The 110th Congress convened Thursday with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1994. "Today we make history. Today we change the direction of our country," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was elected the first woman speaker in history. With her grandchildren joining her for the historic moment, Pelosi beamed as her name was placed in nomination and the party-line roll call commenced. House Democrats were ready Thursday to impose a ban on gifts from lobbyists and a clampdown on travel funded by private interests -- measures crafted in response to the ethics scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections.
The first day of 2007 brought a pay raise for hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage workers around the United States. Seven states -- Arizona, California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania -- raised their minimum wages Jan. 1 above the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. A total of 18 states raised their minimum wages by some amount on New Year's Day. The new wages go as high as $7.50.
A proposed constitutional amendment to halt gay marriage is a step closer to making the 2008 Massachusetts ballot. But the governor-elect said Wednesday the fight to preserve the state's unique same-sex marriage rights will continue. Lawmakers voted Tuesday to advance the proposed amendment, which would define marriage as the union between a man and woman. About 8,000 same-sex couples have wed in Massachusetts since the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2003 that the state Constitution guarantees gays the right to marry. A few other states offer civil unions with similar rights for gay couples, but only Massachusetts allows gay marriage.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has retained its title for the second year in a row as the nation's busiest in terms of flights, according to Federal Aviation Administration data released Thursday. The Atlanta airport logged 976,307 flights in 2006, down 0.4 percent from its 980,386 flights in 2005. Flights include takeoffs and landings. Chicago O'Hare International Airport was listed second busiest, with 958,643 flights in 2006, down 1.4 percent from 972,246 in 2005. Atlanta and Chicago have run neck and neck in recent years to claim the title of the nation's -- and therefore the world's -- busiest airport.
