It was never supposed to happen, but now it has. With President Obama's signing of the order to commence the sequester spending cuts of $85 billion from this fiscal year's federal budget, what was once unthinkable is now hard reality.

Sequester cuts that began Friday threaten to reduce Border Patrol staffing, but the agency’s union says that just days before the cuts, Border Patrol managers were quietly given raises.

The Air Force will pay Gulfstream nearly $50 million to maintain its C-37 executive jets, in a contract announced Thursday, the day before the U.S. government was set to absorb $85 billion in automatic spending cuts to military and domestic programs. The C-37 is based on the Gulfstream V; according to an Air Force fact sheet, the service has nine of them.

Surgical errors, like operating on the wrong body part, or leaving sponges in patients, should never happen...but they do.

A group formed after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary will meet in Hillcrest Saturday to call for changes in federal gun laws.

Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 detained immigrants facing deportation. They plan to release 3,000 more during March, according to the Associated Press.

In a small public TV studio before an invitation-only audience of 30 people, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder made his case Friday, for taking control of Detroit's finances away from the city's elected officials.

"Finding Billy" is the story of a nationwide search for the three boys who will play the leading role in "Billy Elliot the Musical" on Broadway. From the early auditions through rehearsal and opening night, we follow these talented boys as they face the challenges and joys of starring in a Broadway musical. With music by Elton John, story by Lee Hall and stage direction by Stephen Daldry, "Billy Elliot" went on to win 10 Tony Awards including the Best Actor in a Musical Award for the three original Billys.

Two rapid-fire snowstorms belted Kansas with more than 2 feet of snow this week. They caused thousands of accidents and all kinds of hardships -- but they also produced very broad smiles from some quarters.

The way Americans get their electricity is changing. Coal is in decline. Natural gas is literally bursting out of the ground in record amounts. And the use of wind and solar energy is growing fast. All this is happening as power companies are trying to choose what kind of energy to bet on for the next several decades.

A combative President Barack Obama blamed Republican lawmakers Friday for failing to stop automatic spending cuts from beginning to kick in late in the day.

The Pacific Leatherback turtle faces extinction in 20 years if conservation efforts aren’t expanded. Scientists say the species survived the extinction of dinosaurs but is struggling to survive the impact of humans.

A construction company executive who provided gifts, meals and entertainment event tickets to members of the Sweetwater Union High School District to influence the school board's decisions in granting construction contracts was sentenced today to three years probation and ordered to do 100 hours of volunteer work.

TheNAT just opened a new bug exhibit called Dr. Entomo's Palace of Exotic Wonders and it may not be what you expect to find in a museum setting. I'll take you up close and personal with some creepy crawlers. Watch the video.

Iconic soul and R&B vocalist and multiple Grammy Award-winning artist Aaron Neville is featured in a special concert performing songs from his upcoming doo-wop inspired album My True Story. Recorded at the Brooklyn Bowl in November 2012, this special features an array of musicians along with special guests Paul Simon, Joan Osborne, Eugene Pitt of the Jive Five and Dickie Harmon from the Del-Vikings.

He can't do "a Jedi mind meld" with Republicans and get them to see his way about taxes and spending, President Obama said Friday.

The San Diego Unified School Board makes a stunning announcement. Sequestration cuts are coming; is anyone upset? The mayor wants no parking in Plaza de Panama. Local law enforcement is scanning our license plates.

International superstar Andrea Bocelli returns to GREAT PERFORMANCES once again to delight fans with a new concert special of classical favorites, pop standards and Brazilian jazz, this time from the breathtaking coastal setting of Portofino, Italy. With 16-time Grammy-winner David Foster as music director and at the keyboard, Bocelli is joined by trumpeter Chris Botti to perform a select collection of the world’s most famous love songs.

San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood is home to one of the largest Somali populations in the nation. Many arrived here as refugees in the early 1990s, during a time of civil war strife in Somalia. One of those who settled here at that time is Amina Sheik Mohamed. Today she is manager of the African American Campaign for the Network for a Healthy California operated locally from the University of California, San Diego. She is also a 2013 Women’s History Month Local Hero honoree.

Friday's deadline for President Obama to issue a sequestration order is neither the beginning nor the end of this year's budget battles in Washington. Here are five key moments to watch over the next seven months, and what's at stake in each:

RED BLUFF, Calif. (AP) -- Police are investigating the death of a missing 14-year-old Northern California girl as a homicide after her body was found in a field near a local high school.

The father of murdered San Diego teenager Chelsea King and former assemblyman Nathan Fletcher announced today they hope to extend the heart of Chelsea’s Law to Illinois and Texas.

Two decades ago, in the throes of my divorce, I discovered a workshop that became my lifeline. It’s called Second Saturday: Divorce Workshop for Women, and for me, participating in it helped me get through one of the most difficult, wrenching periods of my life.

On November 22, 1981, the Rolling Stones arrived in Chicago prior to playing three nights at the Rosemont Horizon. Long influenced by the Chicago blues, the band paid a visit to see legendary bluesman Muddy Waters perform. It didn’t take long before Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Ian Stewart were joining him on stage. Later, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Lefty Dizz also played their part. Luckily, this amazing blues night was captured on camera and has now been restored from the original footage, with sound mixed and mastered by Bob Clearmountain.

The question of whodunit remains unanswered in the case of a Chicago lottery winner who died last July with a lethal amount of cyanide in his blood.

As far as tech expos go, this was no CES, but some at Tech Expo at the BIT Center really believe the border city has a future as an innovation mecca.

The USS Freedom is slated to depart from her homeport of San Diego today on her maiden voyage. The USS Freedom is the Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship.

"Washington sure isn't make it easy" for the American people and the American economy, President Obama told reporters late Friday morning as he and other lawmakers failed to reach a deal to avert $85 billion worth of automatic "sequester" spending cuts due to start at the end of the day.

The SpaceX mission to resupply the International Space Station has encountered a problem, the founder of the private space firm, Elon Musk, has announced via Twitter.

On a day when we're in the final countdown for sequestration, Washington is still abuzz over whether or not White House economic adviser Gene Sperling threatened journalist Bob Woodward.

Shakes on a plane aren't all that funny to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Spike and Mike Festival of Animation 30th Anniversary Edition continues at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla through March 30 but tonight and tomorrow night you can meet an Oscar-nominated director.

Hundreds of wounded warrior athletes are on hand at Camp Pendleton today for the start of the third annual Marine Corps Trials.

There's a terrifying story from Florida this morning.

It's like Groundhog Day, as NPR's Ari Shapiro said on Morning Edition.

Hear Laura Sydell's report for Morning Edition by clicking the audio link.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A wildfire that damaged a house and left nearly 2,000 Southern California residents without power was 30 percent contained Friday as firefighters battled to surround it before winds kicked up.

The Obama administration has filed a friend of the court brief urging the United States Supreme Court to strike down California's ban on gay marriage. The government is arguing that the state's ban on gay marriage should be struck down as a denial of "equal protection under the law," but it does not call for the abolition of all state bans on same-sex marriage.

Yahoo's sweeping edict against telecommuting has been felt as a personal attack by some of the two-thirds of Americans who regularly work from home.

When NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health asked parents and caregivers in our new poll whether getting a good night's sleep is important, families overwhelmingly told us that sleep is a high priority.