Prayers before SC woman killed family

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Hours before she killed her two sons, her ex-husband and her stepmother and tried to frame it on one of the slain children, Susan Hendricks gathered her family together to pray. She said she was worried about her older son, Matthew, because he seemed so down after several people forgot his birthday the day before.

Zumba instructor gets 10 months for prostitution

Trustees: Medicare trust fund exhausted in 2026

Stocks edge lower after Americans cut spending

Death of Georgia waitress investigated as homicide

WATKINSVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Authorities are investigating the death of a 38-year-old waitress as a homicide after her body was found on the side of a road in northeast Georgia.

Lawmakers to get larger spaces in new parking deck

ATLANTA (AP) - State officials building a new parking deck at the Georgia Capitol are designing special parking spaces for lawmakers to give them more room for their vehicles.

Second arrest made in attack on Ga. pet pig

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (AP) - Authorities in southeastern Georgia say a second man has been arrested in an attack that left a pet pig with 23 stab wounds.

Boston bombing suspects is walking, mother says

AKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) - The remaining suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has recovered enough to walk and assured his parents in a phone conversation that he and his slain brother were innocent, their mother told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Effort seeks to halt public money for Ga. stadium

Poll: 2 in 5 women would consider solo parenthood

Secret Service: Letter to White House intercepted

Interim dean named for UGA college of business

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - University of Georgia President-elect Jere Morehead has announced a former UGA president has been appointed to serve as interim dean of the Terry College of Business.

Stocks edge higher; utilities lead gains

Motorists complain about removal of Ga. 400 tolls

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) - Some metro Atlanta commuters are upset that tolls on Georgia Highway 400 are going away Nov. 20.

Ga. health officials investigate suspicious calls

ATLANTA (AP) - Health officials in Georgia are warning people to be cautious when participating in health-related phone surveys.

Muscogee County school system considers security

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - One of Georgia's largest school systems is set to discuss a security plan that includes equipping schools with panic buttons.

Man plunges from 10th story of Atlanta condo tower

ATLANTA (AP) - Police are investigating how a man plunged from a 10th-floor balcony of a high-rise building in Atlanta.

No one more surprised than Luke Bryan by ACMs win

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Luke Bryan heard his name called at the end of the Academy of Country Music Awards, accepted the entertainer of the year trophy and then things became a blur. "It was like I was on the tilt-a-whirl," Bryan said. Bryan pulled off a dizzying upset, all right, beating out the night's top winner Miranda Lambert, two-time entertainer of the year Taylor Swift and top male stars and good friends Blake ...

Senators work on deal expanding background checks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Talks between two influential senators have emerged as the most promising route for a bipartisan breakthrough on expanding federal background checks for gun buyers, a pivotal part of President Barack Obama's plan for combating gun violence. One possibility being discussed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would involve expanding background checks to gun show sales and firearms transactions online, Senate aides said. Sales between close relatives ...

Burglar steals $6,000 worth of hair from Ga. shop

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Richmond County sheriff's officials say a burglar targeted a beauty shop and made off with more than $6,000 worth of hair and $150 in cash.

Deputies: Ga. man stabbed, unleashed dogs on pig

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia man unleashed his two pit bulls on a neighbor's pet pig that got loose in a mobile home park, then stabbed the animal 15 to 20 times in front of children and other onlookers, authorities said.

NKorea warns embassies it can't guarantee safety

MOSCOW (AP) - North Korea has warned diplomats in Pyongyang that it can't guarantee the safety of embassies in the event of a conflict and suggested they may want to evacuate their staff, Russia's top diplomat said Friday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is demanding an explanation from the North Koreans - asking whether the warning is an order to evacuate the North Korean capital or merely a proposal to consider doing so. "This proposal ...

Obama: Calif. attorney general is 'best-looking'

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - President Barack Obama praised California's attorney general for more than her smarts and toughness at a Democratic Party event.

Cherokee County deputy kills homicide suspect

CANTON, Ga. (AP) - A Cherokee County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man suspected of killing two people in Union County.

Judge wants trial in baby killing before year ends

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia judge says he wants a trial before the year ends for a teenager charged with fatally shooting a baby in the face. Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley told attorneys in the case Friday he expects a 2013 trial for 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins. The suspect is charged with malice murder in the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago two weeks ago in the coastal city of Brunswick. Police ...

NY judge makes morning-after pill available to all

NEW YORK (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration must make emergency contraceptives available to girls of all ages within 30 days, a federal judge has ruled, saying the agency's decisions regarding the so-called morning-after pill were "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.

Women's rights unfinished business

NEW YORK (AP) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the rights of women represent "the unfinished business of the 21st century" in the U.S. and around the world.

Georgia Department of Education to grade schools

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Department of Education plans to give parents a detailed look at schools' performance.

Official: Obama proposes cuts to Social Security

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's proposed budget will call for reductions in the growth of Social Security and other benefit programs while still insisting on more taxes from the wealthy in a renewed attempt to strike a broad deficit-cutting deal with Republicans, a senior administration official says. The proposal aims for a compromise on the Fiscal 2014 budget by combining the president's demand for higher taxes with GOP insistence on reductions in ...

US economy adds 88K jobs, rate drops to 7.6 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. employers added just 88,000 jobs in March, the fewest in nine months and a sharp retreat after a period of strong hiring. The slowdown is a reminder that the job market's path back to full health will be uneven. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.6 percent from 7.7 percent. While that is the lowest rate in four years, it fell last month only ...