Stocks keep climbing even as manufacturing softens

Ga. high school yearbook labels student a 'freak'

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) - School administrators are trying to find out how a photo caption next to a student's photo labeled him a "freak" in a high school yearbook.

Ga. agency orders removal of Bibles at state parks

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia parks officials say they've ordered that Bibles be removed from guest rooms at state lodges and cabins across the state.

TV-over-Internet service hits Atlanta next month

Markets climb, led by small-company stocks

Top IRS official didn't reveal tea party targeting

Tax commissioner's SUV costs taxpayers $39,000

ATLANTA (AP) - Records show that a Georgia tax commissioner used public funds to buy a full-sized SUV for his own use.

Car booting temporarily suspended in Athens

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Officials in Athens have temporarily suspended car booting in the downtown area as they examine due process issues related to the controversial practice.

Angelina Jolie says she had double mastectomy

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Angelina Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer.

Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.

UGA president-elect announced administrative shift

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - University of Georgia President-elect Jere Morehead has announced plans to restructure the school's senior administration.

Philly abortion doctor guilty in 3 babies' deaths

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who authorities say were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy clinic, in a case that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over abortion.

UN: Eat more insects; good for you, good for world

3 women report sexual assaults in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Police in Columbus are investigating after three female patients of a long-term health care facility reported that they were sexually assaulted.

Obama slams IRS targeting, defends Libya effort

Stocks waver; Retail sales rose in February

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks were little changed in early trading on Wall Street after a report showed that retail sales rose more than forecast in February. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,426 as of 9:52 a.m. EDT. The index rose for an eighth straight day Tuesday, its longest streak of advances in more than two years. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell three points, ...

Black smoke again: Cardinals don't agree on pope

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Cardinals remained divided over who should be pope on Wednesday after three rounds of voting, an indication of disagreements about the direction of the Catholic church following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation. In the second day of the conclave, thick black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, prompting sighs of disappointment from the thousands of people gathered in a rain-soaked and chilly St. ...

Ga. gun proposal could close legal loophole

ATLANTA (AP) - A proposal to change Georgia's gun laws would close one loophole potentially allowing mentally ill people to purchase firearms. Still, state judges are concerned the proposal could open another gap allowing mentally ill people to carry guns. Federal law prohibits anyone deemed mentally deficient or committed to receive mental health care from buying or keeping a gun. Federal officials use mental health records complied by states to determine whether sales should ...

Black smoke from chapel chimney: No pope yet

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Tuesday, signaling that cardinals had failed on their first vote of the papal conclave to choose a new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and their troubled church. Surrounded by Michelangelo's imposing frescos imagining the beginning and the end of the world, cardinals locked themselves into the chapel following a final appeal for unity to heal the divisions that have ...

Tony Gonzalez coming back to Falcons

Tony Gonzalez has changed his mind. He wants to play football again. The NFL's career leader among tight ends with 1,242 receptions and 103 touchdowns, is coming back to the Atlanta Falcons. After saying he was 95 percent certain he would retire after 2012, the other 5 percent won out. Hours before free agency began Thursday, Gonzalez tweeted: "The lure of being on such a great team and organization, along with unbelievable fan support ...

US stocks waver after seven straight gains

NEW YORK (AP) - Stock indexes wavered between small gains and losses on Wall Street Tuesday following a seven-day rally. The Dow Jones industrial average was down five points, or 0.03 percent, at 14,442 as of noon EDT. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down three points, or 0.2 percent, at 1,553. The Nasdaq composite dropped 15 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,237. The stock market has surged this year as investors became encouraged ...

College tuition stipends for US airmen suspended

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The U.S. Air Force has joined other military branches in suspending tuition assistance that thousands of active-duty airmen rely on to pay for college classes.

Applying for health care not easy

WASHINGTON (AP) - Applying for benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could be as daunting as doing your taxes. The government's draft application is now on the Internet. It runs 15 pages for a three-person family. The online version has 21 steps, some with added questions. At least three major federal agencies, including the IRS, will scrutinize your application. That's just the first part of the process, which lets you know if ...

First workers move in to new Caterpillar plant

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The first group of Caterpillar workers is moving in to office space at the company's new Georgia plant.

Senate panel ready to OK gun background checks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats are ready to muscle expanded background checks and other gun curbs through a Senate committee, giving President Barack Obama an initial if temporary victory on one of his top priorities.

History shows NKorean pattern: Wait, then attack

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Recent Korean history reveals a sobering possibility: It may only be a matter of time before North Korea launches a sudden, deadly attack on the South. And perhaps more unsettling, Seoul has vowed that this time, it will respond with an even stronger blow. Humiliated by past attacks, South Korea has promised - as recently as Tuesday - to hit back hard at the next assault from the North, ...

Chipper in pinstripes? Well, Yanks' Cashman tried

VIERA, Fla. (AP) - Chipper Jones putting on pinstripes? The banged-up New York Yankees would love to have him. General manager Brian Cashman even said so Monday, expressing interest in the retired Atlanta Braves star. "He'd be perfect," Cashman said at Yankees' camp in Tampa. "I'd take Larry in a heartbeat. I think everybody would." The eight-time All-Star third baseman - better known by his nickname than actual first name - quickly ended such ...

House unveils amended Ga. budget plan

ATLANTA (AP) - An amended $40.9 billion budget plan in Georgia would restore what amounted to cuts for rural school districts and reduce some of the funding cuts for a school nutrition program, a ranking Republican said Monday.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck staying put at 'The View

NEW YORK (AP) - No need to say goodbye to Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She's staying put as a co-host of "The View" despite reports insisting otherwise.

Senate Democrats prepare government funding bill

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats are preparing a catchall government funding bill that denies President Barack Obama money for implementing signature first-term accomplishments like new regulations on Wall Street and his expansion of government health care subsidies but gives Democrats modest additional funding for domestic priorities like health research.