When domestic violence is linked with someone in the public eye, the perception that the crime happens only to certain people living in troubled neighborhoods starts to crumble.

The arrest Wednesday of Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver shows that the problem sweeps in "neighbors and friends and, yes, public officials," said Grace Huang, public policy coordinator for the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Former Vice President Al Gore, newly named co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, said Friday he hopes the honor will "elevate global consciousness" about the challenges of global warming.

Gore, whose documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award earlier this year, was awarded the prize earlier in the day along with an international network of scientists for spreading awareness of man-made climate change and laying the foundations for counteracting it.