Md. OKs bill to protect passwords

Md. OKs bill to protect passwords

ANNAPOLIS, Md.

Maryland is poised to become the first state to ban employers from demanding applicants or workers hand over their log-in information for social-media sites such as Facebook.

The measure, which handily passed the Legislature earlier this month, keeps managers from snooping on password-protected content, a practice advocates of the bill say violates privacy and intimidates job seekers and employees.

Obama has 10-1 financial edge

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama’s re-election effort enjoyed a 10-to-1 financial edge over Republican rival Mitt Romney last month, out-raising the former Massachusetts governor by millions as Obama stuffed more than $104 million into his campaign war chest.

A nasty primary battle among Romney and his GOP rivals took a financial toll on his presidential campaign, which raised $12.6 million in March and left Romney with about $10 million in the bank by month’s end.

Mexico volcano stirs

XALITZINTLA, Mexico

The white-capped volcano that looms over Mexico City emitted a terrifying low-pitched roar Friday and spewed roiling towers of ash and steam as it vented the pressure built up by a massive chamber of magma beneath its slopes. Authorities prepared evacuation routes, ambulances and shelters in the event of a bigger explosion.

Even a large eruption of the 17,886-foot cone of Popocatepetl is unlikely to do more than dump ash on one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. But the grit could play havoc with Mexico City’s busy airport, and tens of thousands of people in the farming villages on its flanks could be forced to flee.

Dem W.Va. senator not sure of vote

WASHINGTON

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he’s unsure whether he’ll vote for his party’s leader, President Barack Obama, or the likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In a statement Friday, the West Virginia lawmaker said he had “some real differences” with both leaders, finding fault with Obama’s energy and economic policies while questioning whether Romney could understand the challenges facing ordinary people.

Stinky fertilizer limits pot fest

BOULDER, Colo.

Stinky fish fertilizer and two dozen law-enforcement officers kept pot smokers away from a grassy quad at the University of Colorado on Friday, but a few hundred protesters defied the crackdown and rallied on another field, where some lit up at 4:20 p.m.

It was a far cry from last year’s April 20 pot celebration, when more than 10,000 people gathered on the university’s Norlin Quadrangle for the annual ritual of enjoying a smoke and demonstrating for legalizing marijuana.

Marijuana smokefests at 4:20 p.m. April 20, or 4/20, have become a counterculture ritual, with celebrants gathering from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to New York’s Greenwich Village.

Gas prices drop

NEW YORK

The worst appears to be over. Gasoline prices are going down.

After a four-month surge pushed gasoline to nearly $4 per gallon in early April, drivers, politicians and economists worried that prices might soar past all-time highs, denting wallets, angering voters and dragging down an economy that is struggling to grow.

Instead, pump prices have dropped 6 cents over two weeks to a national average Friday of $3.88. Experts say prices could fall another nickel or more next week.

Associated Press