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

Gullah Geechee plan gets Interior Dept. approval

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A plan to preserve the culture of slave descendants of the sea islands on the Southeast coast has been approved by the Department of the Interior.

Stocks open lower despite rise in retail sales

The stock market opened lower on Monday, pulling back from record highs last week.

Tri-state water feud plays out in Congress

Court dismisses 1,800 when police fail to show up

ATLANTA (AP) - Records show that at least 1,800 criminal cases have been dismissed in a metro Atlanta county court since 2010 because police officers failed to show up in court dispute being subpoenaed to testify.

Cardinals begin pre-conclave meetings amid scandal

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Cardinals from around the world gathered Monday inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI's decision to retire. The Vatican said 103 of the 115 electors had arrived, while the other dozen are en route. The dean of the College of Cardinals has said a date ...

Falcons release 3 key players to help salary cap

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) - The Atlanta Falcons started their youth movement Friday by ditching three key players from the most successful era in franchise history.

Taco Bell, Icelandic pies drawn into meat scandal

LONDON (AP) - Taco Bell is the latest restaurant chain to acknowledge that its food has been adulterated with horse meat, yanking a variety of ground beef products from its three British outlets and issuing an apology to its patrons Friday. Meanwhile, in Iceland, a food official said his team had found a beef product from a local producer that contained no meat at all. Chief meat inspector Kjartan Hreinsson said a brand of ...

Bill seeks to protect Ga. youth from concussions

ATLANTA (AP) - Newly approved legislation would require that young athletes in Georgia who show the symptoms of a concussion be pulled from games and reviewed by medical professionals. House lawmakers voted 161-7 on Friday to adopt a bill requiring the changes. It now heads to the state Senate. Republican Rep. Jimmy Pruett of Eastman urged his colleagues to support a compromise plan. A similar bill failed to pass last year amid concerns it ...

Angel Food Ministry defendants enter guilty pleas

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The founders and leaders of a Georgia-based ministry that sent discounted groceries to needy families across the country have pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Florida man swallowed by sinkhole under bedroom

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) - A huge sinkhole opened up under a man's bedroom and swallowed him as he screamed for help. He was missing Friday and feared dead. Officials lowered equipment into the sinkhole but didn't see any sign of life. Jeremy Bush, who was at the home near Tampa, said it took him only seconds to get to his brother's room about 11 p.m. Thursday. He jumped into the hole and dirt ...

Obama says he can't 'Jedi mind meld' a budget deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - A combative President Barack Obama blamed Republican lawmakers Friday for failing to stop automatic spending cuts from beginning to kick in late in the day, arguing he can't perform a "Jedi mind meld" to get Republicans to agree on a deal. But he and GOP leaders displayed no appetite for letting the fight shut the government down later this month.

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 ...