Native American women seek protections from domestic abuse on reservations

Ivy League school janitor graduates with honors

NEW YORK (AP) - For years, Gac Filipaj mopped floors, cleaned toilets and took out trash at Columbia University.

Ala. farmers cut back crops, citing crackdown

ONEONTA, Ala. (AP) - Some Alabama farmers say they are planting less produce rather than risk having tomatoes and other crops rot in the fields a second straight year because of labor shortages linked to the state's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Wedding chapel owner: Gay marriage would help Nev.

RENO, Nev. (AP) - With his city no longer the marriage capital of the nation, a Reno wedding chapel owner says Nevada is missing out on a golden opportunity with its ban on same-sex marriage.

Nation news briefs

• FACEBOOK CEO TURNS 28, IPO COULD BE $100B GIFT: NEW YORK (AP) - Don't let the hoodie and sneakers fool you. Mark Zuckerberg is no wet-behind-the-ears CEO.

Odd news briefs

• Man makes amends for stealing plants in 1958: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - No matter how much digging investigators did, the crime remained open until a thief turned himself in and returned the fruits of his theft.

Mitt Romney’s ‘hijinks’ seen as bullying today

NEW YORK (AP) - When Mitt Romney was a good-looking teen in the buttoned-up '60s, corporal punishment was the norm and bullying had a different, more acceptable name: hijinks.

‘Girl Scouts under scrutiny from bishops

NEW YORK (AP) - Long a lightning rod for conservative criticism, the Girl Scouts of the USA are now facing their highest-level challenge yet: An official inquiry by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Nation news briefs

AUTHORITIES: KIDNAPPED GIRLS DIDN'T EAT FOR DAYS: GUNTOWN, Miss. (AP) - Hope was fading that two young sisters abducted from their Tennessee home would be found alive two weeks after they vanished: Their kidnapper had already killed their mother and sister, and he was armed with a pistol as officers closed in.

F-16 jets intercept small plane as Obama leaves LA

Young cancer patients' 'Stronger' video a big hit

New Jersey test asks third graders to reveal a secret

TRENTON (AP) - Some New Jersey parents are steamed about a question on a statewide standardized test this week that asked some third-graders to write about a secret and why it was hard to keep.

Gay marriage shift gives Obama campaign big fundraising boost

Kansas lawmakers pass anti-Islamic law measure

Nation news briefs

PHOENIX-AREA MAN HITS $1 MILLION JACKPOT SIX TIMES: PHOENIX (AP) - A suburban Phoenix man made a lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky guess in a recent multistate lottery game.

Man shot to death while questioned in Boston probe

Damage: Thousands of homes, $1.5-$2B

50 hurt when Indiana school buses crash

Side Briefs

NEARLY ALL US STATES SEE HEFTY DROP IN TEEN BIRTHS: NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's record-low teen birth rate stems from robust declines in nearly every state, but most dramatically in several Mountain States and among Hispanics, according to a new government report.

Broke no laws, IRS official says, then takes 5th

Tornado death toll lowered to 24

Gay Fla. teen charged for her underage girlfriend

Pentagon wants $450M for Guantanamo

Texas judge: Lesbian couple can't cohabitate

Nation news briefs

POLICE DEFEND OFFICER WHO SHOT NY COLLEGE STUDENT: MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - The president of a New York police union defended an officer who accidentally killed a Hofstra University student during a standoff with an armed intruder, saying Tuesday the only person responsible for the woman's death was the gunman who held her hostage.

IRS official to take the 5th at House hearing

Huge tornado hits Oklahoma City suburb, kills 51

MOORE, Okla. (AP) - A monstrous tornado at least a half-mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds up to 200 mph. At least 51 people were killed, and officials said the death toll was expected to rise.

Side Briefs

ANGRY MOB PELTS MAN THOUGHT TO BE SEX ATTACKER: DENVER (AP) - Residents angry that police had not warned them about sex assaults of children took matters into their own hands, chasing down a man they thought was the attacker, pelting him with rocks and leaving him with a bloody face in Colorado, authorities said Monday.

Volcano's ash prompts flight cancellations

Kentucky teen dies with dog lead on neck

Kentucky teen dies with dog lead on neck