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.

Hundreds of thousands still without power

Romney's wife says woman being eyed for vice president on ticket

Zimmerman bail set at $1M ; judge believes he was plotting to leave US

Romney calls Obama’s health care requirement a tax, echoes court view

WOLFEBORO, N.H. (AP) - Mitt Romney on Wednesday said requiring all Americans to buy health insurance amounts to a tax, contradicting a senior campaign adviser who days ago said the Republican presidential candidate viewed President Barack Obama's mandate as anything but a tax.

Many Americans have throwback Fourth without power as Midwest, East bake

MOUNT VERNON, Va. (AP) - George Washington never had air conditioning, but he knew how to keep cool: a mansion with lots of windows elevated on the banks of a wide, rolling river and lots of ice cream, maybe with a little brandy.

New tests revive debate over Arafat death

JERUSALEM (AP) - The discovery of traces of a radioactive agent on clothing reportedly worn by Yasser Arafat in his final days reignited a cauldron of conspiracy theories Wednesday about the mysterious death of the longtime Palestinian leader.

2 accidents raise storm, blackout toll to 26

BALTIMORE (AP) - The Mid-Atlantic region is struggling to get back to normal after deadly, power-cutting storms and sweltering heat.

Rain cools Colo. fires, other wildfires grow

DENVER (AP) - Rains cooled Colorado's wildfires Wednesday, but more than a dozen wildfires elsewhere in the West continued chewing through bone-dry pine and brush as firefighters working through the holiday kept a nervous eye for fireworks and other hazards.

Side Briefs

NEARLY ALL US STATES SEE HEFTY DROP IN TEEN BIRTHS: NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's record-low teen birth rate stems from robust declines in nearly every state, but most dramatically in several Mountain States and among Hispanics, according to a new government report.

Broke no laws, IRS official says, then takes 5th

Tornado death toll lowered to 24

Gay Fla. teen charged for her underage girlfriend

Pentagon wants $450M for Guantanamo

Texas judge: Lesbian couple can't cohabitate

Nation news briefs

POLICE DEFEND OFFICER WHO SHOT NY COLLEGE STUDENT: MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - The president of a New York police union defended an officer who accidentally killed a Hofstra University student during a standoff with an armed intruder, saying Tuesday the only person responsible for the woman's death was the gunman who held her hostage.

IRS official to take the 5th at House hearing

Huge tornado hits Oklahoma City suburb, kills 51

MOORE, Okla. (AP) - A monstrous tornado at least a half-mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds up to 200 mph. At least 51 people were killed, and officials said the death toll was expected to rise.

Side Briefs

ANGRY MOB PELTS MAN THOUGHT TO BE SEX ATTACKER: DENVER (AP) - Residents angry that police had not warned them about sex assaults of children took matters into their own hands, chasing down a man they thought was the attacker, pelting him with rocks and leaving him with a bloody face in Colorado, authorities said Monday.

Volcano's ash prompts flight cancellations

Kentucky teen dies with dog lead on neck

Kentucky teen dies with dog lead on neck

Should wunderkinds drop out of high school?

Cardinal skips event over Irish PM's role

More Obama aides knew of IRS audit