Hostess says talks to stave off shutdown fail

NEW YORK (AP) - Hostess Brands Inc. lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing today in which a bankruptcy court judge in White Plains, N.Y., will decide if the company can shutter its ...

Rubble cleanup a massive task in NY, NJ

Israel, Hamas trade fire, tough truce proposals

Nation news briefs

MASS. TRANSGENDER INMATE SEEKING ELECTROLYSIS: BOSTON (AP) - A transgender inmate who won a court order for taxpayer-funded sex-change surgery has no medical need for further electrolysis treatments, a prisons department psychiatrist testified Monday.

Officer pleads not guilty in cannibalism case

NEW YORK (AP) - A city police officer pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he plotted to kidnap, torture, cook and eat at least 100 women whose photos, names and addresses authorities say he pulled from a confidential law enforcement database. Gilberto Valle entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan. Authorities arrested the 28-year-old New York Police Department officer last month ...

Bay Area nurses set to strike early today

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Union officials say thousands of San Francisco Bay area nurses are set to walk off the job early today in what will be the second strike this month by nurses represented by the California Nurses Association. A union spokesman says registered nurses at eight hospitals operated by Sutter Health and at two San Jose hospitals operated by Hospital ...

Appeals court attorney fired over tweet

Home explosion now homicide investigation

Construction begins on Cold War memorial

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A groundbreaking ceremony was held Saturday in southern Nevada for a $100,000 monument recognizing American military members who served during the Cold War against the former Soviet Union.

What happens if Twinkies really do go away?

Prosecutor admits lying, said he did act in 1970s porn films

CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) - A district attorney in upstate New York has admitted that he acted in pornographic movies in the 1970s, then lied when questioned about it during his second campaign. Mark Suben, the DA in Cortland County near Syracuse since 2008, held a news conference Friday to say he had lied about his past in the days before this year's ...

Burglar leaves lots of evidence behind

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It wasn't difficult to identify a suspect in a break-in where an intruder kicked open a door and ransacked a bedroom before he was confronted by a Los Angeles homeowner. The resident struck the intruder's head with a garden hoe, briefly knocking him unconscious, before he got up and ran away. <p ...

Coyote hunting contest sparks protests

Shipping containers to become condos in Detroit

DETROIT (AP) - Plans are moving forward to use empty shipping containers to build a $3.4 million, 20-unit condominium complex in Detroit. The Detroit Free Press reports a model unit and sales center will break ground in mid-December near the Wayne State University campus. First proposed in 2008, the project known as Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks stalled amid the national ...

2 missing, 4 badly burned in Gulf fire

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.

Auto industry about to go on hiring spree

DETROIT (AP) - The auto industry is about to go on a hiring spree as car makers and parts suppliers race to find engineers, technicians and factory workers to build the next generation of vehicles.

Obama: Records sweep not targeting American citizens

IRS targeting: Was it limited to Cincinnati office?

Actress charged in Obama ricin threat

Boston hospital cleaning Egyptian mummy