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....
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....
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....
I-5 bridge collapses into Wash. river, injuring 3
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) -- An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed north of Seattle Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers who pulled three injured people from the chilly waterway....
5.7-magnitude earthquake shakes Northern Calif
GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- A magnitude 5.7 earthquake was widely felt as it rattled Northern California Thursday night, breaking dishes and shaking mirrors off walls. But authorities said there were no immediate reports of injury or serious damage....
Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set
PHOENIX (AP) -- Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias' fate couldn't decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people....
NJ: Caramel-colored rubbing alcohol sold as scotch
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water - and apparently not even clean water at that....
2 dead in drugstore shootings in Tennessee
BEAN STATION, Tenn. (AP) -- An East Tennessee pharmacy owner and a customer have been killed during a robbery that left a pharmacy tech and another employee wounded....
NYPD: Merchant held for ransom, tortured for month
NEW YORK (AP) -- A businessman was snatched from a New York City street in broad daylight, then held captive for more than a month in a warehouse where he was bound and burned with acid as he was held for a $3 million ransom his family back in Ecuador did not have, authorities said....
Prince Edward presents Edinburgh's awards in Tenn.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, Prince Edward, has visited Tennessee to promote one of the British royal family's charities, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award....
RI education board approves arming university cops
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) -- Police at the University of Rhode Island could soon be carrying firearms following a vote Thursday by state education officials to end Rhode Island's distinction as the only state to prohibit police on public campuses from carrying guns....
Maine governor moves out of office over TV dispute
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- Maine's governor, who has gained attention in the past for telling the NAACP to "kiss my butt" and comparing the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo, has moved out of his office at the State House and says he'll work out of the governor's mansion because of a dispute over a television screen....
Nader loses appeal of '04 ballots in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The state's highest court on Thursday dismissed Ralph Nader's lawsuit against Democrats he had accused of trying to keep him off ballots in Maine and other states during his failed presidential run in 2004....
