February 2005 in the United States

__NOTOC__February 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

Events in the United States

"This page deals with current events in the United States, of interest to the US and/or involving Americans."

February 28, 2005

* Federated Department Stores buys Mays Department Stores for 11 bn dollars. The new company has approximately 300,000 employees and 30 bn dollars in annual sales. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7042048/ MSNBC]

*Federal Judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago finds her husband and mother murdered in her home after refusing to step down from presiding over a case involving Matthew F. Hale when Hale was charged by police with trying to kill Lefkow. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7102120/site/newsweek/ (MSNBC)]

February 27, 2005

* Halle Berry turns up to collect her Razzie award, one of the few actors to actually do so, stating that she rather be a "good loser" [http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2005/02/28/berry_shows_she_can_play_a_good_loser_at_razzie_awards/ (Boston Globe)] [http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,16013,00.html?tnews (E!Online)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7748449 (Reuters)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4301783.stm (BBC)]

February 20, 2005

*Author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson found dead in his Aspen, Colorado home of an apparent suicide. [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/nation/10951488.htm?1c] (Associated Press) [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/10951488.htm?1c] ("The Kansas City Star")
*Nearly a third of California's 1000 school districts, including some of the state's highest performing, could face being labeled as "failing" under standards of No Child Left Behind. [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/18/BAGM9BDIO71.DTL (SF Gate)] [http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2718090,00.html (LA Daily)] [http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=75072 (New Kerala)] [http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~24533~2717820,00.html (Pasadena Star)]
*Doug Wead, a friend of President George W. Bush, releases tape recordings of conversations with Bush from 1998, when Bush was Governor of Texas. Bush reportedly admits to marijuana use in one of the recorded conversations. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7682264 (Reuters)] [http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1307155.htm (ABC)]

February 19, 2005

*Rainstorms in Southern California cause floods and increase the threat of mudslides. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4812372,00.html (Guardian)] [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=516157 (ABC)]

February 16, 2005

*A German Shorthaired Pointer named Carlee beat out 2,581 other dogs of 165 breeds to become the 97th dog to win Best in Show at America's most prestigious dog show, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, in Manhattan.

February 12, 2005

*Howard Dean, a former governor of Vermont and 2004 presidential candidate, is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/12/dean.dems/index.html (CNN)]

February 11, 2005

* Democratic senators blame President George W. Bush for RNC compilation which criticizes Senator Harry Reid for obstructing Bush's policies. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D- [New York|NY] , condemned the criticism of Reid as "counterproductive attacks" comparable to political knee-cappings and demanded that Bush muzzle his "operatives" - in a letter in which he also offered to work together in a bipartisan manner and debate issues on the merits. [http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?id=2005021109090001672648&dt=20050211090900&w=APO&coview= (AP)]

February 6, 2005

*Super Bowl XXXIX is held in Jacksonville, Florida and is watched by 86.1 million people, down 4 % from last year's game. The New England Patriots defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. Sir Paul McCartney performs at halftime. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/football/nfl/wires/02/07/2020.ap.fbn.super.bowl.1st.ld.writethru.1114/index.html (CNNSI)] [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/football/nfl/wires/02/07/2020.ap.fbn.super.bowl.tv.ratings.3rd.ld.writethru.0332/index.html (CNNSI)]

February 4, 2005

* Jamie Foxx and Hilary Swank won Best Male Actor and Best Female Actor at the 2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

February 3, 2005

* Ray Brent Marsh, former crematorium owner who left supposedly cremated corpses to decay, receives 12 years in prison. [http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=58262 (WXIA-TV, GA)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4229947.stm (BBC)]

February 2, 2005

* Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania sees its shadow, and predicts six more weeks of winter for North America. Wiarton Willie disagrees, however. [http://www.groundhog.org (Groundhog.org)] , [http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4080940 (Scotsman.com)] , [http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usphil0203,0,1515659.story?coll=ny-top-headlines (Newsday)] , [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/02/02/groundhogs050202.html (CBC)]
* Flu Season begins. CDC Predicts Flu outbreak in the United States to occur in early march. [http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/news/stories/20050202/localnews/1944840.html] [http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/020905/new_20050209020.shtml] [http://www.tricities.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=TRI%2FMGArticle%2FTRI_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780667477] [http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm (CDC US flu map)]

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