Odd News

Mass. man pays off mortgage with pennies MILFORD, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts man who pledged to make the last mortgage payment on his home with pennies has fulfilled that promise. After warning his bank, Thomas Daigle dropped off about 62,000 pennies weighing 800 pounds in two boxes for the final payment on the Milford home he and his wife, Sandra, bought in ...

Texas man says he regrets killing wife in argument

$?(&! What did that politician just say?

Ill. man leaves prison after case dropped

Zimmerman leaves jail on $1M bond

Nation news briefs

2 BOYS DIE FROM ELECTRICAL SHOCK IN TENNESSEE LAKE: BEAN STATION, Tenn. (AP) - Investigators say a second boy has died after being shocked by a suspected faulty cord from a houseboat as they swam in a Tennessee lake.

Odd News

PITTSBURGH SUBURB SHOOTS OFF FIREWORKS IN CEMETERY: MOUNT LEBANON, Pa. (AP) - Residents are debating the wisdom of a Pittsburgh suburb's decision to launch its July 4th fireworks display from a cemetery.

Hundreds of thousands still without power

Romney's wife says woman being eyed for vice president on ticket

Zimmerman bail set at $1M ; judge believes he was plotting to leave US

Romney calls Obama’s health care requirement a tax, echoes court view

WOLFEBORO, N.H. (AP) - Mitt Romney on Wednesday said requiring all Americans to buy health insurance amounts to a tax, contradicting a senior campaign adviser who days ago said the Republican presidential candidate viewed President Barack Obama's mandate as anything but a tax.

Many Americans have throwback Fourth without power as Midwest, East bake

MOUNT VERNON, Va. (AP) - George Washington never had air conditioning, but he knew how to keep cool: a mansion with lots of windows elevated on the banks of a wide, rolling river and lots of ice cream, maybe with a little brandy.

New tests revive debate over Arafat death

JERUSALEM (AP) - The discovery of traces of a radioactive agent on clothing reportedly worn by Yasser Arafat in his final days reignited a cauldron of conspiracy theories Wednesday about the mysterious death of the longtime Palestinian leader.

2 accidents raise storm, blackout toll to 26

BALTIMORE (AP) - The Mid-Atlantic region is struggling to get back to normal after deadly, power-cutting storms and sweltering heat.

Rain cools Colo. fires, other wildfires grow

DENVER (AP) - Rains cooled Colorado's wildfires Wednesday, but more than a dozen wildfires elsewhere in the West continued chewing through bone-dry pine and brush as firefighters working through the holiday kept a nervous eye for fireworks and other hazards.

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.

Portland airport stripper fights $1K federal fine

Nation news briefs

Criminal probe into plant explosion

Man damages 4 homes with bulldozer