Some of the nation's largest states are questioning whether the Obama administration's offer to let them escape certain mandates of the No Child Left Behind law is a helping hand to improve education or a means to impose more federal control.

One of three fugitive siblings who were the focus of a nationwide search last summer will have to serve at least nine years in prison after pleading guilty to reduced charges.

Josh Powell told his 7-year-old son he had a "surprise" for him moments before attacking and killing him and his 5-year-old brother, according to the state social worker who was supposed to supervise a visit between Powell and his sons.

A federal judge ruled Thursday that two claims could move forward against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for alleged sexual abuse by clergy, laying the groundwork for about 570 claims to follow.

Prosecutors in Rhode Island are asking a judge to reject a request for leniency from an Illinois man who admitted shipping unwanted penis enlargers to diabetes patients as part of a Medicare fraud scheme.

The Virginia state Senate passed legislation Thursday allowing private adoption agencies to deny placements that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality.

California and Southern farmers renewed their case Thursday for some kind of an agricultural guest-worker program, but they're sailing against the wind. Make that a hurricane.

A federal judge's ruling against a Houston mother who says she was fired after asking for a place to pump breast milk has highlighted a question left unanswered by higher courts: Is firing a woman because she wants to pump at work sexual discrimination?

A Connecticut hedge fund adviser carried out a $500 million fraud scheme with help from people in Venezuela, including a manager at the state-owned oil company, according to lawsuits seeking the return of tens of millions of dollars in what they say are bribes and kickbacks.

The story already had people's attention: A multimillionaire polo magnate was accused of causing a drunken-driving wreck that killed a young man. But now, with his criminal trial approaching, a strange twist has raised even more eyebrows: He has adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend.

A man accused of brandishing a gun in a North Dakota courtroom was convicted Thursday of two counts of attempted murder involving the prosecutor and sheriff, but was acquitted on 12 other counts related to jurors.

FBI background interviews of some people who knew Apple co-founder Steve Jobs reveal a man driven by power and alienating some of the people who worked with him.

In a story Feb. 7 about a lack of progress by a commission established to right the wrongs of Chicago's police torture scandal, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the commission hasn't met since August and cancelled an October meeting. The commission postponed, but didn't cancel, an October meeting, and met later that month. It did cancel its meetings in December and February, as reported.

The romantic rival of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend testified Thursday that he saw the defendant with his arm around her neck months before her death.

High winds. Lightning. Hail. A severe thunderstorm warning. A huge crowd waits for country duo Sugarland to take the stage.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to curb insider trading by members of Congress and the executive branch, but not without the usual political acrimony that’s become a staple of Capitol Hill.

Candy company executive Nello Ferrara lived a sweet life.

The U.N. is honoring two 16-year-old Girl Scouts for their work aimed at saving orangutans from extinction.

Three family members attempting their first voyage across the Pacific in a sailboat were left adrift in rough seas hundreds of miles from land when their mast broke in high winds.

A federal judge who was vilified by Republican presidential hopefuls for banning prayer at a Texas high school graduation delivered a scathing and unusually personal response Thursday, saying those who used the case to further political goals "should be ashamed."

A suspect in an auto theft was arrested Thursday after a bizarre five-hour standoff on the rooftops of a Westwood neighborhood.

Wild arm swings, sharp robotic turns, pulsing fist pumps.

A suspect in the shooting of a customs agent was romantically obsessed with the victim's wife, whom he met last year while he was an instructor and she was a student at a Bay Area school for aspiring opticians, court documents filed Thursday alleged.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined a gas driller more than $500,000 for three separate violations.

The Marine Corps on Thursday once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS - a special unit that murdered millions of Jews, gypsies and others.

In a Feb. 3 story and some previous reports about the case of Gigi Jordan, a former pharmaceuticals executive charged in the death of her 8-year-old son, The Associated Press erroneously reported where she is from. She is a native of New York City, not Belgium.

Top officials at the government agency rebuilding the World Trade Center promised Thursday to make reforms after an audit called the organization "dysfunctional" and wasteful.

A man shown on video being kicked and punched by four New York City police officers says he's suffered from constant headaches and nightmares since then.

An American Indian tribe sued some of the world's largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin issued a 30-day stay of execution Thursday for a death-row inmate who had been scheduled to die next week for the 1986 murder of the mother of his two children.

A judge says a German-born man charged with killing his 91-year-old wife in Washington cannot continue to represent himself.

An Army private accused of leaking classified material to the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks will be back in a military courtroom for an arraignment later this month.

After nearly two decades as a fugitive, a British man suspected of driving off with an armored car loaded with cash worth about $1.5 million has been captured in southwest Missouri, where he appeared in federal court wearing blue jeans and asking for a court-appointed defense attorney because he didn't have enough money to hire one.

A chance to kiss the buff, shirtless Richard Gere of the early '80s? Sold, for $20,000!

An attorney for the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan told a judge Thursday that his client has shown he is not dangerous and should therefore be allowed more time away from a Washington mental hospital.

A long-sought safety feature that Congress required after a deadly 2008 rail crash would be delayed for five years under legislation that the House is expected to take up next week.

Investigators say a 6-year-old Pittsburgh boy set fire to a piece of paper that caught a couch on fire, sparking a blaze that killed a couple who lived in an upstairs apartment.

Police say an Ohio man who stuck his 3-year-old son in a clothes dryer as punishment and then turned it on is facing child endangerment charges.

Lynette Johnson has repeatedly said in court that death is the only sentence befitting three inmates charged in the slaying of her prison guard husband during a botched prison escape at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

School got off to a rough start Thursday with students returning to class for the first time since their entire elementary school staff was replaced after two longtime teachers were accused of lewd acts on children.