A study says that Americans are struggling to pay for health care. Apparently the study also found that GM is having a bad year and the housing industry is in trouble.

Southwest Airlines is going to start charging passengers $2 to $12 for Internet access on flights. Apparently the airline is tired of giving the service for free to people who get online and see how far their flight is behind schedule.

The budget crisis is threatening to devastate the California school system. Authorities are worried that children may graduate with the same English skills as Governor Schwarzenegger.

Dogs are being trained to sniff out diabetes danger in their owners. Wouldn't it be easier to train them to detect prostate problems?

California First Lady Maria Shriver says that Californians "want it all" without sacrifice. After being born into the Kennedy family, taking a job as a network news person and marrying a movie star, she knows what it's like to have to earn what you have.

A study says that coffee can kill bacteria that leads to bad breath. However, a mouthful of Listerine is way cheaper than gulping down a $5 decaf latte from Starbucks.

NEW ZEALAND AIRLINES - NUDE SAFETY VIDEO WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Bet everyone watches that in-flight safety video on New Zealand's national airline now that the crew in the film is wearing nothing but body paint. The "Bare Essentials of Safety" is screening in the cabins of planes flying Air New Zealand's main domestic routes. But, you don't have to fly to see it. It's made its way to YouTube where it's had more than one million hits.

TEACHER'S SEX TAPE ELK GROVE, Calif. (AP) - This takes "Hot for Teacher" to a new level. A teacher at an elementary school near Sacramento in Northern California sent her students home for the summer with a DVD of class memories. Six seconds of that tape is probably burned into their memories now: it's the teacher having sex. Somehow her homemade sex tape got spliced into a scene where children were sharing stories in class. The district is telling parents just to destroy the DVDs. Kids who saw those unintended six seconds probably will never look at their teacher the same way again.

BURGLAR SELF-PORTRAIT SUFFOLK, Virginia (AP) - Isn't this burglar nice? He snapped his own mug shot so the cops wouldn't have to. Here's what really happened. A guy in Suffolk, Virginia broke into a house and tried to make a call from a cellphone he found there. Then, he used the camera in the phone to take a photo of himself. Could it get much dumber? People who saw the photo in news stories helped detectives identify the guy.

WOMAN IN LANDFILL WINCHESTER, Virginia (AP) - What a surprise for workers at a landfill in Winchester, Virginia. And, what a surprise for the woman they found there. The woman had gotten trapped in a large trash bin that had been trucked in from a Goodwill store. The workers at the landfill opened it and she got out. Back at the Goodwill store, the woman had crawled into the bin and couldn't get out. And, she fell asleep. A truck picked up the bin the next morning and hauled it to the dump. The woman wasn't hurt. She took a cab back into town.

FIRE ON TV ZURICH (AP) - This had to be one of the easiest fires to put out. But, imagine the panic of an elderly woman in Zurich, Switzerland who called the emergency number to report that her TV was burning. Police and firefighters rushed to her home but didn't see any smoke. A closer look at the TV showed it was tuned to a station that shows a fire in a fireplace during the early morning hours. They turned off the "fire" with the press of a button.

HAPPY HOURS NEW YORK (AP) - Like rush hour, happy hour is just a figure of speech. A Brooklyn bar is offering a happy hour that's seven hours long. Soda Bar is offering cheap drinks from noon to 7 p.m. The bartender says that's because people's work shifts are all over the clock. And, for those who work at night or get up early, happy hour could easily be at noon.

The private pathologist who examined David Carradine's body agrees with Thai authorities that Carradine died of asphyxia. Dr. Michael Baden of New York says his examination Carradine's body, and the details he's receive from Bangkok authorities, are consistent with an asphyxiation death. He did a second autopsy on Carradine's body at the family's request. Carradine was found dead in a hotel in Bangkok on June 4. Baden says he can't say if Carradine died accidentally or was killed. He says he's waiting for some key details from Thai authorities, including toxicology reports and analysis of items found in Carradine's hotel room.

She's out now. But, police in Utah say Gary Coleman's wife was booked into jail after an argument at their home. Shannon Price was arrested Wednesday and held for about two hours before posting $1,205 bail. Jail records show Price was booked for investigation of domestic violence, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. An arrest affidavit says police were called to the home after Price allegedly locked Coleman out during an argument. The report says she was yelling obscenities out the window, had thrown items around the home and turned over furniture. There's nothing showing that Coleman may have been injured from any of this.

Eleven-thousand Michael Jackson fans will be allowed inside the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday morning for a memorial service. Tickets will be required. They'll be free, but details on how to register to get those tickets will be announced at a news conference today.(PS: You won't get one. Do you care?)

Two former confidantes of Michael Jackson say they tried to get him to stop abusing painkillers. Uri Geller says he told Jackson he was "going to die" if he kept taking the pills, but he says Jackson just stared at him. Geller says others close to Jackson supplied him with drugs. He says, "When Michael asked for something, he got it. This was the great tragedy." Jackson's former bodyguard agrees with Geller. He says he and Geller once found Jackson so spaced out they shook him trying to sober him up, but it didn't work.

JUL 3, 1871 Jesse James robbed a bank in Corydon, Iowa for $45,000.

JUL 3, 1886 Karl Benz drove the first automobile in the world in Mannheim, Germany, reaching a top speed of 10 mph.

JUL 3, 1912 President Hoover announced that due to a combination of hot weather and sore fingers, he would wait until September to resume shaking hands.

JUL 3, 1929 Foam rubber was developed at the Dunlop Latex Development Laboratories. (Where it is said many a young woman holds a piece of Dunlop close to her heart.)

JUL 3, 1940 Abbott and Costello made their radio debut on NBC, replacing comedian Fred Allen for the remainder of the summer.

JUL 3, 1965 Roy Roger's horse, Trigger, died at the age of 33.

JUL 3, 1969 Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones drowned in his swimming pool.

JUL 3, 1971 Jim Morrison of The Doors died of heart failure. (Maybe today should be declared “Dead Rock Stars Day.”)

JUL 3, 1986 US President Ronald Reagan presided over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

JUL 3, 1988 The U.S.S. "Vincennes" shot down an Iranian passenger jet flying over the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy claimed the airliner was mistaken for an F-14 fighter. 290 people died.

JUL 3, 1997 In his first formal response to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit, President Clinton denied any allegations of sexual misconduct, and asked that the case be dismissed.

Thought for the Day

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavour, while dishwashing liquid is made with real lemons?

Birthdays for 07-03-2009

Actor Kurtwood Smith ("That 70s Show") is 66
Writer Dave Barry is 62
Actress Betty Buckley is 62
Actress Jan Smithers ("WKRP In Cincinnati") is 60
Talk show host Montel Williams is 53
Actor Tom Cruise is 47
Actor Thomas Gibson ("Dharma and Greg" and "Criminal Minds" ) is 47.