House votes to block cuts in doctors’ Medicare pay

The U.S. House approved spending $210 billion over 10 years to avert cuts in federal reimbursements to doctors participating in the Medicare program.

In the news

Oprah Winfrey will announce today the final date for her iconic talk show, which will end in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, her production company said.

Names and faces

Eating disorder experts criticized Kate Moss on Thursday after the model cited as her motto a phrase used on Web sites that encourage girls to avoid eating. In an interview with the fashion Web site WWD, Moss said one of her mottos was “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”

Getting it straight

The Democrat-Gazette wants its news reports to be fair and accurate.

The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s Grinch-like that the Postal Service never informed all the little elves before the fact.” Doug Isaacson, mayor of North Pole, Alaska, on the dropping of a program where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year Article, 4A

The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “We are determined that by the next five years, the Afghan forces are capable of taking the lead in ensuring security and stability across the country.” Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in his inaugural speech Article, 1A

Area lotteries

Numbers drawn Wednesday: Missouri Lotto 7-14-15-29-35-36 Estimated jackpot: $1.9 million Oklahoma Lotto 5-17-23-29-39 Hot ball: 15 Estimated jackpot: $1.1 million Powerball 32-42-50-58-59 Powerball: 31 Estimated jackpot: $25 million Power Play: 4

Trust gives $1 million for children’s hospital

The Stella Boyle Smith Trust has donated $1 million to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation to support construction of a new wing that is the hospital’s largest building project ever.

Schmieding, 89, remembered for philanthropy

Lawrence Schmieding, a man who worked as hard at philanthropy as he did his profession, died Monday at 89.

Scientists repair Big Bang machine

Europe, U.S. in friendly competition to discover elusive Higgs boson

Scientists have repaired the world’s largest atom smasher and plan by this weekend to restart the machine that was launched with great fanfare last year before its spectacular failure from a bad electrical connection, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Police arrest son of missing woman

Bentonville police have arrested the son of a woman missing since June in connection with hindering apprehension or prosecution in the investigation of the case, a news release said.

NYC papers raided in probe of union

Investigators in New York City raided offices for some of the nation’s largest newspapers Tuesday as part of a corruption probe into a powerful union that has long faced accusations of ties to organized crime, a law enforcement official said.

Getting it straight

The Democrat-Gazette wants its news reports to be fair and accurate.

Mammograms should start at 50, panel says

Task force finds no value in self-exams

Most women don’t need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It’s a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society’s long-standing position.

Report: U.S. overpaid for rescue of AIG

Officials handling the multibillion-dollar bailout of insurance giant American International Group Inc. mismanaged an initial rescue attempt and may have overpaid banks to wind down AIG’s business relationships, a government watchdog says.