Don’t cuss unless you can pay the fine: Town weighs $20 fines for public swearing

MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Officials fed up with public swearing in one town say that forcing the potty-mouthed to pay up might be the right antidote. Residents attending town meeting in Middleborough on Monday night were scheduled to vote on whether to impose a $20 fine for public swearing. Officials insist the proposal, offered by the town's police chief, is not intended ...

New York City pension funds file Wal-Mart suit

No elegant technical fixes for distracted driving

NEW YORK (AP) - When does a smartphone make you dumb? When you're driving. Dialing or texting on a phone is a proven distraction when you're behind the wheel. And as "smart" as today's phones are, they can't compensate for human folly. Phone makers and software developers are making a valiant effort to create elegant technical solutions, but, try as they might, they've yet to solve the problem of distracted driving. A new survey, released ...

Nation news briefs

• 'GREEN ACRES' CHARACTER ACTOR FRANK CADY DIES: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Frank Cady, a character actor best known as the general-store owner on the sitcom "Green Acres," has died. He was 96.

Cost to lunch with Warren Buffett: $3.5 million

Protesters on third day strike in campaign office

Odd News

WOMAN'S LOUD PRAISE AND CURSES LEAD TO CHARGES: BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee woman says she was just praising the Lord, although at high volume, when she received a citation accusing her of violating the city's noise ordinance. She later was arrested by police on a disorderly conduct charge.

Aide could face charge in Edwards sex tape case

Nation news briefs

Sleepwalking used as defense in attempted robbery

Officials fret about creatures on tsunami dock that drifted across Pacific Ocean

Vet gave show errant photo by 'mistake'

Suicides are surging among US troops

House passes homeland security spending bill

Nation news briefs

MILEY CYRUS, LIAM HEMSWORTH ARE ENGAGED: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - It turns out "The Last Song" was only the beginning for Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth.

Teen guilty in texting-while-driving crash

HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts teenager was sentenced Wednesday to spend a year in jail for a fatal traffic accident that happened while he was texting. Aaron Deveau of Haverhill was sentenced to 2 ½ years behind bars with a year to serve and the remainder suspended for the February 2011 crash that took the life ...

Man killed after firing shot at airport

Man killed

Judge OKs release of man charged with terror

Fresh off victory, NRA convention underway in Houston

Soccer referee in coma from player's punch

Nation news briefs

SAN DIEGO STUDENTS SUSPENDED FOR 'TWERKING' VIDEO: SAN DIEGO (AP) - Dozens of students at a San Diego high school have been suspended for making a suggestive "twerking" dance video.

J.C. Penney ad apologizes to retail customers

5 year-old shoots 2-year-old sister in Kentucky

Wind-fueled wildfire erupts east of LA

Missing woman, thought dead, surfaces in Fla.

J.C. Penney ad apologizes to retail customers

Ohio executes man who killed, raped 6-month-old

Justice appeals morning-after case

Food, skin allergies increasing in children

FBI: Backpack from Boston suspect's room

Nation news briefs

FROSTY START FOR UPSTATE NY ICE CREAM TRUCK SEASON: GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - The chilly relationship between rival upstate New York ice cream truck operators got out of hand this season, with Sno Cone Joe trying to chase Mr. Ding-A-Ling out of the market, authorities said Wednesday.