Source: Mitt Romney picks Ryan for running mate on GOP ticket

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate, according to a Republican with knowledge of the development. They will appear together Saturday in Norfolk, Va., at the start of a four-state bus tour to introduce the newly minted GOP ticket to the nation.

Mars rover snapped photo of rocket crash

PASADENA (AP) - Space enthusiasts have been abuzz for days over whether the Mars rover Curiosity captured an extraterrestrial crash. On Friday, NASA declared the mystery solved.

Officers testify about kids tied up in Walmart parking lot by their parents

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A 7-year-old girl found bound in the parking lot of a Kansas Walmart told police she was hitting her siblings and asked to be tied up and blindfolded, an officer testified Friday during a preliminary hearing for the girl's parents. Deborah Gomez, 44, and her husband, Adolfo Gomez Jr., 52, were arrested in June and charged with two ...

Director of 'Willy Wonka,' dead at 83

1873 dime sells for a pretty penny: $1.6M

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A dime made in 1873 has cost someone a pretty penny: It sold for $1.6 million at auction. An anonymous bidder won the pristine coin, said Chris Napolitano, president of Stack's Bowers Galleries, which auctioned it during an American Numismatic Association convention. With a 15 percent buyer's fee tacked on, the final price for the coin was $1.84 million, ...

Caged pit bull dies in heat wave

FONTANA . (AP) - A caged pit bull with no water and no shade has been found dead in a Southern California backyard during a triple-digit heat wave. A second dog was near death when it was rescued by a Fontana animal control officer responding to a neighbor's tip. The Riverside Press-Enterprise says 26-year-old Fontana dog owner Jose ...

Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd Q

Sibling rivalry will play out at AARP spelling bee

Lawyers: Colo. shooting suspect mentally ill

Facebook pressured to remove page deemed racist

Zimmerman seeks 'stand your ground' hearing

Romney, Obama bemoan attack ads but both campaigns benefit from them

Man fears false teeth eaten by dog after fight

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia man told police he fears a dog ate his false teeth after a fight with his roommate. Police say the 49-year-old Athens man told them that his roommate threw the teeth out the door in a fit of rage. The Athens Banner-Herald reports (http://bit.ly/NJYuJ5) that police were called to the man's home ...

Man orders flat-screen TV, gets gun instead

WASHINGTON (AP) - Musician Seth Horvitz is used to tickling the ivories, not squeezing a trigger. So when a UPS delivery worker dropped off a military-grade semiautomatic rifle instead of the flat-screen TV he had ordered from an Amazon.com third-party seller, he didn't dare touch it at first. "When I first identified it as a rifle, as a ...

Flying concrete kills woman in 4-car crash

MODESTO (AP) - Authorities say a driver was killed when a flying chunk of concrete slammed into her truck's windshield during a four-vehicle crash on Highway 99 in Modesto. The California Highway Patrol says a 52-year-old woman from Antelope was killed in the chain-reaction accident around 11 a.m. Thursday. Her identity has not been released. CHP Officer Eric ...

NKorea deports US tourist and war vet

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Saturday it has deported an elderly U.S. tourist and war veteran detained for more than a month for alleged hostile acts against the country.

Obama, Bush, Clinton to travel to South Africa

WASHINGTON (AP) - At least three American presidents will travel to South Africa to attend memorial services for anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95.

NSA defends global cellphone tracking

US allows eagle deaths to aid wind power

WASHINGTON (AP) - Under pressure from the wind-power industry, the Obama administration said Friday it will allow companies to kill or injure eagles without the fear of prosecution for up to three decades.

Experts want Uncle Sam to spend taxes studying how happy we are

News from around the nation

COUPLE ACCIDENTALLY GETS BAG OF CASH AT DRIVE-THRU

Amish girl won't be forced to renew chemo treatment

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A court-appointed guardian is dropping her attempt to force an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after she and her parents fled their home to avoid treatment.

Illinois governor signs pension overhaul into law

CHICAGO (AP) - In a private ceremony attended by a handful of lawmakers, Gov. Pat Quinn signed landmark legislation Thursday to reform Illinois' massively-underfunded pension system, though labor unions immediately threatened a lawsuit challenging the new law.

COLD SNAP GLANCE

From California to Ohio, a big chunk of the U.S. is getting a blast of wintry weather. Frigid temperatures are following a storm that's bringing snow and ice to many areas. The conditions are making travel difficult, raising concerns about citrus crops and prompting the cancellation of fights, holiday festivities and football games. Even one outdoor ice rink in cold-accustomed South Dakota is shutting down.

Dreaming of a warm, happy place

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - With the wind chill falling to almost minus 40, Steve Hendershot's mind was elsewhere Thursday as he and his crew of roustabouts worked an oil rig in North Dakota's booming oil patch.

Fast-food workers across the country push for wage hikes

Fast-food NEW YORK (AP) - Fast-food workers and labor organizers marched, waved signs and chanted in cities across the country on Thursday in a push for higher wages.

Jobs report to show if US economy is for real

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. economy is growing faster, corporate profits are rising and companies are laying off the fewest workers in six years.

Temps reach dangerous level for citrus

VISALIA (AP) - Officials say temperatures in the citrus-rich San Joaquin Valley dropped to the low 20s overnight, but it was too early to tell whether there was any crop damage.

Bratton named NYPD commish again

NEW YORK (AP) - William Bratton, whose tenure as New York City police commissioner in the 1990s was marked by a steep decline in crime and clashes with then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, has been chosen to lead the nation's largest police force again.

Illinois pension fight likely shifting to court