Panera trying new pay-what-you-want experiment

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Order a bowl of turkey chili at a St. Louis-area Panera Bread cafe and it'll cost you a penny. Or $5. Or $100. In other words, whatever you decide.

High court hears case on federal benefits for gays

Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane jailed on assault charge

ATLANTA (AP) - Rapper Gucci Mane was being held in jail on an assault charge after a fan told police the artist smashed a champagne bottle on his head in a downtown Atlanta nightclub.

Sources to AP: Gingrey to announce US Senate bid

Study: Health overhaul to raise claims cost 32 pct

Ga. lawmakers OK resolution seeking border shift

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia lawmakers are seeking to redraw the state's border with Tennessee and have authorized the state attorney general to file a lawsuit if negotiations fail.

Consumer confidence falls in March

Metro Atlanta residents discuss forming new city

TUCKER, Ga. (AP) - Some metro Atlantans are considering forming a new city.

Pawnshop owner angered by cable firm gun ad policy

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia pawnshop owner is angry about a cable company's decision not to run his advertising if it shows firearms.

Bars test limits of legal-marijuana laws in WA, CO

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - John Connelly leaned forward on his barstool, set his lips against a clear glass pipe and inhaled a white cloud of marijuana vapor.

Calif. gay marriage argument at high court Tuesday

US stocks fall on broad concern about Europe

Stocks reversed an early rise on Wall Street Monday as traders returned to worrying about the European economy.

Surprise abortion fight breaks out in Ga. Senate

ATLANTA (AP) - A bill making changes to employee benefits at a single state agency has evolved into an argument over abortion.

Lawyer says 17-year-old not guilty in baby killing

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - The lawyer for a suspect in the shooting death of a baby who was killed in his stroller says his client is "absolutely" not guilty.

US stocks rise after teetering Cyprus gets bailout

Stocks fall Wall Street on Cyprus bailout

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks fell in early trading on Wall Street on concern that the terms of a proposed bank bailout for the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus could cause the euro crisis to flare up again. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 36 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,477 as of 10:18 a.m. EDT. The Dow fell as much as 110 points in the early going, then recouped some of ...

Supreme Court upholds sentence in girl's killing

ATLANTA (AP) - The Supreme Court of Georgia has upheld the convictions and life prison sentence given to the stepmother of an 11-year-old girl who prosecutors say was starved and beaten to death in Henry County in 2003.

Ga. day care regulators changing some rules

MACON, Ga. (AP) - Georgia day care regulators are changing some rules and adding others in an effort aimed at better protecting and educating children.

Rise of Latino population blurs US racial lines

WASHINGTON (AP) - Welcome to the new off-white America. A historic decline in the number of U.S. whites and the fast growth of Latinos are blurring traditional black-white color lines, testing the limits of civil rights laws and reshaping political alliances as "whiteness" begins to lose its numerical dominance. Long in coming, the demographic shift was most vividly illustrated in last November's re-election of President Barack Obama, the first black president, despite a historically ...

Pa. guard shot finger trying to remove ring

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A federal prison guard has been charged with shooting his own finger in a drunken attempt to remove his wedding ring during an argument with his wife at their northwestern Pennsylvania home, police said.

CDC: Rare rabies death was from kidney transplant

Four people received donated organs from a man unknowingly infected with rabies, leading to a rare human death more than a year later that has authorities scrambling to treat the other three patients, federal health officials said Friday. The man who died lived in Maryland and had received a kidney. The recipients of the donor's other kidney, heart and liver are getting anti-rabies shots, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said ...

US stocks open lower, threatening long rally

U.S. stocks opened lower Friday, threatening to end the longest winning streak for the Dow Jones industrial average in nearly 17 years. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 43 points, or 0.3, to 14,496 in the first hour and half of trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,559. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,248. The S&P 500 was six points ...

Prisoner van overturns on Atlanta freeway

ATLANTA (AP) - A van used to transport prisoners overturned on an Atlanta freeway, jamming traffic at the start of the rush hour.

State's highest court asked to take up school case

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the 2011 law that gave Gov. Nathan Deal the authority to suspend six DeKalb County school board members.

Francis pays tribute to Benedict, reflects on age

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis paid a heartfelt tribute Friday to his predecessor Benedict XVI, saying his faith and teaching had "enriched and invigorated" the Catholic Church and would remain its spiritual patrimony forever. Francis offered the respects during an audience with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Benedict, whose resignation set in motion the extraordinary conclave that brought the first prelate from the New World and first Jesuit to the papacy. ...

Pentagon spends nearly $1B a year on unemployment

WASHINGTON (AP) - Even as it faces budget cuts and forced employee furloughs, the Pentagon is spending nearly a $1 billion a year on a program that sends unemployment checks to former troops who left the military voluntarily.

Pentagon: Iranian plane pursued US spy drone

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Iranian fighter jet approached a U.S. surveillance drone aircraft over the Persian Gulf but broke off its pursuit after a U.S. escort plane discharged a warning flare, the Pentagon said Thursday. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the incident occurred Tuesday and that the unarmed MQ-1 Predator surveillance drone as well as two U.S. military escort planes remained over international waters at all times. Little said the drone was conducting ...

Ga. couple arrested on child cruelty charges

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) - A metro Atlanta couple has been arrested on child cruelty charges after police say they duct taped their children and locked them in their bedrooms.

Pope Francis' humility: stops by hotel to pay bill

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor, who tended to stay ensconced in the frescoed halls of the Vatican. The break from Benedict XVI's pontificate was evident even in Francis' wardrobe choices: He kept the simple pectoral cross ...

US stocks rise in early trading, S&P nears record

NEW YORK (AP) - Encouraging news from the job market pushed the stock market up early Thursday, putting the Standard & Poor's 500 index near its all-time high. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose six points to 1,560. It's just five points away from the record high it reached in October 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 57 points to 14,513, putting the average of 30 big companies on course for ...