FOOD PRICES...
CAPITOL HILL (AP) - The high cost of food will be the topic of a congressional hearing today.

With the price of a loaf of bread up 15 percent over the past year and eggs up 25 percent, the joint House-Senate Economic Committee will take a look at the impact on American families.

Lawmakers will also study the effect of rising prices on food banks as more people ask for help.

Some retailers are pitching in to ease the strain on food banks. Sam's Club is once again going to donate baked goods, meats and deli products that are near their sell-by dates to local food pantries. The company abandoned the practice two years ago in favor of donating money. But with food prices continuing to climb, it's resuming donations of food.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED...
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the ``Mission Accomplished'' banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.

Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.

``Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,'' Bush said at the time. ``The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on.'' The ``Mission Accomplished'' banner was prominently displayed above him - a move the White House came to regret as the display was mocked and became a source of controversy.

After shifting explanations, the White House eventually said the ``Mission Accomplished'' phrase referred to the carrier's crew completing its 10-month mission, not the military completing its mission in Iraq. Bush, in October 2003, disavowed any connection with the ``Mission Accomplished'' message. He said the White House had nothing to do with the banner; a spokesman later said the ship's crew asked for the sign and the White House staff had it made by a private vendor.

``President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said `mission accomplished' for these sailors who are on this ship on their mission,'' White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday. ``And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner. And I recognize that the media is going to play this up again tomorrow, as they do every single year.''

She said what is important now is ``how the president would describe the fight today. It's been a very tough month in Iraq, but we are taking the fight to the enemy.''

At least 49 U.S. troops died in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month since September when 65 U.S. troops died.

Now in its sixth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of at least 4,061 members of the U.S. military. Only the Vietnam War (August 1964 to January 1973), the war in Afghanistan (October 2001 to present) and the Revolutionary War (July 1776 to April 1783) have engaged America longer.

Bush, in a speech earlier this month, said that ``while this war is difficult, it is not endless.''

SUPERDELEGATE...
WASHINGTON (AP) - A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to ``heal the rift in our party'' and unite behind the Illinois senator.

Joe Andrew, who was Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999-2001, planned a news conference Thursday in his hometown of Indianapolis to urge other Hoosiers to support Obama in Tuesday's primary, perhaps the most important contest left in the White House race. He also has written a lengthy letter explaining his decision that he plans to send to other superdelegates.

``I am convinced that the primary process has devolved to the point that it's now bad for the Democratic Party,'' Andrew said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Bill Clinton appointed Andrew chairman of the DNC near the end of his presidency, and Andrew endorsed the former first lady last year on the day she declared her candidacy for the White House.

Andrew said in his letter that he is switching his support because ``a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists
(Republican) John McCain.''

``While I was hopeful that a long, contested primary season would invigorate our party, the polls show that the tone and temperature of the race is now hurting us,'' Andrew wrote. "John McCain, without doing much of anything, is now competitive against both of our remaining candidates. We are doing his work for him and distracting Americans from the issues that really affect all of our lives.''

Andrew said the Obama campaign never asked him to switch his support, but he decided to do so after watching Obama's handling of two issues in recent days. He said Obama took the principled stand in opposing a summer gas tax holiday that both Clinton and McCain supported, even though it would have been easier politically to back it. And he said he was impressed with Obama's handling of the controversy surrounding his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Wright's outspoken criticisms of the United States have threatened Obama's candidacy. Obama initially refused to denounce his former pastor, but he did so this week after Wright suggested that Obama secretly agrees with him.

``He has shown such mettle under fire,'' Andrew said in the interview. ``The Jeremiah Wright controversy just reconfirmed for me, just as the gas tax controversy confirmed for me, that he is the right candidate for our party.''

Andrew's decision puts Obama closer to closing Clinton's superdelegate lead. Clinton had a big advantage among superdelegates, many of whom like Andrews have ties to the Clintons and backed her candidacy early on. But most of the superdelegates taking sides recently have gone for Obama, who has won more state contests.

Obama now trails her by just 19 superdelegates, 244-263. This week, he picked up eight superdelegates while she netted three.

Superdelegates are nearly 800 elected leaders and Democratic Party officials who aren't bound by the outcome of state contests and can cast their ballot for any candidate at the national convention. They are especially valuable in this race since neither Clinton nor Obama can win enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination through state-by-state elections.

Obama now leads in the delegate count overall 1732.5 to 1597.5 for Clinton. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to win the nomination. About 230 superdelegates remain undecided, and about 60 more will be selected at state party conventions and meetings throughout the spring.

Other party leaders are encouraging superdelegates to pick a side by late June to prevent the fight from going to the national convention in August. Andrews wrote in his letter that he is calling for ``fellow superdelegates across the nation to heal the rift in our party and unite behind Barack Obama.''

It's the second endorsement for Obama this week that could be influential in Indiana. Rep. Baron Hill, who represents a crucial swing district in the state, endorsed Obama on Wednesday. Clinton has the backing of Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who has a vast organization in the state and has been campaigning aggressively with the former first lady.

Obama and Clinton are running close in Indiana and both need a victory there - Obama to help rebound from a loss to Clinton in Pennsylvania and to prove he can win Midwestern voters and Clinton so she can overcome Obama's lead in the race overall.

TROOPS...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Advocates of better mental health care for troops say a new Pentagon policy aimed at reducing the stigma of getting psychiatric counseling could be a small but important step.

Under the new policy, troops won't have to reveal past job-related therapy when they apply for security clearances. The change was prompted partly by the finding that many don't get treatment because they fear acknowledging a mental problem could cost them their security clearance, harm their careers and embarrass them before commanders and comrades.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates planned to announce the policy Thursday at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he was visiting a center for troops recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder, several officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

``I think it will help,'' said Paul Riechoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. ``This needs to be followed by a mental health campaign - not just for service members but for their families as well. But I really do think it's a significant evolution.

A survey released Wednesday by the American Psychiatric Association found that about three in five service members think seeking help for mental health concerns would have at least some impact on their careers.

``The military has made strides in raising awareness of mental health, but it's going to take a tremendous commitment to overcome attitudes that are ingrained in the military culture,'' association president Dr. Carolyn B. Robinowitz said.

The new policy relates to a question on the application required by the Office of Personnel Management, the agency that does the majority of investigations for security clearances for military and civilian federal workers.

Currently, Question 21 asks applicants whether they have consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years. If so, they are asked to list the names, addresses and dates they saw the doctor or therapist, unless it was for marriage or grief counseling and not related to violent behavior.

The amended question Gates has approved is less stringent. It essentially means troops would not have to worry about therapy they got for difficulties caused by their wartime tours of duty or other missions, said four officials familiar with the revision.

``No service member should fail to seek professional care because he doesn't want to answer a security clearance question,'' said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. ``This small step may pay big dividends by encouraging our forces to get the help they need.''

The Pentagon says the perception of stigma for security applicants is far worse than the reality.

The most recently released data show less than 1 percent of some 800,000 people investigated for clearances in 2006 were rejected on the sole issue of their mental health profiles.

Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.6 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to have mental health problems, the Defense Department says.

Successive government and private studies have found roughly half of those who need help are seeking it.

NEWSDAY...
NEW YORK (AP) - Cablevision Systems Corp. plans to make an offer of up to $650 million to acquire Newsday from Tribune Co., The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday in its online edition.

The report said a bid could come within 48 hours.

A spokesman for Cablevision declined to comment.

Any offer would be the third for the Long Island daily, following competing bids of $580 million each, first from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and then from real estate developer Mortimer Zuckerman, who owns the New York Daily News.

Murdoch also owns the Journal.

Tribune's new chief executive, Sam Zell, said two weeks ago he was considering selling Newsday, a reversal of his original plan to keep Tribune's core businesses largely intact.

Zell said he had been approached by several suitors for what is one of Tribune's largest papers and was considering a sale amid a rapid decline in revenue in the past several months.

It was widely reported that Cablevision, which is seeking to expand its media holdings beyond its core cable operations, had been considering making a bid with Jared Kushner, owner of the New York Observer, a highbrow weekly newspaper in Manhattan.

Instead, Cablevision decided to bid alone, and Kushner informed Tribune on Wednesday that the Observer was backing away from the bidding, The New York Times reported on its Web site, citing unnamed people briefed on the Observer's plans.

A representative of Kushner declined to comment.

Cablevision, based in Bethpage, N.Y., has its subscriber base on Long Island, making it a geographic match with the Newsday base.

NEW YORK POST...
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - The New York Post published two different editions today. As far as we can tell from a brief inspection, the difference is not in content, but size. The normal size of the New York Post is about 11.25 inches wide by 13.75 inches tall. Today's miniature edition was about 11 inches wide by 12 inches tall. According to a writer at the Gothamist, the paper will be switching to the smaller size next week.