Cupcakes, Hammocks Offered College Students During Exams

CHARLESTON, South Carolina - At 10 p.m. on Thursday, more than 200 students at the College of Charleston emerged from the college library and nearby streets and descended like locusts on a patio table holding boxes of cupcakes.

Volunteers Pour Into South After Tornadoes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala - Unemployed social worker Betty Perry walked out of the Red Cross shelter in downtown Birmingham barefoot after giving her shoes to a woman whose own pair was blown off in the storm.

Escaped Prisoner Shoots Four In Mass. Rampage

DEERFIELD, Massachusetts - A fugitive prisoner in Massachusetts shot one man dead and wounded three others -- including two police officers -- before being shot by police, authorities said on Saturday.

Jerry Brown Has Cancerous Growth Removed From Nose

LOS ANGELES - California Governor Jerry Brown had surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his nose, his office said on Saturday.

Two Firefighters Hurt Battling Mexico Border Blaze

TUCSON, Ariz - A wildfire blazing across the Arizona-Mexico border has injured two firefighters, authorities said.

Firefighters Battle Texas Wildfire With Hand Tools

LUBBOCK, Texas - Federal firefighters toiled with hand tools in rugged West Texas terrain to cut off a fast moving fire that had consumed 150,000 acres, authorities said on Saturday.

U.S. Agency Moves Closer To Blowing Up Levee

CHICAGO - A U.S. government agency moved a step closer on Saturday to blowing up a Mississippi River levee to control flooding after a court decision cleared the way for it to proceed.

Obama Ramps Up Recovery Help For Tornado-hit South

PLEASANT GROVE, Alabama - The U.S. government ramped up efforts on Saturday to help thousands of homeless victims of the country's second deadliest recorded tornado outbreak, which killed at least 350 people.

Storm Cellar Saves Alabama Couple, As Neighbors Perish

PHIL CAMPBELL, Alabama - Travis Roberts invited his neighbors into the storm cellar he built for $600, but they figured they would ride out the twister bearing down on them.

Obama Zings Trump At White House Dinner

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama went to town on Donald Trump Saturday night, mocking his possible presidential ambitions in a sendup at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

Panting Alabama Tornado Videographer Was Winded, Not Afraid

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - The man who panted as he shot an Alabama tornado video that went viral on the Internet said he was not breathing heavily out of fear but had just sprinted up some stairs.

Bernanke Says Economy Needs More Time To Heal

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy is not fully recovered from its deep recession, with housing still weighing on growth, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday in a speech spelling out ways the U.S. central bank has studied lower income communities.

New Jersey's Christie To Teachers: I Could Be Mr. Nice Guy

CAMBRIDGE, Mass - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a tough talking school reformer, said on Friday that even a hint of compromise from the state teachers union could turn him into Mr. Nice Guy.

After Brief Respite, Texas Wildfires Kick Up Again

LUBBOCK - After a brief respite of cooler, calmer weather, the wildfires that have ravaged Texas kicked up again on Friday with flames shooting up to 30 feet in the air, officials said.

Washington Governor Vetoes Medical Pot Licensing Bill

SEATTLE - Washington's governor on Friday vetoed most provisions of bill to establish state licensing for cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana, saying she did not want to put state employees at risk of federal prosecution.

Strongest Tornado Of Week Hurled Bodies Into Fields

SMITHVILLE, Miss - The small town of Smithville, Mississippi may have endured the strongest tornado of the dozens that pounded the southern U.S. this week, packing such force that it hurled bodies into nearby fields, weather experts and local officials said on Friday.

Judge Says Southern Illinois Levee Can Be Blown Up

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo - A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can blow up a Mississippi River levee, which would flood Missouri farmland but prevent the flooding of an Illinois town.

Seattle To Pay $1.5 Million In Cop-slain Woodcarver Case

SEATTLE - City officials on Friday agreed to pay $1.5 million to the family of a Native American woodcarver fatally shot by a white cop in a confrontation that stoked racial tensions and helped spark a federal probe of Seattle's police force.

Florida Pastor Cuts Michigan Protest Short

DEARBORN, Michigan - A controversial Florida pastor banned last week from protesting at a Detroit-area mosque on Friday cut short a demonstration at a city hall largely drowned out by counter-protesters.

Obama Promises Help To Rebuild Tornado-hit South

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - President Barack Obama promised federal aid on Friday to the tornado-ravaged South, where deadly twisters have killed at least 339 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.