Obama turns to technology during convention

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - When the Democratic Party's national convention opens this week, President Barack Obama's target audience won't be in the crowd. It will be the small sliver of undecided voters in battleground states who will be critical to the outcome of what the polls show is a tight race with two months to go.

DNC kickoff protest lively but largely uneventful

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The kickoff protest ahead of the Democratic National Convention had the benefit of sunny skies, pent-up demand from demonstrators who were rained out in Florida and the perfect setting to decry the practices of big business.

Neb., SD wildfires grow with help of strong wind

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Wildfires in northwestern Nebraska tripled in size in less than 24 hours, as strong winds pushed flames through the rugged, rural terrain.

Homes cracking due to drought-parched soil

State news briefs

52M lottery winner learns of jackpot from TV FREMONT (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area man told by relatives that his picture was just shown on television was not wanted for a crime, but as the winner of a $52 million lottery jackpot. KGO-TV reported on Friday that Marita and Bladimir Agnite of Fremont didn't know they had the winning ticket until ...

Feds ending Wyoming wolf protections

Astronauts, family mourn humble hero Armstrong

Ex-Marine kills 2 co-workers, self inside closed New Jersey supermarket

Mixed legacy of George W. hovers over Tampa

Mixed legacy of George W. hovers over Tampa

Clint Eastwood’s pitch: Make his day by electing Mitt Romney's president

Romney makes his case: We 'need jobs, lots of jobs'

Odd News

98-YEAR-OLD MESSAGE IN BOTTLE SETS WORLD RECORD: LONDON (AP) - It was scooped up from the sea after 98 years, and now officials say a message in a bottle discovered in Scotland has set a world record.

Peanuts were thrown at black camerawoman at GOP meeting

Batman movie shooting suspect made call prior to deadly attack

Weakening Isaac hovers over water-logged Louisiana

Former TWA Flight 800 investigators want new probe of crash

Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke weapon cuts

FBI uses drones for surveillance

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects, and the privacy implications of such operations are "worthy of debate," FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday. He said the law enforcement agency very seldom uses drones now, but is developing guidelines that will shape how unmanned aerial vehicles are to be used. There will be a number of issues regarding drones "as they become more omnipresent, not the least of which is ...

Compromise eyed on border security

Nation news briefs

FATHER SENTENCED FOR BINDING KIDS OUTSIDE WAL-MART: LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A suburban Chicago man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison for binding and blindfolding two of his children a year ago in a Wal-Mart parking lot in eastern Kansas.

Prison for woman who buried mom in yard

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A woman who quit her job to care for her elderly mother felt at a loss to support herself when the older woman died so she buried her in the yard of their Florida home and lived off her mother's Social Security checks for 14 years, her lawyers and federal authorities say.

IRS playing $70M in employee bonuses

Deen says she used slur but doesn't tolerate hate

As the West burns, feds cut funding for fire prevention

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 ...