USA

A Federal Commmunications Commission auction on prime public airwaves exceeded the $4.6 billion required to trigger an open-access provision to any device or software, based on anonymous bidding late last week. Analysts speculated that Google Inc. and Verizon Wireless were the likely bidders on the largest portion of the public wireless airwaves, a process that could take several more weeks.

Police continued their search Sunday for a man they said fled a Lane Bryant clothing store in Tinley Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, where five women were shot to death during an apparent robbery on Saturday.

Washington State lawmakers are considering bills to make it easier for schools to serve students locally grown foods, the Seattle Times reports. To help schools cut their dependence on processed foods from industrial suppliers, legislation would provide as much as $5 million to buy fruits and vegetables grown in the state. There's also a provision to encourage food banks to do the same.

Atlantic City, N.J., officials have decided to put dome-shaped tops on trash cans and enforce a law calling for $50 fines for people who feed seagulls rather than trying to deter hungry gulls by hanging fishing wire over the boardwalk. Animals rights activists hailed the decision as more humane.

The US is not keeping pace with other developed countries in its air-traffic-control management, according to a report compiled by John Strong of the College of William and Mary and Clinton Oster of Indiana University. Diffused accountability and a lack of organizational independence are among the system's weaknesses, say the authors, who point out that other countries use independent government corporations and public-private partnerships to coordinate air traffic.

Venezuelan-born pitcher Johan Santana (above) signed a $137.5 million, six-year contract over the weekend with the New York Mets in one of baseball's biggest off-season deals. The Minnesota Twins will receive four Mets prospects in exchange for the American League's two-time Cy Young Award winner.