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The Dixie Chicks are returning to touring in a big way. The country-music trio, which has won 13 Grammy Awards and sold 30 million albums, will hit the road in June for a North American concert trek that will visit more than 40 cities. The group's DCX MMXVI World Tour will start June 1 in Cincinnati and conclude Oct. 10 at the Hollywood Bowl. The tour will include four other California stops, including a July 15 date at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. All tour dates and ticket on-sale dates appear below. It will mark the Dixie Chicks' first...

Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of the iconic snack, announced today that it will liquidate the entire company because not enough striking employees returned to work by a Thursday evening deadline set by the company. "We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," said Gregory F. Rayburn, chief executive officer. "Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders." Hostess said it will seek bankruptcy court permission to close its business and...

Video of two hecklers trying to get on stage while Ryan is speaking. Security escorts them off.

President Barack Obama weighed in on the "tragedy" of Trayvon Martin's death last week, saying it is "absolutely imperative" that all levels of government investigate "every aspect" of how the unarmed boy was shot. "I can only imagine what these parents are going through," Obama said, adding "When I think about this boy I think about my own kids." "I am glad that not only is the Justice Department is looking into this, but the Governor of the State of Florida has put together a task force [to investigate the case]," Obama said. Obama carefully avoided any discussion of George...

No text, just a video at the website playing clips of Obama's speeches while comparing economic numbers when he made the speech, and currently.

<p>A member of a Pacific Northwest longshoreman’s union verbally attacked a news crew that showed up at the union’s local headquarters in Longview, Washington. The assault was captured on a video that hit YouTube Friday morning.</p> <p>“I’m from KGW and I wanted to know if there was anyone here who would want to talk to us about the situation,” a Portland, Ore. television correspondent is seen asking while knocking on the building’s door.</p>

The former West Point cadet who's suing singer Patti LaBelle's entourage for allegedly assaulting him at Bush Intercontinental Airport last March has added an airport operations worker to the list of defendants. In an amended complaint filed earlier this week, Richard King accuses Houston Airport System employee Cahl Rasmussen of relaying false and defamatory information to King's West Point supervisors -- namely, that King instigated the confrontation that left him bloody and landed him in the hospital. "[Rasmussen] was not a witness, but without compunction, passed on the aforesaid false report as if it was true," the complaint states. "In...

A blog at CNN.com today begins as follows: President Barack Obama confronted two political realities this week: – Rising gas prices are bad for a politician’s poll numbers – There is almost nothing a politician can do about it, at least in the short run. Read the article here and see for yourself how CNN defends President Obama’s actions regarding oil prices. CNN showcases Obama’s recent rhetoric about gas prices, while conveniently neglecting to fact check any of President Obama’s claims (as CNN did when covering President Bush’s gas price rhetoric in past years). Throughout the article, President Obama is...

I was surfing Youtube, trying to find some quote Connie Chung made on the air after the Republicans took control of Congress (still haven't found it), when I found these gems. This guy has posted ~20 ten-minute clips of coverage from CNN, CBS, and ABC, if you want to relive that historic night sixteen years ago (damn, I'm old). If anyone finds the clip where Connie Chung throws a fit, let me know.

JACKSON, Miss. – A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a Mississippi school district violated a lesbian student's rights by refusing to allow her to bring her girlfriend to the prom, but he said he would not force the school to hold the event.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A teen who pleaded guilty to gang raping a South Florida woman and beating her young son has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Seventeen-year-old Avion Lawson pleaded guilty in August and testified against three other suspects in the 2007 attack. The others have all received life in prison. Lawson, who was sentenced Monday, had faced a maximum 11 life sentences plus 50 years. Lawson and the three other defendants were all teenagers when police say they barged into a 35-year-old woman's apartment, raped her repeatedly, beat her 12-year-old son and then forced her...

KNOXVILLE - Letalvis Cobbins is already confessing guilt to facilitating the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. During the routine reading of the indictment this morning, defense attorney Scott Green declared Cobbins guilty of the lesser charge of facilitating the January 2007 slayings. The move comes as no surprise. That's part of the plan by Cobbins' defenders to try not to spare him a prison term. They're trying to save his life.

The World Series of Poker Day 1d attracted record numbers, much to the chagrin of WSOP officials, who did not have room for the 500 or so extra people who ultimately got shut out, among them big name pros like Patrik Antonius and six-time gold bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier. "We are sorry, and I am sorry," said Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker commissioner. "The last thing that we ever want to do is deny people entry into our events." Hundreds of hopefuls waited in the hallways at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to see if...

With his family "tugging" on him to play, Brett Favre has an "itch" to come out of retirement and report to training camp with the Green Bay Packers later this month, according to sources close to the team and player. Favre has communicated his potential desire to coach Mike McCarthy but talks have not advanced to a substantive stage, a Packers source said.

Richard Blumenthal and Susan Bysiewicz marched to the VA, ready to break the door down to rescue veterans like Mike Onieal — but found out they may not have needed such a dramatic rescue. The event had all the makings of a perfect photo op: Two of Connecticut’s top Democrats defy President Bush, slam an unconstitutional policy statement and come to the aid of deprived veterans who sacrificed their limbs in the war only to be stripped of their basic rights. The VA, it turns out, does have a voting access problem, but not the one that the top Dems...

Dana M. Kieser deceived and defrauded her husband when he was at his most vulnerable, serving in Iraq with the Minnesota National Guard, a Ramsey County jury heard Friday. She closed out John Kieser's retirement and college-savings accounts, forged his name on two checks totaling almost $25,000, bought a home in Fargo, N.D., and sold their home in Maplewood -- all without his knowledge or consent, prosecutor Laura Rosenthal said. (excerpt)

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- An Orange County sheriff's deputy on Thursday shocked an 11-year-old girl with a Taser gun at an elementary school after the girl punched her in the face, authorities said. The altercation happened during announcements at Moss Park Elementary School, located at 9301 N. Shore Golf Club Blvd. in Orlando, Orange County school officials said. According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the girl pushed another student into oncoming traffic, and the student who was pushed reported the incident to a teacher. The teacher approached the student, but the 11-year-old ignored the teacher and walked to her...

A Leavenworth man is accused of having unlawful sexual relations with high school students while working as a substitute teacher. Mohamed A. Dirshe, 26, has been charged with three counts of unlawful sexual relations and three counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor for illicit purposes, all felonies, according to court records. His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday. Dirshe was taken into custody by the sheriff’s office March 17 after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to Detective Sgt. Robert Mendoza, Leavenworth Police Department. Dirshe is accused of inviting students to his home, giving them alcohol...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- It's been a year since the parents of a severely disabled child made public their decision to submit their daughter to a hysterectomy, breast surgery and drugs to keep the girl forever small. Today, the couple tell CNN, they believe they made the right decision -- one that could have a profound impact on the care of disabled children worldwide. "The 'Ashley treatment' has been successful in every expected way," Ashley's parents told CNN exclusively in a lengthy e-mail interview. "It has potential to help many others like it helped our precious daughter." While unwavering in...

When Mark Samson returned from a business trip and discovered one of his kittens missing, he didn't give it much thought. The cat often wandered off, Samson said, trailing after passing strangers who paused to pet it. Then two weeks went by without Samson's family seeing so much as a whisker. On Wednesday, they learned what had become of their beloved pet. A sheriff's deputy said that their kitten's mutilated remains had been found on a neighbor's property along with those of another cat. Then it got worse. Investigators say Tye Hilmo, 21, of Dacula trapped neighborhood kittens, hurt them...