News Bites

CRIME

Modesto housing recovery underway: Prices rose in all major US cities in May

NY couple, 85, to remarry 48 years after their divorce

Justice Dept: Fast & Furious report distorted

Is your problem gluten? Or faddish eating?

Illegal immigrants offered college courses, status aside at UCLA campus

LOS ANGELES (AP) - As some states make it tougher for illegal immigrants to attend college, a new program is pledging to do the opposite.

Dems move to formally back gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic Party is moving to include support for gay marriage in the official party platform for the first time, a Democratic official said Monday, marking a key milestone for advocates of same-sex unions.

Suspect charges: Murder, attempted murder

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) - James Holmes appeared just as dazed as he did in his first court hearing after the deadly Colorado movie theater massacre.

Obama could be descended from African slave

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A team of genealogists has found evidence that President Barack Obama could be a descendent of an African slave - but not through the lineage of his black father, the most likely route researchers had followed and exhausted.

Beach booze bans spreading across US

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (AP) - Sitting in the sun, watching the waves roll in and popping the top on a cold one would seem to be as much a part of the American summer as hot dogs and cookouts.

Couple says racism forced wedding relocation

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi couple says the church where they planned to get married turned them away because they are black.

Colo. theater lacked security, unlike some peers

DENVER (AP) - The Colorado movie theater complex that was the scene of a gunman's massacre this month didn't have any uniformed security guards on duty the night of the shooting, even though other theaters operated by the same company did provide such protection for the busy premiere of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

1970s NY graffiti artists still have urge to tag

NEW YORK (AP) - In torn jeans and saddled with a black backpack, Andrew Witten glances up and down the street for police. The 51-year-old then whips out a black marker scribbles "Zephyr" on a wall covered with movie posters. He admires his work for a few seconds before his tattooed arms reach for his daughter, holding her hand as he briskly walks away.

NJ troopers charged in 100-mph escort of high speed luxury vehicles on turnpike

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Two state troopers charged Friday with records-tampering turned a state highway into a "virtual speedway" when they gave a caravan of luxury cars a high-speed escort, taping over their own license plates to conceal their involvement, the attorney general said.

Explorers find sunken German U-boat from WWII off Mass.

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

1 SEAL dead, 7 sailors hurt in training accident

More time needed to indict Tsarnaev

Treasury told of IRS probe in June 2012

Marine, dog reunited in surprise ceremony at Iowa State Capitol

Navy pilot earns degree in combat zone

Dark clouds hang over air shows after budget cuts hit military services