Rulings move Ohio child \killer closer to execution

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Back-to-back rulings Thursday pushed a condemned child killer closer to being executed next week by a lethal two-drug combination never used in the U.S.

Cat used for target practice shot by arrow

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) - A cat that Connecticut officials believe was used for target practice has survived being shot by an arrow.

Obama ‘sorry' people are losing insurance

WASHINGTON (AP) - Seeking to calm a growing furor, President Barack Obama said Thursday he's sorry Americans are losing health insurance plans he repeatedly said they could keep under his signature health care law. But the president stopped short of apologizing for making those promises in the first place.

Anal probes ordered after traffic stop

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A southern New Mexico man who was pulled over for not making a complete stop was taken to two hospitals and forced to have anal probes, three enemas, two body X-rays and a colonoscopy because police thought he was hiding drugs, according a federal lawsuit. In El Paso, a woman crossing the border was stripped searched, vaginally probed then taken to the hospital for more invasive tests, a forced bowel movement, X-rays and scans, the American Civil Liberties Union says.

Dinosaur that predates T. rex found in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Paleontologists on Wednesday unveiled a new dinosaur discovered four years ago in southern Utah that proves giant tyrant dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex were around 10 million years earlier than previously believed.

Some unions could get break from paying Obamacare fees

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration appears ready to give some labor unions a break from costly fees under the new health care law, a move that drew criticism from Republicans who say it unfairly favors a key White House ally.

Pot’s tax potential attracts new allies

DENVER (AP) - Colorado's hearty embrace of a 25 percent marijuana tax this week could prove a turning point for legalization backers. They've long argued that weed should come out of the black market and contribute to tax coffers instead of prison populations.

Democrats, GOP, tea party dig in

WASHINGTON (AP) - As partisanship renders Washington largely dysfunctional, voters in two states signaled this week that they want consensus-building even when there's divided government.

College defends lockdown set off by costume

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Officials at Central Connecticut State University on Tuesday defended the police and school response to reports of a masked man with a gun and sword a day earlier, when law enforcement swarmed the campus and buildings were locked down for three hours.

Paralyzed deer hunter chooses to end life support

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Tim Bowers got to decide for himself whether he wanted to live or die.

Mall shooting baffles relatives of gunman

TEANECK, N.J. (AP) - Relatives and friends of a young man who fired shots in New Jersey's largest mall, trapping terrified shoppers for hours before killing himself, struggled Tuesday to reconcile those actions with a person they described as pleasant and well-liked.

White House sidesteps on Obamacare change

Christie re-elected governor of NJ

ASBURY PARK, N.J. (AP) - Gov. Chris Christie was re-elected with ease Tuesday, demonstrating the kind of broad, bipartisan appeal that will serve as his opening argument should he seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Coach fired for Hooters party plan

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Portland, Ore.-area middle school football coach who said he was willing to lose his job rather than back down from plans for a team party at Hooters has lost his job.

Colon cancer testing may be leveling off

ATLANTA (AP) - After years of steady increases, testing for colon cancer may be leveling off, a federal report suggests.

NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NATION

• MARYLAND GIRL PLEADS 'RESPONSIBLE' FOR BULLYING: LEONARDTOWN, Md. (AP) - A 17-year-old Maryland girl accused of assaulting an autistic boy pleaded "responsible" to two misdemeanor charges after her case was transferred from adult to juvenile court.

Southwest fined $200,000 for deception

DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines is being fined $200,000 for advertising a fare sale too good to be true.

Government warns against minors using tanning beds & sun lamps

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tanning beds and sun lamps will carry new warnings that they should not be used by anyone under age 18, part of a government action announced Thursday aimed at reducing skin cancer linked to the radiation-emitting devices.

Google steps up efforts for more racial diversity

MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Google has had more trouble diversifying its workforce than its computer scientists have had writing programs that respond to search requests in the blink of an eye or designing cars that can navigate traffic without a human behind the wheel.

Google building truly driverless car

MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Google plans to build and launch onto city streets a small fleet of subcompact cars that could operate without a person at the wheel.

Maya Angelou, celebrated poet dies

NEW YORK (AP) - Maya Angelou's story awed millions. A childhood victim of rape, she broke through silence and shame to tell her tale in one of the most widely read memoirs of the 20th century. A black woman born into poverty and segregation, she recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history.

3-year-old kills younger brother

PAYSON, Ariz. (AP) - A 3-year-old Payson boy shot and killed his 1½ -year-old brother after the boys found a handgun in a neighbor's apartment and took it to another room, the eastern Arizona town's police chief said Wednesday.

Male student named prom queen

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) - A 17-year-old boy has been named prom queen at his high school and says he's making a point about gender labeling and discrimination.

Disabled man is killed; estate billed nearly $12M

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Two years after a 33-year-old mentally disabled man died at a state institution in Queens, and one year after his sister filed a lawsuit accusing the staff of killing him, New York officials have sent her an $11.67 million bill.

Hatch: Gay marriage will become law of the land

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch conceded Wednesday it's only a matter of time before gay marriage is legal across the country, even though he doesn't think that's the right way to go.

NEWS FROM ACROSS THE NATION

• BURN VICTIM DOUSES SELF WITH SLURPEES AT 7-ELEVEN: GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - Things were quiet at a convenience store in Southern Oregon when a tattooed man came in and started dousing himself with Hawaiian Punch Slurpees.

Bill seeks to restrict vehicle-tracking tech

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state Senate on Wednesday was considering a bill that would place some restrictions on vehicle-tracking technology to protect people's privacy.