ALL RECENT AP STORIES

Water with traces of a radioactive hydrogen isotope leaked at a nuclear power plant in South Carolina, but the level of tritium in the water is well below limits that would make it dangerous to drink, federal regulators said. The leak was reported Tuesday night at the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County in a fiberglass pipe that takes water from a turbine pump to a holding pond, where it is tested before it is released back into Lake Wylie, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. The...

It can't meet the mandates of a 2012 state law and the governor wants to shut it down, but Mississippi's only abortion clinic is not about to quietly retreat. The clinic's owners are fighting on a legal front, with a federal lawsuit against the state, and supporters and staff are trying to make inroads on site _ urging patients to call elected officials and peppering state-required counseling with their own views and information. Protesters, too, are zeroing in on the clinic. A national anti-abortion...

2013 Mercedes-Benz GL350 Bluetec 4Matic BASE PRICE: $62,400. PRICE AS TESTED: $85,020. TYPE: Front-engine, four-wheel drive, seven-passenger, full-size, luxury sport utility vehicle. ENGINE: 3-liter, turbocharged, direct-injected, Bluetec diesel, 72-degree V-6. MILEAGE: 19 mpg (city), 26 mpg (highway). TOP SPEED: 130 mph. LENGTH: 201.6 inches. WHEELBASE: 121.1 inches. CURB WEIGHT: 5,467 pounds. BUILT AT: OPTIONS: Premium package 1 (includes navigation system, 10-gigabyte Music Register,...

Law enforcement officials are saying little about the bizarre string events that led to a killing spree in northern Nevada that left five people dead. Authorities are searching for additional suspects that could be tied to the homicides they believe are connected _ four at two homes in the rural town of Fernley and a fifth about 30 miles west at the Interstate 80 exit for the Mustang Ranch near Reno where one of the victim's stolen vehicle was found. Police arrested Jeremiah Bean, 25, of Fernley,...

The Washington Monument is now covered in scaffolding from top to bottom. The completion of the scaffolding on Monday is a milestone in the $15 million project to repair the monument, which was damaged in a 2011 earthquake. It's been closed ever since and is not expected to reopen until next year. The scaffolding around the 555-foot obelisk took about three months to construct. Perini Management Services Inc. of Framingham, Mass., has the contract to repair the monument. Perini project manager...

A timeline of major legal developments involving O.J. Simpson: _ June 12, 1994: O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and friend Ronald Goldman are found dead in Los Angeles. Simpson is arrested after a widely televised freeway chase in his white Ford Bronco. _ Oct. 3, 1995: Simpson is acquitted of two counts of murder after the "trial of the century" in Los Angeles. _ February 1997: Simpson is found liable for damages in a civil wrongful death lawsuit and ordered to pay $33.5 million...

WHY IS O.J. SIMPSON IN COURT? The 65-year-old former football star and actor is serving nine to 33 years in a Nevada prison after a jury found him guilty in 2008 of leading the gunpoint robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room. Simpson wants a new trial because he says his longtime lawyer from Miami, Yale Galanter, failed to disclose that he knew about the plan in advance, told Simpson it was legal and provided bad advice at trial. WHAT ARE THE RULES? The proceeding,...

Two hikers lost for days in the Southern California wilderness won't be charged the $160,000 it took to find them. The Orange County Register ( http://bit.ly/13wreAd ) reports county supervisors made that decision in closed session on Tuesday. Board of Supervisors Chairman Shawn Nelson tells City News Service he thinks there's no legal way to force the hikers to reimburse their rescue costs _ even though one is charged with a drug crime. Nineteen-year-old Nicolas Cendoya and 18-year-old Kyndall...

A group of 20 Florida high school seniors won't soon forget the limo ride to their prom at a beach-side hotel. A minivan flipped over right in front of them as they traveled on Interstate 595 near Davie on Saturday evening. Officials say the van hit a concrete barrier while trying to avoid slowing traffic. The limo driver and students, all wearing tuxedoes and prom gowns, sprang into action to help bloodied victims out of the crumpled van. Student Peter Kim told Miami television station WPLG...

The city of Keene, N.H., has sued a group that feeds change into parking meters that are about to expire, saying members are harassing enforcement officers. The group calls itself "Robin Hood of Keene." Members walk city streets with rolls and dimes of quarters to feed the meters. WMUR-TV reports ( http://bit.ly/10Gn9VW ) the city accuses the group of interfering with officers' work. It asks them to stay at least 50 feet away. The group records its time outside and posts videos online, sometimes...

A woman facing misdemeanor charges for allegedly helping her daughter beat up a female classmate is suing the Cincinnati school district and police. Authorities say 31-year-old Precious Allen held the 15-year-old girl down in a Withrow High School classroom and told her 14-year-old daughter to hit the girl with a combination lock. Police say the victim suffered cuts and bruises in the Feb. 7 scuffle. A grand jury indicted Allen on misdemeanor assault and trespassing charges. Her daughter is facing...

When they saw 30-foot flames licking the sky inside a massive fertilizer plant, firefighters in this tiny Texas town rushed to evacuate nearby buildings and raced to spray water on tanks of chemicals, hoping to prevent a catastrophe. They didn't know, and probably could not imagine, that the plant would soon explode into a deadly fireball and lay waste to much of the community. Instead, they were more concerned with preventing toxic gas from leaking out of the facility and drifting into nearby...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. JUSTICE TO INVESTIGATE IRS FOR TARGETING TEA PARTY Attorney General Eric Holder is testifying in Congress today after launching an investigation of the agency's targeting of conservative political groups. 2. ANOTHER MILITARY SEX CASE OUTRAGES LAWMAKERS A soldier at a Texas sexual assault prevention program is investigated for abuse charges a week after an Air Force officer heading a similar...

"The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity. This report shows that some of its employees failed that test." _ President Barack Obama after an inspector general's report concluded the IRS targeted tea party groups for scrutiny. ___ "It's an astonishing reminder that the Pentagon has both a major problem on its hands and a tremendous amount of work to do to assure victims _ who already only report a small fraction of sexual assaults...

Quinton Higgins lost his best friend when the church bus he was riding in 25 years ago was turned into a fireball by a drunken driver on a Kentucky road, in what remains the nation's deadliest alcohol-related highway crash. In the town that still grieves for the 27 who perished, people gathered Tuesday evening to remember the victims and honor the perseverance of the 40 who made it out of the burning bus alive. "We all still hurt and there's still a lot of pain that goes around," Higgins said....

Dave Bing's time in the turbulence of Detroit, its politics and immense urban problems will end after only four years. Buffeted from day one by a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, inefficient internal systems and the need for massive restructuring, the former NBA great announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election and will exit City Hall when his first term as mayor ends in December. Bing told a group of supporters at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History that the work he...

The Powerball jackpot is climbing again, and fast. In just a few short weeks, the jackpot has ballooned to $360 million, making it the third largest Powerball jackpot and the seventh largest jackpot ever. Here's a look at the top 10 world record lottery jackpots. 1. $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (3 tickets from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland) 2. $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (2 tickets from Arizona and Missouri) 3. $390.0 million, Mega Millions, March 6, 2007 (2 tickets...

A new criminal defense lawyer for the widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev says his client will continue to cooperate with investigators but says he plans to keep quiet about the details of her case publicly because that could hurt the investigation. New York lawyer Joshua Dratel, who has represented several terrorism suspects, joined Katherine Russell's legal team last week. He joins two Rhode Island-based lawyers who typically focus on civil cases. Russell hasn't been...

Insurance agent Joe Williams is trying, like so many others, to get lucky with Powerball. Williams, of Middleton, Wis., won $500 several years ago and now wants to score a little higher. He'll have his chance Wednesday with the latest drawing for the Powerball jackpot. It's ballooned to an estimated $360 million, with a cash value of $229.2 million, making it the third largest Powerball jackpot and the seventh largest jackpot ever. Williams doesn't necessarily spend more when the prize is high....

Residents of a small Indiana town are taking steps to protect themselves after a vicious weekend killing that left four people dead in what authorities said was a drug-related crime. No arrests have been made since the bodies were found Saturday night in Waynesville, a small community about five miles south of Columbus, Bartholomew County Sheriff Mark Gorbett told reporters during a news conference Tuesday. Gorbett said police found methamphetamine at the brick house, along with spent shell...

Riding the Jet Star roller coaster as a girl vacationing at the Jersey shore, Nicole Jones said there was always that one breath-catching moment when the passenger cars swerved toward the ocean, as if threatening to dump riders into the surf. When Superstorm Sandy hit last October, it was the roller coaster itself that plunged into the waves off the amusement pier where it had been anchored for decades. Work crews, making better progress on Tuesday than anticipated, began tearing down the remains...

A military judge on Tuesday ordered two U.S. Army generals to testify about whether they were pressured by superiors to charge another general with the sexual assault of a female captain. The judge, Col. James Pohl, granted a pre-trial motion from lawyers representing accused Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair. It compels testimony by Gen. Dan Allyn and Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Colt. Sinclair's legal team alleges that high-ranking Pentagon officials may have placed improper pressure on Allyn, then the commander...

A small Maryland city just outside the Washington, D.C., city limits has voted to lower the voting age for city elections to 16. The Takoma Park City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city elections starting in November. The council also voted to allow convicted felons who have served their time to vote. Councilman Tim Male, who voted for the measure, told WJLA-TV ( http://wj.la/12yVSqi ) that elected officials are trying to make it possible for more people...

A mother of six whose infant son starved to death at a homeless shelter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday. Tanya Williams had shown no emotion when paramedics found her emaciated, lifeless son alone on a bed, wearing only a diaper, two days before Christmas 2010, according to testimony. Quasir Alexander was 2 months old and weighed just over 4 pounds, a half-pound less than his birth weight. The jury also convicted Williams, 34, of the aggravated assault of the infant's surviving...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday: 1. OBAMA DOGGED BY TRIO OF TROUBLES Pressure on Benghazi, the IRS and a leaks investigation are giving new confidence and swagger to Republicans. 2. HOW IRS AGENTS COULD TARGET TEA PARTY GROUPS A government watchdog report blames ineffective management for allowing the practice to go on more than 18 months. 3. WHAT EVIDENCE RUSSIANS HAVE AGAINST AN ALLEGED US SPY They say wigs, packets...

An Ohio murder trial that hinges on whether a dying, paralyzed man identified his shooter by blinking his eyes went to the jury on Tuesday, and initial deliberations failed to produce a verdict. Jurors met for about two hours Tuesday and were scheduled to resume deliberations Wednesday in the trial of 35-year-old Ricardo Woods, of Cincinnati, who is accused of fatally shooting David Chandler. Prosecutors told jurors in their closing arguments earlier Tuesday that Chandler identified Ricardo Woods...

The city's fire department must subject itself to court supervision for five years to ensure it does not discriminate against blacks and Hispanics in its hiring practices, a federal appeals court said Tuesday. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited the "distressing pattern" within the department of insufficient minority hires, highlighted by a lawsuit brought more than a decade ago by a black firefighters' group, the Vulcan Society. A three-judge panel of the Manhattan court reduced the...

Hundreds of Colorado criminals were apparently given erroneous prison sentences, and judges and corrections officials across the state are scrambling to keep them from getting out early _ or, in some cases, to return them to the prisons they just left, authorities said Tuesday. Prison officials have alerted courts to 281 inmates whose sentences seem to be incorrect in some way, according to Allison Morgan, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections. Judges have already adjusted the...

A North Carolina man who the FBI says spoke of killing U.S. Army soldiers as part of a personal jihad has pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm. Erwin Antonio Rios admitted guilt Tuesday in U.S. District Court as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. In an affidavit filed with the court, FBI Special Agent Frank Brostrom said the 19-year-old from Fayetteville holds extremist Islamic views and told a government informant he would like to kill Fort Bragg soldiers. Authorities...

A North Carolina man who the FBI says spoke of killing U.S. Army soldiers as part of a personal jihad has pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm. Erwin Antonio Rios admitted guilt Tuesday in U.S. District Court as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. In an affidavit filed with the court, FBI Special Agent Frank Brostrom said the 19-year-old from Fayetteville holds extremist Islamic views and told a government informant he would like to kill Fort Bragg soldiers. Authorities...

Detectives in two Northern Nevada counties investigating a string of five homicides, including the discovery of a body near the Mustang Ranch brothel, warned residents to remain vigilant Tuesday even after an arrest in connection with the case. Investigators found the bodies of Robert Pape and Dorothy Pape, both 84, early Monday in a house in Fernley, a city of 19,000 about 30 miles east of Reno. Angie Duff, 67, and another man were found dead in a home a half-block away. Deputies said they also...

New Yorkers might have felt they knew about the personal life of Christine Quinn, the veteran politician seeking to become the city's first gay and first female mayor. But on Tuesday, Quinn disclosed a difficult piece of her past that she had kept private: She was bulimic for a decade in her teens and 20s, went to rehab for it at 26 and considers herself a recovering alcoholic to this day. "I've always held the belief that the more honest we are, and the more we kind of take things that are our...

A child whose body was found in a New Jersey home following a dramatic 37-hour standoff this weekend died from stab wounds on the same day as his mother nearly three weeks earlier, authorities said Tuesday. The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said autopsy results on 12-year-old Quavon Foster indicated his death was a homicide. Foster suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest and died less than two weeks before his birthday. Authorities initially said Foster was 13 years old. The prosecutor's...

USA Today founder Al Neuharth posthumously addressed mourners at his Florida memorial service Tuesday with a video he taped before his death last month. Neuharth joked that "there are some people who wished this event had taken place long ago." The founder of USA Today and the Newseum was honored Tuesday at the headquarters of Florida Today newspaper in Melbourne. In the video, Neuharth recounted a "love affair" with Florida's Space Coast that began during a first visit in 1943. Speakers included...

An Arizona State University student who passed out and was left in a wheelchair in a hospital lobby with a Post-it note to tell doctors that he had participated in a drinking competition apparently put back about 20 shots of tequila. Police are considering citing the student for underage drinking in what is the latest alcohol-related incident to involve ASU students in recent months. The 19-year-old student was found early Saturday in the emergency room lobby of St. Luke's Hospital, according...

A decades-old effort to nurse the battered Great Lakes to health has made progress toward reducing toxic pollution and slamming the door on invasive species, but the freshwater seas continue to face serious threats, a U.S.-Canadian agency said Tuesday. The International Joint Commission, which advises both nations on issues affecting shared waterways, said their governments had compiled a mixed record in restoring the Great Lakes, which for much of the 20th Century were fouled by industrial and...

President Barack Obama's top official on tribal issues was expected to attend a summit this week in South Dakota aimed at sorting out allegations that the state regularly violates federal law by removing American Indian children from their homes and placing them in foster care with non-Indian families. Kevin Washburn, the U.S. Interior Department's assistant secretary for Indian affairs, planned to meet with leaders from South Dakota's nine Indian tribes for the three-day summit starting Wednesday...

Six current and former San Francisco school district employees were charged Tuesday with embezzling about $15 million in grant money from the district, officials said. The suspects face multiple felony grand theft and embezzlement counts for diverting federal and state grant money into hidden slush fund accounts through several nonprofits over a 10-year period, district attorney George Gascon and San Francisco Unified Schools Superintendent Richard Carranza announced at a news conference. A three-year...

A woman charged with shooting and killing her two young children and seriously wounding her husband at their northwestern South Carolina home told a nurse at the hospital she wanted to kill herself, but just couldn't do it, according to arrest warrants. Suzanna Simpson was found hurt in a wrecked pickup truck outside her family's home in Pickens County around 6 a.m. Tuesday, deputies said. She told paramedics "OK, OK, I shot my whole family," which sent officers rushing to the house, authorities...

An 80-year-old South Carolina double-amputee has died from his injuries after he was dragged from his wheelchair and attacked by four dogs, authorities said Tuesday. Carlton Freeman of Harleyville was driving his motorized wheelchair on May 8 when he was attacked, said Maj. John Garrison, a spokesman for the Dorchester County Sheriff's Department. An incident report said Freeman told authorities that he was pulled from his wheelchair during the attack in the community about 50 miles northwest...

A New Jersey man whose 4-year-old son shot and killed a 6-year-old playmate has been criminally charged and is due in court later this week. Prosecutors say Anthony Senatore had multiple unsecured weapons accessible to children in his Toms River home. Authorities say Senatore's son took a loaded .22-caliber rifle from a bedroom on April 8 and fired a shot, fatally wounding neighbor Brandon Holt while they were playing outdoors. Officials say four shotguns were found close to ammunition and accessible...

A New Jersey man has been charged with running a scheme to sell airplane parts that had been scrapped or rejected. The U.S. attorney's office says Edgewater resident Gideon Vaisman and others bought scrapped airplane engine parts and created fake paper trails to hide the fact the parts had been rejected by licensed repair facilities. Authorities say the parts were cleaned and sanded at a facility in Suffern, N.Y., and were sold to aircraft owners. It's unknown if any of the parts contributed...

At a table in the library of the Maryland Historical Society, an investigator with the National Archives pulls file folder after file folder from a cardboard box and hands them to library director Patricia Dockman Anderson. An FBI agent sits nearby. Item No. 451: an invitation to meet Vice President Hubert Humphrey in Hawaii in 1966. Item No. 1695: a ticket stub to the 1912 Democratic National Convention. Item No. 1332: a program linked to President Abraham Lincoln's 1865 funeral. Until recently,...

Longtime Philadelphia abortion provider Dr. Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies who prosecutors said were delivered alive and killed, and guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of a patient who had undergone an abortion. He agreed to give up his right to appeal the convictions and, in exchange, prosecutors said he would be spared the death penalty. A look at key facts in the case: ___ THE INVESTIGATION In 2010, federal...

The president of Virginia Tech announced his retirement Tuesday, satisfied he had elevated the university's reputation and acknowledging that the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history on his campus would be a part of his legacy. Charles Steger, 65, continues to be a central figure and criticized for the way the Blacksburg campus responded on April 16, 2007, when a student-gunman killed 32 students and faculty before killing himself. "It's part of our legacy, it's part of history," Steger...

State and federal agents will release this week the findings of an investigation into a deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant. The State Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will announce their findings on Thursday. Investigators have spent nearly a month combing a 93-foot-wide crater to try to pinpoint what caused the fire and the massive blast at the West Fertilizer Co. last month that killed 14 people. They have focused on ammonium nitrate,...

The Powerball jackpot is climbing again, and fast. In just a few short weeks, the jackpot has ballooned to $360 million, making it the third largest Powerball jackpot and the seventh largest jackpot ever. Here's a look at the top 10 world record lottery jackpots. 1. $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (3 tickets from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland) 2. $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (2 tickets from Arizona and Missouri) 3. $390.0 million, Mega Millions, March 6, 2007 (2 tickets...

A judge has slashed a landmark $240 million verdict to $1.6 million for 32 mentally disabled workers who suffered years of abuse by their caretakers. U.S. Senior Judge Charles Wolle entered judgment Tuesday against Henry's Turkey Service of Goldthwaite, Texas. Wolle says he must limit the judgment to $50,000 per employee, the cap included in the Americans with Disabilities Act for businesses with fewer than 101 workers. Jurors found May 1 that Henry's discriminated against the men, who were hired...

Court documents say prosecutors in the Colorado theater shootings have listed about 3,500 potential witnesses they could call during the trial of defendant James Holmes. The estimate was in a motion filed Tuesday. None of the witnesses have been publicly identified. Lawyers also say nearly 40,000 pages of documents about evidence have been filed. Holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring 70 in the July 20 shooting at an Aurora movie theater. He's charged with multiple counts of murder and...

Damage is estimated at $300,000 at a subdivision near Port Angeles where a man destroyed three houses with a bulldozer, damaged another home and crushed two sheds, a pickup truck, lawn mower, fences and other property in a dispute with a neighbor. No one was injured in Friday's rampage, and 51-year-old Barry Swegle is held on $1 million bail for possible charges of assault and malicious mischief. He's due in Clallam County Superior Court on Wednesday when an arraignment may be set. The Peninsula...

U.S. airlines collected more than $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year _ the highest amount since the fees became common five years ago. Passengers shouldn't expect a break anytime soon. Those fees _ along with extra charges for boarding early or picking prime seats _ have helped return the industry to profitability. Airlines started charging for a first checked suitcase in 2008 and the fees have climbed since. Airlines typically charge $25 each way for...

An Illinois special-needs teaching assistant accused of molesting a teenage student in school while knowingly infected with HIV remained jailed Tuesday as police investigated another claim of similar misconduct by the man involving a different student. Prosecutors in St. Clair County east of St. Louis charged Mario L. Hunt, 35, on Monday with felony counts of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and "transmitting" HIV through intimate contact during the first half of 2011,...

A teacher removed a suspicious package left inside a northern Colorado school that was later determined to be an active explosive, authorities said Tuesday. However, police in Lafayette were cautious about calling the teacher a hero. "That would not be a recommended protocol for the safety of the person carrying it," police Cmdr. Gene McCausey said. "Whether it was a smart thing to do or the teacher's a hero, that would be left up to the reader." Still, he said, "If my kid was in that school...

In the violent world of piracy, Mohammad Saaili Shibin was a multilingual negotiator based in lawless Somalia, working his cellphone to negotiate multimillion-dollar ransoms for merchant ships and sailors that dared to venture into pirate-infested international waters off Africa. Does that make him guilty of piracy? The question was the central argument Tuesday as a federal appeals court debated with an attorney seeking to overturn Shibin's piracy conviction and a government prosecutor arguing...

In a story May 8 about artisans in Kenya who turn old sandals into art objects, The Associated Press included two paragraphs that closely paralleled the wording of an earlier story on the subject by the Voice of America. Inclusion of such material should have been attributed to VOA. A corrected version of the story is below: Kenya co. turns old sandals into colorful objects Kenyan company turns old sandals into colorful array of toys and safari animals By JOE MWIHIA Associated Press NAIROBI,...

Audio experts differ on whether screams for help captured on 911 calls are those of defendant George Zimmerman or of shooting victim 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, according to reports released Tuesday. One New Jersey-based audio expert said in a report that the screams came from Martin, while another Florida-based audio expert said the shouts were a mix of Martin and Zimmerman. Attorneys prosecuting Zimmerman on a charge of second-degree murder hired the audio experts to compare samples of Zimmerman's...

An ethanol plant on the Columbia River that was built with the help of $36 million in Oregon state loans and tax credits is now being used to store and ship crude oil from North Dakota. The Oregonian reports ( http://bit.ly/12xgC1M ) the plant's switch came with little public notice. It was built at a cost of $200 million for Cascade Grain at the Port of St. Helens' Port Westward Industrial park near Clatskanie. The owner filed for bankruptcy in 2009, less than a year after startup. It produced...

New York City prosecutors say a woman has been charged with fraud for posing as the aunt of a Connecticut school shooting victim and soliciting donations. Nouel Alba was indicted Tuesday on identity theft and fraud charges in the Bronx. Prosecutors say she pretended to be the aunt of 6-year-old victim Noah Pozner. She was accused of using her Facebook account, telephone calls and text messages to seek donations for what she called a "funeral fund." Alba was first arrested in December on charges...

Britain's Prince Harry is heading to New York City after finishing a tour of two New Jersey towns hard hit by Superstorm Sandy. Gov. Chris Christie led the prince along the rebuilt boardwalk in Seaside Heights, where the MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" was taped. The prince also saw the roller coaster that Sandy tossed into the sea. The two played a game of chance, tossing plastic balls at a hole and giving the prizes to children who they were teamed with. Earlier, Harry and Christie shook...

A man unhappy with a neighbor's fence is accused of using a bulldozer to destroy three houses, damage another home and crush two sheds, a pickup truck, lawn mower, fences and other property. No one was injured in the rampage that caused an estimated $300,000 damage. Suspect Barry Swegle is held on $1 million bail for possible charges of assault and malicious mischief. The 51-year-old is to appear Wednesday in Clallam County Superior Court when an arraignment may be set. The Peninsula Daily...

Honda's new version of its Acura NSX sports car will be produced at a new plant inside one of the automaker's former facilities in central Ohio, Honda said Tuesday. The new $70 million plant, called the Performance Manufacturing Center, will be inside the former North American Logistics facility and adjacent to Honda's existing factory in Marysville. The new factory is expected to employ about 100 skilled workers drawn from existing Ohio operations, with mass production expected to begin in 2015....

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology can black out the names of university officials when releasing documents related to the investigation into free-information activist Aaron Swartz, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton wrote in the decision Monday that disclosure could expose MIT employees, law enforcement officials and others to harassment and retaliation. Swartz, 26, hanged himself in New York City in January as he faced trial on charges he hacked into the...

Authorities have arrested three people following allegations of prostitution and drug use at a senior citizen housing complex in northern New Jersey. Authorities have charged 75-year-old James Parham and 66-year-old Cheryl Chaney with possessing drug paraphernalia and maintaining a drug nuisance at the Vincente Tibbs Senior Citizen Building in Englewood. Detective Capt. Timothy Torell tells The Record ( http://bit.ly/19mKnVh ) newspaper Parham also admitted providing prostitutes to some of his...

Caroline Kennedy will sit on a New York City jury for the trial of a man accused of dealing crack cocaine. She was selected Monday to serve as a juror at the trial of Nelson Chatman in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis didn't mention whether any member of her family had been a victim of a crime. When asked if she or a family member had close ties to law enforcement, Kennedy said her brother once worked as an...

New Orleans police and federal authorities were searching early Tuesday for a young man who is suspected of opening fire at a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans, wounding 19. Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas identified the suspect late Monday as Akein Scott, 19, of New Orleans. Referring to blurry surveillance camera images of the mass shooting, Serpas said police have "multiple identifications of Akein Scott as the shooter" seen in the film. Serpas said officers would be searching all night...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. CONGRESS INVESTIGATING IRS SCANDAL A House committee is holding hearings this week on the IRS' targeting of tea party and conservative political groups. 2. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OBTAINS AP PHONE RECORDS The AP's CEO called the seizure of two months of records for more than 20 phone lines a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into news operations. 3. ANGELINA JOLIE HAS DOUBLE MASTECTOMY...

"If, in fact, IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that had been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that's outrageous and there's no place for it." _ President Barack Obama. ___ "What it boils down to is this: If you electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that is OK." _ Tim Eicher, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement agent, after an AP investigation determined the Obama administration doesn't prosecute wind-energy...

Vermont is poised to join three other states permitting doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients after the state House approved a compromise bill similar to Oregon's 1997 law. The bill, approved on Monday, now goes before Gov. Peter Shumlin, a strong supporter of the legislation. It marks the first time a state has granted legislative approval to such a measure. By a 75-65 roll call vote, the House concurred with a Senate version of the bill that largely mirrors...

The Vermont House approved a measure Monday night that would allow doctors to provide lethal medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their own lives. If Gov. Peter Shumlin _ a strong supporter of the bill _ signs on, Vermont will join Oregon, Washington and Montana as states allowing physicians to provide deadly doses of medication to dying patients who seek it. The vote was a reversal of the defeat of similar legislation in the House in 2007 and marked the first time any legislature...

An order from a panel of federal judges on the findings of a misconduct investigation into U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull is moot because the judge resigned, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday. Cebull retired on May 3 after the 9th Circuit's Judicial Council completed an investigation into his conduct in forwarding a racist email involving President Barack Obama. Cebull, who was the Montana chief federal judge based in Billings, announced his resignation in a March 29 letter,...

A subsidiary of India's largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay a record $500 million in fines and penalties for selling adulterated drugs and lying to federal regulators in a case that is part of an ongoing crackdown on the quality of generic drugs flowing into the U.S. Federal prosecutors say the guilty plea by Ranbaxy USA Inc. represents the largest financial penalty against a generic drug company for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the sale of...

A Tennessee man who stole a big-rig truck in California, caused several accidents and told investigators he was fleeing zombies when he did it has pleaded guilty to several felonies. U-T San Diego ( http://bit.ly/17Yg8VO ) reports Jerimiah Hartline pleaded guilty Monday to assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run causing death or injury, and vehicle theft. He could get five years in prison. The California Highway Patrol says Hartline stowed away in the truck in Tennessee and stole it when the...

Fire tore through a family's home on Mother's Day, authorities said, killing four young children, their father and another relative while their mother was across the street doing laundry at a friend's house. The blaze broke out around 11:55 p.m. Sunday at the single-family home in Pottsville, in eastern Pennsylvania. Firefighters later found all of the bodies on the third floor of the building, which sits on a steep hillside not far from the D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery in Pennsylvania's...

It might not be unusual for schoolchildren to write to the president or vice president. But one Wisconsin boy got an unexpectedly personal response. The 7-year-old, second-grade student at Downtown Montessori Academy wrote a letter to Vice President Joe Biden and other officials a few months ago with a simple idea for making the world safer. His teacher Jenny Aicher says his letter suggested that if guns shot chocolate bullets, no one would get hurt. The student _ and the rest of the school...

Researchers at an Ohio State University greenhouse are awaiting a rare second bloom by a rainforest plant known as a corpse flower because of its unpleasant odor. The university says the nearly 6-foot titan arum is expected to open this week, releasing another round of its rotting-flesh smell a little more than two years after it first flowered. A second corpse flower opened briefly at the greenhouse last May. A university spokeswoman tells The Columbus Dispatch ( http://bit.ly/15FLGSU ) cultivators...

Authorities say a limousine driver who erratically drove more than 20 suburban Chicago teenagers to a prom had an alcohol level nearly three-times the legal limit. Richard L. Madison says he wasn't intoxicated and that mechanical problems caused his erratic driving Saturday as he took the teenagers from Oswego East High School to their prom at a banquet hall near Glen Ellyn. But a DuPage County sheriff's report says a Breathalyzer test indicated Madison's blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent....

Two workers were injured Monday when highly flammable gas used in welding exploded at a West Virginia industrial site, officials said. Fire crews were sent at about 3:20 p.m. to Airgas, a distributor of specialty gases in Poca, outside of Charleston. Putnam County emergency management director Frank Chapman said the explosion involved about 50 tanks of acetylene that were at Airgas waiting to be refilled. What caused the tanks to explode wasn't known. Chad Jones, a firefighter with the Bancroft...

The United States said Monday it will refuse to send its ambassador to any meeting of the U.N. forum where nuclear disarmament is negotiated when it's chaired by Iran because countries under U.N. sanctions shouldn't be allowed to hold such positions. Erin Pelton, spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said in a statement that a country "in flagrant violation" of U.N. Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency obligations stemming from its suspect nuclear program...

Amtrak has unveiled at a plant in California the first of 70 new locomotives, marking what the national passenger railroad service said it hopes will be a new era of better reliability, streamlined maintenance and more energy efficiency. On a broader scale, the new engines displayed Monday could well be viewed as emblematic of the improving financial health of Amtrak, which has long been dependent on subsidies from an often reluctant Congress. More than 31 million passengers rode Amtrak in the...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday: 1. WHY THE WHITE HOUSE IS ON THE DEFENSIVE Simultaneous investigations into the IRS targeting conservative political groups and last year's attacks in Libya are threatening to overtake Obama's second-term agenda. 2. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OBTAINS AP PHONE RECORDS "There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications," CEO Gary Pruitt says....

Authorities in western Colorado say a human skeleton found in a partially buried car belongs to a man who was reported missing 26 years ago. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports ( http://bit.ly/13VWmIK ) the Mesa County Coroner's Office identified the man on Monday as 65-year-old Ronald Vasey. He went missing in 1987. The sheriff's department says someone hiking near John Brown Canyon Road, near Gateway, called 911 at about 6 p.m. Thursday to report a crashed vehicle below a cliff. The...

A man charged with killing three adults and a toddler on an eastern Kansas farm made a brief appearance in a packed courtroom Monday, but showed little emotion while a judge set a new court date. Kyle Flack, 27, has been held on $10 million bond in the Franklin County jail since he was charged Friday with capital murder in the deaths of 18-month-old Lana Leigh Bailey; her mother, Kaylie Bailey, 21; and Andrew Stout, 30. Flack is also charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder in those...

The woman whose decomposing body was pulled from a New Jersey home following a tense, 37-hour standoff died from stab wounds and blunt force trauma, authorities said Monday. Police identified the woman as Carmelita Stevens on Sunday _ the same day officers stormed her South Trenton home to rescue three of her children from a registered sex-offender who had held authorities at bay since Friday. The standoff ended when officers entered the home and shot 38-year-old Gerald Tyrone Murphy _ the man...

Jodi Arias has been transferred back to a Phoenix jail after spending the weekend on suicide watch at another facility. Maricopa County Sheriff's officials say Arias is back at the Estrella Jail where she will be housed until her trial has concluded. Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on Wednesday in the June 2008 killing of her one-time boyfriend. She claimed she killed Travis Alexander in self-defense after he attacked her, but authorities said it was a planned murder fueled by jealousy....

An estate planning lawyer who pleaded guilty mid-trial to using the identities of terminally ill people to illegally obtain tens of millions of dollars is trying to persuade a federal judge to let him change his plea back to not guilty. Joseph Caramadre appeared before U.S. District Judge William Smith on Monday in the continuation of a dayslong hearing on whether he will be allowed to vacate the guilty plea he entered in November. "I'm 100 percent innocent of all the charges, and I feel I'm entitled...

Susan Templer wasn't supposed to make it to 2012 or 2013. But the suburban Dallas middle school science teacher fought back against pancreatic cancer for close to two years and reached a milestone _ 25 years on the job. When doctors diagnosed her with cancer in August 2011, her students and colleagues rushed to support her. Templer says work kept her going, and she loves nothing more than teaching science. Richardson North Junior High Principal Philip Bates says Templer is the strongest person...

The first report by Detroit's emergency manager declares that the city is broke and at risk of running completely out of money _ a financial meltdown that could mean employees don't get paid, retirees lose their pensions and residents endure even deeper cuts in municipal services. If Detroit cannot avert disaster by reducing its debt payments, the only remaining option appears to be bankruptcy, a threat that looms large over Kevyn Orr's urgent efforts to make deals with creditors and debt holders....

After another dry winter across much of the West, fire officials are poised for a tough wildfire season that will be even more challenging because federal budget cuts mean fewer firefighters on the ground, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Monday. Jewell, who is just five weeks into her new job, said automatic budget cuts mandated by Congress will force fire managers to make choices as they prioritize resources. They also will have fewer resources to use on strategies designed to reduce...

Authorities hunting for a Northern California man suspected of killing of his wife and two young daughters have brought in dogs trained to search for cadavers. While investigators have said they have no indication Shane Franklin Miller may be dead, the canines are part of a larger search through California's rugged and remote North Coast terrain. More than 70 law enforcement officers from multiple jurisdictions are scouring the area for Miller, 45, suspected of killing his family last Tuesday...

An abortion doctor was convicted Monday of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy, "house of horrors" clinic. In a case that became a grisly flashpoint in the nation's abortion debate, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an abortion patient. He was cleared in the death of a fourth baby, who prosecutors say let out a whimper before...

This time next week, perhaps the most famous symbol of Superstorm Sandy's devastation at the Jersey shore will be gone. Demolition work is to start Tuesday on the remnants of the Jet Star, the roller coaster that plunged off an amusement pier in Seaside Heights during the Oct. 29 storm. It should take about four days to remove the ride, said Maria Mastoris, a spokeswoman for Casino Pier. "We are thrilled about this," she said. "We've been waiting for this for a long time. It shows we're making...

Florida prosecutors say Trayvon Martin's troubles at school and his marijuana smoking should not be talked about at a trial for neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Prosecutors asked a judge on Monday to block Zimmerman's attorneys from presenting this evidence as well as information about Martin getting into a fight and wearing fake gold teeth. Prosecutors also want to keep out of the trial any social media screen names Martin used, the contents of his text messages and his school records....

A Marine officer in charge of snipers shown in a 2011 video urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters Afghanistan will be court-martialed. The U.S. Marine Corps announced Monday that Capt. James V. Clement will be tried for dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer and failure to stop misconduct by those under his command. The charges were referred for trial following an evidentiary hearing held last month at Camp Lejeune, N.C. A date for the upcoming court-martial has not been set....

Hospitals nationwide could lose half a billion dollars in federal funding meant to offset the cost of covering the uninsured next year. The loss that will be especially felt in states where lawmakers have decided against expanding Medicaid coverage. According to rough estimates released Monday by federal health officials, cuts could jump to $4 billion in 2020, Hospitals around the country that treat a large number of uninsured residents rely on federal funds to offset costs. But the Affordable...

Longtime Philadelphia abortion provider Dr. Kermit Gosnell was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies prosecutors said were delivered alive and killed, and guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of a patient who had undergone an abortion. He was acquitted in the murder of a fourth baby. A look at key facts in the case: ___ THE INVESTIGATION In 2010, federal agents raided Gosnell's clinic in search of drug violations but instead stumbled...

An insurance company has bought out a nonprofit home for struggling women in Cincinnati in a deal announced Monday, ending a bitter two-year court battle over the historic property in a picturesque downtown neighborhood. Western & Southern Insurance Group bought the 104-year-old Anna Louise Inn for $4 million, according to a joint news release issued by the formerly acrimonious pair. The settlement clears the way for Western & Southern to turn the property into a boutique hotel after...

Revel will be getting a new start soon _ with new owners. A bankruptcy court judge on Monday approved the Atlantic City casino's Chapter 11 reorganization plan that wipes out most of its debt and provides new money for it to operate. Judge Judith Wizmur gave the OK to Revel's plan to grant an 82 percent ownership stake to lenders in return for canceling $1.2 billion worth of debt. "The confirmation of our plan is the last major milestone of the restructuring process," Revel's interim CEO Jeffrey...

The newsstands that dot the city's sidewalks would be able to stock cellphone chargers, offer more batteries and, perhaps most importantly, upgrade their umbrellas under a proposal broached Monday to double a price cap on their wares. Newsstand operators and supporters say the City Council proposal to lift the more than decade-old limit from $5 to $10 would help the venerable businesses keep up with the times. "With $5, what can you get?" asks Jay Patel, 63, who has run a newsstand a few blocks...

The adult brother of a 12-year-old California boy accused of killing his 8-year-old sister said Monday the family was in shock and extremely sad about the arrest of the boy. "We're just in a fog," Justin Fowler, 19, told The Associated Press. The arrest of the boy on Saturday in the stabbing death of Leila Fowler was the latest twist in the case that stunned the Central California community of Valley Springs. The boy told investigators last month that he saw a tall man with gray hair flee...

A newspaper deliveryman in central Florida shot and wounded a man he says shot at him first. Winter Haven police say a man and woman were delivering copies of the Ledger around 3 a.m. Sunday when they noticed a car following them. When the carriers stopped their truck, police say the car's driver, 23-year-old by Brian Scott Dickey II, approached and fired four shots. When Dickey began banging on the window with his gun, the deliveryman pulled his registered gun and fired through the window....