As fires rage, feds cut funding on prevention
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- As the West battles one catastrophic wildfire after another, the federal government is spending less and less on its main program for preventing blazes in the first place....

Traffic returns to Wash. bridge that collapsed
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) -- Cars and trucks are rolling again across the Interstate 5 Skagit River bridge, restoring the traffic flow on the main route between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia....

Former TWA Flight 800 investigators want new probe
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) -- Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet....

FBI hunt for ex-Teamster boss Hoffa's remains ends
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- The excavation of a field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery....

Mueller urges caution on NSA program changes
WASHINGTON (AP) -- FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday urged Congress to move carefully before making any changes that might restrict the National Security Agency programs for mass collection of people's phone records and information from the Internet....

House panel starts rewrite of No Child Left Behind
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans on Wednesday finished their rewrite of GOP President George W. Bush's prized No Child Left Behind Act, sending to their colleagues a bill that would strip Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his successors of power and give more authority to the states....

Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits 49th state
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven - or a tropical paradise....

Men's Wearhouse ousts founder, pitchman Zimmer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore....

Neighbors: Couple killed waited for order to leave
DENVER (AP) -- Bob and Barbara Schmidt dashed to their home on a dirt road in a heavily wooded area northeast of Colorado Springs as smoke from what would become the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history filled the air....

Uncertain future for border prosecution program
FALFURRIAS, Texas (AP) -- On an October afternoon in 2009, a Dallas man arrived at a highway checkpoint about an hour north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Inside the gas tank of his pickup truck, agents found 99 pounds of marijuana....