Snooki, hosting MTV's New Year's Eve show

LOS ANGELES (AP) - New York's Times Square is getting a little bit Jersey for New Year's Eve. MTV says "Jersey Shore" stars Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Jenni "JWOWW" Farley and comedian Jeff Dye will host the network's live New Year's Eve special from Times Square. "MTV's Club NYE 2013" will also feature performances from Ke$ha, Ne-Yo, Sean ...

Gay Washington couples get marriage licenses

Mormon church seeking more compassion for gays

At 450 pounds, killer fights execution

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - At about 450 pounds, Ohio death row inmate Ronald Post is so fat that his executioners won't be able to find veins in his arms or legs for the lethal injection, and he might even break the death chamber gurney, his lawyers say.

Woman killed after car, motorized wheelchair bump

ATLANTA (AP) - An elderly man opened fire on a woman after her car came into contact with his motorized wheelchair at a central Georgia service station, authorities said Wednesday. She died shortly afterward at a hospital despite the efforts of a crowd of people to aid her.

NY subway victim’s daughter: ‘What’s done is done’

NEW YORK (AP) - The daughter of a man pushed in front of a subway train and photographed a split-second before his death said Wednesday after a suspect was arrested that it "would have been great" if someone had helped her father up but "what's done is done."

Nation news briefs

NEW STUNNING NIGHTTIME VIEWS OF EARTH UNVEILED: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Twinkling city lights, raging wildfires and colorful auroras are lit up in new dazzling nighttime views of the Earth.

Houston-area town's mayor for 63 years dead at 92

RICHMOND, Texas (AP) - Hilmar Moore, who has been mayor of the Southeast Texas town of Richmond since 1949, has died at age 92. Moore died Tuesday night after a lengthy illness, his wife, Evelyn Moore, said Wednesday. Hilmar Moore was the nation's longest-serving mayor of uninterrupted tenure, according to the website for the city of Richmond, which is about 25 miles ...

Celebrations planned as Washington legalizes marijuana possession today

Below surface, moon reveals a "shattered" history

Odd News

Chicago-area restaurant gives away 10,000 Twinkies ORLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) - A suburban Chicago restaurant has given away about 10,000 Twinkies. Baby's Cheesesteak and Lemonade gave away the coveted treats Wednesday at its locations in Orland Park and Country Club Hills along with 2,200 chocolate cupcakes. The restaurant got the idea ...

Amazon launches Kindle content for kids

Nation news briefs

SUSPECT BEING QUESTIONED IN DEADLY NYC SUBWAY PUSH : NEW YORK (AP) - Police questioned a suspect Tuesday in the death of a New Yorker who was pushed onto the tracks and photographed just before a train hit him - an image that drew virulent criticism after it appeared on the front page of the New York Post.

Infighting in GOP as party leaders remove 4 from House budget, defense committees

Grizzly managers look toward hunts in Rockies

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