'This is only a test,' but it is nationwide

Bay Area radio and television stations will join others across the country Wednesday for the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. For decades, the stations have aired localized alerts - those familiar beeps and then the "this is a test" message. But this is the first time it will be done on a nationwide scale. The goal is to determine whether the system would be effective in reaching the entire country in case of a substantial disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency began preparing for the nationwide alert with a statewide test in Alaska last year. Alaska was selected because, much like the entire country, it has both tiny towns of a few dozen residents and large urban centers, officials said. A follow-up test there in January corrected several problems with how...

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Oklahoma earthquake rattles residents

Central Oklahoma was recovering Sunday after a swarm of weekend earthquakes, including the largest in state history, buckled a highway, damaged several homes and left residents worried they may be living on an increasingly active fault. Mary Reneau, 68, saw her home of 25 years, a two-story brick ranch house six miles northwest of Prague, Okla., battered by the quakes. "There isn't a room in the house that hasn't sustained damage," Reneau said. "It looks like a bomb fell." She said she had never felt an earthquake as intense during all her years in central Oklahoma, where she and her husband run a custom hay-baling business on their 440-acre ranch. The largest in the latest round, a magnitude 5.6, occurred at 10:53 p.m. CDT Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake caused...

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Obama seeks consensus on response to violence

US President Barack Obama has called the leaders of the UK, France and Italy as international efforts to respond to the crisis in Libya gather pace. Mr Obama outlined a range of possible measures, including plans for humanitarian assistance. Earlier, the White House said all options were on the table, including sanctions. It said the military would present its own proposals to Mr Obama. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi meanwhile blamed the uprising on al-Qaeda. Speaking on state television, he repeated claims that hallucinogenic drugs had been given to young people to incite them to revolt. Opposition supporters in Tripoli have said they are planning to protest in Green Square after Friday prayers at noon (1000 GMT). On Thursday, fierce fighting was reported in nearby towns, as pro-Gaddafi...

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Sexual Harassment Pervasive in Grades 7-12

It can be a malicious rumor whispered in the hallway, a lewd photo arriving by cell phone, hands groping where they shouldn't. Added up, it's an epidemic — student-on-student sexual harassment that is pervasive in America's middle schools and high schools. During the 2010-11 school year, 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experienced some form of sexual harassment in person or electronically via texting, email and social media, according to a major national survey being released Monday by the American Association of University Women. The harassers often thought they were being funny, but the consequences for their targets can be wrenching, according to the survey. Nearly a third of the victims said the harassment made them feel sick to their stomach, affected their study habits or fueled...

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Keystone pipeline decision could be delayed until after election

The Obama administration is considering a move that could delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline by requiring sponsors to reduce the project's environmental risks before it can be approved, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations. The step might put off a decision until after the 2012 election and be a way for the White House to at least temporarily avoid antagonizing either the unions that support the pipeline or the environmental activists who oppose it as President Obama gears up for his campaign. The 1,700-mile Keystone XL, which would run from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, needs a permit from the State Department because it crosses a national border. The administration has said the State Department probably would decide on the so-called presidential...

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Cain ‘Back on Message,’ if His Rivals Will Allow It

If Herman Cain has been less than clear about exactly what happened during his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s, when he was accused of sexual harassment, he is being perfectly clear about how he intends to conduct himself now. “We’re getting back on message, end of story,” Mr. Cain said here on Saturday night after a debate with Newt Gingrich, which ended up being more of a Tea Party pep rally than a clash of ideas. At no point during the nearly three-hour event, a fund-raiser that began with cocktails, did Mr. Cain address what had consumed his campaign the previous week.“Don’t even go there,” Mr. Cain warned reporters who clamored to ask him at least one question after the event. But Mr. Cain’s effort to move past the story were thwarted on Sunday...

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