Tablets in the classroom push learning, teaching

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP) - At Autrey Mill Middle School in suburban Atlanta, students are using electronic tablets instead of paper and pencil to answer questions, take tests and tell their teachers whether they understand their lesson or not.

CDC: Fecal bacteria common in swimming pools

NEW YORK (AP) - Health officials say they found fecal bacteria in more than half of the water samples taken from Atlanta-area public swimming pools last summer.

Powerball jackpot quickly jumps to $550 million

Obama: No special prosecutor to investigate IRS

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama dismissed the idea of a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, saying probes by Congress and the Justice Department should be able to figure out who was responsible for improperly targeting tea party groups when they applied for tax-exempt status.

Stocks flip between gains and losses; Cisco climbs

NEW YORK (AP) - Cisco Systems led the Dow Jones industrial average slightly higher Thursday after the technology company reported higher sales. Mixed corporate earnings and economic reports kept the major stock indexes flipping between slight gains and losses.

Georgia's jobless rate drops to 8.2 percent

ATLANTA (AP) - State labor officials say Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has dropped to 8.2 percent in April.

Woman using bare hands to build house with rocks

SILVER CREEK, Ga. (AP) - A woman is using her bare hands to build a house in the woods of north Georgia by stacking large rocks on top of each other, one rock at a time.

Police: Suspect arrested in La. parade shooting

Bibles reinstated in Ga. state park lodges, cabins

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered the Department of Natural Resources to return Bibles that were removed from cabins and lodges at state parks.

Deal signs order addressing Common Core standards

Ga. avoids limit on reservoir use in Senate bill

Stocks keep climbing even as manufacturing softens

Ga. high school yearbook labels student a 'freak'

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) - School administrators are trying to find out how a photo caption next to a student's photo labeled him a "freak" in a high school yearbook.

Ga. agency orders removal of Bibles at state parks

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia parks officials say they've ordered that Bibles be removed from guest rooms at state lodges and cabins across the state.

TV-over-Internet service hits Atlanta next month

Teen wounded in Ga. school shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - A 14-year-old student was wounded in a shooting at a middle school Thursday, and a suspect was taken into custody, authorities said. No other students were hurt.

Congress passes bill to extend borrowing authority

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress has approved must-do legislation to permit the government to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars more to meet its obligations, averting a first-ever government default that had loomed as early as mid-February.

Senate to clear debt limit increase for Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate Thursday took up must-do legislation to permit the government to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars more to meet its obligations, putting off one Washington showdown even as others loom in coming weeks.

Teen wounded in Ga. school shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say a 14-year-old has been wounded in a shooting at an Atlanta middle school and a suspect has been taken into custody. Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos says the wounded student has been taken "alert, conscious and breathing" to Grady Hospital. He says the suspect has been tentatively identified as a student and all other students at the school are safe. Campos says the teen was shot outside of the ...

Feds: $13.6M in phony sports goods confiscated

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Investigators have confiscated more than $13.6 million worth of phony sports merchandise over the past five months and expect to seize more in New Orleans during Super Bowl week, a federal law-enforcement official said Thursday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said authorities also have shut down more than 300 websites selling counterfeit goods as part of an enforcement effort dubbed "Operation Red Zone." The operation targeted international ...

Teen wounded in Ga. school shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say a 14-year-old has been wounded in a shooting at an Atlanta middle school and a suspect has been taken into custody.

Atlanta school shooting suspect in custody, wounded student 'alert, conscious'

Authorities: Atlanta school shooting suspect in custody, wounded student 'alert, conscious' .

Lawmaker: Ga. lobbying rules bill will be amended

ATLANTA (AP) - A Republican lawmaker says a proposal to tighten lobbyist rules will be amended to answer concerns it could limit free speech rights.

Sperm whale secretion may spell fortune for UK man

LONDON (AP) - One very smelly sperm whale secretion may soon make one lucky British beachcomber a very happy man.

Dow edges lower, still headed for stellar January

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow drifted lower Thursday, but stayed on track for its best start to the year in more than two decades. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 33 points to 13,877 as of noon EST. The index has gained 6 percent so far this month, putting it in line for its best January performance since 1989, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. The Standard and Poor's 500 ...

Joint Chiefs: Looming cuts would 'hollow' military

WASHINGTON (AP) - The military's top leaders are warning Congress that automatic spending cuts looming in March would force the Pentagon to slash operating budgets, weakening the armed forces and possibly forcing furloughs of 800,000 civilian employees. The Joint Chiefs say in a letter to Congress that the cuts would create a "hollow force" and would require aircraft to be grounded and warships to return to port. The chiefs said the troops on the front ...

Dow edges lower, still headed for stellar January

EW YORK (AP) - The Dow drifted lower Thursday, but stayed on track for its best start to the year in more than two decades.

Ala. child hostage standoff in 2nd day at bunker

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) - A standoff in rural Alabama went into a second full day Thursday as police surrounded an underground bunker where a retired truck driver was holding a 5-year-old hostage he grabbed off a school bus after shooting the driver dead.

2 dead after storms rake South, take aim at East

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Kandi Cash trudged in rain through the splintered debris of her grandparents' home, hoping to salvage photos and other keepsakes after violent storms raked the Southeast, leaving two people dead before the vast storm front moved on to pummel the East Coast.

Syria and Iran threaten retaliation against Israel

BEIRUT (AP) - Syria and Iran have threatened to retaliate for an Israeli air raid near the capital Damascus.