Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) -- After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over....
Safe room mandates remain rare in tornado states
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- After living nearly 20 years in their one-story brick home, Sherry and Larry Wells finally won the lottery - for a state rebate on a home storm shelter, that is. A contractor finished installing the concrete bunker beneath the slab of their garage in early May. About three weeks later, the shelter saved their lives when a tornado that killed 24 people tore through their neighborhood....
I-5 bridge collapse survivor: 'You hold on'
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) -- Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup truck on Interstate 5 heading to a camping trip when a bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust."...
Bail hearing set in Pa. baby's faith-healing death
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A bail hearing is scheduled for a Philadelphia couple who believe in faith healing over medicine and are charged with third-degree murder in the April death of their 8-month-old son....
Brewers team up on beer to help military families
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Craft breweries from around the country are toasting the troops with a beer aged with a unique ingredient that symbolizes America's pastime - baseball bats....
5.7-magnitude quake widely felt across N. Calif.
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- An earthquake in far northeastern California was felt by thousands of people as far away as San Francisco and in two other states, but there have been no reports of injury or serious damage....
Plastic ocean debris the target of new Calif. bill
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- It's a common sight on the nation's beaches: among the sand, sea foam and gnarled kelp lay plastic bottles, bags and other garbage....
Jury in Arias case gives up after no consensus
PHOENIX (AP) -- As jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial filed one by one from the courtroom after a dramatic five months of gut-wrenching testimony and gruesome photographs, three women on the panel cried and one looked to the victim's family, mouthing the word, "Sorry."...
Top 10 items found during 2012 coastal cleanup
The Ocean Conservancy, a Washington DC-based environmental organization, released its 2012 list of trash collected during its International Coastal Cleanup. More than 10 million pounds of debris was collected, with nearly 1.5 million pounds in California alone. The top items found during the cleanup:...
Older brother held in deaths of 2 younger siblings
WEST POINT, Utah (AP) -- A 15-year-old boy is in custody after authorities investigating the stabbing deaths of his younger adopted brothers found him miles away with traces of blood on him, officials said....
Wheelchair lift out of Wis. promises more access
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- An elementary school principal has inspired the University of Wisconsin-Madison to create a new wheelchair lift that could help make more places wheelchair accessible....
Hurricane center: Beware of the storm surge
MIAMI (AP) -- During a hurricane, the storm surge poses the greatest threat to life and land, yet many people don't even know what it means....
