Advisers limit push on colon screenings

PHILADELPHIA - Most people over 75 should stop getting routine colon cancer tests, according to a government task force that also rejected the latest X-ray screening technology. The US Preventive Services Task Force decided not to support the newest tests: CT colonography, an X-ray test known as virtual colonoscopy, and a stool DNA test for that age group. The panel said more research is needed. The task force endorsed three tests and said everyone ages 50 to 75 should get screened with one of them: a colonoscopy of the entire colon every 10 years; a sigmoidoscopy of the lower colon every five years, combined with a stool blood test every three years; and a stool blood test every year. The panel concluded that the benefits of detecting colon cancer decline after age 75 and risks rise. (AP)

ATLANTA - Georgia's top court has ruled in favor of a transgender politician sued by two political opponents who said Michelle Bruce misled voters by running as a female. The Georgia Supreme Court's unanimous ruling yesterday found that the two unsuccessful candidates for Riverdale City Council failed to produce evidence of fraud, misconduct, or illegality. (AP)

An estimated 17,000 deceased US prisoners of war could be awarded Purple Hearts under a new Pentagon policy unveiled yesterday. Purple Hearts are awarded to soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines wounded by enemy action. The awards had been denied to POWs who died in captivity if it could not be proven they had been wounded or killed by the enemy. The Defense Department's revised policy presumes such deaths were the result of enemy action unless compelling evidence is presented to the contrary. (AP)

Most US mayors and city officials say poverty is a growing problem, with many families unable to get by, according to a survey released yesterday. Some 90 percent of city officials in the National League of Cities survey of mayors and leaders of towns of 30,000 people or more say that during the last decade poverty rates have either increased or stayed the same in their communities. About one-third of those participating consider poverty "a severe or serious problem." (Reuters)