Is texting ruining the art of conversation?

CHICAGO (AP) - Anna Schiferl hadn't even rolled out of bed when she reached for her cell phone and typed a text to her mom, one recent Saturday. Mom was right downstairs in the kitchen. The text? Anna wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Venus takes center stage in rare sky show that won’t happen for 100 years

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's a spectacle that won't repeat for another century - the sight of Venus slowly inching across the face of the sun.

Jobs report weakens Obama's election argument of being steward of recovery

CHICAGO (AP) - The suddenly dismal news on American jobs is a blow to President Barack Obama's re-election argument that he has been a steward of recovery. It's heightened White House anxiety over global threats to U.S. economic growth - and the president's political prospects, too.

Jobs report weakens Obama's election argument of being steward of recovery

CHICAGO (AP) - The suddenly dismal news on American jobs is a blow to President Barack Obama's re-election argument that he has been a steward of recovery. It's heightened White House anxiety over global threats to U.S. economic growth - and the president's political prospects, too.

Man accused of cannibalism ranted on Facebook

JOPPATOWNE, Maryland (AP) - The college student suspected of killing and eating parts of a man staying at his home ranted months ago about "mass human sacrifices" on Facebook, one of several details that emerged Friday in the second gruesome case of alleged cannibalism in the U.S. in a week.

Nation news briefs

BODY OF MISSING FLA. BABY FOUND IN TRUNK: CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) - A 1-month-old baby was found dead Friday in the trunk of a car in Florida, and the boy's father has been taken into custody, police said.

Pentagon to shift warships to Pacific

Zimmerman back to jail; judge says he lied to court during his bail hearing

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - Trayvon Martin's shooter must return to jail, a judge ordered Friday in a strongly worded ruling that said George Zimmerman and his wife lied to the court about their finances to obtain bond in a case that hinges on jurors believing his account of what happened the night the teen was killed.

Nation news briefs

POLICE: 'HERO' SAVED OTHERS IN SEATTLE SHOOTINGS: SEATTLE (AP) - Someone inside an artsy Seattle cafe where a gunman opened fire threw stools at the assailant during a shooting rampage police described as "callous, horrific and cold," a move that allowed others to run to safety.

Defense of Marriage Act heads to US Supreme Court over benefits

BOSTON (AP) - A battle over a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman appears headed for the Supreme Court after an appeals court ruled Thursday that denying benefits to married gay couples is unconstitutional.

House passes veterans funding bill

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican-controlled House approved legislation Thursday to boost health care spending for veterans and provide more money to compensate record numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans claiming service-related disabilities as they return home.

NYC proposes ban on large sodas at restaurants

NEW YORK (AP) - Want to super-size that soda? Sorry, but in New York City you could be out of luck.

Edwards acquitted on 1 count, mistrial on others

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - John Edwards' campaign finance fraud case ended in a mistrial Thursday when jurors acquitted him on one of six charges but were unable to decide whether he misused money from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress while he ran for president.

Odd politics, presidential tradition: Bush back at White House with Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) - This is a little awkward.

Nation news briefs

POLICE: ANGRY CUSTOMER HITS TACO BELL WITH TRUCK: HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) - Police in southwest Ohio say a customer angry over not getting a taco he ordered struck a Taco Bell restaurant's glass entrance with his truck. No one was injured.

Urban streets named for MLK still struggle

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A walk down the 6-mile city street named for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. yields plenty of images that would surely unsettle the civil rights leader: shuttered storefronts, open-air drug markets and a glut of pawn shops, quickie check-cashing providers and liquor stores.

UPS, union wrangle over Staples outlets

WASHINGTON (AP) - The opening of Postal Service retail centers in dozens of Staples stores around the country is being met with threats of protests and boycotts by the agency's unions.

Family of drunken man killed by car sues Ohio cops

CINCINNATI (AP) - CINCINNATI - The family of a drunken man picked up by Ohio police officers and dropped off at a Taco Bell before he was fatally struck by a car has sued over his death, accusing authorities of racial discrimination and putting their loved in danger as part of a "perverse joke" about his Mexican heritage.

Dennis Rodman checks into rehab center

NEW YORK (AP) - Dennis Rodman has checked into an undisclosed alcohol rehabilitation center to treat his long-time struggle with alcoholism, his agent says.

‘Bachelor’ star makes anti-gay comments

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The star of ABC's "The Bachelor" made anti-gay comments that drew a swift rebuke from the network and an apology from the bachelor himself on Saturday.

Feds deny state bids to tighten voter registration

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - The U.S. Election Assistance Commission found Friday that heightened proof-of-citizenship requirements likely would hinder eligible citizens from voting in federal elections, handing down a ruling that denied requests from Kansas, Arizona and Georgia to modify the registration form for their residents.

Mom charged in kids’ death feared devil

GERMANTOWN (AP) - A Maryland woman charged with killing two of her children has told investigators that she thought an exorcism was necessary to remove the presence of the devil and evil spirits, a police captain said Sunday.

Disaster declarations in 11 states

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Federal officials have designated portions of 11 drought-ridden western and central states as primary natural disaster areas, highlighting the financial strain the lack of rain is likely to bring to farmers in those regions.

Court could weigh in on cellphone searches

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court decided 40 years ago that police don't need a search warrant to look through anything a person is carrying when arrested. But that was long before smartphones gave people the ability to take with them the equivalent of millions of pages of documents or thousands of photographs.

News from around the nation

US: $28 MILLION BITCOINS FORFEITURE IS A RECORD: NEW YORK (AP) - A record $28 million of bitcoins was formally transferred to the U.S. government several months after it was seized from the server of the black market website Silk Road after the government claimed the digital currency was used to facilitate money laundering, prosecutors announced Thursday.

News from around the nation

US: $28 MILLION BITCOINS FORFEITURE IS A RECORD: NEW YORK (AP) - A record $28 million of bitcoins was formally transferred to the U.S. government several months after it was seized from the server of the black market website Silk Road after the government claimed the digital currency was used to facilitate money laundering, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Company in W.Va. chemical spill cited at second location

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The company responsible for the chemical spill in West Virginia moved its chemicals to a nearby plant that has already been cited for safety violations, including a backup containment wall with holes in it.

Thousands of fish dead in Nevada marina mystery

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) - State wildlife officials are trying to figure out why all the fish have died in a northern Nevada marina where the stocked fishery has flourished since the man-made lake was created nearly 15 years ago.

Teen guilty in leaf-pile deaths

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) - A 19-year-old Oregon woman who drove an SUV into a pile of leaves that concealed two girls has been found guilty in the fatal hit-and-run case.

Birds sync wing beats in V formation

NEW YORK (AP) - The next time you see birds flying in a V, consider this: A new study says they choreograph the flapping of their wings with exquisite precision to help them on their way.