Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law

WASHINGTON (AP) — Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed...

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'Zero Dark Thirty,' 'Lincoln' make AFI top-10 list

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden thriller "Zero Dark Thirty," Steven Spielberg's Civil War epic "Lincoln" and Christopher Nolan's superhero tale "The Dark Knight Rises" are among the American Film Institute's top-10 movies of the year.Also on the AFI top-10 announced Monday: Ben Affleck's Iran hostage-crisis drama "Argo;" Benh Zeitlin's low-budget hit "Beasts of the Southern Wild;"...

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McDonald's sales rebound in November

McDonald’s took Wall Street by surprise Monday morning, with a November same store sales report that beat expectations and showed...

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3rd quarter: Vikings 14, Bears 7

MINNEAPOLIS -- As snow steadily descended outside the Metrodome on Sunday, the Chicago Bears were reminded that their playoff...

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Exclusive: Google to replace M&A chief

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is replacing the head of its in-house mergers and acquisitions group, David Lawee, with one of its top lawyers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Don Harrison, a high-ranking lawyer at Google, will replace Lawee as head of the Internet search company's corporate development group, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, said the source,...

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Marquez knocks out Pacquiao in 6th round

LAS VEGAS (AP) — No need for Juan Manuel Marquez to impress the judges. No need for the referee to count to 10.Marquez took care of all of his business Saturday night with a thunderous right hand that left Manny Pacquiao face first on the canvas with his remarkable career in question.Unable to win a decision in their first three fights, Marquez won the old-fashioned way with a huge right hand that...

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Cablevision to raise Internet prices by $5 a month

(Reuters) – Cablevision Systems Corp, the New York-based cable operator, said on Thursday it would raise its Internet prices by $ 5 in January, representing an average hike of 3.2 percent for customers’ total monthly bills.The company said in a statement that prices for its video and phone services will not be affected and that prices for promotional packages, which generally last one year, will not...

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they...

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'Skyfall,' 'Guardians' duel for box-office win

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Bond is in a box-office photo finish with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny over what looks to be the last slow weekend of the holidays.According to studio estimates Sunday, Sony's Bond tale "Skyfall" took in $11 million to move back to No. 1 in its fifth weekend.That put it narrowly ahead of Paramount's "Rise of the Guardians," the animated adventure of Santa, the Easter Bunny...

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WGN America may be channel of change for Tribune Co.

On Sunday night, WGN-Ch. 9 will air "Bozo's Circus: The Lost Tape," a 1971 episode that an alert archivist discovered after...

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