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A proposed California bill would force SeaWorld San Diego to stop using killer whales in its iconic shows and to release them from their tanks, the latest blowback that the exotic animal attraction has faced after a documentary criticized the marine park’s animal welfare practices. The state Assembly will hold its first committee hearing Tuesday on AB2140 by Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, that is pitting animal welfare activists against a staple of San Diego’s tourism industry. SeaWorld San Diego houses…

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A new report by a nonpartisan public policy group says Americans spent an average of three minutes less standing in line to vote in the 2012 presidential election than they did four years earlier. An exception was Florida, where the wait increased by 16 minutes. The report by Pew Charitable Trusts, released Tuesday, said states generally did a better job of handling elections in 2012 than in 2008. It examined 17 points about election administration, including the percentage of provisional…

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Jeb Bush says he’s all the speculation about whether he’ll run for president in 2016 is actually getting him more attention than if he had already entered the race. The former Republican governor of Florida says that’s not by design, and that he’ll make his decision before year’s end. He tells Fox News Channel that the state of politics is “crazy right now.” Bush says one factor in his decision will be whether he can deliver an optimistic message without…

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The sideline reporter wrapped up her segment during the Final Four game with a hearty: “We bleed blue, and in Ollie we trust!” “We” is not a word heard in nationally televised sports coverage in reference to one side, but the “TeamCasts” that made their debut Saturday wanted fans to feel that the announcers were in their corner. So the UConn-centric version featured Huskies women’s great Swin Cash interviewing ex-men’s players Caron Butler and Jeremy Lamb in a conversation full…

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The invitation to this year’s Final Four seemed to have specific rules: No upstarts or Cinderellas. Big boys only. Yes, we’re well aware that Kentucky was a No. 8 seed and UConn was a 7. But c’mon. These are two power programs with storied histories, each with a championship under their belt within the past four seasons. Following a string of NCAA tournaments with mid-major party crashers, the Final Four is going back to the big time with Florida and…

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The Supreme Court struck down limits Wednesday in federal law on the overall campaign contributions the biggest individual donors may make to candidates, political parties and political action committees. The justices said in a 5-4 vote that Americans have a right to give the legal maximum to candidates for Congress and president, as well as to parties and PACs, without worrying that they will violate the law when they bump up against a limit on all contributions, set at $123,200…

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Mocking his critics, President Barack Obama boasted Tuesday that 7.1 million people have signed up for his health care law, an unexpected comeback after a disastrous rollout sent his poll numbers plummeting and stirred fears among Democrats facing re-election this fall. “The debate over repealing this law is over,” he declared. Despite lingering problems with the website, a late wave of enrollments pushed sign-ups higher than critics and even the White House had believed possible. Still, the administration hasn’t determined…

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