Jury hears LA-area chef say on tape he cooked wife

Chicago teachers vote to return to classroom

Republicans: Bad gets worse for Romney over flap about American’s dependency

More than half in 39 states will be obese

Half avoid taxes in United States, get federal help but many not poor

Romney tells donors nearly half of Americans ‘believe they are victims’

WASHINGTON (AP) - Already scrambling to steady a struggling campaign, Republican Mitt Romney confronted a new headache Monday after a video surfaced showing him telling wealthy donors that almost half of all Americans "believe they are victims" entitled to extensive government support. He added that as a candidate for the White House, "my job is not to worry about those people."

Homeowners association members face violence

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Disagreements that boil over into shouting matches, finger-pointing and even fistfights are often part of neighborhood homeowners association meetings, but the kind of violence that erupted in Louisville leaving two dead is uncommon.

As troop 'surge' ends, setbacks are piling up

180 Occupy Wall Street arrests in NYC

Nation news briefs

MAN SAYS HE GOT DEATH THREATS OVER ABANDONED DOG: DENVER (AP) - A man who left his dog to die on a Colorado mountain said he received death threats, even though he has paid vet bills and agreed to turn over the dog to one of the rescuers.

Military drinking 'culture' now a 'crisis'

Obama team tries to lower expectations for upcoming fall debates with Mitt Romney

Ohio inmate says he's too obese at 480 pounds plus for execution

Obama, Romney courting key states, constituencies in bid for more votes

BURLINGTON, Mass. (AP) - President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are embarking on a week heavy with travel through battleground states and appeals to key constituencies, with both campaigns wrangling over unrest in the Middle East and who is best equipped to rejuvenate the economy.

Occupy is in disarray on its first anniversary

NEW YORK (AP) - Occupy Wall Street began to disintegrate in rapid fashion last winter, when the weekly meetings in New York City devolved into a spectacle of fistfights and vicious arguments.

FBI digging at ex-home of famed NY mobster

IRS worker: No political bias against tea party

Feds fire, demote employees over killing, rape

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Federal probation officers in upstate New York have been fired or demoted after a man they were monitoring was charged with slipping out of his electronic bracelet, raping a 10-year-old girl and killing her mother during a carjacking at a New York mall. The changes at the federal probation office in Syracuse were detailed in a letter from U.S. courts administrators to Rep. Dan Maffei, who had written to the courts ...

Odd News

DRIVER SAYS HE WAS SPEEDING SO HE COULD DRY CAR: BLACK DIAMOND, Alberta (AP) - He was drying off his freshly washed car.

18 mayors want Congress to limit use of food stamps to buy soda

USFS may not refill Incline Lake after all

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service is leaning toward abandoning plans to restore a small lake overlooking Lake Tahoe to the way it was when the rich and famous vacationed at the private enclave a half century ago and instead let it return to a natural wetland. The federal government bought Incline Lake for $43.5 million in a land deal five years ago with the intention of repairing a small dam built in ...

Nation news briefs

FORMER PA. TEACHER CHARGED FOR CLASSROOM PIERCINGS: DILLSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A former teacher in central Pennsylvania is facing charges after police say she allowed a student to perform body piercings in class.

Fox News sued over airing suicide

NYC to offer free phone-charging stations in parks

Boy, 13, charged in 'wrestling' death of girl, 5

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A 13-year-old boy from a New Orleans suburb was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old half-sister after investigators said he told them he repeatedly struck her with wrestling moves imitated from TV.

NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women

Ga. radio hosts fired; mocked ex-player with ALS

ATLANTA (AP) - The cast of an Atlanta sports radio show has been fired after mocking a former NFL player who has Lou Gehrig's disease, a station official said Monday.

Bear mauls Alaska man who gave it barbecue meat

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A black bear mauled a man at a campground in Alaska, but the animal won't likely threaten other people, the state Department of Fish and Game said. Spokesman Ken Marsh said the bear was "pretty much goaded" into the attack Saturday near Eklutna Lake Campground north of Anchorage because the man fed it meat from a church barbecue, the Anchorage Daily News (reported. The man could be charged with illegally feeding ...

Ex-hitman heartbroken Bulger was informant

Official: Solar plane to help energy use on ground