Author Carol Gorman stopped by Hayden Auditorium on Monday night to speak to an intimate group of students, faculty and fans. Gorman, a former middle school teacher, is the author of the popular "Dork" series of books aimed at young adults, which includes the award-winning "Dork in Disguise" and "A Midsummer Night's Dork.… Post the First Comment

The McLean County Branch of the Arthritis Foundation will be holding their 18th annual Jingle Bell Run/Walk on Sunday, Nov. 12. The starting time for the event is at 1 p.m. and generally lasts until around 2:30-3 p.m. The event raises money for the Arthritis Foundation.… Post the First Comment

Illinois State University is making several capital support requests for the fiscal year 2008 to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Many of the requests are for funding to renovate multiple buildings on-campus. "These projects were chosen by groups of individuals on-campus that are part of the Capital Planning and Budgeting Committee because they have the highest priority for our academic programs," Stephen Bragg, the vice president of finance and planning for the facilities planning committee, said.… Post the First Comment

Want to get away and help someone in the process? Join the Alternative Spring Break. "Alternative Spring Break is where students take their spring breaks and go on volunteer trips throughout the United States that address social issues," Jordan Broderick, a sophomore public relations major and public relations chair for ASB, said.… Post the First Comment

James Koch, professor of economics and president emeritus at Old Dominion University came to ISU Monday night to deliver a lecture entitled "The Influence of Religion, Moral Values and 'Gay Marriage' Votes on the 2004 Presidential Election." One of the points of Koch's lecture was how post-election surveys cannot be trusted for accurate results on who will end up winning a presidential election.… Post the First Comment

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Just a few weeks ago, the bickering leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan promised to set aside their differences and swore to fight the "common enemy" of terrorism. Then they both went to Washington and gave a show of unity at the White House.… Post the First Comment

LONDON (AP) - Madonna said Tuesday she had acted according to the law in taking custody of a 1-year-old Malawian boy, responding for the first time to the fierce debate about the legality and morality of the planned adoption. The pop star's statement came after she was united with David Banda at her London mansion.… Post the First Comment

ROME (AP) - A subway train plowed into another that was stopped in a central Rome station during rush hour Tuesday morning, killing one person and injuring more than 100 as passengers screamed and ran for the exits. Some witnesses said the driver of the moving train appeared to have run a red light.… Post the First Comment

NEW YORK (AP) - The rapper Fabolous was shot early Tuesday as he stood at a Manhattan parking garage, spurring a sequence of events that left him hospitalized and then under arrest. The 28-year-old rapper, whose legal name is John Jackson, had just left Justin's, a restaurant owned by Sean "Diddy" Combs, with three friends when a gunman approached and opened fire, police spokesman Sgt.… Post the First Comment

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's conservative-led government easily survived a parliamentary vote Tuesday that could have led to early elections amid weeks of political crisis and dwindling popular support for him. The pro-market opposition Civic Platform, which has opened a double-digit lead in recent polls over Kaczynski's Law and Justice Party, tabled the motion that would have led to a dissolution of parliament and new elections, balloting that could have led to Kaczynski's loss of power.… Post the First Comment

CHICAGO (AP) - Three suburban Cicero police officers were arrested Tuesday as federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging them with beating motorists and others and falsifying testimony against the victims. James DiSantis, 41, of Riverside, William Peslak, 35, of Downers Grove and Joseph DeKiel, 37, of Palos Park were being held in custody pending a hearing Friday at which prosecutors plan to oppose their release on bond.… Post the First Comment

HOUSTON (AP) - The unrelenting rain that flooded southeast Texas, killing four motorists and sweeping two children down a drainage ditch, moved through Tennessee on Tuesday and headed for the East Coast. Rain and wind up to 90 mph ripped through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina line, where a 6-year-old boy was injured when a tree fell on his family's camper, park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.… Post the First Comment

CHICAGO (AP) - An attorney seeking clemency for a woman who admitted killing her two infant daughters tried to persuade the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on Tuesday that she suffered from postpartum psychosis and is no longer a danger. Paula Sims, 47, is serving a life sentence for the 1989 death in Alton of her 6-week-old daughter, Heather.… Post the First Comment