WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama plans to address Congress for the first time on Feb. 24, five weeks after his inauguration.

White House officials say that Obama’s speech to a joint session of the House and Senate will have the trappings of a State of the Union address, but it will not be considered one.

The speech to Congress on Feb. 24 is expected to emphasize that Obama inherited difficult situations on many fronts and that he will preside over a new dawn in Washington.

Penny pinching pays off in $2M gift

CLEVELAND (AP) – A penny pinching math teacher who never earned more than $40,000 per year in salary has left $2 million to her Ohio alma mater.

Laura Bickimer died in April at age 93 after making plans to leave the bulk of her estate to Baldwin-Wallace College near Cleveland. She graduated from the school in 1936 with a 4.0 average.

Bickimer, who never married, retired from teaching in 1972 and lived out her life in a nursing home. Years ago, she wrote in an alumni questionnaire that she preferred washing her clothes in an old-fashioned wringer and tried each day to perform some act of kindness.

Bickimer never earned more than $40,000 in annual salary, but inherited wealth from family. The school will name a $50,000 scholarship after her.

Teens take deals in videotaped beating

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) -The last two Florida teens involved in the videotaped beating of a classmate have agreed to plea deals.

Kayla Hassall and April Cooper were among the teens arrested last year and accused of attacking a 16-year-old girl. The attack was recorded on video and seen around the world via the Internet and TV.

They accepted plea deals Wednesday, keeping the case from going to trial. Three other teens have done the same.

A spokesman for the state attorney’s office says Hassall pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor battery and Cooper pleaded guilty to two counts. They will be punished as juveniles and face up to a year of detention on each count.

FBI cracks down on crime family

NEW YORK (AP) – The FBI says it has arrested several people in New York City as part of an investigation of the Genovese organized crime family.

The suspects under arrest were named Wednesday in a racketeering indictment charging them with extortion, loan sharking and drug dealing.

The FBI says those charged include the reputed acting boss of the family – Danny “The Lion” Leo.

Leo was sentenced last year to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges he conspired to shake down a livery cab business owner and an illegal gambling business.

The suspects were awaiting arraignment Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan.