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VIDEO: Today's Headline News from Associated Press

SUMMER TRAVEL FORECAST: BETTER, BUT NO BLOWOUT

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- This summer, high rollers are flying to lavish hot spots for their vacations. The rest of us are driving to less luxurious places like nearby campgrounds.

 

The good news: At some U.S. campgrounds these days you get live bands, air guitar contests and chocolate pudding slip `n slides.

 

Americans' plans for summer travel mirror the current state of the economy. Rising home prices and a soaring stock market are encouraging those at the top of the income ladder to take more extravagant trips. But large segments of the population are staying close to home because wages are stagnant, rents are high and the end of the payroll tax holiday has shrunk their take-home pay.

 

For a travel industry still stinging from the Great Recession, that likely means another summer of steady, but slow, recovery.

 

AAA, one of the nation's largest leisure travel agencies, isn't expecting a resounding start to vacation season this Memorial Day. Citing the "up and down economy," AAA expects 31.2 million Americans to hit the road this weekend, virtually the same number as last year. Throw in planes, trains and buses, and the number of travelers will drop about 1 percent, AAA says.

 

FIRST LADY TO STUDENTS: 'I HAVE FAILED AT THINGS'

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Failure is OK, but continuing to work hard is more important, Michelle Obama said Friday.

 

That was the message the first lady delivered to students at an elementary school where the arts are being used to help boost student performance. The school is located in Anacostia, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

 

Mrs. Obama said failure was not an impediment for her and shouldn't be for them.

 

She also encouraged the students to "try new things and not be afraid to fail, because we have all failed."

 

"You're looking at the first ... I have failed at things. Things have been really hard for me at times," Mrs. Obama said at Savoy Elementary School. "But all I had to do was keep going and keep working hard."

 

To further illustrate her point, she pointed to Kerry Washington, star of ABC's "Scandal," as another example.

 

Mrs. Obama said the actress, who was sitting in the audience for the visit, is a big star these days because she chose to keep perfecting her craft instead of becoming discouraged by rejection during her career.

 

"She spent a lot of time practicing and working and trying out for things and having people tell her 'no,' 'no, thank you,' 'you're not good enough, you're not pretty enough,'" the first lady said. "Could you imagine somebody telling Kerry that she wasn't pretty enough, she wasn't tall enough, she was too short? That's all performing is, is rejection."

 

Washington, who is the school's arts ambassador, later said she wasn't sure how that came to be.

 

"It might have something to do with playing Olivia Pope and having a principal Pope," she joked. Olivia Pope is her character on "Scandal" and Patrick Pope is the school's principal.

 

NETFLIX LOOKS TO HOOK SUBSCRIBERS WITH 'ARRESTED'

 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Netflix is hoping this weekend's release of the resurrected TV series "Arrested Development" will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

 

The award-winning show about the dysfunctional Bluth family returns Sunday, seven years after Fox cancelled the series. The revival coincides with Netflix's own resounding comeback from a customer backlash over price increases and shareholders' worries about rising expenses. The adversity had raised doubts about the company's management and future.

 

Now, Netflix is winning back subscribers and investors with a bold attempt to establish its $8-per-month service as a home entertainment powerhouse that rivals the broadcast television networks and premium cable channels such as HBO.

 

With 29.2 million U.S. subscribers - far more than the 21.9 million TV subscribers that leading cable provider Comcast Corp. has - Netflix has already reshaped home entertainment.

 

The service is encouraging more people to forego cable and satellite TV service and rely on Netflix to watch popular TV series a year or more after they originally were shown. Netflix also is empowering viewers to watch an entire season of a TV series in a matter of days instead of months.