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.

Judge strikes down section of GA immigration law

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge has permanently struck down a section of Georgia's 2011 law targeting illegal immigration that makes it illegal for someone to knowingly harbor or transport an illegal immigrant.

Chairman: Ga. Senate will back $100 lobbying cap

ATLANTA (AP) - The Senate will propose a $100 cap on lobbyist expenditures, not an outright ban, creating a conflict with House lawmakers in the waning days of the General Assembly's annual session, a leading Senate Republican said Wednesday. The Senate Rules Committee will meet Thursday to put forward its version of lobbying restrictions originally written by House Speaker David Ralston, said Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, the committee chairman. Mullis said he hopes the ...

Wal-Mart expands test of mobile checkout program

NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expanding a test of a new checkout program that allows shoppers to scan items with their smartphones and then pay at self-checkout terminals. The world's largest retailer launched what it calls its "Scan & Go" program late last year in about 70 stores in the Bentonville, Ark., area, where the retailer is based, as well as Atlanta. It is now testing the program in more ...

Senate set to approve huge 2013 spending bill

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate moved toward a vote Wednesday on a huge, bipartisan spending bill aimed at keeping the government running through September and ruling out the chance of a shutdown later this month.

House OKs lower alcohol limits for boat operators

ATLANTA (AP) - Reacting to high-profile deaths on Lake Lanier, the Georgia House of Representatives has approved a proposal to lower the allowable blood-alcohol limits for hunters and anyone driving a water vessel in the state.

Pa. school asks students to cut back on body spray

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania high school wants its students to cut back on the body spray.

US stocks rise ahead of Federal Reserve meeting

U.S. stocks rose strongly Wednesday ahead of a decision by the Federal Reserve about whether to push ahead with aggressive measures to boost the economy.

Ga. House drops guns in bars, churches

ATLANTA (AP) - Guns would not be allowed by default in bars and churches, though they could be carried on college campuses under a bill backed by House lawmakers.

Commander: Contingency plans under way for Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) - The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that several NATO countries are working on contingency plans for possible military action to end the two-year civil war in Syria as President Bashar Assad's regime accused U.S.-backed Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons. The Obama administration rejected the Assad claim as a sign of desperation by a besieged government intent on drawing attention from its war atrocities - some 70,000 dead, ...

Defiant teen gets life sentences in Ohio shooting

CHARDON, Ohio (AP) - Wearing a T-shirt with "killer" scrawled across it, a teenager cursed and gestured obscenely as he was given three life sentences Tuesday for shooting to death three students in an Ohio high school cafeteria. T.J. Lane, 18, had pleaded guilty last month to shooting at students in February 2012 at Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. Investigators have said he admitted to the shooting but said he didn't know why ...

Assault weapons ban won't be in Dems' gun bill

WASHINGTON (AP) - The sponsor of a proposed assault weapons ban says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told her that the ban will not be part of the initial gun control measure the Senate will debate next month.

Study: Therapy as good as surgery for knee repair

You might not want to rush into knee surgery. Physical therapy can be just as good for a common injury and at far less cost and risk, the most rigorous study to compare these treatments concludes. Therapy didn't always help and some people wound up having surgery for the problem, called a torn meniscus. But those who stuck with therapy had improved as much six months and one year later as those who were ...

Thousands of Georgians without power after storms

ATLANTA (AP) - Thousands of Georgians were without power Tuesday morning after rain, hail and heavy winds buffeted parts of Georgia.

Jekyll Island inn to become Holiday Inn Resort

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. (AP) - Another major hotel chain could add its name to Jekyll Island's oceanfront.

Ga. man sentenced in fatal drunken driving crash

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A 22-year-old west Georgia man has been sentenced in a DUI crash that killed two people in Douglas County.