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Alaska, Hawaii mark 50 years of statehood

They were born in 1959, some 3,000 miles apart, near twins as different as the sea and sky they both claim in ample measure. Conceived during war and raised in a time of remarkable change, these last stars on our flag grew, excelled and today represent diversity as broad as the American experience.

In a half-century of life as the United States' 49th and 50th states, respectively, Alaska and Hawaii have become the envy of the other 48 for their diverse beauty and abundant if differing natural resources (Alaska's oil, Hawaii's tropical sun).

In just five decades, Hawaii's population has more than doubled to almost 1.3 million. In the same period, Alaska, which despite its vastly larger size started with far fewer inhabitants, has tripled to 686,000.

For students, inauguration `really worth it'

Alejandro Gonzalez spent more than an hour stuck underground at a train station in Washington trying to get to the swearing-in of President Barack Obama.

The Georgetown University freshman, who is from Miami, said there were so many people trying to enter the Mall near the Capitol that there was a traffic jam underground.

Once on the Mall, Gonzalez had to push through dense crowds to get to his ticketed section of the viewing area. But he didn't seem to mind the fuss.

Earmarks by and campaign contributions to Inouye

Hawaii companies that would benefit from earmarks sponsored by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, that are in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2010 defense appropriations measure. The firms' executives and other employees have contributed to Inouye's campaign committees since 1997.

- Pacific Marine/Navatek Ltd., Honolulu: $2.2 million to build model of amphibious vehicle. $16,300 in contributions to Inouye, including $9,800 CEO Steve Loui.

- Oceanit, Honolulu: Two $5 million earmarks for a network of telescopes to track objects in space. $22,900 in contributions to Inouye, including $11,000 from CEO Patrick Sullivan.

Al Malnik: I'm not the father of Michael Jackson's kid

As the discourse about the unexpected death of Michael Jackson shifts from his pop cultural legacy to the more complicated affairs of finances and his children's paternity, South Florida entrepreneur Al Malnik, a one-time close Jackson friend, has denied he is the biological father of his godson and Jackson's third child, Prince Michael II, nicknamed Blanket.

In an interview Wednesday on NBC's Today show from his home in Palm Beach County, Malnik offered a series of family photos and home movies of Jackson and his three children. Paparazzi-free, none of the children are wearing masks or costumes or shying away from the cameras.

Instead, the images are of well-adjusted children: smiling, hugging, blowing bubbles, watching movies, attending Blanket's birthday party and playing with Malnik's triplets, who are close in age to Jackson's children.

A $444M crater calls for higher Miami-Dade county pay cuts

T he lines went out the door and around the block -- residents eager to tell their elected leaders they're not doing their jobs.

Frustrated by job losses, by climbing property tax rates even as their home values drop, by hefty pay raises to an elite group of bureaucrats, the people spoke up for eight hours on Thursday. It was like a full-time job -- and it paid off.

By 4:30 a.m. Friday, Miami-Dade County Commissioners voted 8-5 to keep the tax rate where it is. Not even the small increase that Mayor Carlos Alvarez proposed to help close a $427 million budget hole was granted.