Habemus Papem: The new Pope is a Jesuit from Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who will go by the name Francis. He is the first pope from the New World. Thirty-none percent of Catholics live in South …

National: Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled a Republican budget plan that would slash taxes on the rich from 39% to 25% while eliminating President Obama’s health care reform, Wall Street regulations and plans for high-speed rail. Medicare would be mostly privatized. …

World: South Korea put its troops on alert after North Korea claimed to have unilaterally cancelled the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. The North also shut down the Red Cross telephone hotline between the two countries used for …

World: Two American soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in another “inside” attack by an Afghan soldier during a morning meeting of Special Forces, An undetermined number of Afghans also died before the shooter was killed. At least 60 NATO …

National: Rep. Paul Ryan said today on Fox News that the Republican House budget proposal will include a repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act known as Obamacare. “We’re going to propose replacing Obama Care with patient-centered health care, with …

National: South Dakota became the first state to enact a law to allow public school teachers and school employees to carry guns to work. The National Rifle Association lobbied in favor of the bill. The law leaves it up to …

National: The national jobless rate dropped to 7.7%, an improvement of .2%. That’s a gain of 236,000 jobs in February, and a four-year low. The stock market climbed further into record-setting territory this morning. ➢A son-in-law of Osama Bin Laden …

National: The House passed a temporary funding bill to keep the federal government running until September. But the $85 billion in sequester cuts remain. The White House has cancelled tours to save money. Kentucky Tea Party Republican Sen. Rand Paul …

National: The Dow Jones is up again this morning after closing yesterday at an all-time high. The market is being fed by an improving economy and interest rate support from the Federal Reserve. Some analysts believe this is the beginning …

National: The Dow Jones hit a daytime record high of 14,198.10 shortly after the opening bell this morning. It kept climbing. If the market holds the Dow could close at an all-time record high as investors pour money and their …