State

• Grand jury: Shooting of unarmed Rockford man justified

• Reindeer dung ornaments, jewelry net Miller Park Zoo $20K

National

• Winter storm starts to spread across Midwest

• Man in wheelchair surrenders after Va. standoff

• Balloon boy parents are sent to jail for hoax

• More than 100 could be victims of pediatrician

• NH, Maine test transparency with health cost tools

• Peacocks a colorful scourge on Florida island

• Little boy's big legacy teaches others how to live

International

• Bombings in Iraq kill 11 ahead of Shiite rite

  • Threats, Ashoura bring blue Christmas in Iraq

• Yemen claims 30 killed in raid on Qaida hide-outs

• 3 dead after Philippine sea collision; 24 missing

• Iran sends former government spokesman to prison

• Boy finally reunited with American dad in Brazil

• Clashes in India over delay in creating new state

• Officials: Suicide bomber kills 4 in NW Pakistan

• Pakistan Christians celebrate Christmas in fear

• Top Roman Catholic in Holy Land prays for peace

Politics & Government

• Senate OKs health care measure, reaching milestone

  • A comparison of House, Senate health care bills

  • Abortion looms as possible block to health bill

• Congress raises debt ceiling to $12.4 trillion

• Guantanamo prison may have to stay open until 2011

ODD & Extraordinary

• Escaped otters delay Ohio-bound flight in Houston

• Hey, you with the firebomb! Wrong house!

• Shuttered Silver Club in Sparks opens for 8 hours

• Cat finds way home after 11 days, 2 broken legs

• Woman calls 911 when husband refuses to eat dinner

• Police: Man uses hatchet on vehicle in rage case

• Police: Parishioner owed $70 rams truck into church

• Mom calls cops on her shoplifting 6-year-old

• Police stop generous Ind. 5th-grader with $10,000

Entertainment, Entertainers, Media & Arts

• Billy Ray Cyrus becomes his dad in Hallmark movie

• NJ lawmakers ask MTV to cancel 'Jersey Shore'

• Brother: Simon Cowell to leave 'Idol' next year

• Documentary on Jackson doctor planned

• Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins split after 23 years

Today

• This day in history

• The nation's weather