USA

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona confronted former Rep. Mark Foley (R) of Florida in 2000 about sexually charged e-mails Foley sent to teenage congressional pages, The Washington Post reported Monday. This is five years earlier than lawmakers have previously said they knew of the communications that led Foley to resign.

Nunes Co. Inc., a California lettuce grower, said it was "being extra careful" in recalling some of its Foxy-brand produce over concerns about E. coli contamination. Company investigators have not found E. coli bacteria in the lettuce, grown in the same region as recalled spinach, but the lettuce may have been irrigated with contaminated water.

The rapid drop in retail gasoline prices continued during the past two weeks, with the cost of a gallon of self-serve regular falling 15 cents to $2.28 a gallon, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 filling stations.

A student in Joplin, Mo., fired a gun inside Memorial Middle School just before the start of classes Monday but didn't hit anyone. A school employee coaxed the shooter, whose identity was not released, into leaving the building, whereupon police quickly apprehended the person.

Columbia University professor Edmund Phelps was named the 2006 Nobel prize winner in economics Monday for his work in advancing the understanding of the trade-offs between inflation and unemployment. Americans have won all six Nobel prizes awarded so far this year, with only two left – in literature and peace – to be awarded later this week by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm.

Baseball's American League Championship Series begins Tuesday night, with the Oakland A's hosting the Detroit Tigers, who upset the Yankees in the first round, in a best-of-seven playoff. On Wednesday, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals square off in the National League for a World Series berth.