Prayer and waiting in Texas town rocked by blast from fertilizer plant

WEST, Texas (AP) - The First Baptist Church in the tiny Texas town where a fertilizer plant exploded is still off-limits, so the Rev. John Crowder put folding chairs in a hay pasture and improvised a pulpit on a truck flatbed. At the elementary school, an official carted extra desks and chairs into the only public school campus that's left.

NATION NEWS BRIEFS

• FBI: ILL. MAN TRIED TO JOIN AL-QAIDA-LINKED GROUP: CHICAGO (AP) - An Illinois teenager who was friends with a man charged last year with trying to bomb a Chicago bar was arrested at an airport on his way to try to join a terrorist group in war-torn Syria, the FBI said Saturday.

Reese Witherspoon charged with disorderly conduct

ATLANTA (AP) - Oscar-winning Actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta.

Caregiver: There’s now and app for that

NEW YORK (AP) - As her mother and father edged toward dementia, Nancy D'Auria kept a piece of paper in her wallet listing their medications.

More rain as rivers crest across Midwest

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) - Those fighting floods in several communities along the Mississippi River were mostly successful Sunday despite the onslaught of water, but an ominous forecast and the growing accumulation of snow in the upper Midwest tempered any feelings of victory.

Search ends for fishermen missing off Texas coast

HOUSTON (AP) - John Reynolds and the four others aboard the Nite Owl weren't worried when the thunderstorms made it impossible for the commercial fishing boat to return back to shore. They'd seen this kind of weather before.

Furloughs kick in, but flights come in on time

NEW YORK (AP) - Commercial airline flights moved smoothly throughout most of the country on Sunday, the first day air traffic controllers were subject to furloughs resulting from government spending cuts. But while the nightmarish flight delays and cancellations that the airline industry predicted would result from the furloughs did not materialize yet, the real test will come Monday, when traffic ramps up.

Skier, 4 snowboarders killed in avalanche

DENVER (AP) - Authorities have released the names of four Colorado snowboarders and one skier killed over the weekend in the state's deadliest avalanche in more than 50 years.

Davidian survivors mark 20th anniversary

Dramatic capture of bombing suspect Boston bomb suspect in custody, brother killed

Texas town grieves for dead first-responders; 14 confirmed deaths

Trains, buses halted during massive manhunt

Boy Scouts propose to lift gay bar for youth; bar gay adults as leaders

Thanks & jubilation in Boston suburb

Experts: Ricin like that in letters easy to make

Possible 9/11 plane landing gear part found in New York

Fired Oregon officer: Alcoholism is disability

Controllers to return; flight delays sway Congress

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Obama backs Planned Parenthood in political fight

Student's prom dress is one of a kind

Boston bomb suspect moved

Legal issues surround suspect's questioning

Police: Boston suspects planned to attack NY

Boston victims face huge bills

Politics on hold at the dedication of Bush library

Talks on bill to ease FAA furloughs

Mormon church pleased with Boy Scouts proposal

Man gets most severe charge in teens' deaths

Country singer charged with threats to Ga. man