, suggesting that only a strong economy and its boost in government revenue can truly put a dent in the federal deficit and pay for Obama’s policy goals.

Pushing an ambitious agenda during a tepid economic rebound will require money and presidential muscle that even the popular president might find is in short supply.

In just two months, the recession has proven to be deeper than the White House predicted when Obama submitted his 2010 budget outline. His budget writers in February forecast that the economy, as measured by gross domestic product, would shrink by 1.2 percent this year and then grow by a relatively robust 3.2 percent in 2010. But the economy contracted by 6.1 percent in the first quarter, and economists inside and outside the government predict another, though smaller, contraction in the second quarter.

Likewise, the White House anticipated unemployment of 8.1 percent this year and slightly less next year. But unemployment is already at a 25-year high of 8.5 percent and is expected to climb when new numbers are announced Friday.

A slow recovery heading into the 2010 midterm congressional elections will probably make Democratic lawmakers especially cautious. What does that mean for the president’s agenda?

“It doesn’t improve chances,” said Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a moderate Democrat. “It might dampen some enthusiasm about trying to find a health care solution that costs money.”

Over the first 100 days of Obama’s presidency, the nation has shown patience with his approach toward the economy. Over time, the public will watch three key numbers – unemployment, the stock market and the deficit.

In the short term, only the stock market might offer some relief as workers could see value return to their 401(k) accounts. But unemployment could reach 10 percent next year, according to some estimates. And the deficit, which the administration has predicted will reach nearly $1.2 trillion, will dip only to $533 billion in 2013, according to the president’s own February projections. In March, the Congressional Budget Office offered a bleaker prediction – a deficit of $672 billion in 2013 under the president’s policies.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 41 percent of those surveyed disapproved of Obama’s handling of the deficit, his highest disapproval rating on any subject polled. Other surveys show that the public is particularly attuned to government spending and the amount of red ink in the budget, a sign of restlessness that could pose a problem ahead.

Obama would like to couple the ideas of deficit-cutting and health care overhaul. He says the overhaul – costing more than $630 billion over 10 years – is the answer to spiraling costs of Medicare and Medicaid.

“The big ticket, that’s health care,” said Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden’s chief economist. “That’s where some of our real savings come from in the longer term.”

As for the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted it would begin growing again this year, citing improved home sales, increased consumer spending and signs of improved lending conditions.

But he said activity would remain below normal and “only gradually gain momentum.” Unemployment, which typically lags behind a recovery, “could remain high for a time, even after economic growth resumes,” he said. In a private luncheon, he told Senate Republicans that he projected 2 percent GDP growth in 2010, according to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

That assessment reinforces the “glimmers of hope” with which Obama and his team have begun to promote the economy. But it also underscores the difficulties Obama will have persuading Congress, even one dominated by his party, to put new potential stresses on the economy while it is still getting back on its feet.

“The problem, the challenge for the administration, is they don’t just need tolerance or slack from the public, they need sufficient support to drive very difficult policies through Congress,” said Robert Shapiro, a former adviser to President Clinton and now chairman of Sonecon, an economic advisory firm.

The economy may well not cooperate.

Analysts often talk about a U-shaped recovery, where the economy moves strongly upward after a bottom-dwelling period. But this recovery, as described by John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp., could look more like a Nike swoosh, with only a gradual rise back to normal.

White House budget chief Peter Orszag on Thursday said the administration saw no need to adjust its ambitions based on a changing economic picture.

“We have not changed policies,” he said. “There are a whole variety of proposals that we put forward in February. The world has evolved a bit since then. We have incorporated those proposals in the new document as a matter of principle.”

Jim Kuhnhenn covers the economy and politics for The Associated Press.

'In Washington, I guess that's considered trivial. Outside of Washington, that's still considered a lot of money. But these savings, large and small, add up.'

PRESIDENT OBAMA

U.S. Forest Service firefighter Mike Espinoza is surrounded by flying embers as erratic winds blow the Jesusita wildfire towards homes along Northridge Road on Thursday in Santa Barbara, Calif.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Firefighters struggled Friday to get ahead of a raging wildfire that was moving dangerously close to heavily populated areas in this idyllic coastal city and had forced the evacuation of an estimated 30,000 residents.

Neighborhoods of multimillion dollar mansions stood like ghost towns, bathed in the eerie orange glow cast by the nearby blaze.

Santa Barbara County spokeswoman Jodi Dyck said Friday morning that the fire had grown since the night before, when it measured roughly 2,700 acres, or 4 square miles. She did not have an updated estimates of the fire’s size or burned acreage.

“It really got going during the night. Some areas have 45-year fuel. The wind is all over the place,” Santa Barbara city fire Capt. Mike De Pont said. “For this time of year this activity is unusual.”

Roughly 12,000 more residents have been ordered to leave their homes, including those living in a densely populated area north of U.S. 101 that’s home to several mobile home parks. An estimated 18,000 previously were ordered to leave.

A second evacuation shelter was opened Thursday to accommodate 900 additional evacuees. All 190 beds were filled at the first shelter at a high school.

The blaze was approaching homes in the city’s more populated, flat area below its steep canyons. Santa Barbara city fire spokesman Gary Pitney said flames jumped a road dividing the hilly terrain from the flatlands below and ignited spot fires in brush surrounding houses.

Pitney said the fire also pushed west across state Route 134, the key thoroughfare between Santa Barbara and wine country to the north.

Kelley Gouette, a deputy incident commander with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, likened the fire to “a blowtorch.”

Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Tom Franklin said the blaze was particularly tough to fight as it spread into rugged terrain with thick brush that served as fuel and limited firefighting aircraft.

Firefighters are “running pretty thin on equipment,” he said.

Officials said 11 firefighters were injured, including three who were burned when they sheltered in a house during a firestorm. They were reported in good condition at a Los Angeles burn center but two will need skin grafts and surgery. Other injuries ranged from smoke inhalation to sprained ankles.

About 2,300 firefighters from many departments were on the lines, aided by aircraft. The fire was just 10 percent contained.

The seasonal wildfires that menace this idyllic coastal city – home to screen stars, former presidents and Oprah Winfrey – roared to life earlier in the year than usual but their ferocity is familiar.

Firefighters have been wary of “sundowners” – fierce winds that late in the day can sweep down from the Santa Ynez Mountains towering close behind Santa Barbara.

The benignly named Jesusita Fire was a slumbering day-old brush fire on rugged slopes above the city when a sundowner hit at midafternoon Wednesday, hurling towering flames into homes and spitting embers into more distant neighborhoods.

The city’s location on the state’s central coast gives it some of the best weather in the world, with temperatures routinely topping out in the 70s, and views of the Pacific Ocean. Now with a population of about 90,000, it dates to the Spanish colonial era of California and a Roman Catholic mission established in the 1780s is a major tourist attraction.

But the geography that gives it beauty and a serene atmosphere also brings danger.

In November, a wind-driven fire burned 200 houses in Santa Barbara and Montecito, including the home of actor Christopher Lloyd. Winfrey’s estate escaped, along with the home of actor Rob Lowe, among many celebrities who have area homes.

Gregg Patronyk, a lifelong Santa Barbara resident whose parents’ home was destroyed by a 1990 wildfire and who had to evacuate his home in November, said he began soaking his roof when he saw other houses burning Wednesday.

“It started firestorming dramatically,” he said. “The fire got within 200 to 300 feet of my house. There was a lot of pressure to leave. Police wanted me out and I got a frantic call from my sister, who was walking up the hill to get me. So I packed up the car and left, picking her up on the way.”

State Assemblyman Pedro Nava said he and his wife fled their home for a friend’s, bringing along their pets, some clothes, photos and documents.

“I’ve learned how important preparation is in an emergency,” he said. “The public has to be prepared to move, and in Santa Barbara they are prepared. When the police squad car came through with loudspeakers telling us to leave, there was no arguing. And they will all be back.”

BASEL, Switzerland – Cleanliness, order and more ways to take your money: authorities in the Swiss city of Basel may have found a perfect recipe.

Tired of sticky, greasy and strong-smelling leftovers on buses and trams, authorities say they will start handing out fines up to 40 francs ($34) for soiling public transport with food and drinks.

The Basel Public Transport Services says the fines are necessary because a 2003 prohibition on drinking and eating on buses and trams has been largely ignored. The fines will go into effect soon.

Even for the orderly Swiss, the ordinance appeared harsh. Many papers across the famously clean country noted that their cities are more “tolerant.”

Americans also realistic about turnaround time

Even if they don't always like what he's doing, Americans seem content for now that President Obama is taking action to correct the nation's course.

WASHINGTON – Millions of people jobless. Billions of dollars in bailouts. Trillions of dollars in U.S. debt. And yet, for the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is on the right track.

In a sign that Barack Obama has inspired hopes for a brighter future in the first 100 days of his presidency, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 48 percent of Americans believe the United States is headed in the right direction — compared with 44 percent who disagree.

The “right direction” number is up 8 points since February and a remarkable 31 points since October, the month before Obama’s election.

Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to the AP-GfK poll. Most people consider him to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington.

Even if they don’t always like what he’s doing, Americans seem content for now that the president is taking action to correct the nation’s course.

“Some steps have been taken, and I can’t say that they’re the right ones, but steps have been taken,” said Dwight Hageman, 66, a retired welder from Newberg, Ore., who voted against Obama.

The AP-GfK poll suggests that 64 percent of the public approves of Obama’s job performance, down slightly from 67 percent in February.

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted April 16-20 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved telephone interviews on landline and cell phones with 1,000 adults nationwide. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

———

Poll: 79 percent approve of Michelle Obama

President Barack Obama’s approval rating is strong, but his wife has him beat by a wide margin.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll survey, taken Monday and Tuesday, 79 percent say they approve of the way Michelle Obama is handling the job of first lady. Just 8 percent disapprove.

Obama’s ratings aren’t a record high for a president’s wife, but they’re close. In January 2005, 85 percent said Laura Bush was doing a good job. And in February 1999, Hillary Rodham Clinton had an approval rating of 80 percent.

USA TODAY

BAGHDAD – Back-to-back suicide bombings killed 60 people Friday outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad, a day after the country was rocked by its most deadly violence in more than a year, police officials said.

The latest bombings come amid an increase in high-profile attacks that have raised concerns about the abilities of Iraq’s security forces. Such concern led Iraq’s prime minister to order a military task force to investigate the attacks as well as security shortcomings that allowed the assailants to slip through.

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but these types of attacks are the trademark of Sunni insurgents backed by al-Qaida in Iraq.

The bombers Friday detonated explosives belts within minutes of each other near separate gates of the tomb of prominent Shiite saint Imam Mousa al-Kazim, located in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah, said a police official. Another police official said the bombers struck shortly before the start of Friday prayers as worshippers streamed into the mosque — an important site for Shiite pilgrims.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a military task force to investigate the bombings and ordered the battalion and company commanders responsible for security in the area to be relieved of duty during the investigation, said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi.

Al-Moussawi said the men were being suspended for failing to provide adequate security around the shrine.

Among the dead were 25 Iranian pilgrims, said a police and a hospital official. Both said at least 125 people, including 80 Iranian pilgrims, were injured in the blast.

The U.S. military could not provide further details, saying the area around the shrine was patrolled by Iraqi security forces.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Witnesses at the shrine described a bloody, chaotic scene.

“It is just like a massacre took place,” said Laith Ali, 35, who owns a shop near the shrine.

The attack left the bodies of the dead — some of them burned — scattered on the ground near the entrance of the shrine, he said.

“Where are the security precautions that the security officials are talking about?” he said.

Many of the wounded were taken to nearby Kazimiyah Teaching Hospital, overwhelming the staff. AP Television News footage showed many of the injured were forced to wait outside, including women and children, before they could be seen by medical officials.

The shrine has been a favored target of insurgents, most recently in early April when a bomb left in a plastic bag near the shrine killed seven people and wounded 23.

In January, a man dressed as a woman blew himself up near the shrine, killing more than three dozen people and wounding more than 70.

Imam Mousa al-Kazim is an eighth century saint and one of 12 Shiite saints. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites march to the shrine in Kazimiyah every year to commemorate his death in A.D. 799. Shiites believe al-Kazim is buried in the Baghdad golden-domed shrine.

Friday’s attack came a day after two bombings in separate areas of Iraq killed more than 80 people.

Violence in Iraq is at its lowest levels since the months following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. But the recent attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere have exposed gaps in security as Iraq takes over from U.S. forces in protecting the country.

Funerals began Friday for the 88 people killed in the suicide bombings Thursday in Baghdad and in Diyala province.

Coffins were loaded on trucks near the Baghdad offices of the Iraqi Red Crescent, whose volunteers were distributing food parcels in central Baghdad on Thursday when a suicide bomber killed 31 and wounded at least 50 others.

Also Friday, the U.S. military said an American soldier died as a result of a noncombat related incident in the northern Salahuddin province. At least 4,277 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s government has recorded 87,215 of its citizens killed since 2005 in violence ranging from catastrophic bombings to execution-style slayings, according to government statistics obtained by The Associated Press that break open one of the most closely guarded secrets of the war.

Combined with tallies based on hospital sources and media reports since the beginning of the war and an in-depth review of available evidence by The Associated Press, the figures show that more than 110,600 Iraqis have died in violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The number is a minimum count of violent deaths. The official who provided the data to the AP, on condition of anonymity because of its sensitivity, estimated the actual number of deaths at 10 percent to 20 percent higher because of thousands who are still missing and civilians who were buried in the chaos of war without official records.

The Health Ministry has tallied death certificates since 2005, and late that year the United Nations began using them – along with hospital and morgue figures – to publicly release casualty counts. But by early 2007, when sectarian violence was putting political pressure on the U.S. and Iraqi governments, the Iraqi numbers disappeared. The United Nations “repeatedly asked for that cooperation” to resume but never received a response, U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Thursday.

The data obtained by the AP measure only violent deaths – people killed in attacks such as the shootings, bombings, mortar attacks and beheadings that have ravaged Iraq. It excluded indirect factors such as damage to infrastructure, health care and stress that caused thousands more to die.

Security has improved since the worst years, but almost every person in Iraq has been touched by the violence.

“We have lost everything,” said Badriya Abbas Jabbar, 54. A 2007 truck bombing targeting a market near her Baghdad home killed three granddaughters, a son and a niece.

Use of tax ID number a tipoff to non-working status

WASHINGTON – The IRS allowed foreign workers – many of them in the U.S. illegally – to improperly claim nearly $7 billion in child tax credits from 2004 to 2007, a government investigator said Thursday.

Most of the credits went to workers who didn’t make enough money to pay any federal income taxes, J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, said in a report. In those cases, the workers received payments from the Internal Revenue Service after filing income tax returns.

The IRS allowed the tax credits even though the workers did not provide Social Security numbers on their tax returns, the report said. Instead, the workers used government-issued tax identification numbers, which are available to immigrants for certain tax-filing purposes – regardless of their legal status – but are not valid for employment in the U.S.

The issue highlights a weakness in current law, according to the report. Federal law does not require a Social Security number to receive the $1,000 child tax credit. But a Social Security number is required to work and earn wages in the U.S., the report said.

“As it now stands, the payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the U.S. without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,” the report said.

The IRS said it supports efforts to require Social Security numbers to receive the child tax credit. In the meantime, the IRS has stepped up efforts to ensure that immigrants do not improperly obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, the agency said in a written response to the report.

For 2004, 626,000 foreign workers improperly claimed $778 million in child tax credits even though they didn’t make enough money to pay any federal income taxes. By 2007, the number of low-wage foreign workers improperly claiming the credit increased to 1.2 million, and the value of those credits jumped to nearly $1.8 billion.

An additional 774,000 foreign workers with higher incomes improperly claimed the tax credit to lower their tax bills by $622 million in 2007, the report said.

CHICAGO – He never sang to the feds, but it turns out Al Capone had a song in his heart. All it took was a stint in Alcatraz to bring it out.

Now, more than 70 years later, the tender love song that the ruthless crime boss penned while sitting in the pen is being recorded and released on CD, possibly next month. And an inscribed copy of the music and lyrics to “Madonna Mia” is up for sale at $65,000.

But he won’t seek renewal of ban on assault weapons

President Obama and Mexico President Felipe Calderon talk prior to a state dinner at the National Museum of Anthropology on Thursday in Mexico City.

MEXICO CITY – Confronting a Mexican drug war that is “sowing chaos in our communities,” President Obama signaled Thursday he will not seek renewal of a U.S. assault weapons ban but instead will step up enforcement of laws banning the transfer of such guns across the border.

Obama had pledged during his campaign to seek renewal of the ban but has bowed to the reality that such a move would be unpopular in politically key U.S. states and among Republicans as well as some conservative Democrats.

Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has been conducting an aggressive fight against drug cartels and had hoped to persuade Obama to push for reinstatement of the gun ban. Obama arrived here on the first stop of a trip that will take him to a weekend Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, bringing together the leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere democracies.

Allies in the fight against drugs, Obama and Calderon took different stands on U.S. sanctions against Cuba. Calderon said the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo has not been successful in forcing Cuba to adopt democratic reforms.

“I share fully the idea we do not believe that the embargo or the isolation of Cuba is a good measure for things to change in Cuba,” Calderon said. “On the contrary; the reality that we see there is that the reality has not changed.”

Obama pointed to the announcement this week that the U.S. was softening sanctions, allowing Americans to make unlimited transfers of money and visits to relatives in Cuba. But he said Cuba needs to reciprocate with actions that are “grounded in respect for human rights.”

Cuban President Raul Castro, attending meetings in Venezuela, said his government is willing to discuss “everything” with Washington – including human rights, political prisoners and freedom of the press – as long as the discussion is “on equal terms.” He did not specifically mention Obama’s comments.

Obama acknowledged that the United States shares responsibility for bloodshed and kidnappings in Mexico that have spilled across the border into the United States. “I will not pretend this is Mexico’s responsibility alone,” Obama said.

“We have a responsibility as well, we have to do our part,” Obama said. He said the U.S. must crack down on domestic drug use and the flow of weapons into Mexico.

Obama also said the United States and Mexico must work together to stem the problem of illegal immigration. He said he favors a more orderly process for immigrants who want to come to the United States and a pathway to legalization for those already in the U.S. illegally.

“My country has been greatly enriched by immigrants from Mexico,” he said.

The two leaders also pledged to cooperate on combating global warming and the global recession.

The U.S. ban on military-style assault weapons became law during the Clinton administration in 1994 and contributed to the Democrats’ loss of Congress that year. It expired under the Bush administration in 2004. It had outlawed 19 types of weapons, banned certain features on firearms such as bayonet mounts, and limited ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.

When Attorney General Eric Holder raised the idea of reinstituting the ban this year, opposition from Democrats and Republicans emerged quickly.

Calderon made more direction mention of the U.S. politics of the matter than Obama did.

“We know that it is a politically delicate topic because Americans truly appreciate their constitutional rights, and particularly those that are part of the Second Amendment,” Calderon said.

Obama said he still believed that the ban “made sense” but pointedly added: “None of us are under any illusion that reinstating that ban would be easy.” He said he would focus instead on using existing laws to stop the flow of weapons to Mexico from the thousands of U.S. gun stores along the border.

“Now, are we going to eliminate all drug flows, are we going to eliminate all guns coming over the border?” Obama said. “That’s not a realistic objective. What is a realistic objective is to reduce it so significantly, so drastically, that it becomes once again a localized criminal problem as opposed to a major structural problem that threatens stability in communities along those borders.”

Obama also sought to put a focus on the more upbeat parts of the U.S.-Mexico relationship – such as shared commerce and culture – and not just the drug violence and immigration spats.

It was a theme he returned to on Thursday night at a dinner in his honor, held in an open-air courtyard of a Mexican museum.

“What makes us good neighbors is a simple truth, that our people share so much more than common challenges and common interests,” Obama said. “We also share values and ideals.”

MEXICO CITY – A shootout between Mexican troops and a convoy of gunmen left 15 assailants and one soldier dead hours before President Obama arrived in the country to support the fight against drug cartels.

The shootout occurred in a remote, mountainous region of Guerrero state, where the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco sits, Mexico’s defense department said in a statement Thursday.

Soldiers came under fire from a convoy of gunmen on Wednesday while patrolling the drug trafficking hotbed. One was killed and another wounded in the battle near the town of San Nicolas del Oro. Troops later seized two .50-caliber Barrett rifles, 17 other rifles, eight grenades, two handguns, ammunition and eight vehicles.

Obama met Thursday in the capital with President Felipe Calderón, who has sent more than 45,000 troops to drug hotspots since taking office in 2006.

Other deaths due to drug violence on the eve of Obama’s visit included three young men whose bodies were stuffed into the trunk of a car abandoned along a highway between Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, another Pacific resort where traffickers have recently been attacking police with grenades and high-powered weapons. The men had been beaten, tortured and strangled, state police said.

In Rosarito, just south of the California border, authorities found the decapitated body of a police officer who had been kidnapped by gunmen the previous day. And in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, a woman was shot in the head while driving through a residential area.

Elsewhere, a group of masked gunmen killed two men in military uniforms early Thursday in a remote jungle area near Guatemala.

Police in the nearby town of La Trinitaria said the victims were soldiers, but the defense department did not immediately confirm that. Traffickers sometimes wear military uniforms.

In the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas, police found the bullet-riddled body of a man, his head covered with a plastic bag and his feet and hands bound with tape. On Wednesday, three others were found tortured and killed in different parts of Michoacan state, where Lazaro Cardenas is located.

LINCOLN, Neb. – When it comes to the $787 billion in federal stimulus money flowing from Washington to the states, it will cost money to spend money.

Nebraska’s governor’s office told lawmakers it expects to spend more than $1.2 million over two years to oversee disbursement of about $1.5 billion Nebraska stands to receive in federal stimulus funds.

Other states are in similar straits. But Washington – at least for now – isn’t handing out money for states to hire auditors and accountants, and the stimulus law requires stringent reporting from states to ensure transparency.

“I don’t really have a good solution of where to come up with the money,” the Nebraska governor’s chief of staff, Larry Bare, told lawmakers this week on the Appropriations Committee.

States across the country are asking how they’re supposed to oversee the disbursement of billions of dollars intended to boost the economy with no budget to do so.

“The administration has been working with state officials to tackle the oversight challenges that they are facing,” said Tom Gavin, a spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

As with all federal money distributed to states, government rules allow states to allocate a portion for administrative costs. But states are complaining that the money isn’t enough to cover the cost of increased oversight and reporting obligations.

Almost 30% optimistic about the economy

WASHINGTON – Some Americans are beginning to see the light at the end of a long tunnel.

For the past two weeks, the percentage of respondents in The Gallup Poll who say the economy is getting better has been steadily ticking up. Monday through Wednesday, 29 percent took the optimistic view – the highest number since July 2007.

That doesn’t mean everyone’s outlook is rosy – 66 percent continue to say the economy is getting worse – but it does signal a significant improvement in public attitudes after nearly two years of downbeat forecasts. The percentage seeing better times ahead has nearly doubled since March 9, when 15 percent said the economy was improving and 78 percent said it was getting worse.

During that time, the stock market has been on the rebound and a few positive economic reports, including a rise in durable goods orders and new home sales, have been released. Funds from the $787 billion stimulus package are beginning to be dispersed, and President Obama in recent days has noted what he calls encouraging signs in the economy.

“There are a number of forces coming together to generate that optimism,” says Sung Won Sohn, an economist at California State University-Channel Islands. “No. 1, clearly, is the stock market.”

Among the demographic groups showing the most dramatic increase in optimism are those earning $90,000 a year or more, the top income group and the one most likely to own stocks.

The poll of 1,473 adults Monday-Wednesday by land-line and cell phone has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Assessments of the economy continue to be dreadful. Just 9 percent say the economy is excellent or good, while 57 percent call it poor. Those surveyed aren’t more likely to say their employers are hiring or that they’re spending more money in stores.

Even so, more positive predictions about the economy’s future could be a harbinger of change on other fronts.

“Attitudes are the easy things to move,” says Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor in chief. “Actual real-world change, on retail spending and jobs, I think will follow. How quickly they will follow, we’ll wait and see, but it’s reasonable that attitudes would move first.”

CLALLAM BAY, Wash. – An inmate’s attempt to heat sausages in his toilet went up in smoke when the cooking fire forced a unit evacuation at a Washington prison.

Clallam Bay Corrections Center spokeswoman Denise Larson says 130 inmates were evacuated to a dining hall when smoke was spotted coming from a sewer vent pipe Wednesday evening.

She says the smoke was traced to the inmate’s cell and he admitted to trying to heat up snack sausage bought from a prison store in the stainless steel toilet. The inmate’s identity has not been released.

The toilet chef has been placed in segregation pending discipline at the prison on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.