Report: Zimmerman didn't ID self as watch leader before confronting, killing 17-year-old

Senate leaders say they have student loan deal

Record heat hampers efforts to fight wildfires as Air Force Academy evacuates third of housing

Mayor: Stockton appears headed for bankruptcy

US Supreme Court bars mandatory life without parole for kids convicted of crimes

High court limits state action on enforcing immigration laws

'Shame' punishments like ponytail cutting increase turning courts into ‘circus shows’

Nation news briefs

TEXAS WOMAN GETS $1.4M UTILITY BILL IN ERROR : ABILENE, Texas (AP) - A lot of people gripe when they get high summertime electric bills. But Kristin Harriger's bill was nearly $1.4 million.

Final steel beam lifted at replacement skyscraper at World Trade Center

Issa: No evidence so far of White House cover-up in botched gun-tracking effort

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress doesn't have any evidence so far of a White House cover-up involving a botched gun-tracking operation, a top Republican said Sunday, countering the House speaker's assertion that President Barack Obama or his aides deliberately misled lawmakers.

Judge upholds Indiana ban for sex offenders using Facebook, other social media outlets

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A national civil rights group said Sunday it would appeal a federal judge's decision to uphold an Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other social networking sites used by children.

Vicious wildfires spread to tourist centers

COLORADO SPRINGS (AP) - Wildfires moved in on some of Colorado's most popular summer tourist destinations over the weekend, destroying nearly two dozen homes near Rocky Mountain National Park and emptying hotels and campgrounds at the base of Pikes Peak.

Memorial to honor 2011 Reno air race crash victims

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Organizers of the Reno National Championship Air Races are pursuing plans to build a permanent memorial for victims of last year's mass-casualty crash in Nevada.

Banana truck crash destroys 1745 Mass. building

SEEKONK, Mass. (AP) - An out-of-control tractor-trailer carrying bananas crashed into a natural gas main and ignited an explosion on Sunday morning, setting fire to an 18th-century building that housed a tavern and destroying it.

Odd news briefs

• DUCT TAPE PROM DRESS COULD WIN KANSAS TEEN $5,000: SOLOMON, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas teen has earned a spot as a finalist in a national design competition with a prom dress made entirely from duct tape.

Big Apple’s future: A lot of water?

Jury selection begins in Zimmerman's trial

Transplant group rejects lung rule changes

Rear slap gets ex-NFL player 30 days jail

Spy programs raise ire both home, abroad

Odd News

Study: Even for drop-outs, college pays

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - It sounds like the worst of all worlds - borrowing money for college, then dropping out and facing the debt without a degree.

Nation news briefs

HOUSTON WOMAN CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE IN HEEL STABBING: HOUSTON (AP) - Officials say a Houston woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death with a stiletto high heel told police she was trying to protect herself.

Free gun initiative begins in Houston

HOUSTON (AP) - Houston resident Cheryl Strain's inexperience with guns was apparent as she struggled to load shells into a 20-gauge shotgun.

Obama, Xi signal new start with walk in the desert

PALM SPRINGS (AP) - It may not have been Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev's Cold War walk by a frozen lake in Switzerland.

Stripped-down Harley roaring back

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Some motorcycle enthusiasts feared Keith Wandell might be the outsider who drove Harley-Davidson into the ground. Instead, he may be remembered as the guy who kept the motorcycle maker on the road.

After Sandy: Soaring flood insurance

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) - George Kasimos has almost finished repairing flood damage to his waterfront home, but his Superstorm Sandy nightmare is far from over.

Lost Lincoln document found at college

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - In losing a president, Lycoming College found a piece of its history.

Erin Brockovich ia arrested while boating in Nevada

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 movie about her fight over the pollution of a California town, was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday.

Casino cocktail waitresses fight shoe rules

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (AP) - Cheryl Haase has been serving cocktails for more than two decades, and the 52-year-old waitress says she has a list of foot ailments to prove it.