More Americans expected to travel for Thanksgiving
10:30
The number of Americans traveling away from home for Thanksgiving will be up only slightly this year from 2008, according to a report from the AAA auto club. The group, which surveyed 1,350 households, said there will...
Biden says Senate handed Obama a big victory
10:26
Vice President Joe Biden told Iowa Democrats on Saturday that the Senate handed the president a big victory with its decision to move forward with debate on sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's health care...
Police: Ohio suspect may have eaten evidence
9:22
Police say a bank robbery suspect in Ohio may have eaten evidence when he gobbled a piece of paper while handcuffed and lying across the hood of a police cruiser. A police video camera captured the 35-year-old John...
4 injured in San Francisco cable car accident
9:14
Authorities say four people were hurt when one of San Francisco's historic cable cars jarred to a sudden stop while traveling through downtown. Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Judson True says two passengers,...
3-alarm fire breaks out on Atlantic City boardwalk
9:03
Officials say a three-alarm fire has broken out on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Deputy police Chief Joseph Nolan says the fire Saturday is at the Central Pier. Nolan says four shops were affected by the fire. Thick...
Fort Hood suspect ordered held until court-martial
8:27
The Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood will be confined until his military trial, initially staying in a hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds, his attorney said Saturday. ...
Ex-Air Force nurse acquitted of killing patients
8:07
A court-martial acquitted a former military nurse of murder Saturday after he was accused of giving lethal doses of painkillers to hasten the deaths of three terminally ill patients at the Air Force's largest hospital. ...
Calif. fisherman arrested in sea lion shooting
6:58
Authorities arrested a Sacramento fisherman Saturday in connection to shooting a sea lion in the head. California game wardens said they arrested Larry Allen Legans, 43, on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty,...
EPA: Uranium from polluted mine in Nev. wells
6:31
Peggy Pauly lives in a robin-egg blue, two-story house not far from acres of onion fields that make the northern Nevada air smell sweet at harvest time. But she can look through the window from her kitchen table, just...
AP News in Brief
6:11
Democrats seal 60-vote majority to advance health care bill; Landrieu, Lincoln to vote 'yes' WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a show of unity, Senate Democrats sealed a 60-vote majority needed to advance health care legislation...
5 Long Beach students arrested in alleged groping
4:55
Authorities say five male students have been arrested on suspicion of sexual battery after two ninth-grade girls were attacked at a Long Beach high school. Long Beach Police Lt. Ty Hatfield says one of the victims told...
Suspicious note and package found at Fort Benning
3:41
A Fort Benning spokesman says Army officials are investigating whether a suspicious note and package found at the west Georgia post is a viable threat. Bob Purtiman says a soldier found the note and package Thursday...
A bad month in Afghanistan rippled across the US
2:03
Every afternoon, seven days a week, Ed Epley has a 5 p.m. appointment with the war. He pulls a protest sign from his maroon 1961 Volkswagen van _ he has 30 to 40 stashed inside _ and joins a one-hour peace vigil at the...
Mental health cases tax police, emergency workers
1:30
Police found him sitting on the floor of his old apartment near a bucket of urine, still dressed in his hospital gown. The apartment had been condemned for the squalor _ food on the floor, flies _ and his smoking in...
NC man gets life in prison for woman's fatal scare
12:38
A man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was found guilty in what prosecutors said was a case of scaring a 79-year-old North Carolina grandmother to death. Multiple media outlets reported a federal jury...
Report finds wide disparities in gifted education
12:02
When Liz Fitzgerald realized her son and daughter were forced to read books in math class while the other children caught up, she had them moved into gifted classes at their suburban Atlanta elementary school. Just 100...
AP reporter caught up in Stalin family's agony
10:46
Newly arrived in Moscow on his first foreign assignment, Associated Press correspondent George Krimsky sensed he had a sensational Cold War scoop on his hands and he pounced. The story was the possible defection to the...
Postal Service to resume North Pole Santa letters
9:31
Wide-eyed children around the world will be hearing from Santa's "elves" at the North Pole after all. During Christmas seasons for decades, these dedicated elves responded to thousands of letters addressed to "Santa...
Resort island reels after deadly attack by gunman
8:02
The gunman who carried out Saipan's most violent attack in recent memory ended his life on the same rocky cliffs where numerous Japanese leapt to their deaths to avoid capture by U.S. troops during World War II. Police...
Warrant: Drug in Jackson case came from Vegas firm
4:24
A powerful anesthetic recovered from Michael Jackson's bedside after he died had been purchased in Nevada by his doctor who had it shipped to California, court documents show. Search warrant records released Friday...
The nation's weather
3:51
Heavy rains was forecast to continue over the Gulf States on Saturday while the Pacific Northwest was expected to see scattered precipitation. A strong low pressure system that developed over the Southern Plains...
Robbery motive in deaths of 5 in rural Arkansas
2:52
Thieves shot to death five Arkansas family members and burned their bodies for the meager bounty of a set of wheel rims and some flat-screen televisions, court documents said Friday. Samuel Conway and Jeremy Pickney,...
Porn mogul's son to be tried in girlfriend's death
2:35
The son of a late San Francisco pornography mogul will stand trial on accusations that he crushed his ex-girlfriend's skull with a baseball bat. Marin County Judge Kelly Simmons ruled Thursday the evidence was...
Army relents, will allow media at Palin book event
1:22
The U.S. Army said Friday it would open Sarah Palin's appearance on Fort Bragg to media, a reversal from earlier in the week when the military wanted the event closed out of fears it would prompt political grandstanding...
Calif. launches probe into scam targeting churches
1:20
California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes, authorities said Friday. State Attorney General...
Police: NC girl raped, killed on day she was taken
1:18
A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released Friday. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her...
UC students occupy buildings to protest fee hike
12:29
Dozens of demonstrators who barricaded themselves inside a campus building at the University of California, Berkeley in a protest over fee hikes and budget cuts were removed late Friday, bringing the daylong occupation...
Car strikes crowd outside Ala. school, 1 killed
12:15
A woman lost control of her car and struck nine children and an adult who were standing outside a middle school Friday afternoon, police said. Debrah Johnson, 46, died after undergoing surgery at UAB Hospital in...
Today in History - Nov. 21
12:00
Today is Saturday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2009. There are 40 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 21, 1934, the Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes," starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney,...
Car strikes crowd outside Ala. school, 1 killed
11:52
Police say a woman has died after being struck along with nine children by a car outside an Alabama middle school. The nine children were injured in the accident Friday afternoon in Fairfield, about eight miles...
No appeal of dismissed conviction in MySpace case
11:34
Prosecutors say they will not appeal the dismissal of a woman's convictions in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide. Friday's announcement effectively ends the case against Lori Drew. ...
Prosecutor: Alleged Maui spy is difficult but sane
10:45
A Maui man accused of spying for China is difficult to work with and makes wild exaggerations but is legally able to stand trial, a federal prosecutor asserted Friday. But at the close of a competency hearing, the...
Obituaries in the news
10:42
Nao Takasugi SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ Former state Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (NAH'-oh tah-kah-SOO'-gee), who was sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II, has died. He was 87. Takasugi, a Republican from...
3-year-old leads toddler to safety in Ariz. fire
10:35
A 3-year-old Arizona boy helped his 1-year-old sister escape Friday from a house fire that killed their mother and injured two other adults, authorities said. Fire crews responding to the fire in the Pinal County...
Arizona police arrest parents of rape victim
9:48
The parents of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who was allegedly raped by four boys have been arrested on felony child abuse charges. The girl's 59-year-old father and 47-year-old mother each face eight counts for a series...
Levi Johnston's mother gets 3 years in drug case
9:37
The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned to marry has been sentenced to three years in prison. Sherry Johnston was sentenced Friday in Palmer, about 45 miles northeast of...
GOP report: Deal with Sacramento mayor was rushed
9:35
Two congressional Republicans say federal prosecutors rushed into a settlement with a nonprofit operated by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson that had been accused of misspending government grants. Rep. Darrell Issa of...
Officials: Man tied 15 lizards to chest at airport
9:35
Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday that 40-year-old Michael...
US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 842
9:05
As of Friday, Nov. 18, 2009, at least 842 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department....
US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,364
8:59
As of Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, at least 4,364 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes nine military civilians killed...
35 students rescued from burning bus on NYC bridge
8:50
A bus carrying 35 elementary school children on an outing has caught fire on a New York City bridge, but the children and their escorts have been rescued. The bus was transporting students from Brooklyn's P.S. 5 on...
2 Pa. judges given partial immunity in civil suit
8:33
Two former county judges accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities are partially immune from civil lawsuits, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Friday. The...
Wyoming challenges Yellowstone snowmobile rules
8:31
The state of Wyoming filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to block the National Park Service from further restricting snowmobile numbers in Yellowstone National Park. The Park Service issued a temporary rule on...
Plea deal reached in store scuffle case
8:16
A black school teacher charged with assaulting white police officers, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace has agreed a plea deal with prosecutors convicting her of two misdemeanor counts. The deal announced...
Police: 3rd arrest made in Vegas officer's death
8:13
Police say they have arrested a third person in the shooting death of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer in his garage. North Las Vegas police said Friday that they arrested a 17-year-old boy and booked him in a...
Eye doc may lose license after calling patient fat
8:11
A North Carolina doctor could lose his medical license after a patient complained he made cutting criticisms, including telling her she was fat. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported the North Carolina Medical...
Man who claimed disability spotted on TV show
8:11
California tax officials say an interior designer's false disability claim was uncovered when he was spotted on a home improvement television show. Fifty-six-year-old Ronald Hunt of Los Angeles was sentenced Tuesday to...
Cops: Woman smuggled drugs to Pa. inmate with kiss
8:11
A western Pennsylvania woman has been ordered to stand trial on charges she passed a drug-filled balloon to a state prison inmate while kissing him. State police said guards at the State Correctional Institution-Mercer...
Mich. police nab wrong-way driver twice in 3 days
8:11
Authorities in western Michigan arrested a person twice in three days for driving the wrong way down the highway Kalamazoo County deputies said they were alerted about 1:30 a.m. Friday after several people called 911...
CA man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
8:11
A 39-year-old Southern California man has been arrested for misdemeanor child annoyance after allegedly paying a teenager $31 to spit in his face. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department says Charles Hersel was arrested...