In the news

Jim Greer, 50, former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, pleaded guilty in Orlando to four counts of theft and a single count of money laundering for funneling about $200,000 from state GOP coffers to a company he set up with his right-hand man.

Bruce Willis, 57, star of the five Die Hard movies, has been awarded the Commander of the Arts in France for his contribution to cinema.

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, is meeting with business leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area in hopes of luring them to Texas, telling the San Jose Mercury News that “12 years ago, California wasn’t looking over its shoulder. They’re not looking over their shoulder now - they’re looking at our backside.”

Vice President Joe Biden said in Philadelphia that there is a real sense of urgency from lawmakers and police about enacting gun control measures, including universal background checks.

Debi Keeney said she shot and wounded an intruder at her sister’s Highland, Ill., apartment because she thought he was going to kill her sister, 47-year-old Donna Carlyle, whom the man had in a choke hold while demanding money.

Eric Shinseki, secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, said the agency has added more than 1,000 mental-health professionals and 200 support staff members over the past eight months to meet the needs of returning veterans but still needs to add more personnel to comply with an executive order issued by President Barack Obama.

Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said President Barack Obama opposes raising the eligibility age for Medicare, an idea he once was willing to consider in 2011 during budget negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner, adding that Obama “has made clear that we don’t believe that that’s the right policy to take.”

Gerald Taylor, 53, who was accused of shooting a TV weather forecaster in the chest with a crossbow, has pleaded guilty in Johnson City, Tenn., to an assault charge.

Scott A. Smith, 38, a North Ridgeville, Ohio, man arrested with a loaded gun, ammunition and knives at an Aug. 4 showing of The Dark Knight Rises, three weeks after the deadly shootings in Aurora, Colo., has pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying a concealed weapon.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/12/2013

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