Reward rises for leads on Savannah student slaying

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A reward of up to $12,500 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever killed Savannah State University student Rebecca Foley.

Stocks edge lower; Pfizer weighs down the Dow

NEW YORK (AP) - Weak earnings from Pfizer and other companies dragged down major market indexes Monday, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 back from a record high.

US home prices up 9.3 pct., most in nearly 7 years

UGA: Backpacks won't be allowed at graduation

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The University of Georgia will ban backpacks in the school's football stadium during its commencement ceremony on May 10.

FBI visits home of wife of dead bombing suspect

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) - FBI agents investigating the Boston Marathon bombings have visited the Rhode Island home of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's (TAM'-ehr-luhn tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) in-laws and carried away several bags.

S&P 500 reaches new high, led by tech

VA stops bonuses for disability claims executives

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Veterans Affairs Department is withholding bonuses for senior officials who oversee disability claims, citing a failure to meet performance goals for reducing a sizable backlog in claims processing.

Deal signs bill revising tourism tax break program

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill into law that makes changes to a tax break program aimed at boosting Georgia tourism.

US loans from China at issue in debt-ceiling fight

Atlanta mayor vows enhanced security for road race

ATLANTA (AP) - City leaders and organizers of the upcoming AJC Peachtree Road Race say they will be taking enhanced security measures for the annual race in the wake of the bombings at the Boston marathon.

Brief hearing held in suspicious letters case

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi man charged with making a deadly poison sent to President Barack Obama and others was ordered held without bond until a hearing later this week when prosecutors are expected to describe what evidence they have against him

Pa. abortion doc co-defendant argues case unproven

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A lawyer for the co-defendant of a Philadelphia abortion doctor says prosecutors didn't prove their case against her.

Canada dismemberment trial set for fall 2014

MONTREAL (AP) - The trial of a former porn actor accused of dismembering his Chinese lover and mailing the body parts to Canadian political parties will begin in September 2014.

Georgians make pilgrimage to girl's tombstone

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - One by one they came on foot, a steady stream of pilgrims, from shortly after dawn and continuing until the clouds closed in, threatening to send showers washing over the mildew-stained gravestones at Marietta City Cemetery.

Stocks up in early trading as spending rises

NEW YORK (AP) - A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday.

Stocks open lower on Wall Street as cuts loom

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks opened lower on Wall Street Friday, with the Dow pulling back from close to a record, as automatic government spending cuts are about to kick in. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,019 points as of 10 a.m. EST. The index came within 15 points of its record close of 14,164 Thursday afternoon, before momentum petered out in late trading, leaving the index ...

Obama, congressional leaders meet at White House

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are meeting at the White House, with billions of dollars in automatic budget cuts ready to start kicking in. The meeting got under way shortly after 10 a.m. EST. Representing Republicans are House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are the Democratic leaders in the meeting. No breakthrough is expected ...

First lady: Not surprised by reaction to Oscars

CHICAGO (AP) - Michelle Obama says it was "absolutely not surprising" to her that her satellite appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony provoked a national conversation about whether it was appropriate, after some conservative critics accused her of selfishly crashing the event in an attempt to upstage it. She attributed the chatter to a culture shift that has spawned legions of bloggers, tweeters and others who talk about anything and everything all the time. ...

Lake Lanier at highest level in nearly 2 years

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) - With recent rains, Lake Lanier is at its highest level in almost two years.

Retired chimps may cost Emory millions

ATLANTA (AP) - Emory University might have to spend tens of millions of dollars to renovate the home of its research chimpanzees - all for aging chimps it doesn't necessarily need. The National Institutes of Health, Yerkes' only source of chimp-research funding, is phasing out biomedical chimpanzee research - now deemed "largely unnecessary" - and may soon raise standards for the housing of chimps that do remain in research. Only five of the 78 chimps ...

Obama to urge court to overturn gay marriage ban

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Thursday planned to urge the Supreme Court to strike down California's ban on gay marriage, wading into a case that could have broad implications for the right of same-sex couples to wed.

Ga. transportation tax generates nearly $9 million

ATLANTA (AP) - Nearly $9 million has been collected in taxes from three regions that voted to approve a 10-year, one percent transportation sales tax last year.

Stocks edge higher, with Dow nearing record

NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market pushed higher Thursday afternoon, sending the Dow tantalizingly close to a record high. Analysts said the market's upward move was more about traders getting excited than any particular economic event. Government reports and company earnings painted a picture of an economy that was beating investors' low expectations, not one that's growing like gangbusters. At mid-afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 34 points to 14,109, just ...

Cuts imminent, Senate Democrats, GOP stage votes

WASHINGTON (AP) - Squabbling away the hours, the Senate moved toward certain defeat of last-minute plans to avoid $85 billion in broad-based spending reductions Thursday as the two political parties blamed each other for the latest outbreak of gridlock and the Obama administration readied plans to put the cuts into effect.

Bond denied for Ga. man in cannibalism threat

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - The man accused of threatening to eat a judge's children has been denied bond and is ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Ga. House lawmakers OK juvenile justice reform

ATLANTA (AP) - State lawmakers in the House have approved a sweeping overhaul of Georgia's juvenile justice system, with the bill now moving to the Senate for consideration. The legislation, based on recommendations of a special panel convened by Gov. Nathan Deal, is designed to provide judges with greater discretion in sentencing youth offenders and reduce overall costs within the juvenile justice system. The bill passed unanimously on Thursday. Supporters of the legislation ...

Obama nears deadline on gay marriage decision

WASHINGTON (AP) - The next phase of President Barack Obama's evolving position on gay marriage may come Thursday, the deadline for his administration to weigh in on a landmark Supreme Court case that could determine whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. Gay rights supporters are pressing the administration to file a friend-of-the-court brief urging the justices to overturn California's gay marriage ban. Obama is not required to file a brief, though ...

Manning offers pleas to judge in WikiLeaks case

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - An Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history offered guilty pleas Thursday to 10 of 22 charges against him and a military judge said she would allow the soldier to read a statement explaining his actions. Pfc. Bradley Manning would plead guilty to sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, in violation of military regulations but not in ...

Student due in court after accidental shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - A girl who police say accidentally shot herself with a gun at a midtown Atlanta high school is set to make her first court appearance Thursday morning.

GA couple to appear in court in alleged abuse case

DALLAS, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia couple accused of confining their teenage son to a bedroom for years with little food is set to appear in court.