SUNDAY

Metro: After 35 years in business, the Davis Appliance and Furniture store was destroyed by an early morning fire. It took Augusta-Richmond County firefighters three to four hours to put out the blaze, which brought the roof down within the first hour. Owner Paul M. Davis Sr. said he doubts insurance will cover all of the damage.

PAKISTAN: More than 160 Humvees on their way to U.S. troops in Afghanistan were torched by Pakistani militants in Peshawar. Though the U.S. military says the losses will have only a minor effect on operations, there is concern that the Taliban is strengthening its hold in the area.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The Florida Gators and the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners were picked to square off in the BCS National Championship Jan. 8.

MONDAY

health: Eating a handful of nuts a day for a year -- along with a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish -- might help undo a collection of risk factors for heart disease. Spanish researchers found that adding nuts to a person's diet could help boost their metabolism and reduce belly fat.

BUSINESS: Media conglomerate Tribune Co., smothered by $13 billion debt and weak prospects for generating cash through advertising, became the first major newspaper publisher to seek bankruptcy protection since the Internet began siphoning readers from traditional outlets.

NATION: Five Blackwater Inc. security guards surrendered in federal court in Utah to answer to manslaughter charges in the 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead. Witnesses said the guards fired unprovoked, but the company said the guards fired in self-defense.

BASEBALL: Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux retired after winning four Cy Young Awards and 355 games in a certain Hall of Fame career.

TUESDAY

POLITICS: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested after he was caught scheming to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat in return for cash or jobs.

GEORGIA ECONOMY: Gov. Sonny Perdue announced he will propose his own stimulus package to create jobs. He gave few details, but said it would be funded through borrowing.

CHEATING: The Glenn Hills High School cheating scandal widened when the number of students implicated doubled to 28. One student is thought to have stolen a teacher's password, and 27 others accepted his offer to change their grades in Georgia Virtual School classes.

WEDNESDAY

EDUCATION: Two Richmond County kindergartners were suspended for having an unloaded .22-caliber handgun at Wilkinson Gardens Elementary School. A 6-year-old had brought the weapon to school, but a 5-year-old classmate he was showing it to was caught with it.

AUTO BAILOUT: A $14 billion rescue package for the nation's imperiled auto industry sped to approval in the House, but the emergency bailout was still in jeopardy from Republicans who were setting out roadblocks in the Senate.

ECONOMY: The Treasury Department said the gap between the government's revenue collections and what it paid out last month totaled $164.4 billion, which was the largest deficit ever recorded for November. In just the first two months of this budget year, the deficit now totals $401.6 billion.

WORLD: Injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes, scalding burns, poisonings and the like kill more than 830,000 children a year worldwide, according to a grim new study by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

POLITICS: His career in shreds, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich clung defiantly to power, ignoring a call to step down from President-elect Obama and a warning that Senate Democrats will not let him appoint a new senator.

AFGHANISTAN: U.S. forces mistakenly killed six Afghan national policemen and wounded 13 others during an early morning raid on a suspected Taliban leader, U.S. forces said.

IRAQ: Britain announced that it will withdraw all but a handful of its 4,000 soldiers from Iraq next year.

HEALTH: About one in nine children and teens use herbal supplements or some other form of alternative medicine, the government said, citing a new national survey.

THURSDAY

SHOOTING DEATH: During a news conference at the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, Lt. Scott Peebles made a direct plea and offered a $1,000 reward to the unidentified caller who seemed to know a lot about Tuesday's fatal shooting of Daniel McGee. Mr. McGee, 21, was shot in the head in the 1900 block of Starnes Street while returning on an errand for a disabled relative.

SCHOOL AUCTION: Richmond County school officials agreed to finalize plans to auction seven of its surplus properties through a sealed bid process.

AUTO BAILOUT: A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts.

FRIDAY

AUTO BAILOUT: A day after the sudden demise of a rescue package in Congress, carmakers talked with the administration and the Federal Reserve about how they could still get the billions of dollars they say they need to survive. The most likely option involved funds originally ticketed for the financial industry bailout, which President Bush had declared off-limits to the automakers.

ECONOMY: The new batch of data showed retail sales fell by 1.8 percent in October, marking a record fifth straight monthly decline. The weakness was led by another sharp drop in auto sales -- the worst sales month for automakers in 26 years.

MCG: The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation will give $3 million to the Medical College of Georgia for a new School of Dentistry building, school officials said. They said the donation is the largest single gift the school has received. The new building will be built on the site of the former Gilbert Manor public housing complex next door to MCG.

M. SPENCER GREEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS LAYOFFS: Workers and supporters staged a sit-in on the factory floor Sunday at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago. The band of 200 workers demanding severance and vacation pay became a national symbol for the millions of laid-off workers across the country after the company abruptly fired them last week. Late Wednesday night, the workers approved a negotiated agreement, and ended the sit-in at the window and door factory. FROM THURSDAY AM WIRE: Jubilant workers, cheering and chanting "Yes We Can," celebrated outside a Chicago factory after approving a $1.75 million agreement to end their six-day sit-in, which had become a nationwide symbol of the plight of labor. Republic Windows & Doors, union leaders and Bank of America reached the deal Wednesday evening. Workers carrying sleeping bags left the North Side factory within hours. About 200 of 240 laid-off workers began their sit-in last week after Republic gave them just three days' notice the plant was closing. The workers had argued that Republic violated federal law because employees were not given 60 days' notice. They vowed to stay until they received assurances they would get severance and accrued vacation pay. Each former Republic employee will get eight weeks' salary, all accrued vacation pay and two months' paid health care, said U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who helped broker the deal. He said it works out to about $7,000 apiece. "We lost the jobs but we got something," said Lalo Munoz, who worked at the plant for 24 years.