At this point, we’re just kicking the corpse of “post-partisanship”: Senator Chris Dodd announced on Thursday that he will unveil a financial-reform bill on Monday without Republican support. Dodd felt that the bipartisan talks he’s been hosting with Republicans began to lose momentum. Talks broke down over the creation of a consumer-protection agency--specifically, where to house it and how much authority it should have. Dodd’s now hoping that he’ll be able to win over Republican legislators when the Senate begins marking up the bill on March 22. He also says he still plans on having talks with his Republican companion on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Bob Corker. 

New York City officials have reached a settlement with the thousands of rescue and cleanup workers who suffered disease and injury from the polluted air at the World Trade Center site directly after the 9/11 attacks. The $657.5 million payout would be divided among some 10,000 plaintiffs, assuming that enough of the plaintiffs agree to the terms; if only 95 percent agree, the sum is reduced to $575 million. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, likely pleased to see the end of what has been a politically fraught and expensive legal battle, said the settlement was a "fair and reasonable solution."

As though Harry Reid doesn't have enough on his mind: The Senate Majority Leader's wife and daughter were both seriously injured Thursday afternoon in a highway accident outside Washington, D.C., when their car was rear-ended by a semi-truck. Reid's wife Landra, to whom he has been married for 50 years, suffered a broken neck, back, and nose, while his daughter Lana sustained injuries to her neck and face; both are conscious and can feel their extremities, an indication that they aren't paralyzed. Upon receiving word of the accident around 4:15 p.m., Reid left a closed-door health-care meeting for the hospital, returning to the Capitol later to continue.

Though Desirée Rogers didn't resign until February 2010, the first signs of her split with the White House came in spring 2009, when the social secretary was dressed down by David Axelrod for a variety of perceived offenses, among them posing for glossy magazines in expensive clothing and jewelry—not exactly the kind of image the White House wanted to be presenting during a recession. Despite Rogers' skill at planning events, her relationship with the rest of the Obama administration and with Washington society became too strained in the wake of the party-crashing Salahis, whose uninvited appearance at a State Dinner provoked a congressional investigation. According to anonymous sources quoted by The New York Times, Rogers feels she was hung out to dry by the White House. But Rahm Emanuel, of all people, had kind words: "She did a good job of projecting a White House that was open, family-friendly and classy."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is hoping—but not promising—to hold a vote on health-care reform next week. Does she have the votes? The Hill counts at least 25 Democrats who are either firm or likely to say no; if 37 Democrats vote against the bill, it will fail. It seems like one of the biggest issues now is whether Democratic representatives will trust the Senate to actually make agreed-upon fixes to the bill after they pass it. “We’re in the process of trying to make the Senate bill acceptable to as many House members as possible,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). “But even the most trusting member, I think, is skeptical of the Senate.”

At age 42, after 16 years in Congress and two decades of public service in elected office, Patrick Kennedy is retiring. But despite his public battles with addiction and bipolar disorder, and his waning popularity among his constituents, the Rhode Island congressman, son of the late Ted Kennedy, seems excited at the possibilities of life after politics. "I want a fuller life," he told The Washington Post. "There was something missing." Kennedy's continuous fight for mental-health issues has found him allies on both sides of the aisle, and he plans on spending his time working on addiction issues in his state after Congress. "It's a great new beginning for Patrick," says cousin Caroline Kennedy. "I think it took some courage to make this decision."

It looks like we haven’t heard the last of Rep. Eric Massa’s tickle fights: The House voted 402-1 on Thursday to reopen its probe into charges of sexual misconduct by former Rep. Eric Massa. A senior Democratic aide tells Politico that, in fact, the ethics committee never closed its investigation, even though sources told several publications that it had. The GOP introduced the resolution to keep the investigation open. It calls on the ethics committee to create a special investigative subcommittee that will report to the full House by June 30.

Though no official cause of death has been declared, and final autopsy results have not been publicly released, Corey Haim is said to have suffered from pulmonary congestion, an enlarged heart, and water in his lungs, according to his mother, who said the coroner had discussed those findings with her. According to Tiffany Shepis, his former fiancée, Haim had struggled with heart disease for a while, including arrhythmia.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced he will appoint an independent counsel for the investigation into the domestic-violence case surrounding Gov. David Paterson's administration. Cuomo is assigning the former chief judge of New York, Judith Kaye, to lead the investigation and determine if the governor lied to the state ethics commission about the solicitation of free Yankees World Series tickets. This comes as somewhat of an unexpected twist, as Cuomo's staff has already worked for two weeks on the investigation. But after a New York City councilperson expressed concern over Cuomo's conflict of interest given his potential gubernatorial ambitions, the attorney general willingly handed over the project and his staff.

Jay Leno’s first week back proved successful, as the once-again host of The Tonight Show brought the program back to the No. 1 spot among adults 18-49 and in total viewership, according to NBC. Since reclaiming the show from Conan O’Brien, Leno outranked competitors Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live, averaging nearly 2 million adults in the coveted age bracket and about 5.5 million total viewers. During O’Brien’s stint, Letterman consistently dominated The Tonight Show. Leno’s return to the 11:30 p.m. timeslot also boosted ratings for the followup program, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The whole edifice of police secrecy could soon crumble: A second New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty on Thursday to helping cover up alleged police shootings of civilians in the days after Hurricane Katrina. Former officer Jeffrey Lehrmann admitted in federal court that he failed to report a coverup in the investigation of the shootings on Danzinger Bridge, helped to compile a false report of the crime, and was with other officers when they planted a gun on the scene. Two people were killed and four wounded in the shootings on September 4, 2005. In February, another former cop, Michael Lohman, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

All $1.4 million awarded to President Obama in conjunction with his Nobel Peace Prize is going to 10 charities, including the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund and the United Negro College Fund. The money comes in tandem with the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded last October for his work toward global peace. At $250,000, the most money went to Fisher House, which "provides housing for families of patients being cared for at major military and VA medical centers." The next highest recipient was the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, which received $200,000. "These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students, veterans, and countless others in need," President Obama said in a statement. "I'm proud to support their work."

The Wolf Hall juggernaut extended its reign over book honors, winning the National Book Critics Circle's fiction award to go with its Man Booker Prize. Hillary Mantel's historical novel about Thomas Cromwell was honored alongside Richard Holmes' The Age of Wonder, which took the nonfiction award, and poetry winner Versed, by Rae Armantrout. Diana Athill won in the autobiography category for Somewhere Towards the End, while Blake Bailey's Cheever: A Life won the biography award.

While Kristen Stewart has long remained tight-lipped about her alleged relationship with Twilight costar Robert Pattinson, the actress had no problem discussing an intimate on-screen moment with Dakota Fanning, her costar in the upcoming film The Runaways. "Working this closely with someone, you can't help but really become bonded with them and it really helps when you actually like them and can become really good friends," the 19-year-old actress told People magazine while promoting the film, which focuses on the '70s female-powered rock band. As the Joan Jett to Fanning's Cherie Currie, the two share a much-buzzed-about kiss. "It was cool. I didn't mind it," Stewart said. "The way that it happens in the script is so just a sort of moment in time and fun and natural and sort of impulsive." But when asked to reveal who offered the best pucker between Fanning and Pattinson, Stewart held her tongue.

Merlin Olsen, the Hall of Fame defensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams, died  Thursday at the age of 69. Olsen was as member of the Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” in the 1960s, when the team set an NFL record for fewest yards allowed during a 14-game season in 1968. He was named to 14-consecutive Pro Bowls, won an MVP award in 1974, and is still the Rams’ all-time leader in career tackles with 915. After retiring, he acted in television programs like Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy.

Team Coco is taking it to the road: Conan O’Brien will being his “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” on April 12 in Eugene, Oregon, and will then appear the United States and Canada over the next two months. Between April and June, he’ll hit at least 20 states and 30 cities, including the Bonnaroo Music Festival. Along for the ride will be Andy Richter and some of his former Tonight Show band. Tickets will range in price from $34 to $79.

Tiger must have admired the job he did selling the Iraq War to the American people? Sources tell the New York Post that Woods has been consulting with Ari Fleischer, who helped Mark McGwire repair his image after his steroid scandal, about how to plot his return to golf. Though one source says Tiger may return to the links soon, plotting with Fleischer “a strategy for how to handle Bay Hill in two weeks,” two other sources told the AP that Woods won't golf until the Masters at the earliest, despite recent practices with swing coach Hank Haney.

MTV should bring back Cribs for this: Kim Jong Ryul served as Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s personal shopper until he fled to Austria 16 years ago. What did the North Korean dictators like? Kim says they had dozens of villas, some of which were underground and had special ventilation systems in case of nuclear attack. Kim Il-sung would only eat foreign food, apparently. “In Vienna, there was a special attaché, a friend of mine, who only procured special food for the dictator,” says Kim. “The crazy dictators heard rumors that Austrian cuisine was world famous and that’s why they wanted [the cooks] to come here.” Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il also had a collection of cars including Mercedes, Fords, Cadillacs, and Lincolns. Other items include special monitors that could detect people hiding behind walls and gold-plated pistols. Kim Jong Ryul faked his own death in 1994 and now has a book coming out.

The late Anna Nicole Smith, she of Playboy magazine and reality TV, will do in death what she never did in life: highbrow culture. Anna Nicole the opera will premiere in London next February 17. The composer’s previous works include Greek and Jerry Springer: The Opera. The Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek is set to play Smith, who died in 2007.

Vice President Joe Biden stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and smiled this week, even after he learned that Israel approved plans to build 1,600 new housing units in a contested neighborhood in Jerusalem. Apparently, he was not as happy behind closed doors: “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” the Israeli press reports Biden saying. “What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional piece.” Netanyahu now “has gone out of his way to placate the vice president,” Israeli press says. “Aides to the prime minister have been trying to learn lessons from this clumsy incident.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition appears likely to win a plurality of votes in his country’s parliamentary elections, officials tell The New York Times. But don’t expect an official announcement anytime soon: Ayad Allawi, the secular Shiite who is the main challenger to Maliki, called the vote into question after former exile Ahmed Chalabi did the same. “The insistence of some on tampering with the elections have made us put new question marks on the possibility of fraudulent results that would make them worthless in conveying the vote of the Iraqis,” Allawi’s coalition said in a statement.

Could this have helped Martha Coakley’s foundering campaign in January? In 1998, Senator Scott Brown was accused of harassment by a woman who had worked on his campaign for state representative. According to the paperwork from the civil defamation lawsuit, Jennifer Firth said Brown harassed her and then sent forged letters and emails around town claiming that she “had made sexual advances” toward him and that the two had an “intimate relationship.” However, just two days after the filing, Firth’s lawyer said her allegations were not supported by “good grounds,” and she withdrew the suit a day later.

Two earthquakes rocked Santiago as dignitaries arrived for the inauguration of Chilean President-elect Sebastian Pinera in Valparaiso. The quakes, with preliminary magnitudes of 5.1 and 7.2, were strongly felt in the capital, and Bolivian President Evo Morales seemed disoriented briefly, the Associated Press reports. Outgoing President Michelle Bachelet said she had taken care of her country’s most urgent needs after the huge earthquake shook it last month. "I'm leaving office with sadness for the suffering of our people, but also with my head held high, satisfied with what we have accomplished," she said.

Fox is holding Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to Oliver Stone’s 1987 film about finance titan Gordon Gekko, till September 24. The movie’s original release date was April 23, but Fox thinks the film has a good chance of being included in the Cannes Film Festival, which his begins May 12. Money Never Sleeps picks up 23 years after we last saw Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, who in has just been released from prison. Gekko tries to warn Wall Street of pending economic doom, but no one listens. According to Variety, Fox thinks the film works better in the fall than summer.

Guess she can’t say she didn’t see it coming: Eric Massa’s top aide, chief of staff Joe Racalto, warned Nancy Pelosi in October of the then-congressman’s inappropriate behavior. Apparently, Racalto called Pelosi’s staff after Massa made a lunch date with a 20-something staffer from Barney Frank’s office. Racalto told Pelosi’s office that he was worried the lunch was just the latest incident in a pattern in which Massa was continually trying to spend time along with young, gay men. The House Ethics Committee dropped its investigation of Massa after the congressman resigned on Monday, but Republicans want the probe to continue—insisting that former Rep. Mark Foley was still investigated after he stepped down for inappropriate conversations with teenage congressional pages.

Looks like the Free Willy hand roll will no longer be on the menu. A sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, California, and one of its chefs were charged Wednesday with selling endangered-whale meat. Illegal sale of a marine mammal product is a misdemeanor that comes with a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 for an individual, or $200,000 for an organization. "Someone should not be able to walk into a restaurant and order a plate of an endangered species," said U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. in a statement. The allegations came when a New York Times story revealed the restaurant, Hump, had served endangered Sei whale meat, which may have come right out of the trunk of a white Mercedes.

With midterm elections on the horizon, Democrats and Republicans are competing over which party can take the toughest stand against earmarks, which send federal money to particular projects. On Wednesday, Democrats proposed ending the practice of giving earmarks to for-profit corporations. The hope would be this could diminish the influence of lobbyists. Republicans responded by saying they would end the practice entirely, for corporations and for non-profits like universities. In the end, The Washington Post reports, neither proposal will put a real dent in government spending. Earmarks account for $16 billion of the more than $1 trillion that the federal government spends each year.

Bill Gates' reign as the world’s richest man was interrupted this year as the world’s plutocrats cashed in at a startling rate. Though the Microsoft tycoon has held the title for 14 of the last 15 years, he was overtaken by Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, according to Forbes' annual list. Slim, whose $18.5 billion in earnings over the last 12 months catapulted him into first, has reportedly amassed a fortune of $53.5 billion. The growth was due largely to shares of America Movil shooting up 35 percent. Gates, whose fortune is at approximately $53 billion, is a close second after earning $13 billion this year. Warren Buffett is third with $47 billion, $10 billion of which came from a pair of shrewd investments in Goldman Sachs and General Electric during the economic turmoil. "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years," Buffett wrote. "When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."

Two new movie futures exchanges are being created that would allow movie studios to hedge against a film’s box office performance, spreading the risk if the picture is a dud. Last week, 90 Hollywood executives watched a demonstration of The Cantor Exchange, formed by Cantor Fitzgerald of New York firm, which will launch next month. Guests bet on the performance of Alice in Wonderland. A rival, Trend Exchange of Indiana, was announced Wednesday. Both expect to win the approval of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the coming months. The goal is to create a safety net in the highly risky movie business, a way to hedge against the possibility than an expensive movie, like The Wolfman, will make no money. Critics say the markets would be vulnerable to manipulation, as many—screening attendees, marketers—would have inside information.

They call him "Rico Suavé." Dressed to the nines, one man has been pulling off daring thefts from some of Los Angeles' most exclusive environs. On Oscar night, with all of Hollywood gathered together and a massive security force in town, the man walked into a hotel room at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons and pocketed $45,000 in jewelry. Police say he has been involved in similar robberies since last summer. Among his marks: a sugar mogul from Cuba, a salsa band, a Mexican soccer team, and an Israeli basketball team playing at the Staples Center.

President Obama's populist crusade for health care continued on three fronts Wednesday. Obama took his traveling campaign to Missouri, while Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed the annual conference of insurance lobbyists, America's Health Insurance Plans. And, outside the conference, Vermont Governor Howard Dean led a 1,000-person protest. "Are you for the insurance companies or are you for the American people?" Dean asked, boiling down the issue. At this point, Obama and Co. are still trying to woo the Democrats on the fence, since no Republicans are expecteed to vote for the $1 trillion health-care package. Republicans say that with only 25 percent of people believing Congress should pass the bill according to one recent poll, Democrats are trying too hard. They want to "shove this government takeover of the health-care system down the throats of the American people," House Minority Leader John Boehner said.

Following in the national trend of major districts closing public schools, Kansas City voted in favor of closing 29 of its 61 schools to cope with a projected $50 million budget gap. Teachers at six other low-performing schools will have to reapply for their jobs, and the district must sell its downtown central office. The cuts will cost about 700 jobs, including 285 teaching positions. Many are concerned that the move will irreparably stunt the city’s development. "And now the public education system is aiding and abetting in the economic demise of our school district,” a city councilperson said. “It is shameful and sinful.” The district, meanwhile, has been quick to point out that many of the schools are only half full—its enrollment of fewer than 18,000 students is about half what the schools had a decade ago.

A.C. Slater is all grown up. Mario Lopez is going to be a father. People’s 2008 Bachelor of the Year and his girlfriend, 28-year-old actress Courtney Mazza, are expecting a baby in the fall. The pair met in 2008 when Lopez starred in A Chorus Line on Broadway. Lopez, 36, who became an icon of the 1990s on Saved by the Bell, is the host of Extra and MTV’s Best Dance Crew. "I'm really excited. I'm happy. I can't wait to be a dad," he told People magazine.

The evidence against Senator John Ensign (R-NV) is building. A set of previously undisclosed emails shows that Ensign tried to steer lobbying work to Douglas Hampton, the husband of a woman Ensign had an affair with—an apology of sorts. Ensign is being investigated by the FBI and the Senate Ethics Committee. In the messages—the first signs of an electronic trail in this case—Ensign suggests that a Las Vegas development firm hire Hampton, after the firm had approached him for help on several energy projects in 2008. Ensign denies all allegations of wrongdoing. “Senator Ensign has stated clearly he has not violated any law or Senate ethics rule,” said the senator’s spokesperson. “If Doug Hampton violated federal law or rules, Senator Ensign did not advise him to do so, did not suggest that he do so, and did not cooperate with his doing so.”

Anti-war lawmakers got a rare chance to debate the Afghan war on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday before voting on a resolution to bring home the troops and end the 8-year war. The resolution failed, with a margin of 356 to 65, as expected, but nevertheless it was a chance for members of Congress opposed to the surge in Afghanistan to vent their frustrations. The debate came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it was possible American soldiers would leave before the July 2011 withdrawal date set by President Obama, but that decision would have to be “conditions-based.” The resolution, which would pull out troops within 30 days of passage, was brought to the House floor by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) called the war an unconstitutional “foreign occupation.” Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) urged caution, warning that "accelerating the Obama administration's carefully calibrated timetable could take grievous risks with our national security.” Five Republicans voted with the 60 Democrats in favor of withdrawal.

In a finding that would have been impossible before the completion of the human genome map, scientists have found the bit of DNA that causes inherited diseases in families. A Houston researcher, who himself suffers from a recessive genetic disease, conducted one study. "We tried every other method for 25 years to find out which mutation was important," the scientist told Reuters. "With this methodology we were able to do it. This is the first time whole genome sequencing has applied to actually find the cause of a disease."

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit will tell investors Thursday that he expects Citi to earn as much as $20 billion within the next few years, The Washington Post quoted sources as saying. Those kind of gains would mark a serious turnaround for the company. With a net income of $14.9 billion in 2009, Citi lost $8.7 due to what the FT called  non-core businesses. Key to the financial institution's revival may be a refocusing on its central businesses: commercial, investment, and retail banking along with money management. “Clients look to us as being the financial conduit to the world,” Pandit told the FT, adding, “We want to be a global bank for institutions and individuals.”

Got any eight-tracks in your basement? James "Bucks" Burnett, the former manager of Tiny Tim, might like to them for a museum. Burnett used to own a record store and after two successful temporary exhibits thinks it’s time that the much-maligned cartridges return to a place of glory. "There are certainly lesser topics that have museums," Burnett tells The Wall Street Journal. The eight-track saw its prime in the mid-1970s but fell in popularity to the tape cassette. It remains prized by some listeners. The 1970s band Cheap Trick ordered a bunch for a new album last year, only to find themselves ordering three batches to please fans.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Thursday that he will not participate in peace talks with Israel following Israel's decision to expand Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. Earlier this week, in what observers saw as a rebuke to Vice President Joe Biden's visit, the Israeli government announced it would build 1,600 new homes in the West Bank. The about-face happened only days after Palestinians agreed to return to indirect talks—a move that likely would have made Biden's visit a diplomatic success. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau apologized for the timing of the announcement. Biden was scheduled to give an address at Tel Aviv University Thursday.

Maybe the Democrats won’t need an abortion compromise to save health care after all? Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said Thursday that House Democrats plan on trying to secure 216 votes for health-care reform without reworking the abortion provisions that has Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) threatening to vote against the bill. Stupak says he and 12 other congressmen will vote against it unless the language about prohibiting the spending of federal money on abortion services is tightened, but Waxman says that “many of the pro-life members are going to support passage of the health-care bill.”