In 2008, Richard Bennett had been out of the Marines for nearly three years after being injured in Iraq. That's when he caught the attention of Craig Williams, who was looking for a partner to help expand his successful construction business in Norristown, Pa.
"I had developed a pretty solid construction company, and I wanted a partner," says Williams, 44. "As an African-American businessman, I wanted a young African-American soldier coming home. It seemed like a great opportunity to provide an opportunity."
For 35 years, Willis Welch received a pecan pie every Christmas. From whom? He has no idea. Now the Columbus Dispatch reports the sweet streak is ending. This Christmas, the last pie came with a note explaining "I am a little too fat to fly anymore." Signed, "Pie Fairy."
The Green Bay Packers are favored to repeat as Super Bowl champions, according to oddsmakers in Las Vegas. The Denver Broncos are not favorites. Quarterback Tim Tebow's team managed one close victory after another this season. But the odds are 120-1 against Denver winning it all.
President Obama used a recess appointment to name Richard Cordray head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Wednesday. Unlike similar appointments, the Senate hadn't technically recessed.
President Obama campaigned outside Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday, where he announced the appointment of a new consumer watchdog. The president used a recess appointment to install Richard Cordray. That might have been routine, but the Senate is not officially in recess.
Residents of Wichita, Kansas, are outraged after Boeing announced Wednesday that it will close a massive defense plant there. More than 2,000 highly skilled jobs will be gone by the end of next year. The announcement sparked considerable frustration among elected officials who had been lead to believe that more Boeing jobs were on the way to Wichita.
Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour performs at a concert in November in Tunisia paying tribute to Tunisian youth and the revolution that inspired the Arab Spring. The popular international celebrity has announced plans to stand in his country's presidential election in February.
Credit Dai Kurokawa / AFP/Getty Images
N'Dour, who was serving as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador at the time, visits a food distribution center at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya last fall.
Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour made his name in music, and now he wants to be president of his homeland.
N'Dour gained an international audience in 1994 with his hit song "Seven Seconds," with Neneh Cherry. He went on to earn a Grammy in 2004 for the album Egypt, becoming one of Africa's most influential and popular singers.
Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum finished virtually even in Iowa's caucuses Tuesday, but after Rep. Michele Bachmann's sixth-place finish, she announced Wednesday that she is suspending her campaign. For more on the GOP race and the next contest — Tuesday's New Hampshire primary — Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Brian Naylor, who's in the city of Manchester.
