Rick Warren to give inaugural invocation  —  (CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony will feature big names like minister Rick Warren and legendary singer Aretha Franklin, the Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced Wednesday.

LaHood to be Transportation Sec  —  Peoria Republican congressman Ray LaHood will be nominated Transportation Secretary for the Obama Administration, Republican and Democratic sources said today.  —  A spokesman for the Obama transition team declined to comment and LaHood's office did not immediately return phone calls.

Kennedy Goes on Tour Upstate  —  ROCHESTER — She talked about her book, about the Bill of Rights.  She talked about raising her family.  And, echoing her friend President-elect Barack Obama, she said she could bring change to Washington.  —  Caroline Kennedy, on her first day touring upstate …

Person of the Year 2008  —  INSIDE:

Justice Kennedy rejects 2 more challenges to Obama  —  Featured Topics:  —  AP - President-elect Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008, where ...  - Slideshow: President-elect Barack Obama  — Play Video U.S. Courts Video: N.C. Supreme Court hears year-round school case WRAL Raleigh

IRAQI AMBASSADOR TELLS OFF CODE PINK WHACKOS (Video)  —  CODE PINK AMBUSHES IRAQI AMBASSADOR- AMBASSADOR FIRES BACK  —  “He's lucky he didn't try something like this under Saddam Hussein.”  —  Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie: … The anti-American Marxist front group Code Pink ambushed Iraq Ambassador …

Blagojevich was bookie, says federal informant  —  The ABC7 I-Team has learned that an attorney who went undercover for the FBI in the late 1980's says he told federal authorities years ago about wrongdoing by Blagojevich.  —  His name is Robert Cooley.  —  Cooley was a criminal defense lawyer …

WaPo: Only Positive Obama Ads, Please  —  Hoping to make a little cash off of Barack Obama's inauguration (that's certainly nothing new...), Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive and the Washington Post's classifieds departments have launched “Welcome to the White House”, a classfieds …

Cake request for 3-year-old Hitler namesake denied  —  EASTON, Pa. - The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child's full name on it by one New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance.  Heath Campbell and his wife, Deborah …

Obama's Pressers: No Comment — and NoDoz  —  A month from now, the nation will say farewell to its sports-obsessed president who doesn't like tough questions.  And it will replace him with, well, another sports-obsessed president who doesn't like tough questions.

Second GOP senator to announce retirement  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Sam Brownback will announce Thursday he is retiring from the Senate when his term ends in 2010, allowing the Kansas Republican to explore a run for governor.  —  He will be the second GOP senator this year to publicly state …

Environmentalists Wary of Obama's Interior Pick  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the Interior Department, Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, will inherit an agency demoralized by years of scandal, political interference and mismanagement.

Low-Interest Mortgages Are the Answer  —  Stop the decline in home prices, stop the crisis.  —  Recent news articles suggest that the Treasury Department is considering a plan to offer a 4.5% mortgage for home buyers for a period of time.  Let's hope it does.

RUDY TO RADIO?  —  EVERYONE knows Bill O'Reilly is quitting his radio show to concentrate on his Fox News TV program.  Now, Page Six has learned the leading candidate to succeed him is Rudy Giuliani (above).  Westwood One, which syndicates the O'Reilly show, is negotiating with the former mayor.