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Reproductive rights advocates urged a judge Monday to let teenage girls buy morning-after birth control without a prescription beginning this week, saying to delay enforcement of his ruling while the government appeals would cause "certain, significant and irreparable" harm to women. The U.S. Justice Department last week requested that it be given time to appeal last month's ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn. It said the judge exceeded his authority when he said women of...

A man abducted a 6-year-old boy from his yard, brought him home to play video games, then raped him and abandoned him in a park late at night, police said. Brian Timothy Lynch, 45, of Confluence, was arrested Sunday and is facing two counts of kidnapping, rape and other charges, police said. The boy was playing in his yard in a rural township about 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday when Lynch allegedly grabbed the boy and brought him to his car. An unidentified 17-year-old...

It's early on a Friday morning, and high school chemistry students in Victoria Dawson's class are working equations at the board. Dawson is peppering the class of 11 girls and four boys with questions, trying to keep everyone focused as she helps correct mistakes. When a student gets one of the dense equations right, Dawson and the class salute with finger-snapping in place of applause "I want some A's on Tuesday," the teacher says, warning of an upcoming test. In a state where Republican leaders...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasn't in a pardoning mood when an itsy, bitsy spider crawled on his desk while he spoke to a group of schoolchildren. The students spotted the arachnid near the governor's phone on Friday. Speaking softly, Christie gave the spider a smack down. The governor told the students that one fun part of being governor is you're allowed to kill any bugs on your desk without getting into trouble. Christie tweeted that he had "saved a few school children from a spider."...

With friends and family already gathered for her graduation from Washington State University, Cassie Dotts thought it would be a good time for another ceremony _ her wedding. She married University of Idaho fisheries science graduate Ben Ho in a ceremony on Friday in Moscow, Idaho. Then she received her doctorate in veterinary medicine in Saturday's WSU graduation in Pullman, Wash. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports ( http://bit.ly/10eaEQl ) that Dotts wore her cap and gown over her wedding...

The school day in Divide begins with the four students, ages 5 to 14, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance around the flagpole outside their little red schoolhouse on the outskirts of the southwestern Montana ranching town, population 161. When they finish, all four sit at desks in the school's one classroom before teacher Judy Boyle, who switches between elementary and middle school lesson plans. Throughout the day, Boyle will also be their nurse, principal, counselor and administrator. "It's not...

Government secrecy reaches a new level this week in the court-martial of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst who sent 700,000 classified U.S. documents to the WikiLeaks website. A military judge, Col. Denise Lind, has ordered what prosecutors say is an unprecedented closed hearing Wednesday at Fort Meade to help her decide how much of Manning's upcoming trial should be closed to protect national security. An unidentified prosecution witness will testify during that closed hearing...

Police say a compact car packed with 10 people crashed in New Jersey's largest city, injuring everyone inside, including a mother and her two young children who sustained life-threatening injuries. Newark Police Detective Eugenio Gonzalez says the Dodge Neon struck a tree south of downtown at around 1:30 a.m. Monday. Gonzalez says all 10 people were trapped inside the vehicle after the crash. Police say the mother and two of her children, ages 1 and 2 years old, are in critical condition. Police...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. ISRAEL RETURNS TO BUSINESS AFTER AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for a trip to China, a possible sign that it does not expect immediate retaliation. 2. BRIDE AMONG 5 KILLED IN LIMO FIRE Authorities say the San Francisco-area woman and eight others may have tried to escape the burning car through the window opening separating them from the driver. 3. A VOTE...

"Israel cannot allow weapons, dangerous weapons, to get into the hands of terror organizations." _ Israel's deputy defense minister, Danny Danon in a statement as Israeli officials signaled they will keep trying to block what they see as an effort by Iran to send sophisticated weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia ahead of a possible collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. ___ "The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life...

California and federal public health officials say valley fever, a potentially lethal but often misdiagnosed disease infecting more and more people around the nation, has been on the rise as warming climates and drought have kicked up the dust that spreads it. The fever has hit California's agricultural heartland particularly hard in recent years, with incidence dramatically increasing in 2010 and 2011. The disease _ which is prevalent in arid regions of the United States, Mexico, Central and...

This is the Illinois that many people never see _ the sparsely populated southern tip where flat farmland gives way to rolling hills, rocky outcrops, thick forests and cypress swamps. Blacktopped county roads wend through no-stoplight towns. Locals speak in soft drawls and talk of generations who've lived on the same land or in the same villages. The remote and rugged Shawnee National Forest attracts hikers, campers and horseback riders, and offers a stark contrast to the rest of a state that...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday: 1. HOW SYRIA AND IRAN WILL RESPOND TO ISRAEL'S AIRSTRIKES The countries hint at possible retribution, though the rhetoric in official statements appears relatively muted. 2. WHY YOU'RE PROBABLY A TAX CHEAT In most states, if you buy anything on the Internet without paying sales tax, you're still required to pay it. 3. BANGLADESH FIRE TOLL TOPS 600 The disaster is likely the worst garment-factory...

Members of a Catholic church where three people were stabbed during Mass a week ago launched an effort on Sunday to raise money for victims hurt in the attack. The start of the campaign came as Sunday services resumed at St. Jude Thaddeus Church. Parishioners were also collecting cards and well wishes to give to families. "God is working in and through all of life's circumstances," a message seeking donations said on the church's website. "Thank you for your prayers and concern and for answering...

Otis R. Bowen, who overhauled Indiana's tax system as governor before helping oversee the federal response to the burgeoning AIDS epidemic during President Ronald Reagan's second term, has died. He was 95. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said in a statement Sunday that Bowen died Saturday at a nursing home in Donaldson, a community about 25 miles south of South Bend that is near Bowen's hometown of Bremen. He didn't disclose the cause of death. "Governor Otis R. Bowen's contributions to the life of...

California and federal public health officials say valley fever, a potentially lethal but often misdiagnosed disease infecting more and more people around the nation, has been on the rise as warming climates and drought have kicked up the dust that spreads it. The fever has hit California's agricultural heartland particularly hard in recent years, with incidence dramatically increasing in 2010 and 2011. The disease _ which is prevalent in arid regions of the United States, Mexico, Central and...

Authorities say a 24-year-old Colorado man accidentally shot himself while cleaning his handgun. Police say the man, whose name has not been released, was sitting in his vehicle in Colorado Springs when he spilled soda on the gun Saturday afternoon. The man wiped the gun clean, and the weapon accidentally discharged as he was replacing the magazine. He was taken to a hospital in fair condition after suffering injuries to his left hand, left thigh and left calf.

At least two online campaigns aimed to help David Henneberry buy a new boat after his was shot up while a Boston Marathon bombing suspect hid inside. And a handful of drives have cropped up to help the family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old killed in the attack. Neither recipient had anything to do with setting up those fundraisers. That didn't stop the sites from raising tens of thousands of dollars, while campaigns on similar "crowdfunding" sites have raised millions combined for other victims....

Perched in a boat drifting slowly along the Red River, Dan Thomas kept one eye on a laptop and the other on a $60,000 piece of floating hardware that beamed sound waves deep into the flooding river. As the signal bounced off water molecules and returned, the laptop sorted it into data on the river's depth and speed and transmitted it instantly to the National Weather Service. Once there, the work by the U.S. Geological Survey's water expert became part of the data stew the weather service relies...

Less than two months after British forces captured Savannah in December 1778, patriot militiamen scored a rare Revolutionary War victory in Georgia after a short but violent gunbattle forced British loyalists to abandon a small fort built on a frontiersman's cattle farm. More than 234 years later, archaeologists say they've pinpointed the location of Carr's Fort in northeastern Georgia after a search with metal detectors covering more than 4 square miles turned up musket balls and rifle parts...

Tom Leksan lost nearly everything when gambling became an addiction with easy access to casinos. Once an Ohio lawyer, Leksan lost his job and marriage because of gambling, specifically blackjack. He had been gambling for years, he said, but did not become a problem gambler until he became hooked on riverboat casinos in nearby Indiana. "I think the casinos thrive off the compulsive gambler," said Leksan, now a car salesman in northern California. "They pay lip service to treating problem gambling,...

High taxes have emerged as the No. 1 weapon in the war on smoking. The more cigarettes cost, research has shown, the fewer people buy them. That is one of the reasons six states are considering proposals to hike tobacco taxes. But the effectiveness of that strategy is being undercut in the home of the nation's highest tobacco taxes _ New York City _ by light penalties for merchants caught selling cheap cigarettes smuggled in from low-tax states. Of the 1,105 licensed tobacco retailers inspected...

Winds gusting to 40 mph wreaked havoc on parts of Central Oregon Saturday, toppling trees that blocked roads and downing power lines that sparked at least two small wildfires and forced the evacuation of dozens of homes. The fires were small, estimated at 10 acres and 100 acres respectively _ a small fraction of a square mile. But strong winds and warm temperatures made them tough to fight. About 40 homes were evacuated in the afternoon when flames got too close to the Crescent Creek subdivision...

People evacuated from dozens of home in central Oregon as a wildfire flared nearby are being allowed to return home. Sgt. Mike Biondi of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office says residents of the 40 homes in the Crescent Creek subdivision near La Pine that were evacuated in the early afternoon Saturday began returning home about 8 p.m. Biondi says at least 20 of the evacuated people showed up at a Red Cross shelter, which was shutting down as the threat eased. Winds gusting to 40 mph wreaked...

The Kentucky Derby is known as much for hats and high fashion as it is for fast horses. This year, rains are swamping Churchill Downs, but fans on the infield are still holding their heads _ and their hats _ high. Bigger and bolder is the rule for hats that often dwarf their owners. April Pauley of Columbus, Ohio, paraded around in the mud wearing a hat featuring flowers, a papier-mache jockey head and goggles and ribbons. "It's just my own little creation," Pauley said before taking a swig of...

The Texas fertilizer plant that exploded last month, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday. Tyler lawyer Randy C. Roberts said he and other attorneys who have filed lawsuits against West Fertilizer's owners were told Thursday that the plant carried only $1 million in liability insurance. Brook Laskey, an attorney hired by the plant's insurer to represent...

A big cool-down in weather calmed a huge wildfire burning in Southern California coastal mountains Saturday, and firefighters worked to cut miles of containment lines while conditions were favorable. High winds and withering hot, dry air were replaced by the normal flow of damp air off the Pacific, significantly reducing fire activity. "The fire isn't really running and gunning," said Tom Kruschke, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesman. The 43-square-mile blaze at the western...

Part rock concert, part investment workshop, the annual gathering of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders is an odd mix. But that's just how the faithful crowd of more than 30,000 who attended Saturday's version likes it. Getting the chance to learn about business and life from Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett and spend the day with like-minded investors made it worthwhile to brave Saturday's cool, rainy weather in Omaha, Nebraska. The level of appreciation shareholders have for Buffett becomes clear...

A Northern California white supremacist convicted of killing a child molester has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison, while his wife _ convicted of being an accessory _ will be released from jail in about two months, The Sacramento Bee reported ( http://bit.ly/17D3Y4l ) Saturday. Charles Francis Gaskins, 48, was sentenced Friday after pleading no contest in March for the killing of Neil Hayes in 2009. A probation report said Gaskins was a member of a supremacist group that required...

Just days after Gov. Jan Brewer signed a law designed to hinder police participation in gun buyback events, the city of Phoenix on Saturday held the first of three buybacks that organizers are calling the largest effort of its kind in the state's history. The law Brewer signed April 29 takes effect this summer and requires cities and counties to sell surrendered weapons instead of destroying them. That basically bars police and supporters of the events from accomplishing their key goal, cutting...

Faced with hefty operating costs, the foundation building the 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center has decided to charge an admission fee of $20 to $25 when the site opens next year. The exact cost of the mandatory fee has not yet been decided. Entry to the memorial plaza with its twin reflecting pools will still be free. The decision to charge for the underground museum housing relics of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks has been greeted with dismay by some relatives of 9/11 victims. "People...

A Utah snake collector who says his rare boa constrictors are getting a bad rap has won at least a temporary reprieve from an order to remove more than two dozen of the exotic pets from his home. Cottonwood Heights police cited Thomas Cobb a week ago for failure to have an exotic pet permit and told him he had until Friday to get rid of all but one of his 29 boa constrictors. Cobb values the snakes at $12,000 apiece and said he spent $100,000 on a special room in his basement with top-of-the-line...

The Kentucky Derby is known as much for hats and high fashion as it is for fast horses. This year, rains are swamping Churchill Downs, but fans on the infield are still holding their heads _ and their hats _ high. Bigger and bolder is the rule for hats that often dwarf their owners. April Pauley of Columbus, Ohio, paraded around in the mud wearing a hat featuring flowers, a papier-mache jockey head and goggles and ribbons. "It's just my own little creation," Pauley said before taking a swig of...

On a warm summer day in July 2006, Robin Aleo climbed to the top of a 6-foot inflatable pool slide and slid down head first. As she neared the bottom, the slide partially collapsed and Aleo slammed her head on the concrete pool deck, causing fatal injuries. Five years later, a jury awarded Aleo's family more than $20 million, finding that the slide sold by Toys R Us did not comply with federal safety standards for swimming pool slides. Toys R Us will go before the highest court in Massachusetts...

Anna Abderhalden and her siblings woke before dawn to stake a claim to a coveted beachfront spot where bonfires blaze each night as a rite of summer in this surf-crazy Southern California city. More than 12 hours later, Abderhalden's toes were tucked in the sand as an orange sun dipped below the horizon and flames warmed her family. "This is a unique place," she said as her sister-in-law skewered a marshmallow. "You're by nature, you've got the ocean right there and we've got our feet in the...

An unwanted modern addition has flown into the arms of a Lady Justice statue that sits atop a county courthouse in north-central Ohio. A 9-inch, remote-control helicopter flew into Lady Justice on the Marion County Courthouse on April 27 and has been there since _ resting on the hilt of her sword more than 100 feet high. Video producer Terry Cline tells the Marion Star ( http://ohne.ws/YdwsPA ) that he was using the $1,500 camera-equipped helicopter to shoot a promotional video for the city...

When Kent Walker walked through his dusty fields one morning this spring, the ominous signs were right there at his feet. His wheat crop that should have been thick, dark green and thigh-high was thin, brown and barely covered the top of his shoes. It looked like the start of an ugly rerun. Last year, most of his cotton crop was destroyed by drought. In 2011, almost all his cotton and wheat were stunted or shriveled. Walker sold about a third of his cattle then because he didn't have...

"My problem here is trying to find a gravesite. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to be involved with this. I keep bringing up the point of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy. Somebody had to do those, too." _ Funeral home owner Peter Stefan, who has to find a burial site for the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. ___ "It's a crucial time for us. We are doing our best to improve the safety measures in the factories. We expect our buyers...

The incoming leader of the National Rifle Association has a long history with the powerful gun rights lobby and a penchant for bold statements that are sure to enflame an already explosive national debate over gun control. James Porter, an Alabama attorney and first vice president of the NRA, assumes the presidency on Monday after the group's national convention wraps up in Houston. He didn't wait until then to ignite a new furor over gun control, telling the NRA grass-roots organizers on Friday...

One of Disneyland's most popular rides has reopened after the company declined to appeal a workplace safety case. The Orange County Register reports ( http://bit.ly/YtNgUy ) Space Mountain reopened Friday evening. The attraction was closed in April after state officials said safety rules were violated when a contractor fell and suffered broken bones while cleaning Space Mountain's slanted roof. The contract company was fined nearly $61,000 for the safety violations. The California Division...

Newtown, Conn., officials have met to discuss what to do with the elementary school where 20 first-graders and six educators were shot to death in December, but they haven't made a decision. A task force of 28 local elected officials met Friday night for several hours and will return next week for another meeting. They heard mixed opinions from residents on what should be done with Sandy Hook Elementary School. The task force has narrowed a list of choices to renovating or rebuilding on the school...

A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, a funeral director said Friday. Worcester funeral home owner Peter Stefan has 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body and read details from his death certificate. The certificate cites Tsarnaev's "gunshot wounds of torso and extremities" and lists the time of his death as 1:35 a.m. on April 19, four days after the deadly bombing, Stefan said. Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with authorities...

Two ancient stone statues that have been on display in a New York City museum for nearly 20 years are being returned to Cambodia. The Metropolitan Museum of Art said Friday the 10th-century Koh Ker stone statues are being returned after researchers discovered new evidence about how they were acquired. The statues are called "Kneeling Attendants." The Met says the decision to return them was made after a recent meeting between museum officials and representatives of the Cambodian government in...

It seemed that each time wind-driven embers sparked new blazes or a wall of fire leaped a Southern California hillside and came charging toward hundreds of homes, an army of firefighters was right there to either douse or direct the flames away from humanity. As a result, the fire that broke out Thursday quickly moved through the Camarillo Springs area without destroying a single home. Firefighters were hoping for the same success on Friday, as the fire raged out of control miles away near...

Jurors began deliberations in Jodi Arias' murder trial on Friday after four months of testimony and closing arguments from both sides that presented far different scenarios of the killing and motivation, leaving the panel to come to grips with the dearth of evidence and Arias' ever-changing version of events. The panel deliberated for just about an hour Friday before concluding for the day. Deliberations resume Monday. Closing arguments wrapped up with Arias' lawyer imploring jurors to take...

The National Rifle Association kicked off its annual convention Friday with a warning to its members they are engaged in a "culture war" that stretches beyond gun rights, further ramping up emotions surrounding the gun control debate. NRA First Vice President James Porter, a Birmingham, Ala., attorney who will assume the organization's presidency Monday, issued a full-throated challenge to President Barack Obama in the wake of a major victory regarding gun control and called on members to...

A Southern California wildfire burning through coastal wilderness nearly doubled in size Friday, growing to more than 28 square miles. "It's just the beginning of May and we already have a 10,000-plus acre fire that's burning intensely," said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Tom Kruschke. "That doesn't bode well for the rest of the season." Here's a look at that and other wildfires spreading across the region.

Florida Democratic leaders want Republican Gov. Rick Scott to veto the state budget or call a special session after the Legislature adjourned without passing an expansion of the state's Medicaid program. House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston said some low-income Floridians are not benefiting from the budget. In an unusual alliance, Scott, Senate Republicans, Democrats, Florida hospitals, health advocates and a diverse mix of business and labor groups all supported a bill that would have drawn...

Underlying California's attempts to meet a federal court order for reducing its prison population is an unsettling question: Will the public be in greater danger as a result? The answer could determine how many inmates are ultimately released, who that would be and even whether federal judges decide to hold Gov. Jerry Brown in contempt. The Brown administration filed its plan late Thursday night to further reduce the inmate population by 7,000 inmates, a plan that comes after it already has...

The last person known to have seen three people whose bodies were found in a makeshift grave in Oklahoma last month said Friday that one of the three was "hateful and snotty" to her the last time they were together but insisted she had nothing to do with their disappearance 21 years ago. Wendy Camp, her 6-year-old daughter and a sister-in-law disappeared May 29, 1992, and their bodies were found last month. DNA tests are pending, but investigators are confident they've found the three females....

Investigators searching for evidence in the stabbing death of an 8-year-old girl were looking Friday at several knives taken from her home to determine if one could have inflicted the fatal wounds. Sgt. Chris Hewitt of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office said investigators had taken "several knives from the home," but he would say little else about them. "We don't want to put too many details out there that could taint our interviews," Hewitt said. Victim Leila Fowler shared the home with...

In a sun-deprived part of Washington state, the promise of nice spring weather prompted a small private school to give students a day off to enjoy the sunshine. Friday is a "sun day" of sorts for the 205 students at Bellingham Christian School, a small, private, nondenominational Christian school in Bellingham, Wash., about 90 miles north of Seattle. "SCHOOL CANCELLED DUE TO GREAT WEATHER! WAHOOO!" the school's website announced Thursday night. "Yeah! It's a Sun Day today and everyone gets the...

A New York state lawmaker already facing bribery and other corruption charges has been accused of using funds meant for a nonprofit to pay for community events promoting his political career. Federal prosecutors announced the new mail fraud charges against Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. of Brooklyn on Friday. A revised indictment accuses Boyland of using the diverted funds to buy T-shirts with the slogan "Team Boyland" for the community events. It also alleges he directed members of his staff...

Prosecutors are seeking a 25-year prison sentence for a Texas man who admits he plotted to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, saying he deserves the maximum in part because he didn't care if an explosive he sought to put in a Washington restaurant killed a lot of people. In papers filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government called the plot Manssor Arbabsiar planned to carry out with members of the Iranian military an "extremely serious crime." Arbabsiar,...

One of the convicted spies known as the "Cuban Five" will be able to permanently remain in Cuba in exchange for renouncing his U.S. citizenship, a federal judge ruled Friday after U.S. officials dropped their initial opposition. Rene Gonzalez, 56, has been in Cuba since April 22 to attend memorial services for his father, who died last month. Gonzalez was released from U.S. prison in October 2011 but was still serving three years' probation, which the Justice Department had previously insisted...

Larry Shafer, a longtime public servant for the city of Ravenna who was a guardsman at Kent State University during the 1970 deadly shootings, died Friday, his family said. He was 67. Shafer's death came a day before the 43rd anniversary of the gunfire at the northeast Ohio college. His cause of death wasn't immediately known. Mayor Joe Bica told the Kent-Ravenna Record-Courier newspaper that Shafer died during surgery. Kent State was the scene of Vietnam War protests May 4, 1970, when the Ohio...

Exiled Chinese author Yu Jie joined other writers including Salman Rushdie on the 20th observance of World Press Freedom Day in appealing to China to live up to its own constitution and laws guaranteeing freedom of expression, and calling on the public to put pressure on governments that crack down on writers. Yu and other writers and activists were on a PEN International panel Friday highlighting a report on trends of the last five years in China's crackdown on free expression. It also marked...

Police say no crime occurred when a second-grade Colorado teacher taped her students' mouth shut when they wouldn't be quiet. Police interviewed the teacher at Fulton Academy in the suburb of Aurora after a student told her mother who then reported Thursday's incident to police. The student confirmed to police the teacher's statement to an officer that it was a joke, the children were laughing, and had asked that their mouths be taped. In her statement to police, the teacher said she didn't "think...

Hurricane evacuation areas would encompass 640,000 more city residents, and the number of zones would double, under plans disclosed Friday. Details on the new zones won't be released until June, but the changes could mean neighborhoods around the city might newly be told to clear out ahead of future storms, even as the city grapples with findings that nearly two-thirds of people shrugged off orders to leave before Superstorm Sandy. As officials reckon with a new understanding of flooding risks...

Arkansas' attorney general asked Gov. Mike Beebe to set execution dates for seven death row inmates, according to letters obtained Friday by The Associated Press. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel noted in the letters sent to Beebe late Thursday that six of the seven inmates are challenging the state's new lethal injection law and protocol, which calls for Arkansas to use a drug that has never before been used for lethal injections in the U.S. However, McDaniel said there aren't any court orders...

A Northern California preschool teacher is facing jail time after pleading no contest to slipping sleeping pills in toddlers' water cups. Santa Clara County prosecutors say 59-year-old Deborah Gratz entered the plea this week to a charge of attempted child endangerment. Gratz worked at the Kiddie Academy in Morgan Hill. Prosecutors say she told police she slipped Sominex in the cups because she wanted the children to sleep longer during naptimes. Gratz was caught after a teacher observed her...

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says recent mass shootings have prompted leaders in Washington, D.C., to exploit tragedy in order to limit the freedoms of law-abiding people. Palin spoke at the National Rifle Association's convention Friday afternoon in Houston. She said while she and others were saddened and angered by December's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, the emotions that have resulted from it won't make anybody safer and won't "protect the good...

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk says rehab worked after he suffered a stroke last year. The Illinois Republican spoke Friday at a charter school in the northern Chicago suburbs along with fellow Sen. Dick Durbin. Kirk was asked about his health. On Friday he used a wheelchair at the school. He told the students "rehab works." Kirk says he usually walks a block every morning at his Lake Forest home as part of his rehabilitation. The News-Sun in Waukegan reports ( http://bit.ly/1253HE9 ) that the senator said...

Investigators have determined that a man who shot dead five family members at their home in central Illinois was motivated by his anger over a custody dispute. In a statement Friday, Illinois State Police said Rick O. Smith planned the shooting attack on the family members because he believed they were interfering in his dispute with the mother of his 3-year-old daughter. The mother and Smith's daughter live at a different address and were not among the victims of the April 24 shooting in Manchester....

Prosecutors in Northern California have decided not to pursue any criminal charges against a former teacher accused of tying up a 2-year-old girl when she worked at a preschool. Alameda County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Teresa Drenick declined to elaborate on the decision to the Oakland Tribune ( http://bit.ly/ZFFMwH ) this week except to say the DA's office reviewed the evidence and declined to file charges. The girl's parents have sued Centerpointe Church and Preschool in Pleasanton...

A Boy Scouts of America group will vacate its city-owned Philadelphia headquarters in return for $825,000 under an agreement that settles a long legal battle over the organization's ban on gays, Mayor Michael Nutter's office said Friday. The Boy Scouts Cradle of Liberty Council staff will leave its downtown Philadelphia headquarters of 85 years by June 30 and the retail store in the building will close by Oct. 31. In exchange, the city will reimburse the Boy Scouts for improvements made to the...

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum praised the National Rifle Association as "warriors" defending the U.S. Constitution. Santorum spoke Friday in the political rally at the NRA's national convention in Houston. The convention is being held amid the backdrop of the fierce gun control debate raging across the country and the recent defeat of a major gun control bill in the U.S. Senate. Santorum, a former senator from Pennyslvania, told NRA members that the Bill of Rights and...

Visitors to the nation's third-largest city are usually spotted wandering the Magnificent Mile, snapping pictures of the Willis Tower and sampling Chicago-style deep dish pizza, but if some persistent Illinois lawmakers and Mayor Rahm Emanuel get their way, a glitzy casino would be on their agenda, too. Trying to land a Chicago casino has become an annual sticking point, despite political gusto from mayors and legislators who want to expand gambling in Illinois. Gov. Pat Quinn has axed two gambling...

The administrator of a fund created to help people injured in the Boston Marathon bombings and the families of those who died in the attack plan to meet with victims next week with hopes of cutting the first checks by the end of June. Kenneth Feinberg is overseeing The One Fund Boston, which had taken in more than $28 million as of Friday and should get another significant boost from an upcoming benefit concert featuring performers such as Aerosmith and New Kids on the Block. Feinberg, a Massachusetts...

Lawmakers in South Carolina are trying to keep junk food out of the governor's mansion. State senators inserted a clause in the 2013-14 budget plan that would bar Gov. Nikki Haley's office and the Governor's Mansion from buying junk food with public money, whether for employee treats or entertaining. The move was a response to state efforts to fight obesity by limiting what people can buy with money from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, known more commonly as food stamps. Those efforts...

After fleeing to Israel following a 2008 immigration raid, a former manager at a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa has appeared in a U.S. courtroom to answer charges that he harbored immigrants in the country illegally for profit. With his hands and feet shackled, Hasam Omara walked slowly into the federal courtroom in Cedar Rapids on Friday. Omara pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with 25 counts related to harboring people in the U.S. illegally and two counts related to document fraud....

A Philadelphia abortion provider will spend another weekend in custody after a jury failed to reach a verdict in his murder case. Dr. Kermit Gosnell is accused of killing four babies born alive. He's also charged in the 2009 overdose of a patient. Jurors deliberated for more than three days before leaving Friday without a verdict. They are to return Monday. They must weigh hundreds of counts against the 72-year-old Gosnell, many of them allegations he performed illegal, third-trimester abortions....

Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says the federal government should put its efforts into prosecuting criminals who illegally buy guns and not into trying to pass new gun control laws. Cruz told thousands of people at the National Rifle Association's convention Friday afternoon that President Barack Obama's administration has not done enough to prosecute felons and fugitives who illegally buy guns and has cut funding for such efforts. Cruz also said the Obama administration had cut millions of dollars...

A not guilty plea was entered Friday on behalf of Beverly Hall, the former superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools who is charged in a broad conspiracy alleging educators cheated on standardized tests to mask poor student performance for personal gain. Hall was among several former Atlanta educators who appeared in Fulton County Superior Court. Hall sat quietly in the gallery, standing up as her attorney J. Tom Morgan said she would waive a formal reading of the charges. The court then entered...

A man appeared intent on suicide, or what's known as suicide by cop, when he opened fire with a pistol inside a busy terminal at Houston's largest airport and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said Friday. Carnell Marcus Moore, 29, of Beaumont shot himself in the temple with a 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol Thursday afternoon after shooting twice into the ceiling at a ticketing area at Bush Intercontinental Airport. A Department of Homeland Security special agent who confronted...

Along the irrigation canal that cuts through this centuries-old New Mexico town, a small group of churchgoers gathers to recite the rosary before tossing rose petals into the water. Remnants of a tradition that stretches back to the days of Spanish explorers, the humble offerings are aimed at blessing this year's meager irrigation season and easing a relentless drought that continues to march across New Mexico and much of the western half of the U.S. From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas...

Investigators searching for evidence in connection with the stabbing death of an 8-year-old girl were looking at several knives Friday to determine if one could have inflicted the fatal wounds. Sgt. Chris Hewitt of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office would not say from where investigators had recovered the knives but that the information eventually would come out. "We don't want to put too many details out there that could taint our interviews," Hewitt said. He declined to say whether they...

An Iowa agency's refusal to list both spouses in a lesbian marriage as parents on their children's birth certificates is a violation of their constitutional rights and must stop, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday. The court, which made history by legalizing gay marriage in 2009, ordered the Iowa Department of Public Health to start listing the names of both female spouses on the birth certificates of their children. The ruling was backed by all six justices who participated. Iowa had been the...

Two teen hikers lost for days in a California forest might have to pay for part or all of the $160,000 search after a small amount of drugs was found in their car, authorities said. Officials initially said Nicolas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18, wouldn't be responsible. But Cendoya was charged this week with drug possession because methamphetamine was allegedly found in the car the pair parked before going on a hike last month in Cleveland National Forest. "The recent drug charge on Cendoya...

Roughly 300 gallons of crude oil spilled early Friday into the Mississippi River near St. Louis after a vessel on the rain-swollen waterway slammed into a fleet of docked barges, causing 14 of them to briefly break away, according to the Coast Guard. None of the oil was found to have washed up on the river's banks as of mid-morning Friday, though crews still were assessing the possible environmental fallout of the spill _ the equivalent of seven barrels _ and the precise cause of the accident...

A man was apparently electrocuted when he climbed a 200-foot tower, touched a high-voltage power line and fell to a platform where his body was recovered by a Seattle Fire Department team. Firefighters found a cap and a cellphone next to the body but nothing to indicate why he climbed the tower early Friday, said department spokesman Kyle Moore. There was no one at the scene who said they knew the man, Moore said. The King County medical examiner's office took the body to determine his identification...

An Iowa woman whose nose was severely injured by an attacking dog says her husband bit the animal to make it stop assaulting her. Caren and Laine Henry told The Des Moines Register ( http://dmreg.co/108DUsz ) on Thursday that a 50-pound Labrador mix ran out of a yard in rural Madrid (MAD'-rihd) on Sunday and attacked the couple while they were walking their pet beagle. Caren Henry says the dog bit her abdomen and right thigh, scratched at her eyes, then clamped onto her nose, tearing it off....

Investigators searching for evidence in connection with the stabbing death of an 8-year-old girl are looking at several knives to determine if one could have inflicted the fatal wounds. Sgt. Chris Hewitt of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office would not say from where investigators had recovered the knives but that the information would "come out eventually." He declined to say whether they were confiscated from the rural home victim Leila Fowler shared with her father, stepmother, 12-year-old...

Prosecutors say a federal magistrate judge made a mistake by agreeing to let a teenage terrorist suspect in Illinois out of jail pending trial. A different judge will hear the government's appeal opposing Abdella Ahmad Tounisi's release Friday. Thursday's release order was stayed for 24 hours until a ruling on the appeal. The 18-year-old Aurora teen is accused of seeking to join al-Qaida-linked militants in Syria. Prosecutors say Tounisi helped a friend last year select possible bombing targets...

Nestle Pizza Co. of Little Chute is recalling four frozen-pizza products that might be contaminated with plastic fragments. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the following products are subject to recall: _ California Pizza Kitchen Limited Edition Grilled Chicken with Cabernet Sauce. _ DiGiorno Crispy Flatbread Pizza Tuscan Style Chicken. _ DiGiorno pizzeria! Bianca/White Pizza. _ California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust White. The USDA says one consumer reported a chipped tooth after...

A 27-year-old upstate New York man has been charged with starting a fire that swept through a second-floor apartment, killing a man and three young children and critically injuring a fourth child, police said Friday. Schenectady police Lt. Mark McCracken said Robert Butler of Saratoga Springs was arraigned in Schenectady City Court on a first-degree arson charge and was sent to the county jail without bail. McCracken said Butler was known to the family. David Terry, 33, was killed along with...

This Week in The Civil War, for week of Sunday, May 5: More fighting in Virginia, Death of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The Second Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., was fought 150 years ago in May 1863 in and around Fredericksburg, Va. Thousands of Confederate forces clashed with Union foes anxious to press onward to the gates of Richmond, capital of the Confederacy. Union troops overran and captured Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg in fierce combat that included hand-to-hand fighting with Southern...

A female training instructor at a Texas Air Force base has been ordered to serve three months in jail after pleading guilty to having sex with a male student. A military judge in San Antonio on Thursday also ordered Staff Sgt. Emily Allen to do 30 days of hard labor and reduced her rank to airman first class. Allen was the first woman among more than 30 instructors at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland charged in what has turned into the military branch's worst sex scandal. She pleaded guilty Wednesday...

Rhode Island has become the nation's 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, after a 16-year effort to extend marriage rights in this heavily Roman Catholic state. Gays, lesbians, their friends and families erupted into cheers Thursday following a final 56-15 vote in the Rhode Island House, and then again an hour later when Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law on the Statehouse steps. "Democracy feels good, doesn't it?" said House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, who is gay....

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. BANGLADESH FINANCE MINISTER DOWNPLAYS COLLAPSE THAT KILLED 500 He says "I don't think it is really serious _ it's an accident" and "It happens everywhere." 2. PAKISTAN PROSECUTOR IN MUSHARRAF CASE IS KILLED Gunmen in a taxi fired upon the lawyer who was leading the charge against the former military ruler. 3. ASSAD REGIME ACCUSED OF `MASSACRE,' KILLING AT LEAST 50 Activists say Syrian...

Jeff Hanneman, a founding member of Slayer whose career was irrevocably changed after a spider bite, has died. He was 49. Slayer spokeswoman Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald said Hanneman died Thursday morning of liver failure at a Los Angeles hospital with his wife, Kathy, by his side. The guitarist had recently begun writing songs with the band in anticipation of recording a new album later this year. He had been slowly recovering from what was believed to be a spider bite that nearly cost him his...

A six-story-high rubber duck is making a big splash in Hong Kong. Crowds watched the inflatable duck being pulled by tugboat across Victoria Harbor in front of Hong Kong's signature skyscraper skyline. Tourist Zhang Wenjin from Shanghai says it's a big surprise. "This is huge. My daughter liked it when she saw it just now. Because kids like cute stuff." Yu Kwan Yee of Hong Kong was part of the crowd. "The duckie is swimming," the 2 1/2-year-old said. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created...

With all the orchards and corn fields that dot the Hudson Valley landscape, Tuthilltown Spirits doesn't have to look far for the grains and apples to make their whiskey, vodka and gin. The 10-year-old company crafts many of their liquors from ingredients grown no more than a few minutes away, the bounty of the rolling hills that surround it. "The people who come to our distillery and visit us and see our operation can then drive down the road to the local orchard or the local farm and actually...

"Arming the rebels _ that's an option. You look at and rethink all options. It doesn't mean you do or you will. ... It doesn't mean that the president has decided on anything." _ Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on arming Syrian rebels, becoming the first top U.S. official to publicly acknowledge the reassessment of the Obama administration in regard to the civil war there. ___ "I will remember to my death that way my daughter called me `Baba.' I will never forget that sound. My daughter loved me...

An oil tank has exploded in Louisiana in an area outside Baton Rouge, prompting the evacuation of 30 to 35 homes. The explosion happened late Thursday night near Denham Springs. No injuries had been reported early Friday. Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness director Mark Harrell told The Times-Picayune ( http://bit.ly/12uUH9T ) there were two oil holding tanks at the scene and one of them ruptured and caught fire. He said it wasn't known why the tank ruptured. The...

With all the orchards and corn fields that dot the Hudson Valley landscape, Tuthilltown Spirits doesn't have to look far for the grains and apples to make their whiskey, vodka and gin. The 10-year-old company crafts many of their liquors from ingredients grown no more than a few minutes away, the bounty of the rolling hills that surround it. "The people who come to our distillery and visit us and see our operation can then drive down the road to the local orchard or the local farm and actually...

A wildfire fanned by a long day of Santa Ana winds raged along the edges of Southern California communities and coastal highways Thursday, forcing the evacuation of a university and hundreds of homes and threatening 2,000 more, officials said. The blaze erupted during morning rush hour along U.S. 101 in the Camarillo area about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was quickly spread by winds, which also pushed other damaging blazes across the region. Flames quickly moved down slopes toward...

Investor Warren Buffett has a knack for explaining what he does in simple terms that sound easy to follow, and his ranking as one of the world's richest men inspires many to copy his moves. "Always get more for your money than you pay," Buffett said Thursday when summarizing the key to investing success. But in recent years, copying Buffett has become harder because most investors lack his connections and the massive pile of cash held by his company, Berkshire Hathaway. Just consider Berkshire's...

The fight against Somali pirates has been so effective that they haven't been able to mount a successful hijacking in nearly a year, the chair of the global group trying to combat the pirates said Thursday. U.S. diplomat Donna Leigh Hopkins credits the combined efforts of international naval forces and stepped-up security on ships including the use of armed guards. But there are also other factors including the jailing of some 1,140 Somali pirate in 21 countries "which started deglamorizing piracy,"...

Florida lawmakers have approved a new plan to help pay for Everglades restoration. The legislation was sent to Gov. Rick Scott on a 39-0 vote by the Senate on Thursday. It cleared the House earlier in the session. The bill is backed by environmental groups and sugar farmers, and its sponsors have said it represents a truce in a decades-old dispute. The measure would keep intact an existing tax on farmers in the northern Everglades until 2036. The money from the tax will be used to help pay for...