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The public release of any photograph, videotape or digital recording related to last year's deadly Newtown elementary school shooting would require the written consent of victims' family members, according to a working draft of a bill released Wednesday by the governor's office. The bill, crafted privately by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office, the state's top prosecutor and legislative leaders, also would cover any recording depicting the physical condition of any of the victims of the shooting massacre...

The tornado that struck an Oklahoma City suburb this week may have created $2 billion or more in damage as it tore through as many as 13,000 homes, multiple schools and a hospital, officials said Wednesday as they gave the first detailed account of the devastation. Also Wednesday, authorities released the identities of the 24 people, including 10 children, who perished. While anguish over the deaths was palpable as residents began picking up their shattered neighborhoods, many remained stunned...

The Oklahoma medical examiner's office says it has positively identified all 24 people killed in the tornado that ripped through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, including 10 children: _ Sydney Angle, 9 _ Hemant Bhonde, 65 _ Richard Brown, 41 _ Antonia Candelaria, 9 _ Emily Conatzer, 9 _ Kyle Davis, 8 _ Case Futrell, 4 months _ Megan Futrell, 29 _ JaNae Hornsby, 9 _ Leslie Johnson, 46 _ Rick Jones, 54 _ Christopher Legg, 9 _ Terri Long, 49 _ Nicolas McCabe, 9 _ Jenny Neely, 38...

The State Fire Marshal's Office says a federal safety panel's investigators had access to the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others. The chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board had asked for congressional help in obtaining evidence under the control of the state agency and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. However, in a statement issued Wednesday, the state agency said the CSB was given access to the scene, worked...

A man was arrested Wednesday in a case involving last week's discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin. A grand jury indictment accuses Matthew Ryan Buquet, 37, of mailing a death threat to U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle in Spokane on May 14. A search of federal court records turned up no indication that Buquet had ever appeared before Van Sickle or had any connection to the judge. The indictment did not mention ricin, but the FBI made the link in a news release...

When high school student Zach Sobiech learned he didn't have much longer to live, his mother suggested he write letters to tell his loved ones goodbye. Instead, the Minnesota teenager turned to writing music _ and his farewell song, "Clouds," became a YouTube sensation that has attracted more than 4 million views. Other musicians have covered the tune, and it inspired a celebrity video on YouTube. "Clouds" was even listed No. 1 on the iTunes Top 10 list on Wednesday _ two days after Sobiech...

A fourth-grade field trip to a Mississippi River park popular with fossil hunters turned deadly Wednesday when gravel saturated by persistent rain gave way, killing one child and injuring two others. A fourth child was missing. The landslide at Lilydale Regional Park swept over a group of children from Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park, burying one to the waist and completely burying another, Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said. Another child suffered minor injuries in the landslide,...

The driver of a parade float involved in a train wreck that killed four war veterans in West Texas told investigators the oncoming train appeared to be stationary, and that he didn't notice anything was wrong until he saw people jumping from the float, according to documents released Wednesday. Dale Hayden has never spoken publicly about the Nov. 15 crash in Midland. But he told federal investigators he was focused on his left-side rearview mirror as he crossed the tracks, looking for a bump in...

A group of Connecticut organizations that support gun rights, pistol permit holders and gun sellers has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other state officials, arguing the state's new gun control law violates their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs are seeking a federal court injunction to stop the law from being enforced. Wednesday's suit comes more than a month after Malloy signed into law a gun control package considered one of the toughest in the country....

As protesters made one last stand, the Boy Scouts of America's leadership began a conference Wednesday that was expected to culminate in a long-anticipated vote on whether to allow openly gay Scouts _ a decision that, either way, could deeply affect the organization's membership and funding. Scouting leaders from around the country gathered at a resort in Grapevine, Texas, near the youth organization's suburban Dallas headquarters, for their annual national meeting. The three-day meeting is being...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday: 1. FOUR AMERICAN CITIZENS KILLED BY DRONES The deaths have taken place in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009, the Obama administration reveals. 2. MAN HACKED TO DEATH ON LONDON STREET British officials say the attack appears to be an act of terror, possibly motivated by radical Islam. 3. WHO'S THE HIGHEST-PAID CEO IN THE US Leslie Moonves of CBS, who made $60.3 million last year, tops the...

Nicknamed "The Wall," 8-year-old Kyle Davis loved soccer and going to Monster Truck exhibitions at the fairgrounds with his grandfather. JaNae Hornsby, 9, loved to draw, sing, and be a big sister and cousin to her younger relatives. The two were among the young victims of Monday's monstrous tornado, their small bodies pulled from the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School after it was reduced to a massive heap of bricks and twisted metal. Twenty-two others were killed, including five other...

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law Wednesday a novel measure aimed at protecting companies from so-called patent trolling, the practice of making deceptive claims of patent infringement in the hopes of collecting licensing or settlement money. The new law, believed to be the first in the nation, allows courts to consider if a claim is deceptive, specifies factors that can be considered as evidence, and provides for damages or relief to Vermont companies wrongly pressured into paying licensing...

A school bus slammed into the back of another one Wednesday afternoon, setting off a chain-reaction crash involving four buses in northern Indiana, leaving about 50 middle and high students with non-serious injuries and one driver seriously injured. The crash injured 55 people, including three of the four bus drivers, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Chad Hill said. One of the drivers was taken by helicopter to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. A doctor at the scene told school officials...

A Boston church official who claimed in an autobiography he was a leg-breaker for reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger faces accusations that he looted the church's assets for personal financial gain. Federal agents arrested Edward MacKenzie Jr. on Wednesday after a grand jury indicted him on charges including racketeering, extortion, and wire fraud, and well as conspiracy charges involving racketeering, money laundering and mail fraud. MacKenzie, 54, of Weymouth was the director of operations...

A dam that threatened to give way and flood a North Dakota town was holding back the water on Wednesday, though the 1,300 residents of Cavalier were still being told to stay away from their homes. Steady rainfall between Friday and Tuesday dumped about 9 inches of rain on parts of Pembina County, swelling creeks and rivers and sending water flowing across the countryside from west to east in the east-sloping county. The small town of Crystal flooded Tuesday, forcing a few residents from their...

Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying. The panel reported its impasse after only about two and a half hours of deliberations. Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors to try to identify areas of agreement and disagreement as they work toward a decision. The jury then continued...

The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood attack wants to represent himself at his upcoming murder trial, which means he could question the nearly three dozen soldiers he's accused of wounding in the shooting rampage. Maj. Nidal Hasan's request, announced Wednesday by Fort Hood officials, is to be considered at a pretrial hearing next week. The request prompted the military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, to delay jury selection to June 5, about a week after it was scheduled to start....

The Jodi Arias trial had all the ingredients of a circus the minute it started: sex and violence, a defendant more than willing to seek the spotlight, a judge who extended leniency in allowing lengthy testimony and cameras in court _ and a media-savvy sheriff ready and willing to set up jailhouse interviews with his most famous inmate. The spectacle surrounding the case reached new levels in the minutes after Arias was convicted of murder two weeks ago when she told the local...

Twenty-nine bars and restaurants, nearly half of them TGI Fridays, filled premium brand liquor bottles with lower-quality booze and sold it to patrons who thought they were buying the good stuff, authorities said Wednesday. A yearlong investigation by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, dubbed Operation Swill, found that the establishments had swapped out the good liquor in an effort to fool customers and increase profits. Thirteen of the restaurants cited are TGI Fridays located...

The Oklahoma medical examiner's office says it has positively identified all 24 victims of Monday's tornado that ripped across the Oklahoma City area. The office announced Wednesday that 10 of those killed were children, including two infants. Among the dead are 4-month-old Case Futrell and 7-month-old Sydnee Vargyas. Both babies died from head injuries. The eight other children ranged in age from 4 years old to 9 years old. Of those, six were suffocated. The other two died from massive injuries....

A top human rights organization on Wednesday criticized the Obama administration's increasing use of drone aircraft for the targeted killing of terrorism suspects overseas and questioned whether it is legal. Amnesty International, in its global review of human rights issues, said the U.S. drone policy is shrouded in secrecy but the killings appear to amount to extrajudicial executions that violate international rights laws. "Our view is that the legal basis is quite unclear," Salil Shetty, the...

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper indefinitely delayed the execution of convicted killer Nathan Dunlap on Wednesday and said he was unlikely to allow it as long as he is governor. Hickenlooper stopped short of converting the death sentence to life in prison, as Dunlap's lawyers had requested. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said he had doubts about the fairness of Colorado's death penalty system and about the state's ability to get the lethal drugs required for an execution. Republicans derided his...

A federal judge sentenced a Montana man to three years in prison on Wednesday for attempting to board a flight in Sacramento, Calif., with four loaded guns. Harold E. Waller, 46, of Circle, Mont., was arrested in March 2012 as he attempted to pass through security screening while openly carrying a loaded 9 mm handgun in a shoulder holster. Screeners also found guns and ammunition in his three carry-on bags. Federal guidelines called for a sentence of no more than six months, meaning Waller could...

Authorities have now accounted for the last six people _ all of them adults _ who were believed to still be missing after the massive tornado in an Oklahoma City suburb. Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis says five of the six were found safe Wednesday. The other was discovered to be among the dead already accounted for by the state Medical Examiner's Office. Officials say the tornado that hit Moore on Monday killed 24 people, including 10 children.

Student activists at more than 200 colleges are trying a new tactic in hopes of slowing the pace of climate change: They are asking their schools to stop investing in fossil fuel companies. The Fossil Free campaign argues that if it's wrong to pour pollution into the air and contribute to climate change, it's also wrong to profit from it. The strategy, modeled after anti-apartheid campaigns of the 1980s, aims to limit the flow of capital to fossil fuel companies by making their stocks morally...

A prominent Nebraska abortion clinic is facing a new legal challenge from state officials who want to revoke the license of the clinic's only nurse because of allegations of questionable care. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said Wednesday that he has filed a petition with regulators to revoke Lindsey Creekmore's license. Creekmore is the only nurse at Dr. LeRoy Carhart's abortion clinic in the Omaha suburbs. Bruning said Creekmore improperly delegated some patient care to unlicensed staff...

He was a gregarious, spontaneous child, his father said, a handful at times who loved music and playing the guitar. As an adult he became famous as Kai, the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker, his celebrity taking a turn toward notoriety when he was arrested in Philadelphia last week and charged with killing a New Jersey lawyer. Caleb McGillivary, his real name, claimed that he was "home free" rather than homeless, a traveler by choice with roots in Sophia, W.Va. "I don't have any family," he had said...

The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define _ for better or worse _ Mayor Rahm Emanuel's term in office. City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling school enrollment and as part of their efforts to improve the city's struggling education system. Critics have blasted Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, and schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett, saying...

Train service from New York to Boston was back on schedule Wednesday on one of the nation's oldest and most heavily traveled railways, five days after a derailment in Connecticut injured scores of commuters and damaged tracks. Commuter rail service from Connecticut to New York City returned to normal, along with Amtrak service between Boston and New York. "I'm just very happy that it's back," said Danielle Martin, a 34-year-old legal secretary whose commute from Bridgeport to Stamford had grown...

A co-founder of exotic juice maker XanGo LLC _ one of Utah's most successful brands _ has filed a lawsuit claiming his partners are looting the company for exotic vacations and luxury gifts. The lawsuit also claims XanGo bribed Russian customs officials to allow tax-free imports of its mangosteen-based juice, derived from a tropical fruit with purported curative powers. Lehi, Utah-based XanGo said Wednesday the claims are without merit and that co-founder and board member Bryan B. Davis was being...

Authorities in South Florida say a man is charged with murder because he was overheard discussing the killing when his cellphone pocket-dialed 911. The Broward Sheriff's Office says 24-year-old Scott Simon is charged with first-degree murder in the May 5 shooting of 33-year-old Nicholas Walker. Walker was shot while driving his car onto an Interstate 95 on-ramp. Authorities say Simon is heard on the 911 call telling someone he's going to follow the victim home and kill him. But investigators...

The focus of the Jodi Arias murder trial now turns to the jury as it decides whether to impose a life or death sentence. The process has several more steps: SENTENCE: Jurors have two choices: life in prison or execution. They are allowed to weigh multiple factors in coming to a decision, including Arias' upbringing, her lack of a prior criminal record, her artistic skills and her age. LIFE: If the sentence is life, Judge Sherry Stephens has two options in imposing the term....

When Michael Klunder enticed two girls to enter his pickup truck near a rural Iowa school bus stop Monday, it was at least his third kidnapping in a long criminal history in which he was ordered to receive sex offender treatment starting as a teenager. While authorities searched Wednesday for the still missing 15-year-old, residents and some law enforcement officials questioned why the 42-year-old Klunder wasn't locked up in prison or for treatment. In 1991, Klunder kidnapped a 21-year-old...

An atheist lawmaker's daily prayer Tuesday at the Arizona House of Representatives led a fellow lawmaker to ask for a do-over the following day. Democratic Rep. Juan Mendez of Tempe said he was looking for a way to convey his feelings like other members do when they participate in the prayer rotation at the beginning of the daily floor session. Rep. Steve Smith (R-Maricopa) on Wednesday said the prayer wasn't a prayer at all. The complete text of Mendez's prepared remarks is below: "Most prayers...

Police laid out their case Wednesday against a man accused of killing a 15-year-old girl whose body was found in a wooded area miles from her home, but the details remained hidden from public view after a judge sealed a crucial affidavit at the request of the suspect's lawyer. Kyle Dube showed no emotion as he made an initial court appearance Wednesday, a day after he was charged with murder when a body believed to be Nichole Cable's was found in Old Town. A bail hearing will be held later....

Brokenhearted skateboarders long banned from Philadelphia's internationally renowned shredding paradise of Love Park may have a new object of affection: Paine's Park. The $4.5 million space, which has been about a dozen years in the making, officially opened to boarders after a ribbon-cutting Wednesday. Just don't call it a skate park. "(It's) a new public urban plaza that happens to be skateable," said Mark Focht, first deputy commissioner of the city's parks and recreation department. Paine's...

Passion for geography runs deep in Sathwik Karnik's family. When he was about 6, his mother began challenging Sathwik and his older brother, Karthik, to her own version of hide-and-seek _ using an atlas. The boys would comb through the book, trying to be the first to find a city or landmark. The games paid off when Karthik, now 15, made the finals of the National Geographic Bee in 2011 and 2012. But it was 12-year-old Sathwik, of Plainville, Mass., who finished the job, calmly answering questions...

An atheist lawmaker's decision to give the daily prayer at the Arizona House of Representatives triggered a do-over from a Christian lawmaker who said the previous day's prayer didn't pass muster. Republican Rep. Steve Smith on Wednesday said the prayer offered by Democratic Rep. Juan Mendez of Tempe at the beginning of the previous day's floor session wasn't a prayer at all. So he asked other members to join him in a second daily prayer in "repentance," and about half the 60-member body did so....

With its single-story design and cinder-block walls, Plaza Towers Elementary School may have seemed sturdy when it was built a couple of generations ago. But a powerful tornado revealed the building's lack of modern safety standards, destroying the school and killing seven students. Unlike several other schools in the Oklahoma City area, Plaza Towers had no "safe room" in which students and teachers could seek protection from a twister. The federal government offers money to schools in some states...

A civil liberties group filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of an ex-Marine who was detained in a psychiatric facility after posting anti-government messages on Facebook, using the case to criticize a program that looks for veterans who may have become extremists. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed suit in Richmond over the weeklong detention last August of Brandon J. Raub, a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Attorneys for Raub claimed his detention came under a federal...

An attorney for the neighborhood watch leader charged with fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is asking a judge to deny prosecutors' request that the teen's marijuana use be off limits. George Zimmerman's attorney filed a motion Monday claiming that Martin likely was under the influence of marijuana at the time of his death in February 2012. Attorney Don West says that could be relevant to a jury evaluating Martin's actions the night he was shot. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree...

Dan Garland could feel the latch on the shelter door begin to turn in his hand. It was as if the storm outside were a living, breathing thing _ and it was trying desperately to get in. Huddled beside him in the darkened 5-foot-by-6-foot hole were not just his wife and 91-year-old mother, along with five neighbors and two friends from a mile away _ 10 people and two dogs, all together. Johnny Knight was among them; he sold the Garlands their home at 1324 SW 149th St., and he knew his family could...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose own state was beset by a major storm last year and then by squabbling in Congress over disaster aid, said Wednesday that Oklahoma's tornado victims deserve "swift and immediate" help, and federal lawmakers have said they are likely to get it. Last October, Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Eastern Seaboard and zeroed in on New Jersey and New York, causing an estimated $50 billion in damage. A federal aid package was proposed and brought about criticism in Congress,...

The Jodi Arias murder trial has drawn international attention for its graphic tales of sex and lies. The following is a timeline of some of the key events in the case: _ September 2006: Arias and Travis Alexander meet at a Las Vegas work convention and quickly enter into a stormy long-distance relationship. Arias, an aspiring saleswoman and photographer, lives in California and visits Alexander in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. Alexander is a Mormon and works as a salesman and motivational...

A Philadelphia couple who believe in faith healing over medicine and who were on probation in their son's pneumonia death were charged with murder Wednesday after a second young child died under what a prosecutor called "eerily similar" circumstances. Herbert and Catherine Schaible ignored a court order to seek medical care if their children needed it, prosecutors said Wednesday. The requirement was a condition of the probation sentence they received after the death of their toddler son four years...

A federal appeals court will allow a capital murder case to proceed against an accused drug kingpin from northern Virginia. In a 2-1 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond overturned a federal judge in Norfolk who had ordered a halt to the prosecution of Justin Wolfe and his immediate release. That judge said misconduct by prosecutors in Prince William County made it impossible for Wolfe to get a fair trial. But a majority on the appellate court disagreed. The judges ruled...

Animal control officials say two Georgia elementary students were bitten by a fox while they were on a school playground. Newton County Animal Control Director Teri Key-Hoosen says the fox came onto the playground at Rocky Plains Elementary School in Covington on Wednesday and bit two 6-year-old boys. The children were first treated by a nurse and were then taken by their parents to the Newton County Medical Center. Key-Hoosen tells WSB-TV the boys were undergoing precautionary rabies treatments....

Wildlife officials are investigating an online video that shows a man doing a cannonball onto two manatees in Florida. The video shows a man jumping on top of what appears to be a manatee and a young calf swimming near a dock in a residential area. A voice is heard saying, "Should I do it? Let's do it. Jump, jump, jump." According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the video was shot more than a year and a half ago. The agency is leading a joint investigation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife...

James Holmes received six shipments of ammunition from an online retailer, carried a platinum MasterCard and photographed the door to the movie theater where he allegedly killed 12 people and injured 70, according to court records released Wednesday. The tidbits come in search warrants unsealed at the direction of the judge overseeing the case against Holmes, who could be executed if convicted of the July 20 shooting. The warrants show that in the hours after the attack, investigators wanted...

There are mounting reports of chemical weapons use as violence escalates in Syria, the U.N.'s top Mideast envoy said Wednesday. In response to these reports, Robert Serry told the Security Council that the United Nations is again urging the Syrian government to allow chemical weapons experts into the country immediately to investigate the allegations. The Syrian government asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack by rebels on March 19 on Khan al-Assal...

The newest Chevrolet Sonic is a peppy, stylish, versatile and good handling RS hatchback with standard turbo engine, leather-trimmed seats and smartphone infotainment link _ all for a starting price tag of less $21,000. Better yet, the 2013 Sonic 5-Door RS has the top, overall, five-out-of-five-stars rating for passenger protection in frontal and side crash testing, according to the federal government. And the Sonic is a recommended buy of Consumer Reports magazine, where first-year owner reports...

A Colorado judge has released five search warrants filed hours after the Aurora movie theater shooting that show where investigators immediately looked for leads. James Holmes is charged with killing 12 and injuring 70 in the July 20 shooting spree at a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie. The warrants show that in the hours after the attack, investigators wanted to search his bank records and iPod Touch. They also tried to determine the contents of packages Holmes received at several...

They hesitated at first, but then they came from all over the church: young women in black shuffling out of the pews and down the side aisles to the altar, some of them sobbing. The funeral for Andrea Rebello on Wednesday included a ceremony known as the four candles, and for the lighting of the third candle, Rebello's friends were summoned to take part. So 40 or more young women, all dressed in black, climbed the altar steps at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, a sight that prompted...

As Congress debates legalizing about 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, immigration advocates are pushing plans they say will open the asylum process for thousands of more people who flee persecution in their home countries. The Senate version of the immigration bill, which passed out of the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday night, does away with a one-year application filing deadline that Congress enacted in the 1990s to reduce fraud and that advocates say has prevented many legitimate...

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett says 12,000 to 13,000 homes were affected by the tornado that tore through a city suburb. At least 24 people died when the tornado laid waste to Moore on Monday afternoon. The Oklahoma Insurance Department says the financial cost of the tornado could exceed $2 billion, because of the size and duration of the storm. The disaster zone stretches more than 17 miles and the tornado was on the ground for 40 minutes. An aerial view of the site shows whole neighborhoods...

One after another, major U.S. corporations have updated anti-discrimination policies to protect gay, lesbian and transgender workers, drawing plaudits from gay-rights groups. There's one prominent exception: Exxon Mobil Corp. In the latest rankings of such corporate policies by the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group, many of Exxon's Fortune 500 counterparts got scores of 80 or higher on a scale of 100. Exxon, the nation's largest oil and gas company, became the first firm to get...

2013 Chevrolet Sonic 5-Door RS BASE PRICE: $14,785 for LS hatchback with manual transmission; $15,880 for LS automatic; $16,240 for LT manual; $17,525 for LT automatic; $17,850 for LTZ manual; $19,185 for LTZ automatic; $20,185 for RS manual. PRICE AS TESTED: $20,995. TYPE: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, five-passenger, mid-size, hatchback. ENGINE: 1.4-liter, double overhead cam, turbocharged, Ecotec inline four cylinder with VVT. MILEAGE: 27 mpg (city), 34 mpg (highway). TOP SPEED: NA....

A federal judge in Denver is contemplating an injunction against Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and J.M. Hollister LLC after ruling earlier that nearly 250 of their clothing stores that cater to a hip, young clientele are unfriendly to the disabled. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several Colorado customers who said they had trouble getting into the retailers and that the sales countertops are too high. Lawyer Amy Robertson, who represents the disabled in the lawsuit, compared the case with the...

Federal regulators said Wednesday that they are conducting a special inspection of a nuclear power plant outside North Carolina's capital city that was forced to shut down last week after operators discovered corrosion and cracking in the reactor vessel's covering. Two Nuclear Regulatory Commission specialist inspectors will join the on-site NRC inspectors "to assess the circumstances surrounding the discovery," the agency said in a news release. Plant operator Duke Energy said last week it found...

The administrator of the Boston Marathon victims' compensation fund said just five people have filed applications as of Tuesday, and is urging those affected by the blasts to fill out the paperwork before time runs out. The families of the four people killed in the April 15 bombings and the ensuing manhunt, as well as the more than 260 who suffered physical injuries, have until June 15 to complete their applications, One Fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg said. After that, they're not eligible....

A judge has ruled that a New Yorker who rented his apartment on a popular traveler site broke the law. East Village condo owner Nigel Warren was ordered to pay a $2,400 penalty for subletting his apartment to a Russian tourist in December on the Airbnb.com website. The judge says he broke the law because he rented it for fewer than 30 days and wasn't home while the tourist occupied it. Rental agreements are legal under state law only if the "host" remains home during the rental period. Airbnb...

Three sisters say they were kicked out of a suburban Philadelphia mall after refusing to remove profanity-laden hats expressing their hatred of breast cancer. Zakia Clark and Tasha Clark had been at the King of Prussia Mall on Sunday shopping for funeral dresses with a third sister, Makia Underwood. Their mother died last week after battling the disease. Zakia and Tasha Clark were wearing hats that had a one-word profanity _ with a pink ribbon substituting for the third letter _ before the word...

A 17-year-old boy charged with killing two teenage brothers in northwest Ohio has pleaded not guilty. Michael Aaron Fay entered the pleas during an arraignment Tuesday in Putnam County Juvenile Court. He's charged with delinquency in connection with aggravated murder. Fay is accused of killing 17-year-old Blake Romes and 14-year-old Blaine Romes in their Ottawa trailer May 9. An Amber Alert for all three teens was issued that day after the mother of the Romes teens discovered a gun and blood...

A man was fatally shot when a team of FBI agents swarmed an apartment complex near Universal Studios in Orlando. The shooting happened early Wednesday. The FBI did not immediately return a phone call early Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking details. An FBI spokesman told Orlando television stations that their agent was conducting official duties when the shooting occurred. No further details were released, but the agency says an update is expected later Wednesday.

With an ominous storm approaching, the Moore Public School District flashed a text alert to parents: "We are currently holding all students until the current storm danger is over. Students are being released to parents only at this time." Parents had a gut-wrenching choice, and only a few minutes to make it. Trust the safety of the seemingly solid school buildings and the protection of trained teachers and staff. Or drive frantically ahead of a massive tornado and attempt to take their children...

The State Highway Patrol says 29 people have been injured in a crash between a commercial bus and a car on Interstate 75 in northwest Ohio. The patrol says the crash on northbound Interstate 75 near Bowling Green happened at about 10:30 p.m. when the 2001 Bluebird bus ran into the back of a 1995 Toyota Camry that slowed down in traffic. Nineteen of the bus passengers were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. One of them, a 19-year-old man, was seriously injured. Two adults...

The homes on either side of the Tampa area house where a sinkhole opened under a man's bedroom are being demolished. Officials say the demolition will take place Wednesday in Seffner, Fla. The homes were condemned April 1, a month after the sinkhole opened under the house next door, killing 37-year-old Jeffrey Bush. The Tampa Bay Times ( http://bit.ly/10OWs4J ) reports that engineering consultants determined that repairing the homes would cost more than 50 percent of their value. On Wednesday...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. DIGGING OUT FROM OKLAHOMA TORNADO Rescuers are nearly finished searching for victims, but most Moore residents are just starting to find out whether their homes were destroyed. 2. STAR WITNESS IN IRS HEARINGS NOT TALKING Lois Lerner, who revealed the agency's targeting of conservative groups, has said she will invoke the Fifth Amendment when called to testify before Congress today. 3....

Tea party activists waving flags and signs, singing patriotic songs and chanting anti-IRS slogans held rallies outside federal buildings across the country to protest the agency's extra scrutiny of conservative groups. A crowd Tuesday packed the sidewalks in front of and across the street from a Cincinnati federal building housing the Internal Revenue Service offices that handled tax-exempt status applications. "It's going to be up to the grass-roots movement to do something," said Paul Wheeler,...

An embezzling case that began with a chef being accused of stealing food from Virginia's Executive Mansion and morphed into a political scandal involving two of the state's most powerful politicians has some people wondering: What goes on behind the wide double doors of the governor's house? The governor's mansion is in some ways a dichotomy: It is perhaps the state's highest-profile office, yet also one of the only places Gov. Bob McDonnell and his family can retreat for privacy. Past and present...

In the chaotic moments after a gunman wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, investigators quickly turned a patrol car into a makeshift whiteboard, using markers to scrawl relevant information about the investigation. By the end of the day, the car was covered with details on the man who carried out the rampage, the hospitals where victims were being treated and a crude diagram of the crime scene. Photos of the car were among 600 images that were taken by investigators in the aftermath of the January...

While Congress debates legalizing about 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, immigration advocates are pushing plans they say will open the asylum process for thousands more people who flee persecution in their home countries. The Senate version of the immigration bill does away with a one-year filing deadline that Congress enacted in the 1990s to reduce fraud and that advocates say has prevented many legitimate asylum seekers from applying to the program. The April revelation...

Police say they've taken their best shot at finding missing Utah mother Susan Powell. Now, her dad is hoping a review of the newly released case file _ containing tens of thousands of pages of detective reports, maps, interview transcripts and more _ might turn up something the investigators missed. Chuck Cox told reporters Tuesday at a news conference in Seattle that a private eye has offered to help comb through the records, perhaps yielding new or overlooked clues about the sensational case....

"I told him we're going to play tent in the closet. I just felt air so I knew the roof was gone." _ Chelsie McCumber, who grabbed her 2-year-old son, Ethan, and rode out the deadly Oklahoma twister in a coat closet. ___ "The prosecutor has accused me of wanting to be famous, which is not true," _ Jodi Arias, who told The Associated Press from jail she wishes cameras weren't in the courtroom during her four-month trial for the slaying of her onetime boyfriend. ___ "I made some big mistakes and...

When Ben Bernanke testifies about the U.S. economy Wednesday, the Federal Reserve chairman's words will be examined for any clues that the Fed might soon taper _ or increase _ its support for the economy. The Fed is pursuing an aggressive program of bond purchases to try to keep long-term interest rates down and encourage borrowing and spending. The Fed has said it plans to continue its $85 billion-a-month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases until the job market improves substantially. The...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday: 1. A RACE TO FIND SURVIVORS Rescuers search every damaged home at least once and continue efforts at a devastated elementary school in Oklahoma in the wake of a tornado that measured at the top of the scale. 2. SENATE COMMITTEE PASSES IMMIGRATION BILL The wide-ranging legislation gives a chance at citizenship to millions living in the U.S. illegally. 3. JODI ARIAS REVERSES COURSE She...

Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X, has been buried at a cemetery in suburban New York. A spokeswoman for the family said Shabazz was laid to rest near his grandparents at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale on Tuesday. Authorities say Shabazz was beaten to death earlier this month in a dispute over a $1,200 bar bill in Mexico City. Two waiters have been arrested in the case. The 28-year-old Shabazz had a troubled life, from setting a blaze in his grandmother's...

Federal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel's chairman said. In a May 17 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso asked the California Democrat to help the board obtain evidence under control of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that he contends is...

Residents sift through the remnants of their homes and parents hug children outside a demolished elementary school. Emergency workers tend to the wounded. Here are images of the aftermath of a powerful tornado that swept through an Oklahoma City suburb, flattening neighborhoods and killing at least 24 people.

When 15-year-old Nichole Cable left home May 12, she told her family she was heading out to see someone she'd met on Facebook. The high school sophomore never came back. Now, a 20-year-old man faces charges in her death after a body believed to be the missing teen's was found in a wooded area north of Bangor. Kyle Dube, of Orono, was charged with murder Tuesday, a day after the remains were found in Old Town, Maine State Police Lt. Christopher Coleman said at a news conference. Police declined...

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer whose disappearance led to a massive search in Hawaii pleaded guilty to desertion Tuesday, saying he left work one day, decided never to return and spent the next three months camping in the mountains. A military judge sentenced him to more than six months confinement and a bad conduct discharge. During a special court-martial in Honolulu, Petty Officer 1st Class Russell Matthews pleaded guilty to desertion and wrongful use of marijuana. In exchange for his guilty...

A mysterious respiratory illness has left five people hospitalized and two dead in southeast Alabama, state health officials said Tuesday. Seven people have been admitted to hospitals with a fever, cough and shortness of breath in recent weeks, Alabama Department of Public Health spokeswoman Mary McIntyre said in a statement. Two of the seven have died. The Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control Respiratory Laboratory are analyzing lab tests from all seven patients....

The lawyer for the family of missing Utah woman Susan Powell said Tuesday that even as local police close the active part of their investigation into her disappearance, federal authorities continue to review the case _ a claim that was denied by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City. Anne Bremner made the announcement at a Seattle news conference a day after local officials in Utah said they had closed their active investigation into the Susan Powell case. "This is not over," Bremner said....

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday praised two agents who died while training off the Virginia Beach coast last weekend for their "true and unerring valor." Special Agents Christopher W. Lorek and Stephen P. Shaw were remembered Tuesday at a private memorial ceremony at the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial Chapel at Quantico , the agency reported on its website. The agents fell to their deaths Friday when a helicopter ran into trouble during a "maritime counterterrorism exercise." An FBI spokeswoman...

Jodi Arias begged jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she "lacked perspective" when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail. Standing confidently but at times her voice breaking, Arias told the same eight men and four women who found her guilty of murdering her one-time boyfriend that she planned to use her time in prison to bring about positive changes, including donating her hair to be made...

A federal court Tuesday struck down Arizona's ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy absent a medical emergency. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law violated a woman's constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb. "Viability" of a fetus is generally considered to start at 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks. Nine other states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks or even earlier. Several...

The president of a New York police union defended an officer who accidentally killed a Hofstra University student during a standoff with an armed intruder, saying Tuesday the only person responsible for the woman's death was the gunman who held her hostage. "There is some second guessing by people who think we should have stayed outside the house, but our job is to get inside and make sure we can protect as many people as we can," said James Carver, president of the Nassau County Patrolman's Benevolent...

The illegal trade in elephant ivory may constitute an important source of funding for armed groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army, threatening peace and security in central Africa, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council. In a report obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, Ban said that the situation has become so serious in some countries that governments are already using the army as well as police and paramilitary forces to hunt down poachers. "Poaching...

A 15-year-old central Iowa girl who was abducted after getting off her school bus was still missing Tuesday, and authorities said a massive search was underway. Meanwhile, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said the man who is suspected of taking her and another girl committed suicide. Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officials are searching by air, land and water for Kathlynn Shepard. She and a 12-year-old girl, who are friends, were taken Monday afternoon shortly after...

Hospital officials say they've treated more than 200 patients, including dozens of children, since a tornado hit an Oklahoma City suburb. Dozens of patients remained hospitalized Tuesday following Monday's storms that health officials said led to more than 200 injuries. Norman Regional Hospital spokeswoman Melissa Herron said 20 of the more than 100 patients her hospital treated remained hospitalized. Spokeswoman Brooke Cayot (KAY'-ot) said about 20 of the 90 patients seen at Integris Southwest...

Groups of scientists are urging federal officials not to remove protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states. In letters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week, carnivore specialists say the wolf population has only begun to recover and is absent from most of its historical territory after being driven to near-extinction in the past century. They say there's enough habitat and prey to support wolves in other parts of the country. The wolf remains on the endangered species...

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Myanmar's government has made progress in reducing the recruitment of children into the armed forces but still needs to stamp out the practice. Ban's comments came as Myanmar President Thein Sein was making a landmark visit to Washington. The former general met with President Barack Obama on Monday, marking a turnaround in the Asian nation's international acceptance after decades of isolation and direct military rule Since last year, Myanmar's new government...

A judge has ruled that a North Texas lesbian couple can't live together because of a morality clause in one of the women's divorce papers. The clause is common in divorce cases in Texas and other states. It prevents a divorced parent from having a romantic partner spend the night while children are in the home. If the couple marries, they can get out from under the legal provision _ but that is not an option for gay couples in Texas, where such marriages aren't recognized. The Dallas Morning...

Hours after New Yorkers rallied in response to a spate of gay-bashing that's resulted in one death and fueled concern about hate crimes, there were two more reports of possible anti-gay attacks on Manhattan streets, authorities said Tuesday. In one, a 45-year-old man was attacked late Monday in the East Village by a drinking companion who yelled an anti-gay slur and knocked him unconscious, police said. A suspect was being sought. In the second, two men were walking in lower Manhattan at about...

A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre attack last year appeared Tuesday to be mostly at peace with his disfigurement, strumming a guitar, making jokes and thanking people for their donations to help pay for his care. Ronald Poppo doesn't like to leave his hospital room, though, and he won't allow anyone to visit him, other than his doctors and nurses. "My face," he says. Poppo lost his left eye, his nose and most of the surrounding skin when a naked man attacked him for...

An Iowa letter carrier was sentenced to 37 years in prison Tuesday for sending dud pipe bombs with letters signed "The Bishop" in an odd but potentially deadly bid to drive up the value of shares he owned. John Tomkins, 48, showed little emotion as a federal judge in Chicago imposed the sentence. Later, before marshals led the Dubuque, Iowa, man away in handcuffs, he smiled as his attorney patted his shoulder. In an hourlong preamble to the sentence, Judge Robert Dow praised Tomkins for taking...

Kerry Kennedy, the ex-wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is likely to go on trial in the fall after a town judge refused to dismiss a drugged-driving case against her Tuesday. Kennedy "cut a wide swath of danger and risk" on July 13 as she drove her Lexus on Interstate 684 near her home north of New York City, swerving into a tractor-trailer, Justice Elyse Lazansky wrote in a ruling filed in North Castle Town Court. Police said Kennedy, daughter of Sen. Robert Kennedy and niece of President John Kennedy,...

Lives were forever changed in a few short minutes as a large tornado battered the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens. The storm tore apart one elementary school and severely damaged another; it ripped homes off their foundations, scattered prized possessions, laid waste to businesses. While officials are nearly certain the search for survivors and the dead is complete, the effects of Monday's tornado will linger into the coming weeks as the cleanup and...

Photos taken in the aftermath of the attack that killed six people and wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords show the handgun, high-capacity pistol magazines and knife that Jared Lee Loughner carried with him as he carried out the January 2011 attack. The 600 photos, released Tuesday, also show images of a credit card record showing earplugs Loughner bought, and dozens of vehicles that were in the parking lot of the shopping center where the shooting unfolded. The most graphic image shows...