More top CIA officials reportedly departing

WASHINGTON -- The chiefs of the CIA's Europe and Far East divisions are retiring, according to a federal official, marking the latest high-level departures at the spy agency since Porter Goss took over as director at the end of September. The names of the officials will not be released because they work undercover. The two CIA officials were in the highest echelon of clandestine service, the directorate of operations, The New York Times reported in Thursday's editions. The federal official confirmed the departures, on condition of anonymity. The retirements come just 10 days after two other top officials -- deputy director for operations Stephen Kappes and his immediate deputy, Michael Sulick -- told colleagues they were leaving the CIA.

Pennsylvania Turnpike strike enters second day

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Turnpike managers began collecting tolls early Thanksgiving Day as the first strike in the turnpike's 64-year history entered its second day. The managers had anticipated a walkout by about 2,000 collectors, maintenance workers and office employees so they waived tolls all day Wednesday. The waiver was expected to be cost an estimated $1.7 million to $2 million in lost revenue. Just after midnight, nearly 400 managers began collecting $2 per car and $15 per commercial vehicle. Normally, the toll varies by distance, but the flat rate -- based on the average tolls -- was charged to prevent backups at the toll plazas.

Washington state faces another election recount

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- For Dino Rossi, a 42-vote lead was enough to declare victory in the Washington governor's race. Christine Gregoire, however, begged to differ. And so, with a slim margin and a candidate unwilling to concede Wednesday, the state probably has another recount -- a third -- to look forward to. Rossi, a self-made real estate millionaire and former state Senate budget chairman, was the underdog throughout the campaign but emerged with a 261-vote lead after the initial vote tally ended last week. The margin was so tiny that it triggered the automatic recount. The recount that wrapped up Wednesday was done by machine. The campaigns or their parties can now request a hand recount in some or all the counties, but they have to pay for it.

Appeals court asked to uphold Stewart conviction

NEW YORK -- The government urged a federal appeals court to uphold the conviction of Martha Stewart, arguing that "overwhelming evidence" supported the guilty verdict against the celebrity homemaker. Stewart, serving a five-month sentence at a West Virginia prison, had argued to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prosecutors improperly suggested at her trial that she was charged with insider trading. She was charged with lying about why she sold ImClone Systems Inc. stock in 2001. Federal prosecutors, in a 220-page brief filed Wednesday evening with the appeals court, said they did not mislead the jury on the issue.

Big game hunters off the hook for bison crash

WASHINGTON -- Big game hunters may be off the hook in the latest twist of a prehistoric whodunit that tries to explain why bison populations sharply crashed thousands of years ago. Proponents of the overkill theory blamed the first Americans to cross an ice-free corridor -- connecting what's now Alaska and Siberia -- for hunting bison within a whisper of disappearance. Those super hunters are also faulted for pushing massive mammals, like woolly mammoths, short-faced bears and North American lions into extinction. A team of 27 scientists used ancient DNA to track the hulking herbivore's boom-and-bust population patterns, adding to growing evidence that climate change was to blame.

Study: Cicada carcasses boost soil nutrients

Even in death, the 17-year cicadas made their mark. Their decaying carcasses gave a super-size boost in nutrients to forest soil and stimulated seed and nitrogen production in a plant important to the forest ecosystem, researchers reported in today's issue of the journal Science. The findings might explain why tree growth increases for several years after a major cicada emergence, experts said.

-- From wire reports