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.

Huge drug cost disparities seen in health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) - Cancer patients could face high costs for medications under President Barack Obama's health care law, industry analysts and advocates warn.

OJ to get Vegas court hearing on bid for new trial

LAS VEGAS (AP) - O.J. Simpson will return next week to the Las Vegas courthouse where he was convicted of leading an armed sports memorabilia heist to ask a judge for a new trial on the grounds that his lawyer botched his case.

Surgeon: Stonewall Jackson death likely pneumonia

Baby, teen killed in Ga. street racing crash

CONYERS, Ga. (AP) - Georgia State Patrol officials say two people, including a baby, were killed in an early morning street racing crash.

Calif. woman hit cop to go to jail to quit smoking

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Think you've heard of every way possible to quit smoking? Etta Mae Lopez came up with a new one: slap a cop so you'll go to jail, where smoking isn't allowed.

Retired chimps may cost Emory millions

ATLANTA (AP) - Emory University might have to spend tens of millions of dollars to renovate the home of its research chimpanzees - all for aging chimps it doesn't necessarily need. The National Institutes of Health, Yerkes' only source of chimp-research funding, is phasing out biomedical chimpanzee research - now deemed "largely unnecessary" - and may soon raise standards for the housing of chimps that do remain in research. Only five of the 78 chimps ...

Obama to urge court to overturn gay marriage ban

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Thursday planned to urge the Supreme Court to strike down California's ban on gay marriage, wading into a case that could have broad implications for the right of same-sex couples to wed.

Ga. transportation tax generates nearly $9 million

ATLANTA (AP) - Nearly $9 million has been collected in taxes from three regions that voted to approve a 10-year, one percent transportation sales tax last year.

Stocks edge higher, with Dow nearing record

NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market pushed higher Thursday afternoon, sending the Dow tantalizingly close to a record high. Analysts said the market's upward move was more about traders getting excited than any particular economic event. Government reports and company earnings painted a picture of an economy that was beating investors' low expectations, not one that's growing like gangbusters. At mid-afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 34 points to 14,109, just ...

Cuts imminent, Senate Democrats, GOP stage votes

WASHINGTON (AP) - Squabbling away the hours, the Senate moved toward certain defeat of last-minute plans to avoid $85 billion in broad-based spending reductions Thursday as the two political parties blamed each other for the latest outbreak of gridlock and the Obama administration readied plans to put the cuts into effect.

Bond denied for Ga. man in cannibalism threat

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - The man accused of threatening to eat a judge's children has been denied bond and is ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Ga. House lawmakers OK juvenile justice reform

ATLANTA (AP) - State lawmakers in the House have approved a sweeping overhaul of Georgia's juvenile justice system, with the bill now moving to the Senate for consideration. The legislation, based on recommendations of a special panel convened by Gov. Nathan Deal, is designed to provide judges with greater discretion in sentencing youth offenders and reduce overall costs within the juvenile justice system. The bill passed unanimously on Thursday. Supporters of the legislation ...

Obama nears deadline on gay marriage decision

WASHINGTON (AP) - The next phase of President Barack Obama's evolving position on gay marriage may come Thursday, the deadline for his administration to weigh in on a landmark Supreme Court case that could determine whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. Gay rights supporters are pressing the administration to file a friend-of-the-court brief urging the justices to overturn California's gay marriage ban. Obama is not required to file a brief, though ...

Manning offers pleas to judge in WikiLeaks case

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - An Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history offered guilty pleas Thursday to 10 of 22 charges against him and a military judge said she would allow the soldier to read a statement explaining his actions. Pfc. Bradley Manning would plead guilty to sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, in violation of military regulations but not in ...

Student due in court after accidental shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - A girl who police say accidentally shot herself with a gun at a midtown Atlanta high school is set to make her first court appearance Thursday morning.

GA couple to appear in court in alleged abuse case

DALLAS, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia couple accused of confining their teenage son to a bedroom for years with little food is set to appear in court.

After 2 days of big gains, stocks turn mixed

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks turned mixed Thursday after two days of triple-digit rallies. Big-name companies reported higher quarterly earnings and the government said that the jobless claims are falling, but impending budget cuts cast a pall. The Dow Jones industrial average was up three points at 14,078 as of 10:06 a.m. That's 86 points away from the all-time high it reached in October 2007, before the financial crisis imploded. The Standard & Poor's ...

Congress set to OK bill renewing anti-violence law

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans appeared resigned Thursday to accepting an ambitious expansion of the Violence Against Women Act that would bring gays, lesbians, immigrants and Native Americans under its protective umbrella.

Cops: Grandma shot self, young grandsons in car

PRESTON, Conn. (AP) - A woman who picked up her two young grandsons from daycare and was supposed to bring them home so the 2-year-old could open his birthday presents instead drove them to a neighboring town and shot and killed the children and herself, state police and family members said.

Stocks surge; Dow on track to high close of year

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks surged for a second day, putting the Dow on track for its highest close of the year. The market rose on more evidence that the U.S. housing market is recovering and signs that shoppers are still spending, at least at discount retailers such as Dollar Tree, which reported a jump in quarterly earnings Wednesday. The gains were broad: Twenty-nine of 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average advanced. ...