Boy charged in fatal shooting on Florida bus

Hostess says talks to stave off shutdown fail

NEW YORK (AP) - Hostess Brands Inc. lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing today in which a bankruptcy court judge in White Plains, N.Y., will decide if the company can shutter its ...

Rubble cleanup a massive task in NY, NJ

Israel, Hamas trade fire, tough truce proposals

Nation news briefs

MASS. TRANSGENDER INMATE SEEKING ELECTROLYSIS: BOSTON (AP) - A transgender inmate who won a court order for taxpayer-funded sex-change surgery has no medical need for further electrolysis treatments, a prisons department psychiatrist testified Monday.

Officer pleads not guilty in cannibalism case

NEW YORK (AP) - A city police officer pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he plotted to kidnap, torture, cook and eat at least 100 women whose photos, names and addresses authorities say he pulled from a confidential law enforcement database. Gilberto Valle entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan. Authorities arrested the 28-year-old New York Police Department officer last month ...

Bay Area nurses set to strike early today

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Union officials say thousands of San Francisco Bay area nurses are set to walk off the job early today in what will be the second strike this month by nurses represented by the California Nurses Association. A union spokesman says registered nurses at eight hospitals operated by Sutter Health and at two San Jose hospitals operated by Hospital ...

Appeals court attorney fired over tweet

Home explosion now homicide investigation

Construction begins on Cold War memorial

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A groundbreaking ceremony was held Saturday in southern Nevada for a $100,000 monument recognizing American military members who served during the Cold War against the former Soviet Union.

What happens if Twinkies really do go away?

Prosecutor admits lying, said he did act in 1970s porn films

CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) - A district attorney in upstate New York has admitted that he acted in pornographic movies in the 1970s, then lied when questioned about it during his second campaign. Mark Suben, the DA in Cortland County near Syracuse since 2008, held a news conference Friday to say he had lied about his past in the days before this year's ...

Burglar leaves lots of evidence behind

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It wasn't difficult to identify a suspect in a break-in where an intruder kicked open a door and ransacked a bedroom before he was confronted by a Los Angeles homeowner. The resident struck the intruder's head with a garden hoe, briefly knocking him unconscious, before he got up and ran away. <p ...

Coyote hunting contest sparks protests

Shipping containers to become condos in Detroit

DETROIT (AP) - Plans are moving forward to use empty shipping containers to build a $3.4 million, 20-unit condominium complex in Detroit. The Detroit Free Press reports a model unit and sales center will break ground in mid-December near the Wayne State University campus. First proposed in 2008, the project known as Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks stalled amid the national ...

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.