TommieMedia

WASHINGTON — Challenged by Republicans, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan said Tuesday the Pentagon’s recruiters had access to Harvard Law School students “every single day I was dean” and rejected GOP claims she maneuvered to thwart them.

Summer vacation doesn’t mean all students get a break from studying.  Many enroll in summer courses, and for some of those students, taking summer courses at St. Thomas is not convenient or cost-efficient. They take classes at other four-year colleges closer to home or at local community colleges instead.

NEW YORK — Thousands of marchers and a rainbow of floats filled the streets of New York and other U.S. cities on Sunday as people celebrated gay pride, part of a weekend of events marred by a shooting death Saturday at a street party in San Francisco.

Scores of scientists who have toiled for years in obscurity now find themselves in the middle of a media frenzy, trying to explain the Gulf oil spill to the public. “I usually spend my time analyzing samples and looking at squiggly lines, which is not very sexy,” Louisiana State University’s Edward Overton said with a chuckle. “Who would have thought Letterman would invite me, a scientist, on his show?”

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he has accepted the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal with regret, but is certain that it is the right decision for the country’s national security and the future of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

PRETORIA, South Africa — Landon Donovan scored a stunning goal in the first minute of injury time, advancing the United States to the second round at the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Algeria.

WADENA, Minn. — Police and National Guard soldiers are blocking entry to tornado-damaged neighborhoods in Wadena as the northwestern Minnesota town prepares to start cleaning up after the devastating storms.

WASHINGTON — BP will set aside $20 billion to pay the victims of the massive oil spill in the Gulf, senior administration officials said Wednesday, as President Barack Obama met with the oil giant’s top executives. BP is acting under heavy White House pressure in dealing with the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks gay marriage in Minnesota.

MINNEAPOLIS  — Minneapolis police are investigating the second fatal drive-by shooting of the weekend and have identified the victim as a 16-year-old boy.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s minority population is steadily rising and now makes up 35 percent of the U.S., boosted by a surge in Hispanic births and more Americans who describe themselves as multiracial.

Helen Thomas, the opinionated White House correspondent who used her seat in the front row of history to grill 10 presidents and often exasperate them, lost her storied perch Monday in a flap over calling on Israelis to get “out of Palestine.”

Thomas, 89, who made her name as a bulldog for United Press International and was a pioneer for women in journalism, abruptly retired as a columnist for Hearst News Service.

Many recent St. Thomas graduates have endured the stress of searching for employment. But for some graduated seniors, the anxiety has finally subsided after being hired for a new job.

JERUSALEM — Israel vowed Friday to keep an Irish aid ship from breaching its blockade of the Gaza Strip, setting the stage for another maritime showdown as the vessel made its way toward the impoverished Palestinian territory.

Concern about more violence loomed large as Israel stood fast by its blockade, despite rising pressure to lift it following Monday’s raid against another aid ship that left nine activists dead.