Stun gun used on woman who blocked NC drive-thru
HOPE MILLS, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina deputies say they used a stun gun on a woman who blocked a McDonalds drive-thru for 20 minutes after employees refused to serve her because she broke in line....
Police clear tents from Occupy site in DC; 7 held
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dozens of U.S. Park Police officers in riot gear and on horseback converged before dawn Saturday on one of the nation's last remaining Occupy sites, with police clearing away tents they said were banned under park rules....
3 Ore. mushroom pickers rescued after 6 days lost
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A family of three huddled on the edge of an old-growth Oregon forest for six days, lost and cold, unable to signal search helicopters flying low and slow overhead....
CA man freed after murder charges dropped
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) -- A 24-year-old man jailed for more than three months in the murders of his mother and brother was a free man Saturday after prosecutors said they would instead charge a high school friend accused in a string of serial killings. But the previously accused man now faces an immigration hearing on whether he should be allowed to remain in the country because he told officials he was here illegally....
Prosecutors: Ind. woman left decomposing in chair
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (AP) -- A southeastern Indiana woman has been charged after prosecutors say she left her morbidly obese sister alive and decomposing in a chair for three weeks....
Official: Dog starts Vancouver, Wash., house fire
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) -- Fire investigators say a dog inadvertently turned on a stove and started a fire that destroyed a house in Vancouver, Wash., early Saturday....
100 cruise passengers struck by norovirus
MIAMI (AP) -- Officials with Princess Cruise Lines say a stomach virus affected nearly 100 passengers on a ship that arrived in South Florida. Meanwhile, passengers on another ship were complaining of gastrointestinal illness....
Auto dealer, wife killed in AZ plane crash; 2 hurt
PHOENIX (AP) -- A small plane crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff Saturday in an eastern Arizona mountain community, killing a well-known rural Arizona auto dealer and his wife and seriously injuring the couple's son and daughter-in-law....
Storm blankets Nebraska after dumping on Colorado
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A powerful winter storm that covered parts of Colorado with up to 6 feet of snow crept east across the Plains Saturday, knocking out electricity to thousands in Nebraska as the blanket of heavy, wet precipitation downed power lines and made travel treacherous....
Suspect in police shooting says he feared for life
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A man accused of fatally shooting a police officer and wounding five others during an Ogden drug raid last month says he feared for his life because he thought people were breaking into his home to rob and kill him....
Marine's wife killed in Calif. propane explosion
COLEVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- The person killed in a propane gas explosion outside a remote Northern California training base was the wife of a U.S. Marine, and the two people seriously injured were a Navy corpsman and his wife, military officials said on Saturday....
Russia, China veto UN resolution on Syria
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council failed again Saturday to take decisive action to stop the escalating violence in Syria as Russia and China blocked a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for President Bashar Assad to step down. The double-veto outraged the U.S. and European council members who feared it would embolden the Assad regime....
5.7 quake recorded off BC, no tsunami
SEATTLE (AP) -- A magnitude 5.7 earthquake has been recorded about 105 miles west of Ucluelet off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia....
Minn. student suspended over Michael Jackson dance
WINONA, Minn. (AP) -- A Catholic school in Minnesota has suspended a 9-year-old boy for performing a crotch-grabbing Michael Jackson dance move during a fundraiser....
Dems want their candidate as Ind. elections chief
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- While Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels held off Saturday on appointing a permanent replacement for the state elections chief convicted early that morning of voter fraud, Democrats said they planned to move quickly to wrest control of the politically powerful office from the GOP....
NJ museum finds recording of Otto von Bismarck
For the first time, 21st-century audiences are able to hear the voice of Otto von Bismarck, one of the 19th century's most important figures....
Lives intersect on deadly stretch of Fla. highway
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- There was a single mom who loved to dance, in the car with a boyfriend who had moved from Virginia to be with her. A pastor and members of his family, originally from Brazil, returning home to Georgia from an Orlando church retreat. A father, his wife and his daughter headed south from the Panhandle for a family funeral. A young man coming home from bowling....
Pa. town ponders councilman's arrest in old murder
BRIDGEWATER, Pa. (AP) -- As a small town comes to grips with a 32-year-old murder, the talk isn't just about a borough councilman being held without bond in a local jail....
US Army: Brigadier general has died in Afghanistan
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A 49-year-old brigadier general died Friday in Afghanistan of apparent natural causes, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. soldier to die there, the military said Saturday....
LA school reeling from arrest of 2nd teacher
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A bizarre case at an inner-city elementary school where a teacher was charged with taking bondage-style photographs of children has expanded with the arrest of a second teacher suspected of fondling two girls in his classroom....
Man gets DUI between applying for, getting pardon
BRANDON, Miss. (AP) -- Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and parole officials said Saturday that they didn't know a man was charged with DUI after a fatal wreck that happened between the time he applied for a pardon and the time Barbour granted it....
Father: Beheading plot suspect a dedicated teacher
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Nevine Aly Elshiekh is a dog lover who teaches children with developmental disabilities. She is college-educated, well-respected by her neighbors and has no criminal record, not even a speeding ticket....
Ex-lacrosse player's trial shines light on U.Va.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- In the nearly two years since a University of Virginia lacrosse player was charged with killing his ex-girlfriend, it's become easier for possible abuse victims to get a restraining order and students must tell the school if they've ever been arrested....
Calif. casino tribes kick out some members
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Two casino-owning tribes in California have thinned their membership ranks over the last several months, cutting off scores of people from a share of casino profits and other benefits of tribal membership....
Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American'
The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black."...
Text of proposed UN resolution on Syria
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Text of the proposed U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that was vetoed Saturday by Russia and China:...
Plans for caribou sow conflict in NW
COOLIN, Idaho (AP) -- Woodland caribou, rarely-seen creatures that with their antlers stand as tall as a man, are struggling to survive in the United States, precariously occupying one remote area of the Northwest as a final toehold in the Lower 48....
In Miramonte, questions amid a sense of betrayal
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mr. Berndt's third-grade classroom was up on the second floor, tucked away at the rear of Miramonte Elementary School, its windows looking out onto a playground....
Windows broken at missing Maine toddler's home
WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) -- Two windows were broken at the home where a toddler was reported missing seven weeks ago, officials said Saturday....
The nation's weather
Weather Underground Forecast for Saturday, Feb. 04, 2012....
CEO of chip maker Micron dies in plane crash
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The image Steve Appleton cultivated as a stunt pilot and off-road rally driver became the perfect metaphor for his wild, 18-year ride as the leader of Micron Technology Inc., where stomach-churning swings from billion-dollar profit to billion-dollar loss required the constitution of a business daredevil to survive....
Worker trapped under Boeing 787 tires is rescued
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- Officials say emergency crews have rescued a worker who was temporarily trapped beneath the tires of a Boeing 787 jetliner at an Everett, Wash., airfield....
Prosecutors won't seek death for microwave killing
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Sacramento County prosecutors say they won't seek the death penalty for a woman charged with killing her 6-week-old daughter in a microwave....
Army orders court-martial in WikiLeaks case
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- An Army officer ordered a court-martial Friday for a low-ranking intelligence analyst charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history....
Hiring surges in January; jobless rate at 8.3 pct.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a long-awaited surge of hiring, companies added 243,000 jobs in January - across the economy, up and down the pay scale and far more than just about anyone expected. Unemployment fell to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years....
Stevens portrait unveiled at Alaska state museum
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- An overflow crowd turned out Friday evening to witness the unveiling of a portrait of the late-U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens at the Alaska State Museum....
Charges dropped against soldier in Afghan deaths
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) -- The Army on Friday dropped all charges against the fifth soldier it had accused of killing Afghan civilians for sport during a 2010 deployment....
Hackers take over Boston police website
BOSTON (AP) -- The hacking collective Anonymous is claiming credit for defacing the Boston Police Department's website....
Recall news
The following recalls have been announced:...
Killer of Fla. girl found in landfill gets life
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) -- Minutes after a man pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping and murdering 7-year-old Somer Thompson, who was dumped in a trash bin and later found in a landfill, the little girl's twin brother addressed his sister's killer....
DA expects to quiz Kan. gov; House speaker upset
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A Kansas district attorney said Friday that he's likely to interview Gov. Sam Brownback as a witness during an investigation into the legality of private meetings with legislators at the governor's official residence, but the state's most powerful lawmaker criticized the prosecutor's tactics....
Calif. pulls builder's license after worker killed
MILPITAS, Calif. (AP) -- State officials have suspended the license of the builder of a Milpitas, Calif., home where a carpenter was buried alive last weekend....
Police say little doubt Alaska woman was abducted
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Anchorage police say there's little doubt an 18-year-old woman was abducted after she closed up a coffee stand Wednesday night....
Tests show no radiation increase at nuclear plant
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois Emergency Management Agency officials say lab tests show no measureable increase of radiation after steam was released to cool a northern Illinois nuclear reactor....
Deported Texas teen maintains alias in jail calls
DALLAS (AP) -- A Dallas teenager who was deported to South America under a false name never expressed concern during jailhouse phone calls that she was being misidentified as an illegal immigrant from Colombia....
AP Vietnam correspondent George Esper dies at 79
George Esper, the tenacious Associated Press correspondent who refused to leave his post in the last days of the Vietnam War, remaining behind to cover the fall of Saigon, has died. He was 79....
Congressmen question pace of probe at Arlington
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of Congress on Friday questioned why nobody has been prosecuted as part of a criminal investigation of mismanagement at Arlington National Cemetery, nearly three years after reports of problems that included misidentified graves first surfaced in the press....
Ex-Stanford exec tells jurors bank's profits faked
HOUSTON (AP) -- Texas financier R. Allen Stanford helped fake profits for his Caribbean bank and funnel millions of depositors' dollars to a secret Swiss bank account used for personal expenses, bribes to regulators and employee bonuses, the man who was in charge of the tycoon's books told jurors Friday....
Parents believe missing KC baby is alive and well
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The parents of a Kansas City baby missing since October said Friday they believe the child is alive and pleaded for her safe return....
Diocese closes purchase of Crystal Cathedral
ORANGE, Calif. (AP) -- The Diocese of Orange has closed on its purchase of the shimmering Crystal Cathedral and the church's nearly 31-acre property....
Mom charged in NY death fights jail call recording
NEW YORK (AP) -- A pharmaceuticals multimillionaire charged with murdering her autistic 8-year-old son at a hotel has lost a bid to stop jail officials from recording her phone calls and turning them over to prosecutors....
Ohio bill would ban new ownership of exotic pets
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Proposed legislation in Ohio would ban the purchase of lions, bears and other exotic animals, but current owners of the dangerous wildlife would be allowed to keep them as pets if they meet strict new requirements....
Ex-gov, Flyers owner may bid on Philly newspapers
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Former Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider are leading a "civic-minded" effort to buy Philadelphia's two largest newspapers, Rendell said Friday....
Shareholders sue Hecla Mining Co. after deaths
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- Some shareholders have sued Hecla Mining Co. for stock losses they endured after the federal government shut down the Lucky Friday Mine for safety violations....
NYPD puts shooter of suspect on restricted duty
NEW YORK (AP) -- The police department announced Friday that a narcotics officer and his sergeant have been stripped of their guns and put on desk duty amid an investigation of the officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed drug suspect within a few feet of the suspect's grandmother inside the family home....
Wis. governor to meet with district attorney
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he will meet with a district attorney leading a secret investigation that has already led to charges being filed against five former close aides and associates....
Feds seek offshore wind developers in Mass. area
BOSTON (AP) -- Federal regulators are looking for offshore wind developers in a redrawn area off Massachusetts they say is a prime spot for wind farms....
Mayor rejects firing Conn. police chief in scandal
EAST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- The mayor of a town embroiled by allegations of Latino bias by police said Friday he won't fire the police chief and will instead allow him to retire with severance pay....
Prolonged redistricting fight keeps Texas in limbo
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The once-a-decade fight over political boundaries in Texas has been so frenetic that a Democrat who bolted for the GOP saw his state House district redrawn solidly blue, opted against re-election, then got new hope from the U.S. Supreme Court that it might go red again....
NY's Schneiderman sues banks in foreclosure effort
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's attorney general on Friday accused some of the nation's largest banks of deceit and fraud in using an electronic mortgage registry that he said puts homeowners at a disadvantage in foreclosures while saving banks over $2 billion....
Man charged in socialite-wife's death in hospital
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A German-born man charged with killing his much-older socialite wife missed a scheduled court appearance Friday because he's been hospitalized for an undisclosed medical problem....
ACLU questions FAMU's ban on student groups
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is criticizing Florida A&M University's decision to cancel a summer band camp and block students from joining clubs during a hazing investigation....
LA teacher's arrest brings questions and fury
A Los Angeles teacher is accused of taping his young students' mouths shut, blindfolding them and placing a giant cockroach on their faces. All of this, authorities say, in what should have been the safety of their classroom....
Violence in Mexico curtailing faith-based missions
McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- John and Wanda Casias knew the risks of being missionaries in one of Mexico's most violent, cartel-dominated regions, their children say, but they refused to curtail their work and instead put their ministry ahead of their safety....
2 gays: We were jailed in Ohio without our pants
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Two gay men who say they were punched and pinned to the ground by an off-duty police officer before being called offensive names and jailed without their trousers have sued the city and its police over what they call anti-gay bias....
Man gets 20 years in Va. crash that killed nun
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) -- An illegal immigrant from Bolivia who caused a drunken driving crash that killed a Benedictine nun and severely injured two others has been sentenced to 20 years in prison....
Broke city's lawmakers: RI must pay receiver's tab
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Lawmakers representing the struggling city of Central Falls are vowing to fight attempts to make the city pay for the state-appointed receiver now in control of its finances and operations....
Correction: Facebook IPO-Exchange story
NEW YORK (AP) -- In a story sent Feb. 2 on Facebook's upcoming stock offering, The Associated Press, relying on information supplied by Nasdaq, reported erroneously that Nasdaq charged no separate fee to companies for listing on the exchange. Nasdaq charges an initial fee as well as an annual fee....
NJ CFO gets 20 years for advertising child porn
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) -- A financial officer who admitted advertising child pornography for others to download was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison....
Wendy's has a beef with Northwest franchisee
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Wendy's International has a beef with a franchisee that owns 11 fast-food restaurants in Montana, Oregon and Washington....
Minnesota food company recalls eggs in 34 states
MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) -- A Minnesota food company said Friday it is recalling more than a million hard-cooked eggs distributed to 34 states after testing revealed some may be contaminated with listeria....
Va. House approves anti-gay adoption rule
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia legislators have passed a bill allowing private adoption agencies to deny placements that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality....
Pa. man gets 7-plus years in secret tanning taping
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A Pennsylvania man who secretly taped 54 women and girls undressing in a tanning salon while he hid in the ceiling has been ordered to spend at least seven years in prison....
More cities consider parades for Iraq War vets
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A St. Louis parade welcoming home Iraq War and other post-Sept. 11 veterans was such a hit that at least 10 other cities around the country are considering similar celebrations....
SD should ready for oil boom's pros, cons: experts
BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP) -- North Dakota's oil boom brings with it tremendous wealth and enormous problems - and both are coming to South Dakota, industry experts say....
Correction: Ship of Platinum story
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- In a Feb. 1 story about a man who claims to have located a sunken treasure off the coast of Cape Cod, The Associated Press erroneously reported the name of an attorney representing the British government. The attorney's name is Timothy Shusta, not Anthony Shusta....
Former Ala. professor's lawyers want trial delayed
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) -- Lawyers for a former Alabama professor accused of killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting want a state appeals court to delay her March trial because officials haven't paid for expert witnesses or testing by a neurologist....
Heinz Endowments fund Flight 93 oral histories
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A project to compile oral histories of those connected to a hijacked plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field on 9/11 will continue for at least three more years thanks to a $225,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments....
Muslim groups plan rally after NYPD intel report
NEW YORK (AP) -- Muslim groups and interfaith leaders are holding a rally in the wake of a report about New York Police Department intelligence....
'Boys Don't Cry' inmate appeals to Supreme Court
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A Nebraska death row inmate whose murder case inspired the 1999 film "Boys Don't Cry" has filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court....
Major winter storm sweeping across Colorado
DENVER (AP) -- A powerful winter storm swept across Colorado on Friday, forcing the state Department of Transportation to close portions of Interstate 70 and Interstate 25. The National Weather Service said snow was falling at 2 inches an hour on the Eastern Plains....
Make My Day law for business advances in Colorado
DENVER (AP) -- Colorado takes pride in its Western entrepreneurial spirit - and that extends to the belief of some lawmakers that business owners should be able to use deadly force against anyone who tries to take what's theirs....
Nuke inspectors focus on `unusual' wear on tubes
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The integrity of some equipment installed in 2009 at Southern California's San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant is drawing concern after unusual wear was found on hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water....
W.Va. city wasn't told about system's installation
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- South Charleston's mayor says a ventilation system at a hotel that leaked deadly carbon monoxide poisoning wasn't inspected because the city didn't know it had been installed....
Man dressed as Depp's Jack Sparrow pepper-sprayed
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police say several people dressed as movie characters on Hollywood Boulevard got into a brawl that ended with a man dressed as "Pirates of the Caribbean" character Capt. Jack Sparrow being pepper-sprayed....
Uzbek refugee denies helping terror group
DENVER (AP) -- A refugee from Uzbekistan accused of helping a foreign terrorist organization denied the allegations in a court appearance Thursday in Denver, before a judge advised him not to speak further without an attorney....
Court rules against abortion protester's lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that an anti-abortion protester arrested near the Liberty Bell in 2007 can't collect damages from park rangers who detained him....
Groundhog wars: Rodents diverge on winter forecast
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) -- Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil told people to prepare for six more weeks of winter on Thursday, making him the minority opinion among his groundhog brethren who seem to think that spring is coming early....
'Jewish Indiana Jones' admits NY Torah fraud
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Jewish charity co-founder who claimed he traveled the world as a "Jewish Indiana Jones" to rescue Torahs pleaded guilty to fraud charges Thursday, saying he lied when he claimed he had personally obtained vintage Torah scrolls in Europe and Israel for six years....
California woman's small claims victory resonates
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Heather Peter's computer crashed under the onslaught of messages following her unique victory over Honda in small claims court - a win the California woman is hoping will lead other consumers to reject a class action settlement over defective hybrid cars....
Officials say 5 indicted in human smuggling ring
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Five people have been indicted in connection with an alleged human smuggling ring that used non-Spanish-speaking, African-American drivers to shuttle illegal immigrants from the border in a bid to elude detection, authorities said....
Psychologist believes Loughner's still incompetent
PHOENIX (AP) -- A psychologist believes that the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that left then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wounded has an improved mental state but remains incompetent to stand trial, a federal judge said in a court filing Thursday....
