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Rain clouds begin to form over the upper Keys, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. Officials in the Florida Keys started a phased evacuation for residents Sunday morning after telling visitors a day earlier to get out. Ike, a dangerous Category 4 storm with winds early Sunday of near 135 mph, was forecast to affect the Keys starting Monday night on a potential track for the central Gulf. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Keys residents weigh evacuation, Gulf Coast next?

1 hour, 25 minutes ago

KEY WEST, Fla. - With powerful Hurricane Ike on an uncertain course toward the Gulf of Mexico, many on these low-lying islands took a wait-and-see approach to evacuating Sunday, perhaps a harbinger of attitudes to come from Gulf Coast residents returning from an arduous evacuation and already showing signs of "hurricane fatigue."

  • In this July 11, 2008 file photo, a sign in front of the Fannie Mae headquarters in Washington is seen. The Bush administration, acting to avert the potential for major financial turmoil, on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008 announced that the federal government was taking control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file)
    Fannie, Freddie deal helps some borrowers, not all 2 hours, 40 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - The government's historic bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday will be good news to homebuyers and some homeowners hoping to refinance if it leads to lower mortgage rates, as experts expect.

  • Irving Shaffino, 15, poses with his mother Guadalupe Shaffino in Shallowater, Texas, July 16, 2008. Irving developed liver disease and had a liver transplant in July of 2007. (AP Photo/Zach Long)
    AP IMPACT: Liver disease plagues obese adolescents Sun Sep 7, 2:56 PM ET

    TRENTON, N.J. - In a new and disturbing twist on the obesity epidemic, some overweight teenagers have severe liver damage caused by too much body fat, and a handful have needed liver transplants.

  • A family poses in front of Astroland Park in Coney Island, New York, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. The owner of Coney Island's landmark Astroland amusement park is calling it quits. Carol Albert says she has told employees the park will permanently close on Sunday. Albert's family has owned the Brooklyn amusement park for almost a half-century and says she is giving up on negotiating a two-year lease with Thor Equities, the developer that owns the seaside property. Thor spokesman Stefan Friedman said the firm was 'extremely disappointed' that Albert had 'decided to give up on the future of Coney Island' although her current lease was valid for several more months. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
    Owner: Ride's over at Coney Island amusement park 57 minutes ago

    NEW YORK - When reports circulated over the weekend of a last-minute deal to keep Coney Island's historic Astroland amusement park open for another year, owner Carol Hill Albert was not amused.

  • A lone boatman heads into a protective cove in Bridgport, Conn. Saturday, Sept. 5, 2008 as sailboats are secured for Tropical Storm Hanna. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)
    Hanna rolls into Connecticut with heavy rain Sun Sep 7, 6:36 AM ET

    HARTFORD, Conn. - Tropical Storm Hanna rolled into Connecticut on Sunday, bringing heavy rain, wind gusts and oppressive humidity.

  • Once-powerful Pa. senator faces long fraud trial Sun Sep 7, 1:39 PM ET

    PHILADELPHIA - A longtime power broker in Pennsylvania politics earned nearly $100,000 a year as a state senator, up to $1 million a year as a rainmaking lawyer and millions more from the sale of a family bank.

  • Deadly crashes bring FAA focus on Reno air races Sun Sep 7, 1:09 PM ET

    RENO, Nev. - It's billed as "the world's fastest motor sport."

  • In this April 28, 2008 file photo, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, speaks at a fundraiser for her campaign, in Seattle. Gregoire is seeking re-election and will face Republican Dino Rossi, who also opposed her in 2004. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
    Much has changed in Wash. elections since 2004 Sun Sep 7, 1:04 PM ET

    OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington state's last governor's race ended in controversy with three counts, a court challenge and an astonishingly close margin of victory for the current governor.

  • Afghan tribal leader set for trial in NYC Sun Sep 7, 1:07 PM ET

    NEW YORK - "Afghanistan is in anarchy," the one-time Taliban ally recalls telling his tribesmen. "Americans are establishing our future government."

  • SF Bay area officer, 2 others killed in gun fight Sat Sep 6, 11:40 PM ET

    MARTINEZ, Calif. - Three people including a police officer are dead after a reported domestic disturbance at a hair salon turned into a gun fight, police in this San Francisco Bay area community said Saturday.

  • Kentucky works to keep embattled institution open Sat Sep 6, 1:09 PM ET

    SOMERSET, Ky. - Physically, Deron Dickerson was a 38-year-old man. Mentally, he was a toddler who needed constant supervision.

  • Crystal Dillman, the fiancee Luis Ramirez, is moved to tears as members of Latina show their support for the couple outside the Schuylkill County Courthouse, in Pottsville, Pa., Monday, Aug. 18, 2008. A preliminary hearings was held for three suspects charged in the beating death of Luis Ramirez, a 25-year-old Mexican immigrant who was severely beaten on July 12, in Shenandoah, Pa. Latina is a Chicago-based grass roots organization working to defend Latino immigrant rights. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
    4th Pa. teen charged in killing of immigrant Sat Sep 6, 12:15 PM ET

    POTTSVILLE, Pa. - Authorities in Pennsylvania say a fourth teenager has been charged in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant.

  • Linda Graham , right, holds the clipboard as Florence Dziamniski, 82, fills out the voter registration form outside the senior citizen's home in Clairton, Pa. Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008. Five days a week, Graham trolls southwest Pennsylvania for unregistered voters, working to add to the big gains Democrats have posted this election cycle. Graham, 45, has taken three months unpaid leave from her job at Pittsburgh's Central Blood Bank to volunteer with Service Employees International Union. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
    Democrats post big gains in voter registration Sun Sep 7, 6:40 AM ET

    CLAIRTON, Pa. - Five days a week, Linda Graham trolls tattered neighborhoods of this once thriving steel city outside Pittsburgh for unregistered voters she can sign up as Democrats — one of thousands of unknown volunteers whose work outside the limelight has already altered the basic arithmetic of the November election.

  • This undated file photo shows civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, left, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, right, who disappeared near Philadelphia, Miss., June 21,1964. The three civil rights workers were abducted, killed and buried in an earthen dam in rural Neshoba County. In 2005, Edgar Ray Killen was convicted of three counts of manslaughter for orchestrating the killings. (AP Photo/FBI,File)
    FBI's civil rights initiative: no trials yet Sat Sep 6, 3:23 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Flanked by officials from the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center, FBI Director Robert Mueller last year announced with considerable fanfare a new partnership between his agency and civil rights organizations.

  • A homeless man occupies the doorway of the vacant 'Scores' gentleman's club on New York City's West Side, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. New York State authorities closed the club in the spring of 2008 after a police raid resulted in several dancers working at the club being charged with prostitution and it's unlikely that the state liquor board will allow the remaining 'Scores' on Manhattan's East Side to continue operating. (AP Photo/Cameron Bloch)
    Don't take it off — end near for NYC smut palace Sat Sep 6, 2:12 PM ET

    NEW YORK - The end may be near for Scores, the legendary strip club that has attracted celebrities while withstanding Mafia infiltration, FBI raids and ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani's crusade against smut.

  • Crash with suspect's SUV kills Philly officer Sat Sep 6, 6:29 PM ET

    PHILADELPHIA - A 16-year-old in a stolen vehicle smashed into a police car during a chase, killing one of two officers in the cruiser, authorities said Saturday.

  • Ralph McClintock holds news clippings in Jericho, Vt., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008. When McClintock boarded the USS Pueblo in early January 1968, he was planning for a three-week mission collecting electronic intelligence off the coast of North Korea in the Sea of Japan. Instead, the 24-year-old communications technician from Milton, Mass., found himself a prisoner of war and a pawn in the Cold War sideshow. Next week, 40 of the 69 surviving crew members of the Pueblo will hold their every-other year reunion at the Inn at Essex. There will be exhibits and speakers by experts on U.S.-Korean relations.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
    40 years after capture, USS Pueblo crew reunites Sat Sep 6, 6:52 PM ET

    JERICHO, Vt. - Ralph McClintock expected only a three-week mission when he boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968.

  • House explosion kills 2 in Chicago suburb Sat Sep 6, 6:08 PM ET

    FRANKFORT, Ill. - An explosion destroyed a house early Saturday and the bodies of the elderly couple who occupied the home were found in the wreckage, authorities said. Seven other homes were destroyed.

  • In this satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Ike is seen moving across the Atlantic Ocean as Tropical Storm Hanna bears down on the US on September 5, 2008. Tropical Storm Hanna barreled across the southeastern United States, battering the coast with waves, rain and wind and prompting thousands of people to seek refuge inland.(AFP/NOAA/File)
    Hanna dumps rain on mid-Atlantic, heads north Sat Sep 6, 10:23 PM ET

    RALEIGH, N.C. - Tropical Storm Hanna accelerated toward New England on Saturday after the storm's whipping winds and rain didn't linger long enough over the Southeast to cause much more than some isolated flooding and power outages.

  • 7 years on, Sept. 11 is so far and yet so close Sat Sep 6, 2:47 PM ET

    It is not a tidy anniversary this year. Seven years between that awful day and this Sept. 11, the terrorist attacks linger somewhere between the immediate, a conscious part of our days, and the comfortable remove of the distant past. No longer yesterday and not yet history.