Nation News

In Arizona, the budget has grown so gloomy that lawmakers are considering mortgaging Capitol buildings. In Michigan, state officials dealing with the nation's highest unemployment rate are slashing spending on schools and health care. Drastic financial remedies are no longer limited to California, where a historic budget crisis earlier this year grew so bad that state agencies issued IOUs to pay bills. Read More

A suburban Chicago jury said Wednesday that a convicted murderer should be executed for the rape and killing of a 10-year-old girl kidnapped from her home 26 years ago _ a case that helped lead to landmark death penalty reforms in Illinois, including a moratorium on executions. Read More

A stench around the home of a suspected serial killer returned stronger than ever Wednesday as police searched the house next door for more bodies and carried out bags of evidence. Read More

Seven men have been indicted on second-degree murder charges in the fatal beating of a man in a fight outside a Boston nightclub in August. Read More

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul's son is borrowing a page from his father's playbook for his U.S. Senate bid, leaning heavily on Internet fundraising and tapping the enthusiasm of young Republicans on college campuses. Read More

The Associated Press on Wednesday announced changes in its Latin America and Caribbean operations, closing a service limited to Puerto Rican news within Puerto Rico while adding editors and reporters elsewhere for the expanding Spanish market in the Americas. Read More

A man who told police he had been hoping to steal a laptop was convicted of capital murder Wednesday in the beating of an Arkansas TV anchorwoman so brutal that her face was shattered and she never regained consciousness. Read More

Hartford police say a city officer investigating a series of burglaries was shot during an early morning foot chase with a fleeing suspect, who was caught and arrested by other officers. Read More

Miami's police chief, a nationally recognized leader dubbed "America's Best Cop" by Esquire magazine, stepped down as one of his critics _ the city's new mayor _ was sworn into office. Read More

Five members of a family, including three lay ministers, are charged in Missouri with sex crimes against children. Read More

Police in Los Angeles are seeking a man they say tortured, raped and poured battery acid on his girlfriend during a Halloween attack. Read More

A Palm Springs man who was never in the military has been charged with wearing the Navy's highest honor. Read More

A jury has convicted a man of capital murder in the death of an Arkansas television anchorwoman beaten so badly her face was shattered. Read More

Sanitation workers sorted through 10 tons of trash to recover a wedding ring accidentally thrown away by a New Jersey couple. Read More

Six Hells Angels motorcycle club locations were raided Wednesday in an investigation of a brawl that left two people with stab wounds at a Las Vegas wedding chapel nearly a year ago, police said. Read More

Five members of a family are charged in Missouri with sex crimes against children. Read More

A Connecticut woman who was attacked by a 200-pound chimpanzee revealed her heavily disfigured face on television Wednesday, saying she is blind and has to eat through a straw, but isn't angry. Read More

Mark Stover was the Pacific Northwest's dog-trainer-to-the-stars. He taught obedience to the pets of Pearl Jam and Nirvana, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz and Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. He also trained his own dog, Dingo _ for protection. Read More

Disgraced South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford might not have much political capital these days, but his wife is using hers. Read More

Dozens of American pit bull terriers netted in the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history are finding homes despite some who predicted aggression or trauma would make them unsuitable as pets. Read More