Obama will accept his party's nomination the first week in September. Romney will get the Republican nod in Tampa, Fla., a week earlier.
Castro's star power has soared since he became mayor in 2009. - AP
Sergeant gets 30 days in hazing
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - An Army sergeant was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison, a demotion, and docked a month's pay for his role in the alleged racial hazing and suicide of a fellow soldier.
Military prosecutors said Sgt. Adam Holcomb and seven other soldiers charged in Pvt. Danny Chen's death physically and emotionally abused the 19-year-old from New York City. Chen was found dead in Afghanistan in October from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Holcomb, of Youngstown, Ohio, faced a maximum of two years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
The defense called Holcomb an American hero and argued that Chen was an incompetent soldier who killed himself because his family disowned him. - AP
Congress acts to fill posts faster
WASHINGTON - The House gave final congressional approval Tuesday to a bill that would save the slow-paced Senate some time by eliminating the need for confirming nominees to 170 executive-branch and 3,000 military positions.
The vote for this rare instance of streamlining Senate procedures was 261-116. The bill goes to the White House for President Obama's signature.
At the start of the Obama administration, there were 1,215 executive-branch positions that required Senate confirmation. Among positions that will no longer need Senate approval are the top press spokesmen for the Defense, Treasury, and State Departments. - AP
Ohio's LaTourette is stepping down
PAINESVILLE, Ohio - GOP Rep. Steven LaTourette of Ohio, a nine-term lawmaker and a confidant of House Speaker John A. Boehner, said Tuesday he was frustrated with the political stalemate in Washington and would not seek reelection.
LaTourette was elected during the Republican wave in 1994, when the party seized control of the House after decades in the minority. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
He joins more than three dozen House members - the latest was Republican Geoff Davis of Kentucky, who on Tuesday cited a family health issue - who have decided to retire or quit. - AP
