President Obama cracks a birther joke

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - It's that birther thing again. President Barack Obama was at an Orlando sports bar, snapping a University of Florida Gators' sign, sipping a pint and working a crowd when he walked up to a table with five children. One adult pointed to one of the boys, 7-year-old Andre Wupperman of Orlando, and informed the president that the boy was born in Hawaii, the president's native state. Delighted, the president greeted the ...

Nation news briefs

• OBAMA GETS A RISE OUT OF A FLA. SUPPORTER: FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) - If President Barack Obama was looking for a lift in Florida, he got one from Scott Van Duzer.

WTC memorial magnificent but it comes at a steep price

NEW YORK (AP) - With its huge reflecting pools, ringed by waterfalls and skyscrapers, and a cavernous underground museum still under construction, the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center is an awesome spectacle that moved and inspired some 4.5 million visitors in its first year.

Status of World Trade Center site, 11 years after the attack

NEW YORK (AP) - Eleven years after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the new multibillion-dollar World Trade Center once again dominates the lower Manhattan skyline. Hundreds of construction workers are at the 16-acre site every day, and tourists snap thousands of photos of the two towers that are nearing completion.

Number of visitors to Pa. Flight 93 memorial grows

PITTSBURGH (AP) - More and more people are visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial in rural western Pennsylvania, authorities say, and new construction is scheduled to begin next year.

Questions & answers on 9/11 war crimes trial

The U.S. is for a second time attempting to prosecute five prisoners held at the Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for planning and aiding the Sept. 11 attacks, charging them with war crimes in a special tribunal for wartime offenses known as a military commission. Here's an update.

Key facts about 9/11 Health & Compensation Act

(AP)- Some key information about the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which went into effect a year ago to aid ground zero responders and others who became ill after being exposed to dust and ash at the World Trade Center site:

SEAL explains why bin Laden dangerous when he was killed

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette says SEALs raiding Osama bin Laden's Pakistan hideout last year shot him dead instead of capturing him because his arms were hidden and may have been holding weapons.

Obama to observe 9/11 anniversary in Washington

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) - President Barack Obama will mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a series of commemorations in and near Washington.

Gloomy jobs report shadows race

Ryan: Don't interfere with legalized medical pot

Eastwood talks about convention chat with chair

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Clint Eastwood said the idea to use an empty seat as a prop at the Republican National Convention was a spur-of-the-moment decision when someone backstage asked if he wanted to sit down. In his first interview since his Aug. 30 appearance at the convention to pledge support for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Eastwood told the Carmel Pine ...

Man fatally shoots 1, wounds other Homeowners’ association meeting

Odd News

MAN ARRESTED AFTER METH OFFER TEXTED TO OFFICER: LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho man apparently trying to get the most bang for his drug-purchasing buck accidentally texted a narcotics detective while he searched for people to join him in a methamphetamine buy.

Santa Cruz sued over plastic bag ban ordinance

SANTA CRUZ (AP) - Makers of banned plastic shopping bags are fighting back, and have filed a lawsuit in Santa Cruz asking a judge to toss out the city's bag prohibition. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition filed its suit last month in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. Stephen Joseph, a lawyer ...

Fire chief resigns, citing bomb criticism

Nation news briefs

CAN MAN PROTEST OUTSIDE MILITARY BASE? WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court will decide whether to reinstate a man's conviction for protesting outside a military base in California.

IRS spent $50M for conferences

WASHINGTON (AP) - A government watchdog has found that the Internal Revenue Service spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012, a House committee said Sunday.

Apple antitrust suit over e-books set for NY trial

NEW YORK (AP) - In a civil case where the words of Steve Jobs play prominently, the government and Apple Inc. are set to square off over allegations that Apple Inc. conspired with the country's largest book publishers to make consumers pay more for electronic books.

Some Wash. Police dogs not smelling pot anymore

4 firefighters killed in motel fire

Jailing in Mexico highlights tourist risks

What should a tourist do if arrested in Mexico and accused of carrying drugs?

Eight arrested after brawl breaks out during Ohio kindergarten graduation

Bucket list' item leads to women's arrest

Teen who built reactor ousted from science fair

Woman faked marriage to dead racer

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Las Vegas woman has been accused of forging a marriage certificate so she could keep her racecar-driving boyfriend's possessions after he died three years ago when his Porsche veered off a mountain road in northern Nevada. Allison Lear was arrested on outstanding warrants May 25 at the Hakkasan nightclub at the MGM Grand. She faces charges of forgery and perjury in what family members characterize as a callous attempt at ...

Nation news briefs

TORNADO HITS OKLAHOMA CITY AREA IN PLAINS OUTBREAK: OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, crumbling cars and tractor-trailers along a major interstate and leading to numerous injuries.

Big stink over Camel ads

Would-be Chicago backpack bomber gets 23-year term

Hagel to broach cyberthreats topic with Chinese