Side Briefs

Mo. firm: Meth can't be made from its decongestant

Dog theft case ripples through NM town

New inflation gauge would cut benefits, hike taxes

Nation news briefs

FEDS: DINOSAUR SKULL SEIZED FROM WYOMING HOME : CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A dinosaur skull seized from a Wyoming home is related to an investigation into fossil smuggling from Mongolia, indicating that efforts to stem the illegal trade are making progress, an attorney said Monday.

Ohio town helps post office keep Rudolph postmark

RUDOLPH, Ohio (AP) - The most famous postmark of all has been saved, thanks to volunteers in the northwest Ohio village of Rudolph. Thousands of letters flood the village post office every December so that they can be stamped with a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer postmark. But the tradition was in danger of ending when the post office staff was cut down ...

Judge removed in Fort Hood rampage case

GOP’s $2.2 trillion 'fiscal cliff' offer

$1M school racial harassment award

Mars rover Curiosity: No soil test surprise

Girl recalls painful dolphin bite at SeaWorld

ATLANTA (AP) - An 8-year-old Georgia girl says it "really, really hurt" when a dolphin snatched her hand in its mouth while she fed the animal as part of an attraction at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla. Jillian Thomas of Alpharetta said she raised the paper carton she was holding, and "when the dolphin saw that, it leaped at me and bit me, ...

Union calls for teacher certification exam

Man shot ex as she played organ during church service, returns to shoot her again

NC inmates allege they were abused with hot sauce

Man charged in barista death linked to 7 killings

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A man charged in the death of an Alaska barista has killed himself, and authorities said Sunday he had been linked to at least seven other possible slayings in three other states.

5 states to increase class time in schools

WASHINGTON (AP) - Open your notebooks and sharpen your pencils. School for thousands of public school students is about to get quite a bit longer.

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