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Fox News reports days after Colorado became the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, police in a town just north of Denver are investigating how a toddler was hospitalized after ingesting the drug.


CBS4 reports Aida Hernandez – the 2-year-old girl’s mother -- doesn’t know how her daughter, Evelyn, encountered marijuana, but suspects a cookie she found outside their apartment is to blame.

“It was brown, like a chocolate chip cookie,” Hernandez reportedly said, adding Evelyn nibbled on it.

The mother reportedly said that a half-hour after she discovered her daughter had eaten part of the cookie, “She was asleep, she was opening and closing her eyes and couldn’t walk really well. She was weak.”

At the hospital, the little girl tested positive for THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana. “They do a blood test and that’s when they told me. That was a surprise,” Hernandez told CBS4. “It’s everywhere now that it’s legal. They have it everywhere.”

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ABC 15reports Steven Seagal is making headlines once again.

The flamboyant actor and martial arts expert tells ABC15 he’s considering a run for the Arizona governor’s office.

Seagal says he’s had discussions with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio about the prospective bid, but has other priorities to consider.

The 61-year-old Seagal made the comments while talking about his newly released reality series “Steven Seagal - Lawman: Maricopa County" (The Lost Episodes.)

According to Seagal, the number one problem facing the U.S. is its open borders.

He also came to the defense of Sheriff Arpaio, as well as discussed the prospect of extending amnesty to undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

The Hill reports Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) remains open to an extension of emergency unemployment benefits even in the face of growing conservative opposition to such a move.


The Ohio Republican maintains the position he expressed last month that Republicans would “clearly consider” an extension of federal help for the long-term unemployed “as long as it’s paid for and as long as there are other efforts that will help get our economy moving once again,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said Friday.

At the same time, a number of Republicans – including leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee – continue to question the need to extend the unemployment insurance (UI) benefits at all.

“Despite a dozen extensions, academic research suggests the program has actually hurt, rather than helped, the job creation that the unemployed need most,” Michelle Dimarob, spokesperson for Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), said Friday in a statement.  

“It is time to focus on policies that will actually lead to real economic opportunities for families who are trying to get back on their feet and back into the workplace.”

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Washington Post reports Mitt Romney on Sunday accepted an apology from MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, who alongside her guests had cracked on-air jokes recently about a family photo featuring Romney's adopted African American grandson, Kieran.


"I think her apology was clearly heartfelt, and we accept that," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday."

Romney's son Ben and his wife, Andelyne, adoptedKieran last fall. The baby appeared in a family photo that Harris-Perry and her guests joked about late last year. Harris-Perry apologized -- first on Twitter and later in anemotional segment on her show Saturday.
No hard feelings, said the 2012 Republican presidential contender.

"I recognize that people make mistakes," Romney said. "And the folks at MSNBC made a big mistake. And they've apologized for it. And that's all you can ask for. I am going to move on from that. I'm sure they want to move on from it."

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No way could I have accepted her apology without taking a shot back at Perry. Romney proved he’s a better man than me and I admire him for it.

The following chart shows goods-producing employment divided by service-providing employment.


Click to enlarge.

Poof.

Let's look at the bigger picture and see where we are.


Click to enlarge.

If transitioning from a goods-producing economy to a service-providing economy is such a good thing, then why does the bulk of the transitioning happen during recessions?

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart #1
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart #2

Fox News reports Capitol Hill Republicans are not surprised by a new study that suggests more people will make emergency room visits under ObamaCare, not fewer as President Obama and other supporters of the law argue.


The Harvard University study recently published in the journal Science shows that emergency room visits increased by 40 percent for those who received Medicaid when Oregon expanded the program in 2008.

“While these higher costs don’t come as a surprise to many, it has left us wondering why do Democrats call it the Affordable Care Act if the law doesn’t lower the cost of heath care,” said Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Roughly 2.1 million Americans have enrolled in ObamaCare since signups started in October, as the administration aims to eventually get health insurance to about 25 million Americans by 2016. And roughly half of those will be covered through Medicaid expansion.

The president has touted his signature law since introducing it in 2007 as a means of saving Americans money.

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