JFK's last night recalled as key event for Latinos

President John F. Kennedy was supposed to just stop by and wave hello. Instead a group of eager Latinos persuaded him to come inside and speak to a packed room of Mexican-American civil rights activists. And then he persuaded his wife, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, to address the crowd in Spanish. It was Nov. 21, 1963. Hours later, the president was dead, his assassination overshadowing the significance of a speech that can be ...

Utility worker pierced pipe before Mass. gas blast

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A natural gas explosion that injured 18 people and damaged 42 buildings in Springfield's entertainment district was blamed Sunday on a utility worker who accidentally punctured a high-pressure pipeline while looking for a leak.

Kan. honor flights halted after money goes missing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - As many as 100 World War II veterans missed their chance to travel to Washington to see their war's memorial after about $110,000 disappeared from a Kansas nonprofit that organized free trips for them.

1 of FBI's 10 most wanted arrested

LOS ANGELES (AP) - One of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives was arrested Thursday in Mexico and will be returned to Los Angeles to face charges of murder, kidnapping and rape, U.S. officials said.

Gas blast levels Mass. strip club; 18 people hurt

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A natural gas explosion in one of New England's biggest cities on Friday leveled a strip club with a boom heard for miles and heavily damaged a dozen other buildings but didn't kill anyone, authorities said.

Movie attack suspect got guns despite psych issues

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri man accused of plotting attacks at a movie theater and Walmart store legally bought the guns he allegedly planned to use, despite being forced to undergo a psychiatric exam three years ago after stalking a store clerk he said he planned to kill, authorities said.

Official: Man killed zoo monkey during theft try

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A 22-year-old man clubbed a monkey to death with a tree branch, after he was bitten by the animal while trying to steal it from a Boise zoo, prosecutors allege.

NC activists angered by killing of 3-legged bear

BURNSVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A skinny, three-legged black bear had become a fixture at an upscale housing community deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, rummaging through trash cans and playfully ambling along the golf course

49 female inmates sickened by gas at Pa. prison

YORK, Pa. (AP) - Nearly 50 female inmates at a central Pennsylvania prison have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Facebook proposes to end voting on privacy issues

NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook is proposing to end its practice of letting users vote on changes to its privacy policies, though it will continue to let users comment on proposed updates.

Jockeying under way to replace Rep. Jackson Jr.

CHICAGO (AP) - The jockeying to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. began before the ink was dry on the former congressman's resignation letter.

Nation news briefs

POLICE: CUSTOMER AT NM GUN SHOP ACCIDENTALLY SHOT: SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) - An employee at a New Mexico gun shop who was unloading a handgun accidentally shot and wounded a customer in the back, authorities said Wednesday.

At public meetings, fights over whether to allow opening prayers still drag on

Drought worsens after weeks of improvement

Economy makes for tougher journeys

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