Odd news briefs

• DUCT TAPE PROM DRESS COULD WIN KANSAS TEEN $5,000: SOLOMON, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas teen has earned a spot as a finalist in a national design competition with a prom dress made entirely from duct tape.

Video of bus monitor’s misery posted on YouTube strikes a nerve worldwide

GREECE, NY (AP) - The pebble was tossed when a middle-school student in upstate New York posted a 10-minute video on his Facebook page.

Financially-strapped North Las Vegas municipality declares financial disaster

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) - There are no signs of rioters, wind-damaged homes or flooding. The brand new City Hall features gleaming marble floors and the public recreation centers offer Zumba, karate and Pilates classes.

Former principal charged in fatal stabbings

Nation news briefs

FIRE SPARKED BY SHOOTING EVACUATES HOMES IN UTAH: SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (AP) - Residents of at least 2,300 homes in northern Utah were being evacuated Friday after high winds kicked up a fire started by target shooters.

Ex-Penn St. assistant Sandusky convicted of sexual abuse of boys

Nation news briefs

AT LEAST $380K RAISED FOR BULLIED NY BUS MONITOR: NEW YORK (AP) - A video of a 68-year-old school bus monitor being mercilessly taunted by seventh-graders became a rallying point against bullies Thursday, with a fund for the New York state grandmother raising at least $380,000 and a deluge of people demanding harsh punishment for the boys.

Penn State child sex abuse case goes to jury; adopted son said Sandusky molested him

Couple reunites wedding ring with owner's widow

AUBURN (AP) - Thomas King lost his wedding ring years ago. He and his wife had given up on finding the white gold band with the five diamond flecks. "We thought it was a lost cause," said Darlene King, 78. "I told him it probably went down the drain or something." The couple had married on April 29, ...

Court throws out FCC cursing, nudity penalties

Temperature records broken on first day of summer throughout Northeast

Alaska man climbs tree, but gets stuck upside down

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska man had to be rescued after he climbed a tree for exercise but got stuck upside down by one leg. Fairbanks firefighters had to use a ladder truck to reach the 53-year-old man, who was dangling nearly 30 feet off the ground. He was uninjured. Assistant Fire Chief Ernie Misewicz told The ...

College president 'prostitution' site ruled legal

House committee holds Holder in contempt in Fast & Furious probe

College Board sets up 857 desks on National Mall representing dropouts

JFK ASSASSINATION FILM, TV PROJECTS

Sharpton demands profiling guarantee from Macy's

NEW YORK (AP) - The Rev. Al Sharpton said he and other civil rights leaders had a "brutally honest" meeting Monday with the CEO of Macy's over racial profiling, and demanded that the department store lay out how they will guarantee the practice doesn't happen before the holiday shopping season begins.

Kidnap survivor: I was tied, strung like fish

CLEVELAND (AP) - One of three women held in a Cleveland man's home for about a decade says an orange extension cord was used to tie her neck, hands and feet and hang her "like a fish," according to pre-released clips from a taped interview that will air Tuesday and Wednesday on the "Dr. Phil" show. "I was tied up like a fish, an ornament on the wall," Michelle Knight told the TV host in ...

Gay rights bill clears hurdle in Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate pushed a major anti-bias gay rights bill past a first, big hurdle Monday, a clear sign of Americans' greater acceptance of homosexuality nearly two decades after the law prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Paul seeks to dismiss criticism of plagiarism

Push to keep Obama's health care pledge

8.8 billion Earth-size, just-right planets

Student wedged between buildings

NEW YORK (AP) - A 19-year-old student who fell from the second floor of a New York University dormitory and spent a day and a half trapped in a narrow shaft between two buildings is in good spirits, despite suffering several broken bones, relatives said Monday. University officials and city police were still trying to figure out exactly how Asher Vongtau happened to tumble into the shaft, which is less than 24 inches wide and ...

JFK's image shines despite contradictions

BOSTON (AP) - Four days a week, David O'Donnell leads a 90-minute "Kennedy Tour" around Boston that features stops at government buildings, museums, hotels and meeting halls.

News from around the nation

MAINE CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES HE'S GAY: PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Rep. Mike Michaud had endured more than a dozen elections without anyone questioning his sexuality. Now everyone knows the Maine congressman is gay - including his mother.

Man uses to get $25M bin Laden reward

Man injured by hot dog suing Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - If it had been a foul ball or broken bat that struck John Coomer in the eye as he watched a Kansas City Royals game, the courts likely wouldn't force the team to pay for his surgeries and suffering.

Police : Teacher raped student in school

SALTSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania high school shop teacher raped a 16-year-old student at school last year, state police said, and their investigation into him continues because it began with a recent complaint from another student about unwanted attention from him. That complaint surfaced last week, and school officials and the police eventually learned that Todd McCullough, 28, of Kiski Township, raped a Saltsburg High School student in the spring of 2012, police ...

Police : Teacher raped student in school

SALTSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania high school shop teacher raped a 16-year-old student at school last year, state police said, and their investigation into him continues because it began with a recent complaint from another student about unwanted attention from him. That complaint surfaced last week, and school officials and the police eventually learned that Todd McCullough, 28, of Kiski Township, raped a Saltsburg High School student in the spring of 2012, police ...

Push for prison realignment law changes