Christopher Kelly, former chief fundraiser for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has died, according to a statement Saturday from the former governor. "I am deeply saddened to hear that Chris had died," Blagojevich's statement said. Cook County, Illinois, authorities would not immediately comment on the reported death. No other details were immediately available. Blagojevich was in New York and declined to comment further. Earlier this year, Blagojevich, who was impeached and removed from office, pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. ...

Browsing the shelves at some local libraries can seem like an anthropological expedition, a revealing window into how we once lived. Lacking funding to update their collections, library shelves are too often populated with books that are increasingly outdated, irrelevant — or just downright insane. Enter a duo of Detroit-area librarians. Frustrated by aging tomes and seeking a way to enliven an upcoming industry-convention speech, Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner started Awful Library Books, a blog that catalogs the ...

A web designer in London was amazed to discover that Iranian election protesters are attacking the Iranian president's Web site using software he developed in his spare time, he told CNN Wednesday. With anti-government activists in Iran sidestepping official attempts to silence them on the Internet by posting photos, videos and blogs on sites like Facebook and Twitter, others are using a site that automatically refreshes a Web page every few seconds, potentially overloading the host server. The page ...

A police officer was shot to death by another officer as he was chasing a man he saw breaking into his car in New York's East Harlem neighborhood , authorities said. New York Police Department Officer Omar Edwards, 25, was shot twice about 10:30 p.m. Thursday just blocks from the precinct where he had finished his shift. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Harlem Hospital. Edwards, in plainclothes, had just left the Housing Bureau ...

Three Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, police officers were shot to death while responding to a 911 call of a domestic argument triggered by a urinating dog, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. The officers were the first department fatalities since 1995, according to the department. Police said following the shootings Saturday that Richard Poplawski, 22, would be charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault and other charges. Poplawski, who was shot in the leg during a four-hour standoff ...

As President Barack Obama prepares to green-light a plan to withdraw most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 18 months, he'll face skepticism from some military commanders who fear the withdrawal may be too hasty to maintain the country's recent security gains. But the President ought to be reassured by the assessment of Marine Major General John Kelly, who just completed a 13-month tour as the top U.S. commander in Anbar province. Late in the summer of ...