SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's legislature passed a bill on Thursday night aimed at increasing competition among cable television providers and easing the ability of telephone companies to enter the market.

AP - Ernesto weakened to a tropical depression Friday, but the storm still packed enough punch to dump more than half a foot of rain, knock out power to more than 300,000 customers and force hundreds of people from their homes.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Public employees who work for New York State or its local governments earn more each year than their private sector peers in 51 of the state's 62 counties, according to a study released on Sunday.

AP - A string of wildfires that scorched hundreds of square miles of prime habitat has prompted an emergency antelope hunt and relocation of unprecedented scope in Nevada, state officials said.

AP - Former Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode and the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl are among the inaugural winners of $100,000 prizes being awarded Tuesday to Americans over 60 who devised innovative ways to address tough social problems.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA postponed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on Wednesday due to a technical problem with the spacecraft's onboard power supply, a NASA official said.

AP - A former nuclear materials courier with top secret clearance was indicted Wednesday on charges that he used his position to obtain restricted items and sell them over the Internet.

AP - A national command team and three of the top firefighting teams in the country joined the battle Thursday against wildfires that have blackened nearly 375 square miles of rangeland that have threatened ranches, mines and wildlife habitat.

AP - Federal officials on Friday were tracking 60 large, active fires that were burning more than 1 million acres, or more than 1,500 square miles, across the West.

AP - Fires were set in trash bins and couches left outdoors were set ablaze near Ohio State University's campus following the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes' 24-7 win over No. 2 Texas on Saturday night.

AP - Fashionistas who want the latest in couture can go to Paris or Milan, but for real cow-ture, the place to be is Chicago.

AP - Former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, who has remained publicly silent since resigning from office two years ago after announcing he was gay, is set to tell his story on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.'

AP - Firefighters cut trees and vegetation Tuesday to try slowing the growth of an 11-square-mile wildfire that has chased summer tourists from this rural, mountainous region.

AP - To inspire a new generation of peace activists, educators are turning to such figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Costa Rica President Oscar Arias and the Dalai Lama.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Helene strengthened as it churned westward across the Atlantic on Thursday, while Hurricane Gordon remained a powerful Category 3 storm, but neither posed any immediate threat to land.

AP - The British are coming, the British are coming — to a new school in Manhattan. About 50 grade-school students arrived this week for classes at the British International School of New York, the city's only school centered on Britain's national curriculum.

AP - Federal and state officials have agreed to rent half of the Freedom Tower when it opens in about five years at the World Trade Center site — sealing one part of an elaborate deal that would, if finalized, divide control of what to build there.

AP - Patricia Kennedy Lawford, the sister of President John F. Kennedy and wife of actor Peter Lawford, died at her New York home of complications of pneumonia on Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. She was 82.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Twenty-five people who turned their outside-the-box intellects loose on subjects as disparate as the jazz violin and stem cell research were named on Tuesday as winners of $500,000 unrestricted 'genius grants.'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Elizabeth Taylor has signed a deal to give Christie's exclusive rights to handle future sales of her jewelry, art work, memorabilia, clothing and other personal possessions, the auction house said on Wednesday.

AP - Firefighters, worried about the possible return of hot, dry Santa Ana winds, fought three separate wildfires Wednesday that crept through national forests and toward towns.

AP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited a Harlem church Thursday and promised to more than double the amount of discounted heating oil his country ships to needy Americans. He also took another swipe at President Bush.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has been charged with a doping offense by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) which he will contest, his attorney said on Friday.

AP - High winds, heavy rain and tornadoes pounded parts of the Midwest and the South, leaving at least nine people dead, stranding people in cars, forcing others from their homes and leaving thousands without power.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is convinced that anthrax mailed to the U.S. Senate five years ago was not weapons-grade level and authorities have widened their investigation, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters Life!) - U.S. researchers said on Tuesday they are starting trials of a new vaccine aimed at wiping out childhood ear and sinus infections and many cases of bronchitis in adults.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was served tea and Twinkies as the first head of state to appear on 'The Daily Show,' a hit U.S. political satire show.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Parents of kids on prescription drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are 10 times more likely to be on such a medication themselves, according to an analysis of U.S. prescription use released on Thursday.

AP - Firefighters battling a massive Southern California wildfire for nearly a month made considerable gains Thursday thanks to favorable winds, and officials project to have the blaze contained by early next week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most forms of Internet gambling would be banned under a bill that received final U.S. congressional approval early Saturday.