Perez entered the plea Tuesday in his first court appearance since his arrest last week. He is charged with receiving a bribe, tampering with evidence and conspiring to tamper with evidence.

Perez's attorney, Hubert Santos, says Perez is "prepared to go to trial today." Perez is due back in court March 3.

Perez is accused of hiring a city contractor to do $40,000 worth of renovations to his home and not paying for it until he was confronted by investigators in 2007.

He says he has no plans to step down as mayor.

The Iowa Supreme Court has issued an order closing all state court offices on Feb. 16 to save money during tough budget times.

Court officials say the day of unpaid leave will affect about 1,600 employees and save more than $335,000.

Judges and magistrates are the only court employees who will work on the furlough day. That's because their salaries are set by the Legislature and handled separately.

Court officials say the closure is in response to an expected reduction in their budget.

The furlough is planned for President's Day, a federal holiday, when officials expect less impact on the public because other government agencies are closed.

The California 2nd District Court of Appeal issued the decision Monday, and also lifted a stay on all proceedings.

Polanski's attorney, Chad Hummel, claimed the entire Los Angeles Superior Court bench is biased against the director. Prosecutors countered that the claim was frivolous.

Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles in 1978 but fled to France before he could be sentenced.

Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini says a new date for the hearing will be set Tuesday.

More than 500 people have been sickened and at least eight may have died. Authorities fault Peanut Corp. of America. Officials said the company shipped products that initially tested positive for salmonella after retesting and getting a negative result.

The outbreak has led to a massive recall of products ranging from ice cream to cookies and prompted consumer groups to urge Congress to require annual inspections of food processing plants.

"I think that the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch," Obama said in an interview aired Monday on NBC's "Today" show. "And so we're going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations."

The president said Americans should be able to count on the government to keep children safe when they eat peanut butter and that includes his 7-year-old daughter Sasha.

"That's what Sasha eats for lunch probably three times a week. And you know, I don't want to have to worry about whether she's going to get sick as a consequence to having her lunch," Obama said.

The FDA has asked the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into Virginia-based Peanut Corp. of America. Documents showed that until shortly before the salmonella outbreak, federal food safety inspectors had not been to the plant since 2001.

"The FDA is supposed to be a watchdog for consumers, and for too long, this agency has been coming up short," said Jean Halloran, director of Food Policy Initiatives for Consumers Union.

Terry Lisotta was arraigned in Baton Rouge on 14 counts of theft. Lisotta, CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. until April 2007, is accused of improperly spending about $30,000 of the firm's money.

The criminal charges stem from an investigation by the Legislative Auditor's Office that questioned $106,000 of Lisotta's expense reports from 2003-2006. State Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's office is prosecuting.

Cynthia Haddad filed the gender discrimination lawsuit after she fired in April 2004 after 10 years at the Pittsfield Wal-Mart.

In 2007, a Berkshire Superior Court awarded Haddad nearly $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. The company appealed.

A judge upheld the compensatory damages but agreed to revoke the punitive damages, saying there was insufficient basis for the jury’s decision.

On Thursday, both sides make their case on the issue of the punitive damages before the Supreme Judicial Court.