Unusually massive line of storms aim at Midwest

Girl, 16, dies while 'car surfing' on vehicle hood

DAWSONVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say a Dawson County teenager has been killed while riding on the hood of a moving vehicle in a stunt known as "car surfing."

Hands-free texting still distracting for drivers

WASHINGTON (AP) - Using voice commands to send text messages and emails from behind the wheel, which is marketed as a safer alternative for drivers, actually is more distracting and dangerous than simply talking on a cellphone, a new AAA study found.

Southern Baptists re-elect first black president

HOUSTON (AP) - The Southern Baptist Convention has re-elected its first black president, the Rev. Fred Luter Jr.

Death of south Ga. sheriff ruled accidental

COLQUITT, Ga. (AP) - State investigators have ruled the death of a south Georgia sheriff who was found in a pond behind his house was accidental.

Deal: Georgia needs to examine forfeiture laws

ATLANTA (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal says Georgia needs to examine changes to the state's civil forfeiture laws and called for more financial transparency.

Petition drive begins over funding of Ga. stadium

ATLANTA (AP) - A watchdog group says it's officially launched a petition drive to place a measure before Atlanta voters calling for the end of public financing for a new Falcons stadium.

Ga. pastor: Banned scouts welcome at her church

Threat prompts evacuations at 5 sites near Capitol

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say five state buildings near the Georgia Capitol were evacuated after a bomb threat.

US stocks follow global markets lower

Monument to Michelle Obama ancestor toppled in Ga.

REX, Ga. (AP) - Police in Georgia are investigating after a monument dedicated to one of first lady Michelle Obama's relatives was knocked over in suburban Atlanta.

Possible explosion causes power outage at airport

ATLANTA (AP) - Firefighters have been called to Atlanta's airport after reports of an apparent explosion at a maintenance shed.

Teen shot while selling candy in suburban Atlanta

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) - Authorities in suburban Atlanta say a teenage girl has been hospitalized after being shot while she was selling candy.

New radios at Ga. Army base jamming garage doors

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - A new radio system being installed at a Georgia Army base is frustrating hundreds of homeowners in the Augusta area who have been locked out of their garages because of jammed remote-control signals.

US leaker faces hard choices while in hiding

HONG KONG (AP) - Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs, has few options to stay one step ahead of the authorities while in apparent hiding.

2 teens plead not guilty in Ga. baby slaying

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - Two Georgia teenagers pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering a baby who was shot in the face during what authorities described as an attempted street robbery. Both De'Marquise Elkins, 17, and Dominique Lang, 15, are charged as adults. Authorities say Elkins fatally shot 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in his stroller as Elkins and Lang tried to rob the child's mother March 21 on the street a few blocks from her ...

Ga. boy hit by falling tree limb, hospitalized

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say an 8-year-old boy has been hospitalized after being hit by a falling tree branch while he was on a school playground in Atlanta.

Rescuers search ruins of Texas fertilizer plant

WEST, Texas (AP) - Rescuers searched the smoking remnants of a Texas farm town Thursday for survivors of a thunderous fertilizer plant explosion, gingerly checking smashed houses and apartments for anyone still trapped in debris or bodies of the dead. The accident killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. Daylight revealed a breathtaking band of destruction extending for a four- or five-block radius around the West Fertilizer Co. in ...

Attorney: Miss. man denies mailing suspected ricin

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi man charged with mailing letters with suspected ricin to national leaders believed he had uncovered a conspiracy to sell human body parts on the black market, and on Thursday his attorney said he was surprised by his arrest and maintains he is innocent.

Napolitano: Men of interest seen in bomb video

WASHINGTON (AP) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the FBI wants to speak with individuals seen in at least one video from the Boston Marathon but says she isn't calling them suspects.

Gun control backers: Senate defeat won't stop us

WASHINGTON (AP) - One day after the demise of gun control legislation, Senate supporters of the measure vowed to try again, while a leading opponent accused President Barack Obama of taking the "low road" when he harshly criticized lawmakers who voted against key provisions.

Slight decline in early trading on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) - Disappointing earnings results weighed on the stock market in early trading on Thursday, following two steep drops this week. Shortly after 11:30 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was off 46 points at 14,572, a decline of 0.3 percent. The Dow lost 138 points the day before and is down 2 percent for the week. Morgan Stanley, Pepsi and others joined in the parade of companies turning in quarterly ...

Miss. man arrested for mailing suspected ricin

CORINTH, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi man accused of mailing letters with suspected ricin to national leaders believed he had uncovered a conspiracy to sell human body parts on the black market and claimed "various parties within the government" were trying to ruin his reputation. Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was arrested Wednesday at his home in Corinth, near the Tennessee state line. He was being held in the Lafayette County jail in Oxford, Miss., ...

Image leads to hunt for Boston bombing suspect

BOSTON (AP) - The painstaking work to identify a bombing suspect from reams of Boston Marathon footage yielded a possible breakthrough as investigators focused on a man seen dropping off a bag, and then walking away from the site of the second of two deadly explosions.

Ga. amputee runner raising money for bomb victims

ATLANTA (AP) - A Sandy Springs man who is a double-amputee was nearly to the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the bombs went off.

Georgia unemployment rate drops to 8.4 percent

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent in March, the lowest rate since December 2008.

Police: 5 to 15 people killed in Texas explosion

WEST, Texas (AP) - Rescue workers searched rubble early Thursday for survivors of a fertilizer plant explosion in a small Texas town that killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. The blast left the factory a smoldering ruin and leveled homes and businesses for blocks in every direction. The explosion in downtown West, a farming community about 20 miles north of Waco, shook the ground with the strength of ...

Ga. police Sgt. arrested in McDonalds dispute

CUMMING, Ga. (AP) - A metro Atlanta police sergeant accused of pulling a gun on a customer in a McDonalds drive-thru has been arrested.

Senate blocks expanded gun sale background checks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans, backed by rural-state Democrats, blocked legislation Wednesday to tighten restrictions on the sale of firearms, rejecting personal pleas made by families of the victims of last winter's mass elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Attempts to ban assault-style rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines also faced certain defeat in a series of showdown votes four months after a gunman killed 20 elementary school children and six staff members at ...

Stocks fall on signs of slowing global economy

NEW YORK (AP) - As evidence of a slowing global economy grows, investors are showing some caution just one week after U.S. stocks hit an all-time high.