Texas plant blast loss likely exceeds $100M

WEST, Texas (AP) - The damage to surrounding homes and businesses caused by an explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant was estimated Wednesday to exceed $100 million, as crews continued to sift through a 90-foot-wide crater searching for answers. The Insurance Council of Texas released its estimate after speaking to numerous adjusters and agents in West, Texas, where officials and displaced residents ...

Mississippi men's feud looms over ricin probe

Obama administration missed Fisker clues

White House open to fix on FAA furloughs

Brown pushing school-funding changes

Nation news briefs

LAW ENFORCERS: NYC-CANADA TRAIN WAS TARGET OF PLOT: NEW YORK (AP) - Two law enforcement officials say the target of a potential cross-border terror attack was a train that runs between New York City and Canada.

Justice: Armstrong was 'unjustly enriched'

3 murder charges against abortion doc tossed

Mormon bishop with Samurai sword runs off attacker

Napolitano: Immigration bill would boost security

More evidence gathered in bombing

Man convicted of starving son, dumping body

DALLAS (AP) - A North Texas jury took less than an hour Tuesday to convict a father accused of slowly starving his 10-year-old son to death, slipping his body into a sleeping bag and dumping it in a rural area where it went undiscovered for a year. Aaron Ramsey, 35, was found guilty of severely injuring a child in the death of ...

Charges dropped in ricin letters sent to Obama

School district gets bulletproof whiteboards

New York City proposes raising age for cigarette purchases to age 21

Colorado sheriffs sue over gun rules

Alaska volcano shoots ash 15,000 feet into the air

OJ's ex-lawyer contradicts his testimony on guns

Nearly 50 injured as commuter trains collide

Nation news briefs

TRAVIS SUES TO BLOCK DWI PATROL CAR VIDEO RELEASE: AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Country music star Randy Travis has filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of patrol car video of his 2012 drunken-driving arrest in North Texas.

Feds propose overhaul for child care centers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - Federal health officials proposed Thursday to overhaul 500,000 child care centers across the country, beefing up safety standards including background and fingerprint checks for employees and requiring states to better monitor the facilities.

Judge lets Ariz. license policy stand

Mom in NM chases down her child’s abductor; man arrested

Man accused of killing ex-girlfriend's embryo with a pill

‘Hatchet hitchhiker' arrested in murder

Georgia governor in Bible dispute

Obama picks budget official to run IRS

Brady Campaign sues Georgia town over mandatory gun law they imposed

Nation news briefs

TEXAS SENIOR, 18, BAGS 800-POUND RECORD ALLIGATOR : HOUSTON (AP) - A Houston-area high school senior has bagged a 14-foot, 800 pound alligator - the heaviest ever certified in Texas - on his first alligator hunt.

Obama tries to regain control amid controversies