Free Republic

The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.4 percent in February for an annual increase of 6 percent, right in line with what economists had been expecting, according to data released Tuesday by the Labor Department. The 6 percent annual inflation rate was the lowest yearly price increase since September 2021. Without food and energy prices, which are more volatile, the CPI rose 0.5 percent in February and 5.5 percent over the past 12 months.

WASHINGTON - Air travelers were handed new rules Sunday, given permission to carry small amounts of liquid nonprescription medicine onto a plane and instructed to remove their shoes during security checks. The shoes have to be placed on an X-ray belt for screening before passengers can put them back on. The eased restrictions on medicine and the mandatory shoe removal were among several measures the Transportation Security Administration ordered Sunday in response to the thwarted terror plot in Britain involving U.S.-bound airplanes. TSA had previously banned all liquid medications; now it will allow up to 4 ounces of liquid nonprescription...

After holding seven Marines and one sailor in maximum pretrial confinement for three weeks, Camp Pendleton officials have decided to ease up on them. The eight men are from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. They're being jailed at the Camp Pendleton brig on suspicion of killing an unarmed Iraqi man in Hamdania, Iraq, on April 26. Their attorneys and military officials have predicted that charges of murder, assault, kidnapping and conspiracy are in the offing. Yesterday, base officials said they were switching the security level for the suspects from “maximum custody” to “medium-in” custody. The change, they said, followed...

People soon will be able to carry guns and other dangerous weapons onto the grounds and parking lots of Reagan National and Dulles International airports, after officials yesterday eased what they said were overly restrictive rules. Without debate, the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority unanimously agreed to permit passengers and other airport visitors to carry guns, knives and other weapons as long as they keep them out of terminals and other buildings that access airfields. Passengers who are taking guns with them on flights still will be allowed to carry them into the terminal but are supposed to...

SACRAMENTO - As governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger quickly learned to use his office's bully pulpit to get his way. But last month, as he sought $300 million in concessions from the state's prison guards, the governor's megaphone mysteriously went silent. Lawmakers and others who follow corrections issues suggest that Schwarzenegger may have believed he was on the verge of securing an overall budget deal and was focused on quickly putting the prison piece of the puzzle into place. He saw it merely as another budget issue, not in the context of trimming the power of the guards union or reforming prisons....