Dec. 31, 2000: Little Saigon's TV With Teeth. Club O' Noodles Hopes the Community Is Mature Enough for Biting Satire. The group returns to Orange County for a "comeback" performance after a four-year hiatus. Performed entirely in English, the prerecorded show directed by Ham Tran pulls from American pop culture with common one- liners such as "You can't handle the truth" and a "Where's Waldo?" bit.

SHOW TIMES: Club O' Noodles presents "The Rosie Nguyen Show," 8 a.m. Saturday on Little Saigon Television, Channel 62. The show will be rebroadcasted at 11:30 p.m. Jan. 24 as a special presentation for the Vietnamese New Year. More LA. Times.

Honorary knighthood for Spielberg. The film director Steven Spielberg is to be given an honorary knighthood in recognition of his contribution to the British film industry. pielberg will not become "Sir Steven", nor will he kneel and be tapped on each shoulder with a sword, as he is not a British citizen.

But he will be able to put the letters "KBE" after his name, for Knight of the British Empire. Other recent American recipients of honorary British knighthoods include former Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan, Secretary of State designate Colin Powell, General Norman Schwarzkopf and conductor Andre Previn. More CNN.

The China Connection. Once Again, Crime and Politics Intersect. Chang is one of the most wanted men in Taiwan, sought by the island's criminal investigation division for the past four years for alleged involvement in organized crime as a leader of the Bamboo Union gang, a mafia-like organization that claims 15,000 members. He has already served seven years in three U.S. federal prisons for a 1986 conviction for conspiring to traffic in heroin.

But in China he walks free. Like many alleged Taiwanese gangsters, Chang retains a keen interest in politics because politics and organized crime have a long, intertwined history that precedes the ascent of the Chinese Communist Party. His knowledge of modern Chinese history is deep. "Reading and writing, that's going to be my future life," Chang said in an interview. "I'm planning my memoirs. More Wash. Post.

Dec. 30, 2000: Hello, 2001: New laws take effect. Drugs for seniors, freedom from telemarketers, tax breaks. The hangover New Year’s Day might be a bit less painful for parents whose teens itch for the car keys, for seniors who struggle with prescription drug bills and for many people and businesses trying to pay taxes. New state laws should ease some worries as 2001 arrives Monday. More NBC News.

Free Rides Get Drunken Revelers Off Roads, in Cabs. Dusty Tate has been driving Red Top cabs in Northern Virginia on and off since May 1969 The SoberRide program, funded by corporate sponsors, has been running since Dec. 8 and will continue until 4 a.m. Tuesday.

All it takes is a call to the toll-free number (1-800-200-TAXI), a contact phone number and a destination address. Free rides, which start at 8 p.m. and are worth an average of about $25, are capped at $50. Anything more comes out of the pocket of the passenger, who must be 21 or older. All SoberRide calls go to Red Top's communications center in Arlington. More Wash. Post.

Dec. 29, 2000: Bush makes 4 more Cabinet picks. Moving to fill out his Cabinet, President-elect George W. Bush on Friday announced four more picks: Houston schools chief Rod Paige to head the Education Department; Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson to lead the Department of Health; former Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton to run the Interior Department; and former VA deputy secretary Anthony Principi at Veterans Affairs. More NBC News.

Dec. 28, 2000: Bush nominates defense secretary. Donald Rumsfeld had same job in the Ford presidency. RUMSFELD, 68, is a former Illinois congressman and a veteran of four Republican administrations, dating to Richard Nixon’s time. Vice President-elect Dick Cheney was a deputy to Rumsfeld when he was Ford’s chief of staff and Cheney later succeeded Rumsfeld as Ford’s chief of staff. More NBC News. The Bush Team.

Montgomery Ward closing doors. After 128 years in business, Chicago retailer Montgomery Ward & Co. said today that it will be shutting its doors with thousands of layoffs nationwide and a broad liquidation plan for its 250 stores. More Chicago Tribune.

Census Data to Reshape Congressional Districts. The U.S. population increased to more than 281 million this year, and 18 states will gain or lose seats in Congress because the South and West are growing faster than other regions, the Census Bureau announced today.

Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas will gain two seats in the House, while New York and Pennsylvania will lose two, according to Census data released Thursday. The data, gathered by law every decade to reassign the 435 House seats among the states, include the latest national population count: 281,421,906, a 13 percent gain from 1990. House Map. More Wash. Post.

Clinton picks black judge, in challenge to GOP. WASHINGTON -- President Clinton on Wednesday used his power to make appointments during congressional recesses to name Roger Gregory as the first black judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., a move not only of historical significance but one also carefully calculated to create political difficulties for the Republican Party.

The circuit court covers five mid-Atlantic states, with a population that is 22 percent black, more than any of the other 10 regional circuits. ``It is unconscionable that the 4th Circuit has never had an African-American appellate judge,'' the president said in an Oval Office ceremony.

``Justice may be blind, but we all know that diversity in the courts, as in all aspects of society, sharpens our vision and makes us a stronger nation.'' The seat has been declared a judicial emergency by the Administrative Office of the Courts, as it is one of five vacant on the court, which can have up to 15 judges. More SJMN.

Dec. 27, 2000: Pentagon Nomination Delay 'Becoming an Issue'. Key Roles of Cheney, Powell and Armitage in a Bush Administration Appear to Pose a Problem. When former senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), considered the front-runner for the defense post, met last week with Bush and Vice President-elect Cheney, he asked Bush whether he would be subordinate in policymaking to Colin L. Powell, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who will be secretary of state, according to a source familiar with that half-hour-long discussion.

So what does that leave the new defense secretary to do? At best, Bush advisers and other defense experts say, he would act as a kind of chairman of the Pentagon, the "Mr. Outside" who lobbies Congress and the public on defense issues. At worst, they add, he would become a figurehead -- a concern that Coats expressed at his meeting with Bush at the Madison Hotel last week, the sources said. More Wash. Post.

Dec. 26, 2000: King of caviar endangered. Temporary quota or fishing ban sought on Caspian sea beluga sturgeon. Caviar and New Year's Eve go ever so decadently hand in hand. But maybe not much longer -- at least when it comes to beluga, the king of caviars. The glistening dark pearls with the haunting buttery, briny taste are one of the most luxurious foods around, selling for more than $2,000 a pound.

Compounding the problem is the fact that sturgeon grow extremely slowly. Called ``living fossils'' because they are believed to have evolved 250 million years ago, beluga sturgeon -- which can live to be 100 years old and grow up to 2,500 pounds and 15 feet long -- can take six to 25 years to reach sexual maturity. And females of many sturgeon species reproduce only once every three or four years.

Many Bay Area restaurants serve caviar. But most chefs favor osetra caviar, from another sturgeon species, because the egg is firmer. Azie, a French-Asian-fusion restaurant in San Francisco, gets a couple of orders a night for caviar service, with four of five diners opting for osetra at $50 an ounce over beluga at $70 an ounce, said executive chef-partner Jody Denton. More SJMN.

Dec. 24, 2000: Vietnamese Jumping GOP's Ship. A political shift is underway in Orange County's large and traditionally conservative Vietnamese American community, where the GOP's longtime dominance is being eroded by a rise in Democratic voter registration.

Republicans can now claim the allegiance of 39% of all Vietnamese voters, compared with 33% for Democrats, according to an analysis of official election records. Eight years ago, the Republicans had 58%. Experts and community leaders said the changing party loyalties suggest that the Vietnamese in Little Saigon--and especially older residents--are becoming more concerned about issues such as Medicare, Social Security and programs for the poor.

When Clinton was elected in 1992, Vietnamese American Republicans outnumbered their Democratic counterparts nearly 3 to 1 (18,327 to 6,833). Today the numbers stand at 21,570 Republicans and 18,064 Democrats--a spread of only 3,506. An additional 15,347 Vietnamese Americans are registered as independents. More LA. Times.

Bush as chairman, Cheney as CEO? It has been fashionable in recent days for political insiders to say that Vice President-elect Cheney will become the nation’s prime minister, with President-elect Bush serving as ceremonial head of state. Cheney allies, though, reject the parliamentary analogy in favor of a corporate one: Bush as the nation’s chairman of the board, Cheney as America’s chief executive.

CALL IT BUSH-CHENEY INC. Chairman Bush sets the tone, sets goals and signs off on final decisions. CEO Cheney makes it happen. It would be an unprecedented role for a vice president, exceeding by far even the significant role Vice President Gore has played in the Clinton White House.

The analogy seems particularly apt now that Cheney, as chairman of Bush’s transition, is assembling what is arguably the most corporate administration the country has ever had. The list goes on.

Equally important, though, is the corporate culture infusing the administration Cheney is building: a buttoned-down operation that jealously guards information, has a rigid hierarchy and defined chain of command, and places compatibility of personnel over ideology and ends over means.

At the center is Cheney himself, the quintessence of the company man only his company is the government. A student of power and a lifelong devotee of governance, Cheney is unusual for a modern politician, particularly for one from the Republican Party, which has come to value outsiders.

DIFFERENT STYLE THAN BUSH. Though his boss, the president-elect, also uses a businessman’s eye in government, their two styles are quite different. Bush favors a flat hierarchy and gives authority to a wide range of underlings, common among the new generation of managers. Cheney’s style, with a more tightly controlled inner circle, is reminiscent of the old-line industrial concerns. More Wash. Post.

A Cabinet Sworn to Loyalty. Bush Choosing a Diverse GOP Team, but He Expects Unity. Although all seven are Republicans, Bush's early selections have been demographically diverse: five men and two women; five white people, a Hispanic person and an African American.

"The key to understanding this Cabinet," said Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a Bush liaison to the House, "is that whatever the different points of view, the people who were chosen agree with him on the issue they're being given responsibility for." Bush has made it clear that no loose cannons will be on his invite list.

"They are the men and the women in the gray flannel suits," Wittmann said. "This is Sears, and the flow chart is very clear. Bush will be the master delegator." More Wash. Post. Cabinet and Advisers.

Dec. 22, 2000: Clinton signs new law for immigrants. Legislation eases residency criteria. About 700,000 mostly undocumented immigrants -- many in the Bay Area -- can apply to become permanent legal residents under long-stalled legislation that President Clinton signed into law Thursday. More SJMN.

Whitman nominated to lead EPA. New Jersey governor balances appointment of conservative Ashcroft to be attorney general. President-elect George W. Bush nominated Christine Todd Whitman on Friday to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Sen. John Ashcroft, a deeply conservative abortion opponent, to be attorney general. Ashcroft became available for the job after he lost an election to a dead man. Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan died shortly before Election Day, but his name remained on the ballot and he won Missouri’s Senate seat after his widow, Jean, agreed to serve in his place. More NBC News.

Dec. 21, 2000: Bush, resigns as Texas governor. AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- George W. Bush resigned as the governor of Texas this morning, bringing an end to his service in the Lone Star State as he prepares for his new position as president of the United States.

His resignation will become effective at 4 p.m. EST, at which time he is scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his Republican successor, Lt. Gov. Rick Perry. More CNN.

Dec. 20, 2000: Bush speeds up Cabinet choices. President-elect names secretaries for treasury, commerce, housing and agriculture. Treasury: Paul O’Neill, 65, Commerce: Don Evans, 54, Housing: Mel Martinez, 54, Agriculture: Ann Veneman, 51. More NBC News.

South, Midwest hit hard by snow. America’s battling an early winter. A massive storm system is covering a third of the country with snow as far south as Mississippi. Chicago and the Midwest have been hit by the coldest November in 100 years. More NBC News.

Pap smears urged for Vietnamese NEWS FOCUS: Many women avoid the test for cultural reasons, an Orange County study finds. Although national studies have shown that Vietnamese-American women are five times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to get cervical cancer, a local study indicates that they are still reluctant to be tested for the potentially deadly disease.

Lack of knowledge, lack of time and cultural stigmas are preventing Vietnamese-American women from getting Pap smears, the only way to test for cervical cancer, according to a sample interview of 30 local women. More OC. Register.

Powell to promote diversity at State Department. "America overseas ought to look more like America at home," he said following a State Department ceremony intended to draw students from mostly African-American Howard University into the foreign service. Out of 8,971 foreign service officers, only 505 are African American. Another 390 are Hispanic. More CNN.

Dec. 19, 2000: Bush officially named president-elect. Dec. 18. After the most tumultuous election in modern U.S. history, Republican George W. Bush received the Electoral College majority he needed Monday to secure his position as the 43rd president of the United States. More NBC News.

Dec. 18, 2000: Bush Taps Rice for Security Adviser. Hours before embarking on a goodwill mission to Washington, President-elect Bush named Condoleezza Rice, a Russia specialist in his father's administration, as his national security adviser yesterday and added two Texan confidants to his infant White House staff.

As White House counsel, Bush chose Alberto R. Gonzales, a Texas Supreme Court justice who formerly served as Bush's counsel in the governor's office. Bush named Karen P. Hughes, a longtime adviser and the collaborator on his autobiography, as counselor to the president, responsible for strategic planning, communications and speechwriting. More Washington Post.

Condoleezza Rice at the Republican National Convention. "And tonight, we gather to acknowledge this remarkable truth: The future belongs to liberty, fueled by markets in trade, protected by the rule of law and propelled by the fundamental rights of the individual. Information and knowledge can no longer be bottled up by the state. Prosperity flows to those who can tap the genius of their people. " More.

The Man With All the Votes. John Carlin, the nation's official record-keeper, is busy monitoring presidential election paper. More Wash. Post.

Dec. 17, 2000: Colin Powell Named Secretary of State. Retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, toughly telling would-be American foes that "we will meet them, we will match them, we will contend with them," accepted President-elect Bush's nomination today to be the nation's 65th secretary of state and the first African American to hold that position.

"If you want to be successful in the 21st century, you must find your path to democracy, market economics and a system which frees the talents of men and women to pursue their individual destinies," Powell said. And at the center of this revolution, America stands, inspiration for the world that wants to be free. More Washington Post. TEXT of Bush & Powell.

Powell doctrine now America’s doctrine, too, by NBC News. More on Powell,by ABC News.

Dec. 16, 2000: Appointee Resource Center. Information and Guidance for Appointees, Nominees, and Candidates for Positions in the New Administration. Resources help. Looking for positions in Bush 's administration? Official site.

Dec. 15, 2000: Bush could name first Cabinet members over weekend. More than 6,400 administration jobs need to be filled, including 1,125 that require Senate approval. He met with Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, a conservative Democrat whose name has been mentioned as a possible energy secretary.

But Breaux could be reluctant to join the Bush administration, since moving to the Cabinet would give Republicans an edge in a Senate now split 50-50. His departure would allow Louisiana's Republican governor to appoint a Republican replacement, giving the GOP a 51-49 edge. More CNN.

Dec. 14, 2000: President-elect George W. Bush. Texas Gov. George W. Bush accepted his victory Wednesday night as the nation’s 43rd president after the most tumultuous election battle in modern U.S. history. More NBC. News. Bush: Text, Video - Gore: Text, Video.

Choices for posts in administration falling into line Bush has inner circle selected. More Miami Herald.

Rice: A Russophile with Bush’s ear. Condoleezza Rice, a Stanford academic and former Reagan administration aide tapped as George W. Bush’s national security adviser, will return to Washington with the United States in what she herself has described as a remarkable position. She went on to set out her five-point vision of an American foreign policy under a Republican administration:
1. Strengthening the U.S. military, which she says the Clinton administration has driven into a death spiral.
2. Extending free trade to promote growth and stability.
3. Sharing burdens more fairly with overseas allies a reference to European NATO and Japan.
4. Refocusing American efforts on big power relationships with China and Russia.
5. Dealing decisively with the North Koreas and Iraqs of the world. More NBC News.

Dec. 13, 2000: Gore to say his campaign is at end. Gore speech scheduled for 9 p.m. EST. Both Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush will address the nation Wednesday night, hours after Gore pulled the plug on his bid for the presidency. He suspended the activities of his recount committee, "resolved and resigned" that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling left him with no choice but to call it quits, aides said. CNN.

Supreme Court rules against recounts. Justices return election dispute to Fla. high court. IN A LATE-NIGHT ruling, the nation’s highest court decided 7-2 that the Florida Supreme Court ruling ordering the recounts presented constitutional problems.But the court then split 5-4 on whether new recounts should be ordered to remedy the problem.

It sounds like we lost, said Gore’s lawyer W. Dexter Douglass after the decision was released. What else can we do? It means we can’t do the recount. Gore was reviewing the decision with his staff and attorneys and planned to make an official announcement on the ruling Wednesday.

Bush attorneys were reading the decision closely to determine whether it gave Gore any hope of a recount. Beyond that, our attorneys are still looking at the decision and we’ll have further comment later. More NBC News. TUESDAY'S U.S. SUPREME COURT OPINION. Excerpts of decision.

Florida House approves Bush electors. The Republican-run Florida House today approved 25 electors pledged to George W. Bush, acting even as the U.S. Supreme Court deliberated the fates of Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

The vote was 79-41 as Republicans easily muscled their resolution through the House and set the stage for a historic Senate session on Wednesday. Two Democrats voted with Republicans.

While the Senate is Republican by a 25-15 margin its president, John McKay, would not be pinned down on when the chamber would vote. More Miami Herald.

Dec. 12, 2000: Nation awaits Supreme Court ruling; Florida House debates electoral resolution. Florida's House of Representatives has begun a meeting aimed at appointing 25 delegates to the Electoral College. The Senate is expected to convene Wednesday.

Dec. 11, 2000: Supreme Court hearing Monday morning In 90 minutes of oral arguments that begin at 11 a.m. Unofficial transcript . Supreme Court Justices Biographies. Photo of judges.

5-4 vote: Five justices voting to stay the recount: William Rehnquist, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O’Connor.
Four justices in dissent: John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen M. Breyer.

Dec. 9, 2000: Florida Supreme Court ruling. Excerpts from the 70-page court ruling and dissents.
Conflicting Opinions: on the Electoral College and Florida Legislature.

U.S. Supreme Court halts Florida recount. A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court halted manual recounts of disputed presidential votes in Florida on Saturday. In a 5-4 vote that revealed a deep split among the justices, the court agreed to hear Republican George W. Bush’s appeal of a Florida Supreme Court ruling that threatened his lead in Florida.

The court scheduled a hearing for Monday morning, just one day before Florida must choose its presidential electors. More NBC News. Text, U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Dec. 8, 2000: Florida Supreme Court rules for Gore. In a 4-3 decision, the Florida Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling in Al Gore's contest of the presidential election and ordered manual recounts tobegin immediately. It also reduces Bush's statewide lead to 154 votes. More CNN. Florida high court’s statement by NBC.

Bush wins absentee ballot lawsuits. IN A JOINT ruling, the judges said that despite some irregularities in the application procedures for absentee ballots in Martin and Seminole counties, the actual elections there reflect a full and fair expression of the will of the voters. Soon afterward, lawyers for the plaintiffs said they had appealed to a higher court. More NBC News.

State Legislature opens session amid rising partisan tensions. TALLAHASSEE -- The most closely watched session in the 155-year history of the Florida Legislature will begin at noon today in the usual way, with a prayer, a quorum call and the Pledge of Allegiance.

There won't be much action today. Legislative leaders expect the session to last less than an hour, with the highlight being the referral of a ``concurrent resolution'' naming the presidential electors to a special committee in each chamber. The House and the Senate would then break and not reconvene until Monday, when each committee would hear testimony on the resolution and then likely approve it.

At the same time, many of the 160 men and women who will vote on the resolution are short on experience, thanks to the eight-years-and-out term limits measure. In the House, 63 of the 120 members are freshmen. More Miami Herald.

Chamber President to Visit Vietnam. Shortly after being named president of the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce this week, Kim-Yen Huynh has her first assignment begins tonight--a low-key business trip to Vietnam.

The 52-year-old executive banker, who fled Vietnam in 1975, said she will represent her employer, California Center Bank in Garden Grove, which also has offices in Vietnam, by promoting international banking services.

In her second trip since 1994, Huynh said she will be meeting with many banking officials but declined to comment when asked whether communist government officials would tag along. More LA. Times.

Vietnamese fete paper's 22 years. Nguoi Viet (Vietnamese people), the first and largest Vietnamese-language newspaper in the United States, celebrates its 22nd anniversary tonight at a banquet that 400 community leaders and faithful readers are expected to attend. More OC. Register.

Dec. 7, 2000: Vietnamese chamber has new leader. A Garden Grove bank executive is the group's first female president. Kim-Yen Huynh, the chamber's first female president, replaces Michael Todaro, who was ousted after five months of a two-year term. Huynh,52, a resident of Garden Grove, is an executive with California Center Bank in Garden Grove. She has been on the chamber's board of directors since 1991. More OC. Register.

Florida Supreme Court transcript , text of today arguments at 10 a.m.
Florida Supreme Court to hear Gore, Bush: oral arguments beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday. More CNN.

Florida Legislature calls special session to name presidential electors. GOP supporters of the move say it will guarantee that Florida is represented when the Electoral College meets December 18, should court challenges not be resolved by then. Republicans hold a 77-43 majority in the House and a 25-15 advantage in the Senate. More CNN.

11th Circuit Court denies Bush appeal; both camps file briefs with state Supreme Court. The court agreed with a district court ruling which held that Bush, as well as supporters in a second lawsuit, failed to prove they had been irreparably injured. Miami Herald.

Dec. 6, 2000: Candidates await outcome as voters challenge absentee ballots in two Florida trials. Lawyers for Seminole plaintiff Harry Jacobs say the ballots should be tossed out because Republican workers were allowed to fill out voter identification numbers on 2,126 incomplete absentee ballot applications sent in by GOP voters. At the same time, lawyers allege, County Elections Supervisor Goard refused to allow Democratic workers to do the same thing for Democratic voters.

Lawyers for Democratic voters in Martin County say Republicans not only tampered with application forms, but also were allowed to remove them from the election supervisors' office. More CNN.
Text, Complaint on Seminole absentees. Text, Martin County absentee complaint.

Dec 5, 2000: Mayor Gonzales' chief of staff resigns. Jude Barry guided Mayor Gonzales' political career for more than a decade.ude Barry, 37, announced Monday that he would leave his post as Gonzales' $96,000-a-year chief of staff, effective at the end of the week. Barry joined Gonzales during Gonzales' first race for Santa Clara County supervisor in 1988 and has been his most trusted aide ever since. More SJMN.

Gore’s hopes rest with Florida court. Al Gore’s presidential hopes suffered twin body blows Monday in Washington and Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court first ordered the Florida Supreme Court to explain why it approved manual recounts crucial to Gore.

Then a state judge who listened all weekend to Gore’s arguments dramatically rejected his demand for another recount.The election now rests with the Florida Supreme Court, whose decision will be the end of the matter, Gore’s top lawyer said. More NBC News.
Text of Florida Circuit Court Ruling.
Text of U.S. Supreme Court Ruling.

Dec. 4, 2000: Judge in ballot recount case promises decision Monday morning. Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls promised to deliver his ruling Monday morning after listening to more than 22 hours of testimony and arguments in Democrat Al Gore's challenge to the certification of Republican George W. Bush as the winner of Florida's presidential vote. More CNN.

What really happened in Miami-Dade? Cubans at the Wheel Intrigue in Miami-Dade: Did the county’s most volatile political faction work to intimidate vote counters and devastate Gore?

It would have been obvious to Lehr or to any local politician including Mayor Penelas that a decision to allow the recount to continue was going to antagonize Miami’s politically potent Little Havana. More NBC News.

Dec. 2, 2000:
Transcript: Complete text of arguments of U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. Constitution: Article II.--- U.S. Constitution: Fourteenth Amendment.--- U.S. Constitution: First Amendment.
United States Code, Title 3, Section 5.--- Florida election statutes.

Chamber boots first non-Vietnamese leader. The ousted president says the group's former leader influenced his dismissal. WESTMINSTER - The first non-Vietnamese president of the Vietnamese-American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County has been deposed five months into a two-year term, officials from the group said Friday. Todaro blamed his ouster on Pham's reluctance to open the chamber to public scrutiny and to relinquish control of the organization that Pham headed for 12 years. More OC. Register.

Washington recount confirms Cantwell's Senate victory. Cantwell's upset victory could make the division of power in the Senate next year an even 50-50 for the first time in 120 years. A machine recount of the votes in Washington ended Friday showing Cantwell in the lead. Gorton conceded in a handwritten letter and later congratulated Cantwell for her victory. More CNN.

Dec. 1, 2000: U.S. Supreme Court to hear historic presidential election case at 10 a.m. EST. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear 1 1/2 hours of arguments beginning at 10 a.m. Friday in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, a historic case that pulls the nation's highest court into the controversy surrounding the razor-thin Florida vote November 7.More CNN.

Last Month November 2000 News