The best used cars — and the worst

Best and worst used cars

Savvy car buyers know that the best way to get the most vehicle for their money is to buy a used car. With the average new car losing 47 percent of its value in the first three years, buying used is an affordable way to get the safety and comfort features you want at a far better price.

The Best of the best list guides you to the 2001 to 2010 models that scored well in our road tests when new and have been consistently reliable over time. Each has achieved multiple years of above-average used-car verdicts (available to subscribers), indicating that owners have had relatively few problems.

US 'heartland' near historic shift from Midwest

WASHINGTON – America's population center is edging away from the Midwest, pulled by Hispanic growth in the Southwest, according to census figures. The historic shift is changing the nation's politics and even the traditional notion of the country's heartland — long the symbol of mainstream American beliefs and culture.

The West is now home to the four fastest-growing states — Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho — and has surpassed the Midwest in population, according to 2010 figures. California and Texas added to the southwestern population tilt, making up more than one-fourth of the nation's total gains since 2000.

10-year-old gets big wish, joins Army

Wish comes true for cancer-stricken 10-year-old inducted into Army

Most kids might hope to get an Xbox or an iPod Touch for their 10th birthday. Brennan Daigle got a reception from a formation of soldiers, a ride in a camouflaged National Guard Humvee--and induction as an honorary member of the Army.

Since October 2009, Brennan, from Sulphur, Louisiana, has been battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma--a rare form of cancer in which muscular tumors attach themselves to bones, writer Rachel Reischling reports in the Fort Polk Guardian. Last month, doctors told his family there was nothing more they could do, and gave Brennan just weeks to live.

Rural Wyoming plagued by big-city smog

Wyoming plagued by big-city problem: smog

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Wyoming, famous for its crisp mountain air and breathtaking, far-as-the-eye-can-see vistas, is looking a little bit like smoggy Los Angeles these days because of a boom in natural gas drilling.
Folks who live near the gas fields in the western part of this outdoorsy state are complaining of watery eyes, shortness of breath and bloody noses because of ozone levels that have exceeded what people in L.A. and other major cities wheeze through on their worst pollution days.

Undersized dunker becomes Web sensation

Viral video could land Division III player in dunk contest

When Illinois College guard Jacob Tucker originally contacted organizers of the college slam dunk contest last week about allowing him to participate, they told him Division III players typically lack the notoriety needed to receive an invitation.

Needless to say, Tucker stumbled upon a solution to that problem.

A two-minute YouTube video he created to promote his candidacy for the dunk contest has attracted more than 500,000 viewers in five days thanks to the 5-foot-11 senior's creativity and leaping ability.

ESPN's SportsNation ran a poll asking whether Tucker or Blake Griffin would win a dunk contest. Talk show host Jim Rome proclaimed the contest needs Tucker more than he needs it. And nearly 2,000 fans have joined a Facebook group dedicated to landing Tucker an invitation to the contest, which will be held during Final Four weekend next month.

The most Girl Scout cookies ever sold

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Girl Scout cookies are back! Sold since 1917,