From wire reports
PASADENA, Calif. -- After a run of celebrity grand marshals, a real American hero led the Rose Parade on Friday.
Onlookers stood and cheered as Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III rode down Colorado Boulevard in a vintage 1928 Pierce Arrow with his wife, Lorrie, and two daughters as part of the annual armada of flower-draped floats, marching bands and prancing horses.
Sullenberger said he did not hesitate when asked to serve as grand marshal because his family has watched the parade when he was growing up in Texas.
"It's really an American institution, a celebration of American values," he said after the parade. "I think people see those in me, and I'm glad."
The 121st Rose Parade had something for everyone.
Under signature sunny Southern California skies, onlookers gasped when the cannons of Honda's three-masted, sailing ship float boomed and shot sparklers and smoke rings toward the bleachers.
A float celebrating Mexico's bicentennial featured Mexico City's landmark Angel of Independence and an intricate flower Aztec calendar, as well as dancers costumed in traditional regional dress.
The parade came 20 hours after hundreds of thousands of people began staking out sidewalk space along the route for the annual New Year's Eve celebration. They lugged sleeping bags, lawn chairs and party favors, then spent the night under the light of a rare blue moon -- the second full moon in a month.
Limbaugh: Tests show heart is healthy
HONOLULU -- Conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh said Friday that tests show nothing wrong with his heart after chest pains hospitalized him earlier this week.
Limbaugh said at a Honolulu news conference that he was being released from The Queen's Medical Center, where he was rushed Wednesday during a vacation. Doctors said he did not have a heart attack or heart disease.
"The pain was real, and they don't know what caused it," Limbaugh said.
Asked whether he was taking painkillers, Limbaugh said no.
His medical problems have attracted attention in the past. In 2003, he acknowledged an addiction to pain killers for severe back pain and took a five-week leave from his radio show to enter rehab.
