Dow Jones industrial average back above 15,000

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average was headed for its first close above 15,000 Tuesday as Wall Street followed world markets higher.

Ga. to release new grades for public schools

Rain boosts bacteria levels in Chattahoochee River

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say recent rains have sent bacteria levels soaring in the Chattahoochee River.

Girl wounded by knife in Savannah middle school

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say a girl was taken to a hospital after an attack involving a knife inside a Savannah middle school.

Limo driver, survivor views differ on fatal fire

Transcript of long-missing woman's 911 call

Former MLB outfielder Otis Nixon arrested

CANTON, Ga. (AP) - Former Major League outfielder Otis Nixon has been arrested on drug charges following a weekend traffic stop in suburban Atlanta.

East about to be overrun by billions of cicadas

Deal signs law limiting Ga. lobbyist spending

Stocks are little changed after record week

NEW YORK (AP) - Stock indexes were little changed in early Monday trading, following a record-setting week for the market.

Report looks at numbers of child deaths in Georgia

MACON, Ga. (AP) - A state agency has issued its first-ever yearly report on deaths of children involved in the child protection system. It found unusually high numbers of deaths in some parts of Georgia.

Flood watches, warnings continue after heavy rain

ATLANTA (AP) - Several parts of northwest Georgia remained under a flood watch. Others were under flood warnings as rivers and creeks were spilling over their banks.

Court upholds law on tree-cutting for billboards

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia's highest court has upheld a Georgia statute that allows trees to be chopped down under certain circumstances so that billboard companies can advertise along highways.

Senate bill lets states tax Internet purchases

WASHINGTON (AP) - Attention online shoppers: The days of tax-free shopping on the Internet may soon end for many of you.

Bride, 4 others die in limo fire on Calif. bridge

Ga. House sides with business lobby on labor laws

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia House of Representatives has approved two labor law changes that Republican leaders say would protect workers and boost market competition. Democratic opponents, meanwhile, criticized the measures on Monday as an attack on the organized labor in a state that already restricts union power with so-called "right-to-work" laws. Those laws bar union membership as a condition of employment. House Bill 361 would allow workers to opt out at any time ...

Ga. House adopts changes to immigration law

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia House of Representatives has approved proposed changes to a 2011 law targeting illegal immigration.

Jury sees sick images at NY cannibalism-plot trial

NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors finished presenting evidence to a jury hearing the cannibalism conspiracy case against a New York police officer Monday after showing jurors a video of a screaming woman, made to appear as if cooking over an open flame, and other disturbing images from websites devoted to torturing and eating women. The government rested a week after it began trying to prove that Officer Gilberto Valle tried to conspire with others ...

Casey Anthony speaks at bankruptcy hearing

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Appearing in public for the first time since she was acquitted of murder, Casey Anthony revealed that she doesn't have a job or a car, lives with friends and relies on unsolicited gift cards and cash to get by. "I guess you could say I'm living free off the kindness" of others, Anthony said at a bankruptcy hearing in Tampa. Anthony, 26, was acquitted of murder in July 2011 in ...

Stocks grind higher, pushing Dow toward record

NEW YORK (AP) - Investors brushed off early jitters about a potential slowdown in China and pushed the Dow to its highest close of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,127.82. The index is a fraction of a percentage point away from its record close of 14,164, reached on Oct. 9, 2007. Stocks dropped at the opening bell and stayed lower most of the morning amid ...

GOP-backed overhaul of Ga. gun laws taking shape

ATLANTA (AP) - Republican lawmakers are moving to loosen restrictions on where Georgians can carry or keep firearms. A series of legislative proposals affecting gun ownership are working their way through the General Assembly ahead of a crucial deadline coming Thursday. A House committee was expected to debate legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons inside bars and churches, unless private property owners forbid it. It would also allow school district officials ...

Couples flock to Ga. town for cheap, easy weddings

RINGGOLD, Ga. (AP) - A town of about 3,500 in northwest Georgia has established a reputation as a marriage mecca, with between 2,000 and 2,400 marriage licenses being issued there annually.

Republicans unveil government funding measure

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans controlling the House are moving to give the Pentagon more money for military readiness. They also want to largely exempt agencies like the FBI and the Border Patrol as well as Western firefighting efforts from the effects of across-the-board spending cuts that are just starting to take effect. The effort comes as top Republicans unveil a huge spending measure to fund the government through September. The broad new measure would ...

Bush: Romney's stance on immigration was costly

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush writes in a new book that Mitt Romney moved so far to the right on immigration that it proved "all but impossible" for the Republican presidential nominee to appeal to Hispanic voters in the 2012 election. Bush writes in his new book, "Immigration Wars," that many Republicans have been "remarkably tone-deaf" when it comes to attracting Latino voters. He says if the party doesn't change, ...

Jordan files for paternity lawsuit to be dismissed

ATLANTA (AP) - Michael Jordan has asked a Georgia court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by a woman who says the NBA hall of famer is the father of her 16-year-old son. Jordan's lawyer John Mayoue said in the document filed Monday in Fulton County Superior Court that the six-time NBA champion is not the father of Pamela Y. Smith's son. Jordan accused her of making false claims against him. The NBA's ...

House, debris over Fla. sinkhole to be removed

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) - Authorities hope to get a better look at a sinkhole that swallowed a man in his Florida home once demolition crews knock down the remaining walls of the house Monday and begin clearing away the debris. The remainder of the house and its contents will be dragged toward the street so crews can recover items inside and keep debris from falling into the hole, Hillsborough County spokesman Willie Puz said ...

Baby born after parents killed in NYC crash dies

NEW YORK (AP) - A baby delivered after his parents were killed in a Brooklyn hit-and-run accident died early Monday, a community spokesman said.

Cardinals begin pre-conclave meetings amid scandal

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Cardinals from around the world gathered Monday inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, amid scandals inside and out of the Vatican and the continued reverberations of Benedict XVI's decision to retire. The Vatican said 103 of the 115 electors had arrived, while the other dozen are en route. The dean of the College of Cardinals has said a date ...

Falcons release 3 key players to help salary cap

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) - The Atlanta Falcons started their youth movement Friday by ditching three key players from the most successful era in franchise history.

Taco Bell, Icelandic pies drawn into meat scandal

LONDON (AP) - Taco Bell is the latest restaurant chain to acknowledge that its food has been adulterated with horse meat, yanking a variety of ground beef products from its three British outlets and issuing an apology to its patrons Friday. Meanwhile, in Iceland, a food official said his team had found a beef product from a local producer that contained no meat at all. Chief meat inspector Kjartan Hreinsson said a brand of ...