More public schools splitting up boys, girls; national count up to at least 500 schools

MIDDLETON, Idaho (AP) - Robin Gilbert didn't set out to confront gender stereotypes when she split up the boys and girls at her elementary school in rural southwestern Idaho.

Studies nix report of arsenic-loving bacteria

NEW YORK (AP) - It was a provocative finding: strange bacteria in a California lake that thrived on something completely unexpected - arsenic. What it suggested is that life, a very different kind of life, could possibly exist on some other planet.

Israeli spies behind Iran assassinations

WASHINGTON (AP) - A new book claims Israel's spy agency dispatched assassins into Iran, as part of a campaign to sabotage the country's disputed nuclear program.

Temps across US cool slightly but still hot

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The heat that blanketed much of the U.S. will begin easing up this week as temperatures approach normal from the Midwest to the East Coast.

Police: Hug triggers officer’s gun, kills woman

DETROIT (AP) - A woman celebrating the weekend before her 25th birthday was fatally shot Sunday when she hugged an off-duty police officer while dancing at a party, causing the officer's service weapon to fire, according to police and her mother.

Click it: Remember to check computer for malicious malware

WASHINGTON (AP) - Internet providers have plans to help their customers Monday and others are braced for calls to helplines because thousands around the country whose computers were infected with malicious software more than a year ago faced the possibility of not being able to get online.

Nation news briefs

• ZIMMERMAN AT 'SAFE HOUSE' IN CENTRAL FLORIDA: ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The neighborhood watch leader charged with fatally shooting Trayvon Martin is in a safe house that is being protected by his security team.

Minnesota officials bemoan deer stand ‘mansions’

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - Some Minnesota hunters are upgrading their deer stands, trading the traditional nailed-together hunks of wood for what one official calls "mansions" in trees on public property.

Odd News

Mass. man pays off mortgage with pennies MILFORD, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts man who pledged to make the last mortgage payment on his home with pennies has fulfilled that promise. After warning his bank, Thomas Daigle dropped off about 62,000 pennies weighing 800 pounds in two boxes for the final payment on the Milford home he and his wife, Sandra, bought in ...

Texas man says he regrets killing wife in argument

$?(&! What did that politician just say?

Ill. man leaves prison after case dropped

Zimmerman leaves jail on $1M bond

Nation news briefs

2 BOYS DIE FROM ELECTRICAL SHOCK IN TENNESSEE LAKE: BEAN STATION, Tenn. (AP) - Investigators say a second boy has died after being shocked by a suspected faulty cord from a houseboat as they swam in a Tennessee lake.

Odd News

PITTSBURGH SUBURB SHOOTS OFF FIREWORKS IN CEMETERY: MOUNT LEBANON, Pa. (AP) - Residents are debating the wisdom of a Pittsburgh suburb's decision to launch its July 4th fireworks display from a cemetery.

WWII vet receives long-lost dog tag from France

ROCHESTER, NY (AP) - Irving Mann has been in business long enough to be skeptical of out-of-the-blue offers that seem too good to be true.

Killed World War II Marine’s diary offers a brief look at his brief life

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Before Cpl. Thomas "Cotton" Jones was killed by a Japanese sniper in the Central Pacific in 1944, he wrote what he called his "last life request" to anyone who might find his diary: Please give it to Laura Mae Davis, the girl he loved.

Woman who flew in WWII finally gets honors

TROY, Mich. (AP) - One of the 1,000-plus women who flew for the armed forces during World War II but waited decades to earn full military recognition was the focus of her family's thoughts at a Memorial Day graveside ceremony.

NY mayoral hopeful would be a first

NEW YORK (AP) - It was an unscripted moment made for Christine Quinn.

Teen accused of plot spoke about bombs

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - Classmates of an Oregon teenager accused of planning to blow up his high school say the 17-year-old discussed bomb-making in the weeks before his arrest, but did not speak of a plot to inflict damage.

Fire breaks out aboard cruise ship

BALTIMORE (AP) - A fire that broke out aboard a Royal Caribbean ship Monday did enough damage that the rest of the cruise was canceled and the company said the more than 2,200 passengers will be flown from the Bahamas back to Baltimore where the trip began.

NYC launches bike share program

NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's biggest bicycle-sharing program got rolling Monday, as thousands of New Yorkers got their first chance to ride a network billed as a new form of public transit in a city known for it.

Gunman in Texas rampage was Marine

EDEN, Texas (AP) - A man suspected in a West Texas shooting rampage that left one woman dead and five others wounded was a Marine who was wanted for questioning in a slaying in North Carolina, officials said Monday.

Senator: New Statue of Liberty security risky

NEW YORK (AP) - New security plans for the Statue of Liberty could leave visitors vulnerable when it reopens July Fourth, New York officials said Monday.

Medical pot laws & treats may send more kids to ER

CHICAGO (AP) - Increased use of medical marijuana may lead to more young children getting sick from accidentally eating food made with the drug, a Colorado study suggests.

Man charged with raping toddler is sex offender

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A man who has been charged with killing an elderly Alaska couple and raping their 2-year-old great-granddaughter is a registered sex offender convicted of breaking into a home and assaulting an 11-year-old girl four years ago.

Nation news briefs

• SURGING WILDFIRE FORCES EVACUATIONS IN CALIFORNIA: SANTA BARBARA (AP) - A surging wildfire has forced dozens of residents and Memorial Day campers to evacuate the mountains of Santa Barbara County in California.

Deal helping Valeant cash on increase in diabetes rate

NEW YORK (AP) -Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals said Monday that it will pay $8.7 billion to buy Bausch + Lomb, one of the world's best-known makers of contact lenses, in a massive expansion of Valeant's smaller ophthalmology business.

Coastal Commission imposes property ‘caps

SOLANA BEACH (AP) - Atop the ocean bluff are the homes of those fortunate to own a piece of land overlooking the dramatic California coastline. Down on the beach are the surfers, swimmers and beachcombers lucky for a sliver of sand that skirts caves and coves in this paradise north of San Diego.