US & World News, Thursday 11/29

US & World Summary: --- Home Foreclosures Up 94-Percent From Last Year (New York, NY) -- Home foreclosures have nearly doubled from last year. According to the real estate data firm RealtyTrac, more than 220-thousand homes went into foreclosure last month, an increase of 94-percent from last year. The numbers mean that one in every 555 homes in the country is in foreclosure. While high compared to last year, the group says activity appears to have levelled off from a 32-month peak in August. Nevada, once the hottest market for investors, has the highest foreclosure rate in the country, with one for every 154 homes. --- Fire Shuts Key Canada-U.S. Oil Pipeline (Houston, TX) -- Oil prices shot up by more than four-dollars a barrel yesterday after an explosion crippled the main oil pipeline supplying Canadian crude to U.S. Midwest refineries. Two employees were killed in the blast and fire that forced Canadian operator Enbridge to stop nearly one-fifth of its imports to the U.S. The explosion happened about three miles southeast of the companys Clearbrook, Minnesota, terminal, shutting down the multiple feed lines that bring in about nine-percent of the U.S. oil supply. Enbridge says its not known when the oil lines will be up and running again. --- Stagehands Union And Theatre Producers Reach Deal (New York, NY) -- The neon lights on Broadway should be lit up again tonight after the end of the Broadway stagehands strike. Union leaders have told striking stagehands to return to work, ending their 19-day-old walkoff. Neither the theatre producers nor stagehands union representatives are talking about the specifics of the settlement since union members still have to ratify the deal. The strike shut down more than two-dozen productions and cost New York City an estimated two-million-dollars a day in lost revenue. --- TSA Plan To Gather More Data Protested (Washington, DC) -- A government proposal to start collecting birth dates and genders of people who are flying is drawing protests from the major airlines and travel agencies. Thats according to "USA Today," which says the Air Transport Association, American Society of Travel Agents and Continental and Virgin airlines opposed the plan in writing, calling it quote, "invasive, confusing and useless." The Transportation Security Administration wants passengers to give the the government more personal information, including their full names, so it can do more precise background checks. --- Leukemia Patient Dies After Transfusion Refusal (Mount Vernon, WA) -- A 14-year-old boy is dead after winning the right to refuse vital blood transfusions. According to the Seattle "Post-Intelligencer," a Washington state judge yesterday refused to order the possibly lifesaving procedure for the Mount Vernon boy just hours before he died. Dennis Lindberg was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this month and began chemotherapy. The boys biological parents asked the judge to order the transfusions, but the boy and his legal guardian, both Jehovahs Witnesses, opposed the blood transfusions. --- Woman Sues "National Enquirer" Over Kennedy Story A Massachusetts woman is suing the "National Enquirer," over two stories about her having a "love child" with Senator Ted Kennedy. In her suit Caroline Bilodeau-Allen claims that quote, "virtually every critical fact which the Enquirer reported is false and defamatory." The stories, both published earlier this year, claim Bilodeau-Allenand and the states senior senator began dating in 1983 after his divorce. Bilodeau-Allen became pregnant one year later, but denies that Kennedy is her sons biological father. --- FDA May Limit Salt (Washington, DC) -- The government may soon be regulating the salt content in foods. The Food and Drug Administration holds hearings today on changing the status of salt, limiting it in processed foods and requiring health messages about the dangers of the seasoning. One consumer group wants the FDA to strip salt of its current classification of "Generally Recognized as Safe" and make it a food additive thats subject to regulation. (Copyright 2007 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-11-29-07 0743CST