Morning folks...

It's April fool's day...but have no fear, there are no jokes being played on you here. Sooo grab your coffee and let's get this headline party started....

Top Stories
Midwest storms...
A strong storm system rolled across the nation's midsection on Monday with tornadoes and high winds that smashed several buildings, while snow was blamed for a massive traffic pileup that killed one person.

Pelosi calls to boycott Olympic games...
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Bush should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympics Games in Beijing this summer to protest China's human rights record

Iraq casualties hit all time high since 2007...
Violent civilian deaths in Iraq climbed to their highest level since mid-2007, Iraqi government figures showed on Tuesday, due to a spike in violence between Iraq security forces and Mehdi Army militia fighters.

The family the spawned 9/11...
Steve Coll’s riveting new book not only gives us the most psychologically detailed portrait of the brutal 9/11 mastermind yet, but in telling the epic story of Osama bin Laden’s extended family, it also reveals the crucial role that his relatives and their relationship with the royal house of Saud played in shaping his thinking, his ambitions, his technological expertise and his tactics.

Graduation in crisis...
The likelihood that a ninth-grader in one of the nation's biggest cities will clutch a diploma four years later amounts to a coin toss — not much better than a 50-50 chance, new research finds.

Raw Politics
New plan offered for Michigan vote...
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak's plan for seating Michigan's delegates to the Democratic National Convention would take the results of the state's disallowed presidential primary in January and mix them with the popular vote nationwide.

Obama the populist?
As Barack Obama caravans through the hardscrabble towns of rural Pennsylvania, he is making clear the politics of hope has an enemies list.

Hillary: I need money...
In a new Internet video, Hillary Clinton acknowledged to potential contributors Monday that "running for president is an arduous undertaking." In the extended battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, it's also an expensive one.

As Dems battle, McCain builds November machine...
As his Democratic presidential rivals squabble, Sen John McCain has moved to transform his ragtag primary campaign into a general-election operation by boosting fundraising, establishing control over the Republican National Committee, and beginning a conversation with voters who live in states where he has not campaigned.

Obama's church under the microscope, again...
The church where Sen. Barack Obama has worshipped for two decades publicly declares that its ministry is founded on a 1960s book that espouses "the destruction of the white enemy."

GOP memo attacks Dems on war...
A Republican leadership strategy memo calls for an all-out attack on Democrats' "misinformation" campaign against the Iraq war as both parties refocus on the issue ahead of next week's update from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ryan C. Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Keeping them Honest
Govt negligent in Utah mine collapse...
Federal safety officials were negligent in their approval of work plans for a Utah coal mine that collapsed in August 2007, leaving nine dead, a Labor Department report concluded Monday.

G.A.O. reports points to high costs at Pentagon...
Inefficient Pentagon management led to cost increases for key weapons programs that often fell short of production goals last year, government auditors said Monday.

Crime & Punishment
Freed sex offender charged in home invasion...
 sex offender recently released from prison brazenly invaded a home, shot two women meeting for morning coffee and abducted one of them, whose body was found about 10 miles away, police said.

Nun pleads guilty...
A Roman Catholic nun accused of stealing from the Omaha Archdiocese and gambling much of the money away has pleaded guilty to theft.