Usa Today

They don't make many power couples like this: He's a self-proclaimed whistle blower, the focus of international headlines and Obama administration ire. She describes herself as a "world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero. " Edward Snowden and Lindsay Mills lived in a modest blue clapboard house with white trim here in a Honolulu suburb until about six weeks ago. Their former neighbors described them as quiet and private. On Sunday, Snowden announced that he was responsible for leaking secrets about America's telephone and Internet surveillance pograms to the media, reviving a global debate about Big Brother-style government surveillance of private citizens.

On March 4, agent Joe Linta and the Ravens finalized a six-year, $120.6 million contract extension for Joe Flacco , making the quarterback the highest paid player in the history of the NFL. Nearly three months later, Linta is still taking his victory lap.   The agent told USA Today that the extension talks broke down last August because of a disagreement on $1 million in non-guaranteed base salary in the final year of...

Michael Phelps is playing some serious poker in the Bahamas with the likes of Jason Alexander. But cards, shmards. At least one reporter is more interested in nominating the swimmer/golfer/card shark/retiree for the next episode of "What Not to Wear. " Chris Chase of USA Today offered quite the post-game analysis of Phelps' wardrobe  in a Thursday blog post: "Let's analyze the look Phelps is sporting in the Caribbean," he writes. "It's a style that screams, 'I'm retired and the only time I'm setting foot in a pool is if there's a swim-up bar attached to it.'" It actually also seems to scream, "I'm comfortable and wearing a lot of stuff I probably got for free.

I was kidding when I said that Lance Armstrong ought to pay me back for wasting time and money on his book "It's Not About the Bike. " But others who have taken offense at Armstrong's years of lies about using performance enhancing drugs have taken the issue a step further. USA Today reports that two readers of Armstrong's book have sued him and his publishers, claiming the book is a fraud based on lies and false advertising. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in California seeks class-action status on behalf of other readers and asks for refunds and other costs.  "Defendants knew or should have known these books were works of fiction," the suit states, according to USA Today.

Harry Blauvelt had just dropped off his beloved yellow lab, Elvis, at doggy day care Monday and was returning home to Kent Island when his car became disabled on the Bay Bridge. The retired USA Today golf writer, who chronicled the rise of Tiger Woods during a long career in sports journalism, had stepped out of his 2001 Honda Accord when, police said, a 2003 International truck slammed into the vehicle and pushed it into Blauvelt. The 70-year-old Chester resident was flung from the bridge's eastbound span into the water more than 50 feet below.

A pair of SEC rivals took the top two spots in USA Today's preseason college football coaches poll, which was released today. LSU is No. 1 with 18 first-place votes, while Alabama check in at No. 2. The Crimson Tide earned 20 first-place votes - the most of any team. It's the first time since 1991 that the first-place team did not receive the most first-place votes. The last time was in 1999 with Florida State and Tennessee. The Seminoles went on to win the national championship.

The top editor of USA Today said yesterday that the national newspaper will investigate any new, specific challenges to the reporting of disgraced former correspondent Jack Kelley. Its own inquiry into the veracity of several of his articles was shut down when Kelley was forced to resign last week after having acknowledged deceiving editors. "We'll look into any specific allegations that arise," USA Today Editor Karen Jurgensen said yesterday in an interview. "We have to let the situation play out. This was a very painful situation for our staff."

The editor and publisher of USA Today announced yesterday that the national newspaper would launch an independent review of all the articles written by former star foreign correspondent Jack Kelley. The review will extend to "all related matters that the committee conducting the examination may choose to explore," editor Karen Jurgensen and publisher Craig Moon said in a written statement. Kelley was forced to resign earlier this month after editors confronted him with evidence of his efforts to deceive them during an earlier, aborted inquiry into several of his articles.

Jack Kelley, one of USA Today's most prominent correspondents, has resigned from the newspaper in the wake of an internal inquiry into allegations that some of his reporting had been fabricated. None of his articles has been publicly retracted. And the newspaper says that Kelley's resignation earlier this week has settled the matter. "Based on what we know now, we're done with the investigation," said editor Karen Jurgensen. Asked if she were confident that Kelley's reporting was accurate, she replied, "We're not in a position of correcting anything at this time."

The top editor of USA Today announced her early and immediate retirement yesterday, days before the expected public release of a critical report detailing how the paper's former foreign correspondent Jack Kelley was able to deceive editors and readers in print for years. In an e-mail to USA Today's staffers, Editor Karen Jurgensen, 55, said she regretted not identifying problems with Kelley's reporting earlier. "Like all of us who worked with Jack Kelley, I wish we had caught him far sooner than we did," Jurgensen wrote.

Michael Phelps is playing some serious poker in the Bahamas with the likes of Jason Alexander. But cards, shmards. At least one reporter is more interested in nominating the swimmer/golfer/card shark/retiree for the next episode of "What Not to Wear. " Chris Chase of USA Today offered quite the post-game analysis of Phelps' wardrobe  in a Thursday blog post: "Let's analyze the look Phelps is sporting in the Caribbean," he writes. "It's a style that screams, 'I'm retired and the only time I'm setting foot in a pool is if there's a swim-up bar attached to it.'" It actually also seems to scream, "I'm comfortable and wearing a lot of stuff I probably got for free.

Gilman defensive tackle Henry Poggi is one of only 24 high school players nationwide to be named Thursday to USA Today's All-USA Football Team . Poggi, one of The Baltimore Sun's Co-Defensive Players of the Year, was the most schemed against player his father Biff Poggi had ever coached in the elder Poggi's 16 seasons as Greyhounds coach. Henry Poggi drew at least double-team coverage in every game as the No. 1 Greyhounds went 9-2 and won their second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.

A pair of SEC rivals took the top two spots in USA Today's preseason college football coaches poll, which was released today. LSU is No. 1 with 18 first-place votes, while Alabama check in at No. 2. The Crimson Tide earned 20 first-place votes - the most of any team. It's the first time since 1991 that the first-place team did not receive the most first-place votes. The last time was in 1999 with Florida State and Tennessee. The Seminoles went on to win the national championship.

As the Miami Heat prepare for the NBA finals, star LeBron James has been turning to books to relax. USA Today reports that he has finished "The Hunger Games" trilogy and is now reading "Decoded" by singer Jay-Z. Since the playoffs started (it seems like months ago), he also has " West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life,"   "The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream" and "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.

The weather map was first published in an American newspaper on May 12, 1876, at the International Exposition at Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Weather Bureau. The New York Herald was working with the Weather Bureau, which telegraphed data to make a demonstration map. The weather map didn't begin to appear regularly in a newspaper until May 9, 1879, in the New York Daily Graphic. USA Today first published on Sept. 15, 1982, and revolutionized the weather map with color and more data, causing the newspaper industry to change and update.

The most important six hours of recent American history will start to unfold on Monday. That day, the Supreme Court begins three days of oral argument on the legal challenge to President Barack Obama's health care reform law ("Obamacare"). The Court's decision will have a profound impact on the quality of American health care. The political repercussions will be equally strong: The decision will either reinvigorate an Obama campaign looking to make good on its signature legislative initiative or fuel a united Republican counterattack along the lines of, "We told you so. " Casual observers may not realize there are 26 states and one business organization (The National Federation of Independent Business)

Kenneth A. Paulson, a former newspaper editor, lawyer and free speech advocate, has been picked to lead USA Today in the wake of the worst scandal in the newspaper's nearly 22-year-history. In an interview, USA Today publisher and President Craig Moon said Paulson's appointment as editor would help the newspaper "continue to build the brand online and in print," and that he would mend the newsroom culture to ensure the "accountability" of the newspaper's reporting. Major changes were not needed, Moon said.

Arthur Ashe is an instantly recognized public figure, and word that a public figure has a fatal illness is news, said Gene Policinski, managing editor/sports for USA Today."

The No. 5 boys basketball team in the Baltimore metropolitan area, John Carroll, ran into the No. 5 team in the country as ranked by USA Today, St. Benedict's Preparatory School (New Jersey) in the opening round of the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament Thursday at Frostburg State. The Patriots (28-8) hung with the Gray Bees (32-1) for a while, but got outrebounded and outscored on the foul line, losing, 69-65. St. Benedict's outrebounded John Carroll 32-16 and made five more free throws, 18 of 32 to 13 of 21. The Gray Bees used their size to force John Carroll outside in the half-court.

Built in part on the premise that even some of the smartest and most savvy news consumers sometimes feel themselves drowning in a sea of information online, the Daily Download aims to be an island of orientation. The online site that debuted last week is part of an important movement among educators and journalists to help citizens find their way online and in social media to the kind of data, context and analysis needed to make informed choices about their lives. The idea is that such sites are crucial to the future of democracy.