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 ...

Temple gunman shot himself; still no motive

Singer Randy Travis arrested naked, charged with DWI

Careful bear raids Colorado candy shop

Mars crater where rover landed 'Earth-like'

Ad claims Romney & Bain responsible for women’s death causing campaign furor

News Bites

WORLD UNDERGROUND SECT KPET KIDS OUT OF DAYLIGHT: Some of the 27 children had never seen daylight. Kept underground - in some cases for more than a decade - without ventilation, heating or electricity, authorities said. Prosecutors have brought child abuse charges against the parents and the central Russian sect's 83-year-old founder, who they they say declared himself a Muslim prophet and kept his followers underground to ...

Judge rules against Hawaii gay marriage

Loughner pleads guilty to Ariz. shooting

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Jared Lee Loughner agreed Tuesday to spend the rest of his life in prison, accepting that he went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering and avoiding the prospect of a trial that might have brought him the death penalty.

'Is she not dead?' asks husband in ICU shooting death of his wife of 45 years

Romney: Obama favors 'culture of dependency'

Did cuffed suspect shoot himself in head in patrol car?

Girl found clinging to floating corpse in lake

Hate music is part of white supremacist circles

2 men charged with staging reality TV robbery

Nation news briefs

NYC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADOPTS ALL-VEGETARIAN MENU: NEW YORK (AP) - A New York City elementary school has adopted an all-vegetarian menu, serving kids tofu wraps and veggie chili.

Legal tiff settled over Chicago parking meters

US assessing reported Syrian chemical use

Army amputee completes air assault school

Man arrested for letting son, 9, drive Ferrari

Pro-gun Native American billboard draws criticism

Nation news briefs

SOME LOSING JOBS AMID ALLEGED NEV. PATIENT DUMPING: CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Two staff members who violated discharge policies at a Las Vegas psychiatric hospital were fired Monday and three others are being disciplined following an investigation into busing patients to other states, the governor's office and agency officials said Monday.

Lawyer: Former ricin suspect's home is unlivable

1st female Iraq war resister to be court-martialed

Abortion trial stirs debate on when life ends

Boston suspect's defense team gets major boost

Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists on them

WASHINGTON (AP) - Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army's hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle.

Dozens of air shows cancel without military jets due to federal budget cuts

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Dozens of air shows that draw tens of thousands of people and generate millions of dollars for local economies have been cancelled this year after the military grounded its jet and demonstration teams because of automatic federal budget cuts.

A new front for gun background checks

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - After struggling to sway both state and federal lawmakers, proponents of expanding background checks for gun sales are now exploring whether they will have more success by taking the issue directly to voters.

Man charged in suspicious letters case

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) - The arrest of a 41-year-old Mississippi martial arts instructor in a case of poison-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and others capped a week in which investigators initially zeroed in on a rival of James Everett Dutschke, then decided they had the wrong man.