The last weeks of Kurt Cobain's life were filled with turmoil and anguish -- and gossip. Rumors floated through the music industry that the singer- songwriter's band, Nirvana, was breaking up; that Cobain, who had survived a tranquilizer-induced coma just six weeks earlier, had suffered another overdose. The stories seemed to be justified when the group unexpectedly backed out of headlining the Lollapalooza tour this summer. The truth, it turns out, was that Cobain, who claimed to have overcome an ...

The doctors who agreed to an experimental treatment for a severely disabled girl thought there were clear medical benefits to keeping her small. Autopsy the doctors' argument, and you find that they concluded they could remove Ashley's uterus and breast buds because she'd be better off without them; they could keep her short because, since she'll never have a job or a romance, she'd not suffer the social consequences of smallness. "To those who say she ...

Charlie Lamb was barely 2 years old when he was diagnosed with autism. His mother Susan had been convinced for months that "something was not right" with her second child. He wouldn't stand in line like the other kids in gymnastics class, she recalls, and he spoke fewer words. He was more captivated by spinning wheels than Teletubbies. His father Tom noticed that his blond, blue-eyed son would always walk in circles around the kitchen table and that he ...

Amanda Knox's parents are hopeful that an Italian court's decision not to re-evaluate the evidence against their daughter means she will be found not guilty of killing her roommate. "We asked for the independent review because we were sure that anybody [who] independently looked at it would support our position," Edda Mellas, Knox's mother, told CNN's Larry King in an interview to air Friday night. "Now, maybe the court decided that they don't even need that support. That our ...

Two U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were killed by a homemade bomb while supporting anti-terror operations on an island in the southern Philippines, Army officials said Thursday. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Shaw, 37, and Staff Sgt. Jack M. Martin III, 26, died after a bomb exploded Tuesday near their Humvee on the island of Jolo, said Lt. Col. David King. Both soldiers were based at Fort Lewis, about 40 miles south of Seattle. King said the soldiers were working ...

Months before flood season begins in western Washington, government officials have already declared a state of emergency and, even as they worry about the viability of a pivotal dam, have encouraged residents to buy flood insurance immediately. When the Howard Hanson Dam was first built on the Green River in western Washington in 1962, the concrete behemoth was hailed as the new protector of the valley below. Until that point, the Green River Valley was regularly inundated during ...

Five hundred days of summer -- plus one day of marriage. Zooey Deschanel, 29, and Death Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard, 33, tied the knot Saturday night near Seattle, her rep told PEOPLE. The couple got engaged last year when Gibbard presented Deschanel with a three-carat diamond and platinum Neil Lane ring, a source told PEOPLE at the time. Deschanel currently stars in "(500) Days of Summer." Gibbard also is in the indie band ...

Got the rain jackets? So what if it rains a lot in Seattle. As long as you've got good rain gear, you won't care, especially when there's so much to do and see. Where else can you take the kids to see guys throwing raw fish, introduce them to ferries (yes, parents commute to work via ferry) take a turn on a sailboat, learn all about rock music, science fiction and the creatures who inhabit the sea in ...

A weeklong blaze that has charred more than 84,000 acres in southern California was started by a cooking fire in a drug trafficking operation, investigators said. The former England captain was given a straight red card for a tackle on Sounders midfielder Peter Vagenas in the 17th minute. Beckham was booed off the field but he insists there was no maliciousness involved. "Pete is one of my best friends," Beckham told Galaxy's official Web site. "I think ...