Nation news briefs

PAROLEE ARRESTED IN THEFT OF GOLD RUSH JEWELRY BOX: OAKLAND (AP) - Police have arrested a 45-year-old parolee in connection with the theft of a Gold Rush-era jewelry box from the Oakland Museum of California.

'Sinkhole season' has only just begun in Florida

Fiery Venezuelan leader, dies at 58

Ex-DEA heads, UN panel urge US to nullify pot laws

Thieves grab cash boxes from Scouts' cookie booths

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Two Tucson-area Girl Scout troops were crime victims as thieves grabbed and ran off with the troops' cash boxes from cookie sales. In one case, two women spoke with girls selling cookies outside a grocery store before one woman grabbed the cash box containing about $375. The women fled in a car that had its license plate covered. ...

Judge to school: Cheerleading not a sport

Your chances of dying by 2023?

CHICAGO ...

Officials alarmed by increasing superbug reports

Natural gas vehicles making inroads

GOP's anti-tax focus trips Democrats

Pentagon to furlough 15,000 teachers, cut commissary time to reduce costs

NY high school raises $489K with marathon dance

State news briefs

MASS. POLICE DOG DIGGING IN SNOWBANK FIRES GUN: LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) - Police say a dog searching for a gun in a snowbank accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw, firing the weapon.

Study: Declining life span for some American women

Obama nominates 3 to Cabinet-level posts

Jupiter-bound craft runs into problem

School superintendent carried gun to school

GOP weighs short-term debt limit hike

Ex-cop killed after firing at courthouse

WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) - A retired police officer armed with an assault weapon and a handgun fired up to two dozen shots at a U.S. courthouse in West Virginia on Wednesday before police returned fire and killed him, authorities said.

Expert: Mom, baby deaths put TB back on the radar

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The winning battle against tuberculosis in the United States may, ironically, be part of the reason why the disease wasn't detected in a young Las Vegas mother and her baby until it was too late, experts said.

Charity to pay military death benefits

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration, scrambling to tamp down a controversy over suspended death benefits for the families of fallen troops, announced Wednesday that a charity would pick up the costs of the payments during the government shutdown.

Judge sued for returning teen to sex offender

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - An anti-abortion group has sued a Texas judge who ordered a 15-year-old girl to keep living with her grandmother, even though she claimed the woman's convicted sex-offender boyfriend was making aggressive advances and that the couple was trying to force her to terminate a pregnancy.

Menu offers something new: Silence

NEW YORK (AP) - Quiet, please. Your dinner will now be served.

News from around the nation

2 HURT WHEN BALLOON HITS POWER LINE IN NEW MEXICO: RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) - A balloon flying in Albuquerque's International Balloon Fiesta hit a power line as it tried to land Wednesday, sending two men to the hospital with burns and injuries from a 40-foot fall, officials said.