USA

President Obama called for extra pay for good teachers Tues-day in addressing a meeting of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington. Although union supporters oppose the idea, the president said it's time to start rewarding good teachers and "stop making excuses for the bad ones."

United Technologies Corp., which makes jet engines and helicopters, said Tuesday it expects to cut 11,600 jobs. The company is based in Hartford, Conn.

Attorney General Eric Holder hosted the first Guantánamo task force meeting Monday, aimed at deciding how to carry out President Obama's pledge to close the facility for terror suspects within a year. Roughly 240 men remain locked up.

Terry Sedlacek of Troy, Ill,, was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the mid-sermon shooting death of a Baptist pastor in Maryville, Ill. Sedlacek wasn't recognized by any of 150 worshipers attending the Sunday service four miles from his home.

Most states have inadequate plans to deal with homelessness as it affects 1 of every 50 American children, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Center on Family Homelessness. The study, which analyzes data from 2005 to 2006, indicates the situation has surely worsened of late.

Eleven major airports are struggling to meet federal requirements for sufficient safety areas near runways, a new Transportation Department report says. The airports lack space needed to deal with planes that overrun or veer off runways, as 75 did between 1997 and 2007.

McClatchy Co., which publishes 30 daily newspapers, will cut 1,600 additional jobs, starting in April, the Sacramento, Calif.-based company said Monday. The layoffs are on top of 4,150 made since June.

The Environmental Protection Agency began a review Monday of conditions at an estimated 300 coal-ash storage ponds and landfills nationwide. The effort is a response to the 1.1 billion gallons of coal-ash sludge that breached a rural Tennessee containment pond on Dec. 22.