Super Bowl: float, route change for Choctaw

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Super Bowl is costing a Mardi Gras parade krewe on New Orleans' west bank its usual floats and its usual route.

GOP: Voters will have final say on health care law; White House says bring it on

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican congressional leaders said Sunday that voters - not the Supreme Court - will have the final word on President Barack Obama's health care law come November. And they are betting that the law's unpopularity will be enough to drive Democrats from power.

Mexican old guard leads, ruling party concedes

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico's old guard prepared to sail back into power after a 12-year hiatus Sunday as the president of the country's long-ruling party said that exit polls "irreversibly" favored its presidential candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto.

Connecticut. inmate saw oysters as way out from death row in bizarre scheme

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut man on death row for the killings of a mother and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion says he came up with a bizarre plan to end his own life by lying about killing others in a spree of violence.

Police: NM deputy stole panties while on duty

MORA, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico State Police says a Mora County Sheriff's deputy has admitted of stealing a pair of women's panties from a home while on duty.

Nation news briefs

• MID-ATLANTIC POWER OUTAGES COULD LAST DAYS: FRANCONIA, Va. (AP) - A day after seeking refuge at shopping malls and movie theaters, hoping the lights would be back on when they returned, nearly 2.7 million residents faced a grim reality Sunday: stifling homes, spoiled food and a looming commute filled with knocked-out stoplights.

Nation news briefs

JUSTICE WON'T PROSECUTE HOLDER FOR CONTEMPT : WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department declared Friday that Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to withhold information about a bungled gun-tracking operation from Congress does not constitute a crime and he won't be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

Remains of 2nd person found amidst Colorado fire wreckage

More changes coming as Obamacare phases in

:What does the health care law mean for you?

Congress passes student loans, highway jobs bill

Effort to boost governor's tax hike on ballot draws lawsuit

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An effort to give Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative top billing on California's November ballot has drawn a lawsuit by a rival tax campaign. The lawsuit filed against the secretary of state accuses state lawmakers of abusing their power and says they are trying "to change the rules in the middle of the game." The ...

Nation news briefs

NM MOM JAILED FOR OVERDUE 'TWILIGHT' BOOK, DVDS: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A New Mexico woman was arrested and spent a night in jail for not returning the book "Twilight" and two-DVD set "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" back to the library on time.

Colorado Springs fire destroys 346 homes

Colorado Springs fire destroys 346 homes

A look at the ruling

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.

So.Cal collector selling off 55,000 dresses, ballgowns

GARDENA (AP) - It was a sale fit for a princess on Saturday as a Southern California man put up for sale some of the 55,000 dresses and ballgowns in his collection.

Anthony Foxx in line for transportation post

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx as his new transportation secretary, a White House official said Sunday.

Obama jokes about aging during 2nd term

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not "the strapping young Muslim socialist" he used to be.

Police say 4 people stabbed at Albuquerque church

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Police say a 24-year-old man stabbed four people at a Catholic church in Albuquerque as a Sunday mass was nearing its end.

Methane report further divides fracking camps

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically lowered its estimate of how much of a potent heat-trapping gas leaks during natural gas production, in a shift with major implications for a debate that has divided environmentalists: Does the recent boom in fracking help or hurt the fight against climate change?

NYPD whistle-blowers testify at stop-frisk trial

NEW YORK (AP) - After Officer Pedro Serrano decided to testify in federal court about what he sees as wrongdoing within the New York Police Department, a rat sticker appeared on his locker.