White House

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama is putting some longtime aides in senior posts at his White House. Obama named four new members of his West Wing staff Wednesday. That includes a senior adviser job for his chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod. He also announced Greg Craig as White House counsel. Craig was President Bill Clinton's lawyer during his impeachment. Chris Lu will be Cabinet secretary, the White House liaison to the Cabinet and government agencies.

CHICAGO (AP) - Barack Obama's fellow Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel, the hard-charging No. 3 Democrat in the House, has accepted the job of White House chief of staff, Democratic officials said Thursday. One of Obama's first decisions as president-elect was to ask the Illinois congressman to run his White House staff. The selection of the fiery Democrat marked a shift in tone for Obama, who chose more low-key leadership for his presidential campaign. Emanuel, who served as a political and policy aide in the Clinton White House before running for Congress, weighed the family and political considerations before accepting.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama hailed a rare Oval Office gathering of all U.S. presidents as extraordinary on Wednesday, while President George W. Bush wished him well and pledged that the office "transcends the individual. " "I just want to thank the president for hosting us," the president-elect said, flanked by former President George H.W. Bush on one side and his son on the other. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, both smiling broadly, stood with them.

The White House has released its long-sought recipe for beer.     President Barack Obama has been talking about the White House brew, but he and other officials have refused to disclose details of how it's made, despite an online petition and repeated questions from reporters.  One person even filed a Freedom of Information Act request for recipe.     Well, beer lovers, the secret is out.     White House Honey Brown Ale, the first beer brewed on the White House grounds, includes light malt extract, amber crystal malt, honey, gypsum, yeast and corn sugar.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) - A former Hutchinson News photographer returns to the White House for a second time as the official presidential photographer. Fifty-four-year-old Pete Souza (SOO'-zuh) first served as chief White House photographer for the late President Ronald Reagan. This week Souza accepted the request of President-elect Barack Obama to return to the White House in the same capacity. Souza told the News Tuesday that the invitation came in a telephone call from Robert Gibbs, incoming White House press secretary.

An earthquake is not something Kansans have much experience with, so when the White House started shaking Tuesday, Bart Ogden had to rely on the expertise of a teammate from California. Ogden and eight others from around the country were at the White House to inspect and clean the 28 in-use chimneys there. They were on the White House roof when the 5.8 earthquake struck. "We were thinking, they may have planned that for us," Ogden told Eyewitness News.

A decision to end White House tours has forced some people to change their vacation plans. The White House announced Wednesday it's ending the tours due to forced budget cuts. The news comes as some Kansans prepare to visit the nation's capital for spring break. Jameson O'Connor, local student, said his vacation plans are now ruined. "At first was shocked," he said. "I thought it would be a for sure thing because it's the White House. It's the people's house. I thought we're going to get in. " He is one of the members of the Kansas Federation of Teenage Republicans that was looking forward to an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. Jessie Schoech, student, said visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was at the top of her list.

The White House called Mayor Carl Brewer to wish him happy birthday on March 8 and extend a special offer. David Agnew, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, asked if the mayor would have time to talk with President Barack Obama while in Washington DC for the National League of Cities meeting.   Brewer was one of 10 mayors selected from across the US to speak with the President Monday. He said he asked the President for help with job creation, diversifying the Kansas economy and job training in addition to discussing recent concerns facing aviation in Wichita.

We learned during his first run for the White House, President Obama loved his Blackberry and kept using it when he first entered office.  He was the first president to use social media.   The Houston Chronicle takes a look at other presidential technology firsts, including the first president to use a plane for official business and the first to have a refrigerator.  Check out the link here for a look back at how much technology has changed.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Continuing a White House ritual, President George W. Bush is leaving a note in the Oval Office for President-elect Barack Obama, wishing him well as he takes the reins of the executive branch. Bush wrote the note on Monday and left it in the top drawer of his desk. The White House is not providing the intimate details of the message the two-term Republican left for the incoming Democrat. White House press secretary Dana Perino said the theme of the note is similar to what Bush has said since election night about how Obama is about to start a "fabulous new chapter" in the United States, and that he wishes him well.

President Obama will not make a trip to Kansas this week.  It was reported that the President was supposed to speak at KU Friday.  Specifics on his trip were never released and the White House never confirmed it.  But due to the situation in Boston, the President will spend his time on the east coast. He'll spend Thursday in Boston at an interfaith service for those wounded or killed at the Boston Marathon.  

A decision to end White House tours has forced some people to change their vacation plans. The White House announced Wednesday it's ending the tours due to forced budget cuts. The news comes as some Kansans prepare to visit the nation's capital for spring break. Jameson O'Connor, local student, said his vacation plans are now ruined. "At first was shocked," he said. "I thought it would be a for sure thing because it's the White House. It's the people's house. I thought we're going to get in. " He is one of the members of the Kansas Federation of Teenage Republicans that was looking forward to an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. Jessie Schoech, student, said visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was at the top of her list.

We learned during his first run for the White House, President Obama loved his Blackberry and kept using it when he first entered office.  He was the first president to use social media.   The Houston Chronicle takes a look at other presidential technology firsts, including the first president to use a plane for official business and the first to have a refrigerator.  Check out the link here for a look back at how much technology has changed.

Less than 24 hours after President Obama won his re-election, petitions are filed for states to secede from the Union. People in more than 30 states have signed the petitions.  The petitions were all filed with the "We the People" program on the White House website.  To be considered the petitons must get at least 25,000 signartures within 30 days of its filing.  The only state to reach that requirement is Texas.  The Lone Star State had...

The White House has released its long-sought recipe for beer.     President Barack Obama has been talking about the White House brew, but he and other officials have refused to disclose details of how it's made, despite an online petition and repeated questions from reporters.  One person even filed a Freedom of Information Act request for recipe.     Well, beer lovers, the secret is out.     White House Honey Brown Ale, the first beer brewed on the White House grounds, includes light malt extract, amber crystal malt, honey, gypsum, yeast and corn sugar.

The White House called Mayor Carl Brewer to wish him happy birthday on March 8 and extend a special offer. David Agnew, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, asked if the mayor would have time to talk with President Barack Obama while in Washington DC for the National League of Cities meeting.   Brewer was one of 10 mayors selected from across the US to speak with the President Monday. He said he asked the President for help with job creation, diversifying the Kansas economy and job training in addition to discussing recent concerns facing aviation in Wichita.

An earthquake is not something Kansans have much experience with, so when the White House started shaking Tuesday, Bart Ogden had to rely on the expertise of a teammate from California. Ogden and eight others from around the country were at the White House to inspect and clean the 28 in-use chimneys there. They were on the White House roof when the 5.8 earthquake struck. "We were thinking, they may have planned that for us," Ogden told Eyewitness News.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says BP has agreed to establish a $100 million fund to compensate unemployed oil rig workers affected by a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. Obama said the fund is in addition to $20 billion the company will set aside to pay victims of the massive Gulf spill, the nation's worst environmental disaster. Obama imposed a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling last month while a commission reviews the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. ------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON (AP)

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says he is shocked and outraged over the killing of an abortion provider at a Kansas church. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed Sunday morning while he was serving as an usher at a church in Wichita, Kan. The White House released a statement from the president Sunday evening. Obama says violence is not the answer to resolve differing opinions on abortion and said the shooting is a murder. Tiller was one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions.