WAVELAND, Miss. – On the road from New Orleans to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis was struck by how little has changed since he visited here in September. The Virginia Republican, who chairs a House panel investigating the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, said his return to the …

SAN FRANCISCO – A 44-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of planting an explosive device in the bathroom of a Starbucks coffee shop, police said. Ronald Schouten, of San Francisco, was being held in San Francisco County jail on an unrelated drug charge, police spokesman Dewayne Tully said. …

WASHINGTON – A former defense secretary for Ronald Reagan says he implored the president to put Marines serving in Beirut in a safer position before terrorists attacked them in 1983, killing 241 servicemen. “I was not persuasive enough to persuade the president that the Marines were there on an impossible …

LAS VEGAS – Verizon Wireless on Thursday said it would start letting its subscribers download music to their mobile phones over its wireless network later this month in the No. 2 U.S. cell phone provider’s latest attempt to expand beyond voice calling services. The wireless venture of Verizon Communications (VZ …

SYDNEY, Australia – An Australian wildlife worker pulled a 7-foot python out of a septic tank Wednesday after a plumber found it hiding in a woman’s toilet, officials said. Peter Phillips, a wildlife officer for the Northern Territory’s Parks and Wildlife Service, was called to remove the snake after a …

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Former tennis star Chris Evert’s divorce is final. The winner of 18 Grand Slam tournaments has signed a settlement in South Florida that calls for her to pay her ex-husband seven (m) million dollars in cash and securities by tomorrow. Evert and skiing hall-of-famer Andy Mill …

SAN FRANCISCO – The departure of television veteran Lloyd Braun from Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) underscores a shift, or at least a major hiccup, by Internet companies away from creating costly original content. Braun, who once ran primetime programming for the Walt Disney Co.’s (DIS) ABC network, left Yahoo this week …

SAN FRANCISCO – Jamba Juice Co. is warning consumers in the Southwest that smoothies containing strawberries might have been contaminated with a potentially deadly bacterium. The warning, issued in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, applies to smoothies sold at Jamba Juice stores in Arizona, southern Nevada and …

Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat who is considering a run for the White House, argued in a column in an Iowa newspaper Sunday for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Iowa is home to the first contest for the Democratic nomination for president. In an op-ed in The Des …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country singer Sara Evans, who abruptly dropped out of “Dancing With the Stars” in October, will join the ABC reality show’s road tour, promoters said Thursday. Also on board will be talk show host Jerry Springer, they said. Other celebrities include Harry Hamlin, Drew Lachey, Joey Lawrence, …