Red Sox’s Valentine: Threat to punch radio host was just a joke

SEATTLE (AP) - Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine insisted Wednesday he wasn't serious when he threatened to "punch" a radio talk-show host in the mouth. Valentine said he made it clear he was kidding when he made the comment earlier in the day during an interview on Boston station WEEI with hosts Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley. <p style="line-height: 18pt; background: ...

NY court to decide if lap dance is tax-exempt art

Sex researcher pioneer’s son charged with exposing self

Reported theft of Romney tax records being probed by Secret Service detail

Odd News

BEAKED PUTIN TO FLY WITH CRANES ON HANG-GLIDER: MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to put on a fake beak and fly a motorized hang-glider to lead a flock of endangered young Siberian white cranes on part of their migration to Asia. The cranes, raised in captivity, do not know how to fly south, and environmentalists have to devise an imitation lead ...

7-year-old girl recovers from bubonic plague

Calif. treasurer's wife arrest for drug possession

ORANGE (AP) - Prosecutors say Nadia Lockyer, the estranged wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and a former Alameda County Supervisor, has been charged with drug possession and child abuse after police found her with methamphetamine at a relative's house in Orange County where she was staying with her 9-year-old son. The charges are the latest in a series of substance and ...

Wis. cops: Man sets dog on tied up teen while dad watches

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin homeowner who accused an 18-year-old man of theft tied the teen's ankles together, hung him upside-down from porch rafters and commanded a pit bull to attack him while the teen's father stood and watched, a sheriff's deputy said. Authorities responded to a home in the Town of Osceola on Friday after a person who ...

Clinton: Obama showing way to more modern USA economy

Ryan supports prayer in schools if states agree

Demos rush to change platform to add God & Jerusalem as capital of Israel

Judge approves police enforcement of contentious part of Ariz immigration law

Ryan praises Bill Clinton on day of his speech

Chicago mayor shifting from national campaign to pro-Obama super PAC

Rain, political & security risks force Obama's speech indoors

1 SEAL dead, 7 sailors hurt in training accident

More time needed to indict Tsarnaev

Treasury told of IRS probe in June 2012

Marine, dog reunited in surprise ceremony at Iowa State Capitol

Navy pilot earns degree in combat zone

Dark clouds hang over air shows after budget cuts hit military services

Colorado sheriffs sue over gun rules

Alaska volcano shoots ash 15,000 feet into the air

OJ's ex-lawyer contradicts his testimony on guns

Nearly 50 injured as commuter trains collide

Nation news briefs

TRAVIS SUES TO BLOCK DWI PATROL CAR VIDEO RELEASE: AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Country music star Randy Travis has filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of patrol car video of his 2012 drunken-driving arrest in North Texas.

Feds propose overhaul for child care centers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - Federal health officials proposed Thursday to overhaul 500,000 child care centers across the country, beefing up safety standards including background and fingerprint checks for employees and requiring states to better monitor the facilities.

Judge lets Ariz. license policy stand

Mom in NM chases down her child’s abductor; man arrested

Man accused of killing ex-girlfriend's embryo with a pill