Georgia officials expand child custody leniency program as more parents lose jobs

Georgia’s child custody employment program expands

EPA: Senate climate bill would add about $100 a year in energy cost for typical household

WASHINGTON — A Senate plan to tackle global warming would add about $100 a year to the energy costs for a typical household, according to an analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA estimates Senate climate bill would have modest impact on household energy costs

WASHINGTON — An analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency says a proposed Senate bill to combat global warming would add around $100 a year to a typical household’s energy costs.

No relief for parents: College tuition is up sharply, outstrips overall US inflation rate

With the economy struggling, parents and students dared to hope this year might offer a break from rising college costs. Instead, they got another sharp increase.

3 tips to help get started on a college savings account

A new survey by online brokerage TD Ameritrade says college is the top reasons teens save their money. The results were a pleasant surprise to educators who are focusing on getting personal finance taught in schools. The survey indicated 78 percent of teens say they want to share the cost of college with their parents.

Teens say college is the top reason for saving money

DES MOINES, Iowa — Stroll through the mall on a weekend and you get the impression teens save money to buy clothes or iPods and video game systems, but a new survey shows their priority is quite different — saving for college.

Hurry up and wait: Veterans turn to loans, parents and schools as they wait for GI Bill funds

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. — Brandon Thomas was hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade and twice grazed by bullets fired by the Taliban during his final tour with the Army in Afghanistan.

Dem chairman calls for health care assistance for families as Senate committee begins work

WASHINGTON — Bidding for support from Democrats as well as a single Republican, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee gaveled open a long-awaited debate over health care Tuesday with fresh plans to reduce costs on working-class families and impose new obligations on the insurance industry.

Obama administration recommends changes to boost use of state-run college savings plans

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants states to make changes to college savings plans that it hopes will expand their use by middle class families.

Prepared text of President Barack Obama’s speech to school students on Tuesday

The prepared text of President Barack Obama’s back-to-school address scheduled for Tuesdays, as released in advance by the White House:

Penn State asking merit scholar parents for donations to help out needier students

PHILADELPHIA — Students who are accepted into Penn State University’s prestigious honors college get more than academic feathers in their caps. They get $3,500 annual merit scholarships.

Noncustodial parents struggle with child support payments as a result of income loss

NEW YORK — As the owner of a successful acupuncture clinic in a wealthy Washington suburb, David Vandenberg never had any problems making a $433 monthly child support payment.

Parents trade baby-sitting shifts to make date night affordable in the economic recession

WATERTOWN, Mass. — When Jenny Iverson and her husband left Utah last year, they didn’t just lose a tight-knit community of relatives. They lost their network of free baby sitters.

A free lunch: Other cities look to replicate Philly’s no-strings-attached school meal program

PHILADELPHIA — For students at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, there IS such a thing as a free lunch — and a free breakfast, too. With no strings attached.

Economy, university tuitions prompt more college students to move to schools closer to home

SEATTLE — A few months ago, Rebecca Gottlieb faced a difficult choice: continue on at her $50,000-a-year private school in Massachusetts, or leave her new friends and life and enroll at a cheaper school near home in Washington.

Out of Africa and back: Senegal basketball star returns as mentor and businessman

DAKAR, Senegal — He moves across the sand-specked basketball court swathed in the glossy dark blue jersey of his old Japanese pro team, a keepsake from a career that propelled him around the world.

When even fast-food restaurants aren’t hiring, unemployed teens finding summer stimulus jobs

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — You know the economy’s bad when teens can’t get summer jobs at fast-food restaurants or movie theaters.

Ensign aide: Husband of Nevada senator’s former mistress asked for money

LAS VEGAS — The husband of Sen. John Ensign’s former mistress made “exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits” through an attorney, an aide to the Nevada Republican said Friday. In a statement, Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said the demands from an attorney for Doug Hampton were made within the past month.

Aide: Husband of Nevada Sen. Ensign’s former mistress asked for money

LAS VEGAS — The husband of Sen. John Ensign’s former mistress made “exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits” through an attorney, an aide to the Nevada Republican said Friday.

Down economy forces some families to cut back, stay home _ and get to know each other again

NEW YORK — After almost 16 years of marriage, Unita Walburn and her husband had drifted apart. The stress of raising two special needs children had taken its toll and the couple was saddled with medical debt.