Proven link to gas attack lacking

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House asserted Sunday that a "common-sense test" dictates the Syrian government is responsible for a chemical weapons attack that President Barack Obama says demands a U.S. military response. But Obama's top aide says the administration lacks "irrefutable, beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence" that skeptical Americans, including lawmakers who will start voting on military action this week, are seeking.

WTC naming rights sold for $10

WOODLAND PARK, N.J. (AP) - The public agency that owned the World Trade Center sold its naming rights to a nonprofit more than two decades ago for $10 and now pays thousands of dollars a year to use the name, according to a published report.

Opting kids out of standardized tests

DELAWARE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - While his eighth-grade classmates took state standardized tests this spring, Tucker Richardson woke up late and played basketball in his Delaware Township driveway.

Arkansas SWAT officers kill man, 107, in standoff

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) - A 107-year-old man was killed after SWAT officers shot back at him during a standoff at a home, police in the southeastern Arkansas city of Pine Bluff said Sunday.

Towers scrape new heights with ‘vanity’ spires

NEW YORK (AP) - Tall buildings just aren't what they used to be. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has released a report noting that the developers of many new super-skyscrapers have been sticking huge, "useless" needles on top of them so they can be marketed as being among the world's tallest. The trend means that many towers now appearing on lists of super-tall buildings actually have fewer usable floors and lower roofs ...

GOP group pushes immigration in House

GROVELAND, Fla. (AP) - In the five weeks since he declared his support for a comprehensive immigration overhaul, U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster has gotten an earful.

Skeptics raise doubts about Nyad’s swim

MIAMI (AP) - Diana Nyad's 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida has generated positive publicity and adoration for the 64-year-old endurance athlete - along with skepticism from some members of the small community of marathon swimmers who are questioning whether she accomplished the feat honestly.

Sinatra’s old resort to get major makeover

CAL NEVA, Nevada (AP) - A Lake Tahoe resort once owned by Frank Sinatra and frequented by his Rat Pack buddies is about to undergo a major makeover.

Microsoft launches Xbox Music on Web for free

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft is making its Xbox Music streaming service available for free on the Web - even to those who don't use Windows 8.

No end in sight for decade-long Conn.divorce case with almost 600 motions

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - It's a divorce and child visitation case that already has produced nearly 600 motions and rulings and evidence of insider trading that brought down a multibillion-dollar hedge fund.

Museum putting hallowed artifacts in place

Missing firefighter found dead in forest

JEMEZ PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) - A firefighter missing for a week in a rugged New Mexico forest was found dead Friday atop a mesa, where he apparently had crashed his ATV, officials said. Token Adams, a 41-year-old U.S. Forest Service fighter who disappeared Aug. 30 while checking a report of smoke, was found in a remote area not far from a road at about 11:45 a.m. Friday, authorities announced at an afternoon news conference. Hundreds ...

Man hospitalized after goring by elk

MOAB, Utah (AP) - A wild bull elk gored a shepherd in the mountains in eastern Utah, puncturing one of the man's lungs, knocking him unconscious and forcing him to walk several miles for help. Sheepherder Hugo Macha, 31, was in good condition in a Grand Junction, Colo., hospital Friday, three days after the rare attack in the La Sal Mountains. "He was already worrying about his sheep," said Polly Hill, co-owner of the 1,000 ...

Kidnapper: Police missed chance

Nation news briefs

NJ BOY GETS NEW WAGON AFTER THEFT VIDEO GOES VIRAL: BELMAR, N.J. (AP) - The family of a disabled New Jersey boy whose wagon was stolen from their front yard says the thief has made amends after surveillance video of the heist went viral.

Boys weren't targets in shooting

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) - The parents of the two boys wounded by a seventh-grader who fatally shot their teacher before turning a semi-automatic handgun on himself said Wednesday they don't believe their children were targeted in the schoolyard rampage.

High-dose better protects seniors

Former 'Rat Island' has whole new look

News from around the nation

WWII vet honored with military medals

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Given the choice, World War II veteran Phillip Coon probably wouldn't want the formality and fuss of being honored on a military base with men and women standing at attention, dressed in full regalia - even if it was with a fistful of long-overdue medals he waited decades to receive.

Missouri switches to new execution drug

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Missouri Department of Corrections said Tuesday it is switching to a new lethal injection drug, less than two weeks after the governor halted executions until it could find a replacement for the anesthetic propofol.

Nevada schoolyard shooting terror

Builders of website saw red flags

Texas dad alleges bullying in 91-0 prep football game

Texas dad alleges bullying in 91-0 prep football game

7 inmates escaped via forgery

Utah police arrest man who drove up State Capitol steps

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Troopers used a stun gun to subdue a man who drove his pickup truck up the west steps of the state Capitol building Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. Utah Highway Patrol Capt. Barton Blair told The Salt Lake Tribune that state troopers watching security cameras saw the man's truck climb about two dozen of the granite steps and park outside the building. He then left his car and attempted to enter ...

Hawaii surfer throws punches to escape shark

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) - A 25-year-old Hawaii surfer and former boxer went toe-to-fin with a shark off Kauai and survived. Jeff Horton was surfing Sunday morning with about 10 others near Kilauea when someone spotted a fin in the water, The Garden Island ((http://bit.ly/16t74Gl) reported. Twenty minutes later, Horton was sitting on his surfboard with his legs dangling in the water when he spotted a dark shape approaching from the left. He thought it was ...

The Run Down

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government is going into uncharted waters, deep-sixing the giant paper nautical charts that it has been printing for mariners for more than 150 years.

News from around the nation

Love is in the air and on the Web

NEW YORK (AP) - Online dating is shedding its stigma as a refuge for the desperate, but people who use sites such as Match.com and eHarmony are still in the minority.