National Government

Mitt Romney's newly released tax returns provide more than an accounting of the Republican presidential candidate's remarkable personal wealth. The documents also give a rare glimpse into tithing to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by one of its most prominent members.

Romney reports he will give a total of $4.13 million to the LDS Church over two years as part of his overall charitable donations. The former Massachusetts governor reported income of about $43 million for the two years. Separately, over the past decade, Romney and his wife, Ann, have given more than $4.7 million to the denomination through the Tyler Charitable Foundation, a multimillion-dollar trust the couple leads.

WASHINGTON -- A year ago, the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords weighed heavily in the chamber. A seat with her Arizona delegation was left empty during the president's State of the Union address. Lawmakers wore black-and-white ribbons in her honor.

Tuesday night, Giffords returned to the House with a standing ovation more than a minute long amid cheers of "Bravo!" from her colleagues. Then, she received a long, emotional hug from President Barack Obama. Giffords rested her head on his shoulder and for a moment they rocked back and forth -- all at once a welcome home greeting and farewell embrace following her decision to step down from office and focus on her recovery.

WASHINGTON -- In a rare defeat for law enforcement, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed on Monday to bar police from installing GPS technology to track suspects without first getting a judge's approval. The justices made clear it wouldn't be their final word on increasingly advanced high-tech surveillance of Americans.

Indicating they will be monitoring the growing use of such technology, five justices said they could see constitutional and privacy problems with police using many kinds of electronic surveillance for long-term tracking of citizens' movements without warrants.

While the justices differed on legal rationales, their unanimous outcome was an unusual setback for government and police agencies grown accustomed to being given leeway in investigations in post-Sept. 11 America, including by the Supreme Court. The views of at least the five justices raised the possibility of new hurdles down the road for police who want to use high-tech surveillance of suspects, including various types of GPS technology.

OGDEN — The December meeting of the Weber County Republican Women will be held at noon Dec. 5 at Jeremiah’s Restaurant, 1207 W. 12th St.

The speaker for the luncheon will be Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who will discuss “The Line Between National, State and Local Governments.”

OGDEN -- U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday to look into issues surrounding federal audits that resulted in the June removal of 32 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees from Weber County Jail.

"I'm all for good conditions in our jails," Hatch said in a phone interview with the Standard-Examiner.

"If they are good enough for U.S. inmates, they should be good enough for criminal aliens."

WASHINGTON -- It sounds like a pretty good deal: Retire at age 38 after 20 years of work and get a monthly pension of half your salary for the rest of your life. All you have to do is join the military.

As the nation tightens its budget belt, the century-old military retirement system has come under attack as unaffordable, unfair to some who serve and overly generous compared with civilian benefits.

That very notion, laid out in a Pentagon-ordered study, sent a wave of fear and anger through the ranks of current and retired military members when it was reported in the news media this month.

WASHINGTON -- Crisis legislation to yank the nation past the threat of a historic financial default sped through the House Monday night, breaking weeks of deadlock. The rare moment of cooperation turned celebratory when Rep. Gabrielle Giffords strode in for the first time since she was shot in the head nearly seven months ago.

The vote was 269-161, a scant day ahead of the deadline for action. But all eyes were on Giffords, who drew thunderous applause as she walked into the House chamber unannounced and cast her vote in favor of the bill.

A final Senate sign-off for the measure is virtually assured today. Aside from raising the debt limit, the bill would slice federal spending by at least $2.1 trillion, and perhaps much more.