Worst year ever for West Nile in Texas as 43 die thanks to mosquito transmission

DALLAS (AP) - It's the worst year ever for West Nile virus in Texas, which has seen about half of the country's deaths from the illness this year, health officials said Wednesday.

Red Sox’s Valentine: Threat to punch radio host was just a joke

SEATTLE (AP) - Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine insisted Wednesday he wasn't serious when he threatened to "punch" a radio talk-show host in the mouth. Valentine said he made it clear he was kidding when he made the comment earlier in the day during an interview on Boston station WEEI with hosts Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley. <p style="line-height: 18pt; background: ...

NY court to decide if lap dance is tax-exempt art

Sex researcher pioneer’s son charged with exposing self

Reported theft of Romney tax records being probed by Secret Service detail

Odd News

BEAKED PUTIN TO FLY WITH CRANES ON HANG-GLIDER: MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to put on a fake beak and fly a motorized hang-glider to lead a flock of endangered young Siberian white cranes on part of their migration to Asia. The cranes, raised in captivity, do not know how to fly south, and environmentalists have to devise an imitation lead ...

7-year-old girl recovers from bubonic plague

Calif. treasurer's wife arrest for drug possession

ORANGE (AP) - Prosecutors say Nadia Lockyer, the estranged wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and a former Alameda County Supervisor, has been charged with drug possession and child abuse after police found her with methamphetamine at a relative's house in Orange County where she was staying with her 9-year-old son. The charges are the latest in a series of substance and ...

Wis. cops: Man sets dog on tied up teen while dad watches

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin homeowner who accused an 18-year-old man of theft tied the teen's ankles together, hung him upside-down from porch rafters and commanded a pit bull to attack him while the teen's father stood and watched, a sheriff's deputy said. Authorities responded to a home in the Town of Osceola on Friday after a person who ...

Clinton: Obama showing way to more modern USA economy

Ryan supports prayer in schools if states agree

Demos rush to change platform to add God & Jerusalem as capital of Israel

Judge approves police enforcement of contentious part of Ariz immigration law

Ryan praises Bill Clinton on day of his speech

Chicago mayor shifting from national campaign to pro-Obama super PAC

Boy testifies against Saudi in rape case

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A 14-year-old California boy testified Monday that he was "freaked out" when a Saudi Arabian air force sergeant made sexual advances toward him in a Las Vegas casino on New Year's Eve, but he couldn't figure out how to get away before the man sexually assaulted and raped him on a hotel bathroom floor.

Vandals prompt restrictions on Nevada reservation

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A northern Nevada tribe is considering plans to protect sacred sites on its reservation after vandals spray-painted gang symbols and graffiti on a landmark feature.

Boy, 6, drowns in pool on cruise

Reid, McConnell optimistic of possible deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - Racing the clock, the Senate's Democratic and Republican leaders closed in on a deal Monday night to avoid an economy-menacing Treasury default and end the two-week partial government shutdown.

NSA collecting millions of contact lists

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Security Agency has been sifting through millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world - including those of Americans - in its effort to find possible links to terrorism or other criminal activity, according to a published report.

Man, 38, with MD finishes marathon

CHICAGO (AP) - A Venezuelan man with muscular dystrophy was the last runner to cross the finish line of the Chicago Marathon - nearly 17 hours after he started the race. Maickel Melamed, 38, of Caracas, Venezuela, made it across the finish line of the 26.2-mile race at 1:30 a.m. Monday. About 100 people cheered him on as he finished. He received a finisher's medal. He put forth a positive message of achieving dreams and ...

News from around the nation

DCC crowd pushes through barriers to WWII Memorial

WASHINGTON (AP) - A crowd converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on Sunday, pushing past barriers to protest the memorial's closing under the government shutdown.

Spending stumbling block to budget deal to avoid debt crisis

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans and Democrats hit an impasse Sunday over spending in their last-ditch struggle to avoid an economy-jarring default in just four days and end a partial government shutdown that's entering its third week.

Dying Ohio man on gurney leads 24-year-old daughter down aisle

CLEVELAND (AP) - A terminally ill Ohio man who arrived at his daughter's wedding by ambulance gave her away, from a hospital gurney.