4 dead, 17 hurt when train hits vets parade

With pot legal in states of Washington & Colorado, police worry about road safety

DENVER (AP) - It's settled. Pot, at least certain amounts of it, will soon be legal under state laws in Washington and Colorado. Now, officials in both states are trying to figure out how to keep stoned drivers off the road.

Pot ballot wins raise specter of weed tourism

DENVER (AP) - Hit the slopes - and then a bong? Marijuana legalization votes this week in Colorado and Washington state don't just set up an epic state-federal showdown on drug law for residents. The measures also open the door for marijuana tourism. Both marijuana measures make marijuana possession in small amounts OK for all adults over 21 - not just state residents but visitors, too. Tourists may not be able to pack their bowls ...

A single spiteful email unlocks a Pandora’s box

WASHINGTON (AP) - It started in May with a spiteful email to the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. An anonymous writer warned Gen. John Allen that a friend with whom he was meeting in Washington the following week was trouble and he should stay away from her.

Border Patrol under scrutiny for deadly force

Odd News

LOOSE GORILLA ALERT? ELECTRONIC ROAD SIGN HACKED: LOOMIS, Calif. (AP) - A prankster is changing the message on an electronic traffic warning sign. The sign is supposed to tell people that a road in the Placer County city of Loomis will be closed for pipeline construction.

House GOP picks woman for a top leadership post

WASHINGTON (AP) - Stinging from double-digit election losses among female voters, House Republicans elected a woman to their top leadership team Wednesday in a tense test of gender politics and the clout of the GOP's power brokers.

Pelosi running again for House leader post

Woman who drove on sidewalk holds ‘idiot’ sign

CLEVELAND (AP) - A Cleveland woman puffed on a cigarette, wore headphones, and ignored passers-by and crowds of reporters as she stood for an hour Tuesday under a judge's order holding a sign that said, "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus."

Ryan: Shocked at loss, says Obama won fair and square

WASHINGTON (AP) - The polling and other data and all the smart people watching the election gave Rep. Paul Ryan an optimistic view on the night of last week's election. When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lost, his running mate felt "a bit of a shock."

Boat needed in one Minneapolis voting precinct

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Not one voter cast a ballot in one Minneapolis precinct on Election Day. That's because the only living species in Ward 10, Precinct 3B, is of the aquatic variety.

Charter school enrollment now tops 2 million

WASHINGTON (AP) - Enrollment in charter schools increased by 200,000 students last year and now tops 2 million, according to a report being released Wednesday.

General demoted for lavish travel, spending

Scandal widens; General's emails 'flirtatious'

Oxford Dictionaries chooses omnishambles' as word of year

LONDON (AP) - Britain's media are in a meltdown and its government is gaffe-prone, so Oxford Dictionaries has chosen an apt Word of the Year: "omnishambles." <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; background: white; ...

Oklahoma adopts California-style quake precautions

PRAGUE, Okla. (AP) - It's become a predictable routine at Matt Pryor's insurance agency: An earthquake rumbles through Oklahoma, rattling dishes and nerves. Then the phones light up with calls and text messages from desperate residents asking if it's too late to buy a policy to cover any damage.

Amazon’s delivery drones: An idea that may not fly

NEW YORK (AP) - Jeff Bezos' idea to let self-guided drones deliver packages may be too futuristic for Washington to handle.

UN in Iraq worried about uptick in bodies found

BAGHDAD (AP) - An alarming number of Iraqis killed "execution-style" last month signaled an increase in targeted killings as the overall death toll in Iraq so far this year rose above 8,000, the U.N. said Sunday. The bodies, usually dumped on the street and mutilated, have heightened fears that the country is sliding back toward all-out warfare between Sunni and Shiite factions.

Worst tech bugs over for Healthcare.gov

WASHINGTON (AP) - The worst of the online glitches, crashes and delays may be over for the problem-plagued government health care website, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday.

NY train derailment kills 4

NEW YORK (AP) - A New York City commuter train rounding a riverside curve derailed Sunday, killing four people, injuring more than 60 and sending a chain of toppled cars trailing off the track just inches from the water, authorities said.

The holiday shopping season started as a marathon, not a sprint.

More than a dozen major U.S. retailers stayed open for 24 hours or more on Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday, and crowds formed early and often over the two days.

Decision set for Monday for election recount

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A candidate who narrowly lost a special legislative election said Friday that she is analyzing the final tally and will decide Monday whether to seek a recount.

Balloons steal the show

NEW YORK (AP) - Revelers at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade gave thanks for the giant balloons that flew above the city streets Thursday after a blustery storm accompanied by high winds nearly grounded them for only the second time in the parade's 87-year history.

Quiet holiday for first family

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving at the White House Thursday and called several members of armed forces to thank them for their service to the country.

Manager fired over holiday dispute

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - Pizza Hut has offered to rehire the manager of a northern Indiana restaurant who was fired over his refusal to open up on Thanksgiving Day.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY

&bull; MORMON BISHOP DRESSES IN DISGUISE TO TEACH LESSON: TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (AP) - Members of a Mormon congregation in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville were greeted by what they thought was a homeless man at church on Sunday. At least five people asked him to leave the church property, some gave him money and most were indifferent to his presence. What they did not know is that the man was David Musselman, a ...

NYPD optimistic Macy's parade balloons will fly

Health law business insurance site delayed year due to woesDelete - Merge Upbodycopy

CHICAGO (AP) - The Obama administration is delaying yet another aspect of the health care law, putting off until next November the launch of an online portal to the health insurance marketplace for small businesses.

Zimmerman had 5 guns, ammo when arrested

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - George Zimmerman had five guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition with him when deputies arrested him earlier this month on domestic violence charges, according to court documents released Tuesday. A search warrant made public by the Seminole County court clerk shows that Zimmerman had a 12-gauge shotgun, an AR-15 assault rifle and three handguns when he was arrested Nov. 18 at his girlfriend's house. The girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, told ...

Alec Baldwin's show ending on MSNBC

NEW YORK (AP) - Alec Baldwin has his Friday nights back. He and MSNBC said Tuesday they were ending his weekly talk show after the actor had been suspended for two weeks for using an anti-gay slur in a New York City street encounter.