Vampire tourism in Forks, Wash., still strong

As reported earlier, Forks Washington is being inundated with vampires. (Not unlike Santa Carla?)

FORKS, Wash. -- The "Twilight" tourism bonanza shows no signs of abating in Forks, an old logging town on Washington's Olympic Peninsula that's won new fame as the setting for a teen vampire fantasy.

Marcia Bingham of the Forks Chamber of Commerce says more than 16,000 people passed through the town's visitor center in July alone, doubling June's number, and in one month nearly equaling 2008's total of 18,485 people.

She notes that in the "old days" the Visitor Center focused mainly on teaching people about logging and coordinating tours of local natural resources. These days it's all about vampires and werewolves. Logging tours have been cut back from three a week to one.

Palin's online army, 'Team Sarah,' marches on without her

WASHINGTON -- In the hours leading up to the Senate's confirmation Tuesday of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of health and human services, the president's final Cabinet pick had a passive but potent opponent: fellow governor Sarah Palin.

The Republican Alaska governor didn't outright oppose Sebelius, a Democrat whose duties will include overhauling the country's healthcare system and overseeing the response to swine flu.

But the Alaska governor also said nothing while her supporters on Team Sarah, a Web site affiliated with an anti-abortion group, worked the phones in an effort to derail Sebelius' nomination because she favors abortion rights. The Senate confirmed Sebelius anyway, 65-31.

And the numerous visitors come armed with questions. Among them: Is it safe to go camping with the vampire problems in the area?