Dems, GOP trade blame for shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) - First slowed, then stalled by political gridlock, the vast machinery of government clanged into partial shutdown mode on Tuesday and President Barack Obama warned the longer it goes "the more families will be hurt." Republicans said it was his fault, not theirs.

Teen pleads guilty in killing of school girl

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) - A Colorado teen charged with kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old girl pleaded guilty Tuesday to all 15 charges against him, against the advice of his attorneys.

It’s a partial government shut down

NEW YORK (AP) - From New York's Liberty Island to Alaska's Denali National Park, the U.S. government closed its doors as a bitter budget fight idled hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halted all but the most critical government services for the first time in nearly two decades.

Just saying no to healthier lunches

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Agriculture Department says 524 schools - out of about 100,000 - have dropped out of the federally subsidized national school lunch program since the government introduced new standards for healthier foods last year.

US-raised immigrants try to return

LAREDO, Texas (AP) - Nearly three dozen migrants marched across the U.S.-Mexico border without papers Monday, the latest group of a younger generation brought to the U.S. illegally as children that seeks to confront head-on immigration policies they consider unjust.

NBC, CNN back out of Hillary projects

NEW YORK (AP) - CNN and NBC on Monday backed out of high-profile television projects about Hillary Rodham Clinton they had been working on for months.

Environmentalists howl over wolf plan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Federal officials offered a staunch defense Monday of their proposal to drop legal protections for the gray wolf in most of the country, as opponents rallied in the nation's capital before the first in a series of public hearings on the plan.

NYC inmate almost as costly as 4-year tuition

NEW YORK (AP) - New York is indeed an expensive place, but experts say that alone doesn't explain a recent report that found the city's annual cost per inmate was $167,731 last year - nearly as much as it costs to pay for four years of tuition at an Ivy League university.

Who’ll blink? Shutdown stare down

WASHINGTON (AP) - With the government teetering on the brink of partial shutdown, congressional Republicans vowed Sunday to keep using an otherwise routine federal funding bill to try to attack the president's health care law.

Impact: Tourists, homebuyers hit quickly

WASHINGTON (AP) - A government shutdown would have far-reaching consequences for some, but minimal impact on others.

Iran says its open to negotiations

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iran would open its nuclear facilities to international inspectors as part of broad negotiations with the United States that could eventually restore diplomatic relations between the adversaries and those talks have the backing of the nation's supreme leader, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Sunday.

News from around the nation

LA schools reports 71 iPads are missing LOS ANGELES (AP) - At least 71 iPads, including 69 from a single campus, went missing last year as the Los Angeles Unified School District tested a program intended to equip every student with one of the Apple tablets, officials said. The lost devices are among iPads used in a 13-school trial run, the Los Angeles Times reported. Officials told the newspaper that since the thefts, new security ...

Feds offer broke Detroit $100M to fight blight

DETROIT (AP) - Obama administration officials said Friday that they are sending someone to Detroit to oversee a federal effort that includes millions of dollars in grants to help fix the beleaguered city - a situation one adviser described as "an exceptional circumstance."

Army paid $16M to deserters, AWOL soldiers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Even as the Army faces shrinking budgets, an audit shows it paid out $16 million in paychecks over a 2 ½-year period to soldiers designated as AWOL or as deserters, the second time since 2006 the military has been dinged for the error.

Set to say goodbye to 'Breaking Bad'

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The southwestern New Mexico city that's played home to "Breaking Bad" is preparing for the end, with the Emmy-award winning series airing its last episode on Sunday.

Cop convicted in death of unarmed teen

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma jury Tuesday convicted a veteran police captain of first-degree manslaughter in the death of an unarmed teenager who was running away after scuffling with the officer.

Teen cartel killer released in Mexico, goes to US

MEXICO CITY (AP) - A 17-year-old U.S. citizen who acknowledged being a killer for a Mexican drug cartel finished his three-year juvenile-offender term for homicide, kidnapping and drug and weapons possession and returned to the United States.

Mother of bullied girl wants tougher laws

Obama pushes back against critics of Iran deal

Thanksgiving-Hanukkah overlap dilemma

Poll numbers down, Obama tells donors to buck up & give money

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Stung by plunging approval numbers at a low point in his presidency, President Barack Obama is urging donors to buck up and making a thread-the-needle appeal for bipartisanship with Republicans even as he calls for replacing the House GOP majority and holding his Democratic edge in the Senate.

News from around the nation

SAN ANTONIO OFFICER ACCUSED OF RAPE IN POLICE CAR: SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A San Antonio police officer is accused of handcuffing and raping a 19-year-old woman in a case decried by the police chief, who calls it "unthinkable."

Ohio prep football rape grand jury charges 4 more

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio school superintendent and three others were charged Monday with lying or failing to report possible child abuse after an investigation prompted by the rape of a nearly passed-out 16-year-old girl by two high school football players.

Newton gunman's motive still a mystery

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Why Adam Lanza went on his murderous shooting rampage at a Newtown elementary school is a mystery and may never be known, prosecutors said in a report Monday as they closed their yearlong investigation.

Ho, Ho, No! NYC Santa Claus parade comes to an end

Fashion police cracks down at Hawaii Army base

HONOLULU (AP) - A Hawaii Army base is trying to maintain decorum by monitoring what people are wearing and how they're behaving. A fashion police "Courtesy Patrol" at Schofield Barracks on Oahu is cracking down on civilian and off-duty soldier attire that's deemed inappropriate - including short shorts, bare midriffs, visible underwear, sagging pants and swimwear other than at the pool, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday. The two-person teams are also on the lookout for ...

Maltese Falcon' figure sells for more than $4M

NEW YORK (AP) - A statuette of a bird featured in the classic 1941 detective thriller "The Maltese Falcon" sold for more than $4 million at auction Monday. The final price on the 45-pound, 12-inch-tall prop was $4,085,000, according to Bonhams auction house. That includes Bonham's premium. The black figurine is one of two known cast lead statuettes made for John Huston's screen version of the film but the only one confirmed by Warner Bros. ...

Contractor charged with murder in collapse

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A cut-rate building contractor will face murder charges for a botched demolition in downtown Philadelphia that killed six people inside an adjacent store, officials announced Monday.

Police getting leftover Iraq trucks

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (AP) - Coming soon to your local sheriff: 18-ton, armor-protected military fighting vehicles with gun turrets and bulletproof glass that were once the U.S. answer to roadside bombs during the Iraq war.

Americans not willing to spend without deals

NEW YORK (AP) - This holiday season, Americans may not spend their green unless they see more red.