Opposition to seating Burris in Senate weakening
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris is closer to taking President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the Senate, say knowledgeable officials in both parties, despite Democratic leaders' vows to reject any appointee of Gov. Rod Blagojevich....

Experts: Crosswinds a factor in Denver air crash
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was very windy when a Continental Airlines jet was destroyed while trying to take off in Denver last month, leading aviation safety experts to cite crosswinds as a likely factor in the accident....

Boy's 1999 disappearance raises questions, regrets
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- No one claims to know what happened that summer in 1999 when 11-year-old Adam Herrman disappeared from the mobile home park where he lived with his adoptive parents....

End to Minn. Senate race pushed even further out
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota's grueling U.S. Senate race, already dragging on two months past Election Day, has now moved even further from the voters - and into the hands of lawyers....

Boy's taped confession won't be used in Arizona
ST. JOHNS, Ariz. (AP) -- In a dramatic police interview that gripped viewers nationwide, a 9-year-old boy sitting in an overstuffed chair told investigators that he shot his father and another man, then buried his head in his jacket and said, "I'm going to go to juvie."...

Spokane, Wash., residents cope with record snow
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- More than 6 feet of snow in the past three weeks has left Spokane residents frustrated. Tempers are so frayed that a man was arrested for shooting at a snow plow operator....

Jury may get ex-sheriff's case soon in California
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A defense attorney for former Orange County sheriff Michael Carona said the government's sweeping public corruption case against his client is riddled with holes and built on the testimony of witnesses who lied to save themselves....

Engineer: Tenn. ash spill warning signs ignored
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The nation's largest government-run utility ignored two small leaks that could have provided a warning years before a coal ash pond collapsed, flooding a neighborhood with a billion gallons of sludge, a former federal regulator contends....

2 men, teen charged in gang rape of Calif. lesbian
MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) -- Two men and a teenager were charged Tuesday in the alleged gang rape of a lesbian in the San Francisco Bay area....

State unemployment claim systems overwhelmed
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days amid an unprecedented crush of thousands of newly jobless Americans seeking benefits, and other states were adjusting their systems to avoid being next....