Baltimore Woman's Silence Fuels Doubts About Lottery Claim

BALTIMORE - A Baltimore woman who says she holds one of three winning tickets in the record $656 million lottery held her own news conference on Wednesday but declined to answer questions or produce any proof of the winning ticket -- fueling doubts about her bizarre story.

Detroit Avoids State Takeover, More Oversight Looms

DETROIT - Detroit avoided a takeover by the state of Michigan on Wednesday after both a review team and the city council approved a consent agreement that will put the city's struggling finances under stricter control.

Judge Refuses To Block Anti-Obama Marine From Discipline

SAN DIEGO - A federal judge refused on Wednesday to block disciplinary action against a Marine who criticized President Barack Obama on Facebook and called him a "domestic enemy" in a posting to an internal military network.

Buy Your Own Zip Code: Towns For Sale In Montana, Wyoming

SALMON, Idaho - Buford, Wyoming, the nation's smallest town, will lose its long-time - and only - resident on Thursday when the outpost along Interstate 80 is auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Connecticut Senate Votes To Repeal Death Penalty In State

- The Connecticut Senate voted on Thursday to repeal the state's death penalty, moving it one step closer to becoming the fifth U.S. state in five years to abandon capital punishment.

Mississippi Bill May Force State's Only Abortion Clinic To Close

STARKVILLE, Mississippi - The Mississippi state Senate passed a bill on Wednesday to impose new regulations on facilities providing abortions that supporters of the state's only abortion clinic said could force it to close.

Texas Town Hit By Tornado Saw Worse In 1994

LANCASTER, Texas - Huddled inside a closet with his wife and 9-month-old daughter, Quental Austin could hear bricks and two-by-fours clattering as a tornado ravaged his Lancaster, Texas, neighborhood on Tuesday.

Ex-student Charged With Murder In California Shooting Rampage

OAKLAND, California - A former nursing student was charged with murder and attempted murder on Wednesday in a shooting rampage that killed seven people and wounded three others this week at a small, Christian college he once attended in California.

Prison Time For New Orleans Ex-cops In Post-Katrina Killings

NEW ORLEANS - Four former New Orleans policemen convicted of shooting unarmed people following Hurricane Katrina were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on Wednesday in what the U.S. government described as the most important police misconduct case since the Rodney King beating nearly two decades ago.

Former Marine Testifies About Alleged Sex Abuse By Priest

PHILADELPHIA - A tearful former Marine testifying in a sex abuse case rocking the Philadelphia Roman Catholic Archdiocese recalled on Wednesday the day he became deathly afraid of a priest he said had been a family friend but molested him as a teenager.

Four Dewey & LeBoeuf Lawyers Depart For DLA Piper

NEW YORK - A four-attorney mergers and acquisitions group has left law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf for DLA Piper in New York.

Former "Sheriff Of The Year" Jailed In Colorado Sex-for-drugs Case

DENVER - A retired Colorado lawman once named national "Sheriff of the Year" was sentenced on Tuesday to serve 30 days in the jail that bears his name after he pleaded guilty to trading drugs for sex with male prostitutes, prosecutors said.

Australian Yacht Reaches California After "monster Wave"

SAN FRANCISCO - An Australian racing yacht stricken by a 100-foot (30-meter) wave plodded into San Francisco Bay for repairs on Tuesday, two days after the U.S. Coast Guard rescued two injured crew members.

NY Police Probe Death Of Top French Academic

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - A prominent French academic, Richard Descoings, was found dead naked in a New York hotel room on Tuesday afternoon and New York police opened an investigation into the circumstances of his death.

Apartment Vacancy Rate Falls To Decade Low

NEW YORK - The Apartment vacancy rate in the first quarter fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, and rents posted their biggest jump in four years, as Americans eschewed home ownership and renting retained its popularity, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

Marijuana Advocates Vow To Reopen "Princeton Of Pot" After Raid

SAN FRANCISCO - Medical marijuana advocates on Tuesday vowed to reopen a San Francisco-area college devoted to cannabis cultivation and known as the "Princeton of Pot" a day after federal agents shut down the school in a raid.

Police: Accused Oakland Gunman Targeted Administrator, Classmates

OAKLAND, California - A former student accused of killing seven people and wounding three others in a shooting rampage at a small Christian college in Oakland was gunning for a school administrator and classmates he felt had treated him unfairly, police said on Tuesday.

Prosecutor In Florida Teen Shooting Aims To Do "right Thing"

JACKSONVILLE, Florida - Angela Corey, the prosecutor handpicked to investigate the shooting death of an unarmed black teen in Florida, has been known to wear a victims advocate pin to trials, shed tears with victims' families and shake her head at a defense witness whose testimony does not match her version of the facts.

Motown Hopes Food Will Spur Rebirth, Growth

DETROIT - When Slows Bar-B-Q opened in Detroit's Corktown district seven years ago, the neighborhood was so neglected that the street lamps no longer worked.

Swarm Of Tornadoes Rip Through Dallas-Fort Worth

DALLAS - Up to a dozen tornadoes skipped through the densely populated Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas on Tuesday, ripping apart homes, tossing tractor-trailer trucks into the air and injuring at least 17 people, but there were no reported deaths.