S&P 500 closes at a record high, beating '07 mark

Scooter ads face scrutiny from gov't., doctors

WASHINGTON (AP) - TV ads show smiling seniors enjoying an "active" lifestyle on a motorized scooter, taking in the sights at the Grand Canyon, fishing on a pier and high-fiving their grandchildren at a baseball game.

HIV test urged for 7,000 Oklahoma dental patients

Negotiations continuing on Ga. gun bill

ATLANTA (AP) - Lawmakers are negotiating over whether Georgia students should be allowed to carry guns on college campuses.

Lawmakers agree on $41 billion spending plan

ATLANTA (AP) - House and Senate leaders have settled on a roughly $41 billion state operating budget comprised of state and federal money for the next fiscal year.

US launches new batch of graphic anti-smoking ads

Mother, son die in house fire in northwest Georgia

RINGGOLD, Ga. (AP) - State fire officials say a mother and her young son were both killed when an early morning fire swept through their home in the northwest Georgia town of Ringgold.

Sheriff identifies toddler killed in dog attack

PEMBROKE, Ga. (AP) - Authorities in coastal Georgia identified the toddler who was mauled to death by a pack of dogs as Monica Renee Laminack, who would have turned 2 years old in June.

Stocks struggle for direction in early trading

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks darted between small gains and losses in early trading Thursday as investors considered mixed signals from the U.S. economy and Europe.

Arsenal of weapons found in Newtown gunman's home

Absences pile up at Ga. school as sickness spreads

CARROLLTON, Ga. (AP) - Administrators at a west Georgia elementary school are hoping the upcoming spring break will interrupt a cycle of sickness that led to more than 150 absences.

GOP moves to catch up with Democrats on technology

Ga. woman's camera washes ashore in Taiwan

NEWNAN, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia woman has been reunited with her camera and photos after the camera she lost during a 2007 trip to Hawaii washed ashore in Taiwan.

Wine fight over vintage fakes airs out in NY court

NEW YORK (AP) - The market where vintage wines are traded like treasured works of art has gotten a taste test in a New York court where a billionaire is accusing a wealthy California wine merchant of cheating him.

Senators tour border, say immigration bill near

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 ...

Metro Atlanta jobless rate rises to 8.7 percent

ATLANTA (AP) - State labor officials say metro Atlanta's jobless rate rose to 8.7 percent in January, up from 8.4 percent the month before.

Argentine Jorge Bergoglio elected Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Francis, associating himself with the humble 13th-century Italian preacher who lived a life of poverty.

Senate Democrats unveil budget blueprint

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats unveiled a largely stand-pat budget Wednesday that calls for $1 trillion in new tax revenues over the coming decade but actually increases spending, while protecting the party's domestic policy priorities and adding $4 trillion more to the national debt than a slashing alternative from House Republicans. The plan by Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., blends about $1 trillion in modest cuts to health care providers, the Pentagon, domestic ...

Dow notches ninth gain in a row, longest since '96

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average notched its ninth gain in a row, giving the index its longest winning streak in more than sixteen years. The index edged up 5.22 points, or 0.04 percent, to 14,455.28. The Dow has risen every day this month and is up 10.3 percent this year, having surpassed its previous all-time high of 14,164.53 March 5th. Demand for stocks has been propelled this year by ...

Panel criticizes military on sexual assault cases

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a stinging rebuke of the military's efforts to curb sexual assault, members of a Senate panel hammered Defense Department officials on Wednesday for making too little progress in combating the crimes and failing to improve a military justice system that victims described as slow and uncaring. During a two-part hearing, the panel heard harrowing testimony from several victims, who said military justice is broken and pushed for Congress to ...

57 charged in Florida gambling scandal

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Florida's lieutenant governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a widening scandal of a purported veterans charity that authorities said Wednesday was $300 million front for illegal gambling. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll's resignation came a day after she was questioned in the investigation. Her public relations firm did work for the St. Augustine-based charity Allied Veterans of the World, but she has not been accused of ...

Francis is first pope from Americas

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernized Argentina's conservative Catholic church.

Teen arrested after stealing police cruiser

EAST POINT, Ga. (AP) - Police say a 13-year-old boy accused of stealing a patrol car and barricading himself inside his house has been taken into custody.

Catholic church has new pope; white smoke rises

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pope in a remarkably fast conclave.

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 ...