Update 9:30am:  Stories Making Headlines Today

MIDEAST DIPLOMACY
    French leader: Israel, Palestinians OK Gaza plan

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Israel and
the Palestinian Authority have accepted an Egyptian-French plan for
Gaza—but Israel isn’t going quite that far.
    Sarkozy made no mention of Hamas, the group that controls Gaza
and is fighting with Israel, in a statement released today after
his return from the Middle East.
    Sarkozy says that he “strongly welcomes the acceptance by
Israel and the Palestinian Authority of the French-Egyptian plan
presented yesterday.“ His statement did not give details of the
plan.
    Israel says through a spokesman that it “welcomes” the
proposal. Spokesman Mark Regev says Israel could accept the
proposal if it halts “hostile fire” from Gaza and includes
measures to prevent Hamas from rearming.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS
    Some gunfire heard despite lull

  Israel’s military today suspended its Gaza
offensive to allow aid and fuel into the embattled Palestinian
territory.
    Gaza residents reported scattered gunfire and explosions even
after it was supposed to have gone into effect, but the scale of
fighting appeared to drop.
    The pause was aimed at allowing aid supplies and fuel to reach
some of the 1.4 million residents of Gaza.
    Israel launched an offensive against the territory’s Hamas
rulers on Dec. 27.
    About 300 of the more than 670 Palestinians killed so far are
civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. figures.

SENATE-BURRIS
    Burris to return to Capitol Hill today

Some Senate officials say even though he was
turned away yesterday, Roland Burris will likely prevail in his
effort to claim President-elect Barack Obama’s old seat.
    Burris, who was appointed to the post by disgraced Illinois Gov.
Rod Blagojevich, is scheduled to meet with the Senate’s top two
Democrats today.
    An influential senator has broken with her party over whether
Burris should be seated. California’s Dianne Feinstein says that
even a discredited governor like Blagojevich retains the power to
make the appointment.
    Feinstein says Burris has wide-ranging experience, and that
blocking him would impact appointments made by other governors.

THE PRESIDENTS’ CLUB
    A rare gathering: Bush, Obama and 3 ex-presidents

That photographers’ dream shot of the current
president, the next president and the still-living presidents
posing for a picture in the Rose Garden? Forget it! An unrelenting
rain has forced the class picture inside.
    In a terse announcement a couple hours before the historic
gathering Wednesday, the White House announced stoically that “due
to weather,“ the photo opportunity had been moved to the Oval
Office.
    President George W. Bush likely will take center stage for the
memorable picture, to be flanked by Barack Obama, who succeeds him
in less than two weeks, his father, former President George H.W.
Bush, and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
    The current president is hosting a lunch with three former
presidents and Obama. The White House says Obama suggested it.
    Bush and Obama also will meet privately for roughly 30 minutes
in the Oval Office.
    Press secretary Dana Perino says the discussion could involve
policy, or just personal experiences. She says, “All of us would
love to be flies on the wall and listening to that conversation.“

OBAMA-ORDINARY WHISTLERS
    NEW: ‘Everyday Americans’ invited to whistle stop tour

President-elect Barack Obama has invited a
group of “everyday Americans” to join him and Vice
President-elect Joe Biden on their Whistle Stop Tour to the
nation’s capital on the Saturday before Inauguration Day.
    So says Obama’s presidential inaugural committee, adding another
element to the expanding horizon of parties and events associated
with Obama’s and Biden’s oath taking Jan. 20 at the West Front of
the U.S. Capitol.
    Inaugural committee spokesman Josh Earnest said that “each one
of these families has their own remarkable story to add to our
American story.“ The whistle stop will begin in Philadelphia and
end in the District of Columbia.
    Ten inaugural balls also are being arranged for the night of
Jan. 20, including a “People’s Ball” at the Washington Convention
Center.

MADOFF SCANDAL
    Madoff lawyer due to answer call to jail financier

Should Bernard Madoff be sent to jail
until his trial?
    A lawyer for the disgraced Wall Street financier today is
expected to submit written arguments to a judge considering that
question.
    The judge said he wants to know whether the ability to commit
economic harm can make someone like Madoff a danger to others.
    Since his arrest last month in what prosecutors say was an
immense Ponzi scheme, Madoff has been under house arrest at his
Manhattan penthouse. He has an electronic bracelet and a 24-hour
guard.
    Prosecutors say Madoff should be jailed now, arguing that he and
his wife violated a court order by sending jewelry and antique
watches to relatives and friends.
    A defense lawyer says Madoff’s wife sent the valuables worth
about a million dollars. She’s not subject to the court order.

TEEN BIRTHS
    NEW: Mississippi has highest teen birth rate, CDC says

It could just be a statistical blip, but a new
federal report says Mississippi is now the state with the nation’s
highest teen pregnancy rate.
    Mississippi’s rate was more than 60 percent higher than the
national average in 2006. That pushes it past Texas and New Mexico.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the
teen pregnancy rates in those states remained high—more than 50
percent above the national average.
    The lowest teen birth rate is in New Hampshire.
    Overall in 2006, teen pregnancy increased, a statistic some
experts blame on abstinence-only health education that does not
teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception. However,
some conservative organizations argue contraceptive-focused sex
education remains common, and the new teen birth numbers suggest
it’s failing.

MISSING BOY SEARCH
    Lawyer: Adoptive parents had nothing to do with boy’s
disappearance

A lawyer for the adoptive parents who
waited nearly a decade to report their child missing says his
clients played no part in their son’s disappearance.
    Warner Eisenbise says the adoptive parents of Adam Herrman, who
was 11-years-old when he vanished in 1999 from a mobile home park
in Kansas, feel “very guilty.“
    But when asked on NBC’s “Today” show whether they had anything
to do with his disappearance, Eisenbise said “Not at all. Nothing
at all.“ He says the boy had a history of running away.
    No charges have been brought against the Herrmans.
    Investigators have searched the empty lot where the family’s
mobile home once stood. They plan to comb the banks of a nearby
river.
    Police discovered Adam was missing last week. They have refused
to say much about the case, except that no human remains have been
found. Police have released a computer-enhanced photo showing what
Adam might look like today, at the age of 21.

OLD SHOOTING-DEATH
    Man’s death ruled homicide 35 years after shooting

Prosecutors in Denver might seek
charges against a suspect—if they can find one—in a
35-year-old shooting that just became a homicide when the victim
died.
    The December death in Fort Worth, Texas, of 54-year-old Craig
Buford has been ruled a homicide, caused by multiple organ failure
from complications from his decades-old wound.
    So far, police and prosecutors have been unable to find out who
shot Buford in the back and what charges he may have faced in 1973.
    Both Buford and the suspect were teens at the time.
    Buford eventually healed and had few lasting effects. Relatives
say he drove city buses in Denver and Seattle and was a trucker
before retiring.
    His widow says she’s surprised by the homicide ruling.
    Buford recently had surgery after doctors determined his colon
had ruptured.

TEDDY BEAR SPY
    Neb. man sues ex-wife for putting recorder in toy

The teddy bear had a bug.
    That’s what a man alleges in a lawsuit that grew out of a child
custody fight in Nebraska.
    William Lewton is accusing his ex-wife Diane Divingnzzo and her
father of hiding a recording device in his daughter’s toy in order
to spy on him.
    Lewton sought custody rights after the couple divorced in 2004.
    His attorney says it’s believed hundreds of hours of
conversations were recorded.
    Lewton, his daughter—who is now 5—and five other
plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial. They’re also seeking
damages, alleging invasion of privacy and violation of state and
federal wiretapping laws.
    At a June hearing in the custody case where the recordings were
discussed, a judge ruled they violated Nebraska’s wiretapping law
and couldn’t be used as evidence.