Parents accused of locking girl in coop

Nation news briefs

MICH. WOMAN: I TENDED CORPSE, WATCHED NASCAR : JACKSON, Mich. (AP) - A woman said she kept the dead body of her companion in a chair in their southern Michigan house for months because she didn't want to be alone.

Romney booed for hitting 'Obamacare' at NAACP

Calif. beach to be roped off year-round for seals

CHULA VISTA (AP) - California coastal regulators voted Wednesday to keep a rope barrier up year-round at a picturesque San Diego beach that's used by seals during breeding season. The seals' presence at Children's Pool has been the subject of a long-running fight, and emotions ran high at the California Coastal Commission meeting, with the public comment period lasting about two hours. ...

Electric rates not falling along with fuel costs

Home cooking expert Cunningham dies at 90

Arcing power lines caused Utah wildfire

Health care options for young, healthy & broke

WASHINGTON (AP) - They're young, healthy and flat broke - and now the government says they have to buy thousands of dollars' worth of medical insurance. What should tapped-out twentysomethings do?

Wildland firefighters win federal health benefits

Episcopal Church approves same-sex blessing

Nation news briefs

TEXAS SWITCHES TO 1-DRUG EXECUTION DUE TO SHORTAGE: DALLAS (AP) - Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state, announced Tuesday that it would become the latest to switch to single-drug executions amid a drug shortage that has left states scrambling for acceptable alternatives.

Strip club sues 'Octomom' for cancelled shows

NYC rally: The Million Big Gulp March

New York may go smaller with 300-square-foot apartment units

Firefighters gain ground but struggle in Idaho

Builders bulldoze big Mayan pyramid

Detroit is broke; is bankruptcy next?

Ex-yeshiva teacher admits sex assault of New Jersey boy

2nd volcano this month is heating up in Alaska

New York AG wants to prevent Apple picking

Man traveling with pressure cooker arrested

Nation news briefs

VERMONT HOUSE PASSES AID-IN-DYING BILL: MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont House has approved a bill that would make it state the first in the country to legislate allowing physicians to provide lethal medication to terminally ill patients who request it.

Is California realignment working?

SACRAMENTO (AP) - In response to a federal court order, Gov. Jerry Brown pushed a novel approach through the Legislature two years ago to dramatically reduce California's prison population.

Compassionate release buoys old inmates

NEW YORK (AP) - At age 88, John Rigas could be a poster child for inmates who might seek early release from prison because of the hazards of advanced aging.

50 years on, finding profit in ‘truth’ on JFK assassination

DALLAS (AP) - On the very day John F. Kennedy died, a cottage industry was born. Fifty years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, it's still thriving.

Drowsy driving kills 11,000 in 10 years

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) - It probably happens to most drivers.

Amtrak unveils new locomotives

SACRAMENTO (AP) - When Amtrak unveils the first of 70 new locomotives Monday at a plant in Sacramento, it will mark what the national passenger railroad service hopes will be a new era of better reliability, streamlined maintenance and better energy efficiency.

17 wounded in New Orleans parade shooting

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day second-line parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17 people, police said.

‘Idol’ judges drama upstaging singers

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The ratings are down. Randy Jackson is out. Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj are still at it.

Paramedic in West, Texas, facing charges

WEST, Texas (AP) - Three days after a massive explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant, Bryce Reed climbed onto a coffee table at a local hotel where displaced families picked over donated sweatshirts and pizza. Wearing a navy blue shirt emblazoned with "West EMS," he gathered the crowd close.