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An organization created to address online fraud says scams in which criminals impersonate FBI agents were one of the most common types of Internet crime complaints last year - a total of 14,350 nationwide. The Internet Crime Complaint Center says it has handled over 300,000 complaints in each of the past three years. The 314,246 complaints in 2011 marked a 3.4 percent increase over 2010, when complaints totaled 303,809. The amount of money lost by the victims last year: $485.3 million. Falsely...

You could call it a cautionary tale about what can go wrong when high school students exert too much "pier pressure." A group of Wisconsin students was all ready for their prom, the girls in their elegant gowns and the guys decked out in stylish tuxedos. They decided to pose for group photographs while lined up on a pier that extends over a lake in Oconomowoc, about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. As the group crowded onto the pier Saturday, one person called out that he just heard two cracking sounds,...

Cupcakes, brownies and other baked goodies will be spared the chopping block at Massachusetts schools after Gov. Deval Patrick backed down from planned regulations to prohibit the sale of the treats at bake sales during school hours. "Nobody is interested in banning bake sales," Patrick told reporters Thursday. "We are interested in student nutrition." The regulations, which had been set to take effect Aug. 1, were approved by state health officials charged with overseeing a new school nutrition...

A prominent former Las Vegas physician and state medical board member who operated clinics where health officials say patients became infected with hepatitis C in 2007 will face all 28 felony charges filed against him almost two years ago, a state court judge decided Thursday. Having lost a nearly two-year battle to show he is physically and mentally unfit for trial, Dipak Desai sat impassively in the courtroom while Clark County District Court Judge Valerie Adair ruled the grand jury indictment...

The head of a prominent abortion rights group says she's stepping down at the end of the year. Nancy Keenan, who's chaired the board of directors for NARAL Pro-Choice America for eight years, will leave the nation's oldest abortion rights group after the November elections. The Washington Post reported that she is not renewing her contract because the organization needs younger leaders. She said the group's research shows young Americans are not as passionate about abortion rights as previous...

Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday vetoed legislation that would set up a state health insurance exchange as part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, saying the state shouldn't rush to enact such a law and possibly create new burdens on taxpayers while the constitutionality of the federal act remains to be decided. "Because it is not known whether the Affordable Care Act will remain, in whole or in part, it would be imprudent for New Jersey to create an exchange at this moment in time...

An environmental activist who disrupted an oil and gas auction for land near Utah's national parks did so in protest, bringing attention to parcels that shouldn't have been for sale, his lawyers argued Thursday. Tim DeChristopher's conviction in the case should be overturned because his move was a form of civil disobedience intended to protect the environment from an auction he believed to be illegal, Ron Yengich said in federal appeals court. Yengich said that many of the 113 parcels up for...

The Indiana State Fair Commission on Thursday announced management changes spurred by last summer's deadly stage rigging collapse, including the retirement of a longtime employee who was noted in a report about the accident. The other moves include the hiring of a new chief operating officer and a new director of safety and security for the fairgrounds. They follow commission members' vote last month to make management changes recommended by consultants who investigated the Aug. 13 disaster that...

Dog breeders who skirt animal welfare laws by selling puppies over the Internet would face tighter scrutiny under a rule change proposed Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The change would subject dog owners who breed more than four females and sell the puppies electronically, by mail or over the phone to the same oversight faced by wholesale dealers as part of the Animal Welfare Act. That law, written in 1966, set standards of care for animals bred for commercial sale and research....

The attorney for a former Marine who pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing a man while driving drunk in Tampa blamed his client's post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury received while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Scott Sciple, 38, pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and DUI with personal injury. In 2010, Sciple plowed head-on into another car and killed the other driver, a 48-year-old father named Pedro Rivera. Sciple's family and lawyer blamed the crash on his combat injuries...

A judge on Thursday tossed out drunken driving charges against the former head of the Federal Aviation Administration after seeing video of the traffic stop and ruling that the officer had no legitimate reason to stop the driver. Randy Babbitt, 65, resigned his post in December after news of his arrest became public. At a trial Thursday, General District Judge Ian O'Flaherty dismissed the case after seeing video that showed Babbitt making what appeared to be a normal left turn into a parking...

A Roman Catholic nun testified Thursday that she and two relatives were sexually abused by a priest described by a church leader as "one of the sickest people I ever knew." The nun testified in the clergy-abuse trial of Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official charged with felony child endangerment for allegedly leaving predator-priests in ministry. The nun said she, her sister and cousin went to the archdiocese in 1991 to report 1970s-era abuse by the Rev. Nicholas Cudemo, and...

State oil and gas regulators are blaming mechanical failure for a natural gas well blowout in eastern Wyoming last month. The Casper Star-Tribune reports ( http://bit.ly/KIKmnZ ) an investigation by the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission also found that workers at the rig failed to properly engage part of the wellhead apparatus. The blowout of the Chesapeake Energy Corp. natural gas well near Douglas occurred on April 27. The well vented about 2 million cubic feet of gas and up to...

California's highest court has cleared the way for a convicted serial killer to be brought to New York to face charges in two 1970s killings. It wasn't clear Thursday when Rodney Alcala, who's awaiting execution in California for five 1970s stranglings, might be brought to a Manhattan court, though the arrangements could take a few weeks. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected his bid to block extradition, according to court records. A former amateur photographer and TV dating-show...

The cheap signs smashed into lawns and along the corners of busy intersections are hard to miss. "We Buy Junk Cars!" `'Cash for Your House!" `'Computer Repair." The eyesores have vexed Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober for the past few years as he wastes valuable resources plucking up the signs only to watch them pop up in even greater numbers. While stopped at a red light a few months ago, Bober studied the unsightly signs and came to a realization that would help him fight their proliferation: The...

A man convicted of setting a Maine topless coffee shop on fire, destroying the business and endangering seven people, is going to prison for 30 years. Fifty-one-year-old Raymond Bellavance Jr. didn't speak at his sentencing on Thursday. He has maintained his innocence and contends he was railroaded. Prosecutors say he set the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro on fire because his former girlfriend was having a relationship with the owner of the business, where topless waitresses worked....

Charles Baird is going off the grid for a year. The 40-year-old oil company employee and filmmaker from Anchorage will move to the mostly uninhabited Latouche Island in Alaska's Prince William Sound at the end of May, completing a dream he's been contemplating for 17 years. Baird will build a 12x12 shed to shelter him from the elements, and he plans to hunt and fish and fend off an occasional black bear during his sojourn to the Alaska wilderness. He'll be incommunicado, only allowing himself...

A Nebraska mother accused of pimping out her 14-year-old daughter also charged men to have sex with her 7-year-old daughter, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. The 35-year-old mother allowed at least seven men to have sex with her 14-year-old at least 20 times, the patrol said. Investigators also said at least three men had sex with the 7-year-old. The Lincoln Journal Star reported ( http://bit.ly/KNy8EJ ) Thursday that three men have been arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child....

Benedict Arnold is a hero again, at least temporarily, at two upstate New York historic sites where his pre-treason exploits are being remembered. Arnold's heroic actions in the Revolutionary War's Battles of Saratoga are detailed in a new exhibit opening Thursday at Saratoga National Historical Park, and his capture of British-held Fort Ticonderoga at the side of Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys is being re-staged later this month in a rare nighttime re-enactment. The Connecticut-born...

So you think blue lobsters are rare? The New England Aquarium is holding a lobster that's way rarer than that. The aquarium in Boston says it has a calico lobster that could be a 1-in-30 million find. The lobster is dark with bright orange and yellow spots. It was caught off Winter Harbor, Maine, and is being held at the New England Aquarium for the Biomes Marine Biology Center, a science center in Rhode Island. Aquarium spokesman Tony Lacasse says calico lobsters are quite rare. The Maine-based...

Educators exasperated by the need for greater parent involvement have persuaded Tennessee lawmakers to sign off on a novel bit of arm-twisting: Asking parents to grade themselves on report cards. Another Tennessee measure signed into law recently will create parent contracts that give them step-by-step guidelines for pitching in. The report card bill _ which would initially apply to two struggling schools _ passed the Legislature, and the governor has said he is likely to sign it. Participation...

A Maryland man who killed the off-duty state trooper who kicked him out of a restaurant has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Cyril Cornelius Williams maintains his innocence in the June 2010 murder of Trooper Wesley Brown. He made no apologies to the trooper's family when he was sentenced Thursday. Prince George's County Circuit Judge Sean Wallace called Williams a threat to society who deprived the community of a young public servant who helped at-risk youth. Williams was convicted...

Denver Post Editor Gregory Moore and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman have been named co-chairmen of the board that administers the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism and the arts. Columbia University announced Thursday that Moore and Friedman had been chosen to lead the 19-member board. Moore has been the Post's editor since going to Denver in June 2002. He joined the newspaper after 16 years at The Boston Globe, the last eight as managing editor. Friedman joined the Times in 1981 and has...

Eighth-graders in the U.S. are doing better in science than they were two years ago, but seven out of 10 still are not considered proficient, the federal government said Thursday. What's more, just 2 percent have the advanced skills that could lead to careers in the field. That's from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card, released by the U.S. Department of Education. The average score was 152, up from 150 in 2009. Gerry Wheeler, interim...

A Florida high school science teacher faces dismissal amid allegations that she used a "cone of shame" dog collar to discipline students. Pasco County schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino has recommended firing 47-year-old Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp for putting a dog collar on at least eight of her ninth graders on two days in April. The collar was reportedly the type used to prevent animals from licking themselves after surgery. "Cone of shame" is a reference to the animated film "Up," which...

Police say a man arrested in a Southeast Texas city for riding his unicycle in the nude was distracting drivers and creating a hazard. Kemah (KEE'-muh) police Chief Greg Rikard (RY'-kurd) says 45-year-old Joseph Glynn Farley was not intoxicated or impaired when he was arrested Wednesday on a bridge in the city 20 miles southeast of Houston. Rikard says Farley had been falling off the unicycle and into traffic. Farley told officers that he liked the feeling of riding without his clothes, which...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT): 1. FRESH OFF STAND FOR GAY MARRIAGE, OBAMA HITS FUNDRAISING TRAIL He heads to California today for a sold-out fundraiser with Hollywood's elite at the home of movie star George Clooney. 2. NO SIGNS OF SURVIVORS FROM PLANE CRASH ON INDONESIAN VOLCANO The Russian-made passenger plane carrying 45 crashed just minutes after taking off on a demonstration flight for potential buyers....

Jurors in New Jersey have delivered a mixed verdict at the trial of a marijuana activist who lives in California and goes by the name "NJWeedman." The panel in Mount Holly on Wednesday convicted Ed Forchion of possession of one pound of pot in the trunk of his car. However, they could not reach a verdict on whether he intended to distribute it. The 47-year-old moved to Los Angeles several years ago to run a medical marijuana dispensary. He was arrested during a traffic stop in April 2010. He...

Kate Varnum was at her Iowa home watching her newly adopted infant son when news flashed that Barack Obama had become the first sitting U.S. president to endorse equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. "I said, `Oh my gosh, I can't believe this is happening,'" said Varnum, 38, a plaintiff in a lawsuit that prompted the Iowa Supreme Court to make the state the first in the Midwest to legalize gay marriage in 2009. "We are absolutely thrilled. We still have a long way to go, but this is a huge...

Americans react after President Barack Obama voiced his support for gay marriage: "It definitely felt a like an important moment. For someone who's been fighting in this movement for a long time ... it's overwhelming. Wow!" _ Chris Seelbach, a gay rights activist elected last year as Cincinnati's first openly gay city councilman. "I'm not really for gay marriage. I think a man should be with a woman in God's eyes and a woman should be with a man. But to each his own." _ Joanie Taylor, 55, who...

Confederate Memorial Day is being observed in South Carolina, the state where the Civil War began. A holiday to honor Southerners who fell fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War is officially observed in nine states of the old Confederacy, but they're held at different times of the year. In the Carolinas, Confederate Memorial Day is May 10th, the day Gen. Stonewall Jackson died in 1863. In Charleston, events to mark the occasion are scheduled for the Battery, in Washington Park next...

Weather Underground Forecast for Thursday, May 10, 2012. Heavy rain showers will spread across Texas on Thursday, as a low pressure system moves through the Southern Plains. The system will strengthen as it obtains moisture and energy in from the Gulf of Mexico. This will allow for heavy rains and severe thunderstorms to develop across most of Texas throughout the day. Flash flooding is likely across parts of central and southern Texas, as rainfall totals may exceed 3 inches. There is a slight...

The mother of a Mexican man who died after U.S. border authorities shot him several times with a stun gun in San Diego was in the nation's capital to demand answers in an investigation that has lasted nearly two years. Luz Rojas' two-day visit began Wednesday and follows the release of a video that appears to show 42-year-old Antastasio Hernandez being shot while lying on the ground, surrounded by about a dozen agents May 28, 2010. "We're going on two years now and we haven't had any response,"...

For more than three decades, Kerry and Darrell Finsaas were all that kept this blink-and-you-miss-it North Dakota community from becoming completely deserted. As Dore's only residents, they lived in a ghost town on the desolate northern Plains. But now the couple has neighbors _ and lots of them. The all-but-forgotten former farming village has been reborn as a hub of oil activity. And it may not be the last abandoned settlement to be resurrected from the dust. "We knew it was inevitable," Kerry...

Nicholas Katzenbach, whose eight years in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations helped shape some of the most important events of the 1960s, has died. He was 90. Katzenbach died Tuesday night at his home in Skillman, N.J. His career was praised by Princeton University scholar Sean Wilentz as "long and singular" and defined by a "bedrock devotion to principle." Katzenbach's son, John, said his father "passed away with the same quiet dignity that he displayed throughout his life." He noted that...

A jury convicted an illegal immigrant Wednesday of killing a father and two of his sons in a gang-related shooting that also drew attention to San Francisco's sanctuary policy. Edwin Ramos, 25, was guilty of three counts of first-degree murder as well as a single count of attempted murder. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced on June 4. Prosecutors said Ramos opened fire on a car carrying Tony Bologna, 48, and his three sons _ Michael, 20, Matthew,...

A Mississippi man killed a Tennessee mother and her teenage daughter so he could abduct two young sisters who are still missing, according to court documents filed Wednesday, and a relative says the suspect thought the two younger girls might be his daughters. The developments gave the first hint of a motive in the case that began in southwest Tennessee, stretched into Mississippi and led the FBI to put Adam Christopher Mayes, 35, on its Ten Most Wanted list. Authorities said they think the missing...

Two Southern California police officers were ordered Wednesday to stand trial in the death of a mentally ill homeless man following a violent arrest last summer. Orange County Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm made the ruling after a hearing that included surveillance video of the confrontation between the officers and 37-year-old Kelly Thomas in the city of Fullerton. Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Cpl. Jay Cicinelli is charged with...

While researching his epic series on Lyndon Johnson, Robert Caro found himself again and again calling upon Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, the former Justice Department and State Department official. "He was a key figure in so many of the most crucial moments in both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations," says Caro, whose fourth Johnson volume, "The Passage of Power," was recently released. "And he was so careful about making sure that I truly understood them." The Bay of Pigs. The Cuban Missile...

A Montana judge on Wednesday halted further transfers of Yellowstone National Park bison, dealing a significant blow to a government-sponsored conservation effort struggling to overcome livestock industry opposition. The order from Judge John McKeon in Blaine County has the immediate effect of blocking the pending move of several dozen Yellowstone bison to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. McKeon said the animals must remain on the Fort Peck Reservation, where about 60 bison were transferred...

President Barack Obama's announcement that he supports gay marriage sent ripples through the political world on Wednesday. What does this mean for the 2012 election against likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney? How has Obama's position evolved? Here's a look at the many facets of this evolving story: OBAMA'S CHANGING VIEWS Obama said he came to support gay marriage after spending years talking to family and friends. Looking at his comments dating to 2009, here's a sampling of how his views have...

Elizabeth Edwards angrily confronted a key presidential campaign donor who provided financial help to her husband's pregnant mistress in 2007, John Edwards' former spokeswoman testified Wednesday. Jennifer Palmieri said Edwards called her to a Davenport, Iowa, hotel room to help calm Elizabeth Edwards while she was arguing with campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and his wife, Lisa Blue, about the couple's financial support for Rielle Hunter. Palmieri, now the deputy communications director...

From the left and the right, rival sides in the gay-marriage debate claimed they would reap Election Day benefits from President Barack Obama's long-awaited declaration that he supports same-sex couples' right to wed. For some gays, however, the politics were secondary to an emotional embrace of what they viewed as history in the making. "Wow _ that was wow," said Rodney Mondor of Portland, Maine, after hearing the news. He has lived with his partner for 13 years and is raising a 12-year-old...

A New Jersey woman admitted Wednesday to sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl she was allegedly babysitting and putting a video of the assault on the Internet. Jennifer Mahoney, 33, of Manalapan pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to sexual exploitation of a child. She faces between 15 and 30 years in prison when she is sentenced Aug. 22, and will have to pay restitution to the victim. She had been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. As part of the plea, Mahoney agreed...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the United Nations wants an immediate restoration of the ousted government in Guinea-Bissau, which was overthrown by the military last month. He told the General Assembly that he asked the U.N. envoy in Guinea-Bissau to work closely with the African Union, the West African regional group ECOWAS, and the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries to resolve the crisis. "As international partners, we seek an immediate return to constitutional order,"...

The owner of an oil tanker that spilled 400 gallons of fuel into San Francisco Bay has agreed to pay nearly $2 million as part of a settlement with state and local authorities. The settlement by South Harmony Shipping of Panama was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court on Tuesday by the district attorneys of San Francisco and Alameda County. The spill occurred in 2009 when a tank on the ship Dubai Star began overflowing during refueling between San Francisco and Alameda. Investigators...

Arkansas authorities say a woman who was allegedly held against her will and tortured before escaping went with her alleged assailant willingly and was not forcibly abducted, as she initially reported. Garland County sheriff's department spokesman Lt. James Martin said Wednesday that the woman initially told investigators a man abducted her Thursday from a friend's home and held her against her will until she escaped Saturday. But Martin says she later told investigators she went there willingly...

Airline pilot Denny Fitch was hitching a ride home on a DC-10 in 1989 when heard an explosion somewhere in the back of the jet. He soon made his way to the cockpit to see if the crew needed help. Inside, he found three men desperately trying to keep the giant plane in the air after losing all hydraulic power needed to control direction and altitude. Fitch took a seat in the only space available _ the floor _ and helped operate some of the only equipment still working _ the wing engines _ to try...

The nation's commercial casinos continued their slow-but-steady comeback from the recession last year, with revenues up 3 percent nationwide and jobs holding nearly steady, according to a report released Wednesday. The American Gaming Association's annual report noted the nation's 492 non-Indian casinos or other legal gambling halls paid nearly $8 billion in taxes to state and local governments, a 4.5 percent increase over 2010. The casinos took in $35.6 billion last year. They also provided...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed the leaders of Indonesia, Liberia and Britain to co-chair a panel that will advise the United Nations on promoting economic development after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. World leaders in 2000 agreed to a series of Millennium Development Goals to be met by 2015, including cutting extreme poverty by half, ensuring that all children have an elementary school education, halting the HIV/AIDS pandemic and reducing maternal and child mortality....

After decades of environmental fights, California's chief coastal regulator approved a scaled-back development plan Wednesday by a Clint Eastwood-backed group on a breathtaking swath of real estate covered by rare Monterey pines. The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to allow Pebble Beach Co. to build 90 homes in Monterey County's Del Monte Forest. The company can also build a new, 100-unit hotel on the former site of Spyglass Quarry and expand its current Lodge at Pebble Beach....

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is offering forgiveness and a funeral service for a homeless man who killed himself after fatally shooting a priest and church secretary last week. Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton and an academic expert on forgiveness likened the diocese's attitude to that of an Amish community in Lancaster County, Pa., that forgave the man who fatally shot five school girls there in 2006. "That is a painful, hard process," Sutton told The Associated Press after last Thursday's shooting....

Letting your telephone ring in a courtroom is rarely a good idea. Taking the call is worse. A Northern Ireland man received a brief jail sentence Wednesday after his phone rang, the judge told him to turn it off, but instead he took the call and had a brief chat. The judge ordered 36-year-old Paddy Sweeney behind bars for two hours, then fined him 200 pounds ($322) for willfully interrupting the court in Londonderry, Northern Ireland's second-largest city. Sweeney had been watching a civil trial...

Federal officials are boosting efforts at national parks in southern Arizona to prevent what they say is a path of destruction left by illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has recruited more than a dozen rangers from other states as it increases patrols of the Sonoran Desert National Monument, about 80 miles south of Phoenix, and the Ironwood Forest National Monument, north of Tucson. Both sites typically draw drug smugglers and border-crossers because of...

New Jersey State Police say a car driven by a man taking his children to a baby sitter collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, killing him and his 5-year-old son. His 3-year-old daughter is critically hurt. Thirty-seven-year-old Kevin Shelton, of Pittsgrove, was westbound on Route 40 when the crash occurred at around 7 a.m. Wednesday in the Salem County community. Authorities say it appears Shelton's car crossed the center line, but the cause of the accident remains under investigation. Shelton...

A former California transit officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform in 2009 urged an appeals court Wednesday to overturn his involuntary manslaughter conviction, saying that letting it stand would place police under an increased threat of prosecution for making mistakes. Johannes Mehserle, who worked for the Bay Area Rapid Transit, has long said he mistakenly drew his gun instead of his Taser when he shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant to death during an early morning melee...

Fourteen sailors assigned to the security department of the U.S. submarine base in Groton have been implicated in a Navy investigation into illegal drug use, officials said Wednesday. The sailors have all been removed from security duties, according to Christopher Zendan, a spokesman for the base. He said none of the sailors were assigned to submarines and base security was never at risk. Six sailors and four civilians already have been arrested in a probe by local, state and military officials...

An Air Force dentist pulls teeth in the oil-stained garage where the town's fire truck normally parks. A reservist in camouflage dispenses free medicine in the police department lobby. The doctoring Wednesday was part of a military program to provide free health care in poor areas of the South and whose latest mission came to one of Alabama's most impoverished regions, where the teams have treated more than 12,000 people in less than two weeks. The work helps fill a gap in an area with few doctors...

A 14-year-old Indianapolis girl has been charged as an adult in the fatal stabbing of her 4-year-old cousin. Brienne Delaney, spokeswoman for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, says the adult murder charge was filed against the girl Wednesday in juvenile court in Indianapolis. A juvenile court judge must decide whether to move the case to adult court. Leon Thomas III., was found bleeding from stab wounds Saturday at an Indianapolis apartment and later died at the hospital. Police say they...

One of two teens accused in the March 2011 slaying of a Nevada classmate has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in a deal that will spare him the death penalty. The Elko Daily Free Press reports Kody Cree Patten, 19, said he understood the plea bargain he was making at the Wednesday morning court hearing in Elko, but he didn't discuss details about the killing of Micaela "Mickey" Costanzo, 16. He'd previously pleaded not guilty and was set for a July trial. "It was the...

Lawyers for a Seattle couple accused of drawing welfare benefits while living in a million-dollar waterfront home say the two will plead guilty next Wednesday in federal court. The seattlepi.com reports ( http://is.gd/f8KINc ) the lawyer for chiropractor David Mark Silverstein says he'll pay back more money than prosecutors say the couple received in assistance. And the lawyer for Lyudmila Shimonava says she'll be taking responsibility for her actions. The two were charged Tuesday with felony...

Federal lawmakers have proposed making the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage eligible for the Purple Heart. A bill introduced in Congress would remove the distinction between international and domestic terrorism, making any military victims of terrorist attacks in the U.S. eligible for the Purple Heart. It's now awarded only to troops attacked in a combat zone. The bill is sponsored by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York. Some...

An environmental activist is asking a federal appeals court to overturn his two-year prison sentence for disrupting an auction of drilling parcels on public lands near Utah's national parks. Defense lawyers argue that Tim DeChristopher was wrongly convicted at a federal trial in Salt Lake City last summer. They say DeChristopher lacked criminal intent and was acting in civil disobedience to disrupt an auction of wilderness lands he believed was illegal. The judge refused to allow the former college...

Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has condemned a bomb attack in Syria that struck close to U.N. observers, saying it could impact the mission's future. Ban called the attack "unacceptable." "It is a testament to the difficulty and the danger of the task entrusted to our U.N. observers, and it is a reminder of the risks of violence escalating even further," he told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday. Ban said innocent civilians are still dying, government troops and heavy armor are still in...

What were they thinking? Through plastic smiles or gritted teeth, moms have to suck it up sometimes when Mother's Day means a gifted toilet, unsolicited wash tub or anti-aging cream. It wouldn't be Mother's Day if some mom somewhere wasn't disappointed or downright piqued at gift time. Many aren't looking to break the bank, though the National Retail Federation expects Americans to spend $19 billion on the holiday this year. But unrequested sex toys? A chainsaw? Dave Hochman learned the hard...

The following recalls have been announced: ____ TRAMPOLINES DETAILS: Sportspower BouncePro 14' Trampolines imported by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., of Bentonville, Ark. and manufactured by Sportspower Limited, of Hong Kong, China; sold exclusively at Walmart stores nationwide from February 2009 through February 2012. The trampolines are surrounded by brown netting measuring about 6 feet high on the perimeter of the trampoline. "Sportspower BouncePro 14" is printed on a plate on the leg of the trampoline...

After 36 years, the Dodge Dart is back, and it's no retro model. The 2013 Dart five-seat sedan is modern and stylish, with European handling and heritage, fun features, 10 air bags and fuel-thrifty engines, including two turbos. And smart design and attention to detail inside the Dart successfully groups the information from the gauges with the controls in the center of the dashboard better than any car _ Dodge or otherwise. The slew of features, standard on some models and optional on others,...

Thin-sliced roasted turkey, prosciutto and soppressata no longer are the domain of the deli. Food companies looking to capitalize on consumers' increasingly sophisticated tastes _ and their need for speed at the grocer and at home _ are carving out new directions in lunch meat with upscale options that are pre-sliced, prepackaged and ready to go right alongside the bologna. They also are revamping the classics, offering new flavors and styles of basic deli meats, including better-for-you options...

A man whose child unknowingly had gun parts and ammunition hidden inside stuffed animals in his carry-on bag was involved in a custody dispute, officials at Rhode Island's main airport said Wednesday. Federal transportation agents found the items Monday when the man and his 4-year-old son went through security at T.F. Green Airport, authorities said. The man, who has not been identified, said he didn't know the items were there. The airport released a statement on Wednesday calling it a "domestic...

Three workers injured in a fire at a Sinclair refinery Wyoming were taken to a burn center in Colorado in critical condition. Sinclair Oil Corp. says the flash fire happened Tuesday inside a gas recovery unit at its refinery about five miles east of Rawlins. The Rawlins Daily Times reports ( http://bit.ly/IIph6z ) Tim Bjork, Eric Hansen and another unidentified worker were critically hurt and being treated at a burn center in Greeley, Colo. A fourth worker was treated and released from a Rawlins...

Authorities say an 8-year-old Boston boy backed his mother's BMW out of the driveway and crashed it into the porch of the house across the street. Officials say neither the boy nor anyone in the home was hurt in the accident in the city's Dorchester neighborhood at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. The porch and foundation suffered an estimated $80,000 in damage. The car, with its trunk ripped off and rear window smashed in, had to be towed from the scene. Authorities say the car backed out of the...

North Carolina voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman, but not much is expected to change immediately. That's because North Carolina law already banned gay marriage. The amendment voters passed Tuesday night by about 61 percent of voters effectively will seal the door on same-sex marriages and potentially have other effects farther down the road. "Same-sex marriage was illegal today; it's illegal tomorrow," said John...

The federal government is spending $4 million to help hook up farmers and low-income customers. Currently, fewer than a quarter of the nation's roughly 7,100 farmers markets are set up to use the Electronic Benefit Transfer system, or food stamps. But Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of agriculture, said she hopes these grants will bring another 4,000 of those outlets on line with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. "SNAP participation at farmers' markets helps provide fresh...

The 8-year-old twins love their iPad. They draw, play games and expand their vocabulary. Their family's teenagers also like the hand-held computer tablets, too, but the clan's elders show no interest. The orangutans at Miami's Jungle Island apparently are just like people when it comes to technology. The park is one of several zoos experimenting with computers and apes, letting its six orangutans use an iPad to communicate and as part of a mental stimulus program. Linda Jacobs, who oversees the...

An 84-year-old western Pennsylvania man and Korean War vet shot and wounded a home invasion suspect, and then forgave the man's family when they came to apologize. Police said Raymond Hiles, 25, was captured Tuesday not long after trying to break into Fred Ricciutti's Elizabeth Township home, about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh. "My wife and I were asleep. We were staying downstairs because my wife is ill," Ricciutti told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Ricciutti said he heard a noise at about...

Police in a Phoenix suburb are holding a community meeting to discuss the case of a former neo-Nazi who they believe shot and killed four people before turning a gun on himself. The Arizona Republic reports ( http://bit.ly/IKNWws ) Gilbert police will talk to residents Thursday night at City Council chambers. They'll provide an overview of the investigation and address "topics and concerns relating to domestic violence." The meeting takes place hours after a private funeral at a local church...

Police say a New York man who refused to pay a $12 taxi fare was carrying more than $5,000 when the cabbie drove him around looking for cheap cigarettes. The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports ( http://bit.ly/IZjvk6 ) that a 68-year-old man had the driver take him to two stores on Monday. Each time he came out empty-handed, saying the price of cigarettes was too high. When the man had the cabbie take him to a third store, the driver asked for the $12.40 fare. The passenger refused to pay and...

A cow runs circles in a small pen, her baby close by her side. Ranchers, their brows wrinkled, scribble in a glossy catalog while high on a podium the auctioneer slams his gavel, taking bids as the price of the pair rises rapidly. The high-profile auction at the Neches River Ranch gave cattlemen a good indication of how long it might take to rebuild after Texas' devastating drought and what it might cost them. A quality cow that sold last year for no more than $1,800 now fetches about $3,000....

A new round of inspections of towboats and tugs is starting in July as part of a nationwide push by the Coast Guard to improve the safety of the nation's rivers and harbors. Since a 2008 collision and oil spill near New Orleans involving an improperly licensed towboat captain, the Coast Guard has begun inspecting work boats across the nation. So far, the Coast Guard says it has inspected 2,887 towing vessels that volunteered to be inspected in the 26 states that fall under the Coast Guard's Eighth...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT): 1. Support for the war in Afghanistan reaches new low New AP-GfK poll finds only 27 percent of Americans back the effort, and about half of those who oppose the war say the continued presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is doing more harm than good. 2. Security at U.S. airports remains unchanged despite latest underwear bomb plot Status quo reflects both the U.S. confidence...

Weather Underground Forecast for Wednesday, May 09, 2012. Wet weather will continue across the Northeast on Wednesday as Low pressure remains in place over the region and a cold front drops south from Canada. Showers and thunderstorms are anticipated along the front, with heavy rain possible, especially in the afternoon. The heaviest precipitation will likely fall from central New Jersey through coastal Maine. Cooler temperatures will move in behind the front as skies gradually begin to clear...

A search of a Southern California landfill has turned up no sign of a toddler boy and his baby brother believed killed by their father at their Orange County apartment. Orange police Sgt. Dan Adams says investigators and two cadaver-sniffing dogs completed a search of the Brea landfill on Tuesday but turned up nothing. He says it's not clear where or when a search for the children will resume. Adams says police believe the children were killed along with their 31-year-old mother by their father,...

North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, becoming the latest state to effectively slam the door shut on same-sex marriages. With most of the precincts reporting Tuesday, unofficial returns showed the amendment passing with about 61 percent of the vote to 39 percent against. North Carolina is the 30th state to adopt such a ban on gay marriage. Tami Fitzgerald, who heads the pro-amendment group Vote FOR Marriage...

North Carolina's Democratic lieutenant governor and the former Republican mayor of Charlotte will square off in November to succeed one-term Democratic incumbent Gov. Beverly Perdue after primary race victories Tuesday. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton beat former U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge in the six-candidate Democratic primary, which opened up in late January when Perdue decided not to seek re-election. With nearly all precincts reporting unofficial returns, Dalton had 45 percent compared to Etheridge with...

As the hunt continued for a Mississippi man suspected of killing a Tennessee woman and her teenage daughter before fleeing with her two younger girls, his wife and mother were charged Tuesday in connection with the abduction, authorities said. Teresa Mayes, 30, was charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and Mary Mayes, 65, was charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Authorities on Tuesday continued to search for Adam Mayes 35, and the two young girls _ Alexandra Bain, 12, and Kyliyah...

Police at Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport said Tuesday that a domestic dispute was behind an incident in which gun components and ammunition were found hidden inside a child's stuffed animals, including a Mickey Mouse. Authorities later allowed the 4-year-old boy and his father to continue their travel to Detroit after concluding the man didn't pose a risk, authorities said. He told police that he didn't know the parts were inside the stuffed toys. "It appears to be the result of a domestic...

The same disdain for alcohol that drove Christian clergymen to establish this Jersey shore town that calls itself America's Greatest Family Resort led voters to overwhelmingly reject a proposal Tuesday that would have let restaurant patrons bring their own wine or beer to enjoy with dinner. A referendum on whether BYOB should be allowed was soundly rejected by a 2-to-1 margin. Final unofficial tallies showed the referendum received 3,137 "no" votes, and 1,425 "yes" votes. Turnout was heavy in...

Investigators have located a vehicle that may be connected to the abduction of a Northern California teenager who's been missing for nearly two months, authorities said Tuesday. Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza wouldn't say where or when the red Volkswagen Jetta was recovered. Surveillance cameras and witnesses put the car near the area where authorities believe 15-year-old Sierra LaMar was kidnapped in Suburban San Jose on March 16. "It's still an open investigation," Cardoza told...

University of California students could face significantly higher tuition if the state doesn't increase funding and voters reject the governor's tax initiative, school administrators said Tuesday. Under one scenario, the 10-campus system would raise tuition by 6 percent this fall if the state doesn't increase funding by $125 million for 2012-13, according to a document posted online ahead of next week's UC Board of Regents meeting. The university would need to consider a mid-year tuition increase...

A convicted sex offender who faces nearly two dozen charges in Utah but has remained free because of a legal loophole likely will never face trial or be confined to an institution, a prosecutor said Tuesday. "He falls into this gray area," Utah County prosecutor Craig Johnson said. "For criminal prosecution, we are in an indefinite holding pattern. The proceedings are stayed, perhaps forever." Lonnie Johnson, 39, was charged in 2007 with 21 sodomy and sex assault counts after police said he had...

The federal government has announced that a settlement with a New York City landlord will result in more than $2 million being paid to tenants who were sexual harassment victims. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (buh-RAH'-ruh) announced the deal Tuesday. He called it the largest recovery ever in a sexual harassment suit brought by the United States under the Fair Housing Act. A 2010 lawsuit had blamed the building's owner for failing to stop a superintendent from demanding sex in exchange for rent...

After years of starts, stops and half-starts, the long-delayed expansion of New York's Penn Station is set to begin. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Tuesday the $270 million first phase of the project that will expand a concourse and add entryways on the western end of the station. Work is scheduled to start by the middle of 2012 and be finished in 2016. The new terminal will be named after late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who championed the project beginning in...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that he "didn't even bother" to read a report by city-hired consultants that found New York's recently-overhauled 911 system is plagued by delays and errors. Bloomberg appeared to simultaneously criticize and give credence to the $500,000 report as he answered reporters' questions Tuesday. The report found that flawed procedures used by emergency operators could be leaving callers without help for crucial seconds, and it identified areas in which fire and police...

In a blow to Illinois' sweeping eavesdropping law, a federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked its enforcement in cases where someone is recording a police officer at work. It was a victory for activists who had feared that using smartphones or video cameras to record police responding to demonstrations during this month's NATO summit in Chicago could land protesters and bloggers behind bars for years. It's also the most serious legal challenge to the measure _ one of the strictest in the nation...

Hawaii's state bird was once so endangered, there were just 30 left on the planet. Now, the Aloha State is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to move hundreds of geese away from runways at the airport in the Garden Island of Kauai. Officials want to keep the gray, brown and white-feathered geese known as nene (pronounced "nay-nay") from disrupting flights to an island that welcomes more than 1 million visitors a year. Or worse, endanger passengers like when a bird strike knocked...

A trauma surgeon said Tuesday that continuous compression of a California homeless man's chest during a confrontation with police officers caused breathing problems that led to his death. The testimony by Dr. Michael Lekawa came during a hearing in response to intense questioning by attorneys for two Fullerton police officers charged with killing 37-year-old Kelly Thomas during an investigation of a reported car burglary at a transit hub last July. Lekawa noted that surveillance video and audio...

Louisiana health officials say they closed a harvesting area and ordered a recall of oysters taken from there since April 26 after 14 people became ill with norovirus. The closure started Tuesday and was expected to last at least three weeks. The recall includes shucked, frozen, breaded and processed oysters and those for the half-shell market taken from Area 23 in Terrebonne Parish southwest of New Orleans. Some of the oysters were shipped to Maryland, Texas and Georgia. Health officials said...

Plans to bring a $1 billion resort-style casino to the New England Patriots' hometown have been suspended, Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn and the team's owner said Tuesday. The announcement by The Kraft Group and Wynn Resorts came a day after Foxborough voters elected two members to the local board of selectmen who opposed opening negotiations with Wynn. He had planned to build the resort on land leased from Patriots owner Robert Kraft across from Gillette Stadium, the team's home field....

Houston's police chief testified Tuesday he believes an ex-officer accused of taking part in the videotaped beating of a 15-year-old burglary suspect kicked and stomped on the teen. Police Chief Charles McClelland Jr. said the actions of fired officer Andrew Blomberg were "contrary to department policy, training and state law." Blomberg, 29, is the first of the four fired police officers to stand trial in the arrest that was caught on security camera video. He is charged with official oppression,...

The Obama administration's promise Tuesday to quicken its search for a way to shield the Great Lakes from Asian carp and other invasive species is more a baby step than a giant leap toward a solution that could be in the works for years or even decades. Under intense pressure to accelerate the process, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said by the end of next year it would release a short list of methods for preventing organisms from migrating between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds....