Ohio gov spares killer who claimed innocence
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has spared the life of a condemned killer who says he is innocent of a 1994 shooting that killed three people, including a 4-year-old girl....
Court won't force Calif officials to defend Prop 8
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A California court has refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a ruling that overturned the state's gay marriage ban....
Army: Chaplain is 1st killed in action since '70
DENVER (AP) -- A chaplain killed in Afghanistan this week was the first Army clergyman killed in action since the Vietnam War, the military said Thursday....
Experts: quarter of animal hoarders were rescuers
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Linda Bruno called her Pennsylvania cat rescue the land of milk and tuna. It thrived for years as people sent pets they couldn't care for from hundreds of miles away - unaware it was a death camp for cats....
Chicago gangs to top cop: You're not playing fair
CHICAGO (AP) -- Several current and ex-gang members lashed out at Chicago's police chief on Thursday, calling his so-called "gang summit" initiative to crack down on crime a wasted effort that will have little effect on the streets of the county's third largest city....
Feds sue Arizona sheriff in civil rights probe
PHOENIX (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics....
Appeals court reverses conviction for littering
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco has tossed out the conviction of an Arizona man who left water jugs in the desert for migrants passing through....
Calif man gets death for sex-killing of 5-year-old
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. (AP) -- A Southern California man has been sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and beating to death his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter....
Mass. man accused of killing kin pleads not guilty
WOBURN, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts man accused of killing his wife, two children and mother-in-law pleaded not guilty Thursday to four counts of first-degree murder as a prosecutor described how he left two copies of a letter confessing to the slayings....
MIAMI (AP) -- Hurricane Earl loses some steam, still packing 125 mph winds as it steams toward East Coast....
Chicago researcher IDs nation's 1st female cop
CHICAGO (AP) -- A retired federal agent researching Chicago law enforcement history thinks the country's first female police officer was employed in the Windy City....
Man in searched home worked at slain teen's school
MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- A 25-year-old man who lives at a home searched by detectives investigating a teen's slaying once worked as a teacher's aide at the victim's high school, school officials confirmed Thursday....
Smart Spending: New Hobbies and Sports
CHICAGO (AP) -- New hobbies and exercise regimes may broaden your horizons or shrink your waistline, but they also can break the bank if you're not careful....
Embattled Illinois prisons chief resigns
CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois' prison chief, who became a political liability to Gov. Pat Quinn during an election year because of a secret prisoner release program he oversaw, is stepping down, the governor said Thursday....
Ex-Ohio doc swaps plea to guilty in pipe bomb case
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A former Ohio doctor has admitted keeping dozens of pipe bombs that were part of an arsenal seized at his apartment after two explosions....
Cop who drove over, killed woman faces no felonies
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A prosecutor has determined a Cincinnati police officer won't face felony charges for driving his cruiser over a woman in a park, killing her....
Judge punishes Michigan juror for Facebook post
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) -- A Detroit-area woman who was removed from a jury for commenting about the ongoing case on Facebook has a longer writing task ahead: a five-page essay about the constitutional right to a fair trial....
The nation's weather
Hurricane Earl was forecast to rapidly approach the East Coast on Thursday, bringing unsettled weather to the North Carolina coast....
Senate upset erases Alaska seniority
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The defeat of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski by an upstart fiscal conservative in Alaska's GOP primary could mark a significant shift for a state that has so long relied on federal pork to survive. The outcome was also an unexpected blow to the seniority Alaska has enjoyed in the Senate....
Dead suspect may be linked to 4 slayings in Calif.
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) -- A murder suspect who led officers on a high-speed chase with his dead girlfriend in the passenger seat is a central figure in the investigation of at least four killings, authorities said Wednesday....
John Walker Lindh seeks Ind. prison prayer ruling
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and another Muslim inmate have asked a judge to order a federal prison to allow them and other Muslims in their highly restricted cell block to pray as a group, in accordance with their beliefs....
Arrest made after manhunt shuts down Wash. freeway
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- A sheriff's spokeswoman in Washington state says tips from the public helped authorities make an arrest following a search for an armed suspect Wednesday that shut down a busy freeway and disrupted commuter traffic....
Homeless man calls 911 from hot tub, seeks cocoa
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) -- A homeless man who called 911 from the hot tub of a suburban Portland home and asked for towels, hot chocolate and a hug got arrested for trespassing instead....
Facebook page leads search for loved ones in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- The desperate quest to find loved ones started just minutes after the quake, as cell phones rang unanswered from beneath the rubble of Haiti's best hotel....
Poll: Ariz. voters favor immigration enforcement
PHOENIX (AP) -- A poll released Wednesday found that an overwhelming majority of Arizona voters support the types of provisions that are at the heart of a national debate involving the state's immigration law....
Blasts rock Pa. welding firm; 5 civilians injured
COLLINGDALE, Pa. (AP) -- A series of explosions at a welding supply company on Wednesday injured 5 people, forced evacuations and sent thick black smoke billowing over the area....
Lawmakers urge governor to appeal Prop 8 ruling
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A group of Republican lawmakers is urging California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to appeal a federal ruling that struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban....
Colo. woman held by escapee talks about experience
DENVER (AP) -- Liz Reynolds says life is getting back to normal a week after an escaped prisoner held her hostage in her home on Colorado's eastern plains....
NY Muslim groups decry hostile atmosphere
NEW YORK (AP) -- It is "unethical, insensitive and inhumane" to oppose the planned mosque near ground zero, more than 50 leading Muslim organizations said Wednesday as they cast the intense debate as a symptom of religious intolerance in America....
Reward in question for ranger in escapee's capture
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- The U.S. Forest Service is reviewing whether an eastern Arizona ranger whose tip led to the capture of two of the most wanted fugitives in America can receive $27,500 in reward money under the agency's ethics guidelines....
State suspends license of teacher in Wash. state
SEATTLE (AP) -- Washington state's schools chief on Wednesday suspended the teaching certificate of a teacher convicted of inappropriately touching girls and then brought back into the classroom after a short suspension....
No charges in Ariz. inmate's death in cage
PHOENIX (AP) -- There will be no criminal charges following the heat-related death of an Arizona inmate who collapsed in an outdoor cage last year....
Coroner: California doctor suffocated in chimney
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) -- A doctor whose decomposing body was found in a narrow chimney suffocated after she tried to get into the home of her boyfriend, authorities said Wednesday....
French railway faces criticism in US for WWII role
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The French national railway's hope to bid on the first high-speed tracks in the United States is running into resistance from Holocaust survivors because of the company's role in transporting Jews to Nazi death camps....
Police: SD teen wanted to be 'infamous sociopath'
SISSETON, S.D. (AP) -- An 18-year-old high school student stockpiled bomb-making materials in his bedroom and wrote about wanting to blow up his school, target individuals he hated, rape women and "become the world's most infamous sociopath," authorities said....
Magistrate recommends dismissing states' gun suit
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A group of states seeking freedom from federal gun laws were dealt a blow Wednesday when a federal magistrate recommended dismissal of a lawsuit launched by gun rights advocates who argue Congress has overstepped its bounds with gun control....
Ohio worker guilty of giving kids sleep supplement
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A former Ohio church day care worker has been convicted of endangering children by slipping a dietary supplement into candy to get them to sleep....
Judge rules against breakaway SCLC faction
ATLANTA (AP) -- A judge ruled Wednesday against board members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who formed a breakaway faction with the group's embattled treasurer and chairman....
Report: Texas pipeline wasn't marked before blast
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A Texas agency says a company didn't adequately mark the path of a buried natural gas pipeline that exploded after it was hit by a drill, killing a worker....
Vegas cops charged in fatal crash during pursuit
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Two Las Vegas police officers are facing criminal charges for disobeying orders by refusing to drop a chase that ended in a crash and the death of a suspected drunken driver....
Ex-Ill. Gov. Ryan wants part of conviction tossed
CHICAGO (AP) -- Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan is seeking to have elements of his conviction thrown out based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sharply curtailed an anti-fraud law employed by prosecutors nationwide to convict politicians and executives....
Mormon church, Jewish leaders tackle proxy baptism
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Mormon church says it has changed its genealogical database to better prevent the names of Jews killed in Nazi concentration camps from being submitted for posthumous baptism by proxy....
Colo. pot sellers face new growing requirement
CENTRAL CITY, Colo. (AP) -- Don Boring owns a grocery store, a liquor store and now, a medical marijuana dispensary. The main difference among them is that he has to produce his own pot inventory....
6 Ore. men settle Boy Scout sex abuse cases
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Six men who were sexually abused three decades ago by a leader of their Boy Scouts troop have settled lawsuits against the national organization dedicated to building character among youngsters....
Ohio bear owner carried no insurance for caretaker
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Records show the owner of a bear that recently mauled its caretaker to death had no workplace injury insurance to cover the man, an apparent violation of state law....
Tales of surviving entrapment with sanity intact
Randy Knapp was a teenager when he spent 13 nights trapped in a whiteout on Oregon's Mount Hood. Thirty-three years later, he's still climbing....
New Mexico National Guard deployed to border
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The New Mexico National Guard has deployed 82 troops along the border with Mexico to increase surveillance....
Correction: Islamic Charity-Trial
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- In a story Aug. 31 about the trial of the former head of the Oregon branch of the Islamic charity Al-Haramain, The Associated Press misspelled the last name of an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case. The prosecutor's correct name is Charles F. Gorder Jr., not Gordon....
Ohio restricting Puerto Rican birth certificates
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Elizabeth Torres was stung when her 19-year-old son said he'd been turned down for a state-issued Ohio identification card because his birth certificate from Puerto Rico was considered invalid....
Police release 911 tape after church slaying
VISALIA, Calif. (AP) -- Police have released a tape of a 911 call in which a man suspected of fatally shooting a Mormon church official in Central California told officers where to find him and to be ready for "mortal combat."...
Busted pot growers mistake wardens for suppliers
RED BLUFF, Calif. (AP) -- California wildlife officials say two men are in custody after a group of marijuana growers started to toss bags full of pot into a pickup truck belonging to game wardens they mistook for their suppliers. State Department of Fish and Game spokesman Pat Foy says two wardens in Tehama County were looking for deer poachers Monday night in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest when they heard footsteps behind them....
Suspect hit with top murder counts in NY shooting
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A grand jury indicted a high school dropout on upgraded charges of first-degree murder Wednesday in three of four fatal shootings outside a downtown Buffalo bar....
Some states haven't changed coke-crack disparity
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Police found such a small amount of crack cocaine in James V. Taylor's car that investigators described it as unweighable. It was enough for a 15-year prison sentence in Missouri, where the courts make an enormous distinction between crack and powder cocaine....
Porn-viewing trucker sentenced in fatal NY crash
BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) -- An Ohio truck driver whose laptop computer was streaming pornography when his rig hit a disabled car on the New York State Thruway has been sentenced to three-to-nine years in prison for killing the other driver....
GI's mental health questioned in WikiLeaks case
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- An Army private is undergoing medical tests to determine his mental state in a case alleging he leaked classified material to WikiLeaks, his lawyer said Wednesday....
Ohio killer aims to stop fellow inmate's execution
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A condemned inmate wants a fellow death row prisoner kept alive at least long enough to testify on his behalf that he is mentally disabled and should not be executed, according to court filings....
Colorado Army post says suicide rate is falling
FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) -- The suicide rate among soldiers at Fort Carson is on track to drop by about 45 percent this year compared with 2008, as the U.S. military takes steps to ease what has been an increasing problem....
Favor turns foul when Pa. police dog attacks girl
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) -- A Pennsylvania officer's good deed backfired after his K-9 bit a 6-year-old girl who missed her bus to school and was offered a ride in the police cruiser....
6th teen is sentenced in NY hate crime stabbing
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- A New York teenager convicted for his role in the stabbing death of an Ecuadorean immigrant has received an eight-year prison term....
Hyundai makes eye-catching family sedan
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata sedan is selling at a record pace, and why not? With styling that makes the new, sixth-generation Sonata look richer than its under-$20,000 base price, the Sonata is arguably the most stylish of America's mainstream family sedans....
Walker defends ad using fighting metaphor
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker says it's ridiculous to criticize his latest campaign ad in which he dons boxing gloves and talks about taking swings at Democratic opponent Tom Barrett....
New York imam: Mosque fight about Muslim role
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The imam leading plans for an Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York said the fight is over more than "a piece of real estate" and could shape the future of Muslim relations in America....
NYC man plunges 40 stories, lands on car, survives
NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City man who plunged 40 stories from the rooftop of an apartment building has survived after crashing onto a parked car....
A dog's life: South Florida dogs have own day camp
MIAMI (AP) -- The yellow school bus makes its rounds, picking up one eager passenger after another en route to day camp. Small legs quickly climb the stairs, heads pop out of bus windows and excitement rises....
Troops, families glad to hear end to Iraq combat
As President Obama spoke, Violeta Sifuentes snuggled with her 6-year-old twins on the suede sofa - Samuel beside her, Selena sprawled across her legs. When the 29-year-old Army captain explained what the president meant by combat operations in Iraq being over, "Nina" let out a loud, "Woo-hoo!" then asked, "Can we go play now?"...
Calif. lawmakers reject open-carry gun ban
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public....
Tow truck driver accused of dragging toddlers
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) -- Police say a tow truck driver has been accused of hitting two young children as their mother pushed them across a street in a stroller then dragging the kids under the truck for about a quarter of a mile....
Feds: Don't drink contaminated water in Wyo. town
PAVILLION, Wyo. (AP) -- The federal government is telling people not to drink the water from 40 wells in a central Wyoming town, including 17 wells contaminated by hydrocarbons....
Police: South Texas man killed 3 women, self
RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (AP) -- A south Texas man shot and killed his wife, her mother and another woman Tuesday evening before turning the gun on himself, police said....
Wash. woman burned by substance thrown in face
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) -- A 28-year-old Washington woman severely burned when a stranger threw an acid-like liquid in her face is listed in serious condition in a Portland, Ore., hospital's burn center....
Cash-strapped Calif. county approves hospital tax
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Voters in a rural California county in such dire financial condition that it's seeking a state bailout approved a tax to fund their hospital Tuesday....
Gates arrives in Iraq as combat mission ends
AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates has arrived in Iraq to meet with U.S. troops as they formally close down their combat mission....
Expert: Charities sent money to Islamic fighters
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- An expert witness for the prosecution testified Tuesday that Islamic charities based in Saudi Arabia, including the one an Oregon tree surgeon is accused of smuggling money for, were regular conduits of funding to Muslim fighters in the volatile Caucasus region....
GOP governors group ordered to pay $2M in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A judge has ordered the Republican Governors Association to pay $2 million to Texas' 2006 Democratic gubernatorial nominee because of campaign finance violations....
Guam's World War II survivors seek compensation
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) -- Regina Reyes, 95, remembers making corn titiyas, or flatbread, and selling it by the side of the road for 50 cents to survive during the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II....
AP Interview: Maine man says NY bomber was partyer
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A Pakistani man detained during an investigation of a botched car bombing in New York City's Times Square says he knew the plotter years ago as a partying college student - not as the radical Muslim who later said he received explosives training from the Pakistani Taliban....
Agent: Ex-Army analyst had manuals on artillery
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A former U.S. Army analyst who tried to board a flight to China with electronic files containing restricted Army documents poses a danger of the "gravest sense," a prosecutor argued Tuesday in federal court....
Bear attack highlights lax Ohio exotic pet laws
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The bear that recently killed a caretaker in a Cleveland suburb was the latest example of animal violence in a state that has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them....
Bus vanishes, NY transit impostor arrested again
NEW YORK (AP) -- A man who commandeered a subway train at age 15 and has repeatedly posed as a transit worker was arrested again Tuesday on charges he stole a bus in New Jersey and drove it to a New York airport....
Survivor in western AZ shooting in good condition
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- A woman who survived a weekend shooting that left five people dead in western Arizona told a 911 dispatcher that she was shot in the neck and wasn't sure whether others around her were breathing....
3 killed when copter crashes in Idaho downtown
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A helicopter chartered by a state wildlife agency plunged into a travel trailer and crashed Tuesday on a downtown street in the small Idaho town of Kamiah, killing two biologists and the pilot....
Lawsuit challenges Nev. Tea Party Senate hopeful
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Conservatives affiliated with the national and Nevada tea party movement are challenging the candidacy of a Tea Party of Nevada member running for the U.S. Senate....
Mother bear, cubs killed after entering house
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Colorado wildlife officers have killed a mother bear and her two cubs after the cubs broke into a home....
3 die in medical helicopter crash in Arkansas
SCOTLAND, Ark. (AP) -- A medical helicopter crashed Tuesday amid the hills of central Arkansas, killing three crew members who were trying to reach a person injured in a traffic accident and scattering debris across an area about a quarter-mile wide....
Donations to defend Ariz. immigration law top $2M
PHOENIX (AP) -- Gov. Jan Brewer's office says Arizona has received more than $2 million in donations to help pay for the legal defense of the state's controversial law targeting illegal immigration....
