To complete the Daily Vidette Best of Survey click the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=98613565499… Post the First Comment

Spring is a time of new beginnings. Flowers bloom, the grass turns green and the warm weather finally overpowers the winter chill. However, for allergy sufferers, springtime can be miserable. "The season change is a big factor that affects allergies. In the spring, allergies are affected by the grass growing and trees budding.… Post the First Comment

At 1:43 a.m. Friday morning there was a fire in the Dunn-Barton residence hall, causing residents to evacuate for two hours. A resident using the microwave started the fire by using non-microwavable plastic while cooking. According to Ed Collins, Normal Fire Department shift commander, the fire staff was there for only 10 minutes before leaving the scene.… Post the First Comment

Plans are in the process of being finalized for the construction of the Uptown Normal Multimodal Transportation Center, which is slated to begin in the spring of 2008. The transportation hub will house such services as Amtrak trains, Amtrak High Speed Rail (HSR), interstate and regional buses, airport shuttles, the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System buses and taxis, as well as bicycles.… Post the First Comment

The U.S. Department of State has set a new record of passport production. In the week ending March 22, 379,000 passports were issued, on top of the 321,000 passports issued the previous week, according to Steve Royster, spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs of U.… Post the First Comment

WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) - Shattering previous records, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton collected $26 million for her presidential campaign during the first three months of the year and transferred an additional $10 million from her Senate fundraising account, aides said Sunday.… Post the First Comment

While drugs may not be the best thing to use, their criminalization is causing more harm, according to a panel that discussed the issue at ISU. At a presentation last Thursday entitled "Prohibition Kills - An Evaluation on the War on Drugs," a panel of people active in the war on drugs spoke on the current war and the lack of progress it has made.… Post the First Comment

Thursday night, Mohamed Nur-Awaleh, an associate professor in the department of educational administration and foundations, discussed the origins of the current civil unrest in Somalia at the Global Review. Nur-Awaleh's presentation, attended by many students and faculty members, was titled "Somalia: Caught Between the War on Terrorism, Ethiopian Invasion, Warlords and Islamists.… Post the First Comment

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) - Two hundred horses are likely on their way to Canadian slaughterhouses now that a court ruling has indefinitely shut down the last three horse slaughterhouses in the United States, including one in DeKalb, a state official said. A federal appeals court's decision Wednesday to block the Agriculture Department from providing horse meat inspections for a fee effectively shut down operations at Cavel International Inc.… 3 Comments

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This year, for the first time, the YWCA of McLean County and the Student Volunteer Center have teamed up to put teal ribbons on the Quad, to make people aware of the month. "The YWCA, every year for the last five years, has put these teal ribbons in front of the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington," Sabrina Stout, community issue director for SVC and a sophomore finance major, said.… Post the First Comment

CHICAGO (AP) - The names of people infected with HIV will be tracked in all 50 states by the end of 2007, marking a victory for federal health officials and a quiet defeat for AIDS advocates who wanted to keep patients' names out of state databases. Vermont, Maryland and Hawaii, the last states not tracking the names of HIV-positive people, are quickly moving toward adopting names-based surveillance.… Post the First Comment

TEHRAN (AP) - Iran's Arabic-language channel said Sunday it planned to air "confessions" from two of the 15 British sailors seized by Iran 10 days ago, as the British government said it was in direct contact with Iran over the captive crew. In Tehran, about 200 Iranian youths threw rocks and firecrackers at the British Embassy in a protest on Sunday, calling for the expulsion of the country's ambassador because of the standoff.… Post the First Comment

JERUSALEM (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will tell Syrian leaders when she visits Damascus this week on a trip criticized by the Bush administration that Israel will only engage in peace talks if Syria stops supporting Palestinian militants, Israel said Sunday.… Post the First Comment

HESPERIA, Calif. (AP) - A small brushfire erupted into a blaze that burned 1,400 acres, prompting the evacuation of 200 homes for several hours, fire officials said. Authorities in this high desert city east of Los Angeles ordered mandatory evacuations Saturday while the fire grew in the early evening.… Post the First Comment

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Pet owners are not likely to get much compensation if they individually sue pet food-maker Menu Foods over the death of a dog or cat, although they might fare better if they joined forces in a class action suit, legal experts say. Most state laws consider animals, even beloved pets, to be only personal property.… Post the First Comment