North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News - NCTimes.com

WASHINGTON -- A day after stepping down from a House committee amid news that his home was searched by the FBI, Rep. John Doolittle on Friday proclaimed his innocence and vowed to stay in Congress and seek re-election.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush White House called embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "our No. 1 crime fighter" Friday, a day after Gonzales' often halting explanations for the firings of eight federal prosecutors brought additional demands for his resignation.

The ball went over the wall, and Coco Crisp went with it. He didn't do much more than tip it, but he impressed his teammates all the same.

LA COSTA ---- A final whistle sparked the charge.

CAMP PENDLETON -- Two crime fighters in brown and tan Marine camouflage gear received a police commendation Friday morning for helping to halt a crime spree in North County.

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NEW YORK -- Wall Street bounded higher Friday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrial average to a record close approaching 13,000 as investors celebrated a week of surprisingly strong earnings reports. The major indexes all had their third straight winning week, their longest such streak since October.

Our view: Without exception for women's health, ban on abortion procedure favors morals over medicine 53 comment(s)

In passing their recent Fiscal Year 2008 budget, congressional Democrats have hoodwinked the American people. Republican legislators took a well-deserved drumming at the polls last November, committing political suicide and ending their 12-year reign in Congress by compromising many of the same conservative principles that swept them to power in the first place ---- particularly that of fiscal responsibility.

TOKYO -- Japan is set to launch its first lunar orbiter this summer, but exploring the moon is just part of the mission.

PHILADELPHIA -- A drunken driver veered onto a sidewalk and crashed into a police station, knocking bricks loose from the building, police said.

BOORTMEERBEEK, Belgium -- In the dark amid the steam engine's hisses, Simon Gronowski snuggled against his mother on the straw of a cattle train packed with Jews bound for Auschwitz. Suddenly there were shrieks of brakes, shouts in German, and the rattle of gunfire.

With four generations of women holding down the shop at the Rustic Rooster Interiors, it's no wonder that with one step into the little yellow cottage on the Coast Highway, you instantly feel at home.