Topic: Bend (Oregon)

Home prices on the rise: why that is good for US economy

Nationwide, home prices rose 3.6 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2011, new data show. The jump points to a broad recovery in the long-sluggish housing market.

Tour de France 101: Americans to watch

Seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong isn't riding this year, but there are plenty of other fast Americans in the race. Here are six of them, with their team affiliations:

Unemployment down? For these five cities, it has gone up.

Unemployment has fallen to 8.8 percent, the lowest rate in two years. In March, the economy added 216,000 new jobs. But the recovery is leaving some US metros behind. Already mired in above-average joblessness, their unemployment rate is now higher than what it was when the recovery began in June 2009. Here’s a look at five of these wrong-direction metros:

American crosses English Channel in chair tied to helium balloons

American Jonathan Trappe set the world record for the first successful cluster balloon flight across the English Channel today.

After US Airways 'miracle on the Hudson,' concern grows about bird strikes

For the first time since records have been kept, the number of instances in which aircraft hit birds or other wildlife could top 10,000 for 2009. Increasingly, pilots worry about 'feathered bullets'.

‘Smart’ cars: How green? How safe?

The tiny cars make sense for the city, critics concur, but they may not be a great bargain.

USA