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Evacuations under way for LA-area foothills - 02/09/2010
Homeowners in mud-ravaged foothill towns packed their cars and fled Tuesday as evacuation orders took hold and a new winter storm approached. Officials issued evacuation orders for 541 homes on the hillsides of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton and two canyons north of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies went do

Fellow NY Democrats offer Paterson little support - 02/09/2010
Gov. David Paterson is getting little support from Albany's other top Democrats as he fights what he calls attacks on his character. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is refusing to comment Tuesday on reports in blogs and news accounts of womanizing and drug use by the governor. Cuomo's office also won't comment on whether he supports Pat

Brother now says Ohio doc admitted poisoning wife - 02/09/2010
A family member who testified earlier that an Ohio doctor denied poisoning his wife now says the defendant admitted to the killing. Firas Essa (EE'-suh) returned to the witness stand Monday in Cleveland and said his brother, Yazeed Essa, told him that he'd replaced his wife's calcium supplement tablets with cyanide. Firas E

Fire consumes 2 Texas churches amid spate of arson - 02/09/2010
State and federal law enforcement agencies were vigorously working Tuesday to try to find out who has been setting fire to churches in eastern Texas. Fire broke out at two churches about three miles apart Monday night in a rural area northwest of Tyler, which is about 85 miles southeast of Dallas. Investigators have not confirmed them

NH panel recommends against gay marriage repeal - 02/09/2010
A New Hampshire House committee is recommending against repealing the state's five-week-old gay marriage law. The Judiciary Committee also voted Tuesday to recommend that the House kill a proposed constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The vote was 12-8 on both measures, led by Democratic oppo

Another major storm headed to snowy Mid-Atlantic - 02/09/2010
Snow blew across the Midwest Tuesday on track for the hard-hit Mid-Atlantic region, where federal government offices were closed for a second straight day and utility workers struggled to restore power knocked out by a weekend blizzard. The storm hit the Midwest early, closing schools and greeting commuters with slick, slushy roads fr

Cops search San Antonio landfill for missing baby - 02/09/2010
San Antonio's police chief says officers are searching a landfill for evidence in the disappearance of an 8-month-old boy. Chief William McManus said Tuesday that authorities "remain hopeful that Baby Gabriel is alive." Gabriel Johnson was last seen with his 23-year-old mother, Elizabeth Johnson, in San Antonio on

Pilot: 'Everything went red' after planes collided - 02/09/2010
A glider pilot who flew to safety through a fireball from the midair collision of two planes over Boulder says it was just seconds between when he saw one plane approaching and when it collided with the plane towing him. Reuben Bakker tells NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that he "didn't see the wreckage anymore because it w

Minn. bridge collapse widow adopts Haitian twins - 02/09/2010
Betsy Sathers wears the glow of a new mother as she perches on the couch in her family room, smiling and chatting with visitors while still managing to keep an eye on the 2-year-old twins burbling and cavorting at her feet. Sathers _ whose husband was killed when a Minneapolis freeway bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in 200

Henpecked men were a fave theme of Super Bowl ads - 02/09/2010
So you're a guy? Poor you! You get slapped on your bottom at birth, then spend the rest of your life being shoved around by wives and girlfriends who make you mow the lawn, listen to their friends, return their phone calls, eat fruit at breakfast, shop for lingerie instead of watching the game, put your underwear in the basket and put

Double hand transplant patient leaves Pa. hospital - 02/09/2010
The nation's first double hand transplant recipient has left a Pittsburgh hospital after medicine cleared up a rash that signaled he might be rejecting his new hands. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman Amy Dugas says 58-year-old Jeff Kepner, of Augusta, Ga., was discharged Monday from UPMC Montefiore (mahn-tah-FEE'-or

Man charged in Newark Airport breach due in court - 02/09/2010
A graduate student from China charged with breaching security at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport is due in court Tuesday. Haisong Jiang (hy-SOHN' jee-ONG') was arrested Jan. 8, days after entering a restricted area at the airport, where he was seeing his girlfriend off. Authorities say the Jan. 3 breach ca

Pa. Dem Murtha remembered as military advocate - 02/09/2010
Rep. John Murtha, who said the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq was based on "flawed policy wrapped in illusion" and called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops there, is being remembered as an advocate on Capitol Hill for those serving in military uniform. The Pennsylvania Democrat died Monday at a hospital afte

Iran to stop enrichment if given nuclear fuel - 02/09/2010
The head of Iran's atomic agency said the Islamic Republic would not enrich uranium to a higher level if the West provides the fuel it needs for the Tehran research reactor. Iran is set to start enriching its stockpile of uranium to 20 percent on Tuesday, in a move sure to antagonize Western nations who fear that the process of enrich

Man rescued after 3 days in snow-covered SUV in CO - 02/09/2010
A 31-year-old Indiana man says he had not food but kept himself hydrated with Mountain Dew and snow while he was stuck in his snow-covered SUV in southwestern Colorado for three days. Jason Pede was rescued Sunday morning after his vehicle ran out of gas and he walked seven miles to a road, signaling for help with a flashlight.

11 arrested during Israeli ambassador's talk - 02/09/2010
Eleven students have been arrested during a raucous lecture at University of California, Irvine, where Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren spoke about U.S.-Israel relations. Oren's speech to about 500 people was interrupted by shouting and protests multiple times Monday night. UC Irvine spokesman Tom Vasich says nine Irvine stu

Cross-sections of Maine giant elm to be displayed - 02/08/2010
Maine officials say two cross-sections cut from a 217-year-old giant elm named Herbie will be displayed by the town of Yarmouth and the state Forest Service. The 110-foot-tall tree was the biggest American elm in New England before it was cut down Jan. 19 after losing a battle with Dutch elm disease. Peter Lammert of the Maine Forest

NY mom accused of beer run guilty in tot's death - 02/08/2010
A 22-year-old New York mother accused of going out on a midnight beer run when a stove fire erupted in the apartment where her children were left alone has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Nicole Allen of Rochester had been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of her 3-year-old daughter. The jury con

Lawyer: Wife mulled extorting Ill. murder suspect - 02/08/2010
Days before a former suburban Chicago police officer's fourth wife vanished in 2007, she told a divorce attorney that her husband thought she suspected he had killed his previous wife and suggested extorting money from him to keep quiet, the lawyer testified Monday. The dramatic details provided by Harry Smith were the first in more t

Crew flees to life rafts after vessel catches fire - 02/08/2010
The U.S. Coast Guard says the 28 crew members of a fishing vessel that caught fire 900 miles southwest of Honolulu have abandoned ship and are in two life rafts. A Coast Guard search aircraft located the rafts Monday after the fire aboard the Taiwanese-flagged Hou Chun 11 was reported by the Rescue Coordination Center in Taiwan. Offic