DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP

Associated Press
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Whooping cough epidemic declared in Wash. state

Washington state's worst outbreak of whooping cough in decades has prompted health officials to declare an epidemic, seek help from federal experts and urge residents to get vaccinated amid worry that cases of the highly contagious disease could spike much higher.

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2 killed in house fire near Seattle, door blocked

Firefighters had to force their way into a house in Washington state where two women were found dead because the door had been blocked with a couch and other furniture, and now detectives are conducting a double homicide investigation.

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Women found in Wash. house fire had been shot

Two women whose bodies were found in a fire at a home in Washington state had been shot to death, the medical examiner's office said Monday.

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Person of interest in deaths of 2 near Seattle

The King County sheriff's office has named a person of interest in the suspicious deaths of two women whose bodies were discovered after a fire at a home east of Seattle where the front door had been blocked.

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2 killed in house fire near Seattle, door blocked

Two women were found dead in a house fire in Washington state and detectives are investigating their deaths as a double homicide.

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Space tourist is just one way to describe Simonyi

Charles Simonyi may still be described as a space tourist even though the Microsoft billionaire has no plans to take a third vacation on the International Space Station and hasn't hung out in outer space for a few years.

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Financial struggles common among military families

Military families aren't surprised when they hear about the financial struggles that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, his wife and children faced at home. It's part of their lives, too.

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Gates defends focus on high-tech agriculture

Bill Gates has a terse response to criticism that the high-tech solutions he advocates for world hunger are too expensive or bad for the environment: Countries can embrace modern seed technology and genetic modification or their citizens will starve.

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Study: Once-a-year teacher evaluations not enough

Once-a-year evaluations aren't enough to help teachers improve, says a report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Leader of Park Service retirees laments shooting

The fatal shooting of a Park Service ranger at Mount Rainier National Park has renewed debate about a nearly two-year-old federal law that allows loaded weapons in national parks.

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For some in need, Facebook is route to new kidney

Here's another reason for holdouts to join the social media site Facebook: It's a great place to find a kidney.

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Economic recovery slow for US nonprofits

As the first signs of an economic recovery make the news, many of the nation's nonprofit organizations are digging in for another three to four years of financial distress, according to researchers who keep an eye on the charitable world.

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In Washington, school buses in path of budget ax

The yellow school bus could become another victim of the Great Recession in some parts of Washington.

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APNewsBreak: US fines WSU for campus safety

Federal education officials have fined Washington State University $82,500 for violations in 2007 of a campus crime reporting law, including not properly reporting two sexual assaults, the university said Friday.

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Ed. Secy: States to get waivers on No Child tests

The Obama administration effectively gutted the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law Monday, giving states a way out of a decade-long policy that focused on holding schools accountable but labeled many of them failures even if they made progress.

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Study: Healthy eating means spending more at store

A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

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Report: Gates Foundation gave away $2.5B in 2010

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave away $2.5 billion in 2010, but its CEO acknowledged in its annual report released Wednesday that the world's largest charitable group isn't doing a good job making sure recipients know what they're expected to do.

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Girl gets charity wish met after death in crash

Nine-year-old Rachel Beckwith had hoped to raise $300 to bring clean water to an African village. She was close to that goal when she died after a car crash.

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Gates invests more money in innovative medicine

Using microwaves to kill malaria parasites and developing a way to give fetuses immunity to HIV are among the dozen ideas the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation thinks are worth more research dollars, after giving more than 500 scientists seed money to take an initial look at some far-out concepts.

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Baby Einstein creators challenge research anew

Ever since a University of Washington study showed four years ago that watching videos doesn't make infants smarter, the creators of the Baby Einstein series have been battling the school in court and in the media.

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Prison escapee caught after knocking on wrong door

An escaped convict was caught following a day on the loose after he knocked on a cabin door — only to find out the man renting the lodge was an off-duty guard at the prison he just fled.

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Sergeant getting Medal of Honor is a hero's hero

The soldiers who served with the Army sergeant set to receive the Medal of Honor next month because of his actions in Afghanistan say he's a hero who's maintained his sharp wit and plans to "keep rangering.'"

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New round of US grants for education innovation

The federal government is trying to make it easier to apply for one of its grants for innovative ideas to improve education, but with budget cuts there's a lot less money to give away this year.

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New round of US grants for education innovation

The federal government is trying to make it easier to apply for one of its grants for innovative ideas to improve education. But with budget cuts there's a lot less money to give away this year.

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'Avatar' gets top billing at Seattle museum

A music and popular culture museum in Seattle is banking on fans of the Oscar-winning film "Avatar" to take in a new exhibit on how director James Cameron brought Pandora and its inhabitants to the big screen.

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