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

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.

GOP retaliates against Dems over Fulton tax vote

ATLANTA (AP) - Revenge is on the menu at the Georgia Capitol. Republicans dominate the House, but they're one vote shy of having a supermajority to do whatever they want. That mattered last Thursday when Democrats blocked a local bill that would have cut Fulton County property taxes by doubling the homestead exemption. So when representatives convened Monday, Republicans retaliated by reversing Thursday's votes in favor of more than a dozen local bills sponsored by ...

US begin drills as NKorea threatens war

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean state media said Monday that Pyongyang had carried through with a threat to cancel the 60-year-old armistice that ended the Korean War, as it and South Korea staged dueling war games amid threatening rhetoric. Enraged over the South's joint military drills with the United States and recent U.N. sanctions, Pyongyang has piled threat on top of threat, including vows to launch a nuclear strike on the ...

UGA to compare pay of male, female professors

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The University of Georgia plans to compare the salaries of male and female professors in an attempt to find out whether they're getting equal pay for equal work and accomplishment.

Highway patrol: 'High rate' of speed in Ohio crash

WARREN, Ohio (AP) - Investigators were focused on speed as a key factor in the crash of a sport utility vehicle carrying eight teenagers that smashed into a guardrail and flipped over into a swampy pond, killing five boys and the young woman driving. While citing an unspecified "high rate" of speed, investigators wouldn't speculate on whether alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash about 7 a.m. Sunday on a two-lane road snugged ...

Changes in GA immigration bill draw opposition

ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia bill that was intended as a simple fix for unintended consequences of a 2011 crackdown on illegal immigration is suddenly drawing opposition. The bill was presented as a solution to complaints from several state agencies that Georgia's 2011 law was creating extra work and delays in processing public benefits. But a House committee added key changes last week. Now the bill would effectively deny driver's licenses to young people ...

Sen. McCain slams release of illegal immigrants

PHOENIX (AP) - Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Friday that some of the more than 2,000 illegal immigrants recently released by the Homeland Security Department because of budget cuts may have been convicted of serious crimes, citing "local sources."

Georgia Capitol Notes

ATLANTA (AP) - HEADLINES: House lawmakers endorsed big changes to Georgia's gun laws this week just ahead of a key internal deadline. Under internal rules, most bills had to be approved by at least one chamber of the General Assembly by Thursday or risk failing for the year. There are some exceptions. House Republicans voted to allow people with a license to carry a firearm to take their weapons into bars, churches and parts ...

Stocks move higher following strong job growth

NEW YORK (AP) - A burst of hiring in February pushed stocks higher on Wall Street.

New TSA policy on knives, bats sparks backlash

WASHINGTON (AP) - Flight attendants, pilots, federal air marshals and even insurance companies are part of a growing backlash to the Transportation Security Administration's new policy allowing passengers to carry small knives and sports equipment like souvenir baseball bats and golf clubs onto planes. The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, representing nearly 90,000 flight attendants, said it is coordinating a nationwide legislative and public education campaign to reverse the policy announced by TSA Administrator John ...

US adds 236K jobs, unemployment falls to 7.7 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A burst of hiring last month added 236,000 U.S. jobs and reduced the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in January. The robust gains suggested that the economy can strengthen further despite higher taxes and government spending cuts.

Online fishing guides provide tips to Ga. anglers

SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. (AP) - The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has introduced a new website to help anglers take the guesswork out of finding a place to go fishing.

Chattahoochee whitewater course to open in May

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - After more than a decade of planning and construction, a man-made whitewater course on the Chattahoochee River will soon open.

Ga. Senate OKs scholarship tax credit changes

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Senate has approved changes to a tax credit program that provides scholarships for children to attend private schools.

Senate panel casts year's first votes on gun curbs

WASHINGTON (AP) - In Congress' first gun votes since the Newtown, Conn., nightmare, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to toughen federal penalties against illegal firearms purchases, even as senators signaled that a deep partisan divide remained over gun curbs.