Newtown asks for privacy, kindness on 1-year mark
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) -- Newtown officials asked for privacy and joined victims' families Monday in calling for people to mark the upcoming anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by performing acts of kindness or volunteering with charities.... 12/9/2013 3:05 PM

Pension crisis endangers Chicago's future
CHICAGO (AP) -- It's not the vision of a world-class city that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel typically likes to portray.... 12/10/2013 1:18 AM

18 LA sheriff's officials charged in jail probe
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Roughly three years ago, a man referred to in a federal indictment as "Visitor LF" went to Men's Central Jail to discuss his inability to visit his brother there. Instead, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy allegedly handcuffed him, took him to a break room with no windows or public access, and threw him against a refrigerator.... 12/10/2013 2:36 AM

Pa. students' robotic arm can make you stronger
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Need a hand lifting something? A robotic device invented by University of Pennsylvania engineering students can help its wearer carry an additional 40 pounds.... 12/10/2013 2:17 AM

St. Nicks learn tricks of trade at Santa School
MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) -- Where does Santa Claus learn to chortle "Ho, ho, ho!" and listen to the wishes of children all over the world?... 12/10/2013 1:30 AM

Mass. special congressional race heading to wire
BOSTON (AP) -- The candidates seeking to fill Edward Markey's old seat in the U.S. House are making their final appeals to voters in the Massachusetts' 5th Congressional District.... 12/10/2013 3:04 AM

More snow forecast for mid-Atlantic, Appalachians
Another round of snow is in the forecast for the mid-Atlantic region, just in time for the morning commute.... 12/10/2013 1:08 AM

Congress renews undetectable gun ban for decade
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Narrowly beating a midnight deadline, Congress voted Monday to renew an expiring ban on plastic firearms that can evade airport detection machines. But Republicans blocked an effort to toughen the restrictions - the latest defeat for gun-control forces in the year since the grade school massacre in Newtown, Conn.... 12/9/2013 11:27 PM

US vet held in N. Korea says statement was coerced
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The 85-year-old U.S. Korean War veteran who was detained for weeks by North Korea said Monday that the videotaped confession in which he apologized for killing North Koreans during the war was given involuntarily and under duress.... 12/9/2013 6:38 PM

Guilty verdict in California city corruption trial
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A former official in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell was convicted of corruption Monday in a case that drove the city to the brink of bankruptcy.... 12/10/2013 2:43 AM